slidebite

Concierge and above (as it sounds like you have) will literally do everything to get you to and from. You will be met at the airport with a representative, likely by someone holding a Regent sign or a sign with your name. They will assist you from claiming your baggage to getting on the transfer bus and then to the hotel. They will tell you when and where to meet the next day (likely just the hotel lobby) after breakfast for transfer to the ship and take you there. It won't be super early as the ship needs to be readied from the previous guests/cruise. I don't recall the time exactly on my last cruise but I *think* it was late AM when we were picked up at the hotel. They will schedule your departure/transfer from the ship in plenty of time to get to the airport. Don't worry about it. If you really, really, REALLY want to get to the airport extra, extra early and are convinced you'll miss your flight, you might be able ask for an earlier disembark and transfer, but seriously don't worry about it. This isn't Regents first rodeo with transfers and as much as we all think we're special, at the end of the day we're not. It's simply getting you to an airport x-hours before your flight, it's not rocket science. Don't sweat it. They literally do it hundreds, if not thousands of times a week and have for years. 🙂 E: On re-reading this I hope I don't sound condescending, I don't mean to. Just try and relax and rest assured they'll arrange all the transfers and get you to/from with time to spare.

I haven't been on a Regent cruise since 2018. What's a smart guide?

You'd probably still need to change an input port on the TV, assuming that HDMI port on the desk is even hooked up to anything. Totally throwing this out there (as I personally don't care) I know that some phones/tablets have IR capabilities and remote apps. I wonder if you could use that to change the TV inputs/settings?

LOL sounds like our Voyager experience in 2018 is still the norm! Personally, I'm OK with that. I'll fire off the odd email, maybe at most browse a couple internet forums or catch up on the news (why would I want to do that nowdays?) while having coffee in the AM but that's it. I've got FTTH Gigabit at home so going back to 1995 dial up again will be a stroll down memory lane haha.

Firmly booked up on Voyager. The $$ savings and extra couple of days clinched it. I'm suspect we'll do one of the new class ships within another year or two but in the meantime Voyager has some really good memories for us so I'm sure we'll be happy.

Don't sweat it, if you have a reservation # and you paid for it, I'm sure you're on it. Call your TA or Regent if you keep having problems... their website isn't exactly a shining star example of quality lol. For what it's worth, Mrs. Slidebite and I are on that cruise too (April 5?) and we're starting to get to the 60 day mark which is when everything is locked down for Regent Air. I think the regent business is a bargain and actually what makes the cruise "money well spent" as I cannot book business class for anywhere remotely close to what Regent must be able to get it for with their internal airline restricted deals. For example, for this flight 1-way Lufthansa/Air Canada for the 2x of us is literally 80% the cost of our entire cruise if we were to buy it on our own. Not a fan of the "economy" they generally do for domestic flights so I took the air credit for that and have the flexibility to book ourselves, especially since I'd have to pay for a deviation anyhow.

Thank you - I did not realize that. She did contact me later although I already spoke to Regent. We'll probably finish this off tomorrow.

Thanks for all the info folks

I have a Pixel 6 and I just turned off my sim completely (zero cell operating) and it still allows me to enable hotspot hooked up to wifi. Now, I haven't connected to it so I can't say for sure it work but I suspect it *probably* will.

Of course. My point is my single connection you have per suite was dreadful as it was. Hotspotting that same connection (and sharing it with another device, or two, since that is what a hotspot is) would just be sharing be sharing an awful connection. It's been 4 years since our last Regent cruise it was awful then. Maybe they're better now? :shrug:

**EDIT** Never-mind - I just called Regent directly and spoke to a rep who said he's going to try to extend it for a couple days for me. I'll just leave the post here for reference below though. ********************************** I have a held reservation which expires today (16th). I have the official regent doc with the booking # and everything. I sent an email to my travel agent Fri PM asking for her to contact me as for next steps, as there is an error on it (departure airport for deviated air). She hasn't yet called me back, so I phoned her an hour or so ago (and emailed) and still haven't heard from them. It's possible my agent might be ill or otherwise tied up - I don't know. I get decent service from this agent in the past (if not expedient) but with the hold expiring today I'm getting a little antsy. Should I call Regent and give me CC # to put money on it to hold it? Or do you know how it works with reservations if my agent doesn't get back to me today. I don't want to complicate things but I don't want to have them go "oops, they're already closed today" and lose the cabin. It's the last one in the area we like.

That would be my solution, but iirc the speeds were bad enough with 1 device, it would be even worse sharing it with another device.

