Pies4u

Many thanks - that’s helpful to know.

That sounds odd - and excessive. I was quoted a similar price as our normal exec limo provider to go from Nottingham to Heathrow when I enquired last year. That was not an inclusive deal, it was just a direct enquiry - £300 each way. (Our normal firm are slightly cheaper tbh & they are top class, reliable and look after us very well). We’ve got a Blacklane incl “door to door” job for Nott’m to Birmingham in 2026 & I believe we will be charged for a couple of miles on each trip as it is about a 52/53 mile trip. I thought they might waive a fee as it is so marginal - so I’ll have to wait to see what they charge at the time. I was told it would be minimal but I’m not convinced based upon Fletcher’s figures.

Looking forward to this - we are doing Rio to Lisbon on Splendor in March 2025, so it will be interesting to gain some insight into the itinerary and ports. Have a safe & healthy journey!

It is really a question of whether you want “big cities”, with the facilities and variety of things they offer - or - smaller, quieter, more picturesque spots that are quintessentially “British” but might lack museums, theatres and thousands of people. As a resident, I would far rather go to Cork, Oban & Ullapool (they are all atmospheric, unique and it’s easy to see everything) than London or Edinburgh, but that’s because I prefer scenery and countryside to urban sprawl. Newcastle is the gateway to Northumberland and, apart from being a vibrant & interesting city, it is well located for seeing a wide variety of sights & experiences. Alnwick, Lindisfarne, Durham & Rothbury are all worth seeing. I also have an irrational dislike of London due to having to work there in the past. It is big, loud, crowded, noisy and I’m, not remotely interested in going to the theatre when I’m on holiday tbh. If you’d like to see the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London & Tower Bridge plus dozens of museums then London’s the place to go.

We had 14 nights in an aft suite, don’t recall much, if any vibration tbh. The only noise was when docking - anchor, thrusters etc - early morning usually but it wasn’t a serious issue. It’s a ship, at sea, there are noises. I think there can be some minor vibration at a particular speed when cruising but, as I say, it wasn’t noticeable to us. The SS Aft suites are very good vfm & the views are spectacular. I’d take another any time. Indeed, we were happily booked in a PH C for 38 nights in 2026 until the cruise was subsequently amended to our detriment, so we cancelled. I wouldn’t forfeit an aft suite just because of occasional external noise, that can occur anywhere, anytime tbh.

We boarded a SS cruise in Mar 23 & there were 4 or 5 other ships embarking at the same time. 2 of them were massive RCCL & Norwegian things. There must have been the best part of 10,000 boarding - assuming some might have been on b2b cruises. There was no problem with pre cruise hotels as far as SS were concerned, we had a couple of nights at the Hilton (c 120 of us altogether) & they used a couple of other hotels too. However, the cruise terminal was pretty chaotic and it took ages to get processed and then shuttle buses to the ship. It was not a great experience - I suspect that the volume of passengers trying to board between 2.00 - 4.00 pm was just too much tbh. We are back there in 2026 and I hope it’s a more pleasant experience. It may be that Regent will stop using Barbados but if the bigger ships continue to embark/disembark there I can’t see it improving much tbh.

Amazing hotel - we were there for 3 nights in 2018 prior to 14 night HK to Bangkok. Top class hotel, superb service, well located, impressive reception & lobby lounge area and very stylish rooms. Probably one of the top 3 or 4 hotels in HK tbh.

Although we’ve not had too much interface with excursion staff ore cruise, we’ve found that all onboard staff have been extremely helpful and knowledgeable on both SS & Regent. On a separate, but related matter: Only been on 1 SS cruise but can honestly say that their excursions were very high quality & used first class guides/operators. Regent are, generally, high standard and they don’t over fill the transport - but neither did SS. We preferred the SS system of trips meeting shore side, none of this collecting your bus tickets in the theatre nonsense. On the limited evidence of 1 cruise, I’d say SS run excursions far more efficiently and effectively than Regent tbh.

Not sure - but - we are on a March 2026 cruise and the excursions are open for a few ports already. The only issue is that there are no specific timings, they are all provisionally scheduled for 9.00 am, even the “sunset catamaran” evening trip! I guess it’s just too early for the fine details and, obviously, not all excursions have been finalised thus far out. We’ve secured a few at this stage, on the advice of the SS UK office. They suggested making the booking to guarantee a place and then sort timings out later.

The form has certainly been around post Covid, not sure when it was first introduced. It’s just a basic immigration form and you can still complete it at the airport on arrival if necessary, no problem.

Indeed, that sounds a plausible explanation but we were not given any reason.

Probably so, but no explanation was provided when I asked. Hence, more uncertainty & lack of clarity in my mind and unhappy about being kicked off the ship for 3 days whenever booked an extended 38 night cruise for a reason, not a 20 night followed 3 days later by an 18 night cruise. Thought it was very disappointing tbh, given that the full 64 night cruisers were tending on board throughout too.

We cancelled our amended 20 night cruise a couple of weeks ago. Having been advised our 38 night trip was now 20 we were surprised that Regent actually revised their offer but required us to leave the ship for 3 days in Dubai - then re-board for the 18 night leg, same suite. That still makes no sense to me. What is happening on that 3 day itinerary to Doha? We were uncomfortable about that disruption, despite Regent’s change of heart. It just made it too many disruptions and “lost” time, given we were doing the 3 day pre-cruise.

Thanks for the prompt response. It sounds strange- as you can only make 1 advance booking per specialty restaurant/segment. Plus, on a 7 night cruise you’d be lucky to get a second night anywhere too. Even on longer cruises the trend, in our experience on Explorer, seems to be not to fill the restaurants and not to take many bookings post 8.00 pm. I’m guessing that may be related to staffing issues & other logistical constraints.

Dolebludger: I’m intrigued how you booked P7 twice in advance on a 7 night, single segment cruise. I didn’t think that was possible.

We’ve enjoyed front facing balconies, principally for the space and the wrap around feature. They are highly usable in port! Plus, in places like the Med & Caribbean we have made use of front facing balcony when the ship is in motion. Not often, admittedly, but you get days when it’s fine and the wind isn’t too strong. I would book one again if the itinerary and climate were favourable.

Indeed there is, but you can’t see over the bow from there - which post #40 had alluded to.

Absolutely identical in my experience. It’s possible that we only require the same service on both lines but I’d say they provide exactly the same functions.

Horizon lounge is foreward on Oceania ships, it’s tgevObservation lounge on Regent, surely?

Sorry, my mistake, it was DaisyUK who referred to 984.

I think 784 is GS - hoping so, we are booked in it in 2025. Suspect the earlier post from Gpilon was just a typo.

Don’t know about the US situation but in the UK it’s very straightforward. I’ve handled our last 2 cruises directly and have 2 more in the pipeline. We used a TA for the first few but it’s more practical, if you have sufficient time, to do it yourself. It saves trying to do everything through a 3rd party, if you want something doing you just ask and get it sorted rather than passing it to an agent and hoping they get it done for you. So many aspects of the booking you can control via “My Account” anyway, of course. We’ve varied pre and post cruise details, flights etc - all painless and simple. I presume it would work the same way in the USA but I guess others will advise accordingly. Hope that helps. Never used Regent insurance so can’t offer any opinion on that.

Well, that exercise appears to demonstrate that there is nothing scheduled, even a mini one, which is a slight concern. Hopefully, given some recent comments, any minor concerns with either public areas or individual suites will be addressed in transit where necessary. Thanks to drron29 & Lois R.

Fair point - thanks.

Just wondered……. anyone able to advise?