mj_holiday

Post Cruise Winelands and Wildlife. Disembarkation. Somehow I got the ideal (and there were other people with this thought) that we needed to be off the ship by 7am. I was under the impression that we were to identify our luggage after it got off the ship and it would be put on a truck and be at our hotel when we got there. Well that wasn’t the way it was. When we got off there were people who wondered why we were standing there, we said that is what we were told. Then our luggage started coming off. It was stacked in an area that was very uneven with old railroad tracks, potholes and traffic going by. We were somehow to get our luggage to the bus we were getting on. There were a couple porters but they didn’t seem to know what to do and we needed to coach them to get the luggage moved. The tour that day was around Cape Town and the surrounding area, to keep us busy until we could check in at our hotel. It was very interesting and very long. There were two buses, and we were divided up so the each bus was not crowded. We had lots of photo stops but every place was windy. The last place we stopped at was a funicular to the top of one of the scenic areas. DH and I had had enough wind for the day and decided not to go. Besides, there was still rolling blackout going on. The funicular did not run because of this. When we got to the hotel it was chaos, we had to wait in line to get room keys and let them charge R1000 to a cc for incidentals, not hold for a guarantee but charge. It took awhile to get a porter to get our suitcases to our room. We were told not to worry about it, the porters would use the list of us to get the suitcases to the correct room, but that didn’t seem to do too well. The stay included a buffet dinner with wine and a buffet breakfast. The buffet dinner the first night did not meet our preference, it wasn’t very good and the service was not very good either. The breakfast the next morning was passable, the scrambled eggs were OK and the fruit and yogurt was OK. It took quite a bit to get some coffee. We did not eat dinner buffet after the first evening. I had run out of motion sick medicine and that first afternoon after we got checked in to the hotel, I asked the concierge where I could find a pharmacy to get more motion sick medicine. He gave us instructions and we headed out. We got there about 5:30 and it was closed. After we told the concierge what had happened, he said “oh, I didn’t check the time when I told you”. The tour the second day Dec 22 was to a Wine area for wine tasting. It was a beautiful place, Nederburg and we had a very nice tasting of 6 wines at 10 in the morning. We then headed to a small town and got let off at one end with a walkdown the street to where the bus would meet us. As we were walking down the street we found a pharmacy. To purchase motion sick medicine we had to talk with a pharmacists. So we waited in line, got to her and explained what I needed, she got the medicine and then rang it up but this was not the place to pay. She put the receipt and the medicine in a small cage that locked with a handle to carry it. This is what I took to the cashier up front and there it was opened and rung up so I could pay for it. The med worked well. Our lunch that afternoon was outside under some shade trees and was a box lunch for two. DH and I ended up being the last to the area and there were only 2 seats left not together, when everyone realized we had to share the meal, people moved around and we were next to each other. In the wooden box was 4 pieces of chicken, some sliced roast beef, several pieces of cheese, some bread, a salad, and some dessert. There was beer and wine available. It was a fun lunch. After lunch we went to a small college town which was very pretty. Who would think that in the middle of the brutal terrain that we had driven through would be these wonderful shady places. Day 3 was a drive to the Aquila Game Reserve. This was quite a drive, but interesting viewing along the way. The game reserve was also a hotel/resort with a spa. This was a beautiful location in its own way. This was to be the acid test if the 4 x 4 vehicles were as difficult to get in as previous warnings said. And I realize all the 4 x 4s are not alike. When it came time to board our 4 x 4, I noticed there were 5 rows of seats, each with its own entrance and there were steps at each entrance. They drove each vehicle up to a ramp, so it was easy to just step on. The safari was very interesting, we saw hippos, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, a couple elephants, wildebeests, and elans but the lions were hiding behind rocks. After we got back to the lodge, we had lunch, went shopping at a very nice shop and back to the hotel. Our bus driver tried his best to keep the bus moving and we made it to within one block of the hotel before it gave out. Day 4 Dec 24 was checkout day and then our flights were cancelled. That will not be part of this review. But you can see, I did make it home.

