DeepFreeze63

"We met a couple on the tour we did in Athens who are on for 33 days.  She said they were in one of the specialties and waited 45 minutes for their entrees.  At that point they stood up and left.  She said “no one cared that we left” and staff just stood and watched them go with no comment, interest or apology.  I find that pretty shocking.  We are relatively new to R but I honestly can’t imagine that happening on an R ship, based on our experience, which is that they would be full of consternation and fully stressed to have their guests walk out.  And if it did occur, I am positive that you would receive a call of apology.  This couple did not."

Last year on the Splendor, my wife didn't feel well but I persuaded her to join me for soup in CR.  She had soup and we started to leave. The CR staff were all over us! What was wrong? What could they do?  After my explanation, my order was delivered to our room. Way to go Regent.

11 hours ago, mikemcan said:

Curious to restart this conversation and ask if those who went the deviation route were able to book non-stop flights to their destination.  In our case, we would be flying out of Washington Dulles to Rome and there are 4 non-stop flights available.

 In the last 2 years, we have been able to deviate and fly non-stop, Regent Business out of Dulles to Southampton (Heathrow), Lisbon, and Copenhagen without an up-charge. From Stockholm to Dulles, we had to connect in Frankfort. Up-coming cruise, to Venice (Trieste) we could only get a connection; we chose Munich (without an upcharge).

1 hour ago, snorkle lover said:

Looking for advice on either a pre cruise with RSSC or post cruise. The pre cruise is Rome and mentions the Tivoli Gardens. We have been to Rome once but never to the Tivoli Gardens. The post cruise is Athens and we have not been to Greece. It is quite a short cruise so we are hoping to extend for a few days either prior or after the cruise. Any advice is appreciated.

You will probably get more responses if you provide more details. For me, I've assumed that you are on the 7-day Splendor cruise in October 2024 (great time to be in Rome and Athens). I have visited Rome and Athens extensively. I have taken many Regent pre- and post- cruise tours BUT always they were "included" - the pre/post for the 10/24 Splendor are at least now extra cost.

I would pick the Athens post-cruise because (your specifics might change the recommendation):

1. the new Acropolis Museum is AMAZING and you'd be going there without jet lag.

2. The outside of Athens activities are interesting in themselves and you have never been to Greece.

3. The Athens option is $1,000 cheaper.

I am going to do either the cruise that you are interested in or the cruise following; we will have done at least 30 Regent cruises by then. The Bangkok to Doha cruise fits my requirement for booking either a Concierge suite or an included Regent pre-cruise tour. It is difficult/lengthy to get from Bangkok to the port.

It will be the our first time on the Navigator; yes, both itineraries are terrific.

I follow "karissaeats" on UTube; she has over 1 million followers as she tries food around the world AND she has a sub-topic titled "life of a singer on a cruise line" It's her activities on the Splendor - great short videos of behind the scenes as well as in public spaces! I was in awe of her crew cabin and the female dressing area backstage.

We just got our boarding passes for the inaugural on 11/18. DW commented that she intends to take "scads" of photos - on a Splendor cruise/vacation in summer she took about 4000 for consideration in her photo album; we'll learn how to post some.

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

So, as an outsider looking in at this situation, is it the case that the "free", included pre-cruise packages that are offered from time to time are of lesser quality than than paid pre- or post-cruise packages?  Or are some paying for this Vibrant Tokyo tour?  (We've never taken a pre-cruise trip, but almost did once, and it seemed to be chocked full of sights and activities.) I certainly would never pay those prices for what the OP described.

Yes and No!

On our 25 Regent cruises we have: declined an "included" pre-/post- tour and taken a credit upon booking (almost always S750 p.p.); taken "included" tour upon booking because I found them to be cost effective at $750 pp and convenient/enjoyable (Lisbon, Athens and Cape Town) come to mind; and few, if any, pre-/post- cruise added cost Regent tours - although they look nice there are plenty of other options that were better for us.

We are booked on Grandeur from Athens to Barcelona in August 2024 and signed up for "Silk Road to Baku". Started having second thoughts about this pre-cruise excursion early this year with trouble in Armenian province but mainly concerned about plane flights. Will make a decision after I see the available flights in January, 210 days prior to embarkation

Otherwise, would love to visit Azerbaijan and excursion looks to be well crafted.

Yes, but let the local tour organizer know when you aren't going on the Regent tours.

We are doing Vibrant Tokyo post-cruise on 04/01/2024 and plan to go out out on Regent bus and stay in both Ueono Park ( National Museum) and Ginza and come back to hotel on metro/train. Can get a lot of good tips on UTube!

We plan to do Shinjuku area by night probably with local guide - did this 5 years ago and had a fantastic night adventure.

Yesterday, Regent put out a press release (see "Press and Media" on their website) about the art on the Grandeur and an app which will be available upon the inaugural cruise for details on the art and artists.

