flossie009

Yes, just the same as all the other ships.

Complementary laundry & pressing; dry cleaning also available for a charge.

Today is a day at sea on our way to Singapore. Captain Abhi tells us that he had Navigator at full throttle this morning and we certainly seemed to be zipping along through the calm waters.

Weather is still very warm, but we passed through a few heavy showers.

Today’s schedule

Our excursion in Ko Samui was the “Thai Traditional Cooking Class” (KOS-003); a paid tour.

We started with a look around a local food market, where all manner of ingredients were on display

After a visit to see the local Buddha we then went to a hotel by the sea for our cookery class.

First the chef demonstrated the ingredients & method for each dish

…………… then we were let loose to show our skills

After preparing each dish (3 in total) we then sat down to eat our delicious results ………….. washed down with beer, wine or soft drinks.

It was a very enjoyable day 😎 😋

Yesterday we visited the beautiful island of Ko Samui.

Navigator dropped anchor some distance from shore and local boats were used to ferry guests from & to the ship

This is the senior team looking after us on board.

Plenty of familiar faces among the crew plus some new ones. All very friendly, helpful & efficient.

On 4/6/2024 at 6:48 PM, flossie009 said:

The 9:30pm show is “World Rhythms”, which should showcase the standard of the Production Cast for this cruise.

The production cast gave a stellar performance; singing & dancing was some of the best we have seen on Regent. Looking forward to their other shows this cruise.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:39 PM, alainciao said:

Question about the long tail boat tour.  Were you happy with the quality of the water on this tour?

Bottled water was fine 😂
 

River water looked OK; no trash & plenty of fish.

We didn’t have our water quality test kits with us 😉

@Dolebludger

You had a Regent supplied hotel in San Juan, therefore hotel to ship transfer included.

You did not have Regent air hence no included transfer from airport to hotel (embarkation) or ship to airport (disembarkation)

No surprise; that is how it always operates.

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

We were told (and knew) that Regent wouldn’t provide airport - hotel transfer in San Juan because we booked their hotel for an extra night before the hotel-provided date.

The reason was because you did not take Regent air not because of the extra night.

We are just leaving the pretty port of Laem Chabang …………….. sorry, pretty industrial port ………. 😉

 

Pre-dinner the speaker, Deborah Ayres, is talking about “The Amazing Kingdom of Thailand”

The 9:30pm show is “World Rhythms”, which should showcase the standard of the Production Cast for this cruise.

22 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

To suggest that if you book your flight 210 days out the cost of air becomes non-refundable is simply absurd

No one has said, or inferred, that.

What is being discussed is ticketing a flight arranged by Regent, not booking the flight.

Certainly in the past we have paid Regent early in order for them to get an airline to ticket a flight earlier. This then allowed us to book specific seats, which otherwise was not possible.

Obviously this experience is with Regent(UK) and with a British based airline. Since the OP is in North America, their options may be different.

6 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

you would expect them to give us multiple options for providing feedback

They do

18 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Anyway, not trying to beat a dead horse here but simply was pointing out that the 150 pounds per person is what they credit if you opt out of the included hotel and transfer.

That is the amount Regent provides as a credit if the guest opts not to take the Regent included offering.

In this case Regent has decided to withdraw part of the package offered. A very different scenario.

18 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

But if they refund their cost of a hotel and give you $200 each OBC they're pretty much compensating you for the inconvenience

As I understand the situation, Regent has neither offered to refund the cost of a hotel & transfers nor have they offered any compensation for the inconvenience.
They have simply offered a “gesture of goodwill”.

I am still of the opinion that affected guests should present Regent with receipts for their costs for reimbursement; treating Regent’s “gesture of goodwill” as going some way towards the time, trouble, inconvenience & stress of organising something that Regent was clearly contracted to provide.

Just my opinion, of course.

Our cruise started with an overnight in Laem Chabang, before heading off to Ko Samui tonight.

We opted to stay on board today.

Plenty of sun loungers available but some still couldn’t resist staking claim to ‘their’ territory before heading out on tour 🤨

 

Very warm & humid again today so might be time to head indoors for a drink before lunch 🙂      Life is good 😎
 

We had a very comfortable vehicle & excellent driver for the 2 hour journey from Bangkok to Laem Chabang port yesterday.

Boarding started at 11:30, with check-in being administered by Navigator staff.
eVisa for India and ETA for Sri Lanka were checked & Passports retained.

We took lunch in La Veranda, as it was very hot & humid outside. An excellent, delicious buffet. Then off to our suite to unpack.

Before dinner there was a show by local Thai dancers. Very colourful but unfortunately we could not understand the narrator’s description of the various dances (I got the feeling that she didn’t understand her English script either !!)

………….. audience participation was encouraged

Dinner in Compass Rose, sharing with an “interesting” couple.

