melmike

June 2023. We disembarked Lady Eleganza after 8 nights on board, Dubrovnik to Opajta. We were lucky with the weather and with our 28 travel companions - from Australia (like us), UK, Ireland, NZ. 30 strangers and we all got on so well and laughed and enjoyed each others company. 
APT cruise director Steve did an excellent job of keeping us informed of daily events, including wonderful swims off the back of the boat and easy walking tours with local guides. 
The food was fine, nothing amazing but very good for a tiny kitchen. The staff were all very pleasant and hard working. The ship was spotless. Wine was fine too and flowed like water (not always a good thing!)
We had cabin 1 and I think it was the largest, with ample storage space, double sinks in the bathroom and large shower. Windows did not open but who cares? Well air conditioned, plenty of light, and many areas to sit on deck. We never felt crowded. This is a great ship, we loved our cruise.
 

Cons: there are no guest facilities for washing/drying clothes and swimmers. No full length mirror in cabins. Another let down was lack of communication on the part of APT - we didn’t know where to board originally and what time. Had to frantically contact APT UK and husband googled a ship location website. Other guests had same issue. 

Well that discussion got interesting!

Just to clarify, as the OP, we travel Regent, Seaborn etc precisely because we want the all-inclusive aspect on board. I don't have a problem with the "free" excursions, most of which we don't use. I was just taken aback at the outrageous cost of UPGRADING a hotel room via Regent, as opposed to booking via the hotel itself.

I also understand some people want the convenience of one agency handling everything (flights, hotels, transfers, cruise).

That said, really looking forward to our cruise in Sept on the new Explorer!

We are Aussies and in the non-tipping camp. I agree with the poster who says this is one of the reasons we like Regent, Seaborne etc.

We went on Oceania last year, our first non-inclusive cruise, and while it was fine, it WAS annoying to have to produce our room card every time we bought a drink in the bar, or wine at dinner etc. We just want to get on board and forget about it all.

In Sydney tipping is very haphazard - usually nothing in a cafe, but 10% in good restaurant. Usually nothing, or rounding up, to a taxi driver. We pay a decent minimum wage: the customer is not expected to pay "wages" as is the system in the US, which I agree is more and more out of control. On our trip last Nov we found that over the year the tipping expectation is now up to 20%, and more in an upmarket restaurant.

U.S. economy domestic is horrific! We are not infirm, and are in our late-50s, and we will avoid it all all costs (and cost it does, for business/first class domestic!). But we will not fly across the USA (from Australia) if we don't have business seats domestically.

FYI - Premium economy on long-haul flights and good airlines, such as Qantas or Singapore Airlines, is a pretty big step up from Economy, but not with lie-flat beds as in Business.

Also however, you can fly economy within Australia and it's pretty comfortable and certainly not the zoo that you encounter over there. We fly economy here unless Sydney-Perth which is about 6 hours.

We just take a credit for the hotel. They credit it off the cruise fare up front, so you don't have to pay for t at all.

And now I know this is an option! We will do this from now on.

I have just posted an update to this on a new thread

So I have just spoken to Regent, who said "yes", we can have shipboard credit instead of the hotel room! I had to go through the agent, but no problem. I have actually taken a refund instead of the shipboard credit, as it's a port intensive cruise so who knows how much time we will actually be on board to spend it in spa or wherever...

Anyway, it was a win in my book as we now have 3 nights in the room of our choice in the hotel, paid for independently. We will not get the transfer from the hotel to the port, but that doesn't bother us as it's very close.

Sorry but I have not heard of Regent ever doing that. Your best bet is to book the hotel on your own.

Oh yes, we have already done that, I was just wondering if they would swap the hotel room.

Also, didn't know about transfers from the airport if book hotels 2 or 3 days ahead of a cruise (we are from Australia, so maybe same issue as UK posters)...but certainly that would not be incentive for us to pay much more for a room via Regent! Rather pay transport and book our own rooms.

Unless I read it wrong, the OP states that the pre-cruise room came with the suite on the ship, and was not separately booked by the OP. Yet, the desired upgrade cost more than the desired room would have if the OP had booked it himself. Very weird,

 

But perhaps not. Did you ever try to upgrade cruise line furnished economy air to business or first class? Our experience has been that you can't, regardless of up-charge you are willing to pay. Cruise lines seem to have very strange arrangements with non-cruise providers. Best avoided when possible, I think.

Yes, that's right. The pre-cruise room was not booked separately by us. QUESTION: Will Regent swap us on-board credit instead of the one night pre-cruise hotel room?

Cruising in September on the new Explorer Barcelona-Rome, our Concierge cabin includes one night pre-cruise.

We are arriving in Barcelona a few days earlier so asked Amex (having used their Platinum travel service to book the cruise) to check out which hotel - turns out to be the Melia - and get a price from Regent to upgrade the standard hotel room they provide to a junior suite.

From the Melia website I knew a junior suite was around 300 Euros per night (about $340USD). Amex came back with $400USD PER PERSON to upgrade the room - the price from Regent. Remember, this is only for the one night pre-cruise - the other nights we were booking ourselves.

I politely told the agent she must be mistaken. Firstly, I've never heard of a hotel charging per person (and we travel A LOT), and secondly, how could it cost more than the whole price of the room on the hotel website, just to upgrade?

She told me she was also shocked, and double, triple checked with Regent.

All I can say is that it would be laughable, if it wasn't such a blatant rip-off.

What experience have other cruisers had in this area?

