chamima

I certainly hope not.

Combining benefits across Cruise Lines depletes them for everyone.

Also CCL has 8 cruiselines with a combined 88 ships.

Just too large and unwieldy to share

16 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I'm Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean. I looked at Silver Seas program and 350 VS Days gets a free 7 night cruise.  So do I get a free cruise on Silver Seas?  

Never mind...just read the fine print...NOPE...DARN!!!! 😎

We're Elite+ on Celebrity and I asked the same question on the Celebrity boards.

(I knew it was a "no" before I asked but I thought it was funny.)

We've had it with the crowds on the bigger lines and are trying Regent now but maybe we'll look at Silversea in the future.

I do think that combining the loyalty programs dilutes the benefits for the smaller, high end lines though.

***

We are Elite Plus on Celebrity.

Status match gives us 350 days on Silver Sea.

When I look at their loyalty program it says one gets a free 7 day cruise for that level.

So can we get our first cruise on Silver Sea gratis?  🤭

1 hour ago, ratherbecruzin said:

I have a cruise in 2026 that I want to cancel and want to transfer future cruise credit deposit to another cruise. Is this possible?

If you already know what cruise you want to transfer it to , do it at the same time.

My experience is that the default is to just refund you the money from the deposit.

Do you have a TA? A good TA should be able to make sure you are able to do that.

3 hours ago, Lois R said:

Oh, something I did notice and I don't remember if it used to be this way but when I walk down the hallway to the elevator (I am all the way aft so it is along walk. ) But anyway, I notice TONS of silver containers on the floor with covers on them. I am guessing these are room service items and folks don't leave them in their cabin......and lots of of door signs too. Just observations on my part but why put that food container on the floor outside? Is this a thing now?

3 hours ago, jcpc said:

I think, but am not sure, that the stateroom attendant removes the room service items from your room when he/she cleans and leaves the plates in the hallway.  Then, I believe, there is another attendant who goes up and down the hallway collecting said plates.  I think this because when I was on Infinity I had a cabin across from a little "hallway" and that little "hallway" was always filled with used room service trays.  So I think the attendant takes the trays from the rooms but since they don't have assistants any longer they don't have the time to properly return the trays to the room service galley.  Just a guess on my part.

 

Re the door signs.  They are all over every ship.  I don't get it and I don't see why people need to decorate their door but, hey, whatever floats your boat!

I've also noticed that the last year or so and attributed it to lots of new cruisers who are used to staying in hotels.

Maybe jcpc is correct, though.

15 minutes ago, SailorJack said:

 

I'm not sure I understood your comment.  Could you elaborate?

 

Jack

I don't think Canuker "gets" your sense of humor.

His or her loss.

53 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

@Dobby36  Thank you. 😎

37 minutes ago, TheShag said:

Here here! I couldn't agree more! Invaluable guidance.

Ditto from this newbie!

42 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

Here is a good article on Business Lite and what airlines are using it (mostly european as opposed to US legacy carriers.)

 

What are business-class lite fares? And how to avoid them - The Points Guy  

airlines mentioned in article:

• Air France
• Emirates
• Finnair
• KLM
• Qatar Airways
• Zipair

Air France, KLM and Delta codeshare so be careful when booking a ticket that you are booked through Delta!

12 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

Regent, without a doubt, at least for the past 12 years, booked flights with restricted business class. What appears to have changed is some airlines have modified what is included with that class of ticket. 

12 hours ago, TheShag said:

Which begs the question, is it a question that is to be directed to each airline in order to ascertain their lounge privileges?

One of our reasons for trying Regent after many years of cruising (our first cruise was on Home Lines) was the all-inclusive aspect. I'm just tired of all the planning and details and was excited about just booking our cruise and relaxing.

So now it looks like it's the same old "check everything" that I've always done.

At least I know that the US airlines for now still include seats and lounges.

Not a comment on any posters on here - just on life.

And I do realize how privileged I am to have these "problems"!

