minotaur

We're booked with BA from LHR to Rio for our cruise commencing 19th March and back from Lisbon on 6 April. These have been booked since last August.

It's not good if service levels are dropping, but there are at least a couple of reasons why you might be experiencing it now. One is that if there is Norovirus/Covid on the ship then presumably some crew members are suffering and out of circulation. There is also the the possibility that staff have been moved to Grandeur and replaced with less experienced crew.

You've probably spent at least as long as that posting here!

If you want to dine with another couple, you can do that when you book online. Once you've booked your table this shows up: ADD ANOTHER GUEST Your guest's information Booking Number: First Name: Last Name: ADD GUEST Share our table? Yes No I've not done this, so others may have more tips. You get one reservation for each speciality restaurant, but can make other reservations on board - space permitting. There is a sample Compass Rose menu on the Regent website.

Might be the sort of situation where giving Regent a call might be the way forward. I guess the website isn't set up for what you're trying to do.

....or you could go online and get a personalised leather luggage tag and have it engraved 'DIAMOND'. Would save a lot of time and money 😀

If you look at the Seven Seas Society section of the Regent website you will see that leather luggage tags kick in at Platinum level.

Reminds me of a comedian I saw years ago - he said he'd recently stayed in a very smart hotel - the towels were so fluffy he could hardly close his suitcase at the end of his stay.

Just a thought, but you may find replies more forthcoming if you phrased your requests differently.....

This is from the Regent website: Dining reservations may be reserved online beginning 75 days before your cruise sails, or 90 days for guests eligible for our Concierge Amenities, at 8pm Eastern US Time. To do so, please create an account via the My Account section of our website and access the Dining Reservations link for your cruise via your Booked Cruises. Guests may pre-book one dinner reservation in each specialty restaurant prior to sailing, then subsequent reservations may be made on board, space dependent. Multiple pre-booked reservations in each restaurant are permitted only on Grand Voyages, with one reservation allotted per voyage segment. Guests may contact the Maître D' once onboard to request additional reservations, if available. Compass Rose and Sette Mari At La Veranda do not require reservations.

Can someone please explain how your account details can be used to remove money from your account - which is presumably what people are worried about?

Swings and roundabouts I guess...

I'd be interested to hear whether anyone UK based is reading this thread, as my understanding is that UK legislation means that a major change in itinerary (such as this) means you can cancel with no penalties.

I wonder how many staff have been transferred to Grandeur?

It's on Cruise Critic, here's a link:

It's not always the case that the cheapest pre cruise tour is the one that is included. On our Rio to Lisbon cruise next March, our included pre cruise tour - 'Rio and Iguazu Falls' is listed at £3308 per person. The other available tour, 'a Passion for Rio' is listed at £984 per person. I guess it depends on a number of factors - how the cruise is selling, even what country you're booking from.

I believe that is correct. We're booked on the Voyager next March from Rio to Lisbon. When we booked there was a free included 4 night pre-cruise program 'Rio and Iguazu Falls'. That is no longer offered, and the cruise price has stayed the same. So if we cancelled the pre-cruise and got a credit, it would make our cruise very (well relatively!) cheap. So I can understand Regent not allowing this. If they did it could lead to people 'playing the system'.

Here's another one of 601 take from in front of the pole:

Took a bit of doing but found this picture of Suite 601:

I know this is slightly off topic, but a few years ago after a Regent Cruise to the Baltic we were staying on a few days in a Regent booked hotel in Stockholm (can't remember which one). When we were checking out there was a TV behind the reception desk showing music videos. Suddenly the video shown took on a distinctly 'adult' theme and became more and more explicit. I thought OK perhaps this is normal for Sweden. However people started pointing and the reception staff looked round at the TV and were aghast. Of course could they then find the remote to change channels? No, of course not! After a few minutes of panic the TV was unplugged. Much embarrassment all round!

This may be why UK customers are apparently getting better terms than some other countries: Pre Contract Consumer Letter (UK).pdf

This is showing on the Regent website (UK version anyway): As a result of the tragic events which took place in Israel over the weekend our Custom Air Department will be closed on Monday and Tuesday , October 9th and 10th , as our air team is working diligently on rebooking guests both currently on the Voyager as well as those embarking on October 15th. If you are contacting the air team regarding the two Voyager sailings impacted, our air team is in the rebooking process and will be forwarding the new air schedules as soon as they are available. Due to the number of guests impacted we are unable to take custom air requests. We ask for your patience while we work through this process.

It's also worth looking on YouTube - there are a number of videos on both ships, some quite recent.

Just curious - does anyone know what happens to the crew during a dry dock?

I know that view very well! We were less than half a mile away from you - we have an apartment at Borough Market, just before London Bridge (it doesn't have such good views though!)