mrlevin

I agree. It is far better not to speculate than to have to constantly explain the context of your speculation; I will stop speculating.

Nothing like staying onboard whilst 500 are disembarking. Let the adventure continue!

As I stated earlier, this is purely conjecture based on my time onboard, my observations, and comments I have heard over the years from both crew and fellow passengers. We sailed Voyager a number of times including twice in its maiden year. I have definite opinions regarding the three older ships based upon my time aboard.

I am definitely NOT “in the know.” I just share my opinion in order to generate discussion so that I may learn and thus evolve my opinion.

No, I meant Voyager.

Jim, done; and he returns the well wishes. Marc

Brandon replaced Vlado as F&B. New Head Housekeeper, too. 42 crew left yesterday.

Two new ships will be hybrid so they can go into Norwegian fjords and other protected waters. Voyager will be gone in 2026.

Andreas will be replacing Alessandro as GM. Paul is CD, Zhivoli [sp] is ACD, and Christina is Social Hostess. I only see Christina at Mensa but she seems very nice and personable. I have favorite waiters but I am not going to share that info as I don't want to have to fight for a table. 😁

We are continuing to have a fantastic cruise. Excellent service in every restaurant and every bar. We have taken just one excursion, Miyajima, it was fantastic; peak of cherry blossoms on the island. Explorer definitely has its quirks but it has been great to be back on board after seven years. One thing we noticed immediately is that the "golf balls" are gone; don't know if I like the replacement; maybe someone knows the history on when and why they were removed. Three wins and a second at trivia; I am waiting for the cumulative trivia on the crossing; our team is on until Vancouver. I am amazed how many are onboard for just the twelve day segment. If anyone has any specific questions I can try to answer. Marc

Example of excellent service. I know there are people that like long leisurely dinners. When my wife and I eat without others, we prefer a faster service. Tonight in Compass Rose I had five courses and my wife had three and we were in and out in exactly 60 minutes. Staff understands our preferences and delivers a fantastic experience. BTW, wife modified appetizer and main courses; I had a special order (foie gras) and modified my main course; yet everything went perfectly.

Alessandro and Captain leaving 13 April in Tokyo; don’t know about Vlado.

We just stayed at the Tokyo Conrad; great hotel great location. In shiodome tower above shiodome subway station and adjacent to shimbashi station for trains and more subway lines. Executive lounge excellent.

This is undoubtedly the best service we have experienced in 21+ years of cruising Radisson/Regent; Alessandro and Vlad have trained an excellent crew. We are very happy campers.

Just saw from our hotel room through the rain and fog Explorer sail into port; just a few more hours.

Doesn't look like Explorer is going to make it to Tokyo on schedule this morning or may be following Riviera into Yokohama instead. Not good signs. Or, just waiting for Riviera to get out of the way so they can speed into Tokyo. edited to add: Never mind, Explorer is not scheduled to arrive until 0800. Should be tight for our 1200 boarding.

We are at Aoyama Cemetery, our favorite cherry blossom viewing location in Tokyo and we are still too early; lots of buds but few blooms. Kyoto is supposed to peak when we are there on 3 April but it is a bummer missing them here.

Duqm is near Masirah Island which USN has used for replenishment for decades.

When they took pictures and fingerprints in immigration line they handed us forms to fill in; had them done by time we were in front of line. In baggage claim they had customs form to fill in while waiting for luggage. No delays, we were done rather quickly.

mj was talking about her room at Hilton not ship. 🙂

We had easy travel day AUS LAX on delta and short walk to Singapore airlines LAX to NRT. No QR codes but quickly through immigration and customs. Driver took us straight to Conrad in under an hour. Didn’t pick up Suica cards so need to figure that out this morning. First six trips planned. See everyone on the first!

Onboard booking lowest price guarantee has never been worth the paper it is printed on given they regularly dump inventory overseas.

Carol, thanks. When I learned of the fine print that said applicable to cruises of less than 60 nights I knew this wouldn't help me as I have three GV booked. There is also something in terms and conditions that says this doesn't apply with reduced deposits which I would think refers to the onboard booking reduced deposits.

I haven't made any new bookings in a while so this new option snuck in on me. I checked today and it "seemed" to apply to all bookings and said all other discounts applied; so my questions: Is this in fact on all bookings? Even onboard bookings where the deposit is just $500 per person per segment? Can this be added retroactively to existing bookings? New Grand Voyages and segments of WC should be available soon; has Regent announced an end date for this promotion? thanks, Marc

It is on the website. TA should give you 8-10% discount plus onboard booking for sure; other discounts might be available.