flossie009

1 hour ago, RELS said:

Please take your issues to the executive concierge or general manager. They might not do anything, but if they don't know you are having issues, they can't fix them.

Agree that it is more productive to raise issues with the relevant staff on board rather than making the complaints on social media 

1 hour ago, RELS said:

the Observation Lounge snacks have been downgraded to nuts, chips, and pretzels.

On Navigator at present and we are offered delicious canapés in the bars before dinner.

Not sure why they are not being offered on Explorer 🤔
 

There were also static displays showing the life cycle of butterflies & moths

Malaysia’s largest moth

…………… and interactive encounters with stick insects and other creepy-crawlies 😮

Numerous varieties of butterflies were seen at the impressive butterfly farm facility, from where they breed and export various species

Thursday April 11th - Penang Island, Malaysia

Susan stayed on board, but David took an excursion to a spice garden, followed by a visit to a butterfly farm

The drive to & from the venues was along the coast road, with some good views

David said that they were liberally dosed with citronella before waking around the spice garden, but he still suffered some insect bites.

The guide was appropriately dressed 😉

We finished the tour with a walk around the outside of the impressive Blue Mosque and then a photo stop outside the old Palace.

We were fortunate to avoid the monsoon downpours that others got caught in during the day in Klang

Then it was off to see the big Buddha and a temple

Maybe the temple wheelbarrow isn’t sacred enough to stop theft !!

Now that we have some time on our hands with three sea days, it is time to catch up on this blog.

(Anyone else who is on the cruise is welcome to chip in with their thoughts)

Wednesday, April 10th - Port Klang, Malaysia

Our tour started with a visit to a small house where we looked around the garden and then went inside for coffee, mulberry tea and snacks

A Malaysian family were enjoying a game

There were various items of produce for sale, including what we would call pork scratchings

8 hours ago, RachelG said:

I ordered a lingonberry soufflé for dessert, which was disappointing as it wasn’t a real soufflé, but rather a lingonberry purée with a meringue topping.

Yes, that Regent dessert is not a soufflé but is a “Queen of Puddings”. Very sweet !

We were disappointed with the entertainment, or lack of it, offered on our Regent Christmas cruise.

I am  pleased to report that thus far the entertainment on this cruise has been excellent.

Production Cast singers & dancers are extremely talented. The band is very good. The cocktail pianist, Kelly, is both a good pianist & a very melodious singer.

Visiting performers have also left a good impression:

Martin Kaye - an incredibly energetic & highly talented musician. His Elton John show last night was fabulous.

Dave Kristian - a very entertaining stand-up comic

Both Martin & Dave will be leaving soon to be replaced by others, who we hope are as good.

Safe journey home Crisy, Cathy & Jim.

Hope Jim recovers soon & that we see you all on another cruise soon.

An interesting, but disturbing, sign seen in Malaysia today

I suspect that this waterfront property, nestling in the trees, is worth a few million SGD.

Nearby is an example of what happens when the architect forgets to take his ruler to work

Abseiling back onto the ship was a challenge 🤣 ……… but we made it just in time for a late lunch

The gift shops were full of bling, but we resisted

Today we are in Singapore.

Knowing how congested passport control can become in Singapore, we waited until after the Regent excursions had left the ship.

We opted to try out the Singapore Cable Cars

It was a perfect day for good views 

Yes, just the same as all the other ships.

Complementary laundry & pressing; dry cleaning also available for a charge.

Today is a day at sea on our way to Singapore. Captain Abhi tells us that he had Navigator at full throttle this morning and we certainly seemed to be zipping along through the calm waters.

Weather is still very warm, but we passed through a few heavy showers.

Today’s schedule

Our excursion in Ko Samui was the “Thai Traditional Cooking Class” (KOS-003); a paid tour.

We started with a look around a local food market, where all manner of ingredients were on display

After a visit to see the local Buddha we then went to a hotel by the sea for our cookery class.

First the chef demonstrated the ingredients & method for each dish

…………… then we were let loose to show our skills

After preparing each dish (3 in total) we then sat down to eat our delicious results ………….. washed down with beer, wine or soft drinks.

It was a very enjoyable day 😎 😋

Yesterday we visited the beautiful island of Ko Samui.

Navigator dropped anchor some distance from shore and local boats were used to ferry guests from & to the ship

This is the senior team looking after us on board.

Plenty of familiar faces among the crew plus some new ones. All very friendly, helpful & efficient.

On 4/6/2024 at 6:48 PM, flossie009 said:

The 9:30pm show is “World Rhythms”, which should showcase the standard of the Production Cast for this cruise.

The production cast gave a stellar performance; singing & dancing was some of the best we have seen on Regent. Looking forward to their other shows this cruise.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:39 PM, alainciao said:

Question about the long tail boat tour.  Were you happy with the quality of the water on this tour?

Bottled water was fine 😂
 

River water looked OK; no trash & plenty of fish.

We didn’t have our water quality test kits with us 😉

@Dolebludger

You had a Regent supplied hotel in San Juan, therefore hotel to ship transfer included.

You did not have Regent air hence no included transfer from airport to hotel (embarkation) or ship to airport (disembarkation)

No surprise; that is how it always operates.

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

We were told (and knew) that Regent wouldn’t provide airport - hotel transfer in San Juan because we booked their hotel for an extra night before the hotel-provided date.

The reason was because you did not take Regent air not because of the extra night.

We are just leaving the pretty port of Laem Chabang …………….. sorry, pretty industrial port ………. 😉

 

Pre-dinner the speaker, Deborah Ayres, is talking about “The Amazing Kingdom of Thailand”

The 9:30pm show is “World Rhythms”, which should showcase the standard of the Production Cast for this cruise.

22 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

To suggest that if you book your flight 210 days out the cost of air becomes non-refundable is simply absurd

No one has said, or inferred, that.

What is being discussed is ticketing a flight arranged by Regent, not booking the flight.

Certainly in the past we have paid Regent early in order for them to get an airline to ticket a flight earlier. This then allowed us to book specific seats, which otherwise was not possible.

Obviously this experience is with Regent(UK) and with a British based airline. Since the OP is in North America, their options may be different.

6 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

you would expect them to give us multiple options for providing feedback

They do