auldlassie
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Posts posted by auldlassie
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Perhaps you already know this, but this gratuity is actually not mandatory, but voluntary. The amount stated is only added to your account as Oceania's "suggestion". Most people just assume it is mandatory, but that is not in fact the case.
It seems to me to be extremely difficult to assess a rate for these things as it all hangs on so personal an experience or opinion or principle or a combination of those things.
If you think it is excessive, you can pay as much or as little (or none) of it as you please when you settle your account at the reception desk.
Likewise, if you think it is too little, you can pay more.
If you wish to make payments to individual members of staff who have particularly assisted or impressed you there is nothing to prevent you from doing that, either instead of or in addition to paying Oceania's "suggestion."
These payments are all actually entirely up to you and the reception staff will amend your account to do as you wish on this point.
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I haven't sailed Regent yet, but am just about to book a cruise with them. I have cruised with Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania and am shortly to sail on Crystal. Just want to add that in my experience, all of these lines have some website issues, just as their on board experiences can have a few issues also. None so far have bugged me to the point that they have lost me as a customer. Far from it, thank goodness! Crystal has come closest though, with a fiasco over a cancelled river cruise. Despite that, I will still sail on Symphony next month with an open mind and see what I make of it.
Here is a personal plea if anyone from Regent is still following this thread, regarding their current website. Can someone take a look at what I believe is an error on the deck plans for Explorer on the website? These plans are all over other websites too, so the error is proliferating. The lifts (elevators for those in the USA) and stair positions, cannot possibly all be correct. A lift shaft has to align between floors and some of these do not. It is highly likely most are correct but the misalignment prevents sureity. Yes, I understand that the rake of the decks according to the ship design has to be taken into account and I have done so.
On the floors and cabin categories I favour, the lifts are nearby. I am trying to select a cabin not directly at the lifts or stairs in case of noise as I am a very light sleeper. I'd like to preclude this, but cannot do so with certainty and that is quite irritating to me. Anyone looking at the plans and booking a particular cabin specifically not right beside the lifts, runs the risk of being rather disappointed if they board and find those lifts not quite where they expected them to be but in fact right by their cabin. Neither my TA nor Regent UK were able to tell me their correct positions, as they only had these plans to refer to.
A quick website check and alt would be much appreciated. This is not a difficult fix. It can be verified in situ after all - and might help many future customers.
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Thank you for your reply. It seems I'll be well pampered. Its a hard life being a night owl -breakfasts are hard work!! :)
Happy travels to you.
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Perfect, thanks for such a quick reply.
Loved your earlier christening thread too. Sounded wonderfully exclusive and extravagant - I'm pathetically envious :)
Happy travels.
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Hello,
I love to have breakfast in my suite as I am a terrible sleepyhead in the mornings and eating in my cabin helps me adjust to the shock of the day :)
Can anyone who has been on the Explorer tell me if the table by the sofa in the Concierge or Superior suites is just a coffee table or high enough for proper in-suite dining?
In the few pics I can find, to be honest it looks somewhere uncomfortably in between, but I haven't really seen decent, clear pics.
It seems as if there is a small dining table for two (in addition to a coffee table by the sofa) in the Penthouse, albeit somewhat placed out in the entrance/hall part of the room. Again, can anyone enlighten me if that is correct and it is at dining height?
Info or pics very much appreciated, as I am hoping to book my first regent cruise this week. Despite being old enough to know better, I am practically giddy with excitement :)
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Thanks Pinotlover, it was nice of you to post that and I appreciate it.
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We cruised in a group of 4 and all of us loved Le Champagne. We ate there twice on our cruise on Riviera and there were enough enticing choices at every course to make us all happy, despite the menu being the same one.
We are normally very picky about wines, but thought that the included wines were nicely chosen through for our meals there. Although we did splurge on some Chateau d'Yquem with dessert, as it was our last night on board. A lovely extravagance to end our holiday which didn't feel quite so bad as our other wines were included ones!
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Pinotlover,
I will not enter into a point by point debate with you here. That is not the raison d'etre of this thread. I will re-iterate that I agree wholeheartedly with Hawaiidan's estimation of the wines and the food served there and that I am perfectly entitled to say so.