Our planned TA cruise is scheduled to port in Cadiz for a day and I'd appreciate the insight of my fellow but more experienced travellers. As someone who has never been through the strait before, is there anything to see in Gibraltar itself for a few hours? I think the only Gibraltar excursion is basically a "Gibraltar at your own pace" where you explore on your own but I think that's it. There are several other included excursions for elsewhere, and I am thinking, probably incorrectly so that there isn't a ton of "touristy" or sightseeing in Gibraltar if there is only the one excursion but I have no idea.

I understand Regent is in a predicament here with the cleaners and it's now a no-win scenario and making the best of a bad situation, but I agree with some of the others that $250 OBC, even if generous, would be totally wasted on people like my wife and I. The major reason we pay the significant premium to cruise Regent in the first place is that I don't have any other real expenses once onboard. I guess we could buy something in a shop or get a massage, but at that point it's spending money for the sake of spending money... so yeah it's a not great situation. I hope the rest of the cruise turns around for the people onboard.

Oh for sure and I agree, I thought it was apparent that was pretty much in jest. In reality it's not much different than reading a book especially during a sea day or not the greatest weather and activities aren't "floating your boat" (sorry about that!) BUT, seriously, and I say this as a gamer (I personally have the consoles and a nice big gaming PC) that the only thing electronic I'll have with me might be my small Surface PC for emailing and taking photos off my SLR. Other than that, my downtime is doing cruise activities, maybe in the lounge or stuffing my face lol. I am looking forward to meeting a few new people and exploring the handful of ports to the largest I'm able to take advantage. But yeah, as a note to others, please don't throw a PS5 into the sea!

I agree with ^^ - but I also could kind of understand being the OPs shoes. Being told by the maitre D to please come back after a poor experience and that they'd be "looked after" and then having another not great experience wouldn't give me the warm fuzzies. I agree that seems a little extreme to not ever go on a regent cruise again, especially since the thing the OP said they liked the most was the food and drinks. Pity if this occurrence outweighed all the other positive food and drink experiences. RE: Cabin vibration, that and lack of the observation/fwd lounge are 2 of the big reasons why I'd be most hesitant going on Navigator but I know others here swear by her. I've heard about vibration issues on Voyager too, but we've never had anything detectable in our cabin being amidships on deck 7.

Thanks for the replies. Not sure if I am completely understanding what you are saying, but in my experience if it lets you book it and then afterwards says reserved, it sounds like you are indeed booked/reserved. IIRC it makes it pretty plainly obvious if it is full before you try to book it.

I totally understand not everyone enjoys the same leisure activities but if I brought someone on a regent trip and they spent significant time in the cabin with an electronic device it would take all my willpower to not throw said device overboard lol

Is there a way to confirm excursion availability online without actually being booked on the cruise?

LOL, I'll absolutely let you know if we go the Splendor route. Pains me to admit though, but I'm not really a hockey fan other than getting on the bandwagon with the playoffs. Martial arts is more my thing, of which I am personally very active. Mrs. Slidebite would say too active lol. Got into it a little late in life though (mid 40s!) That said, I'm from far south, in the Lethbridge area. We used to be neighbors/friends to a family that has a marriage relation into the Sutter clan and also lived very close to Kris Versteeg's parents for some time although I never really met them. Even pretty sure I saw Mr. Stanley being brought by their house one summer. Definitely feel like the odd man out when it gets to hockey talk though lol.

That's interesting. I never would have imagined real maple syrup being, even remotely, a challenge to get on any Regent ship. From my experience it's just so ubiquitous in North America, especially breakfast.