Cruise Comments Did I say the coffee was great We heard a rumor that there were about 400 passengers, but I have to way to confirm this. All of the service on the ship was really good. There were many helpers in La Veranda carrying people’s plates for them. Our service in Compass Rose (CR) was very good also. We always felt taken care of. Several tour guides commented that our cruise tour was their first tour since before COVID. The enrichment lectures by Adam Tanner on African history were very interesting. He did one each sea day and you could watch them on tv in your suite until the next one was posted. On our previous Regent cruises before COVID I was always fascinated by all the moving of silverware in CR. You would place your order and as the waiter got ready to leave for the next task, he would pick up utensils you would not need. Then they would bring pieces like soup spoon etc that would needed. Before your entre was served there was someone again removing pieces you would not need and placing utensils you would (like steak knife, fish knife etc). I would wonder, how do the servers know you didn’t use that knife to cut your shrimp coctail and just put it back where it had been? How does anyone know that the person sitting there didn’t sneeze or cough or just move the silverware around looking at the pieces? Does the silverware they pick up go to another place setting? Now POST COVID, there is not near as much movement of silverware, but there is still some. Well, at least it is not near what it was. But wine glasses seem to be moved around just as much as before. There were no bridge tour or galley tour due to COVID. When NA beer got onboard it was a nice German NA Beer. On past cruises, DH would order a coke with his breakfast in La Veranda (since he had coffee in the suite) and it was hit or miss as to if he got it. On this cruise the first time he ordered it, it took a little time (and we got status on it) and it came and after that it came quickly every morning he ordered it. Block party happened. On the second evening, CD gave an announcement about things that were not appropriate attire after 6 pm – this included sleeveless shirts, bathrobes, baseball caps and shorts. On the first evening in the Observation Lounge a server went around the tables shortly after 6pm to remind people in shorts of the time. Everyone that got up to leave understood this and didn’t seem upset. There was Fever Tree Tonic in the Observation Lounge, and we got some in our room. There was canned club soda in our suite, but in the Observation Lounge glasses of club soda were served from liter bottles and the fizz had gone away. Food in La Veranda for lunch was not up to the quality we expected. Many of the dishes looked the same, meat, vegetables covered with some kind of sauce. I did not see a carving every day. The first couple of times I tried one of the meat/vege dishes, by the time I got to my table and started eating, the food was cool and not much flavor. I thought the food in CR was good, DH was not that impressed. He said sometimes his lobster tail was watery. I enjoyed what I ordered but there were a couple times I seemed to remember that I didn’t order a starch since there was rice listed with the entre and when I got the dish, there would not be any rice with it. My memory fails me at times, so I just enjoyed what I got. The servers are leaving the breadbasket on the table in CR again. Throughout the ship, the service was very good.

Dec 18 Durban, South Africa We took the excursion “Nelson Mandela Capture Site” This is an excursion where it appeared no one with Destinations did any kind of research or preview. There were two full buses on this excursion. There was a note in the program that the itineraries may be reversed to avoid congestion, but that didn’t happen. Both buses got to the museum at the same time. This is a small museum with basically only one way through the museum. It took us 20 minutes or so before everyone was finished with the bathroom. We got to the back of the line to go through the museum, we were only pass the first two placards when we were told (I think, it was very loud in the room) to head on to the next room and then again rushed to the outside path. It looked like it would be a very interesting museum. Something very interesting was a sculpture of Nelson Mandela. (I think I have seen one other sculpture like this) From a distance at all angles it looks like a bunch of telephone poles standing at various distances apart. but if you get to a certain space in the path through the garden, these telephone poles turn into the likeness of Nelson Mandela. On the way back to the boat we stopped at Howick Falls (a miniature Victoria Falls) there were several vendors on the way down to the falls and these were pretty laid back. The visit to the museum could have been very interesting if all of us hadn’t shown up at the same time. Dec 19 - Sea Day Dec 20 – Mossel Bay We took the excursion of Knysna at Leisure. This was a tender port. This is a village/waterfront situated between a lake and the ocean. The speaker system didn’t work, and the bus stopped at a gas station to ask directions for heading out of town to Ksysna. The lack of a speaker system seemed to unnerve our tour guide. It was a beautiful drive. It was raining, but I had umbrellas. The tour guide would talk in the front of the bus and when she went to the back of the bus she would talk about something different. (We were in the middle and did hear most.) When we got to Knysna the bus driver immediately opened the back door and people got out. Throughout the bus ride and when we got out the tour guide told different people different times to be back on the bus. DH and I went looking for a nice place to have a drink and people watch. The nice restaurants/bars we found were completely full. Asking about other places, the employees at the full places said there weren’t any others. We did some shopping and then I spotted an oriental restaurant who had beer and wine. So, we had a drink and enjoyed the area. We bought some souvenirs and were back at the bus at 11:30, what we thought was the return time. The last person didn’t show up until past 12:30. We were 1 ½ hours from the ship and sail away was 2pm. The tour guide assured us she had called the representatives at the port. When we got to the port, we were the last Regent tour and there were lines for a NCL ship (quite a line). We all got seated on the tender and they decided it was to be the last tender, so they brought on board all the equipment from the shore location like the awning, chairs, signs etc. All this equipment took up the pathway to the exit. As the tender got to the ship, the steps were put up and people started getting up to get off. Well the sea was rough and the tender moved quite a bit and people would grab for something to keep from falling and there was nothing to grab since all the equipment was in the way and that stuff moved with the boat. This was an unsafe situation. Someone on the crew finally realized they needed to move the stuff before passengers got off. Well the sea was still rough, I got off easily with help of the crew, but I found out a couple days later that DH somehow got his wrist and arm banged up getting off. I did make comments about this in the final survey. We got back to our suite and the suitcases were out and we had work to do. I will finish with my opinions and thoughts about the cruise and then later add details of our post-cruise wine adventure.

