welshfamily

Our plane was late leaving Rome. Just did a transfer in Frankfurt in under 30 mins. We ran…and then the plane was delayed. Steps off the airplane then a bus to the terminal. This was even through passport control. The assistant pushed us to the front. Hard work but we managed. I always think it’s worth allowing a good 2 to 3 hours in Frankfurt to avoid stress. If you want to enjoy a coffee, bathroom break to freshen up in the lounge before a long return flight even longer is no hardship. Barcelona is a decent airport as well.

Via Regent Uk I did a special request for Pepsi Max for adult children’s cabin received Pepsi diet not the same but good enough and plenty of it.

Thank you for your comments. cruisevirgin24. Sorry we do not drink tea however there was a large box of different teas available at afternoon tea therefore you should get a choice. We did see at least 2 different people putting tea bags into a teapot up in Le Terrace. Staff were very helpful and at coffee connections really hot water was available. Claranda. We really enjoyed the ship. We knew it was an older ship and had read the poor reviews which is why I posted such a long review. We have been cruising for over 15 years. The cruise was excellent. Was it perfect ..No .. but I have found life is very rarely perfect. The majority of the crew were excellent, we met some lovely people, we were feed, watered and entertained. We enjoyed ourselves. Hope you have a great cruise. Ping pong. Another member of staff brought a second sundae out a few minutes later. It was delicious. Flossie. Husband asked Steward for Tote bag. We were told they would be provided later in the cruise. Mid way point he asked reception. Container had been late at port and hopefully they would get a further supply in Barcelona. Never arrived. He was disappointed because he has 3 different pairs of glasses, sun screen, his sun hat, his kindle, sometimes a book and assorted other extras as well as his key card which he takes to the pool. No suitable bags were available for purchase in the shops. I managed to buy three purses when we browsed so all was not lost😁 Note to self….pack one of the dozen or so pool bags stored in the attic next time …and cut out the hassle.

I would press the issue. We waited quite some time before finding out no hotel was being provided. However we were going to Lisbon, easily found a hotel and all worked out brilliantly. Hotels were rising in price everyday due to a visit by the Pope hence the need for speed if you are travelling soon and in a similar position. I have no experience of Hotels in Buenos Aires so I don’t have any practical advice.

Just back. Have posted review. Happy to answer any questions.

