flossie009

Yes Stugeron (Cinnarizine) is our go-to if rough seas are forecast. As with all motion sickness medications it is best taken in advance; no good waiting until you are feeling queasy. It is available over the counter in the UK and many other countries but is not available in North America.

Two possible reasons: 1. They wanted to finalise the film for showing early in 2023, and needed time to edit & add the voiceover 2. The film crew wanted to be home for Christmas They did the same with the 2021 version (with John Baron). That was filmed on the two cruises preceding the Christmas cruise.

See post #8 above for a preview of the Christmas episode

Sounds like a good plan. Since you are doing a Regent pre-cruise you may find that Regent will provide the transfer from C/T airport, even though you are arranging your own flights. Certainly worth getting a price from Regent for the return flight from Rio. This does not have to be on the day the ship docks so you could still plan to stay a few days after the cruise.

You could try a vacuum storage bag: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Vacuum-Compression-Storage-Bags/dp/B07RSCPH4N?th=1

@ToxM, Regent's base pricing for UK guests only includes for economy flights (except for PH & above on cruises starting or ending in Europe) You have two choices for business class flights: 1. Ask Regent for an extra-over price for business class flights. Often their pricing is very competitive especially when the cruise begins & ends in different parts of the world i.e. requiring so called "open-jaw" flights 2. Take the air credit from Regent and make your own arrangements. You can do this for either the outbound or inbound or both. Things to remember if going the cruise only route: - as well as air you will also have to arrange your own transfers - if Regent make any changes to the cruise itinerary, or the cruise is late arriving at the disembarkation port, they are not liable for any alterations you have to make to your flights or transfers - the Regent booking is no longer a "package" under the relevant UK consumer protection law Hope this helps. We often take the air credit from Regent if we are able to book business class flights using airmiles/Avios (Avios bookings are economic for open-jaw flights and are refundable if things change)

We also changed suites on board in December. All very straightforward. Have a chat with your steward and the Executive Concierge. If you are going ashore early in Sydney, check any special arrangements for getting back on board if the key card for your new suite has not yet been issued before you leave the ship.

Yes, it is a significant change of policy. Our latest pre-cruise email, for a cruise embarking in February includes the following: “We strongly urge all guests to travel with comprehensive travel insurance with specific COVID-19 coverage, as well as to travel with a latest generation smart phone or tablet with international calling and data turned on in the event that regulations change while you are traveling. While our ships are staffed with professional medical teams and common prescription medications, anti-viralsand therapeutics, our ships do not accept medical insurance and guests must provide payment for all services”

Yes, the previous clauses on the SailSafe webpage that offered Regent financial support, in the event of insurance not covering, have been removed. Guests who have to cancel or quarantine are now simply advised to make a claim on their travel insurance. Thanks for pointing this out

Unfortunately the outcome and impact on Explorer's itinerary is the same, whoever dropped the ball. It is good that Regent appears to have been reasonably generous in the financial compensation offered but still a disappointment for those on the affected cruises.

I would think that the divers carrying out the hull cleaning would charge hourly or daily rates, with no guarantee of the ship passing subsequent inspections. It would be impossible for a contractor to price for the work to achieve NZ compliance without having previously carried out a full underwater survey of the ship's hull, being able to specify time as well as price and making risk allowances for weather & sea conditions at the time the cleaning was to be done. The companies doing the underwater cleaning work for Regent probably did the best they could given the time constraints & sea conditions. It appears that Regent grossly underestimated the work required to clean Explorer's hull to a standard acceptable to the NZ inspectors.

Look out for ceiniogs in your change in Wales 🤣 …… or barter them for laverbread & cockles 😋

Explorer & Splendor: P7 and/or Chartreuse open for lunch; Compass Rose closed Navigator, Voyager & Mariner: Compass Rose open for lunch; specialities closed La Veranda and Pool Grill also open for lunch on all ships

Good video of Franck :

£GBPound and €Euro

Suite reviews from recent cruise on Splendor (changed suites between segments): Splendor suite reviews_Jan 2023.xlsx

Lunch menus (fixed/regular items) in P7 & Chartreuse differ from each other and are totally different from the evening offerings. From memory the lunchtime daily specials are the same in P7, Chartreuse & La Veranda

Another thing to check when experiencing internet problems on board is whether you are still logged in. Sounds simple but a number of times during our recent Splendor cruise we found that our devices showed connected to "Splendor Wi-Fi" but we had actually been logged out of our account. Once we typed in "login.com" and went through a couple of check pages we were back on line.

Posts #96 & #104 on the following thread gives our experience with Wi-Fi repeaters on Regent ships (some are in the suites): Our takeaway from our experiences on Mariner a year ago, and Splendor more recently, are: - Some repeaters are in the suites; not just in the hallways - If you have to go to the lengths of wandering around looking for a connection, propping suite door open, wearing a tin hat etc. then it is worth seeking help from the on board internet manager; who may in turn have to seek help from a ship's technical officer - "3 bars" on your device confirms that you are connected to the nearest W-Fi repeater; however that repeater may not necessarily be connected to the internet 🤨 - Some internet managers are more au fait with the ship's Wi-Fi infrastructure than others 🙄

We are on a B2B (one booking number) in February and have 6 advance dining reservations (one per venue per segment) I think you mean one per location per segment

The RSSC letter (January 02?) included in post #11 of this thread indicates that RSSC encountered difficulties locating suitable contractors & a suitable location to have the necessary hull cleaning carried out. An RSSC spokesperson on another social media site stated on January 13 "........... Cleaning operations have been executed twice prior to the ship’s entry to New Zealand, most recently on January 4. Both operations were carried out by diving companies recognized by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Following an inspection by New Zealand authorities while the ship was in port in Auckland on January 12, New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has instructed the ship to repeat the cleaning operation. The additional cleaning will take place on January 13, 2023 ................." In the event it appears that cleaning operations were not completed to an acceptable standard until January 15.

We are joining Explorer in February. Interested to know who we will have as Captain, GM, CD, F&B etc Can anyone on board at present let us know any info? Thanks

Another social media site reports that Explorer has finally passed inspection 🙂 MarineTraffic shows her en route to Wellington, arriving 7am on 17 January. One day later than original itinerary.

I assume that the hull fouling on cruise ships is very heavy since they were sitting idle for up to 2 years during the pandemic, and have not dry-docked since. It appears Regent, and other cruise lines, totally underestimated the work required to clean hulls to be compliant. From the various reports it appears that divers spent a total of 5 days (some curtailed by sea conditions) on Explorer’s cleaning; whereas Regent had assumed one day of cleaning would suffice.

Disembarkation tours, if available, are only offered when you are on board. Qatar provide an excellent service from our experience. The Qatar flight will arrive at LHR Terminal 4 so you will have a transfer for your onward flight to Aberdeen