Dec 14 Richard’s Bay. Another early excursion 7:45am - I suspect many of these times changed due to schedule needs, because I don’t think I would have book the early excursions, at least that is what I told DH. Oh well, this was also an excursion with the activity level rating increased to moderate and in actuality it was a very easy walk down to the boat. We headed to St. Lucia Wetland Park. This was a lovely lake surrounded by reeds and bushes and had lots and lots of hippos. We got explanations about the various habits of hippos. Hippos are in the water during the day to protect their skin and keep cool. At night the hippos will get out of the water to get something to eat and walk around. We were told they also head into town. Dec 15 – Richard's Bay – We took an excursion called “Dumazulu Cultural Village” This was an interesting afternoon. At the recreated village, we saw several people preforming the various tasks of every day life of the Zulus when they lived in huts in a village. We saw how to make a shield, clay pots, woven baskets and how sick people were healed of various maladies. Then the warriors gave demonstrations on how to use the swords and sticks and some dancing (DH not included). There was a small gift shop with some nice things. This would be a place to pay with cash Rands because their cc machine did not connect with wi-fi all the time, many times they had to take it outside. And let me complain (or warn) about one thing. I picked two very nice small zebra masks and one of them had a price sticker well attached. I was worried about the sticky from the tag sticking to the wood. I asked an attendant if there would be a problem getting the sticky off. Well, someone from the ship seemed to think she knew better and gave me a method on how to handle it. So, the attendant now felt she didn’t need to answer me and got busy checking people out and walking outside to get the cc machine to work. I am now home, and the sticky still will not come off and I have affected the wood trying to get it off. Dec 16 – Maputo, Mozambique We took the excursion “A Glimpse of Maputo”. I knew we would both be tired of excursions, and so this looked to me a low impact excursion. Well, the activity level had been corrected to Moderate, but most of it was in a very new van. I think the van held 20 passengers and there were 15 passengers, so it was crowded. DH is always the polite one and doesn’t know how to rush to get to the head of a line. So, we were the last ones on and ended up in the last row of seats that had no windows. After our first stop, at the train station, I noticed that two people who did not have the best seats (but better than ours) moved up to the front seat with the driver. And other people had spread out to the empty seats they left behind. Maputo looks to be a beautiful city but very crowded. We did start with the train station which was elegant and very big. We also walked through the open market which was very large and busy. We stopped at the “Iron House” built by Gustaf Eifel. Some people got out to take a picture, buti n the back seat we had to pass our cameras up if we wanted a picture, we really couldn’t get out unless all the others got out. Street vendors were very aggressive in trying to sell stuff. I got out for the Natural History Museum, but the look of the center stairway kept DH in the van. After I got in, I saw most of the exhibits were on ground level and very interesting displays of animals. The fort was also interesting. This excursion was a disappointment. In the excursion program for Maputo, there is a paragraph detailing basically that it is hard to predict ahead of time the quality of the guides since there is no qualification for guides, but these are local people. It also washed Regent hands about the quality of the coaches since they vary so much. Dec 17 Sea Day

