cwn

Don’t waste your time on the front desk or complaining on CC. Go to the GM on the ship with your concerns

After this trial in the Haven, I love the private elevator, the halls, lounge areas, bar, dinning room sun decks and pool that are all self contained in the Haven area. We have no interest in having to wonder all over a large ship. We also like the Prima class features. It is definitely nice to sail on a Brand new ship with a reasonable bathroom also. There has not been a photographer in the Haven period not when we got on. Or at the ports at the Haven gangway. WE have been able to settle our bar bill when we leave the bar or restaurant so it have not been an issue. If this is not the case in other Havens,we will pass except the new ships.

As we are getting close to the end of our btob sailing on the Prima in the Haven Galveston to Miami I will add my feeling about the Haven and the Prima. In a word GREAT. The first 7 days RT Galveston was filled with children and large three generational family groups as was excepted since this was Easter Holiday. If you don’t want kids (many of them) don’t cruise over school holidays or in the summer period. You will have kids and lots of them on cruises of 7 days or less, not so many on longer cruises but still enough to be seen and heard. This second part Galveston to Miami is 11 days and there are almost no children, a much different vie. First off we have been cruising since the early1980’s and have spent over 700 days on various ships trying lots of itineraries around the world. We always try to do cruises of at least 2 weeks to really relax and enjoy the vacation, then we add a week or two of land vacations to that to make a month …as that is the vacation time we had working and with kids in school.. When our chrildern were home we cruised on princess, HAL and X. When NCL came to Galveston in the 90’s we tried them for a few cruises. It is so easy to hop an boat in Galveston for us. After the Grands came along (7 in 6 years) we did Carnival and RCCL out of Galveston with them because it was easy and they loved it. We also did longe cruises on various lines. But since 2009 we have cruised on SS, Seabourn and the Cunard Queens in the Grill. In 2011 we did a Grand Voyage on the Regent Mariner around SA for 63 days and fell in love with the informal life style, crew and small Regent ships. It was a plus that there was fixed price and no surprises at the end of the Regent cruise. Since retirement we have done 2 world cruises putting together segments of Princess, Seabourn and The Queens World Cruises to get around the would in 4-5 months using the ships a rest stops and transportation between continents and we did a true WC on the Regent Navigator in 2018…fabulous. We like cabins with a balcony and about 300sq feet. We generally do not like big ships, unless it is a ship within a ship concept. The Prima is the largest ship we have been on, but the entry level Haven suite is perfect for us.. We are blown away with the service we are receiving in the Haven. The food is great, right temperture and the service is fast. The Haven lounge, bar and the sun deck/pool are pleasant and not crowded (nor empty). I like the walk in feature of the Haven pool. It is shoulder deep for the average person. Our Butler and room steward are very detail oriented and are remembering the little things we like without asking. For a mass market cruise line we are impressed. Our days of long flights overseas are over but i think we have found a home on the Prima class ships in the Haven. Hope NCL will continue with US coastal ports…would like to do the Galveston to Miami to NY run next spring or one though the Canal. The cruise is very fairly priced. We didn’t get the drink package as at 2 drinks at the most a night it was not worth it. We did Add the unlimited internet for two devices for $300 for t and did keep the two specially meals per person per cruise. It is costing about half what a similar cruise we did in 2023 on the Regent Splendor, many of the same ports including the service charge and the extra tips due in the Haven…the service is worth it though. The French press coffee in the Haven is great as is the coffee maker coffee in the room. We had no problem getting our two dinner reservation after we boarded. We didn’t buy any extra internet for the first 7 days but did do the unlimited for two devices for the last 11 days…more sea days. All in all for our getaways now the Haven suits us fine. We only have to give them the key card when we are ready to leave the venue…not for every pour which is not a big deal…just like eating out at home. I have not seen a photographer except at a distance and no body has tried to get us to buy something. We are not night people but what I have seen of the entertainment….there is plenty, if one place is too crowded go somewhere else. Cruising is what you make it make it fun….you can always find something to complain about if you look hard enough.

Sounds really good!

Enjoyed your report. Hope you found your mother doing well. One more question please. I am trying to plan a tour we have done before for April 7, 1 till 6. Is the ship on Cozumel time or an hour different? I am assuming all aboard was the usual 30 mins ahead. Our port time is 11 to 7.

