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Others have recommended tripinsurancestore dot com. Steve Dessus and staff are terrific and there are many choices.

We do a similar procedure, using our chase sapphire reserve for cancellation, then getting the minimum allowable insurance coverage ($500 pp) so that medical and evacuation kicks in. fortunately, we haven’t had to test it but my husband contracted Covid during a trip last year requiring both of us to quarantine and I successfully got the insurance company to reimburse us for the retail coat of missed excursions. This took about 4 appeals and lots of documentation but, after 5 months of being like a “dog with a bone”, they paid up! They paid the medical expenses almost immediately.

Take the compliment! It is such a pleasure (and relief) to know there are competent, accessible, “go to” staff who can actually help. Jennefer Teegan is another enormously helpful contact. Bravo!

i asked the CD who managed to schedule it. I think it depends on the captain’s comfort level as the outside lights are turned off. I imagine that this requires more surveillance on the bridge as other ships can’t readily see the ship.

Our longest voyage was on Navigator in 2017 - San Diego to Aukland. We had plenty of sea days and the crew did a very nice job of mixing things up so we were never bored with the food. In fact, the chef sourced fresh seafood and a specimen often greeted us at the entrance to Compas Rose. We also requested in advance an Indian meal which was fabulous. In general, I am not too impressed with the daily activities but I realize I am not as gregarious as other cruisers and I don’t really need to be entertained. I like lectures, interesting music, and events. On one cruise, I requested star gazing. The captain dimmed the lights, an officer who was an amateur astronomer helped, and 100 passengers showed up at 10 pm to gaze at the southern constellations. Fantastic. On our last cruise that included Antarctica, the Antarctic team added so much to the cruise. We had a National Geographic photographer, an ornithologist, an expert in icebergs, and the head of the team who had spent years on scientific missions in the region. I wish that Regent would have comparable experts on all cruises! FYI, Atlanta weather report: finally warm so putting away my winter clothes! Some thunderstorms but nothing terrible. We were in Cashiers, NC, last weekend and the trees are about 6 weeks behind ATL. Pollen everywhere is still catastrophic. have fun…enjoying your writing!

I’m curious about the changes you mentioned. Changes to the itinerary? to tours? To staff? i have enjoyed your previous reports and I look forward to this one. jennifer

I ageee. The judgmental aspect of social media is the problem. Under the cloak of anonymity we can write things we would never say face to face. Let’s keep these boards conversational. If you disagree with a poster, give your opinion rather than railing about their character,

I wonder if the NZ snafu resulted in the “early retirement” of Jason Montegue and the installation of Andrea DeMarco as president. If heads rolled that would explain Regent’s silence.

Sheila, I’m not sure how you got this from Ms. Teegan’s response to you. I hope you work it out to your satisfaction. The whole incident may have started with the boat captain, but it seems Regent did not address what happened politely or in a timely manner. Personnel issues won’t be shared with you but Regent should assure you that your experience was reviewed thoroughly and procedures and training put in place so it won’t be repeated. Your posts on CC are usually so positive. The humiliation must have left a pretty deep wound. I hope you can work it out with Regent, or at least find a cruise line you like as much.

I agree. Ms. Teegan has been very helpful, especially getting other departments to respond in a timely manner. I think that some people get a bee in their bonnet and then find it difficult to let go of their point of view when presented with solutions or even apologies. Too bad. I found this posting to be over the top in order to embarrass Regent in a public setting. I think we have all experienced the aftermath of the honeymoon period on Regent. The first cruises on each ship were exciting as we explored the ships and the destinations. We are almost platinum now and not nearly as excited as we were 11 years ago. Is that Regent’s problem? NO. It’s now like going home. It’s familiar. It’s comfortable. We have our favorite and least favorite venues on each ship. And, I’m not saying that Regent should just rest on their laurels. Changing up itineraries, entertainment, and ship activities is within the process of continual improvement that all organizations should attempt.

So funny! I have never seen animals on a Regent ship (except a corpulent male in a speedo). Reminds me of our voyage to Japan on a Navy transfer ship in the '60's. We were allowed to take one dog overseas. He was in a kennel outside (but so were hundreds or men meeting their fate in Vietnam). We visited Beau multiple times a day. Even coming home four years later on the much more luxe President's line, Beau still had spartan quarters. He never was allowed in other parts of the ship.

It may be too tight time wise, but you might try to arrange a private tour to Kamakura which is south of Yokohama. It is famous for its large bronze Buddha. It is very scenic. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2166.html

I bet George’s cowboy hat is quite the conversation starter in Japan!

Love your impressions of your travel! I hope everything meets your expectations. We are booked for next year after three cancellations.

Fabulous narrative, Flossie, thank you! We are on the Explorer next year going from Tokyo to Vancouver. We went back and forth as to which tour would suit us. We finally decided to take a ten day land tour of Tokyo, Hakone, Gifu, and Kyoto/ Nara then back to Tokyo for the pre cruise tour. There is only one overlapping site in Tokyo. We are very excited about seeing Japan. I lived there as a teenager so it will be very interesting to see the changes.