Dec 8 – Walvis Bay, Namibia. That morning, after room service coffee, we headed to La Veranda for breakfast and got about half way through when our floor was called for the face-to-face with immigration. Oh well, lunch is in a couple of hours, guess we can survive. While eating lunch in La Veranda we saw that the face to face was over since the immigration personnel were also eating lunch in La Veranda. We also got Landing cards that we will need to give to immigration tomorrow when we come back to the ship before leaving. We did the Regent Choice excursion “Living Desert By Off-Road Vehicle” in the afternoon, and there were only 4 of us in our 4 x 4 vehicle with the driver waiting for us close to the ship. We drove out to the sandy desert. We got some great explanations about how the sand dunes formed with the sand blown off Table Rock in Cape Town and deposited by winds in Namibia. After we got there, we got explanations about the various animals living in the desert. The guide let some air out of the tires on the 4 x 4 and we took off over the sand. This was an E ticket ride, up the dunes and across the dunes and down the dunes, great fun. After we were done riding around the dunes, we went across the street on a rocky beach that also had a great bathroom. There, under a tent were glasses of sparkling wine, orange juice, cheese and crackers. It was a nice treat while our driver went into town to air up the tires. Great Excursion. Dec 9 – Walvis Bay, Namibia Our excursion started at 6am (OMG). They started breakfast early because many excursions started this early. This was a Township Tour. A Township is the area where the South African government built houses and moved all the block people in the area to the Township when South Africa took over control of Namibia after the British left. The different tribes were separated. The township seemed to go on forever. Then we went to the area where new people arriving in the city from rural areas lived. These were home built shanties. We then visited three homes in this township. First, a midwife who also explained the clicking in their language. We went to another home for a snack and some entertainment by some local youths and the third home was of a 70 year old lady who was dressed in traditional dress and headgear. All the homes were clean but sparse. No electricity but water was provided at a communal faucet for every block, and the city took care of sewage and trash. There were also many small businesses (hair salons, motor repair, snacks) throughout the township. This was a very interesting excursion. When we got back to the ship we found out that bad weather was predicted for the evening. Dec 10 and 11 were sea days. Morning coffee in the room is still excellent tasting. Out in the ocean I think I saw something and was told that they were small black dolphins. DH speaks some Russian and he found a bar tender from Belarus who also speaks Russian, so he had someone to practice with. We were also notified today that we will miss Port Elizabeth because the storm was keeping the speed of the boat slower than normal and we would make it there in time. This is a real disappointment to me since this was the port that had the Addo Elephant Park. Stuff Happens. Dec 12 unscheduled sea day and Dec 13 – sea day.