The wines I was served on my two La Reserve dinners were not of the points range I would have expected from the Oceania "hype" -and no matter what age they were served, they never would be. They varied between good to average. Not plonk, but not very special. Also, it is relatively simple to buy properly cellared older wines, as I am sure you know. If Oceania choose to serve wines to young to be particularly enjoyable, it has no bearing on the date they were established as a cruise line. The sommelier - the head sommelier on the ship, who was there for some reason unbeknown to me - disparage the sommeliers entirely, though you do - knows they should not have been served so young. Serving older wines than they did WAS their actual original intention, but for reasons I won't go into, it didn't work out as they planned.
Now, I suggest you take your little upset to a quiet room and you become the one who tries to "get a grip". We are both entitled to post our opinions of La Reserve here, but rudeness is not appropriate and does not become you.
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I echo all those comments from those who rather like this escorted gesture. Kind, friendly, welcoming and well-mannered. Not to mention perfect if you are wearing stilettos -or have had an extra glass of champagne before dinner!:D
What's not to like?
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We are foodies and wine lovers and I totally agree with Hawaiidan's take on the food and wine at La Reserve. I would say he is bang on about the details and wine ratings. Go for the social aspects. Charming, fun and engaging atmosphere. Food and wine good but not great. Even the better wines are far too young and, incidentally, the sommelier there agreed with me on that. Even told me a little secret about their selection in that regard, but my lips have to be sealed in case I want to go back :)
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Unlike Kuldalai, my husband and I both loved our food at Toscana. We had some really excellent dishes on both nights we dined there and nothing we ate there was less than good. We really liked our choices of the 3 olive oils and the 3 balsamic vinegars (only 3, not 30!) with our delicious breads, something many upmarket restaurants offer in Italy too.
Food is so subjective, Kuldalai and I only make a sample of 2 - too small to make a meaningful judgment. I'd say that unless Toscana gets the thumb's down from a considerable portion of Riviera's passengers (which it doesn't) then you should give it a try. I am sure you can make up your own mind about it.
Like others here we loved the PH. So comfortable - and nice to have your butler bring you drinks and food whenever you feel like it. Hope you have a splendid cruise.
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Hmm, have you seen the pic of the building. An easy mistake to make , not!
Oops!
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Who says cruises have everything?
Hmm, have you seen the pic of the building in question? An easy mistake to make? NOT!
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Just like to say a big -really big -thank you to all on board who posted, especially Mr Rumor who did such a huge amount of sterling work.
I have never cruised with Regent before, but on the strength of what I have read here, I am ready to book the 2017 Christmas/New year cruise -and know exactly what level of cabin I want to travel in. Now just have to check all the deck plans and correlate with what is available :)
About to go read Travelcat2's christening thread, which I'm sure will be equally helpful and enthusiastic and full of the details that I so enjoy.
Oh boy, isn't planning a cruise, especially on a gorgeous looking ship, always a marvellously (yes, that's my UK spelling for all the spell checkers out there :)) exciting time?
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Jeez Louise, I honestly cannot believe what I am reading here. Sneaking drinks about the ship. So tacky. Money really can't buy class.
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Hi pontac, you said in the thread :-
"Bordeaux is a wine focused tour, and wine is the focus here, and wines from appellations visited are served with unlimited third growth Margaux Ch. margaux on the included dinner."
I just want to point out that you may well have been served a 3rd growth Margaux at dinner, but it will certainly not have been Chateau Margaux (as you seem to state) which is a 1st growth and one of the world's finest (and most expensive) clarets.
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Terrorism? Germany has had 4 attacks this week or so, yet the ships will be re-deployed there, so this makes no sense as regards that line of thinking.
I live in the UK and France and read a lot of European wide press and media and cannot see and accepted distinction of likelihood of attacks between France or Germany or even Belgium.
I don't buy the terrorism angle. I doubt they have had a flood of cancellations for the Seine/Rhone/Dordogne cruises and doubt equally they have had a flood of "surplus" bookings for Rhine/Main/Danube. I think this is being done for economic reasons unrelated to the terrorist attacks.
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Just heard the news from my TA this morning.
Hard to credit this change, given they have only just had a customer fiasco over changed cabin assignments due to the new deck plans on the Debussy. Left hand, Right hand.
