Catlover54

We are too early for exploring fall colors, so after settling into our complementary upgraded hotel suite on the 19th floor of a chain hotel in downtown, with stellar views, we started our reexploration of the town (not my first time here) with lunch at a traditional French bistro, Modavie. There I had escragots and my coveted boudin noir with apples, bacon, and mashed potatoes, accompanied by a French pinot noir. Then came a private guided walking tour of the old town, with our guide showing us a lot of the old Art Deco buildings inside and out. View spots revealed a Regent ship simultaneously in port and near where we will embark soon. In the background, the dark outlines of the Habitat 67 condos revealed themselves (I had first sailed by them in 1975 when they were all the modern rage, on the Stephan Battory, a Polish basic transport ship from Montreal to Europe). The guide said some of her tour guests have asked what those "ruins in the distance " are (million dollar ruins). Then it was time to buy dinner supplies at the farmer's market in Little Italy (Marche Jean Talon). We secured fine wines at the wine shop SAQ, where a very knowledgable assistant voluntarily helped us select exactly what we wanted (if only he would be a somm on the Quest). Our haul included a baguette, berliners/beigners (plum and apricot), a chocolate eclair with real cream for DH, a cream cake for me, misc. decadent cheeses, kolbasa, caramel cake, and finally some old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies for DH.

Well, it will be live tomorrow. We have to use up the SB points we acquired after being unceremeniously booted off the Encore when Covid hit March 2020, and this part of Canada had been on our bucket list for a while, so here we are. The cruise (assuming Hurricane Fiona does not sidetrack us), will be 12 days, including ports Montreal, Havre-St. Pierre,L'Anse aux Meadows, St. Johns, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Cap-aux-Miquelons, Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, back to Montreal. Meanwhile we have enjoyed three nights of pre-cruise Montreal, a lovely, relatively safe pre-cruise city with mostly friendly shop and restaurant personnel, excellent dining options, and easy places to walk. It is a lot like France, sans the attitude. I would like to encourage anyone else on this cruise to not be shy and please also chime in with thoughts and comments as the cruise goes along.

The Venetians long ago decided they no longer need visitors to stimulate their economy, as they are well-fed enough, housed, have utilities, and social welfare retirement funds. Good enough. Cruisors have gotten the message to stay away -- so we will!

We just wasted 1.5 hours of life each doing Emed for a cruise going out of Canada. First we had to reregister each of our accounts because it had been a few months since we used Emed (and the last time we tired, we got an application error so I'd had to hunt down a foreign pharmacy open on a Sunday that would do it, very inconvenient), apparently Navica just deletes old passwords after a few months.Then the gal in Fili who answered our call transposed my month and year of birth (likely due to dyslexia) and declared my attempt at a test ineligible because my ID did not match what they had on file and told me to edit my birthdate and call back. After reaffirming my birthdate was correct, and not in need of editing, we called back, and the new gal in India proceded with the test, which was completed as negative, but then when the certificate was sent online I could not get the pdf with results to open using the birthdate as password because the system had apparently again transposed the month and year of birth (so on a guess we entered the likely transposition, and it worked). . DH also had to set up a brand new account, and got dumped off several times. Finally, we have our e-results. What a waste of time and money. We already knew we were negative (or as negative as you can be) from self-testing for this cold virus, on top of lack of symptoms. At least we no longer need a test to get back to the U.S. post-cruise (we'll see how long that pleasantry lasts).

What a confusing, useless and unproductive theatrical mess. Our TA proudly informed us a couple weeks ago that per new SB rules, we do not need to provide proof of a test for our upcoming Canada SB cruise (though we like to do our own personal, and cheap, testing before any major trip to minimize risk of being sick and landing up quarantined). Then I come here (after a refreshing respite away for a few weeks, to detox) and get pages of contrary information. Post #75 is the most useful so far, thank you Laylam.

One thing to keep in mind, however, for pax who do "not feel rushed" (not necessarily meaning you): *When the ship is full*, the small venue fills up almost immediately, and then others have to wait until the early, prior guests clear out. One cannot ,unfortunately, make reservations. So if one comes early, as a general courtesy, if others are waiting, I think it would be polite to not just sit around for an hour after the meal chit chatting (one can do that elsewhere, like in the lounges). That would free the table up for other guests who are waiting, so they can also enjoy the venue. Staff will of course NEVER tell you to move along. Given the understandable popularity of this small venue, I think they should move to a reservation system for it. On luxury Hapag Lloyd, I like the set-up where the smaller dining venues are reservation only, and then the table is yours for the evening, so there is no rush at all when guests are there (guests can come early or later, and can stay the entire evening chit chatting even if not eating). But with planning a reservation , everyone could experience it at least once if not more often. If people with reservations come early and finish within 2 hours, (typical, including the chatting), then others could still drop in without reservations later on. I say this as someone who, arriving 5 minutes after opening, has waited in frustration a long, long time, while people are not eating and are just occupying the table . I understand it is currently set up to make people think it is just fine to have a " first come first served and we're not leaving" approach on a luxury ship, because no one tells them otherwise.

