Gilly

I will say the same as @flossie009 and @Mudhen and disagree with @weelee. Our Regent-organised rooms have always been in good quality hotels and in some cases, the rooms have been in the higher grades available. For example, the Intercontinental in LA, in which we booked an extra night pre-cruise so we could meet up with friends. On checking in, we asked if we could have the same room for both the Regent-night and our independently booked night, only to be told that the "superior" room we'd booked and paid for didn't match the Junior Suite that was our Regent allocation and that we'd need to pay a small surcharge to avoid moving stuff. Less successful was the W in Rome on our most recent cruise, but our room was far from the "bottom of the barrel" and the hotel was of a good standard - just not to our taste.

Martha, I'm sure that part of the problem in Stavanger was that we were there on Navigator on the same day as P&O Iona.... (and apologies for taking this thread way off the Sydney-Bali review)

I believe many of the current issues with excursions are as a result of the tourism industry restarting after Covid. There are staffing challenges all over the world, many businesses have changed/closed/refocused and trying to get everything back in place must be an enormous headache. In every port, Regent can only buy into what's on offer - the same tours that are available to all cruise ships and we've seen familiar descriptions on other sites that are nothing to do with Regent. The guides and tour operators are merely contractors and though we always hope that a premium company will employ the best, we know that's not always possible. We find the Regent included tours a great starting point and have had some terrific included experiences (eg visiting a family vineyard from Amalfi last October) and some awful ones (one in Stavanger in June was disappointing). But I'd hate to see the all inclusive product go and would love to see more progress in the way things were going with the "Go Local" tours, the environmentally themed tours and the specialist architecture (?) tours (I think) that were beginning to appear here and there. I think there were some food themed market visits with a chef too? Covid hit those new developments I think, but with more of us returning to ports for second and third visits, looking to do something different and maybe hoping for something fresh to do, let's hope to spot a few changes.

Last Summer, Navigator docked in Leith, adjacent to Britannia, so very easy indeed to go on over to Britannia and do a tour independently. Also in Edinburgh, there was a frequent shuttle to the city centre, so again, very easy to be independent and visit galleries, go shopping, do whatever the mood takes - though it was August, the Festival was on and the city looked a mess! Agree re Kirkwall and Invergordon, where the Regent included tours were good, with local guides who knew their stuff. In all of these ports, the tours visit places of real historic importance and there are "serious" stories to be told 😉 The neolithic sites in Orkney and Shetland are phenomenal and we could have done no better with a private guide since some of these places are crowded anyway (especially if there is another ship in port) Dublin and the Guinness Factory are always busy with tourists but make for an enjoyable day out. Waterford's a good place to wander around too, though the Crystal makes for an interesting stop. As for Liverpool - it's one of my all time favourite cities and I second all that @GOARMY advises above.

I realise the last few years have proved challenging for tourism and that operators are only just getting things back on track. However, one of our main disappointments about our Australian tours on a couple of Regent cruises some time ago was that the offerings were almost completely "tourist experiences", such as jumping crocs in Darwin, cuddling koalas and visits to places like Kuranda. Yes, there were snorkelling trips and a rainforest walk, but we hoped that in the intervening years more has been made of "the real Australia" - the fabulous gardens, glimpses of what life is/was like in those beautiful Queenslander homes or further in the Outback, wine, food and farming...yes, @irishwitchy more special interest, smaller groups would hit the spot perfectly. We have a cruise booked in that part of the world in a couple of years time and are keeping our fingers crossed!!

Exactly! And when we arrived on the ship for our cruise in October, I was sorry to see my own little clock had stopped - it needed a new battery. Before I could turn around, it had been replaced! Regent service is really above and beyond expectation 🥰

I take my own little clock wherever I go 😉 But on Regent ships, there's usually a bedside clock which is consistently updated with time changes by the housekeeping staff, which is useful in times of confusion!

We paid deviation fees for our cruise last Autumn - possibly a very similar itinerary from Rome to Trieste.. We flew home (LHR) from Trieste on Lufthansa, via Frankfurt. All worked well - a lengthy stopover in Frankfurt turned out to be rather shorter (no time for Weissbier!) and though the overall time spent travelling from ship to home was probably around the same as if we'd flown from Venice, we avoided that horrible early start. We had Regent transfers in both Rome and Trieste by the way. (You can read about our journey home on my blog here) (I'm happy to share more details by email if you like....I have a gmail address which begins gill679)

I'd say Regent is the least class-conscious travel experience of all! Once on board, everyone receives the same stellar service as everyone else and we've always found the whole Regent experience to be extraordinarily comfortable and very much to our liking. The TV series is really cringe worthy, I agree, and a few moments reading messages here will confirm that we're not the only ones to find it so! Differences between suites are best explained in the descriptions online and in threads here (I think there have been some good conversations about that recently) I am not the best person to explain all of that 😉 Above all, we enjoy the relaxed atmosphere that comes with the "all inclusive" convenience. We love to dine with whom we like, when and where we like and *love* that within days of boarding, Regent staff not only recognise us but also remember preferences (eg truffles) and frequently pre-empt our wishes without our even having to ask. We find our fellow travellers to be interesting and good company (much like ourselves 🤣 ) For us, choosing Regent for the first time was a great decision, though as many observe, it is hard (in our case impossible) to sail with anyone else.

