loriva

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Understand not for CDN Passports, but does this allow you to go through the eGates in any European city or just FRA?

Only FRA.

On 3/23/2024 at 5:32 AM, CDNPolar said:

Because you booked through a Travel Agency and are Canadian (this may be different in the USA) you will NOT see the OBC in MyVikingJourney (MVJ) unless you book optional excursions, pay gratuities in advance, or purchase the Silver Spirits package.

 

You will see the OBC on your invoice from Viking which the TA should provide to you.  Our TA applies the OBC to our booking on first call with Viking and then the invoice that comes shows the below.

 

Ours shows up on page 2 of the Viking Invoice and there is a box for each person:

 

 

NOTE:  This shows on the invoice as SBC or Ship Board Credit, but that includes OBC.  

 

SBC and OBC have different rules for use.

 

Typically OBC will be used online if you book optional excursions, buy the Silver Spirits package, or pay Gratuities in advance.  YOU can book optional excursions on your own without the TA and they require immediate payment. If you have OBC then that credit will be applied to your checkout on MVJ.

 

Typically SBC is different and is applied on the ship for purchases when on board.

 

Ask what is the difference if you have SBC and OBC or one or the other and how they can be used.

 

These are general statements from OUR experience.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Our invoice from Viking, through our TA, includes the following statement "Shipboard credits on this booking, if applicable, are not included in the amount above."  We've only been on one Viking River cruise previously, but credit from our TA showed up only when we boarded.  We could spend that credit for anything we wanted on board--in our case it covered the vouchers we purchased for a future (the upcoming) Viking River cruise.  (At least that is what our end-of-cruise statement showed.  Gratuities and the SSBP ended up being covered by optional tours we had booked and paid for in advance that were cancelled and refunded.)

On 3/25/2024 at 4:47 PM, HSBC said:

CDNPolar,

Have you ever fly from Canada, via Frankfurt airport, then took Lufthansa to another European country?

I want to know whether you have to go through Security control or Passport office in Frankfurt prior to board Lufthansa flight?

Thanks!

On 3/25/2024 at 6:39 PM, CDNPolar said:

We have flown Lufthansa through Frankfurt many times from Canada and connecting to another European country.

 

You must go through passport control when landing in your first European country and then you will also go through security again before boarding your next flight.

 

This is the same if you fly in on Air Canada, and then connect to Lufthansa, or go Lufthansa all the way.

 

Your bags however will check straight through to your final destination.

 

Make sure if you are going through Frankfurt or Munich that you have sufficient connection time. The line for non-European passports can be long.  We have waited more than 30+ minutes to clear passport control then you will potentially have security lines as well.

 

We don't generally fly through Frankfurt or Munich with less than 2 hours to 2.5 hours connection time.  We have learned that shorter connections are often stressful and not worth the time saving when you are the one running down the concourse at final call for the flight.

The caveat first:  Unfortunately, this is not available to Canadian passport holders.

For U.S. passport holders, however, the German Federal Police offers a service whereby you can register to use the eGates to pass through border security as easily as Schengen passport holders.  Details on the free service are available on the Frankfurt Airport website:   https://www.easypass.de/EasyPass/EN/EasyPASS-RTP/rtp_node.html

The only downside is you need to travel to the Federal Police office in FRA to register.  The office is outside of security, so you'll have to do the arrival process and then pass through security again to board your connecting flight.  We had a four-hour layover when we registered, so it was not an issue.  It has worked great on our subsequent connections through FRA.

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I did this same river cruise port to port.  I researched the currencies.  There were too many for me to purchase at home, and some of them were not available through my bank.  Sorry, I am not going to go to a ATM with my bank card and buy currency in each country.

 

My understanding and the direction that my favourite cruise line has given me is that the American dollar in Europe is easily exchanged at the banks and the guides and drivers are good to receive American dollars.

 

I have gotten off excursion busses where 80% of the people on the bus are American and they are all tipping with American bills.

 

What we should not do is tip in coins because banks will not exchange coins as a general rule.

