mnocket

Good to hear. I'm using them for the first time for a cruise next January.

Well written review. Thanks👍

This is disturbing. Is Travel Insured known for denying claims?

I'm going to South Georgia next January. My fingers are crossed that the avian flu won't cause them to cancel the landings.

I think that is most likely where this is headed. Unfortunately, I fear the days of cruise lines offering their customers savings on air travel, if they booked with them, are a thing of the past. Even mass-market lines often used to offer significant savings on one-way international business class. That has become very rare. I suspect reaping business class savings on Regent is also going to become a rarity. Going forward, the only reason to book air with Regent may be convenience. That will still be sufficient for some, but not for those who are hesitant to give up control of their booking - the financial incentive is likely disappearing.

You could be right about that, although I think it's a bit like a new car company saying "our target customer is someone who doesn't currently own a car". I guess there's a market, but it's a small slice of the pie.

The EJ strategy seems to be... We will become successful if we can win over travel agents. Perhaps the EJ strategy should be... We will become successful if we can win over cruisers?

I wouldn't be so sure. Sometimes successful businesses are successful because they cut loose business segments that fail to become profitable after a reasonable time. Just saying.

With SM, does O have any motivation to improve their excursions?

Ultimate-All-Inclusive-Luxury-Blacklane-Flyer-052924.pdf (rssc.com) I received their email this morning announcing 2 "new" fare options, All-Inclusive and Ultimate All-Inclusive. It just looks to me like a minor repackaging of what we're all used to. What am I missing?

Good to hear. I keep reading about how the younger generations are being squeezed financially. Sounds like that's not the case.

I don't think it's guaranteed that every tour operator will do the same, but when we were there the bus dropped us off up top and then met us at the bottom. I'm not sure you can know for sure in advance how it will be done, but I think that is the "usual" procedure. I'm not a huge waterfall fan, but Godafoss was impressive!

Great information. Is my understanding correct that even if you take a ship tour, at the end you will be deposited in Fira and will have to make your way down the hill to the port of Skala to catch a return tender to the ship?

Part of the reason that vacation spending in general, and cruising in specific, remains strong may be the bifurcation of the economy. Inflation is really hitting the working generations hard. Inflation typically hits retired folk even harder, but for many retirees (especially those who have the resources to travel) the growth in their retirement accounts more than makes up for it. Many retirees who have significant funds sitting in retirement accounts are actually feeling pretty good about their financial situation. So while the younger generations who have favored spending on "experiences" (e.g. travel) over savings and material possessions, may start to cut back, those retirees who have been traveling will likely continue to do so.

I was where you seem to be now - just fed up with overcrowding on my usual cruise lines. I guess as we get older, for some of us our tolerance for crowds and waiting in lines evaporates. My solution was to step up to lines such as Regent, Windstar and Atlas. I've no loyalty to any cruise line and I'll undoubtedly be trying some other small ship experiences in the future. Sure, I'm paying more, but I'm getting something I enjoy more too😃

My suggestion is that you consider expanding your options beyond just Celebrity and RCCL ships. Just because they don't offer what you are looking for doesn't mean it isn't available - you just need to consider cruise lines with smaller ships. There are no shortage of options. They do tend to cost more - sometimes a little, and sometimes a lot, but you get what you pay for. If you pay for a large ship experience, you get a large ship experience. It just depends what you're looking for.

Sometimes people confuse the South Shetland Islands with the South Georgia Island. South Georgia Island is often rated as even more impressive than Antartica - the South Shetlands, not so much. I'd take the longer cruise in this case and pass on the Shetlands.

This sale used to be pretty good several years ago. However, I've been disappointed in it the past few years. Still, worth taking a look. Details to be released May 30th in an online presentation.

For those of you renewing your passports, don't make my mistake and forget to check the box to get the bigger passport with more pages.

I suspect a little foam or rubber weather stripping type material would provide a temporary fix until the doors can be refitted in drydock. I'm not sure what the exact problem with the closet and bathroom doors is, but I'd wager there's a better solution than rubber door stops to keep the doors open at night. I also doubt that those are issues that require a drydock to fix. I realize there are those who feel the ship executive staff have handled this adequately. Opinions differ.

I've read reports of the various door problems before, including resorting to duct tape. These don't seem to me to insurmountable problems that can only be addressed during drydock. I'd save a portion of your ire for the ship's executives in addition to the corporate ones. Persistent issues such as you, and others, have experienced should be priority issues for the ship's executives. It seems they are not.

The only reason that comes to mind is they don't want to publish the occupancy level.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm swayed by your arguments, and will try to find a longer connection.

Yeah, I always travel in a day or two early. Since I'll be leaving DEN in January, I'm going 2-days early (I'm always surprised at how easily DIA is disrupted by light snow). Nothing I can do about a snowstorm, but absent that, I'd hate to miss my connection because it was too tight. Unfortunately, as things stand now, the alternatives are either hugely more expensive or result in a 6+ hr connection.

In my case, not really domestic travel, but a domestic connection leading to an international flight. Specifically, departing Denver and traveling to Buenos Aires with a connection in either Dallas or Miami. The connection times are about 1hr15m. Since fixing a missed connection on this itinerary isn't easy, I'm worried this connection is too tight. Thoughts on this specific case and connection times in general?