mj_holiday

We have apple AirTags and this how we use them and what I understand about them. We have 4 and have labeled them MJBig and MJsmall and the same for DH, following instructions on linking to your phone. I put each one in a crown royal bag with a note on its name. DH and I did some testing by taking one of them on a car ride while I watched on my phone. I then stitched each bag to something on the inside of the suitcase (like a side pocket), using large basting stitches. Since they are so small there is a risk of them falling out of the suitcase and not being seen. Or falling out and get put in the wrong suitcase. How they work. This is my understanding and experience seems to match that. The tags use nearby wifi signals to tell you where they are. This will not be continuous, since sometime they will not be near anything that would put out a signal. So on a flight after checking luggage you go off to the gate area. You should get some kind of info that your bag is at "XYZ" near the check in. At some point you will be able to see that they have moved closer to the departure gate, or something like 0.1 mile away. This may be the last time you see their location traveling out. I have not seen when they get in the plane, but that last notification is a good indication they are there. If you have a connection you will be able to see the luggage at the gate you parked at and then near the gate you go to to get on your plane. When you reach your destination you will start seeing your luggage location as you head to baggage claim. You won't get to see the location of your luggage at all times, it depends on the suitcase being near a wifi signal. How the AirTags helped GREATLY. We were returning home and at our connection I saw the suitcases get close to our gate as we boarded, and that was the last time I saw them before we took off. When we reached our destination I was heading to baggage claim and looking for luggage location when I got a text from airline about our luggage not being on the flight. I then saw that the luggage was still at our connection and never got on the plane. During the next two days when I was told that our luggage was on this flight or that flight arriving at such and such time, I was able to look for the location on my phone (still at connecting airport) and then correct them telling them they had bad information. I was then told to wait while they check. I was able to tell when luggage finally arrived at the final destination. The AirTags did not prevent the luggage from being left behind, but allowed me to be able to tell airline reps that I knew where the luggage was when they didn't. I feel this helped expedite getting the luggage to the proper destination.

I am looking at Rivers cruises in the USA. Would be nice if you give us some experiences of your cruise, likes and dislikes etc.

Glad your luggage turned up. Thanks for sharing your cruise and adventures.

Is that for private transfers both to the ship and then from ship to airport.

I have found the enrichment lectures to be great, especially the ones on our South Africa cruise and our Amazon cruise.

Slightly off topic. Whenever we thought about just sitting outside by the pool for a quiet meal - there never was anything on the menu that we wanted. I was always looking for something lite like a chef's salad or cold soup. Something that went with the warm weather. I am sorry it did not find its place in the wide array of food offered for dinner on the ship.

Thank you for spending the time to post about your cruise. Sorry about your luggage. When this happened to us on a trip home, the airlines would tell me the luggage was on its way on this such and such flight, since I had Apple AirTags in luggage, I would explain to them why they were wrong. Then they would say, give me a minute to check and then be told they are still at the airport they were at yesterday.

Deposit varies on level of cabin being booked and type of trip. You can find this on RSSC.com under Frequently asked question about reservations.

We had flights through Azamara (made by our TA) and the flights were very good. Yes, they were not cheap, but when I was looking for flights the costs seemed to go up every time I looked, so the AZ flights were cheaper.

Both fun and a way to meet people, go to Trivia when it is not interfering with time in port. If you don't have enough for a team, just wait and someone will ask about joining you. A great way to meet people. If concerned about Trivia interfering with afternoon tea, have someone go to the tea and bring back a plate of goodies for the team.

Thank you for your responses. On our experience where the whole dining room is on the same schedule - I feel that this was used because it takes less personnel and the butlers also came to help.

If it were me, I would travel to arrive in Anchorage a day early. If no missed flights or bad weather, you have extra time in Anchorage. The train to Seward is great. One picture I regret not taking-on way from airport to Anchorage we went by a lake which was a “ parking lot” for small planes parked at their sheds. One more thing, I have issues with motion sickness. I wish I would have thought to get a seat facing forward on the train. Have a great trip.

When you first get onboard you should be given a letter that lists the places serving food and times. We usually head to the pool grill and either get something from there or bring something out from la Veranda. We enjoy sitting there and people watch until our suite is ready.

I have a slightly different question about dinner, and this probably sounds picky. We have only done one river cruise which was in Europe. And I realize things will not be the same which is while I am asking. For dinner I understand that there are two set times and a buffet. For the set time - is everyone taken care of on the same pace. To make myself clear - on the only river cruise we have been on, there was one dinner time and then after orders were taken the entire dinning room was served their salad entre and then when done, dished picked up and then entire dining room was served the soup entre, after that the entire dining room was served the main course, and so one. So if you and your partner (at a larger table) wanted just soup and dessert you sat through the entire dinner. I am glad to hear that there is a dinner buffet, but would like to be served dinner but wondering if each table has it's own rhythm or is it at the dining room level.

We had the metal bottles on our Dec cruise. They are just fine. I have seen complaints that they don't keep the water cold, but don't see how this is different than single use plastic. Have also seen complaints that they sweat, as does single use plastic. It would be interesting if Regent could give some kind of data regarding how many single use plastic use has been avoided since the change to the water system and the addition of the reusable bottles.

I seem to remember a letter from Regent several months ago about this $75 charge if you called Regent about something with air. As I understood it, they were getting way too many calls about air where reservations were not being made and loading up the personnel that work air bookings. Haven't heard much about this since then.

A walk in shower is what we are after, even if small. Thank you

There are 5 ships that do this route. The Harmony seems to have the date close to what I am looking for.

I am thinking about booking a Columbia/Snake River cruise. Looking at American Cruise Lines and would like info like pictures of the cabins especially info/pictures of bathroom. The literature I find doesn't say if the bathrooms have a tub/shower or just a shower. Thanks for any info.

Many suggestions have been given. It would be very interesting if, after you get home you post what you plan was and how it worked out. And hopefully those on this forum can restrain their comments.

They do a country fair, which at first I wasn’t sure I would participate. I went up to the deck to take a look and found it was a fun event. Wished they would have given a couple more prizes.

Since the port before Vancouver is Victoria and the zoom starting time is really 9am pacific time, I would disembark in Victoria and spend the night someplace there and do the zoom there. I would not make taking a ferry to Vancouver or disembarking in Vancouver the morning of the zoom in the critical path.

We did Cape Town to Cape Town with another cruise line last year. Check the location of where you are docking. Some of ours were in industrial areas and there would be no place to walk, and I do not remember seeing taxis. Other were in town but except for Mozambique they weren't by areas with something to see if you walked.

We were on the Cape Town to Cape Town this last December. I attract mosquitos. I got a couple of "chigger" bites on my ankles one evening as we were heading back to the transport from a sunset cruise. I took a shortcut across a bunch of grass instead of the using the walkway. We had no other issues, bring a good repellant.

For our South Africa cruise last December we were offered a Delta with a surcharge of $2000. We also were offered a BA (AA) through LHR and return was United which we took. We have always been offered something that worked for us. One thing I do is ask for Seat Assignment (esp BA) when the flight is worked by TA.