 

Additionally, it seems fairly well known that they like to receive crisp, clean, new American bills and at my bank in Canada, it is easy for me to get brand new bills.

17 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

If you look at the inside the eurozone, its lazy maybe, I dunno about insulting.

 

but take the last river cruise I took, Hungary to Romania

Hungary, local currency

Croatia, euro

Serbia, local currency

Bulgaria, local currency

Romania, local currency.

 

We spent an average of about a day, sometimes 2 in each country.  Do you really expect people to have prepared or even pull out of an ATM the correct currency in each? thats not realistic.  Almost all the guides\bus drivers got tipped in dollars or euros and they were clearly fine with that (or at least used to it). In fact at the very end when I broke a local Romanian large bill with the Romanian tour guide who had spent 3 days with us, he did it with a euro bill.

We will be taking this itinerary in May.  We have euros left over from previous travel.  The question is some are larger bills.  Does the guest services desk on Viking have change?  If so, one and two euro-denominations are coins.  As the tip suggested by Viking is two euros for the guide and one euro for the driver, will those in the countries not on the euro (everyone except Croatia, in other words) have difficulty exchanging the euro coins for local currency at a bank?

On our recent travels, finding an ATM--especially on a shore excursion--has been challenging.  Hungary will not be a problem as we're staying three nights before we board.  Ditto for Romania at the end.  But I don't know how viable this will be in Serbia and Bulgaria and doubt our local AAA or bank will have U.S. $20 of these currencies.  Hence, thinking euros is the way to go but worry about the coin issue.

12 hours ago, screwsmcernst said:

Thanks, everyone.  We will be doing the Christmas markets cruise.  Will we be able to go to the markets in the evening?  Or will it be available in the daytime, or both?  

 

All of the answers you gave are exactly what I was thinking.  The friends we are going with are asking these questions, and I wanted to make sure I had the correct answers.  

Have not sailed with Ama Waterways, but on Viking there were three nights where we stayed in port late enough to return to the Christmas markets in the evening.  Most lines follow similar patterns so you might find the same.

Have you tried searching on the Roll Call board?  If you can find a roll call from a previous year, you might find some details.

On 1/14/2024 at 5:27 PM, notamermaid said:

Hello everyone,

 

here is the thread on the Danube for 2024.

 

We will look again at the weather and most importantly the river levels. Join us again this year with your comments and tips and share your excitement about cruising on this European river that flows through many countries on its long journey East.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

@notamermaid -- Thank you for another year of following the Danube.  We'll be setting off for our second sailing on the river--this time downstream from Budapest to Bucharest to complement our previous Budapest to Vilshofen sailing--in May.  While I realize your report focuses on the German parts of the river, I always learn so much from your posts.

Thanks again,

17 hours ago, BBWC said:

I am not familiar with the Indonesian visa process, but I am wondering if it is similar to what Brazil is doing. In that case, to get a visa you have to set up an individual account and then pay for your visa through that account (the same applies to the Australia ETA as well). So Regent would not be able to directly pay for your visa. Instead, after you pay for your visa, Regent will give you refundable OBC in that amount. 

That is how the Indonesian e-visa works.  It is a fussy process.  It seems like you can obtain it without setting up an account first, but we (including those who reported on the process on our Roll Call) found not.  Set up your account first.

10 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

Like Dave said, if you don’t deviate and you aren’t in concierge or above, you will usually arrive on embarkation day and depart on debarkation day.

And Concierge and above only allows you to fly in the day before the cruise if you take the included one-night pre-cruise hotel and then you need to depart the day the cruise ends.  Those dates shift if you are doing Regent's pre- or post-cruise included tour, if there is one.  But any travel dates except those directly tied to the cruise or Regent packages will include the deviation fee (and possibly upcharges if the contracted itineraries do not fit your desires.)  Only those who have achieved Platinum status or above in the Seven Seas Society have the deviation fee waived.  (Maybe those in Grand Suites and above also have a waiver, but never sailed in one of those so cannot tell you.)

