LadyandtheTramp

We were on the cruise from Dubai to Cape Town last Nov/December and Regent informed us we would need yellow fever shots, but my husband who has a kidney complaint could not have it, so the doctor just gave us a letter stating why he was exempt and the letter was never even asked.

We were on this very same cruise too, and got the information that the shots would be needed. So we went and got them. We subsequently learned (of course, after getting the shots), that if you had previously gotten the shots they were good "for life", and not just for the ten years specified on our yellow card. So check this out if you've previously had the shots.

We used a visa firm out of Texas for all of our trips, including the 3 times we needed to get an Indian visa (previously we couldn't get a visa valid for more than one year, now all that's available in one for 10 years - could have spared us a lot of agony).

You fill out the forms online, following their instructions, and then send the company (via a trackable service such as FedEx) the completed forms, photos, and your passports, together with the appropriate check (or charge authorization), and they handle everything. This is the only way to go - India is extremely particular, and the firm noticed a mistake we made and were able to correct it for us, rather than losing a couple of weeks.

As to the time involved, you are cutting it close. I believe there was an option for expedited service (for an additional fee), but I'm not sure about this.

On our last cruise on Voyager, when we walked into the suite (G class, so we're not talking high class), there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the table, the mini-fridge was stuffed with soft drinks and beer, and when the room steward came in about 10 minutes later, he asked how we wanted the fridge refreshed, and asked what kinds of bottles (2) of alcohol we wanted. He also inquired about our choices of "color" of wine, and when we returned from dinner, all of our choices were there.

I must remember to take some Scottish banknotes with me next time I visit the US..........................that would really get them confused :eek:

Heck, it got me confused in Scotland, where we were in September. Went to the ATM at a bank to get some local currency, and the money that came out had the bank's name on it. Had to ask our tour guide if this was valid money.

First. Do not by ZAR before you leave. Use your ATM card in South Africa and get them in Country as you will get a far superior exchange rate. Or just tip in cash in dollars or Euros, newer clean bills.

We never change into local currency for tips. Most (probably all) recipients appreciate it in whatever currency you give, and will know how to get the best deal in converting it into local currency. We've heard, but not verified, that in some locations, tipping in U.S. dollars or Euros is preferred, as the locals really know how to get the most from the exchange, something us tourists generally avoid for fear of prosecution for violating currency laws. We've encountered this a couple of times.

We are going to be on the pre-cruise Safari at the end of this month and had the same question. I read lots of reviews for the Amakhala BUsh Lodge where we're staying - someone posted a tipping comment and mentioned 100 ZAR per driver and guide I think each day. Or maybe that was pretty game drive. In any case that's not much. Am going this week to purchase ZAR (SA Rand) for the trip and also get a lot of small US bills for other guide/driver tips for the remainder of the trip. Reception desk on board was running out of small bills on our last long voyages.

My memory was that The Bush Lodge actually had envelopes available for you to tip "the staff" generally. If I recall, one envelope was for the food and service staff, and one was for game drivers. We didn't tip individually, but instead it was one of those shared tips for all. I do not remember the amount, but guidelines were given - it might have been from the lodge, or just from talking from other participants. What I specifically remember was putting the envelopes together before the last game drive, and leaving them on the "table" where all the other envelopes were dropped.

We took this very cruise two years ago (as our first RSSC cruise), and I cannot remember ever being bored. I seem to recall having lectures both morning and afternoon, and time to relax was wonderful. Especially after doing the excursions, which we took full advantage of.

Not sure where they source their lamb, but we used to get our possum from Highway 48, just outside of Skeeter Holler. And I mean right from the highway. :D

At least you know it's fresh.

That was my take on it too.

On the other hand, we seek out port-intensive cruises, and have actually decided not to do certain cruises when we see they have too many days at sea. The killer for us was a 30-day from Sydney to LA, which had three stretches of four days at sea in a row. We were bored out of our minds.

Now our ideal would be a sea day every five or so days, to break up the continuous days of touring (and get a chance to do laundry). But as I'm saying this, our next cruise is Cape Town to Miami, with four days going across the Atlantic. But the rest of the cruise is what we were looking for, so one bad stretch is the price we pay for getting the remainder of what we want. Of course, now we are not limited by having to report to work (semi-retired), so we can be much more selective in what we want.

According to the CIA factbook (my go-to source for anything international), the area of Norway is 323,802 sq km (of which 304,282 is land) whereas Sweden checks in at 450,295 sq km (Land=410,335 sq km). So the trivia answer is correct.

While we are not on this cruise, we are taking the reverse cruise on Navigator, from Cape Town to Miami via the west coast of Africa, stopping in a number of the same ports. We just received the Visa notification from Regent for our cruise, and the information said that we could use Visa on Arrival for those ports requiring visas in Africa (Ghana, Gambia, and Togo), so that Regent could get the visas for us when the ship docks. Of course, we're US citizens, so it may be different for you, but I'd definitely check into this with Regent.

Hi, while I can't give you help with this, I know others will have first had knowledge, but if you also post on the UK cruises threads, there are similar questions and answers to help you there. Jean.

I don't know if this is still true, but about four or five years ago, we basically got off the ship and walked no more than 50 meters to get on the train.

I'm not a fan of the smaller cabins, nor fixed seating, nor formal nights (they can be fun, but on MY schedule), nor the a la carte pricing. I keep shopping around, and I keep coming back to Regent.

We did our first Regent cruise (Voyager) a year and a half ago, the second last December (Voyager), and will do our next one in December (Navigator). Why do we do Regent? For the exact things Bill mentioned in the quoted portion: we love the all-inclusive, flexible seating, alternatives to formal nights, and that we basically don't have to get out a wallet from the time we get off the plane to when we get back on it. And I'll add that it is hard to even consider going back to the old way. (We did do a Silverseas in amongst the Regent cruises, and while close, we still had to wince when the final check came in for the excursions.)

I should also mention that we are doing CapeTown to Miami this December, and are scheduled for the pre-tour but are planning to opt out for personal reasons but which are totally unrelated to the quality of the safaris.

We did Dubai to CapeTown last December, and took the 3-day post safari. We got the Reed Valley Inn at the Bush Lodge (the Lodge is where you eat, the Inn was where we slept), and the game drives were sufficient and the food was excellent. We don't know how lodges were assigned, but the suite category for the people on the post varied all over the place.

I would say that we have done 2 previous safaris; both about 17 days each, and the Micato mentioned earlier was one of them. So this post was basically a "taste" for a lot of people, for us it was a short reminder. We did see 4 of the big 5 (no leopard), but did see a lot of critters we hadn't seen on either of the actual safaris. For us, it was worth the cost (included), which made it a no-brainer, but if we hadn't experienced it before, I'm not sure if it would have sufficed.