gnomie1

2 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

Maybe you can, you can leave a surviver miles from an airline account.

Actually, official policy of most airlines is that the account is terminated upon death and the miles are forfeited, however, depending on the airline, they may make exceptions and may charge for the transfer.

If you have a large number of miles in your account, you may want a codicil to your will stating your intentions, airlines are more likely to work with you if there is a "legal document", but are not required to do so

If the parent company of Regent should file for bankruptcy protection, anyone holding FCC would become a creditor just like any other entity who Regent has a debt.

There are different chapters of bankruptcy filings but I suspect that the creditors with the best lawyers would get paid out first

23 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Marsha Collier

 

@MarshaCollier

·

6m

 

Leaked Emails: Norwegian Cruise Lines Pressures Sales Team to Lie About #Coronavirus #travel #COVID19

Even if only 10% of this story is true (and I happen to believe more is, esp since there is email verification and backup) this is disturbing on so many fronts.

1 hour ago, Kiwifromkiev said:

Do you get an e-mail if the wait list is cleared or do you have to actually log in to check?  Thank you 🙂

 

Whenever we cleared a waitlisted excursion prior to embarkation, we would get notification from our TA

6 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

It does scare me that the U.S. is so unprepared for this type of a crisis.  It seems that most first world countries are much better prepared than the U.S.  

In my prior life I spent a number of years in the public health sector - again, not to be political, but not too long ago the US was the leader in the world with regard to disease control and the CDC was visited from almost every country to learn best practices and the CDC went to other countries to share knowledge. If  interested, there have been a number of well researched articles regarding the what has happened to the CDC over the past few years - read for yourself and make your own opinion

2 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

Although I agree with you, what Regent does, Regents does.  However one shouldn't knock another lines change in policy for what is happening now.  Viking has made a smart marketing move that they feel will help them long  term with their customer base.  To me it's a good market tool and Viking is taking full advantage of it.

As one can imagine, the effect of Covid-19 has overtaken the business world and people scramble to make adjustments to ensure the health and safety of not only their employees, but also their customer base. My inbox is overflowing from various sources outlining how businesses are handling the situation and since late last night, I have received no fewer than six narratives which specifically mention the decision of Viking and applauding the flexibility provided to passengers - many of the comments mentioned that one would need a very large advertising budget  to achieve the level of goodwill that will be generated and it was a very smart marketing move. Viking is benefiting from copious amount of free POSITIVE publicity - in the short term, it will affect revenue, but in the long run may prove to be a very profitable business decision.

The last time I checked, google does not have a medical degree, nor a degree in public health

2 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

The reason it didn't appear was because they fly beginning December 15 2020 and we leave Dec 3,2020

UGH

Not sure if you are planning to leave the States on December 3rd or if your cruise starts on that date but there is a nonstop flight leaving on December 2nd.

Flight Search Results United Airlines - Mozilla Firefox 2252020 40117 PM.bmp

28 minutes ago, jhenry1 said:

Someone mentioned that but I tried and did not find  that non stop flight

I did read they were beginning it in dec of last year if it got approved but I tried to book it and not there maybe it is to Johannesburg and not Cape town

UA does indeed fly nonstop from EWR - CPT.

It is flight #1122 and operates seasonally - the late 2020- March '21 schedule is not yet up - not sure when you plan on flying.

Flying nonstop saves about 8 hours

The flight is on a 787-9

Rich - thanks so much. Some of the carpet designs are really quite stunning and a big improvement over the "cat vomit" designs. Also really like that the suite hallways are now lighter in color and not so dark and reminiscent of an "ole boys club"  as on the Explorer. They also appear to be wider to allow two people to walk abreast.

I really like the new carpets - esp the geometric designs.

Rich - if not too much trouble, can you specify the locations of the carpets?

Thanks

gnomie

What a major disappointment! Also, much different from our experience. Our excursion was capacity controlled at 24 people, I remember people waiting on the dock (where we met to get on the bus) hoping that someone would not show up. We also had plenty of time to explore the grounds and the hotel itself, which has a rich history and is displayed with photos and artifacts.

As forgap mentioned, there was a definite disconnect.

Rich - sorry you and Ginny did not get to enjoy "the true experience"

2 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

We’re moving on from toboggans to tea, Gerry.  We’re on the morning “Tea at Reid’s” excursion, which also includes a photo stop at the cliffs of Cabo Girao and a visit to the village of Camara de Lobos.  This is about our speed after our 20,000-step Seville excursion!