We have changed times now. I don’t know if Mex changes time. We have been on round trip Galveston cruises that did both ways. This is a Galveston CT to Miami ET. Think Cozumel is on ET. Ship sails at 7 ship time tour is over 5:30 Cozumel time. Life is easier when the ship is on the same time as shore!

We will be on Prima soon Galveston to Miami. Trying to arrange a tour. Need to know if the ship changes time from Galveston to Cozumel? Sail time says 7pm. Is that the same time as it will be in Cozumel. A time or two on another line the Cozumel time was different than ship time. Thanks.

Loving your report. Had to laugh at your comment about the long ride to get to the port gates. Did you take a tour. We did a city highlights it made several good stops and drove sone interesting sites. The last drive by spot was the old British Colonial Hotel, Gala Face on the water. I collect stops for the night or at least a meal at those hotels like others collect magnets. Anyway the driver let us off and we went in for lunch. Had a delightful tour and history lesson from the hotel manager and he got us a taxi to the port. and then the fun began. We were told there was shuttle bus running to the ship and back, but it wasn’t. At least to the Navigator,..there was another ship in port that had service. After waiting, watching other leave for their ship and getting a little worried, someone at the gate called someone else and a bus showed up for us. Adventures in traveling, but enjoyed the day. Hope you did too.

Yes. once inside of the terminal building there is a glass door separating the area for disembarking passengers and the embarking passengers. But the entrance doors were still locked when we arrived.around 9:30 and terminal staff kept us out side. Once we were let inside it was still a little wait to start the actual check in. I don’t think you will be let in the terminal door as early as before 5am…..if you go straight to the dock. YMMV

When we were in Miami, you could not enter the port terminal building until after the disembarking passengers had left. That was some before 10. They had the door locked for a few minutes after we arrived at about 9:30…we sat on a cement bench waiting. They opened the main doors before check in started. We then waited in the entrance hall until they started letting people go though the actual check in process. Bottom line is you need a place to wait from arrival ant 4am until probably 9:30 because the port terminal will not be open to boarding passenagers. Would suggest two things…1. you get something to eat at the airport and wait there for a while before taking a taxi to the port. The airport was about 45 minutes away as I remember. Or 2. Taxi to a nice hotel near the port area…there are several. Wait in their lobby, have nice breakfast then taxi to the port.

We always have filled out the mid cruise survey and mentioned the most helpful staff. Any problems have usually been addressed by then. The end of cruise survey was pencil and paper pre covid, can’t remember when it changed, but we also have problem getting the post do on line before we leave. Last two times when it didn’t work I just wrote a letter to the GM to praise the staff that had treated us so well. Put it in an envelope addressed to the GM and left it at the desk. Think that works since we heard from our waiter about our compliment on the next cruise. Agree, this is a bad way to get information. It leaves a bit of a bad taste after such a nice time.

A voice of reason!!!! I total agree with you about finding out about tours. I usually am able to make a good choices for me, but in the last few years…especially on our WC in ‘18, I sat on the bus some because even though it seem doable on paper/picture/talk it wasn’t, but I was glad to see and do what I could of the tour! And if I got over my head I made arrangements needed for me and the tour continued for the rest. No one else’s fault. I can relate to the dead whale….2007 we wanted to go to Antarctica, picked a 100 passenger expedition ship, HD was very fit. Did two zodiac landings or zodiac cruises a day. Fabulous trip!! I knew I could stay on the ship, but wanted to do as much as I could. At the time I was using just a cane or walking sticks. The first landing was going fine, Deception Island, until we had to get back into the zodiac in about a foot of water😬…..well I leaned over the zodiac edge and the guide just flipped me over by my legs and I went siding in to the craft😂 looked like a whale rolling in!! HD has pictures…we all laughed and the guide said it wasn’t his first time…..and I did many more landings the next few days the same way…one on the actual continent and south of the Circle….priceless. I couldn’t do the hikes, but I could reach the shore and sit on a rock, there was so much beauty all around. Only you know what you can do safely, but do venture out as much as you can, even if you sit on the bus at times…just take a good book! And enjoy traveling!

Many times they have either pictures or have called or emailed about my concerns such as what kind of steps are used to get in and out of the snorkel boat or on beach landing. If you haven’t asked you don’t know what the ships DD staff can find out. I have had special help from the ship’s DD staff a number of times.

