Kristal Blade

I’m sorry to hijack this with a packing question. It is about clothing, though! Will there be a robe and slippers in my room? I’m in a AA cabin. I leave on Sunday so packing is in full swing. I’m just hoping to be able to pack as simply as possible. We do have slippers we have “released” from other cruises which we could take! Thanks for any help.

In august this year we sailed HAL to Alaska with our family. Our grandkids adored the buffet there. One morning at breakfast my granddaughter (8 years old) offered to get me some more fruit. She returned with a full size bowl of chopped fruit! Instead of taking just a small glass cup portion she grabbed one of the bowls the staff were serving from! We nearly had hysterics, she thought she had done nothing wrong! The staff who spotted her with the bowl thought it was really funny. We returned it to them. But I think the paella pinchers were intent on keeping it to themselves!

Same here. We have made some friends for life at shared tables. Now that Covid is calming down we have been happy to share tables on our recent cruises but have found other passengers are more reluctant. I know Covid is still around, but it’s not as serious for most people. We are fully jabbed, have had and recovered from Covid and hope to be sharing tables and eating at the Ocean View, or equivalent on our next cruises.

Our Cartagena trip was similar but without the word “shopping”. However we were taken to an emerald “museum” that was really just a shop with a few dioramas about emeralds. We had free time to stroll the streets for about 30 mins, that was enough for us because it was really hot. Temperatures in the high 30s. But the colourful buildings, wooden balconies and decorative door knockers kept us happy! Beside the dock there is a little park with flamingoes, parrots and peacocks as well as a cafe and a souvenir shop. The tours drop you off right by the entrance and you stroll through there back to the ship.

Thank you, we had a similar issue on a recent cruise on a Regent ship. The walls had such a thick covering the magnets were no good inside. But I will stick some on my door, useful for leaving messages, although on a smaller river ship I think we might be able to find one another more easily! great, LTC, good to know there are different paced tours. I think I can cope without paying for laundry, we have lots of easy dry clothes. Nice to know there is a pre dinner drink offering. I don’t think we will want more than one each! Thanks for your speedy replies, if I think of any more questions I will post them.

Brilliant, thank you! We have done lots of sea cruises so I’m used to using the shampoo as clothes washing liquid! I think it’s more casual on the river than some of the sea cruise lines we have used so I’m not going to be taking much in the way of posh gear. I have several shirts from a company called “Seasalt” which are non iron. It’s my husband’s shirts which may be more of an issue. But there are worse problems to have and we can always overpack, which we usually do. I’m sure undies will dry overnight, as you say. Shore excursions sound fine, I was just worried we might have to go at a slow pace which would frustrate us. We had those headsets on a recent cruise and we would stroll off to the limit of the signal for our photos then scurry back to join the group, like naughty children. Another question now. Can we attach things to the cabin door and walls with magnets? Thanks jsn55

We have just booked our first river cruise on AmaStella in April this year. We sail from Amsterdam to Budapest. I’m hoping someone can answer a few random questions I have, please. Are the included sightseeing excursions good or are they slow paced and over explained? We like to sightsee on our own, taking lots of photos, but don’t want to miss out out on the best bits in each port. We are on board for 2 weeks, I know I will need to wash through some clothes. Is there a little washing line in the bathroom? Or a self serve laundrette? Is there a charge for any of the dining venues? If I want a pre dinner drink do I pay for it or is that included in the package? That will do for now, thanks for any answers!

Thanks pingpong1 No need for air conditioning here and ventilation to me is opening a window!

Thanks Papaflamingo, We have radiators, but they are of a more modern design than the ones in your picture! Think slimline. Like lincslady we have the 2 system boiler. Gas is cheaper than electricity so even though we do have the ability to heat our water by electricity the gas boiler does it more cheaply and, according to the engineer who fixed ours yesterday, much more efficiently. Now, who can tell me what HVAC is?

It’s a shame there isn’t a sympathy emoji we can add because you deserve it! Hope the repairs don’t take too long. Going away in March will be a terrific antidote.