22 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

We are not big drinkers, DH enjoys scotch and I am more of a mixed drink gal ( gin, vodka). We will be cruising in the Caribbean in a couple of weeks. Can anyone suggest a girlie kind of  drink that they really enjoyed.

Cheers! 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the signature cocktails Regent has created for each ship.  That is my boarding ritual--drink the ship's signature cocktail and get an order of lobster nachos (with extra lobster!) from the Pool Bar and Grill.  The RSSC.com menu, https://www.rssc.com/experience/cuisine/pool-grill, doesn't show the cocktail for the Grandeur (presuming that's the one you're on) yet, but here's the EXPLORER cocktail's ingredients as an example:  Aperol, Apple Pucker, Pomegranate Juice, Sweet & Sour, Mint.

And almost any cocktail from the Meridian Bar will probably fit the parameters you cited.  Also, we've found they have shifted to a lot of ice, little booze in the cocktails in that bar, which also makes them a lighter choice by default.

We just had one excursion cancelled (the Tiger Brewery in Singapore is no longer offering tours) and tours for a changed port on our itinerary departing from Sydney just opened up yesterday.  I tried to book a replacement excursion for the first excursion when we were notified of the cancellation last week, but the RSSC system would not let me get past the "Confirm your Tours" page--it just kept returning me to that page and would not book the excursion.

I asked our Regent agent to try to help and he said he had booked the tour for us, but it never showed up on our excursion summary.  (He kept saying we had a conflict with another tour--but we did not.) When I tried to book tours for the port that opened yesterday (Cooktown, AU) I had the same problem.

Not sure what the problem with the software was, but I finally figured out a fix.  For some reason, the system kept trying to apply some of my OBC to the tours--even though both were included, not extra charge Choice excursions.  I noticed an "edit" button on the payment area, clicked it, reset the amount to $0, and tried checkout and then confirm your tours again.  And, voila, it worked.  Booked the new excursions, received a confirmation email, and they are on my summary.

Offering this up in case anyone else runs into this.  And notifying @mikemoore of something his team might want to look into.

Many thanks,

On 12/13/2023 at 9:29 AM, FL Wolfpacker said:

Booked our first cruise for next July from Rome to Monte Carlo.  Called the first of December to get the flights.  Every one of my requests required at least a $2K pp fee.  The best they would offer without a fee is a 2 stop flight via Swiss Air arriving in Rome near midnight.

We are flying out of RSW (Ft Myers FL).

Totally disgusted with the whole process.  Thinking of cancelling the cruise and trying the new Ritz cruise.

Did you look at itineraries out of Tampa, Orlando, or Miami?  We also have a smaller market airport in FL as our home airport, but find itineraries always involve two stops at a minimum.  Also, if you find a non-stop from TPA, MCO, or MIA to a major airport in Europe (FRA, LHR, etc.) the connecting flight to Rome (from Monte Carlo) might be in business class.  (Although that doesn't mean the same as first class in the United States.)

On 12/9/2023 at 2:10 PM, sanne said:

We will be on Regent for Christmas… first time at this time of the year for us … do they put Christmas decorations on the dining tables in Compass Rose for Christmas Day dinner? Just deciding whether to bring some. 

I haven't had time to look for a photo, but I recall they did have some sort of seasonal decoration on each table.  Nothing big, just a pick in the bud vase or maybe a floral ring around the base.

And, yes, there was eggnog!

On 12/5/2023 at 9:42 AM, MissPhoeb said:

Hello,

Very excited to be sailing on Regent Seven Seas for the first time in fall 2024.  Will be my first time on a cruise that offers so many options for included excursions.  I can begin booking excursions the end of this month and have found it totally overwhelming with so many choices.  I'm interested in hearing from travelers, preferably those who have sailed on Regent, on your favorite included (free) excursions in the following ports:  Salerno, Sicily, Ephesus, Santorini and Mykonos.  I've found it so overwhelming with all of the choices that I'm tempted to pass on booking anything and just "wing it" on our own, but I don't want to miss out on anything.  I'm traveling with my husband and another couple.  We're in our 60's and 70's and slightly mobility challenged so we wouldn't want to do any level higher than "Moderate" activity.  We are not first time cruisers (this will be our 12th), but newbies to Regent, so any other tips or recommendations you can add would be most appreciated!

