lprp

On 9/19/2024 at 1:02 AM, fb0075 said:

Booking our own transportation --looks like jet blue out of LGW is best option at 12:15 pm---what time did the walkoffs get off the ship? Travel time appears to be 2 hours on a thrusday at 8;30 am?

Personally, I would definitely NOT trust that I could make a 12:15pm flight from LGW unless I left Southampton by 7:00am!

You have to factor in 2 great unknowns - traffic and airport security……..😬

@swansong Have you checked the UK Government Foreign Travel website?

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

It has a link about Yellow Fever which is useful:

https://nathnacyfzone.org.uk/factsheet/65/countries-with-risk-of-yellow-fever-transmission

We went on a similar cruise on Explorer in 2018 and recall similar concerns. However, we had previously been vaccinated for YF in the 90’s and the latest advice is that anyone vaccinated once is now considered vaccinated for life even though our certificates only have a 10 year validity. We took the certificates with us and never had to provide them.

Interestingly the same concerns arose last Christmas for our Mariner cruise to the Amazon. This time we visited our GP to check whether we needed any jabs for the trip. The nurse confirmed our research about YF. She also said that over 60’s are recommended NOT to get the YF vaccine.

@resordanis welcome to Regent.

Completely agree with the comments by @GOARMY

Your cruising history is not dissimilar to ours.

Several years ago at a Cruise Travel Fair  were persuaded to compare the cost of our latest cruise (QM2 in Queens) with all the associated added expenses with that of Regent. We were very pleasantly surprised! So much so that our next cruise was on Mariner and we loved it!

We became hooked and after our upcoming Christmas cruise on Voyager will be 1 night off Platinum level!

We still cruise with Celebrity occasionally, depending on the itinerary and have just booked our first cruise on Seabourn because we wanted to do an immersive Antarctica trip.

On another note, you live in a fabulous part of the World. We stayed in The Mantra in Port Macquarie last year with our friends from Bundeena and have very fond memories of it.

Which Voyager cruise are you looking at?

LP

1 minute ago, Jim Avery said:

Most of Regents demographic are of an age that they were taught manners.  If not at home then in school.(Hard to imagine these days) Or the scouts.  Amazingly there is a great swath of our fellow passengers who have managed to un-learn the manners they were taught.  Same thing for Drivers Ed classes.....😱

Guess they also un-learned basic hygiene like washing their hands after using the bathroom and not eating the food from the buffet while they are in the buffet line 😏

100% agree. I have been known to say “PLEASE”  very loudly when some entitled {§&#*@} says “get me a…..” or “can I get…..” and “THANK YOU” when (not if) they don’t say it or even acknowledge the service. And as for clicking their fingers at the waitstaff, don’t get me started 🤬.

OK, rant over, my blood pressure has returned to normal again 🤨

Could the OP or anyone who has done the Antarctic trip and are in possession of one of the Helly Hansen parka jackets that are provided please comment on the sizing/fit and if possible the “name” or code of the jacket.

We have to request a size and I haven’t a scooby 🤷‍♀️

TIA

LP

19 minutes ago, keesar said:

In the U.S., I get nonstop ads that keep repeating and repeating and.   Luckily, on my last few calls, hold time has been less than a minute.  

OK, you definitely win! Ads are infinitely worse than “music” 😱

Celebrity Cruises (UK phone number).

I’m currently on hold (again) while waiting for the agent to move our booking from one cruise to another. 
Am 45 minutes into the call, 75% of which has been on hold 😬. The “music” is excruciatingly bad!

Thank you for your comprehensive review.

We have just booked an Antarctic adventure on Seabourn Venture under an APT (Australian Pacific Touring) charter in February 2026.

It’s been a long held dream to visit the Antarctic and I was thinking of using Scenic Eclipse until I read some of the reviews about stability….

Anyhow, we were just on another APT trip (around the Kimberley Darwin to Broome on a land tour and then Broome to Darwin on a Ponant ship (Le Jacques Cartier) and got talking to the APT rep who mentioned they were changing from using Ponant for expedition trips to Seabourn, so we booked it. 

Your review has made me very happy about this.

LP

We’re currently on Le Jacques Cartier on a Kimberley Coastal Expedition cruise from Broome to Darwin. It’s a charter by APT and is good. 
Interestingly I spoke with the APT staff onboard about doing Antarctica and they are going to be using Seabourn in the 2026 Season. They claim that the Seabourn Venture expedition ship is better than Scenic Eclipse. Does anyone have any experience with Seabourn Venture?

