CJANDH

Sir Alan Collins. Retired British ambassador to lots of places. Talk on Winston Churchill and one on Queen Elizabeth II. Bothe very good. Niki Sepsas. Series of port talks. First one this afternoon.

Chair Hogs are getting busy. This is the Astern Pool at 7:30am. All loungers are "reserved" no people in sight.

Do not reject Explora on the basis of poor entertainment reviews from the past. They have listened to the criticism and have revamped their approach to entertainment. I am on the ship right now and the resident singers and musicians are great. They have several guest performers scheduled. They run evening shows twice per night at 9:00 and 10:15; better than most other small cruise lines. The lecturers on board this trip are top notch. So far, I am impressed.

I too am on this voyage (sorry, Journey) and plan to only post a few things here and there. Noggins is doing a great job of detailing his experiences and doesn't need help from me. So far I have been surprised at the quality of the entertainment. Based on historical posting, I was expecting this to be a negative. However, the two resident vocalists who had shows on the last two nights (very different each night) are superb singers. I would say the best I have heard on any of my past cruises. Also, the guest speaker today, Sir Alan Collins, gave a wonderful talk on Winston Churchill. Again, as good a guest speaker as I have experienced on any cruise. I had a long conversation with the Entertainment Manager and he explained that management have been listening to customer feedback and are totally redesigning the entertainment program. Having two shows each evening, one at 9pm and one at 10:15pm is good news for me. I echo Noggins praise for the ship and hosts (Explora speak again . . sorry). I will opine on the food and service after trying all venues. Back to you Adrian

Have a safe and comfortable trip to Miami. See you on board. Chris.

Sorry. I don't know that. But seat allocation is showing up on both my Regent account and on the Turkish Air site.

Thanks for the info. I hope it is not going to feel too empty.

Turkish Airlines is still being used by Regent. I have flights on Turkish from Atlanta to Istanbul confirmed for June this year. Seats allocated and ready to go. I did deviate.

LOL

Adrian. Nice introduction. We will be boarding with you on Friday and, like you, are looking forward to a new experience. We are ex-Brits now living on Hilton Head in South Carolina. We started cruising in 2017 when hitting the age you are now concerned about (don't be!!). We have cruised several times a year since then, mainly on Silversea and Regent, and wish we had started earlier in life. But no regrets. We are still enjoying every trip and have Greece, Bermuda and Iceland/Greenland on the calendar for the next year or so. We are hoping that Explora lives up to the good reviews and certainly will be boarding with a positive attitude. We have splurged on an Ocean Residence, so are are expecting the best. It would be fun to meet up with you onboard and compare notes over a glass or two. Are you Trivia players? We will be looking for a team to join. Best, Chris & Heather

We are boarding in Miami after you debark. Keep the crew happy for us!! How full is the ship on your leg? Any info on numbers for the next leg?

I am not surprised. Unlike lines that include air and hotels there is no saving for EV as they only sell the cruise. But I thought I would ask 🤩.

I am looking at Explora for a cruise over next Christmas and New Year. Has anyone experienced a holiday cruise with them? How did it compare with the other luxury lines that I have enjoyed over the holidays? Also, to cover both Christmas and New Year I would need to do a B2B. Does Explora Voyages give a discount for BTB bookings?

Norwegian's quarterly report confirmed that cost savings have been a major focus, as we have all experienced on cruises since reopening after the pandemic. The following quotes from an analyst and the CFO say it all: "The top line wasn't really an area of focus for most people," said Ken Kuhrt, Ariel Investments Portfolio Manager. "It was the cost side of the equation and they came out with numbers that look fantastic." "Cruise-related costs in 2023, excluding fuel, were 21% lower from a year earlier", Norwegian Cruise CFO Mark Kempa said.

On the wrong board to discuss that comparison.

Where do I find the pinned post?

Try emailing. Here is the address that Matt used to handle my questions: contact@explorajourneys.com

Does anyone have any news on the four new ships that Crystal promised? What size and when to be launched?

I agree. I contacted EJ's Experience Center when I couldn't make dining reservations. An Experience Center Ambassador, Matt Backo, quickly booked the reservations I wanted and has since helped me with advice on booking shore excursions and other things that the web site couldn't do. Matt is a very customer focused team member who must be seriously overworked due to the failure of the IT team to get up and running. Hopefully he will stick around . . . he will be needed.

We stayed at the Oriental last time we used a Regent hotel. Nice hotel but not a great location for walking to town for dinner. We now pass on the Regent hotel and stay at the Intercontinental. Great hotel with views of the cruise port. Short Uber to the ship, bypassing the Regent bus transfer and all the crowds and wait time.

You are right. Sorry. I was looking at the regular train from Sannomiya Station; not the shinkansen. The bullet train is about 23 minutes. Shin Kobe station is about a 15 minute cab ride from kobe port.

You would have to be very lucky with the traffic. Another option is to take the bullet train from Kobe to Kyoto. Takes about 90 minutes.

You missed the best part! 😁

How do you know all this?

That doesn't explain all of the toilet failures over the last few cruises. On our cruise the engineer fixing the problem said that the vacuum pipes are weak and leak too often. BTW do you work for Regent? You seem to have a lot of insider knowledge.