PaulMCO

Thank you also for starting a thread. Hopefully the internet will be good so you can share lots of photos...

Maybe it might filter down to whoever is designing their web page. Seems like a ticking bomb. Hard to navigate and continues to display wrong information even after my TA phone them. But then again I could wish that what they put in is true and my DW is 25 years younger. 🙂

We are booked in mid/late March 2924 on RSSC. We already had two Japan cruises cancelled on SS. In short you do not recommend the RSSC pre-cruise 1/2 day tours. Most times Regent is offering the pre/post as a freebie but if you decline it they will give you $750pp credit. For that the value is probably in the hotels and the transfers from Tokyo to Yokohama. The Hilton is now $500 per night for 2024. We will likely arrive a few days earlier and in our case we will likely forgo the first two days of tours and do some private tours (using Toursbylocals guide) and maybe also head up to Hakone. I can navigate the Tokyo subway system myself, but it is always nice to have an expert guide provide the insight missed by touring without a guide. To the OP's post -- if you have never been to Japan, missing Kyoto is a sin (and Seabourn is missing it).

We are all talking about this form to add a cruise to your profile: Make sure you use the Regent booking number and not a travel agency booking number. Embarkation date -- first day on the ship and not the date of any pre-cruise land program Could they have used your first name as a last ?? You can call them on Monday...

We made a stop on the way to Southampton and spent 90 minutes there. Yes you will be tired -- but best way to combat jet lag IMO is to not nap on the first day and get a good first night of sleep. I have violated this rule many times though 🙂

It is on the NC web site -- the Manfredi interview main page -- scroll to view. Yes the ship is blocking any streams..

Just like the new owner stating in his new video.... " So we bought the ships and paid the banks and we paid them the money which is going to be used to pay back the passengers, it is very important to us" What a load of BS.. None of that $150M in money that he paid for the ships helps the passengers. The only thing that helps is the paltry $13M he paid for our private records and the trademarks.

Wow over 4 pages of dirty underwear. I do hope Crystal starts sailing soon so we can talk about the cruises..... 🙂

There are smaller and larger cabins in each of the categories and not category dependent. Purely location. You have some slight smaller ones in V1 and V4.. My chief consideration is ships size -- 1200 versus 600. Both ships likely will be full. Also make sure you include port taxes. Seabourn add it and Oceania includes it.

Here is a example. Kusadasi Turkey. Oceania Riviera docks at 0700h and departs at 1700h. Everyone does their Ephesus tour and visits the pottery or carpet factory, gets back to port and departs -- has dinner sees a mediocre show, Seabourn Encore docks at 0730h departs at 2330h. Everyone does their Ephesus tour and visits the pottery or carpet factory. We have dinner and drinks Those that wish to take a bus back to Ephesus for an included concert under the stars by the library Ship departs at 2330h 6.5 hours extra at port = PRICELESS added -- this was a true day last month in May Yes they are readily available as are Ubers. Ubers are generally better so called black taxis

@Leejnd4 a little late also but would favor the 2nd also. Love the Dalmatia coast. One item to consider is the airline you chose to fly and the requirements for traveling with ashes. Each airline has a different policy and TSA also has their own rules for screening. We recently had to do same on Delta and the airline had no issues and neither did TSA. There was documentation needed. With TSA the screening was longer than normal as they had special swabs evaluate.

My wife is not allowed do laundry either.... I have pink underwear to prove it.

I submitted mine the first week in June -- have 6 months left on my current renewal. Received a conditional approval within 24 hours. Scheduled the interview locally for November. A week later received approval (without the interview). Some caveats and suggestions. If you are traveling overseas -- you can do the interview on arrival to the US in the immigration hall. Process has been hit miss. My wife needed a renewal interview. Me -- I have about 40 countries in my application I have visited in last 3 years. I regularly travel. This is my 4th time I have gone through the process and was a beta tester on the program when they rolled it out at Dulles. I was a tester on the pre 9/11 program. My interview was scheduled at our small local county airport with a customs office and could have been the officer had some free time and was trying to clear the calendar. It is certainly well worth the effort. Also many FF plans and credit cards will pay the fee.

Recommend you look at ToursbyLocals. For us they have been the most consistent and have real reviews, You also get the benefit of refunds if your port call is cancelled.

