Older Sister

Thanks for this information! We’ll be in Stavenger in June on the Homelands cruise and I will definitely look into this!

Thanks for this information. We signed up for this excursion yesterday for our June Homelands cruise and are looking forward to exploring Berlin. I’ll be sure to take a book for the train ride!

Hmmm, our flights for our cruise in three weeks were booked with Delta. I suppose they’re still a “go”, can’t imagine Regent would cancel or reschedule them. I would be furious if they did!

I always bring a small hand-quilting project with me on cruises. I sit in the lounge with a latte or martini and stitch happily away. It’s a great conversation starter!

Regent got enough people yesterday to move to another cruise, so looks like we’ll be staying on our original cruise. However, they did tell my TA that there’s still a long waiting list for our cruise so they might make additional offers later.

I got the same email and am interested in the two Grandeur cruises later in March. My TA contacted Regent, we’ll see if his works out.

I’ll be right behind you at the bar!

We will be in a Superior Suite. When you say that internet for one device is included, does this mean one device per passenger or one device per cabin? Particularly, I’m wondering if I need to purchase a wifi package so that both my husband and I can use our iPads onboard. Thanks!

While I agree with a lot of what you say (except I am a VERY experienced cruiser, though not with Regent), our flight is a very short one, from RDU, so I’m not concerned about “missing the boat”. Flying across the pond is a whole different situation!

We’re doing our first Regent cruise next month, the Western Caribbean cruise out of Miami on February 27. Our flight arrives in Miami around 8:30; by the time we retrieve our luggage and are transported to the ship it’ll probably be closer to 10 am. Will we be permitted to board the ship and wait patiently somewhere until our rooms are ready? Also, our flight home doesn’t leave until 6:30 pm. I know that some cruise lines reserve a suite or room at a hotel near the airport for folks like us with late flights. Does Regent do this? Or do I need to do some research on options at Miami airport? I don’t know if this makes any difference, but our flights were booked through Regent. Thanks in advance for any information! Allyn

I always take a project with me on cruises and, like you, have found it to be a great conversation starter. Most of my projects are small hand quilting projects (and I’ll bring one with me on our Grandeur cruise next month), but I look forward to doing some needlepoint. I used to do a lot of needlepoint before I got addicted to quilting and I miss it. So if you see a woman in the lounge, drinking a latte or a martini and doing hand quilting, yup, it’s probably me!

Omg, I love it! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see this . . . I’ll be happily stitching away on these while sipping martinis next month!

This is awfully cute! I wish they had some items with Regent’s name on them, like this one I did many years ago from another cruise line. Regardless, I’ll definitely pick one of these up on our cruise next month.

A Cosmopolitan is the first cocktail I enjoy after embarkation. It gives me a chance to assess the quality of the bar/bartender. Yum!

Oh hurray!! Thanks so much for your response! Our first day is a sea day, so you can be sure I’ll be checking this out as soon as I get on the ship. Love working on those little kits.

Needlepoint? Sure hope these are available on the Grandeur next month. If anyone on a current Grandeur sailing could confirm, I’d be mightily grateful!

This is brilliant! We’ll be boarding the Equinox tomorrow for a ten-day cruise and I will be sure to ask our room attendant if there’s anything he/she needs while we’re ashore. Thanks for the idea.

We’re on the same cruise. According to the Port Everglades port schedule, the Equinox should be at terminal 25.

We absolutely love Viking ocean cruises. Their ships are lovely and well maintained, much smaller passenger load (900) so there are never crowds to deal with. Excellent service. We’re giving Regent a try next year and are really looking forward to it. I used to be a big fan of Celebrity but no longer, their “product” has really gone downhill.

I cruised on the Equinox last month in a Sunset Sky Suite and NEVER saw or heard from anyone on the Butler “team.” Our room attendant did a good job of maintaining our room, the same as has been done on other cruises in lower level rooms. When I booked the cruise, I chose a Retreat level room with expectations or a higher level of service. Never got it. I came home and booked a cruise on Regent. Celebrity has lost my business due to their bait and switch tactics.

Cruised on the Eclipse last month in a Sunset Sky Suite, and I have to agree with everything that Zach said (well, we loved Luminae). Celebrity’s downgraded butler service for Sky Suites is a disaster and not worth the extra money (except for Luminae). After we got home, I booked a cruise with Regent Seven Seas. I’m pretty confident that Celebrity has lost my business.

On our Eclipse cruise in a Sky Suite last week, we polished off our 2 bottles Evian after a few days. Our Butler Team representative (aka our room steward) didn't bother to replace them with the small aluminum bottles, nor did he ask if there was something else we would have preferred. As for evening canapés or fresh fruit, I picked up the phone and called Room Service. Quick, efficient delivery. When we wanted coffee, I either called Room Service or walked down to Cafe Al Bacio (there was no in-suite specialty coffee available in our Sky Suite). Nice bathrobes. Bed was very comfortable. Dining in Luminae was wonderful. Butler service? Hardly knew ya!

Aside from not being escorted on the ship, which was never a perk except for high end suites, how is the experience with the Retreat Butler and team? The only experience I’ve had with the butler/butler team is with the Retreat Concierge, who is stationed In Michaels Club and has been very helpful sorting out a few things. As for the person who takes care of our cabin, I have no idea if he’s a Butler or part of a team or not. He always says hello when I see him in the hall but he’s never asked if there’s anything we would like (like, ice or evening canapés). We are enjoying our cruise but the service hasn’t lived up to our expectations.

Adios, Celebrity, it’s been nice knowing you. We’re in a Sky Suite right now, never notified about any butler team and the services they could provide. I thought that we were to be escorted to our cabin upon embarkation but that didn’t happen . . . we were just told which direction our cabin was in and that we’d find our room keys at the door. I will say that our cabin is nice, and we’ve enjoyed both Luminae and Michael’s Club. With all of these continuing changes/cutbacks (none of which benefit the passenger), I will be taking my business/hard-earned dollar$$ elsewhere. We’ve did couple of cruises on Viking last year, so I think we’ll be using them in the future.

I’ll report back next week. We board the Eclipse on Sunday and will be first-timers in a Sky Suite. Thanks for all of the suggestions as to things the butler team can (and hopefully will) do for us!