You might also want to check tour destinations on Google Maps.  Some ports are located a long way from the sites, so you'll face a long bus ride.  And Regent is not always good on remembering its demographic and including rest room stops.  Some buses will have a toilet, but not all.  And even on those that do, you'll find it locked and the driver and guide will discourage use unless in an emergency.  Destination Services won't know the details of the schedules, but you can always ask the guide when you board the bus--and maybe get them thinking of a stop if none is planned.

And another reason to consider an upcharge "small group" tour.  Regent does not always pay the local tour companies to include an QuietVox-type system for guides so it can be a struggle to hear what they are saying when in a large group.

As others have said, guides are the luck of the draw.  Some are great, some not so.  Since all cruise lines use local companies, this is not any different from any others you may have experienced.

Something that might be, however, is Regent's mid-cruise survey.  If you experience any issues, take some quick notes and then put them on the survey sheet you receive in your cabin.  Ship management does pay attention to these and respond, although Destination Services remains the department registering the largest number of negative comments on these boards.

On 11/25/2023 at 5:38 PM, jeb_bud said:

We are working on a Southampton to Southampton cruise.  We will probably be arriving in London two days before embarkation.  We are planning to book a F1 Suite now that we are SS Gold and will get multiple wifi logins.  However, after glancing at some hotel prices in London the premium for Cat E might not be as much as I thought it would be after factoring in the hotel and transfer.

 

I did some searching and scanned a year of topic titles and I didn't find much information about pre-cruise hotels in London or Southampton.  Where are the pre-cruise hotels for Southampton departures, London or Southampton?  What hotels did Regent put you in and what was your impression?  I will appreciate any advice you can provide.

We booked our transfer from LHR and hotel for two nights in Southampton independently for our British Isles circumnavigation in 2022.  We used Just Airports for the former and the Moxy for the latter.  We've used Just Airports for many years when in London.  The Moxy is a Marriott property--not fancy (and the new design where there is no closet) but serviceable and an excellent location.  Southampton was a nice place to walk around with Roman ruins and Tutor buildings and a good gastropub and Indian restaurant nearby the hotel.  We also took the ferry over to the Isle of Wight and spent a day circumnavigating it with a local guide. 

34 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

Quick question, hoping for a speedy answer since we board Mariner tomorrow.  🙂

 

What is in the amenities box I see in the various cabin videos online?  Assuming it’s still there, of course.

 

Specifically, is there bug spray in it?

 

We have a few jungle-ish excursions, and just trying to figure out if I need to try to wedge some into the luggage or not…

 

Thanks!

Not sure about the named suites, but in the Penthouse category last month on Splendor there was a Shout wipe, a glass wipe, and a packet of make-up remove wipes in the amenity box.  No insect repellent.  Personally, if I knew I needed or wanted it I would pack it.

Overall, this was a very nice cruise for our third experience with Regent.  It was the first, however, where we did not book another cruise.  In part this is simply logistics--we are on Explorer in January 2024 and can book something then if we wish for 2026.  But it also reflects that we have sailed with Regent's little sister Oceania and Viking Ocean between our second and third cruises with Regent.  We liked both of the other lines just fine and not certain the premium paid for Regent is good value.  We cruise primarily for itineraries--a sampler to determine where we'd like to return for a longer stay--so it's nice to have three solid options that fit our needs.