Ok, our boiler heats water. There are pipes taking that hot water into radiators to heat the house. There is another set of pipes that are linked to a water tank, our hot water supply for bathing and washing dishes. We don’t have an automatic dishwasher!! Just our hands, if you can imagine that. Anyway, the plumbing system and boiler are maintained under a contract to our gas supplier. We use British Gas as our supplier. So, the plumber US style, came to fix the boiler for us. I called him an engineer as the boiler is a combo of pipes, gas powered equipment plus electric ignition system. Some plumbers only do water systems, such a toilets and showers, not the gas heating system. Our problem was a shorted out fan in the boiler. The weather has been wild during our absence. Torrential rain and high winds. Water was blown into the fan while the boiler was switched off (it vents to outside the house). When we tried to switch the boiler back on the fan shorted out, boiler kaput and not something we can repair ourselves. The best news is that it’s all repaired and only at a cost of £50 because we pay an additional amount every month as a sort of insurance against situations like this. We are warm and clean! Let’s wish everyone a safe and repair free journey home!

Gosh, we were lucky in comparison! It’s not too cold here so we are coping. Our neighbour has offered to let us shower in her house but we should see an engineer today.

Yes, that was the mildest terminology that I thought I could use! I kept it polite on paper, but our comments to one another used much more colourful language. Gas engineer should be here today. At least unpacking will keep us busy!

But… we had a tropical fruit lunch buffet one day, with the widest range of tropical fruits I had ever seen on a cruise! The days following that buffet these fruits were on offer as breakfast options in La Veranda. I enjoyed dragon fruit, mangosteen, rambutan plus others I’ve never tried before.

Remember Mr 400 days? He was at the airport with us today. Turns out he’s not just a twit with the Regent staff. We were checking in for our flight, Upper Class. There was only one lady doing UC check in. As we were being checked in Mr 400 days came from his place in the queue to berate the staff for not having more people checking in UC passengers. The lady was very professional, told him she was alone, nobody else was coming to help and everyone would be seen to. Behaviour like that does nothing for the reputation of the Brits, but we managed to turn things round with the check in lady. Had a laugh about it and thanked her for great service. Obviously he needs another holiday to help him chill out. In other news we were delighted to go on the Regent organised pre flight tour of LA. Due to the slow processing our trip was only 3 hours long but we got to the Walk of Fame for a quick walk around then we went to a fabulous farmers market where we could get lunch. Choices ranged from huge doorstep pastrami sandwiches to pizza to hot dogs to… you get the picture! We are home now after a fairly nasty drive home, rain, wind and lots of spray made visibility poor. And now our boiler has broken down! Why did we get off the ship?

Some people were wearing masks but to be honest it seemed to me that those who should have masked up due to coughing weren’t wearing them! No dirty looks to those wearing masks but definitely dirty looks to those who were coughing in lounges!

Well, I was all set to do my cruise review… it took 5 minutes to enter my date of birth and then I got the spinning wheel of doom and unable to register. I had a list of staff I wanted to mention as having provided service above and beyond but now it looks like that won’t happen. Grr. I promised some interesting photos in this post. Can you spot the difference in these 2 pictures? After asking politely we were given a kettle but told not to tell because apparently there was only one on the ship! We have made full use of it, morning cuppa in bed, tea on demand during the day. It arrived within a couple of days of boarding, after we mentioned on the mid cruise comment card that the only thing missing from our enjoyment was a kettle. We had a really good excursion in Ensenada. The El Salto hike. A lovely walk to a canyon along sandy then rocky paths. Lovely trees, interesting flowers and a couple of birds. The guide asked us to try to keep quiet so as not to scare off any animals but that message obviously didn’t penetrate the brains of all the participants! Never mind, we loved being in the fresh air under bright blue skies. A great end to our time in Mexico. We are right now arriving in a very rainy LA. I'm going to try with the cruise review now before wifi cuts out.