In a perfect world, I wanted a database built by Regent, populated with Regent excursions, and reviewed by Regent customers. The excursions are already digital so not a monumental task (but, then, I’m not an IT person). This way, not only could Regent passengers make informed choices, the destination services staff could be better informed. In addition, management could then periodically review the excursions that are not up to standards and get rid of them.

I’ve suggested this before but I don’t think that it would be that difficult to load tours into a database and allow passengers to write reviews. When I go on a site like Epicurious, I use the search engine to find recipes. Then several recipes show up. I pick a recipe that tweaks my interest, then I read reviews about how easy, hard, or delicious the results were. The same can be done at Regent: search location, choose excursion, read reviews.

I described the design as “loaded diaper”.

I’ve posted before on destination services. Even in the face of undeniable hardship, DS kept a poker face as to making it right. An example: our recent Regent pre-cruise to Iguazu Falls had 80 plus passengers spending the night in the rinky dink airport with molded plastic seats due to a problem with the aircraft. Our tour guides said this was the first time a low cost carrier was used by Regent. Our tour guides pivoted to make it as pleasant an unpleasant situation can be, but we ended up missing a night in Buenos Aires in a nice bed in a nice hotel with a nice breakfast and a tour of Buenos Aires. I asked at DS if we would be compensated and they said no but I could make a formal complaint, which I did. I presume enough people did the exact same thing and we were compensated with a nice OBC. One of our fellow Igauzu refugees called Regent Air, and, as expected, no answer for the 24 hour number. And another pre-Covid example: We booked a pricey overnight on a junk boat in Ha Long Bay. Sounds romantic, right? Wrong! We were late boarding, then they served lunch rather than cruising around the bay. Then a transfer to a small boat to see a floating village, then back to the junk boat for a fruit carving demonstration, then dinner. Did we see Ha Long Bay? No. The free tour saw more iconic formations than we did. To make matters worse, the cabins were at the water line, the loud generator was on all night producing a diesel smell. The smell, the noise, and the worry about Asphyxiation resulted in a sleepless night. The next morning at 7am we docked in order to endure the long bus ride to Hanoi. But first, we had to rendez vous with our guide’s relative as he forgot his official guide card. Then we had an hour stop at a nearby Pearl factory. That was our longest stop during our very rushed tour of Hanoi. Again, I filled out a complaint form and we got some of the cost refunded because everyone else complained loudly. Finally, we are adults, can’t we just find our busses on the pier, turn in our tickets and GO?

The excursion desk has always been the weak link on Regent cruises. There also seems to be little knowledge about the excursions offered, a dismissive attitude when there are legitimate complaints, a cumbersome and maddening assignment protocol in the theater with no willingness to revisit the long waits to be called, and, finally, little accountability when things go very wrong. I don’t think they have an idea about on-going refinement and improvement.

Never noticed the music in the dining room and we are lifetime subscribers to our symphony orchestra. That being said, the playlists for all the bars are dreadful. Light pop or very loud pop. Difficult to hold a conversation. There is absolutely no reason for the pianist in the observation lounge not to include ONE classical piece. Or, how about having different musical genre in each lounge so all tastes are accommodated…..classical, jazz, pop.

Massive flooding at the pier in a port in Indonesia. We waded knee deep through water to get to the gangplank. Here is Ray greeting us. Gotta love it!

Very fair review. We have been on all the Regent ships except Splendor and looking forward to a cruise on Splendor this September. I think that La veranda and the pool grill are training grounds for new staff, hence the inconsistent service issues. I hope that Regent can get a handle on the chair hogs. Fortunately, the pool area is never a destination for me but self centered entitlement makes me want to be equally impolite. As my husband often has to say to me. “Take a deep breath…”

I’m curious as to how Regent followed up with you after your horrible trip home which you described in your “live” travelogue. I think it gave many of us chills and, I know, prompted me to check my flights repeatedly. I hope you and your mom are well and completely recovered from the ordeal.

I always read ratings and reviews on Amazon before buying an item. I find it helpful. We read excursion descriptions but the descriptions are often not accurate. As an example, in Hawaii we hiked a volcano crater. Three man rating but five man rating should have been given with a stern warning that the hike was for the seriously fit. Slippery and jagged lava on the downhill and a strenuous hike up from the crater in the heat. Another excursion recently in Ushuaia. This was a catamaran to a penguin rookery. Not much walking except to and from the catamaran. The problem? regent stuffed four cohorts on the boat. The boat had enough seats but they were 5 across and stuffed together so in reality not enough seats. It was cold and windy. The excursion was about 5 hours. We were in the forth cohort boarding so stuck outside until the return ride when we stuffed ourselves inside by asking people to move their gear. Plus, inside the catamaran was a high risk Covid environment (low ceilings, no ventilation, no masks, cruise cough) Very unpleasant.