Hope this review is not too long. Embarkation We had been warned by Regent by email that transportation was problematic due to the Popes visit to Lisbon. Our original disappointment re no night in hotel and the lack of transfers had become totally understandable when we were actually experiencing the total closure of the centre of Lisbon and the mayhem caused by added 40,000 young people and their Priests, nuns, responsible adults etc to the mix. Our hotel arranged both collection from the airport and transfer to the cruise terminal and both were flawless. The only problem being we were delivered to the port at 10am. Happily we were able to drop of luggage and after a quick look at the seats provided decided to find a cafe along the promenade for coffee to kill an hour or so. This idea was a non starter as it started to rain heavily. At the same time coaches started arriving …3 full from the airport. Much to our surprise by 10.20 am the port started check in and just after 11.00 we were invited to board. Our Suite. We had two suites concierge on Deck 9. At first I was concerned re the size of the cabin. We are used to bigger. However the bathroom was excellent and the walk in wardrobe made all the difference to the useable space. Pros walk in wardrobe, bathroom, placement of makeup/ mirror area between wardrobe and bathroom. Comfortable sofa. Sofa furnishings tiptop. Cons. Balcony doors poor condition, particularly on Balcony side. Chairs did not work … should have reclined. No replacements. Bathroom Ventilation cover … heavy metal fell off ceiling …twice narrowly missing husbands head the first time. After second time new one fixed. No tote bag. We didn’t pack pool bag as planned to use these. Steward …. Pleasant but useless. Suite serviced in afternoon quite a few times. Had to keep ringing for laundry bags, ginger ale for fridge etc. Didn’t use coffee maker as only espresso cups, no mugs, we took turns walking to coffee connections at 6.30 am. Coffee here was excellent. Non of these things were more than a nuisance. Laundry Out before 9 am back before 5pm every time. Ship. Excellent condition. Plenty of seating areas, bars. No hogging of sun beds, never struggled to find two or four together. Service. Compass Rose the first night was appalling. We watched in horror for 2 hrs 40 minutes whilst our server ran around trying her best to serve all her allocated tables. A collision with another server using the same station had obviously hurt her but she carried on regardless. We were sat next to the station. The icing on the cake was my uncooked soufflé. We tried to catch her attention but in the end left. Really thought then we had made a huge error. Reported concerns to Reception and by chance the next morning got into the lift with food and beverages manager. The mark on which we judge a hotel/ ship / resort is not on what goes wrong but how the management reacts. He knew my name, had read my concerns and had just left a message for me. Yes, Compass Rose was chaotic. No he understood I didn’t give a damn about an uncooked soufflé, however I did care about a server who was run off her feet and could have been hurt. He would sort it. Compass Rose was excellent there after. We did note that the girls had assistants every evening after the first night. Bar service, Le Terrace , outstanding. Food. On the whole excellent. Choice, Quality etc in both Compass Rose and Le Terrace excellent. Only miss was steak in Prime 7 … poor. one inedible dish Beef wellington in Compass Rose …too salty to eat. All four of us could not eat it and one of us has Cystic Fibrosis and as a child would try to drink from the salt seller……he craves salt. However when you are eating 5 courses ….who cares…..it is impossible to go hungry on Regent. In Prime 7 we took your many recommendations and had the Popcorn sundae. Unfortunately the server slipped whilst placing mine on the table and it bounced off my chest and landed in my lap. The poor man. There was a deadly silence, a gasp from the next table and……… I have always had a black sense of humour …the look on the servers face, and my fellow diners, surrounding guests…. I started to laugh …..it was slap stick comedy at its best …he tried to wipe me down … then realised he was wiping my breasts …..he fell back in horror…..and I laughed even harder. I am well into my sixties, …he was a nice young man…. Question…. Was this a Pro or a Con ? Or is that an unacceptable question these days? The Mariner is a small ship. I had so many people stop to chat to me after that as the story must have gotten around. From the reaction of the Staff that sort of thing doesn’t happen often. My dress … hand wash only leave to air dry was returned in perfect condition by the Laundry team. I just wrote the instructions on a laundry slip and gave to Steward. No management involved. Entertainment. Better than expected. Excursions. We did 8 from 11 ports. Three outstanding, Three good. one reasonable One poor. This was due Regents lack of thought…. stupidity…. Pick a word. Image putting 12 excursions onto one ferry at a tender port. We were number 1. Waited for an hour for ferry with no explanation, however we soon realised what was happening as more and more people got off the tenders.It took 20 to 25 minutes to get everyone on and off 4 times. The excursion was an exercise in frustration. Still the small tour people…no idea how many really made their frustrations known. Hope they got a refund. Only real complaint. No sea days so we decided to make one ourselves and treat ourselves to an afternoon on the pool deck. Sat down at 2pm and at 2.10pm was told pool deck closing as deck party BBQ that night and crew needed to prepare. Wish we had had notice. Nothing in Passages about Pool deck not being available that afternoon. We would have changed things around. Wi-Fi, Poor. Was going to do live from but gave up trying on second day. Value for money. On the whole we liked the fully inclusive aspect. Did we drink our share of Alcohol. No but we liked drinking when we wanted to. Did we spend extra on champagne Yes but we were always going to. The Included excursions made us get off our sun beds and experience different things. We came back tired but had very little laundry…big plus. Would we book again. Oh Yes already looking.

Really enjoyed reading your blog. Should have been packing ( or at least sorting out what to take) as we leave in 4 days for our pre cruise trip in Lisbon. We are wondering if we should mix clothes in cases. Again this is not something we normally do. May I ask why you had to have official COVID tests? We have had an email saying advice only. Only sensible. We will self test at home and take self testing lateral flow tests to test at the hotel before we board. Only for the protection of fellow guests. Two of us have had the 4th boaster and all are feeling fit.