TIA

Am I right in thinking that Prestige were one of the previous P/E investors/shareholders of Regent?

I may well be over thinking this, but, by effectively unbundling the flights from being a booking, it removes the onus on Regent to ensure that the passenger to get to the ship, home, or wherever.

Think back to the beginning of Covid when the cruises were cancelled and passengers who had booked the fully packaged trip and were stuck had to be transported home by Regent.

in the UK, it may also remove some of the protection that booking a package holiday provides.

LP

On 5/31/2024 at 3:03 AM, Steve Q said:

Our last 3 cruises have been with Regent. We have also sailed with Viking, Oceania, Celebrity, etc. This morning we received an email from Celebrity announcing their new initiative that will provide credit with both the Royal and Silversea Programs. A photo of the chart is below.

 

 

Got the same email and was just about to post a similar update.

On 5/22/2024 at 7:13 PM, Wise Consumer said:

Regent staff on board provided us with a concierge D cabin to sleep in

On 5/24/2024 at 8:10 PM, Wise Consumer said:

Since we could not use our Seven Seas Suite, but were lucky enough to have a bottom tier room available,

A Concierge D Suite is far removed from a “bottom tier room”.

On 5/11/2024 at 7:10 PM, jpalbny said:

When are you doing the Broome-Darwin trip? We are on Silver Cloud (Darwin-Broome) June 9-19 so maybe we'll pass by you at some point!

Thanks, I’ll leave the hairdryer at my nieces in Brisbane - I’ve resolved to myself that for our 17 night overland trip my hair will be untamed!

Our overland tour starts in Darwin on 6 June and finishes in Broome on 21 June when we board Le Jacques Cartier, so it looks like our paths won’t cross.

Enjoy your trip - will you be reporting on the SS Board?

Hi All

We’re doing our first ever Ponant cruise in June (Kimberley - Broome to Darwin) and wondered if there are hairdryers in the room. We’re in a Prestige Stateroom. We’re coming directly from a land tour from Darwin to Broome with VERY limited luggage space, so I’m really hoping that the answer is yes 🤞

TIA

LP

15 hours ago, bebop bonnie said:

The show last night featured Phillip Browne.  It was probably the best show I’ve ever seen on Regent.

Philip is DEFINITELY the best! We’ve seen him on Explorer and Splendor, love his voice and his stories about his family and upbringing. Along with his bus driving anecdotes.

Looking forward to your reports. Have a great cruise.

LP

8 hours ago, RachelG said:

Next up will be the Kimberley in Australia in July on Silversea.

It’s been fantastic reading the TA reports each day with the fabulous photos. Thank you.

We’re doing the Kimberley in June - 17 nights in a 4 wheel drive vehicle 😬 followed by 11 nights on a Ponant ship, Le Jacques Cartier, which I hope will assist with recovering from the fairly arduous 17 night land trip.🤞

We disembark in Darwin on 1 July, probably just as you start your journey to Australia!

@flossie009

Safe journey home. Loved your reporting. So glad to see you are flying home from Abu Dhabi as Dubai still seems to be having some issues following the recent floods.

Quick question if I may?

How was your experience in obtaining an Indian visa?

I’m in the slightly concerning situation of needing to get a new passport in July (can’t do it before as we’re shortly off on an Australia trip) followed by the visa for India for our Christmas cruise.

I’m hoping that both processes will be smooth 🤞

@flossie009

Your itinerary is very similar to the trip we are doing on Voyager this Christmas, it’s fabulous reading about it, thank you. 😁

6 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I seem to recall an old saying about "If" that had something to do with Grandma and Grandpa...

 

Unfortunately, it's a sad fact that rudeness begets rudeness.  Would sure be nice if we could just count on people to be kind and courteous...but alas, no.

Good manners cost nothing, sadly though even “nothing” is too much for some people 🤷‍♀️

Thank you for entertaining us again - your humorous reports are always a great start to the day.

The first time we were there back in the 80’s our tour guide warned us not to chew gum (she later added in case we spat it on the ground) 😳

Guess the issues have changed since then……..

Looking forward to your reports @flossie009.

How lovely to sail on Navigator with Ray - “Helloooooo”.

Hope the trip from Bangkok to Laem Chabang is not too tedious.

1 hour ago, vistaman said:

far above BA 

I think you could insert pretty much any other airline in front of those 3 words 😏.

if there was any other airline flying direct to multiple countries from London I’d change loyalty to them in a heartbeat……