I am greatly enjoying reading and sailing along with your photojournalism, each morning with my morning coffee 🙂 Post #204 describes all the fresh fish available in Bergen markets. Do you know if any of those were purchased by the ship's chef and then served as fresh fish specials to pax that evening or next in the dining rooms, or if this is ever done on Regent? Some luxury lines make a special point of doing this, though of course with the right chef and preparation, even fresh frozen fish can be wonderful. I only have a handful of Regent experiences and had problems, for the price, (pre-Covid), compared with other luxury lines, but have been tempted by blogs such as yours and a couple others that provide both positive and negative, to try again, for the right itinerary, and in a higher level suite so as not to worry about getting the excursions I would like. Looking forward to more, thank you for your efforts, I know it is a lot of work (especially when internet goes on strike).

LOL! DH and I met with our financial advisor (from a very large firm) yesterday in a nice restaurant. We do this routinely on a regular basis, part business, part social, and having just finished reading the latest issues of the WSJ, all had a good laugh about the new redefinitiions of *two sequential quarters of negative growth*, after decades of one steady definition. Then we got down to the business of 'buttoning down the hatches' to prepare for the upcoming "transitional" ride, (while enjoying the now 50% or so extra cost or "transition" inflation since last year of the identical meal we order each time every 3 months ). We can fortunately still afford our cruises, as well as the outrageous overseas business airfare, and have done multiple cruises since Covid (another one is coming up in September, for Canadian fall colors, and DH's camera is ready!). But as I've said before, the logistical barriers and major inconveniences the pandemic has created take a lot of the joy out of planning and executing the trips, waste time on unproductive tasks (e.g., trying to figure out which airport you're least likely to lose your luggage at, which airline is least likely to cancel you short notice, which country is most tolerable for a quarantine, which country will require suffocating N95 mask usage *even when outside* (like we experienced on our Panama Canal cruise), where and when you can get tested pre-cruise etc.) and create unhealthy anxiety (and it is *not* anxiety about dying of Covid, despite my age and immunosuppressant medication). Ironically, we booked our next cruise (to timely use up some SB FCC), for Canada several months ago , thinking that if we got stuck in another sudden lockdown or quarantine, we would be able to "just rent a car and drive home", now that we are both retired, as we have time. Then when we investigated (three months ahead of time) booking a private countryside driving tour with a guide pre-cruise, we found out from her that there is a major shortage or rental vehicles -- the guide asked if we would consider just a walk around town instead.

Terrific itinerary, "spaz" 🙂 It may of course be very hot, but you're probably used to that where you live and know how to tolerate it. I would love that itinerary in the quiet and cooler winter, though I know there would be more rain and storms, but of course SS does not do it (and neither does any other luxury line).

And yet, your leaders (with approval by the subjects) could close the borders back up very quickly with any new health concern twist (monkeypox, anyone?), which would make it a long and expensive and tedious hard-to-get and uncomfortable trip home for some of us. I was on a ship mid-cruise in Australia when the Covid lockdowns hit -- our five-figure round trip airfare, paid in order to justify having a several week trip, was unreimbursable even though we only had 8 days there, because technically we had "enjoyed" the flights, even though we would never have taken them for such a short cruise. Risk/benefit calculations on how-to-get-home-if-there-is-a-new-lockdown, wasted business class travel costs, and tolerance for severe lockdowns by destination governments (to try and achieve "zero Covid") factor into decision making for us, now that it looks like an eternal-Covid-variant environment (and new viruses on the horizon). You have a hauntingly beautiful, stunning country there , and with friendly people (I was fortunate to see it on a full cruise a few years ago on Silversea, and you had, until recently, been on my list for a return, but it's going to take a while to regain my confidence. I am glad you (and Australians) can now move about more, and you locals will probably be packing the cruises in that area. Enjoy while it lasts!

Gentlemen who perspire a lot when it is warm in dining rooms remove their jackets, to avoid excess sweating and the odors of non-gentlemen, which ladies do not like. 🙂 Thank goodness there is no SS rule against removing one's jacket at a table if one is very warm, but I understand the old tradition of not doing so and just sweating it out to be more civilised.