We wondered about this issue last year. Left from Barcelona flew back from Rome into Uk. Stamped as returning at airport. No issue when flying out to Tenerife at Easter. However when disembarking at Southampton year before no sign of customs just left ship and collected car Will now make sure last years cruise Documents are on Phone now just in case. Please let us know how you get on

Well said.

I agree with MamaMindy and Ctart. We are new Regent cruisers. In the Uk we received blank luggage labels. Nothing else. Not coloured by deck or even a stateroom number on them. Although this subject has been discussed on here it was a huge disappointment when opening the envelope to find just blank labels….not even a lousy piece of paper for the UK guests!!! In contrast we have received on average 3 mailings from Regent each week since we booked over 6 months ago. Following advice from other Uk posters I rang Regent Uk and asked as first time cruisers if we might have the suitcase luggage tags which I believed they still had a stock of. The answer was No. It’s all very well to say Covid gave cruise companies debts however IMHO appearances are everything in the world of cruising and Regent have dropped the ball in our eyes.

We love the duck and watermelon salad. I believe it is a very popular dish. Does the Mariner have PR dishes as daily specials ? If not who do we ask if this is possible on the Mariner? Getting excited we have under two weeks till we sail.

Thank you. That is our ship and sail date. We have already goggled this information which is for the 1st of August. However the cruise before has an overnight in Lisbon and the private transfer company says the ship will not overnight at the passenger terminal because of capacity issues and if this is not the case you would think Regent would know this ( or the other way around) …. If you follow me. Lisbon seems to be a popular embarkation port this year. Hence our need for more information. Regent Uk do not know why the details are not yet known. Our hotel is close to Santa Apolonia and we can stroll and see if the ship is there. We may be better getting a taxi instead of a booked car and then it will not matter where the ship is as the concierge in the hotel will probably be able to find out. Just curious as to why this information is not known.

Duplicate post. not sure how that happened.

The boarding passes have cruise port and terminal yet to be decided on them. We have never come across this before. Can understand the terminal might not yet have been allocated but cannot understand why the cruise port hasn’t. Lisbon has two cruise ports approx 4 miles apart. That’s is why we have posted … how we will find out where to Embark.

We have completed our on line check in and got our boarding passes however the terminal and cruise port have yet to be decided. We embark in Lisbon in under 3 weeks. There are two cruise ports in Lisbon, quite some distant apart . How will we find out which cruise port our ship will dock in? Does Regent send an email the morning of embarkation? Is this normal? Thanks

