Jamietravelstheworld

I am on Oceania Regatta in the fall of 2023 that has Shanghai and Hong Kong as ports of call and I am assuming neither will happen. If either does, I will be surprised. Shanghai is a bucket list city for me. I've been to Hong Kong before and loved it. I have a friend who is Chinese and from Hong Kong who lives in Australia who just returned to Hong Kong to visit family for the first time since COVID. She said it's not the same and to be glad I visited several years ago. It's not just COVID, it's the changes in the Chinese government and the crack down on human rights that started pre-COVID. Personally, as much as I'd like to go to Shanghai and back to Hong Kong, I'm okay if I miss these ports.

@SargassoPirate Your idea of the two cruise-only bags is a good one - thanks. I'm also leaning toward your 2nd idea of paring down the expectations of cruise only wear. I've learned that the evening dress code on the first cruise - Azamara - is fairly casual - but I know the 2nd cruise - Princess - is dressier and I'm not into dressing up much anyways. Thanks.

I am coming up on the date to be able to book shore excursions for a 50+ day cruise. Does anyone know of a way to download a PDF of all the excursions for an Oceania cruise? On long cruises I so much prefer to be able to print them out and read them and highlight the descriptions, rather than having to go through them online. I've asked my travel agent and she hasn't been able to find this either. Other cruise lines have this and this is my first Oceania cruise so I'm wondering if there's a way to do so. Thanks.

This might not be the right forum to post this question but I couldn't find a better one. I'm going to be traveling for 14 months, some by cruise ship and some by land. When traveling by land I am going to have as little luggage as possible, but when on ship, I need extra clothes for dinners. I know I can ship luggage to and from my home, but I'm trying to figure out if there's a way I can ship luggage between cruises and have it stored there. For example, I end a cruise in Lisbon on March 25, 2023 and my next cruise starts in Southampton on June 25, 2023. Rather than shipping a suitcase back to Seattle and then on to Southampton, do you know of a way I can ship it to London or Southampton and have it put in storage and then delivered to the ship in Southampton? I don't know anyone who lives in either port city who could help with this. I've looked online at the luggage shipping companies and none mention anything about storage. I will also have the same issue from Australia in December 2023 to Chile in February 2024. Thanks for any advice you have.

I just returned from the Mariner (8/31 - 9/7), Seward, Alaska to Vancouver, BC. This was my 2nd Regent cruise and probably my last as I just don't feel the experience justifies the cost. My first Regent cruise was in 2020 and was wonderful, even with it being aborted midway due to COVID. We booked this cruise to use our FCCs from the aborted cruise. While there was nothing terrible or really bad about the Mariner or the Alaska cruise, here's my feedback: The food was generally mediocre to poor, with the exception of Prime 7. Fish was the worst, and we were in Alaska. Most of the fish was clearly frozen, but given we were in Alaska, I would have expected fresh salmon and halibut. In fact, I never saw halibut and the chefs did not know how to cook salmon. (I live in Seattle and my son was a cook at a seafood restaurant here so I know what salmon should taste like). The texture of the fish was all wrong. Meats were generally under or overcooked, sometimes served cold, and rarely seared properly. Food was usually seriously under seasoned and vegetables seriously over cooked. The Wi-Fi was beyond terrible, worse than any cruise ship I've been on, and I paid for the upgraded streaming quality (which I did get a refund on when I complained about it). The Internet Manager was out sick the last few days of the cruise and there was no back-up crew person to help passengers or to help with the Internet Cafe computers, most of which had issues on the last day when everyone was trying to check-in for their flights. My friend found the one computer that seemed to work and we helped several people with their flight check-in. I totally get that crew get sick (which supposedly was not COVID) but there should have been someone from Guest Relations who could step in to help. The bathrooms in the Deluxe Veranda Suites (not sure about other suite types) were seriously outdated and in my mind fairly unsafe. There was only a tub/shower combo. To get in the shower, you had to step over a tub side that was at least 2 feet high, which when the ship was seriously rocking was dangerous. And if you were tall, once you were standing in the shower, your head hit the ceiling. My estimate was the ceiling was 6 feet from the tub bottom. With a rocking ship, I literally had to hold onto the safety bars with one hand to not fall while in the shower and then had only one hand free to shampoo, etc. I had peeling material in the bathroom sink and there was a constant chemical smell, I assume coming from the toilet. The ship was not full - I think there were around 560 passengers. Compass Rose was never busy, and the sommeliers seemed bored. We literally had 2 to 4 sommeliers offering to refill our wine glasses every 2 minutes. It became quite bothersome as we couldn't even finish a sentence with each other. This was my 4th trip to Alaska and my first late in the season. My first trip was to Juneau and was land only, in June 1995; my second was land only Anchorage to Fairbanks in June late 2000's; my 3rd was an NCL cruise in June or July early 2010's. The weather was great on all of those. I mention that because on this cruise the weather was pretty crappy. From Seward to Sitka the weather was rough - 50+ mph gusts and pouring rain at times - many people with seasickness and we had to skip Hubbard Glacier. From Sitka to Vancouver we had on and off light rain and gray skies, but much calmer waters. So if you're planning an Alaska cruise for late August/September, be aware of the weather potential. Lots of shore excursions were cancelled due to weather, especially those with helicopters or flights. Alaska is an amazing state definitely worth a visit, and a cruise is a great way to see it. I just didn't really enjoy this cruise, other than hanging out with my friends and seeing some wildlife.