It's a shocking website...I agree

Anything purchased onboard will be USD

 

Can you buy it prior to sailing in AUD ?

All cruise prices we have ever taken are /quoted paid in U.S$ - Regent, Seabourn, now Oceania. It's like safari in Africa - everything quoted in USD

And really, $5 here or there.....

Oh it's all in US $.....SO expensive for us these days. Oh well....

I didn't know about the midnight to midnight...

I had read somewhere that it was an extra $5 per person per day if purchased on board, rather than prior, but think your recommendation to wait till 2nd or 3rd day is a good one. Thanks

I'm a bit late to this thread, but do you know if it's more expensive to purchase the prestige package on board rather than prior to embarkation?

We took our first Oceania cruise in May this year. We are Aussies and a not comfortable with the tipping situation as it is foreign to us. We had intended to purchase the Prestige package but luckily just before embarkation this was added to our cruise package along with free wifi.

 

We are booked on Nautica in October this year and will definitely purchase the package. Like you, we had only cruised on all inclusive cruises before with Seaborn and were not looking forward to signing for every drink. We also did our sums - we love our wine and often have a bottle between us for lunch and certainly more with dinner. I also love my cocktails and the Big O martini in Martinis bar is definitely recommended. The Big O coffee with liqueurs is also very yum. DH sticks to his love of white wine. By the time you calculate this and the gratuities, we were way ahead buying the package. Add to this the hassle free experience of just presenting your card once, it is definitely worth it. As we love our wine, we did buy some bottles on shore sometimes when we saw something special and there is no trouble bringing them on board.

 

 

We never saw anyone tipping the sommeliers and we certainly didn't. We did find some of them very, very good and communicated this in our comments and summaries of our cruise to Oceania, mentioning people who had given us great service by name. In our cruise fare all gratuities were included, so does this not mean that some part of the fare paid goes into the gratuities bucket?

 

We absolutely loved Oceania and I'm sure you will too. Have a great cruise!

HAHAHA Fellow Aussies! Your description of the amount you imbibe on a cruise pretty much describes us, also.

Can you (or anyone else), please tell me if there is a big difference in the amount / quality of wines offered in the Prestige package vs the ordinary?

And how did it come about that the package was "added" along with free wifi? Impressive! How do I make THAT happen!!??

And to the person who supplied the address of the wine outlet in Montreal, thanks so much...sounds like a place my DH will really enjoy spending an hour or two...

You have all been so informative and helpful.

We wouldn't bring from Australia as we are doing the Rocky Mountaineer train first (lucky, hey!?), but would certainly consider buying a case in Montreal if we really can bring a case on board....

Many thanks to all

I am reading these comments with great interest as we are taking our first Oceania cruise in late Sept in a Vista suite on Regatta. Previous cruises have all been with lines where everything is included, so the whole beverage package and tipping thing is new to me (also, we are from Australia, where tipping is not as prevalent nor as expected as in the US).

AND, we are in the wine business, so we like good wine as well as a cocktail before dinner.

We are still trying to weigh up the prestige package: we like the idea of not being nickled and dimed for the 10 days, and that gratuities are included. We looked at the by-the-bottle package but my husband says the wines are not that great (remember, he's in the industry, not trying to show off here....).

We do not mind at all paying corkage.

I suppose my questions are, how many bottles of wine can we reasonably bring on board when we first embark? Can we then bring another couple on board from various ports?

When you all talk about tipping sommeliers etc, do you mean EVERY NIGHT? Every time you feel you get good service, or do most people do as the previous person mentioned, re the envelopes (which sounds better to me)?

Thanks, and I'm hoping the weather is not rough (Montreal to NYC) since the suite is forward...

We are on Star Pride in January 2015 and I will be sure to post a review.

I, too, am concerned about the condition of the ship after reading some negative posts and reviews about the so-called rebranding and refurb.

This is our first Windstar cruise (after Regent and Seabourn) and I'm wondering if they will live up to the 'luxury' tag.

There are no perks for purchasing more expensive cabins; they will not organise private transport to our chosen hotel at the end of the cruise (only hotels they have arrangements with) and the website lists the wrong excursions on the wrong days.

Not an auspicious start but I'm sure it will all work out well.

(And hey, just being able to go on a great cruise means I can't really complain too much!)

Thanks Hillskis…we have come to the same conclusion re the amount needed to drink considering we will be touring all day.

It's great we can take wine on board and to have it confirmed by you that the drinks package wines are not "high end", as you say. We are in the business so the quality matters.

Thank you.

Yes, I have searched thanks.

While the Windstar woman says 2 bottles per person, everyone else seems to take many more with no problem.

I think we will bypass the drinks package in favour of taking our own.

Happy cruising all

I have just (as in, 3 mins ago) been emailed by a woman at Windstar and she tells me we can bring 2 bottles per person on board.

So how do you bring a case?!

That's brilliant, J&M, thank you.

We will just buy a case in Hong Kong, that's too easy

And maybe a special bottle or two in our luggage from Australia.

Do you know if the corkage is per bottle or per person?

I have searched the threads re the drinks package and can't really find an answer to my questions

1 - I have read that some people bring wine on board - does this mean we can bring a case on board and take a bottle into any restaurant for dinner each and every night?

2. Re corkage, I see $15 quoted - can anyone tell me if that is per bottle or per person?

3 - Is the quality of the wine on the drinks package different from those wines offered by the bottle (we are in the wine business so .....)

thank you