JMARINER
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Posts posted by JMARINER
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8 hours ago, RELS said:
Do only NCL ships have access to the Ward Cove berths? There are 8(!) ships docking the same day we are in May, but the Explorer is the only NCL ship. If yes, being away from the main port might be a good thing.
I only see 7 ships. Only the Explorer is at Ward. The dock is exclusive to NCLH ships, so no there lines will dock there. Ketchican town has only 4 berths, so any other ship will anchor and tender to downtown.
J
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The Ward Cove dock was built by NCLH two seasons ago to have a guaranteed berth (2). Regent (and Oceania and NCL) will always be docking there no matter how empty the downtown piers are.
It is a 20 minute bus ride and the buses run every 15-25 minute. And the bus is shared, so if there is a big NCL mega ship parked next to you, you might wait an hour to get on a bus. Lastly the bus drop of point is about 4 blocks from the old downtown (Lumberjack arena.)
Personally I think it is big PITA.
J
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The Explorer has several handicap restrooms in the made public areas that have electric push buttons doors and dedicated handicap stalls. The veranda dining area has a wide aisles. The MDR, Compass Rose has tight seating is some areas that can cause difficulty for walker and wheel chairs, but the staff will go out of their way to assist.
The Serenity has wider and more "friendly" public areas and walkway. It is the only ship that has a full wide teak promenade deck. The veranda dining can be a little tight. I don't remember any bathroom auto doors.
I can only base my comments of the Serenity from before its' most recent remodel by A& K.
J
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Generally my experiences with the Regent Spa Massages has not been very good. In the past few years I have only used them to burn up ship-board credits. Besides the ridiculously high prices and the built in 20% added tip, I don't like the attempts to sell you at the end of the session, to buy various creams and lotions of dubious value.
J
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Just tell them what you want. Many times when the room is busy, many different wine servers will float the room and pour. Sometime they forget what you want. But this should happen often.But if you have to do it more than twice, speak to a head waiter or the restaurant manager.
J
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In my experience, only the economy mass market lines breakout and separately charge port fees as an item on the cruise ticket. Never have received a refund for any missed port on Regent or any other Lux line.
Like written above, maybe the rules are different for UK pax.
J
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Why not dd your comments to the "Cabin Guru" below
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Seville. If you want to see "Old Spain" you want take the long tour to Seville. Buildings, Architecture, church are amazing. To me one of the best tours in Spain.
I assume your voyage will take you past the "Rock." Seeing it from the ship is good enough for the first time.
J
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On 12/7/2022 at 2:02 AM, flossie009 said:
That is a shame. The few times we used the app pre-covid it enhanced our experience and was easy to use.
Some guests, and some guides, preferred not to use the technology, for various reasons 🤨
AFAIK there were several problems that the pax had. First, the app seems to work differently for IOS and Android, some of the guides were not familiar with one, or the other. Second, the app would inadvertently get shut off when pax were switching between photos and switching to another app, like text or emailing. Lastly, as you mentioned, some guests are not technology savvy enough to make the app work, change settings, make sure phone/ear-pods wee charged etc. It would cause a lot of annoyance to the other guests and the guide when someone would interrupt the presentation (constantly) that the could hear, the phone wasn't working, etc, and the guide would have to stop and fix the guest phone.
My sense it that the ShorEx crew has gotten tired of fixing/setting up guests phones, and of the myriad of complaints.
Me, I like it for the most part. The last time I used the app was in Ephesus, last fall on Splendor. The range was fairly good ans was the clarity. But I don't think the App system works any better than the guide supplied whisper boxes.
J
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The app is no longer being used. The ShorEx department told me, in November, on Splendor, that they had too many problems, specifically with explaining to pax how to manage the app.
j
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With modern satellite imagery, they can see storms many days in advance. If they think there is any danger, they will not go.
J
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Physically, it depends on the cabin. Some have large balconies and in that can no problem. For the small balconies, the opened part of the partition might interfere with the sliding door.
As to will they let you? Probably.