Firstly, I really appreciate the replies and thoughts on this. I never considered lunch in the specialty at sea. Although, to be totally fair, we have enough trouble as it is choosing where to have our meals. For lunch, even throwing in the pool grill makes things difficult enough for me as it is lol! I actually think I do prefer the itinerary on Voyager a bit more than Splendor. Extra half day in Bermuda (right in Hamilton), Seville (never been), going through strait of Gibraltar (never been, but also realize it'll probably be dark). Both call on the Ponta Delgada Azores *although* Splendor calls on Madeira (never been) so that is a missed opportunity. Not sure how much of a must see island it is though. They both basically leave in the middle of the week so departure and even return days are kind of a wash. If one were on a Sat/Sun/Mon that might actually make an impact as Mrs. and I still work so it impacts the number of vacation days we take. I assume - but obviously don't know for sure - probably better flights out of Barcelona instead of Lisbon back to North America... although that really isn't factoring in the decision to any significant amount. I don't sleep on planes regardless so I'm not expecting a fun day coming back either way in that regard. Back from Venice/Frankfurt/Vancouver/Calgary in 2018 was a looooong day. If all things were equal, and it came down to the ship I think it would be a no-brainer and I'd do Splendor if for nothing else but to try. However, while obviously not cheap, it's not a trivial $$ better deal for Voyager, extra couple of days, and going into the Med will likely give it the edge to us. Voyager is a known quantity and we both really like the ship. It has semi decent cabin availability too (probably also impacting the $$ difference as it's really not far away now). I know the F in the new ships is a little larger and different layout than Voyager and Mariner which I'm sure we would love, but my experience with the concierge we last stayed in (I believe identical cabin to F?) on Voyager was more than roomy enough for us, even for us spending some time in the cabin.

LOL Would love to know the story about the fight and being confined to your cabin.

Hi folks! Long time no post! Mrs. Slidebite and I were booked for a TA cruise back in spring 2020 on Explorer... and we all know what happened then. So, we're finally getting to a comfortable place and looking to revisit this. We're looking at 2 TA cruises (I've never done a TA or repositioning cruise). Choices are Miami - Lisbon (Splendor) March 28 - 12 nights or Miami-Barcelona (Voyager) April 5 - 14 nights We've never sailed on any of the new class of ships. All previous Regent cruises have been on Mariner or Voyager. Last cruise was Voyager in 2018 on an ill-faited Med/Adriatic cruise where we collided with the pier in Civitavecchia and caused an alteration to our voyage. BUT, the Voyager is anything but disappointing and we've never had anything but excellent service and food. I would like to *try* a new ship (either Explorer or Splendor) but we're certainly not desperate to. About the only thing I can think of that the Voyager doesn't have is the culinary arts center to try. Otherwise, the F/Superior cabins on the new ships seem nicer/little larger than the F on Voyager, but we certainly did not feel anything but comfortable on the Voyager previously. Questions are this: Has the Voyager been refitted/refitted at all since fall 2018? Is the new class ships a "must try" over an older ship? I received quotes from our TA for both cruises, even though the Voyager cruise is a couple days longer, it is *significantly* less $$ (like 20%) than Splendor for a similar, and I'd actually argue, better itinerary both with "F" cabins. I am aware the Voyager F is likely not quite up to a Explorer F, but that alone really doesn't factor much in my formula. Thoughts/opinions? Specifically with the Voyager vs Splendor?

Hi TNM We had our first cruise with Regent in the late 00s. We were in our early/mid 30s at the time. IIRC we were probably the youngest on board but it certainly didn't feel weird and had zero problems having conversations with people. I find that most people, if you're open to talk, just have it naturally flow... so being 30 or 70 you'll still probably be chatting in no time. Best advice is to just chat with someone next to you .... maybe a seat mate on an excursion or say "Hi" at the lounge. Fast forward 15 years and we still do it every few years as a treat and absolutely look forward to going on them. Last time we were on a cruise in 2018 I was in the lounge on our last day of a 12 day med cruise and a gentlemen came up to me and introduced himself as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of SETI, based on the Keck telescope shirt I was wearing, and we chatted for about 30 minutes. Super nice guy and I truly wish I met him days earlier. Another cruise in 2008 going to the Kennedy Space Center I met a fellow who was friends with an Apollo astronaut and we chatted for hours too. As they say, age is just a number and interesting people are super interesting. As a younger person feel free to take the initiative and say hi! Only time I ever had a somewhat unpleasant experience was once when a certain past president was discussed who had contrary views.. and even then it wasn't terrible... the old adage of leave politics and religion out of a discussion with people you don't know is probably the best! Regarding agents, as been said they don't allow specific recommendations in a thread. Without getting too specific without PMs, it pays to check around. I had someone recommend an agent out of SW of the US (I live in Canada) and while they're not always the quickest to get back to me, they always do, and I have saved, no lie, probably $2K going through them each time versus others or direct. Going back to Regent as a younger person, as long as you're not looking for a party ship (it's not) you'll have a great time. Personally, when I'm on a cruise, especially a Regent, my days are so full and I'm eating/drinking so well, staying up late is the last thing I want to do LOL. We're looking at doing a TA cruise this spring to replace our lost Covid cruise from 2020. We're now in our mid/late 40s and will still almost certainly be in the lower % of ages. Maybe we'll see you! 😉