Tea at Reid's is one of my all time favorite teas - the scenery and view are breathtaking. Just be forewarned that there is a dress code that when I went passengers were not made away of - same dress code as after 6:00pm on the ship - no shorts allowed. Bring your appetite - the scones and sandwiches were delightful - enjoy!

2 hours ago, Mr Rumor said:

 

I do have other Captain news to share:  Daniel Green has left Regent and is now working as a port pilot back home in Sweden.  We last cruised with the wonderful Captain Green in the early spring of 2019, when he had his young family onboard.  I am guessing his new job has everything to do with his wanting to be closer to his loved ones.

We love Captain Green - sorry to see him go but can fully understand wanting to be near his family, we cruised a number of times with him and his is a great captain and so personable

One normally judges a business not only when things go right, but how well they react when things don't go as planned. It is quite concerning that other cruise companies seem to be much better prepared to handled situations like this than Regent is - they seem to be flying by the seats of their pants and have no contingency team in place.

We have friends who were scheduled to cruise through Asia on another luxury line and were impressed as to how quickly and efficiently the situation was handled - they sent out a mass email (and I believe facebook post) singing their praises. It was an excellent summary of how the cruise line handled the situation and one cannot pay for that type of goodwill advertising.

In 1992 my parents were on the QE2 when she went aground in New England and Cunard did a horrible job handling the fiasco - it is almost 30 years later and occasionally you can still hear reference to it, esp used as a comparison when something goes horribly wrong.

While some people continue to sing the praises of RSSC and their handling the coronovirus, any marketing professional will tell you, esp in this day of social media, a giant misstep may be difficult to overcome. It may be that they are so wrapped up with the christening of their new ship, that the executive level is short staffed and unable to properly handle the crisis at hand.

Hi Rich!

Will Shauna be joining you on this adventure?

gnomie

4 minutes ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Where's the night light on the Explorer?  We were just on last month in an F2.  Don't remember seeing one

I may be thinking of the wrong ship, but I thought it was the Explorer that had a nightlight under the shelf in the bathroom

22 minutes ago, wishIweretravelling said:

 

I just looked at the virtual tour of the verandah cabin, and the shelf that I remember the nightlight being under isn't there. Sorry, I must have confused Navigator with another ship. 

If I remember correctly, you are referring to the Explorer

15 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

After having sailed with Regent and enjoying their shore excursions, I was surprised to see that their offerings for my upcoming cruise seemed to have diminished in quality.   On several sailings, we were offered onshore experiences that were interesting and many included a meal.  Now it appears that many shore excursion offerings, even those that are quite lengthy, state that one can find places to have lunch during the free time that is offered during that particular excursion.  Also, it seems as though Regent may be going the way of other cruise lines that have "Included" excursions, which means that the excursion is an overview, by bus, of the port or surrounding area, with, perhaps, a few stops for photo ops.  Am I alone in this perception?

Thank you for your feedback.

IMO - I have found that for the most part, the quality of the excursions has diminished. It use to be that I was so excited to review the excursion offerings and had a difficult time choosing which one to select. The last few cruises I had trouble finding something that was fun and interesting in each port and started to leave excursions because I just found them boring. I have kept the excursion descriptions from all of the my cruises and reading the offerings from eight years ago to the ones currently offered provides insight in how much the included (because they are not "free") have changed. This was reinforced this past Thanksgiving when our family spends hours looking at each others travel and photo books (I take LOTS of pictures and have a book for each trip, with a daily synopsis discussing the photos) and other family members mentioned that some of my cruises looked great and others looked mediocre. Out of curiosity, I asked people to rank my books from most to least exciting and interesting. Overall, the consensus was that my cruises when Regent first started with included excursions were better than those of the last few years.

While there are still some great excursions to be had, they are few and far between and often booked and sold out immediately.

But then again, it depends what you want and expect - I am the type of person that when I travel, I like to absorb as much as possible and see new and exciting things and go to out of the way places. I also HATE shopping stops and long extended rest stops that are really nothing more than a shopping stop - it seems that there are more and more of theses. On a recent excursion, WE HAD JUST LEFT THE SHIP, when we stopped for a "rest stop", which turned into a 90 minute waste of time at a cameo jewelry "factory" - this was not on the itinerary and as a result, other aspects of the tour had to be eliminated.  Other passengers loved the unexpected stop at the cameo factory - it all depends what you like and expect.