It is just one more thing to keep track of, to make sure the refund happens, and is credited properly (usually yes, in my experience and that of others, sometimes no, and then you have more headache fixing the error if that happens) We like to take some ship excursions (and use our loyalty % discount option on the excursions), even though SB's are not the best priced or the best organized compared with other luxury lines. Having to prepay for them months ahead of time, when you're not sure they'll even run or even if the cruise will run, or that you'll still be using that credit card, is not my favorite part of SB, though it is minor. The other luxury lines do not have this odd prepay system and I prefer to pay closer to time of the event to track things more easily, since I also deal with other lines and do many excursions (we typically cruise not just to sit on the ship, but for the ports). But SB has other good things, (at least they did so far) and SB Square customer service is a highlight: being able to sit down in a civilized manner and be comfortable when dealing with various service issues, instead of standing while someone behind you breathes down your neck at reception on other lines, is wonderful for those of us with muscular problems where prolonged standing is uncomfortable. However, staffing needs to be maintained at the desks, otherwise you land up standing waiting for a desk to open.

" The only water excursions on the lakes that were unaffected were those that involved the Special Operations Boats (fondly referred to by the crew as SOBs). They are a hoot and highly recommended by those of us who were able to book one" I have not done Viking Ocean but am considering an expedition, and am keen to understand. what determines who is and is not able to book SOBs? Is it random lottery, first come first serve, top cost suites get first choice, contingent on who-knows-who who is in charge, reserved for VIPs, or something else? SOBs are of interest to me because you can board before getting into the ocean, e.g., if someone worries about climbing down into a wobbling Zodiak, an SOB alternative (and I think only VIking expedition ships have them) sounds great. Thanks in advance.

What about the Port Williams to Valparaiso leg (before the "South Pacific") -- will that be Explorer again, or still Endeavor? Or does that count as "South Pacific"?

Maybe consider the Endeavour for this coming season in Antarctica? I sailed her last year in Iceland, and she was beautiful.

Note that Viking expedition does not "charge" for the toys, but people in higher cost suites got priority for the excursions, leaving quite a few lower level cabin guests unable to get on many excursions and just having to stay on the ship, *when the ship was near full* (I am getting this second hand, from some of the reviews).

Have tried all day at varying intervals to look at Scenic cruise options for 2023 (USA site) . Nothing comes up, I get a spinning gear, LOL. I have no problem with other cruise websites including some based overseas. I had avoided Scenic cruising in the past due to pre-cruise logistical issues, and this is not encouraging me to give them a try after all.

May I ask who your guide was?

I'm lost. Are you replying in jest? If not and you are serious that you "reported" Highplanesdrifter post or posts, what was the reason for reporting, or telling him to "go find another thread"? This whole thread has been loose, fun financial and other banter vaguely centered around cruise stock price fluctuations. I enjoy it even when it drifts off topic (or maybe even especially when it drifts off topic). I've even learned a few things (or at least things to look up). IMHO, the more the merrier. I don't want Highplanesdrifters going anywhere, and I doubt Terry (indeed, much appreciated) does either.

I think she/he is asking about Odyssey (though posting in the SS forum), this coming September. You had a butler on SB? We did not. I thought there aren't any, but maybe it was in the highest level suite you were in? In the base cabin, on Odyssey, and also in the PH (pre-Covid), no one suggested caviar to us. I found out about its availability a few years later -- on CC! (Thank you CC!).

Do you like caviar? They won't tell you, but you can order caviar (complimentary) every night if you like, e.g., to your suite or elsewhere, or in the restaurants.

DH and I went on a lot of organized luxury hiking trips when we were younger. We had an old duffel we checked which we called the "shoe bag", which contained our sandals, "nice dinner" shoes, and extra walking shoes, easy to find when traveling inn to inn. We were happy that we had *worn* our carefully selected mountain hiking boots onto the plane when we discovered, in Amsterdam, that our "shoe bag" had been stolen before we could get to the carousel. We were also happy we had arrived 2 days early, and it wasn't Sunday, so stores were open. It was easier to shop in one day for dinner dress shoes than for hiking boots with proper fit. If there is time, one can also buy *some* underwear, at least for men, at most airport shops, in a pinch (probably not in the on-board boutique, however). Getting replacement lady's brassieres can be trickier. 😲 We've been doing mix and match suitcases for years because we lost track of how many times one or the other suitcase disappeared or was significantly delayed. Also we have had the air tags since they came out (DH enjoys tracking them).