Exactly right on point.. Not only are the cruise lines desperate for staff, but they are hiring staff who have never cruised. Our last Oceania (in January), Regent in December, Seabourn in July and May all had issues. Regent was less so since it was on their number one ship Splendor. But we had the same comment on Marina, for me the issue was there was no one doing training (except in Terrace). Seabourn had the worst service in the Restaurant last month. Management is to blame for lack of training. Seabourn blamed it on the numbers of people. The funniest example was on Seabourn last July. Two waiters we knew from Crystal joined Seabourn. They were given 1 day of training on the IT systems and processes in the Colonnade. They started working and within a week they were asked to train all of the assistants,,,, Needless to say, they were our go to waiters for dinner. But when we left the ship 3 weeks later, those two waiters had a well synchronized staff.

Oceania did it right, Then again Dominique was the GM for that cruise.

Too many cookie cutter ports. Maybe we are jaded. But yes, we done East and West coasts of Africa. No interest in cruising Bahrain, Jeddah, UAE or Qatar -- spent too much of my life living there. What we wanted to see are more like small port Dalmatia coast or Turkish Riviera. Med cruise that includes Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Wanted to see a better Canada to Miami with more time in New York (SS had one and was significantly cheaper) A Papeete to Sydney cruise with more stops in New Zealand A Pacific crossing with stops in Easter Island and leaving Peru so we can do an overland to Machu Picchu So yes right now the itineraries leave us not desiring to sail, but who knows what 2025/6 will bring. For us the ship is not the destination. Physical plant, there are a lot better ships out there (we are booked on some). I'll leave a open part for the crew because there was nothing better than OC crew, they made up for the ship's deficiencies. Food is subjective, but how many on this board have tasted the NC cuisine (ZERO).

Two favorites ===> Passover evening -- we are at a Seder in the Terrace with over 100 fellow passengers sailing from Egypt to Israel... Magic. We are going through the Straights of Magellan. The sea had over 10 ft swells and the ship is rocking and rolling. We are the only ones in Toscana at 7pm. We order a bottle of red and our Croatian Sommelier decants it without spilling a drop.

So what does a butler do -- everything your housekeeper does not. Have a PH and higher and you will get spoiled. Simple things... Ice Drinks in your refrigerator Pressing and shoe shines Normal things Arrange for additional specialty bookings. A good one will ask you if you want one today at 7pm since there are vacancies. Room service -- especially for specialty dining. They can also do course by course servings Canapes at 4pm (other lines Caviar at 4pm 🙂 ) You fill out the menu in the AM. If you are in a top suite, will take care of your bar. They will recommend some better wines on the suite wine list. Don't like the free bubbly, they will exchange it for a bottle of wine. Special event -- arranged for a birthday cake served in Jacques. Special things Our last cruise my wife forgot her walking cane. Butler found one which we used until we purchased an adjustable one at one of the ports Liaise with other departments to get things done, like Engineering for cooling issues or broken cabinets Great person to listen about ships gossip. Why did we skip this port, the butler will know. Want another veranda lounge chair, the butler can do it. When not on duty there is always a reserve butler (2pm until 4pm and after 11pm) On Oceania, Crystal, Silversea, we have had some great ones and some real dogs. Last Oceania was a great one and of course Mr. Churchill is a legend.

7 day -- all meals in Compass Rose. Maybe once in Prime 7

If it is free take it. They will give you only $750 pp credit to decline it. So they allow $500 per day, which is not bad for the hotel and transfers. You can check the itinerary but many are 1/2 day tours. You do not have to take them... Usually day 3 is a tour with the transfer to the ship in the PM.

It is all about people and tour guides that have found other lines of work. Certainly the quality of the guides are lower and in many ports you need 20 guides. Second, the cruise lines have also stopped vetting or monitoring these excursions. At one time, there would be a cruise line person on the tour to help with any issues (they could be an enrichment speaker, a singer from the show etc.) that has stopped. Maybe to avoid exposure to Covid?? We have done 5 cruise in 2022 and 2023. On Regent, Seabourn and Oceania. All have had issues, the worse being Oceania who had pre-pandemic descriptions in the documents. In one case, two of the places were closed during COVID and never opened. A third was destroyed by a Hurricane in 2019 and never rebuilt.

If they are using the cruise terminal in the future (and that is a BIG if), the Haifa Merkaz Hashmona station is next door and only a 5 minute walk. The reason I say if, there have been several months (April, May and early June) due to increased security where it was closed and it was a zoo to get in and out. However the port shuttle was dropping passengers at the railway station. Leave plenty of time (in our case it was 1hour 15 minutes to clear and leave the port and one hour to return (the return was traffic) As @pinotlover did the best way is to stay over night in Jerusalem and avoid a daily 4+hour RT to Haifa

we have been on cruises in the Amazon (this year) and also to Argentina. NO yellow fever certificate was required to enter or leave the country,

I am just saying you are getting only 5% off additionally for booking on board. Reason -- at the same time Seabourn was advertising 30% off on their web site for all others in the world for these cruises.