ysolde

Precisely my point about alcohol. DH and I do not drink because it is contraindicated with medication each of us take. No big deal, really. Imagine, however, if Regent's approach to beverages were the same as it is to excursions: Regent is an all-inclusive cruise line. As such, it will provide tap water and alcoholic beverages, thus meeting the needs of the vast majority of its guests. For those guests who wish to drink coffee, tea, bottled water, juice, and soda, you are welcome to do so, of course, in every port. At your own expense. Regent is aware that guests get thirsty, so remember that guests who choose to go out and drink coffee and soda on their own need to be back on board in a timely manner! Regent will not be responsible for guests who go out non-Regent supervised Diet Coke Breaks, so be warned. And, of course, we would have lots of people here telling us that Regent regularly runs out of their favorite wine (so it is totally the same thing as not providing anything to drink for an entire category of passengers at all); that people who don't drink alcohol should know their limits and spend their cruise drinking tap water (because, presumably, that's all people who don't drink alcohol drink, don't cha know?); and implying that their presence is almost ruining it on the fancy ship with all the pretty people, so quit yer kvetching,

And this is happening. On our TA leaving from Miami on April 5, there are no excursions for limited mobility folks on our Azores stop.

I disagree. I think this is the equivalent of Regent providing alcoholic beverages and tap water on board, and telling people who don't drink alcohol that they are welcome to get off at each port and drink soda, coffee, tea, and bottled water to their hearts' content at their expense on land. Just make sure to get back on board in a timely manner, and remember they can't bring anything on board with them. And stick to the tap water while they are on board if they are unwilling/unable to drink alcohol. All while calling it all-inclusive, because the needs of the majority are met.

I know. I just don't know whether we will have in-person muster or not.

Thus far for our cruise in April, we each had to watch the safety video on-line before we could complete on-line check-in.

That doesn't speak well as to what would likely happen in an actual emergency. My last two in-person muster drills (both pre-Covid) (one on Royal, in the middle of summer, with thousands of people on board) and one on NCL (on a late-season TA with that had very few passengers on board) were conducted in locations that had adequate space for the number of passengers assigned. There was sufficient seating for everyone at both. I did notice some people were more interested in their phones than in the safety presentation. I don't care how often you've cruised, I think you should pay attention. In this sense the video presentation may be better, since passengers are forced to watch before completing check-in (I think once on board, too, at least that was the case on our last cruise).

Getting back to he topic of excursions and passengers with disabilities, DH and I are heading off to a cruise on Voyager at the beginning of April. Ages ago, when excursions first became available, it also became obvious that the excursions available to passengers using wheelchairs on this cruise would be limited at best. There was one excursion available to passengers using wheelchairs at one port, so we signed up for that one. There was one excursion at another port, but the system was not letting us sign up for it. It was not showing up as fully booked, but . . . A call to Regent was needed, because the system was wonky, and with only one excursion available, we needed to make sure we got in. Fortunately, the issue was resolved with the phone call. At the third port (Azores), there are no excursions available to passengers using wheelchairs. Not one. So DH and I will be spending our day on board the ship, I suppose. Or going on a HOHO bus. Those are always accessible. Frustrating as heck.

I love Buenos Aires! It's a lovely city with so much to see and do. That gaucho event looks like such fun! I will admit, though, that I have never really enjoyed an old-fashioned Argentine parrillada. The meat itself is fantastic, but I don't like the way they are prepared. Just a matter of taste, really.

I have some super comfy leisure wear from Lily Pulitzer that I have thought of wearing on travel days. I wear them at home all the time when I am at home and just watching TV and chilling -- it's a very cute set of joggers and top, white with small "paint splotches". Anyhow, when I told DH I was going to wear them on the flight from PHX to MIA (or, even better, from BCN back to PHX), he looked at me like I was nuts. I have never been seen out of the house in this outfit. And for good reason.

I really appreciate this thread. My DH and I are starting to figure out what to pack for our two week Regent TA cruise, and this helps quite a bit. He pretty much lives in khakis and polos and button downs with a sweater over the button down if it is chilly, so he should be fine. He may pack a sport jacket just in case, but just in case is overpacking when it comes to cruises. so . . . Oh, well. I will leave it up to him. As for me, I usually pack a couple of pairs of slacks, two skirts, two thin turtlenecks, two tank tops, two three-quarter sleeved merino wool sweaters, an evening cardigan (with a bit of sparkle in it), two dresses for evening. If there is enough space in the suitcase, I may even bring an evening clutch. Add in some evening costume jewelry and there is enough in there to mix and match, dress up, and have some fun while staying within the bounds of propriety.

We tend to pack together, and we cross-pack a little, so that one outfit, a pair or two of underwear, and an extra sweater (or equivalent) is in each other's suitcase. That way, if one person's suitcase gets lost in transit, that person will have the things in their carry-on, plus an extra outfit and a sweater (or functional equivalent) to tide them over.

We have two cats, so, no.

Sometimes the best of these is university alumni associations. I know my undergrad and grad school both sponsor pretty amazing trips (many of them cruises) to places of historical, artistic, bioanthro, and/or archaeological significance (e.g., the ME, the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Central America, I could go on, but this is off the top of my head, with cats meowing for food next to me -- anyhow). Professors who are experts in the fields accompany the group on the trips and provide lectures throughout the voyages, and are available more informally to answer questions as well. Perhaps alumni associations to which you or someone close to you are affiliated has something like this?