We travel on our own without a guide usually, just using trains, taxis arranged from hotel, port or street corner even then on Regent…they just don’t always have a tour to what we want to eat. The trains in Japan are really easy to navigate by yourself. But we have also used local guides in Japan and other places when on a cruise. Osaka castle is very nice but is new, built to look old. Himeji is a wonderful old small town, the castle is as original as it can be for its age and within sight and walking distance of the train station..… so you can’t get lost. When we went we were on at tight schedule Ship to ship about 3-4 hours. We were at the castle when it opened (ship was docked in Osaka). On the way back I was hungry so I bought an egg salad sandwich at the Himeji train station to my husband’s horror! Best sandwich I have ever eaten so ftasty and fresh, good bread!!! And I lived to tell about it! If you want to do something different than the ship’s Osaka tour, look on line for Tours by Locals or the Japanese version. These groups are a great way to see the special things and safely. We have used them in Japan and Korea. Have fun. Japan is a great country to visit so much to see and so different for us!!!

Osaka was destroyed basically and has been rebuilt. Either do a second tour to Kyoto and see something different, there is so much to see… we spent 5 days and didn’t see all we wanted to. If they offer a trip to Himeji castle in Himeji, do it. It is a fabulous wooden castle. It is an easy short rain ride a little south and is wonderfully restored. It is easy to take the trains in Japan and you could do this on your own in part of a day. All signage is in Japanese and English. It is very easy to buy tickets at the station you can see schedules on line and the rains run on time!

The Splendor was very comfortable ship (even if the toilet was a bit slow sometimes😁). It was the larger passenger load that was noticeable to us, the effect that had on the special small ship feeling and the ship was a bit shinny for our taste. We like the Mariner and the Navigator better We don’t miss the speciality restaurants. We just special order things we like from Compass Rose. Have a good cruise!

Great report, love the pictures. Sounds like a fun tour. We went for a dolphin encounter two years ago. That was fun also. Was the glass bottom boat/sub something you could do alone with just a taxi or private car and driver. We want to go to Hassuki, love that kind of eatery. I couldn’t get reservations for any time/day on either the 3/29 cruise or the next one. Will try when we board… we should be at the port early. Sorry you are having a hard time sleeping, we have the opposite problem when the ship is moving. Hope you sleep better tonight. Thanks for sharing

Well when we were on the Splendor our toilet almost daily at least one time didn’t flush. Most of the time it flushed in a little while in its own but once or twice we had a surprise……. Guess this means the Splendor is a no go too! Since the Navigator and the Mariner are old, the Navigator and the Voyager vibrate at some speeds, Grandeur has noisy rooms, the toilets on the Splendor and Mariner have problems…..so all that leaves is the Explorer…. Surely someone can find some problem with her too…. Chair hogs, vibrations, noise, cranky toilers….anything?🤣 Sorry, not sure there that came from

Luggage can be a problem traveling in SAfrica. Pre Covid LF would not ship into/of out of SAfrica. This may have changed since we were there in 2018. They will drink wrap it at the airport or in some hotels for you. Helps prevent tampering (petty airport theft is a problem there), Took all our cruise luggage and arranged with the J’burg Hotel to store it, wrapped it before we left the airport, easy to do and felt better with the extra effort. You will most likely fly in/out of J’burg for a safari camp in the north/east. Then fly or be driven to camps in Kruger area, but you can make storage arrangements between arrival and transfer….or drive yourself…fabulous part of the country. This far out you have time to research lodges/camps in your choice area…1.check out Regent package camps as if you were putting the trip to it by yourself…know the good ones will make private transfers to the camp from airport as easy as possible. We had done other Regent add ins and they were nice, but doing it yourself gives so many more options. 2.check size of the group for safari vehicles and type or vehicle and a must for us ability to go off road to get close as possible plus extra chances to explore outside of planned am/pm drives 3. Check if there is land for animals to roam freely in and out of lodge property especially into Kruger NP. Or like area. This will make less zoo/theme park like 4. Most important to us the first time we went was a place that offered the chance to see the big five roaming freely… not lions or Leopards fenced off somewhere. We thought it would be a one time experience, but as so many have done before us we figured out how to do it again and again. SAfrica is a beautiful country, outside of the big cities the people are friendly and love to tell you about their area and want to learn about you. The roads and rent cars are very good with little traffic and all signs are in English, everyone speaks English and maybe another language plus. Whatever Safari plan you pick don’t skimp on the time in country, you will fall in love with it. Don’t be afraid to go out on your own if you want.

