charltonkerry

We become diamond grade on the 72nd night of a 73 night grand cruise (basically 4 cruises combined), will we become diamond on day 1 (start of the first cruise) or the start of the 4th cruise something like 60 nights in? The only advantage I can see that we may take advantage off is the additional telephone allowance and the leather tags (although being in the UK we may not get these).

Our trip to Britannia was cancelled recently when we went on a round Britain cruise with Regent. It was an easy walk from the tender dock, although made difficult by major road works, which closed a lot of paths and roads, probably around 20 minutes. We found it a very interesting visit with so much history still kept on board. Being an engineer I found the engine room fascinating and not to be missed, but the state rooms etc are all worth seeing. We were so pleased Regent cancelled and we went on our own, it gave you so much more time just to look and you wasn’t rushed. Without a tea break and excluding the walk allow 3 hours for the tour. We stopped for a sandwich and coffee which was very good and freshly made, although the cream / afternoon tea which looked good was expensive in our opinion. Decent gift shop at the end as well.

Forgot to mention, we went as soon as we could get off the ship, probably around 10am and there around 10:30 it was fairly quiet but by midday it was getting busy, the audio tour (comes with ticket) was excellent. We didn’t pre book, but probably better to.

Hopefully see you on board, we got our PCR test tomorrow (along with packing).

Funny I just mentioned this to the wife, as we are doing the round Britain cruise on Splendor that ends on jubilee Thursday, what a spectacular treat that would be on the last night. 

5 hours ago, cwbegg said:

This is the app you need to  download. On shore excursions it  connects to the guide. You select the number of your bus. I've been impressed with how well it works. There are instructions on the in-suite TV as well on using the Smartguide.

Thank you got it now. Not the easiest to find but loaded fine. 

I wonder I’d someone could help us, we were wondering where do you access the regent app for the tours. I can’t find it when I search the App Store or on Regent UK website. Thanks in advance

Firstly we are from the UK, but my wife passport required renewing very early 2023, and we got 115 nights booked on Regent next year (mostly held over from previous years because of Covid), so we because of this thread I checked up on the UK passport website and they said allow 8 to 12 weeks to renew, basically we didn’t have a gap to renew other than before the first of four cruises in late February. We filled in all the documentation on line last Sunday and just got notification that it’s being delivered tomorrow that’s a turn round of 8 days, can anyone beat that? 😀😀

On 10/5/2021 at 1:52 AM, Aloha 1 said:

We will be on Voyager in February, Barcelona to Jerusalem. On our first regent cruise in 2013 ( also on Voyager), I recall we received two liter bottles, one scotch and one gin, plus the beer and sodas we requested. 

Is this still the same? Does Regent also provide 50ml minis for the fridge now?

We are on this cruise as well.

We come from the UK, and I’ve got a great liking for good old fashioned bitter, served at room temperature, after a few cruises with Regent and I realised this was unavailable I rung Regent UK, to see if they could help get some on board, next cruise there it was, some in the suite and some in the pool bar. Great I thought, then the bitter battle commenced, the excellent cabin staff, had placed it in the fridge, so I thought no problem, I took it out to warm up, went out, yeah you guessed it it was back in fridge upon our return, and so it went on throughout the cruise. I now hide it in our cases under the bed, mind you there’s always the some tins in the fridge😀, just to please the cabin staff and obviously to get necessary refills.

Now the pool bar done similar when I was up there, but once I convinced them it was better served warm, they kept it for me in a fridge which was set at about 14 to 16c which in fairness is the correct temperature. So one day it was just me and the bar staff at the bar, and I ordered my bitter, and I could tell they wanted to ask me something, so it ended up as a tasting season, they all very politely said how much they enjoyed it, but I wasn’t convinced, it was at this point I realised that perhaps it is an acquired taste. 
 

This request is now undertaken with every cruise we take and they always appear in my fridge, and to be fair to Regent UK they do ring up to ask how many bottles I require. This one act has convinced me that Regent is the cruise line for me.

We booked a cruise for my wife’s 70th, she wanted to be at home with the kids and grandkids the actual day of her birthday, so we booked the next available cruise, at the time of booking my travel explained all this to Regent UK and they have promised to decorate the suite with balloons etc., for the day we join the ship. Will also mention it again in the butler request form in the my account section of the Regent website. 

Thanks everyone for your tips, looking forward to it even if it is over a year away. We were thinking of something along the lines of a photo frame, hand cream or a little Knick knack from the UK, but at least we have plenty time to think of something.

We are fortunate we are on a grand cruise next year that spans from Halloween until after new year celebrations, and was wondering what to expect and should we pack anything like a diner suit and for Marion a posh frock (I’m assuming New Year’s Eve is dress up smart at least) we are from the UK so traditions are probably different. Haven’t got a clue what to expect on thanksgiving. Any hints especially on things to pack would be appreciated, we were considering takin a small gift for Christmas for the butler and cabin staff just as a thank you for looking after us for 67 nights but wasn’t sure if that’s allowed. Any photos, hints suggestions etc would be appreciated.