JP and his wife Chris are quite a bit younger than you and I are (and based on their aggressive day tours, e.g., ability to walk 10 miles or more per day with hills, they are likely a lot healthier :). When I was young and healthy and did casual European non-cruise travel, a carry-on and purse was all I thought I needed. Of course, back then, space in the overhead AND space under your seat was always to be found, and European airlines' allowed carry-ons were bigger, plus planes were not jammed. Right now, if we are forced to get on late or there is gate chaos, even in business class, the overhead space is not uncommonly full of someone's extra stuff, either from business class (people who don't want to check for obvious reasons and don't follow the rules on dimension limits) or from coach pax who drop their stuff on the way to sit in the back. If there is IFE equipment or a bar blocking under-seat space, we can't even count on room to put backpacks under seats for two people (a BA steward got angry when I put my backpack in the overhead, even though I had no roll-aboard and had IFE equipment at my aisle seat so all it could hold is my purse). We also are not very good about "muscling" in lines when there is gate chaos or non-enforcement of boarding priority. -- Some people bring on roll-aboards that are set in the "expand" mode, or duffel bags, which then take up more of the overhead than they should, leaving less space for the timid and/or late and/or rules-abiding. Back then, I did not need my present medications and supplements and special creams and injectables and assorted prn meds (they still take space even when I thin them into just what I need for a cruise plus extras for potential quarantine, especially the liquid rxs). I also need more frequent changes of casual clothing due to getting hot and sweating a lot on warm weather cruises, AND not wanting/having energy to do my own laundry every day, and/or if there is a land trip before or after the cruise, not having access to a washer/dryer or a hotel service that will get clothing back on time. Most importantly, I was not married to an engineer and tech/photography addict DH, with all his cameras, lenses, cables, devices, connectors --and backups :). We learned the hard way too many times that "two is one and one is none", so if something is deemed truly essential to enjoy the trip, we need a back-up (e.g., if I bring hiking boots, I need a pair of back-up walking shoes in case the first pair is either drenched or the sole comes off -- it's happened). Add on the mini personal fans I carry to stay cool on suffocating buses, especially when masked (they of course need a different kind of charging cable), plus the possibility of cold weather requiring bulkier clothing even though you expect warm weather, like Europe in summer, DH and I are happy when we can cram everything into 2 big checked bags, 1 rolling European regulation carry-on, 2 regulation sized and weight back-packs, and my "personal item" cross-body purse. What I *don't* need anymore but needed long ago is books and travel guides, as I can bring kindles or e-guides, or read online, but some stuff still needs printing. I can pass on slippers -- just wear socks or the cruise slipons. 🙂

The base cabins when they were Crystal Endeavor were: Max passengers:2 Staterooms number:90 Cabin size:305 ft2 / 28 m2 Balcony size:50 ft2 / 5 m2 Location (on decks):5, 6, 7, 8 Type (categories):(S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7) Deluxe Suites / balcony staterooms Cabin amenities include: living-dining area (2-seat sofa, large smart HDTV, height-adjustable table with chair) sleeping area with convertible to twins King bed (upholstered headboard, integrated reading lights), large pillows, premium bedding (top-quality Egyptian cotton linens), bedside cabinets with power (220V) and USB outlets writing desk with chair, minibar (refrigerator), electronic safe box (in the closet) wardrobe, outside located closet for storing expedition gear (in the hallway/corridor) 55-inch LG Ultra-thin OLED TV, Nespresso coffee machine full-length mirror, blackout drapery, sheers, “Do Not Disturb” electronic doorbell en-suite bathroom (double-sink vanity, back-lit mirrors, glass-enclosed shower with rain head (overhead) plus handheld showerhead, ETRO-brand bathrobes, slippers, premium bath amenities separate WC (wash basin) 24-hour personal butler service I was on for Iceland last year -- very nice ship , general layout was comparable to SS, SB base cabins and then some. The bathroom (with an elaborate, large shower, no tub) was better. It was significantly more expensive than other lines going around Iceland, but had fantastic F&B. It is unclear what the new de novo SS pricing and F&B will be for Endeavour but I doubt it will be lower than Cloud or Wind expedition. There were some logistical teething issues.

For some (within certain limits, that is not me), having more space *is* the real luxury. To be fair, DiCrowley therefore appropriately should be offered either a partial refund or right to cancel without penalty. I would be more concerned if there were material itinerary changes and F&B downgrades. However, the contracts generally favor the cruise lines (which de facto reserve the right to significantly change so many things -- embarkation and disembarkation ports, itinerary, ships, etc). It is often only good will/customer relations , i.e., fear you won't come back, that prevent them from asserting their rights. It is a gamble, (especially today). We too often have to either assume the risk of major changes, (and keep our fingers crossed) or don't sail.