Positives on this cruise include our butler Prakash (soon to be on the Grandeur--of course) and great experiences in the Compass Rose (even after losing Jorge to Grandeur--of course), Prime Seven, Pacific Rim, and Sette Mari.  We also found the CD Dru Pavlov very engaged and personable as was his ACD Wyatt (promoted from the Production Cast where we'd met him on Explorer) and the Social Hostesses Tammy and Amelia.  They sprang into action when two of the cast members came down sick on the final night of the cruise and they had to cancel Bohemian Soul, replacing it with a variety show including Amelia as vocalist and the guest performer a classical guitarist.  They also ran fun trivia games--keeping it friendly--and other activities.

We were disappointed with Chartreuse this time around; food and wine just didn't seem to be as good as we remembered and the service was uneven (sommelier Alvin was wonderful, however).  We missed having a casual dining option in the evening like the buffets on Oceania and Viking Ocean (where you could get grilled to order seafood, fish, and steaks) and the pizza bar at Waves Grill in the evening on Oceania.  It would be great if Regent had this as an option on days there are long tours or when tours end late as the ship came into port later in the day.  

Finally, as others have noted, the Destinations Team seems to be the weakest link on Regent.  Even though we carefully selected shorex to minimize long bus rides they all seemed to have them--and then had dirty windows for the panoramic drives.  Regent also really needs to consider the needs of its demographic--there should be no excursion that does not have a restroom stop on at least an hourly basis (and insist buses have a toilet--or provide a warning before the tour) and they really need to invest in headsets.  The latter was a boon on our Viking Ocean cruise (and the groups seemed to be not much larger, if at all larger, than with Regent.)  With only one exception, we had wonderful guides on our Regent tours--we just had a scrum with everyone trying to get close enough to hear.  We had one guide tell us straight out that Regent had opted not to pay for headsets.  Again, at this price point that should not be happening.

Thanks for following along on our "not-so-live" thread and hope this helps others in planning a cruise on Splendor and/or the Med as we have been helped by so many others on CruiseCritic.

Take care,

Here are the final notes for this cruise that ended in Athens on 30 October.

--Kusadasi -- As noted, we turned in our shorex tickets for this port (which we had visited twice before) and opted for a quasi-sea day.  We did get off the ship and walked over to the old fortress on Pigeon Island.  Then down into and around the old town.  Stopped and had a leisurely lunch of meze, kebab, and an Efes beer.  Then back to the ship.  Easy, peaceful, and quiet (well, except for all the merchants trying to get you to buy something--but a simple "no" suffices to end the spiel).

--Syros -- Did the "Highlights of Syros" tour.  It was as described in the Regent materials but omitted that you will be circumnavigating the entire island--without a restroom stop nor a restroom on the bus.  Also, another tour where the very good guide (an archaeologist) was sabotaged by lack of headsets.  We ended up breaking away from the tour due to frustration of not being able to hear her unless you were less than five feet away.  And, it was a Sunday so most stores closed.  The churches we saw and the small museum were very nice, however.  Stopped at one of the cafes along the harbor for a local beer and boarded the ship to pack up, do our cruise surveys, hit our final trivia of the cruise, and cash in those Regent Rewards points.

Disembarkation was very smooth.  We had booked a private transfer (George's Taxi) from the ship to our hotel in Athens and selected an 0800 hours departure.  We had departed the ship, picked up our bags, and were meeting the driver by 0815 hours (no Immigration nor Customs to clear).  (As an aside, we loved the NEW Hotel in Athens--a bit quirky in design, but so helpful and accommodating.  And we had a view of the Acropolis from our room!  It is affiliated with Marriott.)   

Suite Review for Splendor -- Penthouse B cabin 930.

Many thanks,

CC Rating Template -- Splendor 930.xlsx

17 minutes ago, IrishKathy said:

We'll be boarding the Splendor on Nov. 13 in Rome for 21 days.   We definitely want to play trivia but are not sure where one finds partners early in the cruise.  Do you wander up to the Observation Lounge late afternoon the first day and announce you are looking for fellow players?   Do you meet fellow travelers at the Veranda Café that first afternoon?   Inquiring minds need to know.   Many thanks from a first-time Regent couple.

 

On another topic, can you play duplicate bridge and trivia the same day?  I note that bridge is scheduled from 1:30 to 4:30 and trivia at 4:30.  We'd hate to be racing down the stairs to go from bridge to trivia.  Help.

