bebop bonnie

FUNNY!!!!

My future travels don't take me to Asia until next year, so I don't feel the frustration and anxiety so many of you are experiencing. I can appreciate that stress! However, obviously those directly affected with the illness or exposure is of greater concern to all of us. I also think that while Regent is perhaps not communicating as quickly as we'd like.... I have a friend ready to sail on another luxury cruise line, experiencing the similar lack of communication. Having said that, I do feel great empathy for everyone in the travel business effected by this (which pretty much means the total travel industry). For the cruise and airline industries, and particularly the travel agents, I can't imagine the stress they are all feeling. Travel agents are clearly caught in the middle, waiting for direction from the cruise lines, trying to keep their clients calm and scrambling to reschedule, and keep together so many components of any trip/cruise. Just my thoughts.

Love reading this thread...thank you so much! One of my favorite dishes at Pacific Rim is a starter course of Duck and Watermelon salad. I know, it doesn't make sense and I can't begin to describe it to you, but it's sensational! Enjoy .. and again, thank you for sharing!

Hey, Wendy, I'm really impressed. Never did just carry on (wheelie, roll aboard, whatever!) for any cruise. But...for land trips, always! My personal best was 17 days in Saigon, Hoi An, Hanoi and Bangkok! I was really proud of that one! 😃.

You can add my name to the Prakash Fan Club! And one of the most important reasons we love Regent.... there are so many wonderful people that take care of us all. But Prakash is indeed special!

Thank you, Jackie, as always for you incredibly informative comments, responses (to all our never-ending questions!) and photos! Love all your posts....and the kitties are precious!!

Thank you all for your wonderful posts and photos. Hope you'll continue posting for a bit with 'post cruise afterthoughts'. One question...Perhaps I missed it in this thread, but were there any refurbishments done in the suites besides recarpeting? We sailed on the last cruise before dry dock and will be back on the Explorer again in March. Can't wait! And, as always, thank you for taking us all with you on this journey!

We have always had wonderful butlers. On our last two cruises on Explorer we were beyond fortunate to have Prakash. He arranged a cocktail party for 8. He rearranged the living room, had flowers, served cocktails and created a magnificent display of spectacular canapés. I felt like the only thing missing from this party was the bride! On a Voyager cruise, I tripped on the curb in Rome. Don't ask. The ship's doctor said it was just a bad sprain. Our butler saw me limping back to our suite and without me asking, brought ice for my ankle practically every hour! And the next morning, he served breakfast with a side of more ice bags. Just two of the many experiences I'll always remember!

I'm so jealous...not only are you enjoying the Explorer....but Prakash also!!!! He is amazing. Please tell him Bonnie and Debbie send hugs!! Thanks, Briar 14!!

We also stayed at the Peninsula, about 6 months ago. Loved it! No upgrade but the room, a level or two above entry level room was absolutely stunning. Probably one of my top 5 favorite hotels!

I've missed seeing you on CC, Jackie, so glad all is well. Look forward to reading all of your posts!!

In my experience, the food on Regent is consistently outstanding. However, even if Regent could manage to serve stone crabs, it couldn't top Joe's!

Just did Miami to Frankfurt and on to Venice. Luggage was checked all the way through. Gate to gate in Frankfurt took about 25 minutes with an insignificant stop at immigration. And transiting in Frankfurt was way easier than going through Heathrow.

Thank you both! And ronrick1943...which date? We'll be on E March 2.

I think I'm starting to sound redundant .... once again a fantastic Regent cruise. The Explorer looked as beautiful as a year ago, even though it was heading for dry dock.. Wish I could age that well!! Food was outstanding as always. Pacific Rim is still my favorite, but every meal (and those in between!) was superb. And the service was once again beyond perfection! There were a few experiences I think worth mentioning. We were in the Constellation Theatre with our tickets and about to board the tender for Amalfi. At the very last minute (8:15am) it was announced that the port had to be cancelled. The seas didn't 'appear' to be very rough, but the Captain determined that the tenders just were not safe enough and the port was cancelled.. Of course we were looking forward to a wonderful day on the Amalfi coast, but ship happens..... What I found amazing was how the entire crew went immediately to Plan B. Within an hour, a new schedule for the unexpected Sea Day was delivered to our suite. New activities were offered and Chartreuse and Prime 7 were opened for lunch, along with CR and La Veranda. Service throughout the day didn't skip a beat! I can't imagine how the F & B staff had to scramble to accommodate a full ship instead of anticipating that a majority of passengers would be ashore that day. Speaking of difficulty with the tenders... when we were in Portofino two days later, the seas unexpectantly picked up at about mid day. It was pretty challenging coming back on the tender at about 3pm. We were definitely rocking and rolling! But at 5, when the last tender was returning to the ship, many of us were on our balconies, holding our breath as we watched that tender trying to get to the ship. The tender finally was able to be hoisted up onto the ship, after bobbing around in the swells for a very long time! The staff handling the tenders, and us, were absolutely phenomenal! And a most unexpected highlight of this cruise was when we returned to the ship from a day in Firenze. We did the "Florence On Your Own" excursion. We had done the same excursion a year ago on the Voyager. We don't often do ship excursions, but when in a port we know well, and it's a distance from port to city, we take advantage of the complimentary motor coach or train. Our day in Firenze was, as always, sensational. As anticipated, we arrived back at the ship at about 6:15. Have happily and gratefully cruised on Regent many times but never experienced the reception we received when we began to board the ship from our motorcoach. As we stepped off the bus one of the butlers was there with hot towels and another with glasses of champagne. There then were a line on either side of the red carpet of about 50 + staff clapping, singing and welcoming us home, as a band played! We all took a while to get through the welcoming line of staff because we kept hugging them! We always are greeted with smiles from the staff, but this was ridiculously fun!! Our fantastic butler, Prakash, told us they do that welcome frequently when a long full day tour is returning. And I can't wait to return. Finally, I'm listening to many of you (and my TA!) and doing a better job of planning and booking ahead. So, we now have two Explorer and one Splendor cruises in our future! Can't wait!!