I think those of us with mobility issues are well aware of our limitations. Perhaps others around us who don't know us, don't live with us, and don't interact with us, are happy to take a quick glance at us and just know that they know exactly how limited we are. That is an assessment I leave to my orthopedist, to my friends, and to my DH (who to this day laughs at the things I have done, like ski and ride horses, that he has not).

Regent (and NCL) need to see that the way they are treating their guests with mobility issues reflects incredibly badly on the company. No one should be humiliated, insulted, and hurt when trying to enjoy one of the perks of their vacation. This. I am not sure where this will all end. I realize that there are some people who are made uncomfortable by the mere presence of folks with disabilities, and I am always reminded of that scene in the Tom Hanks movie, "Philadelphia," where the librarian asks Hanks, "Would you be more comfortable in a private reading room?" and Hanks responds, "No. Would you be more comfortable if I went to a private reading room?"

I'm sorry, Sheila. I, too, have mobility issues, and I have noticed that the trend with excursions seems to be to exclude people like us from the get-go. I have been trying to book excursions on Regent as well as other cruise lines, and am noting that there are more and more excursions that say they are not recommended for wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments. This includes excursions that I took prior to Covid without issue. I really don't know what is going on, but it is both frustrating and disheartening. Last fall, when my DH and I took our first Mediterranean/TA cruise (something that we had dreamed about for a long time), we ended up having to do HOHO bus tours in many of the ports, because we found that many of the excursions simply would not accommodate folks with mobility issues. In fact, even the private excursions wouldn't do it (we had set up one private excursion a year in advance, giving them all of the information about my wheelchair, they were incredibly accommodating, only to have them contact us a few days before the cruise and let us know that they were suddenly unable to accommodate people with mobility impairments -- they refunded my money but not my husband's, since he could have gone, just was not willing to go without me). It's all become terribly frustrating.

Good advice here. We lived in Manhattan for about 30 years, and I agree with what has been posted. I will reiterate that, at restaurants, you do not need to tip on the taxed amount. In taxis, when paying by CC, the system proposes tip amounts (I think 18%, 20%, and 25%, or something like that). You can also press "Other amount." If you are tipping housekeeping, do it on a daily basis, since there is no way of knowing whether you will have the same housekeeping team each day. I usually just leave some cash with a little note that says, "Housekeeping," if I cannot find an envelope to label and leave the money in each day. This is if you have daily housekeeping. If you will only have housekeeping once you check out, just leave the money for them on your last day.

I don't suppose people buy a whole lot while the ships are in Brazilian waters.

What to wear, what to wear? Don't forget the bathing suit, pack a nice dress (or five 😆) for dinners, make sure to make a hair appointment (or three) at the spa, make time to explore the library and the observation lounge . . . Oh how I love a transatlantic cruise!

We got our cruise documents yesterday! Our very first Regent cruise is fast approaching, and what should the mailman bring us yesterday but a package containing our cruise documents!!! DH's initial response was, "What is all this?" 🤣 We went through them together, and both agreed that it was so nice to receive written documents and not have to print out so much of this on our own. Now, when it is presented nicely, with a little bit of style? Even more points to Regent. This is telling us something about how Regent does things, and so far, we like it.

I know this is less than ideal but if Lisbon is going to be a madhouse due to the Papal visit, can Regent allow you to start your cruise from the first port rather than the embarkation port of Lisbon?

When I spoke to the Regent Air department, they said something about having "fewer contracts" than they used to, and this was the reason why some of the better flights with the less tight connections were not available to them, where they might have been available before.

A few more thoughts on having a mobility impairment and cruising these days. When we were booking our first Regent cruise (at this point, we have booked three), one of the things I asked the good and knowledgeable folks on this board whether we would be able to find excursions that are accessible. At the time (this was awhile ago), I was told that Regent always provides accessible excursions, and that Should book with confidence. Sadly, things have changed in the post-Covid world. The default in excursions seems to be that they are not offered to passengers who use wheelchairs or who have mobility impairments. This is true not only with Regent's excursions, but with NCL's, as well as other cruise lines. In the past, they would ask whether you could climb onto the bus with the assistance of your traveling companion, etc. Now, they simply will not allow you to consider excursions if you are a wheelchair user of have a mobility impairment. I''m not sure what has happened, but it is turning cruising, which used to be a great and relaxing way to travel for those of us with mobility impairments, into a bit of a mixed bag. I hope the cruise lines start to work on this issue with their excursion partners.

Mobility is an issue for me, too (I am a wheelchair user). On our upcoming cruise (in April), there were accessible excursions in two out of three ports. I did have to call Regent in order to make reservations for one of the excursions, because the system is glitchy and I wanted to be sure that we reserved on the one excursion that is wheelchair accessible in that port of call. That having been said, once I got through to Regent on the phone, the agent was lovely, he confirmed that the excursion is wheelchair accessible, and he made the reservations for us. Now, that does mean that one port of call (the Azores) does not have a wheelchair accessible excursion, but we will probably just make private arrangements for that day..

If I understand it correctly, furries dress this way for group events, as well as for intimate activity. Not sure how it works for the latter, but I assume there is air conditioning involved.