mj_holiday

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.

We stayed at Hotel Porto Bay on Copacabana for 3 nights. It has a great view of the ocean, lots of local restaurants to walk to. We went to Ipanema Beach one afternoon and my impression was that it is mostly condos and not many restaurants on the beach.

Agree the poll is rather biased. Of course it depends on the port where embarkation is taking place, but we will usually head to the port after we leave our hotel (check out time 11-12 noon) and are prepared to wait until we can board.

We have taken a couple of 20-25 day cruises. Although it would be good if I lost some weight I really don't gain any, DH does. I will eat scrambled eggs and some muesli/fruit for breakfast, a lunch with no fries etc, and for dinner I will usually indulge (for me) some nicely grilled fish. (this is a luxury for me since I don't have to cook it). I will get dessert but stop after half of it. And yes we are more active and will take stairs about 50% of the time.

On the RSSC home page scroll to the bottom for Seven Seas Society. There is a list of perks for the various level. I've copied. Exclusive Seven Seas Society® savings on select voyages Access to online personal profile Seven Seas Society® cocktail reception on board Single guests earn double loyalty nights* Priority online dining reservations in Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim Priority online shore excursion reservations FREE one-hour phone time per suite Commemorative pin Society Pages Newsletter $100 Shipboard Credit (per suite) FREE unlimited WiFi with four log-ins, for up to four devices FREE two hours of additional phone time (three hours total) Priority disembarkation at voyage completion in select ports Choice of newspaper service from papers around the world Exclusive activities onboard or ashore on every voyage If you Mom is close enough to Platinum that this cruise would get her to Platinum, she is eligible for those perks as soon as she gets on board (at least it use to be that way). Also on RSSC home page go to Menu (upper left) ->Our Ships and select Voyager. Here you will find a description of the various suites and each has a link to Amenities which will explain what you get with each level of suite.

Thank you all for your answers and examples. I have been wanting to give Sette Mari another try, and will just do that in a little over a month.

DH and I have been to Sette Mari twice (maybe only once) and I just thought chaos and crowded as people are getting up making their way past seated guests to go to a selection of food. Maybe didn't give it a chance, but just didn't understand when to get up to get food, when do you order drinks or food etc. So we haven't been back. Ready to give it a try on our next cruise, especially since I heard that there is roasted garlic someplace. (we are not buffet people). So Sette Mari fans, give me a course in eating dinner there, please.

Thank you for taking us along with you. Loved your description of the Meze and Ouzo tour. Glad you gave the Block Party another try. Some cruises this could end up being the only time you get to meet your neighbors.

Several accommodations won't make the ship look like a nursing home. We avoid the chairs in the lounges that are both low and heavy, so we sit at the bar. But a heavy comfortably padded chair closer to dining room chair height would easily get more use. An interesting experiment would be to put 5 or 6 of these near the perimeter of the observation lounge, and see how they are used compared to the low, slanted armless chairs. These are ships that move and a couple grab bars to help you get in an out of the shower would benefit anyone trying to shower when the boat is moving. There were grab bar like railings in the Navigator veranda suites that were removed with the dry dock several years ago. This bar also helped during rough seas. We will ask for an additional straight back chair in our suite since the couch is difficult to get up from and difficult to sit on when you dine in.

I am sure that the laundry soap is environmentally friendly to the ocean.

This was several years ago. It was all Regent passengers (extra fee) and we got checked in while on the train. It was a lovely ride, haven't heard about anything about this recently.

Thank you for posting about your trip, great information. Istanbul is one of our favorite cities. Another place to think about going to is Topkapi Palace. Then when back home check out a copy of "Topkapi" movie from your library. Great movie to watch along with visiting Istanbul.

When I started thinking about a cruise to Alaska I was still working and on a business trip with people from other sites. On person I had just met was talking about his Alaskan cruise very favorably. One thing he said that stuck with me was to start in Alaska and sail down because the neatest scenery would then be in the first days of the cruise when you are fresh and ready to see everything. You will be less likely to get excited about scenery during the last couple of days. A couple years later I got the chance to follow his advice and that worked wonders. We stayed at the Hilton in Anchorage which is nice and instead of a bus to Seward we took a train which was just great. The scenery to Seward is wonderful and we had commentary given about the areas we were passing by. One picture opportunity I missed was at a lake in Anchorage with the entire shoreline filled with airplanes on pontoons and their shed for tools etc.

For US travelers - what is the daily amount of gratuities added to your account? As someone who worked for tips through high school and college, it is pitiful that someone will decide to judge you and base your pay on that judgement. With so many different tipping cultures, this does need to be discussed.

We did a land vacation last month in Europe. We had no problem with bags going to Europe. Connection time in LHR was very long. Coming home had no issues until we got to our final airport DFW. At the previous connection my AirTags showed that our suitcases were last seen very close to the airplane, closest I had seen for AirTags. (I have never gotten a reading from AirTags when they are on the airplane). As we were walking to baggage in DFW I got an email that our bags were delayed, and yes AirTags showed they were still in IAD. Baggage personnel were no help (at first) about filling out a claim. Since we were driving to OKC the next day, the attendant said I needed to fill out the claim there (the next day!). Finally a supervisor was called and got the claim filled out at DFW. The Supervisor called me about 10 minutes later to give me the routing of the bags to get to me (none of that happened). The next day every time I called I was given a story about what plane they were on or they were on their way. I was able to explain to them that the AirTags in the bags told me different, and then they would start checking the status. The AirTags gave me the information so I could push back when they gave me "pulled from the air" status. Finally found a baggage person in OKC who said she could pull the bags and I got them the next morning. Don't think this could have happened if I had waited until we drove to OKC to work the claim. I was told, after I completed the claim, that the bags had been pulled aside in IAD to be handled to get to me.

The best place to get some nice scotch (and other liquors) will be in the duty free in a large airport, hopefully you will be traveling through one. (PRE-COVID) And they will bag it so you can take it one the plane. If you are returning to the USA when you buy some, and changing planes in the US, you will need to pack the liquor in checked baggage after you clear customs before you recheck your bags. In other words, the bagging of the duty free liquor or cologne will only get you on the very next airplane, any connections you then have will require you to put it in your suitcase.

That is a benefit for guests with Gold status. We have one delivered and then on sea days DH will spend some time in the library reading other newspapers

The way I understand air travel from a none gateway airport, is that you will probably need to pay additional for that flight, but you will be able to check luggage all the way to embarkation airport. One way something wouldn’t be checked through is if first flight is with an airline that doesn’t interface with others like Southwest.

I think for embarkation any apparel is okay, What you traveled in that day, casual and comfortable. You will want to change at 6pm for the evening.

I was checking the Excursions for our Spain Intensive Voyage departing 25 March 2023. The first of the two nights in Seville an Azamazing evening of Flamingo Dancers is scheduled the Cartuja Center.

My experiences with pre and post transfers have been PreCOVID. For our Alaska cruise, I think most/every passenger ends up spending the night before hand in Anchorage. I do not remember any chaos on getting to the hotel. And it seemed very organized getting us to the train for the trip to the ship. Our last cruise PreCOVID ended in New York. There were several busses lined up as we got off the ship. We already had an assigned bus to get us to the airport. Before the bus left a Regent Rep came on board to make sure everyone was on the correct bus. When the port is something totally new to us, we are more likely to take the PreCruise transfers and hotel and transfer to the airport.

Thanks Papaflamingo