For the first trivia on Splendor's sailing departing on 20 October, the CD (Dru Pavlov) called it but the Social Hostess (now Amelia) was also there helping people find teammates.  There is a limit of six players. 

Dru also had a thing I hadn't seen before where the CD staff (he (when not calling, of course), the Assistant, the Social Hostess, and whichever of the Production Cast were there helping pass out papers, pencils, etc.) would form a team.  The questions were all supposed to be new to them.  If you beat the cruise staff--regardless of whether you placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd) everyone on your team received a Regent Reward point.  The first-place team received three points for the win, second two, and third one point.  You also got a point if you did the daily Mensa quiz and got all five questions correct--the Social Hostess announces the answers immediately after trivia concludes and hands out the next day's quiz--or you can pick them up in the library.

Redemptions started at 5 points--a waterproof deck of cards or a hat--and went up to 55 points for a backpack (a real one, not the cinch kind).  There was at least one morning and one afternoon opportunity to collect RR points--bocce, shuffleboard, corn hole, ring toss, golf putting, etc..  Sometimes you could get a point just for participating.  

On 11/4/2023 at 7:25 AM, wcsdkqh said:

Just left two Turkish ports on Splendor. Absolutely no issues going ashore and felt totally safe

On 11/4/2023 at 2:37 PM, CruisetheCs said:

Also was on Splendor cruise with the two port stops, Bodrum and Kusadasi.  We only had to show our ship card to get on or off the ship for tours or shopping.  So no easy way for anyone to know nationality or other individual passenger characteristics in these ports.  Felt no different than other ports we stopped at in terms of safety.

On the same cruise.  The only interest of anyone ashore in Bodrum or Kusadasi we noted is trying to get you to spend money in their shop or restaurant.  The areas cruise passengers frequent are well used to tourists and see us as their livelihood.  As others have said, I wouldn't advertise my nationality or religion nor engage in political dialogue (none of which I'd ever do while traveling overseas) but those you will encounter in the ports also have an interest in keeping politics out of economics.

On 10/24/2023 at 1:11 PM, ginny123 said:

We too have had this experience, thought it was a lovely touch.  Shame if Regent is not still doing this.  Wonder if it just depends on who the Food and Beverage mgr is on the ship?

Not on Splendor on the 20-30 October 2023 cruise.  (Although the CD, Dru Pavlov, was lovely in all other ways and provided a fun experience on board--including our first Block Party.)  The Pool Grill would be slammed with excursions arriving between 1400-1600 hours.  Luckily a few of our longer excursions included lunch off ship.

Some notes on our ports since the last report:

     --Rhodes:  We did the 7-hour Lindos and Rhodes Old City.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable--daughter of two archeologists and an archeologist herself and had lived in the palace in the Old City in the dorms for archeologists.  But just too much information.  The tour also spent too much time in the palace--which is a reconstruction done for Mussolini--and did not leave enough time for the other museum.  But the Acropolis in Lindros was fantastic, with the donkeys and some fresh-squeezed orange juice at the little cafe on top.

    --Bodrum:  Turns out this was Splendor's first call in this port.  We did the highlights tour--a photo stop at the amplitheater, walking tour of St. Peter's (built by the same Knight of St. John as in Rhodes), and then some free time in the Old Town there.  The tour was four hours and the guide set just the right pace.

     --Kusadasi:  After the long bus rides in Rhodes, we turned in our tour tickets for the 7-hour tour to three villages.  Will take a walk around the town by the port and maybe get lunch.  Making it into a quasi-sea day as we near the end of our cruise.