Just had email from Regent. We sail in 25 days. On one hand it says no need to prove vaccination status and on the other hand advises to have a PCR test or antigen test within 3 days of travel. Hope this helps answer your question. The Regent Family looks forward to welcoming you aboard soon. As you prepare for your journey, we would like to advise that this sailing welcomes all guests on board regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status and without the requirement of proof of a COVID-19 test prior to embarkation. In addition, there are a number of important considerations we would like to advise you of before traveling to join the cruise. SailSAFE Health & Safety Program Routinely evaluated using the latest science and technology, SailSAFE™, our Health & Safety Program, creates multiple layers of protection against COVID-19 for our guests, crew and the communities we visit. You can learn more about our cleaning, sanitation and air filtration technologies used across our fleet and more at RSSC.com/HealthSafetyProtocols. Pre-Cruise Testing & Embarkation Arrival Time Though not required to embark the ship, for the comfort and safety of all guests and crew, Regent strongly encourages all guests to take a COVID-19 PCR or Antigen test within 3 days of embarkation date. Should guests require assistance finding a COVID-19 testing location prior to departing home or while traveling, please click here to visit the Test for Travel website. Additionally, we have partnered with Inspire Diagnostics to provide hassle-free, online testing for our guests. Please click here for more information. Prior to embarkation, all guests will be required to complete a health and safety questionnaire. As a reminder, to help ensure a smooth and comfortable embarkation experience, we ask that all guests adhere to their port arrival time selected during the Online Check-In process. Guests arriving outside of the designated arrival time may be requested to return during their port arrival time. COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Local Regulations At this time, we are not aware of any specific COVID-19 related health and safety protocols and regulations in the destinations which your cruise sails to which require action. Please note that travel restrictions for certain nationalities or countries may arise based on the quickly evolving public health environment and it is ultimately the responsibility of the guest to ensure they meet the entry requirements for each destination. If traveling internationally, the countries you are flying to and/or connecting through may have different testing and vaccination/booster stipulations, and we encourage all travelers to visit the government and airport websites of every country they will be traveling to throughout their journey to familiarize themselves with their requirements. Travelers may be denied entry to a country or denied boarding of the ship if all country-specific requirements are not met. We also strongly urge all guests to travel with a latest generation smart phone or tablet with international calling and data turned on in the event that regulations change while you are traveling. Face Coverings At this time, face coverings are recommended but not required for guests on this cruise. We will continue to update our face covering policy as protocols evolve and change as policies are subject to local oversight of authorities in the jurisdiction(s) in which the ships are sailing. Should local regulations change, guests may be required to wear face coverings with short notice. Please note, certain airlines and in-destination venues and public transport services may implement their own policies, independent to the local jurisdiction, and we therefore recommend guests to travel with a supply of face-coverings. Travel Insurance and On-board Medical Facilities All guests are strongly urged to travel with comprehensive travel insurance with specific COVID-19 coverage. While our ships are staffed with professional medical teams and common prescription medications, anti-viralsand therapeutics, our ships do not accept medical insurance and guests must provide payment for all services, including any testing requirements for country entry or ship embarkation, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. Isolation and Quarantine Protocols Guests will only be tested while on board if they report symptoms consistent with COVID-19, and it is deemed a medical necessity by the ship’s doctor, unless required due to local public health requirements. In the event thata guest tests positive for COVID-19 while on board, mandatory isolation protocols must be followed per the current local health and safety regulations. Guests who are deemed to have come into close contact with another guest who has tested positive for COVID-19 while on board, may also be subject to local isolation protocols. All guests are strongly urged to travel with comprehensive travel insurance. Post-Cruise Testing For guests whose onward travel requires a COVID-19 test to return home, COVID-19 tests are the guest’s responsibility to arrange and pay for. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us using the numbers below. Our commitment is to offer you the safest and most enjoyable cruise possible — we are here to help. Sincerely, Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises Reservations Phone Numbers: • United States / Canada: 1.844.4REGENT (1.844.473.4368) or (954) 776-6123 • United Kingdom: 023 8082 1390 • Rest of Europe: +44 23 8082 1350 • Australia / New Zealand / Asia Pacific: 1.300.455.200 • Latin America / Brazil: 0800 400-3132 or +1 (954) 940-7486 Please note that this email address does not accept replies. This email was sent by: Regent Seven Seas Cruises 7665 Corporate Center Drive ~ Miami, FL, 33126, USA

Irishwitchy, I suppose flat is like food ….subjective😁 Yes Parc Guell is up a hill but other than the final 10 minutes we found it a gradual slope upwards and an easy walk down. We stayed by Sagrada Familia. However compared to where we live, even the road we live on ….Barcelona is flat. We walked everywhere, taking plenty of breaks. Son has lung problems and therefore sets the pace and the rest breaks. We found many great cafes etc ( important to stay hydrated 🥤🍷 . ) Walking is the best Physio for him however taxis were plentiful and cheap….again compared to home. We always do the Hop on bus in a new city we call it the hop on …stay on to get our bearings. We saw so much whilst walking the streets, places we would not have seen from the metro or a taxi. Our cruise in August overnights in Barcelona and we are looking forward to it even thought it is less that a year since we were last there.

Love cinnamon buns and If we do not get sticky buns either ( one of our favourites on Oceania ) can I ask what the croissants like? and the other pastries treats? Only eat these on cruises or other holidays but do really enjoy if freshly baked. Are these things good from room service? If not what are your recommendations? After reading the breakfast thread ( not open until 7am) we have realised that we will have little time for a leisurely breakfast as we have a lot of 8am tours and are assuming meeting times will be at least 15 mins before hand.

Ours for Lisbon was £1500 per person. We had just decided to buy when Regent cancelled both pre cruise and hotel and transfers. The Pope is coming to Lisbon and bring 40,000 youths 😱😱. For losing the pre cruise hotel and transfers we got just £200 per stateroom ( concierge). TA informed us credits for Hotel and transfers have been steadily dropping this year. I would get fixed prices for both and compare if you feel DIY would be too much hassle.

