papaflamingo

I find a comfort zone in many places...even some I will not mention publicly! 😱 🤣

Yeah...heard about this on the news so....just couldn't resist. I figured it would be a lot more exciting than "gee my Prime 7 steak came out medium not medium rare...not a luxury experience" threads. 🤣

Just a couple of comments.... There has been enough discussion regarding the comment that the Captain "refused" to answer both the Coast Guard and the Harbor Master, and discussion of airlines leaving people at the gate for me to comment. I am both Retired U.S. Coast Guard and a Retired Airline Captain. Let me say this. No Professional Ship's Captain would EVER "refuse" to answer either the Harbor Master OR the local Coast Guard!!!! I can't stress this enough. A ship's captain simply DOES NOT ignore the local authorities, at least not if he wants to keep his job. It would be like an Airline Captain ignoring and refusing to answer an FAA Controller. SIMPLY NOT DONE! As for Airlines leaving people at the gate. What you may or may not know.... for an airline to depart a Weight and Balance must be generated and on board. In order to make an "On Time Departure" the flight is "closed out" around 5-10 minutes before departure and the Weight and Balance is generated. ANY change, even adding 1 person (or removing 1 for that matter) requires a whole new Weight and Balance to be generated. This is done (at least at the airline I flew for) by the Dispatchers in an office at the airline's headquarters so it isn't a quick thing. THAT is the number one reason that Agents don't let late passengers board. And to add to that, airlines are ranked by on time performance, something that the traveling public demanded, so the days of waiting have come and gone. And just for perspective of how critical Weigh and Balance is, when I flew the L-1011 (a very large plane weighing over 400,000 pounds), we took a Football Charter out of Florida. We had to remove ONE 180 pound Charter Rep. in order to have the "numbers" for takeoff. Imagine a 180 pound person being "critical" to an over 400,000 pound aircraft! So Weight and Balance is no joke. My point is, there is a lot in this story that is not exactly correct, and there are a lot of dynamics in place that make something that seems simple, like waiting, very difficult and costly. But before judging anyone, it's imperative that all dynamics are understood and the entire story is known.

Actually, we were on the cruise immediately after the one you are referring to. And the reasons were clear. Nicaragua was cancelled due to political uprisings (this was done on our cruise too). Acapulco was cancelled because of a hurricane that pretty much wiped out the city a month before (this was cancelled on our cruise too). And Cabo and Ensenada were cancelled and substituted with Puerto Vallarta and an overnight in Los Angeles. This was done so that the ship could be in LA a day early. Grandeur has an ability to hook up electrically to the port and completely shut down their engines for environmental reasons that will become a requirement in ports like LA. The "mechanism" for this hook up was not completed before her first sailing so they had to do the work in LA and finish it, thus the extra night in LA. It was pretty clearly laid out in the letter posted on an earlier thread here. So, in fact, the guests WERE told the reasons.

Don't panic, they'll let you know. We got our assignment on our Preliminary Cruise Summary that came about 60 days prior to the cruise.

We've been on over 40 cruises on multiple lines including over 120 days with Regent. In my experience, we've always been able to find out why a port is cancelled if we ask. Mind you, I don't really ask as in most of our cruises we've had cancellations for pretty obvious reasons or "heard" a reason. So maybe that's why. But for me, as a former Airline Captain who dealt with issues my whole career, I tend to accept that there is a legitimate reason for any cancellation and whether I know it or agree with it as a passenger, is irrelevant. So that could be why I haven't really noticed a lack of information.

Actually I believe it will depend on when they segment the World Cruise. As mentioned Formal Optional is only on cruises of 16 nights or more. So if no segment is 16 nights or longer then there will be no formal nights.

Wow! THAT'S a "weird" routing. When we tried to get to Sydney they couldn't put us on Delta at all! So it looked like it was going to be Atlanta-Doha-Sydney on Qatar. 28 hours airborne and about 5 hour sit. in Doha! We ended up cancelling the cruise (not for that reason), but if you're headed to Sydney via Atlanta, you may end up with something like that. The good news is Qatar is rated as one of the best Business Classes in the world.

We were on Grandeur in Jan. and the food was excellent. Some of the new dishes were great, others... total miss, but I simply read the descriptions and if it didn't sound good I didn't order it. But Prime 7 was great. No problems at all. But I don't usually order lobster on a ship as I know they're frozen and just not a fan. Having said that, the Tempura Lobster in Pacific Rim is great! Anyway, that was my experience.

We pre-registered for a Grand Cruise in 2022 and from what I understand, what the deposit does is puts you on a "waitlist" for the cruise. When they opened the cruise they first cleared the "waitlist" first and then put remaining cabins up for sale. We got exactly the cabin we wanted. Since you "waitlisted" for a Penthouse A on a World Cruise, I would expect it extremely likely you'll get the cabin you chose. Generally, from years of checking out cruises, the Penthouse C or B go first as they're cheaper. Of course I really don't know, but I'd be surprised if you don't get what you want. I'm jealous, by the way. Would LOVE to do the World Cruise, ESPECIALLY in a Penthouse!!!!!