Dec 5 cont The next day after breakfast it was time to get to the airport for our flight to Cape Town. We had to change planes in Jburg and that plane was delayed a couple of hours and it was also very full, but we still got served snacks and drinks (but for some reason no wine after dark). We got to Cape Town a couple hours late and as we got our luggage found the Regent Rep. We followed him to the van. This was quite a long walk out of the airport down a dark street that was poorly lit. We finally made it to the van and were taken to the Radisson Blu near the port. Of course we were checking in at 10:15 pm and were told the bar/restaurant would close at 10:30. It seemed that the hotel people checking us in were not happy to have had to stay so late. The only info they told us was we could get room service and we had to catch the bus at 9am. We all blew off the bus thing since we all had boarding times around noon. We also got our luggage we had sent here from Jburg. It was all shrink wrapped. Porters took our luggage up and we were not well versed in the local currency and were tired and did not give them a very good tip at all, felt really bad the next day and made up for it that morning. This was not the place to shy away from room service due to cost. We were hungry and needed to sit back for a while before getting to sleep. We ordered a tray of cheeses and a couple drinks. It was a very nice tray and came to about $25 which was cheap for what we got. Our room was very nice, too bad we didn’t get to stay there for long. Dec 6 - Breakfast at Radisson Blu was very nice, had a great variety for people from many nationalities. We were ready to leave about 11am and went to the lobby. They were loading a bus so we got on. Our checked baggage were on a truck and we next saw them in our suite. The Cruise At the port they were not ready to check anybody in. It basically had been a choice, sit in a crowded lobby (needed to check out) or stand/sit in a line to board. When they finally started, check-in was quite quick, and we soon found ourselves with a glass of sparkling and heading to our muster station. Once we go to the muster station, we were checked off and we could go to lunch. We found a table out on deck by the pool grill, had a nice lunch and at 2pm our suites were ready. Not long after we got to our suite, our steward came to see us. He spent more time with us this first visit than we have ever had on previous cruises. One change is the ice in the room. Before COVID every suite always had a bucket of ice in the refrig. Our steward explained that we could have ice whenever we wanted, but it would not be automatically kept in your suite unless you requested. This made sense to us, since we hardly ever used the ice. Our steward made sure we knew that we could get ice whenever we wanted it, just let him know. We unpacked. We got acquainted with the ship and lounges and headed to Compass Rose for an early dinner and then a couple drinks in a lounge before we headed to bed to enjoy the slight rocking of the boat to put us to sleep. Dec 7 – Sea Day When we woke up, I ordered coffee for us to have while we were getting ready for breakfast. It quickly came . This coffee was very good, there definitely had been a change either in the coffee or the way they made it, something, it was very good. I reviewed the excursion tickets that had been left in our suite. In addition to the booking form there was also a booklet explaining the “Shore Excursion Program” with short descriptions of the excursions and notations if anything, especially the activity level, about the excursion had changed. The main changes identified that I noticed was the activity level. Basically, several of the low activity level tours I had booked were now moderate activity. Some of these were probably correct, but one or two of them seemed to be over cautious, the description given to support the change was not what we actually found on the excursion. At least now the changes were identified, previously you had to compare what you had booked with what the activity level was on the booking form. Through the Roll Call for this cruise, I had proposed a Meet and Mingle this first morning, I showed up and no one else did, but I am hoping those that showed up either before or after I did enjoyed the wine tasting going on in the Atrium just outside our meeting area. Speaking of this Wine Tasting, I knew to look for it thanks to discussion of this on cruise critic. One table for Whites and one table for reds were set up and available for tasting for a couple hours. One thing to note with this is that these are wines that are available on all the Regent ships. So if you find something you like, keep note of it to ask for. I found a nice wine from Mosel Germany and decided to order it that evening with my Dover Sole. Also, today, we received a note in our suite that the ship had a request from an upcoming port to have copies of our vaccine cards. Also, there is currently no NA beer on board, and will be getting some with provisions in Namibia. We made it to Trivia and got a team started which would last for the entire cruise. We were also notified that there will be a face-to-face with Namibia immigration on Dec 8. We had a nice dinner in Compass Rose with the group that we had gone to Victoria Falls with. I got to show off that I knew some different wines (from the wine tasting) to order with the meal.

