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cwn

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Everything posted by cwn

  1. We are not younger clients, but I agree with you. Our kids travel nearly paperless and they are in their 50’s!
  2. Interesting . Never had to make any kind of claim, thankfully. It makes sense though, at least easy for Regent personal since there are 100s and 100s of Regent tours at any given time.
  3. I don’t have any real numbers just my experiences over 12 years, but the fact is this is the Regent package. Since Regent doesn’t guarantee us a tour in every port in the first place if the tour we do pick is canceled for any reason and there is nothing else open, we go to theater the day of the canceled tour and see if something we like opens up due to no shows. This happens many times on many tours or we find something to do on our own. We accept that a tour of our choice in very port is not a guarantee of the package we bought from Regent. Before COVID, ports were missed and tours canceled on many of the cruises we took. The three cruises since Covid we had two ports canceled and one tour canceled after sailing with no replacement tour open. It seems to be on a par with our experience before Covid. Cancelations happen for all kinds of reasons. You should not cruising if the tours and the ports are the most important aspect of cruising for you. You stand a chance to being disappointed because unexpected things can and do happen with cruising.
  4. Ask at the Reception Desk or in CR to speak him.
  5. Well everything is getting more and more costly….food, any type of travel, clothes, you name it. I except that. If Regent needs to cut the cost of doing business to maintain their wonderful on board service at a price I can live with, I am fine with the precruise stuff coming by email and printing my luggage tags. We got three binders for our Dec cruises and they all went in the trash after we got the luggage tags out. They are bulky to pack and I am fine with getting the needed stuff by email or on the ship. The binder looked nice but was just wasted money as were the mailers we don’t get as we took our name off the list some time ago.
  6. I would also say take more casual clothes that you can mix and match. I took more dresser clothes thinking we would dress up a bit each night like we do on short cruises …. That was the part that got old for us. I didn’t even wear some of my nicer outfits. After about a month I started just changing into clean daytime stuff. slacks or skirt and top. Left the dressy stuff for only the special nights and we enjoyed the evenings much better. If you have a special snack type food …we get cravings for snickers….take a supply, not easy to fine in other parts of the world.
  7. Georgia peach….From the other side of the coin….our first long cruise was 63 days on the Mariner. We had only ever done about 21 days and DH was sure he could stand that long, but I love being on the water. We loved loved the cruise (Circle SA) and it was broken up into 4 segments so there were alway changing the dynamics of the ship. We first met Ray in that cruise. (We always love his church services). Each segment had a different feel…I am an old HS teacher… so like a new class period, same subject, but very different. We were on the Navigator in 2018 for the 137 day world cruise and loved every minute. We had concerns about being a small ship for a long time but the staff has plenty for us to do! Come join us in 26. We can celebrate together. We will be celebrating 61 years with the full 155 day cruise. But seriously you are talking about several segments and that really breaks up the mix. And the Mariner is a wonderful ship with both forward and aft lounges and you can get outside in both for pictures. Also two speciality restaurants so not as much pressure on CR. The really long cruises are different in that more effort is put in the activities as they know people are on for a long time. The staff really do make the “long haulers” feel special.
  8. At least in the past in the US, when we sign up for a tour online, it list the retail value as “x”….$99, $124 or maybe even $169, then your cost “free”. Then if there is a charge they list the retail cost and the your cost what ever that is. This had not changed when we picked our tours for the Dec cruises. But things are handled differently in the UK sometimes. This causes sone confusion at times. sorry noro messed up you cruise. That is no fun.
  9. If the dinning room runs out of a dish you had your heart set on one night do you ask for cash/credit back for that meal? If your mixer or liquor or beer is not available do you ask/expect cash/credit back? The point is, if we choose to cruise with Regent and their business model, we willing pay a set charge for the Regent package which includes port stops(though no certain port is a guarantee), some tours and drinks at no extra cost plus room and board and standard health and safety standards. It also includes air and at a certain Suite level a free precruise night that we can opt out of for a credit. Though the credit is often less than what we actually would have to pay buying air and hotel ourselves. Things happen king crab legs are not available, ports change, tours are a canceled, the dinning room run out of the nights special, but Regent model does not give credit for this. If we decline the air or hotel they do. “Free or included” it makes no difference if we cruise with Regent we accept they method of business. Personally we have liked their product for 12 years (-250days) with 179 booked. Canceled ports, canceled tours, unavailable tours, misses on a dish or service because it just happens! For the money we have found Regent the best product sailing for us. Though as they say “your mileage may vary, there are a lot of other choices out there”.