Highlight of the meal was the Black Mussels 😋
 

On 4/5/2024 at 8:42 AM, CardowMD said:

Looking forward to seeing the Navigator in photos!

Anything in particular you would like to see ?

On 4/5/2024 at 8:42 AM, CardowMD said:

If you can include a daily agenda one day that would be appreciated!

I will try to remember to include a sea-day & a port-day copy of Passages later during the cruise.

The markets in Bangkok sell everything ………. and still at a good price if you enjoy bargaining with the stallholders

…………… but how many elephants do we really need ?.

I suppose we can’t have a CC blog without some food photos. 
Thailand has offerings to suit all tastes

Not sure that we will see any deep fried scorpions or cicadas during our Regent cruise 😧

At the floating market we boarded a long-tail boat for a look around the market and then along the river

Some parts of the market were very congested with tourist boats, making it difficult for the vendors to negotiate

Once out into the river it was a much calmer atmosphere

Some nice riverfront properties

Mango trees with the fruits covered for protection from birds & insects

At one location we were given some fish food to throw in the water “for luck” . We couldn’t believe how many Tilapia surfaced to enjoy the feast !

On previous visits to Bangkok we have visited many of the usual tourist spots in the city, so we decided to book a private tour to two more distant attractions:

The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and the Maeklong Railway Market.

At Maeklong the market stalls encroach over the railway track; the stallholders withdrawing each time a train passes through.

The 3 to 4 trains each day attract many tourists who come, like us, to witness the bizarre spectacle

Some stallholders obviously find it more lucrative to sell space rather than goods

Eventually the train slowly passes; the passengers can go on their way; the tourists disperse; and the market resumes its trade

Tomorrow we will join Navigator in Laem Chabang for a 20 night cruise ending in Abu Dhabi.

We were originally booked through to Athens but tragic events caused the second half of our planned itinerary to be abandoned.

Prior to the cruise we have spent a few days in the friendly, vibrant city of Bangkok and so we will use the next few posts to catch up on our vacation thus far.

Our journey started last Sunday with a couple of firsts.

First time we have used the local firm Butler’s for our transfer to Heathrow. Excellent service and the driver was definitely not like the character ‘Butler’ from ‘On the Buses’

Next first was flying with EVA Air. This Taiwanese airline is only one of two flying direct non-stop from LHR to Bangkok. 
The flight was late leaving Terminal 2, but once settled on board we were presented with a chocolate, a glass of bubbly & a poem

A good start. Next came a very quirky safety video

Despite much turbulence during the flight we made up time and arrived slightly earlier than scheduled in Bangkok.

A limo from our hotel met us and took us through the notoriously bad Bangkok traffic to our hotel, where we have enjoyed the rest of this week.

Our first full day, Tuesday, was mainly spent shopping.
During the day at the enormous MBK complex and then in the evening it was off by tuk-tuk to Patpong night market (smaller than we remember it from pre-pandemic times)

Wednesday was sightseeing (see subsequent post)

Today was by the pool, a massage and a final fitting for tailored ladies trousers, made to measure by a shop in the hotel - perfect for one or two evenings on the cruise.

Tomorrow our transfer is arranged for the long journey to Laem Chabang port.
Navigator was due to dock in the heart of Bangkok,  but a late change moved embarkation to Laem Chabang, which was disappointing.

On 4/3/2024 at 5:17 AM, pingpong1 said:

The cheerleaders always want to assure us that this is a pure coincidence.  🙄

No one said that on the relevant thread (link below). In fact no one was cheerleading or defending Regent in any way over this particular issue.

For U.K. guests the notification was given prior to final payment date (90 days prior to embarkation) ………………. but for those in the U.K. guest cancellation at any time leads to loss of deposit 🙁
 

Our Travel Insurance provides monetary compensation for missed ports and we have never had any issues obtaining reasons in writing from the Regent Exec Concierge on board (A letter from the cruise line is required for our claims)

The SGArrival Card is submitted on-line. It can only be applied for within 3 days before arrival in Singapore.

1 minute ago, wcsdkqh said:

Who cares…. As long as you aren’t the target.

………. and as long as you don’t have aquaphobia or koinophobia 🤣
 

1 hour ago, Pies4u said:

If Regent have descended into having “water filled balloon” events then I, for one, am somewhat concerned! We have almost 100 nights on board and I’ve never seen, or heard, of that happening before.

1 minute ago, Pies4u said:

Country Fairs are 1 thing - no problem - water filled balloons are NCL, Carnival, RCCL and P & O activities.

Certainly not new on Regent & very good fun 😀

These pictures are from a Country Fair on Explorer in 2018:

The following thread also contains various observations & pictures from the 2019 two-day overland to Luxor, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Hope things settle down by the time of your cruise.