On 10/25/2023 at 2:22 AM, loriva said:

Some other random notes on Splendor:

     --@pcardad has mentioned the NCLH fleetwide orders to cut back 15 percent on non-fuel costs.  So far things I've noticed since our time last September on Splendor and in 2021 on Explorer.  The lack of any casual venue for dining at night except for room service (unlike options on Oceania).  Prime 7 and Chartreuse only open for lunch on sea day (was this always the case--I'm remembering them open more often, but could be wrong).  Drinks in the Meridian Lounge seem to be a short pour--with lots of ice.  Small cutbacks on portions--the main of scallops had just three pieces.  We had one requested bottle of liquor substituted on boarding--but they found it in Ancona (stocking Grandeur?)

     --The ship is starting to show wear in tiny ways--paint, rust, tears and stains on fabric.  But, as always, the crew is always out cleaning and repairing.

Other small changes:

     --The Coffee Connection now closes at 1700 hours -- no more aperitifs and canapes in the early evening.

     --No folder with stationery or postcards of the ship in the cabin.  That had partially gone away post-COVID but is now completely gone.  You can still ask for both at Reception and they will still mail out the postcards.

We are hemmed in by two large ships in Kusadasi today--an Ambassador cruise line ship on our portside and a Celesyal ship on starboard.  It's almost like rafting on a river cruise!

On 10/25/2023 at 4:49 AM, kjbacon said:

Sounds like you guys are having a very good time! We will be on the Grandeur soon so it will be interesting to see how many of the splendor staff move in that direction. Is the war in Israel having any impact on your cruise? 

The only impact we've seen--expected to see--might be the ship load today.  From my pre-cruise research, I expected only one ship in port with us.  The Ambassador ship MIGHT be rescheduled from a port in Israel.  We have not seen any impact in how we are greeted on-shore so far.  Of course, the news continues to be depressing.  We'll try to spread some kindness.

Some port notes:

     --Ancona:  Splendor docked close to the city, so no shuttle needed.  I did the excursion to Urbino, which involved a long bus ride--one of those where you spend as much time getting to the place as there.  Very poor guide--she herself said she had not worked much since the pandemic.  We were the only ship in port, so no competition for guides but maybe because it was a Saturday we had the B team?  Urbino itself is a very pretty small city with a very nice art museum (including works by its hometown boy, Rafael) in a former ducal palace.  Nice market on top of a very steep road on Saturdays.

    --Dubrovnik:  Norwegian Viva in port, so fairly crowded.  Port area has some shops (and the Dubrovnik Beer Company) within walking distance, but Regent provided a shuttle into the Old Town area.  It stopped running, however, more than two hours before the all-aboard time (1800 hours and 2030 hours, respectively.)  For some reason (competition from the Viva?) the tour we signed up for departing at 1130 (we docked at 1100) was shifted back two hours to 1330 hours.  Which meant that by the time we arrived in the Old Town, everything that was open on a Sunday (limited to begin with) was shutting down.  The Dubrovnik Riviera tour involved some nice scenery and a too-long stop at an estate with a stone grain mill and fulling machine.  The tour of the Old Town was very rushed and our free time short.  (Our mistake--for the first time in Dubrovnik, we should have just taken the first shuttle in and the last one out and just done our own thing.)

   --Kotor:  We chose the Classical Performance in Prcanj and Kotor Walking Tour:  Nice ride across the bay on a large motor cruiser, 20-minute concert by three flutists from the musical conservatory in Kotor at the church in Prcanj, then lunch at a dockside restaurant (fish soup, salad, and family-style platters with squid ink risotto, calamari, prawns, fish, and seafood pasta along with local grappa and wine--all good), then return to Kotor and a walking tour around the Old Town plus free time.  We had an excellent guide and thought the tour was well-paced and balanced.  Three ships in port but the other two (Costa Deliziosa and Oceania Nautica) were anchored while we were docked just five-minutes' walk from Old Town.  A charming little area.

     --Corfu:  Visit to Paleokastrita Monastery and Corfu Town.  Very scenic bus ride to a coastal town (cafe and restroom stop--a bit too long) and very small monastery (beautiful icons and a nice little shop).  Then an hour of free time in Corfu town.  Dropped off by the old fortress and shown into town, but no tour as such.  Our trivia partners told us the tour to the fortress was very good.