J
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It is not just Regen. I use another Company, ShipGo, to send our luggage to Europe for our cruises. They use also use DHL for the carrier. They always call beforehand and warn not to ship toiletries, cosmetics, medicine, vitamins, electronic devices, batteries or any foods.
My understanding is the problems come from foreign customs inspection, not the airlines.
J
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On 8/13/2022 at 11:48 AM, douginct said:
I'm sure you're right - but we don't ever use Uber.
Ubers in LA area tend to have nice cars and better pricing than Taxis. If the traffic is not to heavy about 20 minutes to LAX. Uber X is about $35-$40 and Uber XL $60.
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Years ago the Mariner had a problem with one of the pods/props and it would vibrate at high speed so much, the ship couldn't go at its top speed. But that problem was fixed 3-4 years ago and the ship is fine now.
J
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My experience is similar to #labonnevie (post #3).
I was on the Splendor just before Omicron and things were little less intense. But this week on another cruise, things have really tightened up. Mask wearing is almost universal all the time. Some pax hook up and share table, but most don't and keep to themselves. Many are staying away from crowded venues. But I think as Omicron subsides life aboard will return to normal, probably in a month or two.
J
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It is for one "free" air deviation for a Regent booked flight, which usually cost about $125.
J
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14 minutes ago, forgap said:
.......Is there any reason why we can’t go to CVS or Walgreens? My fear is testing positive pier side with an antigen test. Am I overthinking this?
Here is the problem as I see it. Right now, because of the Omicron surge, it is almost impossible to get a "same day" covid test. In fact, CVS is booking 2 weeks out right now. You will probably need to schedule a same day test at a "pay for" testing clinic. I would suggest you book one today. Omicion is crazy here in Cal, everyone is trying to get tested.
J
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On 12/22/2021 at 11:59 AM, bluestocking7 said:
Regent told my TA that "the ship wasn't ready." Not sure what exactly that means.
There are staffing issues, getting all the crew back and vaccinated, quarantined for 10 days, plus new flight delay problems. And there are also supply issues.
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Your Speedtest results. In my experience, your 2.2M/bs down and .77 M/bs up results are quite good. When I was on the Splendor (11/11- 12/7) I would only get that good on download speed at 4 am. Most of the time the downloads were closer to 1 M/bs, or lower.
Our testing in Athens looked just as bad, but it only took about an hour or so. Not a fun way to start a cruise. Hope it gets better when you are onboard.J
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Why I don't use a vpn on the ship for banking/finaicials.
First. Since all internet traffic form the ship is under the control of Regent and their Satellite data provider, this is not really a public network that just anyone could hack into and steal your data. They keep a log on every person that is online on their system. (I have seen it.) So any hacker would have to be someone on the ship and their activity would be monitored.
Second. Any activity with a bank through an app is already going to have "end-to-end" encryption. So there is almost a zero chance of ant risk here.
Third. All VPN's will dramatically slow down your internet experience just by the nature of how a VPN works. All your traffic, both incoming and out going, is diverted to a 3rd party site. At home a VPN will, by most estimates; the encryption process adds about 10-15% more data usage. That isn't in a problem when you 50-100 Mgb download speeds. But on a ship, a VPN can often exceed the networks individual users data speed capacity.
J
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Just off Splendor on Tuesday. As Flossie 9999 above posted, the speeds are horrid. Her test results were even a little better than I got.
Understand that the problem is not only with band-width, but also long "ping" times and "jitter." Because the signal has to travel so far, up to a satellite and back down, twice a lot of data can be lost and need to be resent.
J
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We did Amazon in deck 5 window. Was the only time in 20 years w/o balcony. Really didn't miss it, as river portion was hot, humid and buggy.
J
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Debarking Splendor tomorrow 12/7. Last off at 9:00 am. Apparently new Custom and Border Protection rules want ship at zero count early.
J
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Excursions Offered on Turnaround Day in Southampton?
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises
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Suggest the one to Stone Henge. It is iconic It also stops at Salisbury cathedral.
J