Here is what our first cruise POST COVID on the Voyager was like. It was great but there was also several areas that were not up to the level expected of Regent. These I have documented in the end of cruise survey. Trip Review Cape Town to Cape Town Dec 2022 Pre-Cruise land trip to Victoria Falls Arrived in Johannesburg (Jburg) at 8:30am Dec 1. This starts the Pre-cruise adventure of our trip. We were met outside of customs by a Regent Rep, Pat. I had been concerned about the trip we would walk with luggage to the hotel. Info from Regent made it seem like we would be lugging our multiple suitcases across a parking lot the size of a football field to the hotel. Well not to worry, the Regent Rep had airport porter gather our bags on trolleys and we walked across two lanes of the road that circles between the airport and the hotel. I started to pull out tip money and was told by Pat that she had it all taken care of. The airport porters turned our bags over to the hotel porters. We checked in to the hotel and then Pat gave us green ribbons to put on the luggage that was to go to Cape Town and leave the luggage outside our room that night. She would meet us after breakfast for our flight to Victoria Falls. The Intercontinental Hotel is very beautiful, we had lunch and stayed up as late as we could before heading to bed. Tipping – Tipping in South Africa is 10%. If using a credit card, they will present you with a bill that looks like a bill to charge to a hotel room. This is where you write the tip you want to give and total it up. The server will bring over the Credit Card (CC) machine to run the bill and enter the total amount (tip included) in the machine and you will tap with your cc they may or may not have you sign a receipt. Passport control in Jburg – heading to passport control I saw two signs, one for countries where Visa was required and one for countries where no Visa was required??? I looked around for someone in line with a USA passport, but no one. I moved to a line where no Visa was required and figured if wrong, someone will tell me. I don’t think I was the only person not sure what line to get in. Next morning we were ready to head to Victoria Falls. We walked over to the airport, Pat had the luggage handled for us and we saw the truck with our suitcases for Cape Town. She basically held our hand while we got our boarding passes and took us to a security check point that wasn’t busy. She sent us on our way to the gate telling us that the airline will not announce boarding of our flight over any kind of intercom, we needed to watch the gate to know when boarding started. When boarding started, we went through the door and got onto a bus to take us to the plane. The bus was very crowded and stopped near the plane and opened the doors and there was a rush to get out. After we got out we were told we were not supposed to get out yet and get back on the bus. Climbing back on the bus, DH misjudged the step into the bus and skinned his shin. Due to his medication, he was really bleeding. We were back on the bus and I was trying to get the bleeding to stop, no luck. The bus door was open and very windy. I needed two hands to work band-aids but I had my paper boarding pass in one hand so I put that between my lips Remember, at any time they would say time to get off the bus and get to the plane. I had a second Band-Aid and put that on the wound and looked like the best I could do, and it wasn’t bleeding. My boarding pass had been in my mouth, well between my lips, this whole time. I was getting ready to get back off the bus (in another rush) so I took my boarding pass out from between my lips and realized it had dried there and I pulled some skin from my lips with the boarding pass. I am now bleeding slightly from my lips. No time to deal with that as we are told to get on the plane. Getting ready to go up the stairs to the plane and we were told we needed to check our carry-ons, no discussion. We checked them, got a ticket and climbed up to the plane and took our seats. Well, this rush to the plane and the checking of carry-ons was an overkill, since there were only about twenty people on this flight and we had to spread out to balance the weight. We were fed a nice snack and soda, wine or beer were all included. The plane was very comfortable. We landed in Victoria Falls and followed the crowd to baggage claim and as we headed to the door, found the rep to give our baggage. I lost sight of DH and as I was leaving the building I found him, dancing with a group of local people. They had given him a head dress, a leather shield and a weapon (looked like a long hammer). I fumbled trying to get my phone out to take a picture, so he had to dance quite a while before I got a picture. The Victoria Falls Hotel is 100 years old and is a beautiful property and we kept getting lost trying to find our room. There were 11 people in our group for this Pre cruise. We gathered in a room for someone from the hotel to hand out room keys and explain the eating arrangements but that ended up getting really confusing. We kept asking questions because we really didn’t want to make sure all eleven people were ready everytime we ate. Also, one of the restaurants required men wear a jacket and most of us sent that type of dress to Cape Town for the cruise ship. After we found our room DH and I headed to a restaurant on a large porch of the hotel for a late lunch. The food was very good. (We later learned this was not one of the places we were to eat. This got very confusing. By the time we checked out, it had gotten settled and we only had to pay the tips that we had put on the ticket) We had an evening excursion to the Zambezi lake to see hippos. It was a nice boat ride and saw lots of hippos peeking out of the water. The sunset was beautiful. There were snacks and drinks available. The next morning breakfast was in a large covered area of the hotel. The meal was very nice and good. Today we walked Victoria Falls. We were told several times that the walk was 1.5 km each way. Since it is the dry season, there was a lot of rock exposed, but it is still pretty magnificent. We saw people swimming just above the falls in an area that looked like it was protected by the currents. After lunch back at the hotel DH and I got a taxi to go shopping. Our overall guide told the driver where to take us, an outside market. Be ready, vendors are fairly aggressive, nothing dangerous, just calling out to you to see their stuff. Got some nice things – bargain with the sellers - pretty fast. We had given the taxi driver a time to pick us up and we had a while until he would show up, so we found a brew pub for a couple beers before our taxi returned. Sitting on the front veranda at VF Hotel was very nice while we waited to go to the evening dinner. Just sitting there we saw wart hogs strole across the front lawn. There were monkeys in many areas of the hotel lawn and on roofs. Dinner that evening was “The BOMA, Dinner and Drum Show”. As you enter you are given a large blanket to wear over your clothes. It was a large buffet with many types of grilled game meats, fish and vegetables local to the area. It was good and lots of fun. The place was only about half full. After everyone got their dinner there was a very interesting drum show, inviting people to come dance (not DH). There was confusion about whether or not our drinks were included but that was taken care of when our guide came to get us. On the drive back to town and to the hotel, the driver luckily was driving slowly because a very large elephant crossed the road in front on us! Our stay at the hotel was very comfortable, there was a nice bar where we could have drinks after dinner. Our room was very comfortable and in the evening someone came in to turn down the bed and get the mosquito netting correctly in place. We also became friends with the other 9 people in our group.