Isn’t there still a Wi-Fi related benefit for cruisers with less SSS days? Of course it doesn’t matter at this point but isn’t there dinning and tour benefits for early booking at that level? At least the website has caught up with the reality of the current situation.

Agree with all above posts! Arrange it yourself direct with provider or a TA, not with Regent given the problems with their providers right now and you will also spend much more for less. Be sure and go with a group that provides off road drives with 6-8 people (best) and go to the greater Kruger area or do a self drive and stay in Kruger Nat Park. This area is more diverse than the Eastern Cape, We have been to both areas. We have done self drives twice in Kruger NP. We flew to J’burg rented a SUV and drove to the park. The accommodations are good and located in various places in the park. Fabulous trip! Safe easy trip in spite of what you might hear We did Addo Elephant NP this way also as we drove from Kruger to Cape Town though the Eastern Cape. We have also stayed at a game lodges with drives twice a day. If you really want to go whole hog go to the Serengeti and do a private Safari. We did this and then caught a cruise. It was a wonderful week long Safari….beautiful animals and country side, really a life changing experience!. I will try to find the link to our blog. Safaris are expensive, do some reading about the various options, decide what you want to see and how you want to see it….fancy lodge or closer to nature but comfortable, large area to explore large variety of animals or happy with smaller camp. Trucks with built up bench seats for a large group or small and personal in a large jeep. We lean toward more nature/less fancy, we can get all the high end stuff on the ship or at a resort. The Safari is for the animal experience and a comfortable lodging not so much the fine resort m, at least for us. We have done 5 - 3 to 7 day and 2 - 1 day safaris. I think the min time is two full days/ three nights, but more is better! At lodges there are usually a game dive in the AM and PM. The rest of the time is at the lodge relaxing. On a self drive in the NP you can stay out all day. There are protected rest spots you can picnic and relax watch the annimals and visit with the SAfricans who will ask all kinds of questions about how you found this place !!!

Thanks for taking the time to answer about the show info. With a dedicated entrance I might try for the Donna Summer show, probably not DHs cup of tea, but I can go alone with my walker. However he does like comedy shows so we may try for that….are they different each time. We don’t usually do any tours anymore, maybe just walk ashore and we are not night owls. We would just as soon read in the room ir enjoy the balcony. Our age has caught up with us so now we mostly just enjoy what the ship has to offer…..some of the docks are really hard for us to get to the taxi stand or even the shop/food area at the end of the pier. You are only three years older than our oldest….just a spring chicken😀 That is a beautiful picture of the Costa Mays coast….sounds like a wonder cruise day! Thanks for sharing….this time two weeks from now we will be on the ship!!!

Totally agree with you about Anchorage and more compensation for Iceland. That was my point in my earlier post. You can’t make a silk purse from a sows ear, just sone kind of purse. We have been to Anchorage on 6 cruises, but after the first two we do around trips. Also people really miss the mark when they pick a big bus transfer with Regent over the wonderful train ride. We have done it both ways! Just because the high end cruise line or travel company plan it, it isn’t always the best that you can do on your own, at least in our experience.

No need to feel that way. You solved the pre cruise problem, go and have a good time cruising around Iceland. Itis beautiful! Dealing with an issue with Regent can be a pain but it can pay off. We had a big problem on a long cruise and the ship personal could not solve it. But after we returned home with the help of our TA, Regent gave us satisfaction. Our next cruises were as good as the crust had been and we are still cruising with them. My advise is to save all receipts from the extra cost to you pre cruise. Once home have your TA send the copies to Regent asking to be reimbursed for the cost to for Regents inability to give you what you paid them for. You may have to write them also, we did. It is a process….and it use to work. Hope you have a good cruise despite this mess.

I feel you have unrealistic expectations of what Regent can realistic provide in hotels at ports around the world. They are providing the customer with a connivence of one stop travel shopping. However to expect Regent to be able to provide a hotel like the Beverly Wiltshire in Beverly Hills in Anchorage Alaska is unrealistic. Regent tires to use the best available in the port city. At least that has been our experience. We usually don’t use the hotel because we are combining the cruise with a longer land trip and need more than one night in the port precruise . If the hotel is really something really special we may use Regents hotel otherwise the extra nights are too costly even booking them ourself.