As someone who has traveled with children - let me put in my 2 cents. We have taken young children on a number of Regent cruises and never had a problem, but then again they have been taught from a very young age what is and what is not appropriate behavior and that misbehaving is not an option - we expect them to be on their best behavior at all times, no exceptions. It is the responsibility of the parents/grandparents to ensure that children in their care do not disrupt the enjoyment of anyone else on the ship or anywhere else for that matter. I am also realistic and know that boys have LOTS of energy and they were too young to be allowed into the fitness center. So everyday port day, before or after excursions, we made sure to get off the ship to play and run around.

That being said - there are always people looking to complain about children on board, as per the following scenarios:

1) as a child, one of the boys was a nationally ranked chess player - he would occasionally sit at the chess board on the Mariner and ask anyone who passed by if they would play a game with him - there was one gentlemen who was very upset and annoyed that a kid beat him each and every time and complained (multiple times) that kids were monopolizing the chess board and  cheating

2) the boys have been taught that when a lady leaves or returns to the dining room table, out of respect they are to stand up. One night we were having dinner in Sette Mari and was sharing with table with another couple. Each time a lady got up or returned, they both stood up like proper gentlemen - there were three ladies at the table. Later on in the cruise we overheard people talking that the boys were like "Mexican jumping beans" and had "ants in their pants" and couldn't sit still - constantly standing and sitting, standing and sitting. They were intentionally talking loud enough so that we could hear them - I finally piped in and explained what the children were taught proper manners and etiquette and were showing respect - their response was that I was making excuses for their "bad behavior"

Go figure

This is what I keep in my travel bag - use them all the time - I can change the direction of the light

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SS1SL8/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B075SS1SL8&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNkhOM1E5RDBHOTZTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUExMDEzNjgzMjFUSEFKMUlYNE9QRSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzcwNDY0M0lIRU5BMURLWFVKQiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

We often travel during school holidays due to vacation schedules - have never experienced any unruly children, unfortunately cannot claim the same for adults.

Companies that have a true "no tipping" policy usually strictly enforce it by using "undercovers" to determine if employees are accepting tips against company policy.

I have been to a number of places where tipping is not  allowed and if one tries to tip, the employee politely refuses, stating it is against company policy. If they value their job, in the back of their mind they always worry that if they should accept a tip, they will probably lose their job if caught and you never know who the person is offering the tip.

1) if docked at terminal J, currently there is no global entry available

2) just came through Miami with Crystal - passengers who wanted to disembark with their own luggage were allowed to do so, providing that they were off the ship prior to the dock workers removing the luggage from the ship. Once the dock workers were working and moving heavy bins of luggage, for safety purposes no one is allowed off the ship. I was watching the process from my balcony and when customs agents were leaving the ship, the dock workers were ordered to stop working and no equipment could be in use while the agents walked from the ship to the terminal.

3) FLL is about a 40 minute ride from the Port of Miami

9 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

I agree that this “Christmas” special was not a great programme, and no it was not actually Christmas, but I suggest that we should refrain from criticism of Regent. This was an independent television production and Regent will have had very limited editorial control. For instance, the constant referencing to price was a follow on from the earlier series entitled “The Most Expensive Cruise Ship in the World”. This clearly led to the concentration to the vulgar events in the Regent Suite, or am I just jealous?🙄

 

Actually, Regent probably had extensive editorial control - they probably invited the production team on board and dictated what was taped and had final say on the finished product.

Remember, the only way the production team had access to anything was with the permission and blessing of Regent, this was not the type of documentary where one had to work behind the scenes to film. I am wondering who Regent thought their target audience would be for this programme? Actually, a big fail for the PR team and suspect that FDR had a hand in this because he loves to brag about how much everything costs. As Hambagahle stated, this was just "tacky"

I have friends that were on the same cruise and I just finished reading their travel blog - they were also disappointed in the lack of service and believe that Regent is gearing all their energy on the launch of the new ship at the expense of the other ships. This is not an isolated report, there have now been a number of reviews/reports of passengers who believe that Regent is dropping the ball and not delivering as advertised.

Obviously Regent has selected all of their best employees for their new ship, leaving the other ships short handed and reliant on new hires. I believe that this particular cruise was not sold out, there were empty cabins. Knowing that there would be many new hires, Regent should have held back some cabins (yes, at the expense of revenue) and made sure there were enough trained employees on board to ensure that ALL passengers had the experience they had paid for.

Just my two cents