Just got off the Voyager from a Cape Town to Cape Town cruise. Many good things some that need work. Starting the post cruise wine add on. Will post complete review in a couple of weeks after I have time to compose my notes.

On the Voyager currently. Did get the email prior to boarding, was sure it didn’t get recorded and watched it again (sure not registered) When checking in at the port our first direction was to head to our muster station and got checked off and given a couple safety instructions. When we got to our cabin we found we couldn’t see anything on TV until we watched the video. The second and third video were both more detailed than the previous one. I feel I got more retained information from the videos and visit to muster station than I had from the pre covid process where you go to your muster station where you then wait for everyone to show up and just want to get vacation started.

Not sure if this is included in the sticky. One thing that has been talked about on the forum and I had as an the option, is a better flight with paying extra, like $2000/p in our case. We are going with the flights that are only the deviation fee extra. The main point, you do get you choice if you deviate.

I had two RSS cruises booked. One of them my TA was able to get the discount of 2 suite class higher and the other one did not get it because it would have had a cost. So it really depends on the situation and I would recommend having your TA work the changes.

We are heading to the Voyager in a couple of weeks. We have been on the Navigator, Explorer and Voyager. The Explorer is very nice, so nice you can forget you are on a ship. Well I like being on a ship. When you look at the size of Concierge on the Explorer vs Voyager, need to compare the suite size separate from the balcony size. The Explorer Concierge suite is only about 25 Sq Ft larger. We also book based on itinerary, but we still really like the Voyager and the Navigator. I do not hesitate at all booking either the Voyager or the Navigator.

I always have our cruises handled by my TA. (I take care of details for land vacations). My TA has much better ways to get to the cruise companies. I research the cruise we want and let our TA handle it from there. Anything I want to change gets taken care of. I have all the control and none of the hassle. Additionally, if I have problems on the trip, myTA will answer the phone and be able to assist.

What is "The Gift of Travel"

We have always used Regent tours, some that had an extra costs. I cannot remember where we had a tour we didn't like. I am a risk avoider and when you are on a Regent excursion, the ship will wait if something happens and you are late getting back. The only thing that I am not happy with is the activity rating that they give. One of the excursions I have booked for upcoming cruise had no activity rating and the description sounded like it was fairly laid back visit to a heritage site. I printed it out and DH noted that it had an activity rating of "3 people" We will have time to talk with destination services about this, because the description still sounds fairly laid back.

Mike Moore - thank you for your help. One less thing to worry about.

It is RT Cape Town with pre-cruise to Victoria Falls. mrlevin, I appreciate your comments; but would still like to see it from Regent.

I am getting nervous since we have a pre-cruise land trip, so we are leaving in two weeks. Got all on line check in complete except for safety video, so just waiting for the next step in the process.

It is up to the Captain (and probably CD) when to change times. Our experience has been that this will be done on nights before sea days. I suggest not over thinking this too much or you might think the time has changed when it hasn't. On the nights the time will change your attendant will place a note on your pillow when they turn the bed down. If you are ever in doubt as to the time, a channel on the TV will give the ship's time. The ship's time is gospel.

The detergent is the type that will not damage the ocean, I do not remember a scent.

We did Egypt and Suez Canal in 2012. We had a couple of tours that included lunch. We didn't worry about ice since there was none. We had no problem with any of the lunches. Take plenty of water from the ship so you don't get tempted to drink some water served with the meal. We spent 3 nights at a very nice hotel in Cairo and didn't even think about worrying about any of the food here. No problems.

We had connections in LHR in September, we had a 6 hour layover. We got our luggage on arrival at our final destination. I think the length of layover was what got it on our connection.

Thank you, that worked. Do you know when December departures will be posted?

I found the web page once, but cannot find it back. It showed various upcoming cruises and then listed any unique requirements for that cruise. Our cruise was not listed but it was right at the 30 day mark and I thought something may be added. I really want to make sure we have all the details of what is needed to board.

We are getting $300 OBC , but it has not shown up in our account yet, don't know how long that will take. I want to book a Regent's Choice excursion. If I go ahead and pay for the excursion, when the OBC turns up, will it automatically be used for the excursion? I know from quite awhile ago, to use this OBC I would have had to cancel the excursion and then rebook it. I think things have been made much easier to use the OBC on excursions. Wondering about this situation.