flossie009

We arrived in the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, early this morning and wondered why our ship was the centre of attention. It appears we are the first cruise ship to use the new cruise terminal. Focus Taiwan Press, dignitaries and the public turned out in force for an inauguration ceremony

Protocols are certainly relaxing worldwide. We were in Manila yesterday and the mandate on mask wearing has just been lifted and more businesses & tourist sites are opening up. There was a requirement to self-test prior to entering Taiwan (see Regent letter below) Today (day before arriving in Taiwan) the requirement has been lifted - no testing required 🙂

I thought this was always mandatory. We are on Explorer and have had to register & upload vaccine certificates (a painful process given the appalling internet on board Explorer). Then required to inform Reception when acceptance received.

Paid excursions (including the Small Group alternatives); Premium wine; Spa treatments/products; Boutique purchases (perfume, clothes) If you are on Splendor or Explorer you can use SBC for Culinary Arts classes

We like the decor on all the Regent ships; our first cruise choice criteria being itinerary and then price per day. With those initial choices taken care of, we favour Splendor over Explorer because of the lighter colour palette and because some of the design flaws on Explorer were corrected on Splendor. In our opinion, Mariner has the best layout of public areas and the decor is fine.

It was simply an unfortunate casualty when the itinerary was revised; as was Seoul in S Korea 🙁

Dinner in P7 tonight on Explorer ..,..,.,,,,,,,, delicious 😋 Crab cake was on the menu 🙂 Best bonus was at the end of the meal ..,,,,,,,,,,,, fudge rather than those bizarre brownies topped with jelly 😀

Horizon lounge is on deck 6. Surprised you were disturbed on deck 8.

I thought Crystal stopped sailing last year 🤔

Not the case, and not a legally enforceable contract term, for bookings made in the U.K. The OP/TS/author is in the U.K. If your TA and/or Regent made the booking and made the error, then I do not see why you should be charged; especially since the flights have not yet been ticketed. Suggest you raise the matter again with your TA and Regent.

Surprisingly we did make it into Nha Trang, and can thoroughly recommend tour NHA-GL1 Life on the river One of our two boats on the river trip Making the traditional Vietnamese conical hat Intricate sewing of beautiful silk flower pictures A wooden toll bridge for cycles & scooters. Much of the bridge has to be replaced every year after the rainy season when the river floods By the time our tour finished, the wind had risen in strength again making our tender trip back to Explorer an experience in itself 😉

Try SuiteGuru for reviews. We last sailed in a HS in January 2022, with no adverse smells. We like the size & layout of the horizon suites and tend to choose those on deck 8 or 9. As with other suites on Mariner we favour those with shower only.

Koh Kut-Kood Island

Sometimes something unexpected occurs on a cruise which is better than expected. Yesterday on Explorer was one such time. The original itinerary for this cruise included Ko Samui, Thailand. When the itinerary was changed in August 2022 to remove Chinese ports, Ko Samui also disappeared. Very disappointing. Koh Kut-Kood island was added to the itinerary, but with no excursions. Later two excursions were made available; both using the facilities of a beach resort on the island At the start of this cruise segment the excursions were cancelled, so things didn’t look at all promising for this stop. Yesterday we anchored off the island. In the morning the seas were too rough for tendering, but at midday the Captain announced that tender operations would start. Many stayed on board but some of us ventured on shore to find an idyllic white sandy beach, with warm shallow waters. Some of the F&B team also went ashore to provide drinks and snacks. So what looked to be a bust actually turned into a very enjoyable afternoon. Wish we could have stayed longer. You just never know how things will turn out when cruising 😎 At present we are ploughing through 17ft seas on the way to Nha Trang in Vietnam. Since it is a tender port we are unlikely to get ashore unless the weather calms by morning 🤞

No, Regent is truly all-inclusive One reservation per speciality restaurant booked on-line in advance of the cruise. More may be booked when on board, subject to availability. All restaurants are excellent; including the main dining room, which has an extensive delicious menu.

Updated list of officers & senior staff now on Explorer: Andreas joined as GM in Bangkok two days ago The major crew changeover in Singapore last week was carried out seamlessly. The new Production Cast is very good; a couple of trainers on board doing final rehearsals with them prior to their first performance of each show. Two members of the previous production cast have stayed on board for two segments to run the games to allow the new cast to find their feet. There is also a new duo (keyboard & vocalist), Glitz Duo, who are good to listen to in the Explorer bar and on deck. Also new speakers & guest entertainers 🙂

PACIFIC RIM sorry so blurred, but ship is rocking!!

CHARTREUSE

Speciality restaurant menus as of today on Explorer: PRIME 7

Correction: The lifeboats are accessible, and in a emergency would be loaded, prior to being deployed. However we still do not recall ever being led out from muster station to lifeboat location on either Splendor or Explorer. We do remember it on the other ships pre pandemic.

No one had to attend together at their muster station during the safety briefing at the start of this segment (neither new or existing passengers). This segment is 16 nights; about 300 new guests joined the ship and each was directed to their muster station on boarding and checked off by an officer. I am not sure that we have ever been led out to our lifeboat station on either Explorer or Splendor; you cannot access the lifeboat deck on those ships until the boats have been deployed.

Everyone has to attend the muster station, just not at the same time. Everyone receives the safety briefing over the PA and sees the comprehensive video.

See post #47

So today is the start of a new segment on Explorer with a changeover of about 50% of guests. For this segment there was no requirement to all attend the muster station at the same time - simply a safety briefing over the PA …………… and we had to run the safety video again to “unlock” the TV. Not sure whether this signals the (sensible) return to the e-muster 🙂 Maybe others can post their experiences on other Regent ships.

For future reference the tour LCH-GL1 “Pattaya Floating Market” comes under the category “not worth repeating” It is a crowded, very poor facsimile of the real thing to be found near Bangkok.