Dwtlion

When you fill in your information for your boarding pass (a couple weeks before your cruise) you will have a chance to select a boarding time from those time slots not already taken. Embarkation generally starts at 11 am.

3 hours ago, basor said:

We booked a cruise when the Ultimate offer was available last May in the US and it clearly stated that it was for new bookings only.....so unless your cruise was basically unsold, most of the rest of your fellow cruisers will not have those perks....

Not entirely correct. I booked a cruise last winter, then the Ultimate offer came in May. My TA was able to get the Ultimate, but I had to pay the $400 fare increase in the current price of my category. This was a no-brainer as the value of the 3 perks was far more than the fare increase.

Probably yes, BUT you will be rebooked at the current rate. When I did this the rate had gone up, but I still netted a couple hundred-dollar savings due to getting all 3 OLife benefits.

Sent an email to O's webmaster yesterday as neither my windows computer nor my new Ipad air would work. Kept getting access denied. Grrr.

16 hours ago, susiesan said:

In the past, you did not need a visa to enter Japan as a tourist. 

People living in Japan do not want tourists to come there anytime in the near future. I have friends there who would be happy if there as no more foreign tourism ever. Based on what my Japanese friends tell me, it is highly unlikely there will be any Japan cruises in 2023 because there will be no foreigners allowed into Japan until covid and monkeypox are gone, which will be never.

I believe Japan is now allowing foreign tourists if they are part of an approved organized tour group.

A cruise with organized shore excursions?

I was in 9045 on Riviera -same configuration as Marina-and would recommend 9041 as laundry was no issue, close to the lounge and easy elevator/stair access. I would avoid the staterooms that use the rear elevators as there are only 2 vs. 4 in the front. Lots of wait time for the rear elevators at various times of the day. For example at 7-8pm when people trying to get to the 2 specialty restaurants in the rear.

What if you are traveling solo, can you ADD a cabin mate after final payment?

15 minutes ago, Portolan said:

I'd guess the reasoning for only providing access via your TA the (erroneous IMHO) belief that dealing with a professional reduces the burden on Regent.  While that might be true if the customer has no clue how to research or understand hot to evaluate options, it is clearly not true for many of us.  I provide the precise details to my TA who faithfully transacts with Regent, but if there are any questions or issues, she has to get back to us and get our response.  This has, on occasion, consisted of many cycles all of which could have been short-circuited if I were talking directly to the air desk.  Maybe there should be an option to choose an "expert" mode where one acknowledges the issues that may arise and accepts those "risks."  

Why not let the TA decide if the client is knowledgeable enough to deal directly with Air.

2 minutes ago, Mike Moore said:

Unfortunately it cannot. I believe a previous poster mentioned they setup a 3-way call to accomplish this after the TA submitted the initial request.

Mike, thanks for your reply. However, I would like to know the reasoning as I am hard pressed to understand unnecessarily burdening TAs. Prior to the advent of the form, I talked directly to the air department. I can't now email them?

Question: if my TA informs Regent Air that they can deal directly with me, can the air deviation form be on my account for access and completion?

Like many RSSC passengers, I am an experienced traveler who is particular about flights and airlines. 

To keep passing requests and my answers thru a TA is a total waste of their time! Also, there is a chance that my flight choices may have a surcharge due to fare increases. If I give 3 flight choices, I will want to know the surcharge for each so I can consider going with the lowest surcharge. Why unnecessarily get my TA involved in these decisions? She adds nothing to the process.

Same question as my 270 days are here. Looked all over website, but no form. Grrr!

We have friends who will be on RSSC Navigator in Kirkwall the same day I will also be there on Vista. Anyone have an idea whether I could get them on Vista for a quick visit/tour since we are all passengers on affiliated ships.

3 minutes ago, ORV said:

He's saying that the Emergency Assistance + is $180 for 2 people for a year, while the Med Jet Assist is $900- $1200 annually, but runs out before his cruise starts. That makes the Med Jet about $1000 a year more. 

The 2 plans are apples & oranges! MJA flys you home at no cost; EA+ arranges for YOU to pay an air evac to fly you home.

9 hours ago, rallydave said:

The terms and conditions say any payment gets you up to the max coverage from chase. Have communicated directly with the insurer and any amount charged is sufficient. 

Actually reading the Chase Sapphire Preferred terms and conditions can be informative. 

Under " travel and emergency assistance services"  the T&C in bold print says: "travel and emergency assistance Services provide assistance and referral. You are responsible for the cost of the actual medical, legal, transportation, cash advance, or other services or goods provided."