Alternatively you can easily DIY Barcelona. Book in advance for the sagrada familia (they run guided tours which are excellent) and Parc Guell ( again with guide). Poble Espanyol is also well worth a visit as is the old hospital….now a tourist attraction. Then plan your days accordingly. Can I recommend the Sagrada in the evening. With all the lights in the stain glass windows it is very impressive. Barcelona is flat and easily walkable if you are fit or don’t mind ambling along taking your time and stopping regularly for refreshments. That was our preferred method. Alternatively the hop on bus is quite useful as is the Metro. We have been on tours quite a few times from various cruise ships however last summer we spent 3 days before a cruise exploring with just one fixed item each day and we discovered a totally different Barcelona. We had a wonderful time. I hope you will.

Thanks for the link. We were bringing our own insulated bottles which keep water cold most of the day. May I ask How long does the water keep cool with the extra insulation and is the strip long enough to wear cross body. We are in The Mediterranean in August and it will be HOT.

Are there any Europeans on your cruise who will exchange your dollars for Euros at an agreed exchange rate. We have done this in different currencies with people we have shared tours with, chatted on the roll call or simply met on the cruise. Granted the first time it happened was on an Asian cruise where lots of different currencies came into play and some people we had lost to at Trivia ( a frequent occurrence unfortunately) were stuck but we have also done this on a European cruise where we were sharing several excursions with a couple and it worked well. We always keep a supply of Euros and dollars particularly small notes and useful coins to avoid this if possible as coins in any currency are not supplied here when exchanging money. To be honest we also have a collection of notes we are probably never likely to use again and some obsolete notes as well.

Here in the UK, even with deviation, flights are not ticketed until between 70 and 60 days before sailing. We upgraded to Business we were extremely flexible but still could not reserve seats ( we need 4 ) until 63 days out. All worked out well and we have booked 4 seats together. We were, however, surprised at this as Oceania ticket straight away when you deviate. All are short flights therefore we did not stress. TA told us not to worry as the airlines knew 4 business class flights had been sold on all our legs and we should not have a problem. He was correct. Surely this must be the case with all business class seats. Hope this is reassuring.

We upgraded to business class which is not included in the Uk. None of our 4 choices were available. Although in took over 4 hrs and we had to travel a day before we had planned Regent did give us good flights and waived the deviation fee when we agreed to pay for the extra night in their as yet undecided hotel. We were quite happy.

At least this happened before you booked. We are in a different position. Regent could not get us to Lisbon on the day of the cruise. Manchester our nearest airport is a hub. However we were to shuttle to Heathrow, stay overnight …..at our own expensive and fly early the next morning. A night in Heathrow was a deal breaker. Our TA suggested we upgrade to concierge. Flights were available the day before , all transfers and a night in the hotel. We booked. Deposits in the Uk are non refundable. We then noticed we did not have business class flights. The next morning Our TA and Regent worked hard to get us flights but none available. Regent then suggested we went another day earlier however we would have to pay for the extra night in the hotel. Transfers still included. We agreed even though the hotel had yet to be allocated. Regent did not charge us a deviation fee … this seemed a fair exchange. We were quite happy. After all post covid air travel can be an experiment in patience and an extra day in Lisbon was no issue. Forward a few weeks No hotel or transfers because of a visit by the Pope. Again this seemed fair enough however then our TA informed us we would receive just £200 ( $250 ) per stateroom to cover transfer from the airport a night in a hotel and transfer to the port. This amount would not book a night in a youth hostel never mind a hotel. To cancel we would lose our deposit for the two staterooms over £4500 ($5700). Since then we have lost a port of call. It’s not the money, we and I assume everyone who sails on Regent can afford a couple of taxis and a hotel. It’s the assumption by Regent that we cannot see the how little they were prepare to spend on a hotel. Now I know Regent would get a trade rate at a hotel but obviously it’s a lot less then it costs their passengers when they cannot honour their advertised product. We thought we were a one off. Just unlucky. It seems not.