There has been lots of discussion on visas in the various roll calls for the Africa cruises.

I'm on the August 31st departure and curious if you're still going to stop at Skagway given the rockslides at the port and some dock closures. What is Regent doing about that?

Thank you. There is a Safeway but it wasn't clear how long the test results take. Contacting Regent today.

Thanks, but we leave Anchorage before the 48 hour window.

Need to do pre-embarkation COVID testing in Seward before boarding Regent Seven Seas Mariner on August 27th. From googling can't find any testing in Seward. Does anyone know of any testing options?

Do you have a website for Broome and Beyond? I googled them and couldn't find them. Or does anyone have recommendations for Broome tours? I'm doing Oceania in 2023 and looking for tour options.

I loved Kuranda - did the train up and skyrail down. Once up there I did a combo with lunch (ate kangaroo which was fabulous), a safari type tour, a wildlife tour, the butterfly tour, and another tour. Do as much as you can.

Australia is an amazing country. The people are so friendly and welcoming. The country is beautiful. The wildlife (kangaroos, wallabys, koalas) incredible. Nothing like the Caribbean or Mexico or Mediterranean. If I could move to Australia I would (I'm American). Yes, it's far. I've been twice, once on a cruise and once on a land tour, and have a 3rd trip planned. Don't go for just a week or two, extend as long as you can. But remember Australia is as big as the U.S., you won't be able to see it all. Of the urban areas, Melbourne is my favorite (I've been to Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide - next trip will include Perth). I've also been to the Outback, which was a once in a lifetime experience, the Great Barrier Reef and Cairns, which I'd do again. Next trip, which is a circumnavigation of Australia will include Tasmania and Kangaroo Island. You can break up the flights with a stopover in Fiji or Hawaii. Getting there from U.S. you can keep on your normal sleep pattern as previous commenter said but coming home is harder. Jamie

You would need to purchase the visas.

This is what my travel agent told me today: "We need to wait until 90 days prior to sailing, to see which visas you will need but yes, you would purchase. Looking at the list of ports, they are transit visas meaning you are sailing thru and not staying in their country; therefore, most will be done onboard ship. Does this help ? I will help you thru it when time comes"

Thanks everyone.

Thank you. My travel agent just got back to me and said I'm under the boutique and that she's had a previous client in 4055 and it was very quiet.

Hello - I'm booking a long cruise on the Regatta - Tokyo to Sydney, and for outside cabins the only available are on deck 4. I generally don't like cabins that have public spaces above them but these are the only cabins I can afford that are available. Has anyone stayed in cabins 4006 or 4007 (or near there) on the Regatta? These are outside cabins and appear to be under the lounge. I'm wondering if you can hear steps/noise from the lounge in the cabin. Or what about 4049 which is under the dining room and near the reception desk? How is it for noise? Thanks.

I'll be on an Azamara cruise that has a day and a half in Walvis Bay next March. We arrive the first day at 3:00pm and there are no ship shore excursions that day. Is there anything to do near the port? Should I look to book something on my own? There are lots of excursions to choose from for the following day and would love to have some options for the day we arrive.

We're spending 2 days in Seward pre-cruise in August and are looking for restaurant recommendations and things to do. We've already booked a Kenai Fjords cruise. I was in Seward in 2006 and remember really enjoying it but don't remember what we did. Thanks.

No Amtrak and most rental cars can't be taken into Canada. I live just north of Seattle and was hoping to take Amtrak from Vancouver back after a cruise in August. The train stops a mile from my house but no, I need to fly to Seattle. Amtrak says they haven't restarted north of Seattle yet because they're short staffed and it'll be late this year at the earliest before they restart.

Azamara. I'm doing b2b, Cape Town to Cape Town, and Cape Town to Lisbon, in late February and March 2023. You can do a safari to Kruger and elsewhere before either of the Cape Towns embarkations.

Will be on the Azamara Journey in March with a full day in Madeira (8a-5p). It seems there is so much to do. I tend to stay with cruise ship excursions to ensure I'm back on time but not of the ship excursions cover everything I want to do. Any suggestions for tours?