I think we did the same trip as flossie009, We enjoyed all of it! Not having spent much time in Mexico we really enjoyed having time to stroll round the lovely town of San Juan Del Cabo. We took loads of photos, perused the shops and enjoyed the patter from the guide during the bus journey. The glass factory was our least favourite bit, but it was an opportunity to see a bit of life behind the scenes. The stop at the hotel to have a beer or soft drink was lovely. The views in the daytime were fabulous but at sunset they must be dreamy. We both said we could easily return to Cabo San Lucas because there was lots to do and see. The tendering process wasn’t very well organised on the return journey. With 3 ships in it was easy to get in the wrong queue, we spoke to a couple of people who were lined up in the Norwegian tender queue. Our tender had to go round the other side of the ship as it was too jumpy to offload passengers at the original side. The packing has begun here and my room decorations are all down. I’m leaving my door decorations till tomorrow. The corridors are so empty and bland without all the door embellishments. Good news for us. Regent has laid on a tour of LA that will drop us at the airport at 1pm so not such a long day of waiting at LAX. I’m not sure how much there is to do there but I don’t think it will be as much fun as a few hours at Changi airport. I will do another post tomorrow, after our hiking trip when I will include some interesting photos.

Here are a couple more brunch pics. We had great fun dancing in the new year last night. Our wifi has been horrible. It drops in and out with monotonous regularity. It’s the worst feature of the ship. The staff are fabulous!

Lovely day in Acapulco, we took a trip to see the cliff divers, an amazing spectacle, then a boat ride to La Roqueto island. That was followed by a local lunch and a beach trip. We are getting in the party mood now, we have been provided with party wear!

We are back in our cabin after dinner at Compass Rose. I selected the vegetable biryani, which was describes as mild. I asked our waiter if I could have it spiced up a bit, he said “of course”. Well, it came pretty much spiceless! He could see that I was sifting through it with my fork, looking for a spicy sauce and not finding it. He immediately removed it, got in touch with the chef and asked for more spice. I asked if I could have dahl sauce to make it more spicy and saucy. 5 minutes later I have a fresh meal. Spicier veg amongst the rice and Dahl! It was totally delicious. What a fabulous level of service we are experiencing on board. Menu modification to my individual taste is definitely above and beyond our expectations. We are loving Regent.

I have been having trouble getting the wifi to work but I’m back online now. Last night I celebrated my birthday in Pacific Rim. We had a lovely meal followed by a serenade from the lovely waitresses and a cake! We went to the show and it was lots of fun. I think it was called Crossroads. We missed the first couple of numbers but the singers were good and the dancers threw themselves into it. When we returned to our cabin we had a lovely surprise. I had won a raffle prize in the treasure hunt trail. And what a great prize… a Regent rucksack full of Regent goodies. A polo shirt, a long sleeved T shirt, a pack of cards, a baseball cap, a luggage strap! It was all in there. I think the only thing missing was a cuddly toy. Ok, I’m showing my age there. U.K. readers will get the Generation Game reference. We also had a birthday banner put up in the room as well as balloons. We are really enjoying the Regent experience. The staff have gone above and beyond to make us happy. Today we have spent quite a bit of time watching the gannets/boobies diving into the sea. We have seen flying fish and dolphins too. We are in the midst of the art scavenger hunt now. We did one on Oceania Sirena in October and had great fun exploring all parts of the ship to track down the art works. So, the person gawping at carpets, light fittings and ceiling decor is me!

You are absolutely right, the swirls of the carpet overlay every picture. I tried putting my camera lens right onto the glass but it didn’t seem to exclude every reflection. Also the glass is tinted so colours are a bit off. We are arriving into Puntarenas now. A lovely sunrise. We are on a full day excursion to see flora and fauna including crocodiles. I’m looking forward to the local lunch that is included.

Beautiful sea day today. I am enjoying watching the birds gliding along beside us. I made a little bracelet at craft class. In 30 mins we are going to see Top Gun Maverick. I hope I don’t fall asleep!There were a few nodding heads during the Mayan lecture this morning plusseveral people enjoying the PowerPoint slides through their eyelids. Apologies for the disjointed post, I’m only just getting to grips with adding pictures.

Dinner tonight was interesting. We had no booking, but decided that compass Rose would be perfect. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. After the Carol singing a massive queue built up outside Compass Rose. We let the gang go for it and went for another drink. At 7 ish we went back to Compass Rose, there was still a queue, but minor compared to earlier. Long story short, Compass Rose got us a booking at Pacific Rim. We had a lovely dinner. The ladies at Pacific Rim took great care of us, the food was amazing and we loved celebrating Christmas there. We will be back for my birthday in a couple of days. We haven’t bothered with the show. The comedienne was very unfunny a couple of nights ago, we can’t believe she will have refreshed her routine that quickly! Happy Christmas everyone