We had fun on our with CD John who put together a scavenger hunt booklet using photo snippets of about 50 pieces of art on the Splendor - not easy but great fun and Regent points for completion!

Strong magnets - normal magnets don't work well on Splendor walls.

Sweaters for very cold public areas on Splendor (all Regent ships)

Pre-typed address labels - Regent supplies and mails ship postcards - as many as you want. They are delivered as much as a month after you disembark; fun conversation item.

We have done many Regent pre- and post- cruise excursions. Did the Tokyo pre-cruise several years ago and that tour as presently offered looks exactly the same (we will do it again post-cruise in March).  It is leisurely which was great for us pre-cruise with 13-hour flight and 12 hour time difference.  Hilton Tokyo was nice; being near (15 minute walk or 5 minute hotel shuttle.) to Shinjuku Station area was exciting - we did an independent night tour of area with "Tours by Locals" - a WOW!

We have done 25 Regent cruises; many were in Concierge to: avoid the deviation fees by coming in 1 day before embarkation; get the transport from the airport in "difficult" cities, or a large balcony in the newer ships. Otherwise it's an F cabin for us as number of internet connections was not a consideration for us.

In your situation, I'd probably go Concierge if an desireable suite location was available. 

10 hours ago, CAHW said:

@boblerm I loved your detailed report!  And especially the all the port information.  You confirmed what I had thought about a few of them - why is that a stop?  Our cruise is a few days shorter - here is the itinerary below. We might just stay in the boat in Santos or go to the beach.  It’ll be our first trip to South America so even getting to hit Rio, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires will be a treat! 

1 - Rio de Janeiro

2 - Ilha Grande

3 - Santos

4 - Itajai

5 - day at sea

6 - Montevideo

7 - Buenos Aires

8 - Buenos Aires 

YES ! It will. Consider staying in BsAs a couple of extra days, Terriffic weekend fairs near graveyard where Evita is entombed (Friday afternoon and all Saturday) and near Pink Palace on Sunday.

Igazu Fall is spectacular (easily done on one's own from domestic airport); stay on grounds.

17 hours ago, cwn said:

I find reading the blog type posts are much better to get a feel of a ship, especially recent ones. The one and done post usually are so different than my experience on the same ship. I have stopped reading that part of CC.

After 25 Regent cruises and many years on CC, all I can say is AMEN!

1 hour ago, jeb_bud said:

@ChucktownSteve You’re right that NCLH hasn’t been a great investment. If you think of the shareholder credit as a return on that investment it looks like a pretty good dividend. A $100 OBC is about 6% of $1728. Longer cruises or more cruises drives the dividend up. 

Non-taxable!

8 hours ago, LvnCruisin said:

Ok, I've tried searching how many shares do I need and what will I get from them, meeting with our financial advisor soon. Realy would like to invest.

Bottom of rssc website is "For Investors"; it links to NCLH web page. Hit "Shareholder Benefits - info and forms. 

Under "Manage This Cruise" for each booking - details of where OBC came from and where it went.

We've done a New Years cruise on Regent and passengers were dressed "to the nines" for the New Year's dinner and midnight celebration. I'd pack at least a dress shirt, sport coat and tie.

Wow, an unexpected surprise in today's mail - my new passport.

Submitted a renewal request on 7/18 with both expedited mail service and expedited processing for a "big book" passport. Been checking on progress on-line but only saw "received 7/21"; so was shocked when it came in expedited U.S. Mail today.

Had been worried about "enough blank pages" (I renewed 2 years ago BUT "forgot" to check the box for a "big book"); so I renewed this time with 3 full empty pages left. African 2022 cruise used a lot of pages; had 2 European cruises in 2023 that used only 2 pages.

Beautiful background art, sturdy construction, and 42 pages for Visas.

Have done 25 Regent cruises, in all the parts of the world. I find the Regent public areas very cold (sometimes frigid). I'm always in a long-sleeve shirt, often with a sweater.  I bring a sports coat and wear it about 2 or 3 times during a 10 day cruise and always if there is a Formal Optional night. 

Have done 25 Regent cruises. Often see a net over pool in the early morning; probably a restriction due to sea motion.

We were on same cruise. Nothing (Nada) on our credit cards as of today. 

Were in a German port on the Baltic in early July on Splendor. Seemed like most of the ship went on long excursions to Berlin. La Verandah was open as a CASUAL buffet dinner venue with many German dishes - WONDERFUL!

2 hours ago, Tutuma said:

Recently departed the Mariner.  Found the public areas, especially the restaurants, unbelievably cold.  Next Regent cruise is on the Explorer.  Should I come prepared for another chilling experience on the Explorer? Want to prepare if that is the case,

Yes, Yes,...Yes.