Under " trip cancellation/ Interruption insurance" in the very first paragraph it makes clear your coverage is only for the amount you have charged to your Chase credit card. " the trip cancellation and trip Interruption benefit provides reimbursement for eligible travel expenses charged to the cardholder's account up to $10,000 per covered person..."

The operative words are charged to the card holders account. Chase would be out of business if you can pay $100 and get $10,000 worth of coverage. It's not even rational.

4 hours ago, rallydave said:

The Amex Platinum benefits are only valid if the total amount is charged to your Platinum card.  Best card I have found for Travel is the US Bank Altitude Connect card.  3 points per dollar for all travel including gas.  Redeem for cash credit which is usable against your cruise charges so in essence a 4% reduction on your cruise so a $50,000 cruise gives you $2,000 off on your total cruises.

 

And, since the Chase Preferred Cards include trip interruption and cancelation coverage I simply charge $100 to the Sapphire Card getting the 3 points per dollar and the rest to the US Bank Card.  Win Win.

I believe charging $100 on your Chase card only gets you that amount of coverage- not the total cruise cost.

2 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

ya  the quoted me  900-1200 for a policy  for a year  that would expire just before my next cruise !!!   

For 74+  they only do annual. my  friend + you have a ton of paperwork to submit     EA+   180 for 2 for a year..... to me  almost   $ 1000 difference

Correct me if I am wrong, but EA+ just makes arrangements for client paid med evacuations; whereas MJA actually provides and pays for service.

Per a video emailed today featuring R's President, a form will be forthcoming to make an air request. This will eliminate calling (and long hold times) to make a request. Form can't come soon enough IMHO.

Facebook just posted several comments from booked passengers that they just got news their cruises are canceled. Anyone know details?

Queen of DaNile, thanks for finding the Polar Code. After reading the Polar Code, I suspect that Marina has a Class C certificate which applies to ships that are allowed to only operate in open water or thin first year ice. Mystery solved.

Further research shows that Azamara, Princess and Holland America also have Antarctic drive-bys this coming winter. All these cruise lines can't be wrong!

Regent's Voyager has an Antarctica drive-by similar to Oceania's scheduled to depart January 19, 2023.

Either we now have 2 cruise lines publishing false itineraries; or there is more to this story. Since I am booked on a similar O cruise in Dec. '23, clarity from O would be appreciated.

On 5/7/2022 at 7:12 PM, PhD-iva said:

No, I am referring to the O life excursion package as the selected benefit. Each pax is given a specific number of free excursions (up to $199 price). 
my experience has been that I received half of the number of excursions per stateroom even though I was paying a 100% single supplement. Perhaps it will be different going forward, or perhaps my TA did not get a good deal for me in the past. It would be interesting to know whether other solo passengers are allotted the same number of total excursions as a state room occupied by two pax (double occupancy).

Unless you push back (thru your TA) Solo travelers will only get 1/2 the Olife offering. Remind O that their website says Olife benefits are per stateroom. I have 3 cruises booked between now and 12/23 with all receiving the full 100% Olife offerings.

24 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

It’s possible he is selecting which excursions to purchase…..

But, do you mean instead he should be selecting olife? Selecting Olife does not make sense for solo cruisers as solo cruisers only receive half of the excursion allotment compared to two passengers in a state room.

Hi Robin,

On the Riviera TA I was with you, plus 2 future bookings, I got the full Olife when in a double cabin.

Also the excursion Olife is a good deal with a port intensive cruise as you can go up to $199 excursions. Plus they count towards the 25% discount if you can meet the number threshold.

Don

I can understand....maybe..... reducing Olife for a single cabin. But not when O is asking you to pay for both beds.

Has Oceana change the Olife amounts for solo passengers occupying a double occupancy cabin? A cruise I completed in November as well as two bookings for August and next fall, the Olife amounts as per the website are per stateroom. In no case are either the shipboard credits  or the free shore excursions reduced to 50% for a solo booking. However when looking at the new itineraries just released, the Olife amounts for the credits and shore excursions have been cut in half- not what either the website or past practice indicates.

Now a solo pays the total for 2 beds, but gets only half of the Olife. If this is now the policy, the only Olife option that makes sense is the beverage package if you are a drinker. Otherwise, if you have selected Olife credits or excursions, you are in effect paying more than what a double occupancy would cost. Website error or new policy?