We *loved* our stop in Port Moresby in March 2012, on board Voyager. Strangely, we had exactly the same experience as @Lonedaddy in that about half an hour into the tour, a long-established Regent cruiser (whom we also happened to know from "real life") claimed sickness in such an over dramatic way, our driver took her back to the ship too. But fortunately, we continued our day. We were told that all local buses had been put at Regent's disposal, that local people had to cope without public transport for the day but everyone we met was extremely friendly and generous of spirit. I wouldn't have missed it for the world (see why here and continuing here ) I am so sorry to read of continuing issues on board Explorer and hope for smooth sailing and many happy days to come during the remainder of your cruise.

We loved our stop in Montevideo too - thank you for sharing happy days!

@forgap what magnificent photographs!!

The reason given for UK/EU clients not receiving the more elaborate document pack is environmental concerns. The fact that doesn't seem to apply to our friends on the other side of the Atlantic seems strange - surely they are equally concerned about the environment? We too had a "collect labels at hotel" experience which was far less than satisfactory, so were pleased to receive the envelope with them in the post for our most recent cruise. Seeing a black envelope on the doormat was a little concerning however!

Please no! (Nor Susan Calman !) As for the jigsaws, how does she ensure that all the pieces are there? Does she count them?

You won't be alone - but of course, we'll be behind a different cushion 🙂 We were cringing too, but realise that it's difficult to portray those small details that make our Regent cruises so special. For the most part, you've just got to experience it first hand I think!

I read on "the other place" that those returning from Iguazcu had some flight problems, which I hope are now resolved and that all are able to board as planned. Thinking of you all in what must have been a stressful situation and wishing you smooth sailing from now on! I always think that everything is ok the minute I see that bottle of champagne and the plate of petits fours!!

Regent accommodated us at the Haymarket post cruise too - good location, I agree.

The most memorable muster drill we attended included standing on deck, wearing lifejackets overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge fairly soon after the Costa Concordia disaster. A friend of mine had been on board the CC and thankfully survived to tell the tale (not all did, sadly). Her words "when the walls became the floor..." put things into perspective for me rather and since then I have been more alert to the drill, not only small details like whether the life jacket clips on or needs to "be tied in a double bow at the side" and have taken it all more seriously. I'm with @GOARMY every time on this one.

@Trunkabella sending you heartfelt (socially distanced) hugs and best wishes. All of this and Covid too? That's just unfair.

I was told was that in the next upgrade, each suite will have a dedicated repeater. I managed to upload my blog each day with quite heavy photo content, not from our suite but from a particular location on Voyager that I identified as having a stronger signal. I had tried the open door solution already, finding it made little difference, sadly. Internet at sea will never be the same as on land and as improvements have been made, then usage has also increased along with the average file sizes being moved around. Before I attempt to upload anything, especially photographs, I edit to reduce file size and can usually manage some kind of success, even if it tries my patience at times.

We were on Voyager in the Autumn and despaired at the dreadful internet speed. We were advised that during the next upgrade, this would be a priority and would be greatly improved ( from someone in a position to know about such things and whose advice we trust). Will that be before May? I don't know!! But I hope so, on your behalf @jeb_bud!

eeeuww! 😱

Thanks @cwn! I've enjoyed your travels very much 😉 Safe home and here's to the next adventure, eh? Your turn now @xrvlcruiser ? Are we heading round the world? I hope so!!

So sorry for @Kristal Blade and @flossie009 returning to such dreary weather, not to mention boiler troubles. I might even feel a bit sorry for myself too, because I was very much enjoying Christmas on the Canal and might even have been prepared to put up with a Twit if I could have been there for real (there's always one isn't there?!) Thank you both for taking us along if only by means of a screen, for prompting happy memories of places (Salsa and Salsa was fun, I agree!) and for spending some of your valuable holiday time on board sharing your lovely days with us. I have to wait till July for our next Regent fix, so you will understand how I appreciated it!

I would describe the Navigator experience as "classic Regent cruising", in all the best senses of that word. We love being on board and would very much look forward to another Navigator cruise, though as we book an itinerary rather than a ship, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that she's going to head somewhere interesting in the next few years. Agree 100% with @GOARMY about the exceptional staff too, many of whom seem to favour being on Navigator.