***

2 hours ago, gwhitti said:

Thank you Jack for taking the time to answer. I did see your answer to the Tahiti question. The reason it was a concern for us was because a while back we were on the 28 day cruise and when we were in Hawaii we got word that the Samoas were being dropped from the itinerary because of health concerns. We hoped that Tahiti hadn't been dropped from your itinerary for some similar reason. Thank you again for taking the time to help fellow cruisers.

 

Carolyn

Carolyn

We've done this cruise 4 times and it was only on the fourth cruise this last October that we made it to Apia.

First time they were "fixing the dock". Second time there was a measles outbreak and , since none of the Samoans were vaccinated, they didn't want any non-island people coming to complicate things. Third time was right at the beginning  of Covid. I couldn't believe we were finally going to make it there this time but we did. Lovely place and worth the wait.

1 hour ago, SailorJack said:

 

We did go to Papeete!  One of the criticisms I get is that my reviews are too long.  I normally try to keep them at 12 typewritten pages, but on this 32 day cruise I actually had 15 pages so I had to edit it. As it was, even after editing I had 13 pages....so Papeete would up on the cutting room floor.😅.

 

That is not to denigrate Papeete  - it is a great place to visit.  I just ran out of Space.

 

Jack

There are some of us who have been reading your reviews for years and NOTHING would be too long!!!

I just thought nothing funny happened in Papeete but with your outlook I'm not sure that would have been possible.

Anyone else vote for seeing the "cutting room floor"?

26 minutes ago, vegasdriven said:

I am kind of surprised at not getting any other responses about this. It has always been much talked about on this site as to the great advantage of using a good TA. 
Maybe things change, but one thing that I like is being able to use email for communicating. That way I have things in writing, and can go back if I need to review. 
 

My TA has always been right on it in replying with answers to my questions. I just received one yesterday that I can send her a list of preferred flights, and we can look at the best ones out of YVR or SFO. 

We have a great  TA who has gotten us hard to find cabins and intervened with the cruise lines getting things done that I never could on my own.

But when it comes to which flight, on which airline and which connection through which airport at what specific time of day works for us - she just doesn't know all of my individual quirks that affect my choice. In this case I'm more comfortable hearing all of my own choices and being able to evaluate myself. I like to be able to evaluate all of the possibilities myself.  I kind of liken it to choosing which cruise we want to take - as good as she is, the cruise that looks perfect to her may not, for many reasons, be the best one for us. I choose the cruise and she does her best to get it and the best available cabin for us.

23 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

I'm curious about this, too, as we are on and didn't think that there were any daybeds, lounge beds, or Retreat Bar on the Retreat Deck?

Are you currently on the Eclipse?

Is there a Retreat Sun Deck? (If there are no lounge beds then what would constitute a "sun deck"?)

1 hour ago, vegasdriven said:

I am approaching the 210 day mark for booking flights, and will be deviating.I will be sending a list to my TA, and I am wondering if I should include acceptable dates (we are flexible within 3 or 4 days), and different departure cities- for instance Vancouver, Seattle, or San Fran.

 

We would fly into whichever city we needed to on our own. The reason for this is for instance there is a flight from YVR to Seattle, and then to Dubai, and on to JNB, but the connection time in Seattle is way too short for my comfort.

Can I ask why you aren't calling air deviations directly yourself?

Your TA will have to interpret your wishes and by calling directly you would hear ALL choices so as to make the best decision for yourself without a middle man.

2 hours ago, Cloudyrain said:

That is really disappointing if that's the case: lots of people with dairy allergies also have soya allergies. And rice milk... 🤢

 

I am going to take my own oat milk I think.

It's possible that's just a disclaimer.

If you have an upcoming cruise what you might do is find a couple of active "Live From ...." threads and ask on there for the poster to find out. It's a simple thing - he or she can just ask any waiter if it's available.