15 minutes ago, Gilly said:

 

I agree.  Flossie, were you booked on this cruise?  If so, are you going to go with the revised itinerary and put up with the quarantine?  We came so close to booking the Sept 9th departure, since we have friends who'd be on board and right now, didn't want all the parlarver of an international cruise.  Only when checking our diaries did we realise we couldn't make it...perhaps it was just as well.

 

Oh dear.  Just when we thought we could see the light at the end of the tunnel 😥

Do you know what flight Regent are offering from the UK to BIlbao? I thought only Ryan air flew directly out there, without the need for a long stop over somewhere. We are on this cruise but now seriously considering cancelling mainly because of our perceived flight problem. 

Thank you wishiweretravelling, much appreciated 

He stated he was on the 22nd September cruise

Just now, flossie009 said:

@charltonkerry, you should be able to book all excursions on the Grand Voyage at the same date, but may have to email the pdf files for each segment separately.

Reservations for the speciality restaurants for each segment should be available together.

The dates for excursion & restaurant bookings will be shown on your on-line account

 

We have no experience of luggage forwarding, sorry.

Thanks very much for your reply, most helpful,

We are doing a grand cruise, which is basically 4 cruise back to back, if I request the email all excursion button will I just get the first cruise or all 4 combined, how long before you book the excursions do you apply for the PDF, we have something like 50 ports to select. 
 

Now going off topic slightly, when you come to book the excursions are you allowed to book all 4 sections at once or only the section that is due ie you got to book each section at the appropriate time. The same question again but re the speciality restaurants. 

Last question we have luggage collection were you can ship your luggage in advance, roughly how long before the departure date do they collect the luggage from your house. We are in the UK if that makes any difference.

Apologies for all the questions, but I thought I get them all out the way at once😀.

Yes thanks for resurrecting this topic. We are planning to ask some of our relations on board in Brisbane in around 18 months time, we had never one this before, so I thought I get in touch with Regent UK, to see firstly if we could and secondly what the procedure is. They replied immediately, with not surprisingly bad news that they are not allowing guest on board, but they hope to resume this in the future, but obviously they couldn’t say when, they also sent us the form to fill, so that sort of confirms they will in the future be allowing guests. We got a lovely suite (I know they all are) and hopefully if allowed we could perhaps have a meal in the suite, but I was wondering can we all wander off the ship to perhaps visit somewhere and then come back on board or once your guest are on board, do they have to remain until departure? As me and my brother are great cricket fans I have wondered if we could wander of to the Gabba (the world famous international cricket in Brisbane) and do a tour there?

We live in the UK and are on this cruise (assuming it sails) at the moment Britain is just opening up after an extremely successful vaccination effort which is still progressing at a fantastic rate. So pubs are now open as are restaurants, theatres are starting up. There’s still social distancing and face masks are worn within confined spaces and most wear them in open air as well. But travel is still virtually banned, there’s only a very limited numbers of countries we can travel to or back from without having to isolate for 10 or 14 days and this is the problem, at the moment if you fly into the UK, you would need to stay isolated in a hotel for 14 days, as UK citizens we depending on we’re we fly from would isolate for 14 days in a hotel or 10 days in our houses. But during the summer (if it ever arrives) it is thought that more countries will be added to what is called the green list were no isolation is required (America or the vast majority of Europe at present is not on this list).

https://www.timesofisrael.com/life-saving-nose-spray-that-kills-99-9-of-viruses-begins-production-in-israel/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

This might be the solution for both cruise and plane travel, only draw back I can see is the reliance on people to take it twice a day. 

We have decided to cancel our late July 21 cruise tomorrow and are rebooking for August next year, it was 18 days around the Mediterranean, great shame as this about the 5th cruise we have had or have been cancelled. The reason is simple we have no confidence in the EU vaccination roll out program, in our opinion it’s in utter chaos and I don’t think it’s worth the risk, the % of those inoculated is very low especially in France where the cruise was passing through. I also believe that for us British then if we are allowed to travel to the EU (which we are not at the moment apart from exceptional circumstances) or some other parts of the world then upon our return we will have to isolate for 2 weeks.

UK announce domestic cruising can restart 17th May, not certain what restriction will be recommended 

]https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/uk-domestic-cruises-given-may-17-green-light?fbclid=IwAR0RThlKq1M5rjdAYZGB9jnMInPbwMUtiOrl7qmYQkKc-n4VwCdkwMFn0iA

8 hours ago, DaveFr said:

The switch to platinum will occur at the beginning of the cruise. Hope this helps.

 

Dave

Thank you, that’s great, just got to hope that covid allows us to cruise, oh send pay for it 😀. It’s a fabulous cruise Istanbul to Auckland, I will be able to pop in to see my brother for the first time in years, it’s both our retirement present, my 70th birthday, and our 45th wedding anniversary present, so it’s a very special trip.

Going slightly of topic, we will change levels within the seven seas society (from gold to diamond and if Covid permits) just after half way through a grand cruise and was wondering when the additional benefits kicks in, is it the start of the cruise, after you reached 200 night or the section of the cruise after you reached the milestone. Really only worried about the additional phone time as it will be around Christmas period and we will want to speak to the kids / grandkids so the additional time will be handy.

Sorry tried to add this to the above quote, but I couldn’t work out to edit it. Hopefully explain the position a bit better than I can
 

AstraZenica site suggesting they will supply up to 3 billion doses globally next year.