Will they put you on a "weird routing" because it's cheaper? Yes. But it's less likely it'll be a 12 hour layover. I tried to get a 13 hour layover in SFO on our flight to Hong Kong and Regent stated they can't route that way as the layover was too long and it would be considered a "stop over" with an additional charge. BUT, the cutoff could be 12 hours, I don't actually remember. But the "sticker shock" isn't always that bad, you have the option of booking independently if the cost is too high, and they'll work with you to find cheaper flights. Lot's of examples, but here's a couple of recent ones. We are going to London in June (not on a cruise). I live in Atlanta and am retired Delta so get an Employee discount. It was over $2000 LESS if I booked ATL-BOS-LHR. So that would be a route that Regent might book for you. As to our ATL-HKG flight.... when we first booked it with NO up charge on United, it had a 4 hour layover in SFO. About a month later United changed the schedule and we ended up with a 1:40 layover in SFO and since it was Feb. we decided it was too short to risk. I talked to United and they couldn't do anything as, it turns out, Regent doesn't actually pay for the tickets until about 60 days out. So I called Regent and wanted to change to a scheduled connection on United's website that was 13 hour layover. That's when they told me it they won't book any layover's that long so it would have to be a $500 stopover. We opted no. Anyway, they did tell me they would pay for the ticket on Dec. 20. Further discussion of a change would have resulted in cancelling and re-pricing the flight and another $175 pp fee, etc. So...nope. Then on Dec. 22 I called United and told them my requested options to go a day early with a 13 hour layover, and arrive in Hong Kong same day as before, but 12 hours earlier. They looked at the flight and since it was a schedule change on the original, and the new flight was the same price (on their website) they simply made the change and it all worked out great. So sometimes you just have to try all options. 😎

Seems that Regent has contract seats with most airlines, just not every flight. For example, a couple of years ago we could NOT get Delta to Australia at all for the beginning of the cruise! Not even with an up charge. However we had zero problem getting Delta from Tokyo at the end of the cruise with NO up charge. So the best thing you can to is research flights on airline websites and find the itineraries you most want. Then, if the airline shows more than one rate for business class, i.e. one refundable and a lower one as non-refundable, then it is more likely Regent will have contract rates on those flights. You can really get a pretty good idea, for example if the fare is $6500 on airline A but $4500 on airline B it's more likely you can get airline B. I always find at least 3 itineraries before I call. Then when I'm on the phone with the agent I have the airline web page open to the flights and I can look at the options as we discuss them. The agent also will tell you of other options if nothing you pick will work. Not sure this answers your question at all, but it's been my experience. The Custom Air Agents are remarkably helpful and easy to work with, but you DO need to "do your homework" and know what you want before calling and also have an idea how much of an up charge you may be willing to pay to get a better flight.

Ok... You're right, you shouldn't have to explain it. I apologize for asking, although YOU were the one who put it out as "disturbing" on social media. Just seems like an extremely small thing to be "disturbed" about since there is an easy "work around" as you stated. Again... sorry for asking.

Thanks SWFLAOK, appreciate the info.

Just so I understand, you're "disturbed" that you MIGHT someday have to make a phone call from the ship and it won't work? If it's an emergency, I'm pretty sure that the crew will make sure you get through. Or.... just use your cell phone in wifi calling.

This might have actually been a case of "lost and found." I agree, I'd never leave my cell phone for hours to reserve a chair. It's very possible it fell out of someone's bag or something and they didn't notice. At least if I felt so inclined to turn it in, that sure would have been my excuse as I went back to the chair. 😎

We were on Explorer from Feb. 21-Mar 6, Hong Kong to Tokyo. We had absolutely no issues with Destinations Services. We had one port where the excursion had cancelled and we waitlisted for a different one and didn't clear. We went to Destination Services as soon as we got on board and they quickly and cheerfully put us on the one we wanted and on another excursion in a port where we forgot to book anything. And they were very easy to deal with when asking about town shuttles, etc. So really no problems when we were on board.

Do you mind me asking, what is the price and perk difference between a world cruise on Regent and world cruise on Silversea? Not asking actual cost as that's none of my business, but was it significant if you'd booked the cruises at the same time? Also is there anything one or the other includes that's different? Just wonderin' as Regent is getting pretty pricey.

We just finished Hong Kong to Tokyo including a 3 day pre-cruise tour. All our guides were good to great (mostly great). We sailed Feb 21-Mar. 6. Plus we did a full day tour in Tokyo to Mt. Fuji through Viator and had a great time in spite of cloudy and cold weather. Only saying this as it's a recent experience, so hopefully the tour guide issue has worked itself out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! We have booked the same tour! And for info, it's simply added to our booking so we don't actually have to pre-pay anything. But NOW, thanks to your spectacular blogs... I am REALLY EXCITED to do this tour!!! And my wife, really Egypt is her "bucket list" item as she studied all of this in college, will be amazed and thrilled by your wonderful blog and pictures!! Now if only the "world situation" will resolve in time.

Jan. 2023 was a LONG time ago. Crews come and go. I'm not trying to talk you into trying Regent again, I don't do those things. I feel people should find what they like and stick with it. Much of the "cruise experience" is very subjective after all. I am only pointing out the fact that you were on Explorer over a year ago because it might skew the OP as to how Explorer is NOW in 2024. We sailed on her Feb. 21-March 6 and felt it was one of our best Regent cruises to date. We were on Grandeur in Jan. and as beautiful as she is, I personally like the older more "rich" darker colors on Explorer. Personal preference for sure, my wife was the opposite, she loved the lighter decor of Grandeur. But the service, food, etc. of Explorer was definitely, at least for us, what the Regent Experience should be. Oh what a difference a year makes.

If they did people would probably complain there isn't enough sunny areas to lounge.

Yeah,.. I was kidding about Nov. Actually we've considered the possibility of a major reroute too. I figure if the Red Sea remains closed, then the itinerary will be more similar to the current World Cruise and head down Africa and around. My guess would be ending maybe in Capetown (that would be about the same number of days depending) then likely they'd add a cruise to get to the Med. For us, since we would like to go to Africa anyway, not a bad alternative. And if they did this, we'd seriously consider trying to stay on board until the ship hits the Med. But that's all speculation at this point. Who knows?

Hmm.... what's happening in Nov.? 🤣

From Regent's Ticket Contract, "8. CANCELLATION POLICY Regent Choice Shore Excursions Within 36 hours of tour departure 100% fee"