34 minutes ago, rbtan said:

Any good chef can make a vegan cake. You just use Almond flour & preferably a good EVO.

Yes, but the "chefs" on cruises are cooking/baking for thousands of people. Not sure they have the freedom or impetus to make something for the tens that might be vegan.

I think they're very careful about life threatening allergies but this isn't that - and my husband is a vegan for his health so we'd be thrilled to have more choices but don't expect them on large cruiselines.

It doesn't always work that way.

My husband and myself have been on B2B cruises where our OBC and expenditures have combined on one cruise and then kept separate on the next.

However, a trip to Guest Services should fix the situation.

Looks interesting!

What space changed to this new restaurant?

6 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

@dides did you happen to notice if the menus change or is it just that one menu? I’m not vegan, but I am dairy free and I’m hoping that the vegan menus give me more choices. I want dessert 😂

There were 7 vegan menus last fall on the Sapphire. The only dessert I remember was sorbet ( or fruit) . But vegan also means no eggs so you may have more options.

Sorry!

***

19 minutes ago, TheShag said:

I am prepping for my '210 day' phone call with RSSC Air. Is it fair/safe to assume that no Delta flights are to be considered [I seem to remember a while back that they no longer sold tickets to RSSC]? Thanks experts!

Just got a Delta flight earlier this week.

(See my post above about the nonstop Delta outbound flight being a smaller upgrade than a one stop with a different airline.)

However for my return flight the Delta alternative was significantly more expensive than a very similar flight on a different airline. (But it was available if I wanted to pay the extra)

15 minutes ago, gwhitti said:

Yes echoing the above question. Did they skip Tahiti?

We have been on this RT LA South Pacific cruise 3 times. Twice for 28 days on the Emerald and on the 32 day Sapphire. We obviously love this cruise and are looking forward to going again in 2025. We would rather sail for 8 days back to LA than fly any time. People being so different is what makes the world great. 

We had friends on the cruise. No, they didn't skip Papeete but Sailor Jack didn't have his usual hilarious comments on it.

We've done this cruise 4 times (3 on the Emerald and once on the Sapphire, which is now my favorite Princess ship - as long as they get their propulsion issues fixed). We're signed up for 2 more! We would also rather sail for 8 days than fly!!! Sea days are the BEST.

12 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Good read --  

 

As far as some people bringing on their own toilet paper - well I would normally laugh at that situation.  But Princess has the only toilet paper I have ever seen that actually crinkles when you scrunch it up.  I love cruising - but that toilet paper...

I hope that toilet paper got confiscated.

Princess warns you that regular toilet paper will clog their system and cause problems for everyone in nearby cabins.

Great review Sailor Jack.

We had friends on your cruise and i certainly got a different perspective from what they said.🤣

What happened to Papeete?

I'm so excited!!!!!!

Another Sailor Jack review and on my favorite cruise on my favorite ship!!!

Had to comment but I haven't read the review yet - so back to reading.

On 5/9/2024 at 7:19 AM, chamima said:

 

@puppyluv1 - I know your post is old so I hope you're still watching this thread.

Are you saying that when you checked the available flights for your cruise the one you wanted showed as $2500 pp more for a nonstop than a flight with a connection but when Regent booked you on that same flight the upcharge was only $500?

(I'm getting ready to call deviations and want to have an idea of what to expect)

Thanks!

46 minutes ago, puppyluv1 said:

Yes, that’s correct. 

Thanks.

I ended up calling deviations.My situation was like yours but the difference was around $3500pp more for the nonstop. My upcharge was $600. I grabbed it.

But I did ask about my preferred one stop flight and that would have been $900pp more.(???Go figure???)

So, lesson learned, it's always good to ask

This is our first Regent cruise.

It was my impression that we got transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruiseport included with our cruise (we are in a Horizon Suite so the one night pre cruise hotel is included).

We took an air deviation to get a more convenient flight but it's still the same day as the non deviated flight would have been.

Is the transportation still included?