I don't buy the terrorist attacks theory, no one jot. Why redeploy more ships to Germany when they have had 4 attacks in the past week or so? I live in both UK and France and read a lot of different European media and don't see any noted/accepted difference in vulnerability between France, Germany or even Belgium. I don't believe they have recently had specific many French Seine/Rhone/Dordogne cancellations any more that I believe they've recently had a tremendous clamour for more Rhine/Main/Danube ones. I think there are economic reasons behind this quite unrelated to terrorism.
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If anyone bothers to read my earlier post in this thread correctly, they will see I did not make an attempt to define dress jeans by any particular colour as if it was my own choosing, I reported what colour and style of jeans I saw being worn by other guests (sometimes including myself) in dining rooms on Riviera without any problem. There is a difference. If I was allowed to choose it would be clear - you could wear any jeans you wanted. As long as they fitted nicely, but that is another issue. :D
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Well, there is breaking news of a military coup in Turkey, which might also cause some changes in the short term there. All Turkish airports currently closed.
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In the UK a king bed is 5feet wide and 6ft 6inches long and a superking size is 6ft wide and 6ft6inches long. In the UK we do not normally use the term Queen size. I believe in the US there is more than one variant of queen size, which confuses things further for us over here on the UK side.:)
The beds on Seabourn are at least superking size in width, like 2 single beds put together, so 2 x 3ft = 6ft wide. Not sure re length, but they seem plenty big and I am used to a UK superking size.
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How does this square with your statement that NO jeans are allowed in dining rooms ?? It doesn't.
From Oceania website today -
"Is there a dress code?
Recommended onboard clothing is resort or country club casual. For evening dining, elegant casual resort wear is suggested. We request that casual jeans, shorts, t-shirts or tennis shoes not be worn at dinner. "
From my very recent Riviera cruise documents
"In all evening dining venues, we request that guests adhere to the appropriate country club casual dress code. Shorts, casual jeans, t-shirts, athletic footwear or sandals are not permitted in the grand dining room or specialty restaurants."
To Jersan23, as you can see and as StanandJim posted above, CASUAL jeans are not allowed, but DRESS jeans are not exempt. On my recent cruise smart dress jeans were worn by some at dinner in every dining room. By dress jeans I mean monotone in colour, not faded or torn or fancily patched and more frequently I saw dark navy, black or white rather than a mid toned blue. No one cared, no one made a fuss. It was definitely ok. Wear them if you wish. It won't matter a jot, except to the fashion police on cruisecritic. And luckily, they don't really make the rules.
I posted at length about this just after my cruise -
http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?p=50305283#post50305283
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Or a wine connoisseur :rolleyes:
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Thanks for all the info Roothy123, I'll check all of your links.
Much appreciated!
Your "Dream Oceania ship"
in Oceania Cruises
Posted
I am posting this question on the different forums of the lines I cruise and am really keen to hear what you think. Perhaps some cruise lines will be much more inventive than others, we shall see. So please tell me, what would be added or subtracted from the current Oceania ships to create your "dream Oceania ship"? I don't mean free cruises, free flights, free anything, or brand new ships and cabins etc every day when you wake. No fantasy stuff. No magic. I just mean tweaks or changes or additions to what is already on offer.
In another thread about chair hogs, Suite Travels made me realise that I would love to see the creation of a "Table of Shame" for pool chair hogs. After 30 minutes of absentee chair-hogging, your stuff is gathered up and placed on the "Table of Shame" - a table very prominently set up on the pool deck (in full sun so your book page-glue melts and your suntan lotion leaks) where the hogs have to go to re-claim their belongings under the full glare of the fellow travellers' disapproval. ;)
I am still working on the small refinements - perhaps necessitating a grovelling apology, perhaps a loud (but somehow not disturbing to others) klaxon of shame going off as repeat offenders approach the table just to ensure everyone looks over to see them, perhaps community tut-tutting etc etc - Yeah, I know it needs work :D
All in the hope that it would actually soon stop the chair hogging altogether, of course.
So come on, tell me what would you like to see on your "dream Oceania ship". Unless, you are a persistent chair hog. In which case, don't talk to me at all. :eek: