ChucktownSteve

My TA gives me the the choice: OBC, reduce the fare or check rebate after the cruise for about 9-10% of the base cruise price. Doesn't include taxes/fees. I always take the cash rebate and use my credit card which gives me 3% cash back on travel. Otherwise I would be giving back the credit card cash back on the reduced fare.

Did you have to pay extra for the steak strippers or just tip them?

I didn't like cold soup even in the 90's!

When I was selling B2B, I was also polite and friendly to receptionists and secretaries. Many times they were promoted to decision making capabilities. The same is true on cruise ships. How many times have you seen this occur? What goes around comes around.

Buffet? Not even close. 😃 They have a page of daily entrees. However you also have the flexibility of ordering anything you feel like eating, cooked to order and at temperature, such as surf and turf.

Kevin, This is Regent's everyday main dining room menu when we cruised them. I had a mixed plate of Lobster tail, Filet and scallops multiple evenings.

Our May 2025 cruise still doesn't have an Azamazing evening listed. Our December 2024 is on the ship.

You're exactly correct. I was booked on the Mercury to sail out of Charleston which they cancelled due to the sale. I had to move two weeks earlier out of Baltimore to be on her last sailing under X. That was February 2011 Anyone remember this sign on her?

I'm sorry to hear about your tangle with covid. I wish you a full and speedy recovery. I appreciate your well thought out response. Your analysis about the various cruise lines appears to mirror what I've seen from many on the boards and some of my experiences with a few of the lines you mentioned.. A lot has changed in the past several years. I'm not expecting it but am hoping our next three Azamara cruises still check the boxes. I have however dropped from five annual cruises to only two. When there is not as much enjoyment as there used to be, perhaps spacing them out helps rekindle the desire. Hopefully our upcoming bookings will make me want to go more often again.

Sometimes not everyone is as happy as you with their TA. Sometimes customers can be taken for granted which can happen after using the same TA for a long time. I want to see what benefits they're offering. I'm sure people can have other reasons. However anyone who is happy having their reservation automatically transferred can do so.

You're also not required to have your TA of record receive the reservation. Make sure you mention you don't want it automatically being transferred to them. Then you can play a couple of TA's off each other if you wish to negotiate better benefits from the TA. You can use the appropriate form within the deadline period to transfer to the TA of choice.

The only time you might be able to get a lay down seat domestically, is if the aircraft continues across the pond after the stopover.

Stuffing holey chickens with Emmental cheese?

If you don't mind the question, which do you feel was the best overall value for the experience presuming you selected itineraries you preferred?

I recently submitted my request for a February 2026 cruse which I received applied a few days later. I submit my first page and the page which shows the NCL holding. I actually delete everything on my statement pages except my name, date and address. The only thing I leave showing is the stock holding shares.. I even black out all financial purchase info and performance on that holding. Never had a problem on any shareholder benefit regardless of cruise line.

The price for a P1 on the Iceland sailing went from $20k to $22k from the 5th to the 7th but the same cabins are still available. At that cost, I'd rather sail Regent.

If you read JandMinToronto's previous post, they were in a suite on Celebrity Apex at the time of the webinar which included Premium WiFi.

I ignore the touted "sale" items. I find similar itineraries on different cruise lines. Following the pandemic, I did that with Celebrity and Regent. Comparing similarly sized suites, I found Regent a lower price pp/pn on three cruises. That was because Celebrity was trying to eat up all that excessive FCC issued through the pandemic so their rates went sky high while cutting back on services and quality. But Regent includes all specialty restaurants, gratuities, premium liquor (including liter bottles in your suite), excursions in every port, free pre-cruise hotel night for concierge and above suites, transfers, taxes/fees and more. At the time they also did a two category upgrade. As Tyler414 pointed out, the best time to book for pricing is earlier. I usually book two years out; when itineraries are first released. Only once in all my years have I found a better re-pricing due to a sale on any line I've sailed.

Not eating enough sauteed onions on the cruises?

The easiest way to determine when a sale is not a sale? Look for the word sale in the headline. They've been doing this for a long time. Make it up. Then put it on "sale". But the new sale price is not any cheaper than it was. Then they take away the "sale" price. Rinse and repeat.

Dynacruiser, your initial post nailed it IMO. As someone posted earlier, even the luxury lines can be disappointing to some at times as witnessed on their boards. Food is subjective. So it is possible for person who has sailed several lines can say they've been disappointed with a Luxury line meal while having better quality on a premium line. I've found AZ passengers less pretentious than our first Oceania cruise. I even found Regent passengers overall less than Oceania. Overall I look at what ticks the most boxes on a cruise. Azamara does it for me. Regent does it for me. Celebrity used to do it for me. Thus I too am glad RCG spun off AZ.

Here are screen shots of Azamara's three sailings in August 2026 to see the Eclipse. August 12 are sea days so hopefully they'll be positioned for 100% total Solar Eclipse. On the third one, sailing from France to Barcelona, they take a full day at sea so I suspect they'll pass by Spain for the eclipse then come back for debarkation the following morning.

I agree everywhere else but trying to get through the tight space where the food in Windows is served. It reminds me of that with people moving both directions obtaining the food while others are trying to maneuver between the two lines from both directions just to pass through at peak usage. Yeah I know there's the option to go out on the deck to get around which I sometimes do.

So that means a mob all trying to funnel through the gauntlet of offerings?

Any time! We usually book an aft P1 which can be cramped. However if you're sailing with us this Dec., we'll be trying the OS for the first time. We got a good value, IMO, by booking early in the Caribbean. We'll see how it compares and if we enjoy it. I wanted it for the view and bathroom. 😉