  10. You and I seem understand this concept but others don’t and have no desire to.
  11. But there could be a non cruise ship that was given preference over the Regent ship. You never know, one time the Princess ship we were on missed the port because a HAL ship was at the only dock, Just sailed by the HALship and we had an unplanned sea day! If the port city is a must see for you, you need to plan a land trip. There are no guarantees on a cruise ship’s itinerary or that you will get the tour you want/like in every port. Cruising has a lot of moving parts. It is a wonderfully indulgent vacation, but the port are just icing, not the cake.
  12. Hope you have a great cruise! We love the Navigator! Have spent 149 wonderful days on her. Also like the Mariner a lot, but the new ships not so much… they are to big.
  13. We had several ports canceled while on the WC. The CD always told us why they were cancel in the morning talks, but you had to be listening….Rough seas, slower speed than planned for due to sea conditions etc. Now the ones canceled pre cruise were just canceled as I remember. Sans for the one canceled last Dec and for the port time changes Also the free tours have a value assigned, the subs were $99 and several we did this winter were $100 to $125. The valve can be up to $150 I think I read. Just like the ports they happen or they don’t. I don’t expect a refund of port docking fees or tours. That is risk of cruising.
  14. Ok thanks, I didn’t remember but since the Hs don’t have a nice walk-in closet on the two new ships that will be most of the difference. The Gs are the same size as the Mariners H-D (as I remember) which is fine for us and all Regent suites are very nicely done. The cabin on our first cruise was 110 sf 45 years ago and we thought we were in heaven!
  15. The ship holds -750 and 50 suites sounds like a lot but that is really only -100 passengers. The ship is sailing at 80-90 % full. We have done some segments on the Mariner and the Navigator that were less full than that. Sure makes for more times in the speciality restaurants! And this was precovid.
  16. Yes the Mariner H is bigger the same size as all suites on the Mariner up to pent house. We stayed in a G on the Splendor. The H and G are the same I think, Sqft 219 plus veranda but the H doesn’t have a walk-in closet. Our G was a bit tight but worth it to us for the aft view.
  17. In the two cruises we did on the Splendor in Dec there was no change in the menu. The chartreuse restaurant manager said the menu was fixed. We enjoyed several items on that menu so ate there a number of times. If it is like Prime 7 and Sette Mare have been over the years there has been little change in those menus from year to year…..just some up dating based on what is currently available and maybe a slightly different preparation or maybe a special. Are you worried that you will get tired of the food? We really have not on the WC and Grand Voyages on the Mariner and the Navigator. Compass Rose has so many options, the nightly specials, the always available mix and match, plus we would order a family favorite ahead of time off and on. Then you have the 2/3 other restaurants plus room service to mix it up. We also try to eat lunch or dinner, if in port late, off the ship. It’s culturally fun and mixes things up even more.
  18. Same as in our Splendor G aft veranda. Very comfortable, had several pleasant room service dinners on the veranda and many drinks🍯😊!
  19. No, and they do not hang around waiting for a tip.
  20. Thank you for posting that (couldn’t figure out how to on phone). I have referred to the T&C contract in several of my comments. We all agree to it and sign it if we sail with Regent. IMO this discussion is beating a dead horse, if we don’t like Regent policies try another cruise line. Our 3 cruises postCovid have had canceled on the ship tours, full tours (we booked a few months pre cruise) and many tours not suitable for persons mobility issues. This also happened before Covid. Not as often, but I am willing to let things settle down….it will take time yet. I like the offered “free” tours at this stage of our travel, like reading choices and picking one and done. But I know for the best choice we have to be able to book when they first open a year out. We have never visited a port on a Regent ship that we didn’t find something interesting to do either ship sponsored or locally provided. Destinations personal have been very helpful with info when a tour was canceled at the last minute.
  21. You got that right! First time I saw cruise ship tamales I thought they were short corn dogs with no sticks (years ago on NCL). 🤣
  22. No joke! That is the first place we stop as we head into town….after a Grand or WC we are d raving good TexMex. The Mexican buffets made by Asian cooks are a source of amusement rather than taste.
  23. As I recall the rotation was about 14 days maybe a little less. The menus were not changed out completely but things were mixed up some so the menu didn’t look the same ever second Tues. There were special dishes and regional deck buffets that were fun.
  24. No where does it say that there will be an inclusion in each and every port or that you are guaranteed your choice of tour. Regent has a lot to offer but there are other cruise lines out there if you are unhappy with the product.
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