Ladys Mom

Thank you so much for posting the wines. We will be on the Navigator soon and this will give us an idea of what wines to expect.

We can't wait to get on. That is Regent. Whatever you want, if they can do it, they will make it happen. I think for those of us of a certain age, a Regent cruise is the "happiest place on earth".

Montreal is a beautiful city. This is a great time of year to visit. Mitch’s Mom was from there. Have fun.

GP, your narration of your Navigator cruise has been wonderful. I have enjoyed hearing about the good and the bad. We will be on the ship on June 23rd, for the next 78 days. Can't wait.

We started getting trip insurance because of elderly family members. Since then we got older and purchased it for ourselves (just in case). Had a couple of small claims over the years, such as the time our luggage wasn't delivered from the plane to the ship for five days and we needed to purchase some clothes to wear. When Crystal went under, our travel insurance reimbursed us for the loss. It took a while, but we got most of the money back. With very long cruises in the offing (70-132) days, we would never travel without it.

They have just cheapened the Regent experience. Receiving the documents in the envelope always made the cruise experience start out on a special note. Now getting documents from a regent will feel no more special than what we would receive from any mainline cruise line. Bad form Regent! JMHO

We did three Azamara cruises before the pandemic. It also was before RCCL sold them off. While we liked Azamara, what we love about Regent is that everything is included and the crew are friendly and attentive. If your first Regent cruise is on the Splendor then you are starting with what we consider the "best". It is the newest ship, until Grandeur sails in November and the most luxurious. No matter what level suite you are in you will feel comfortable and pampered. The food at all five of the restaurants is outstanding, though we favor Compass Rose because of its variety and ability to customize your meal to your liking. If you ask 24 hours ahead, they will even make you a dish that is not on the menu. The included wines have always been satisfactory for us. If you get to know the Somelier, they will find wines that are to your liking and expectations.

We are sailing on the Mariner in January and would love to know when she will be in dry dock.

We have found a note to a Stateroom Attendant or a Butler works really well throughout a cruise for whatever you need. We saw our Butler take the note out of his pocket and check that he filled someone's request. When they have so many suites to take care of, a written reminder is easier than trying to remember everything.

I have sailed on three Azamara cruises and many RSSC cruises. The Azamara cruises were all before they were sold by RCL and before the pandemic. Our first two were in Veranda, with its infamous shower curtain, our last was in a Club Continent suite. We always found the crew, and especially the senior officers to be incredibly friendly. The food was good, but not outstanding. Entertainment was minimal with not even a proper showroom. For our last cruise we went all out of self-purchased business class fare, the full alcohol package, and purchased shore excursions in every port. The cruise was from Amsterdam to London. We had a marvelous time and count that cruise as one of the best we have ever had. The service we received was augmented by the service we were granted as high-level members of their loyalty program. Our main reason for not continuing on Azamara is that we love longer cruises and Regent's all-inclusive program fits us to a tee.

So glad you enjoyed your time on the Splendor, even if the weather was not so cooperative. Saki seems to be hit or miss. When we were last on the Splendor in the Fall, 2021, they had an entire saki menu so we could try different brands. Since then, it has been harder to find. When we are on the inaugural Grandeur we hope for more saki to choose from.

Just to cover yourself I would make sure you had trip insurance that would pay for you to get to the ship one way or another if your flight was cancelled.

We also leave notes for the room steward as the cruise progresses, for any special requests. It works really well. Also they can provide you with both still and sparkling water in the large bottles, or you can ask for Pellegrino or Perrier if you prefer.

One reason why it is difficult to book more than one shore excursion a day is that many of the excursions run 5-7 hours. Even if they start at 9 am it will be 1 pm before you are back at the ship. Then you will want to grab lunch. By this time it is 2 pm and if the ship is leaving around 6 pm there is not time for another even four hour excursion. Would you rather have a bunch of 2-4 hour bus tours of a city, or an interesting walking tour inside of a number of sights?

If you have a bad knee taking an accessible cabin is fully within your rights. I agree getting into those bathtubs is a game changer for anyone with any mobility problem. We have declined two Mariner suites lately because they only had the combo.

I have never seen anyone turned away from a SSS event. I just wouldn't wear my Silver level pin at and Gold and up event. JMO.

When we first started sailing with Regent we just took their air offer to fly out of Atlanta, rather than Birmingham, and go from there. Over time we found the two hour drive to Atlanta to be too much, so we switched to flying out of Birmingham. This resulted in the air deviation charge. We would investigate the best connections for us and offer that as an option to Regent. After Covid, we had to do this all through our travel agent. This new method is better because we can talk to Regent directly. If someone doesn't want to pay the $75 or $175 extra on a multi 10's of thousands on a trip, then just let Regent pick your flights. It seems to me the $175 is a small price to pay to get what you want.

BuckGood you are absolutely right.

If you have a butler make use of him/her. If you want an additional specialty restaurant reservation they can often get it for you. If you want to have some friends for cocktails in your suite, even if it is not a named suite, they can arrange it for you. If you need something special done with an item of clothing, like a stain or a small tear, point it out to them and it will be fixed. While having more real estate is often the motivation for getting a penthouse, the butlers we have had made our cruise even more special.

Bob, I loved your pictures and your travelogue, especially of your Jewish tour of Montevideo. We took a private tour of Jewish Rio de Janero that also was moving. Hope to do more of South America one day. We found that the Amazon cruise is not as good as one hopes it would be. Maybe coming in from the Ecuador side would be more interesting.

Lobster bisque in Prime 7. Always ask for extra pieces of lobster. Rack of lamb in same venue.

Thanks for telling us the classes were open. I booked a class for us on the TA Barcelona to Miami Dec. 2023. Norma and Mitch

We didn't help any. We got a Penthouse C, but with only a bathtub, so we declined the offer.

I agree that it is time for Regent to step up with a greater variety of tours. That being said, in many large cities there are famous museums and/or sights that Regent seems to forget about. Instead, people like me are going to the sight ourselves because the Regent ones don't interest us at all. Some examples on our Grand Voyage this coming summer are the Tattoo and the Ship Britannia in Edinburgh, the Slavery Museum in Liverpool, and the Rykesmuseum in Amsterdam. It seems like there have been fewer museum tours generally in the last few years. Many people still enjoy museums if they have a knowledgable guide to explain things to them.

We got Bulgari when we were in Horizon Suite