sugar333

Cruisemom42, I am a longtime fan of MC Beaton ,who writes both the Agatha Raisin and Hamish McBeth book series. Both have been made into very successful tv series in the UK. Great fun books and characters. Try  one of her Hamish McBeth stories, you’ll love them too!

We really like both Regent and Crystal. We also are pretty particular about food . We would never go on another Silversea cruise because of the variety and mediocrity of the food. Regent food has its highs and lows. A definate low is the wine. We have found that Crystal has consistently had the best food and wines in every venue. Based on food alone, I would choose Crystal. There are lots of other things to consider when choosing a cruise, but really I don’t think you will be disappointed with either Regent or Crystal.

So very sad to hear this. Our very first cruise was on the Costa Victoria in the mid 1990s . It was only the second voyage after her maiden , and the ship was beautiful. The trip was for our 25th anniversary and we had a very large beautiful suite. Hooked us on cruising. It was still Italian owned then, and the food was fabulous with many courses. Majority of passengers were Italian too. What great memories and a sad farewell to a noble lady.

Having been away from HAL for some years, we returned for a great itinerary of Japan on Maasdam beginning July 31 for two weeks. Sadly I have to agree that the food in every venue was subpar compared to our previous cruises. One example in the MDR was a “rustic lasagna” that tasted like it was made with ketchup. We eat out a lot and go to lots of buffets here in Vegas. We aren’t picky or overly critical. Based on the food alone we will be highly unlikely to cruise HAL again. 

Our trip on Silver Galapagos was 3 years ago in Nov. When we did the deep water snorkeling I thought there was a chain with one step thing put over the side but could be wrong since my husband and I didn’t go into the water because it was so cold. I do recall people entering the zodiac on both sides.  The beach snorkeling waters were much warmer and yes the shorty wetsuits were adequate . We just can’t take “cold”.

It hasn’t been mentioned but please be aware that there is so much more to this trip than the “water activities”. Seeing so many and different types of Galapagos tortoises and hearing their amazing history is worth the trip alone. The movies and talks on the ship are excellent. Snorkeling is a small part of this one of a kind trip. Hope you go and be sure and write a review when you return.

You are correct about the deep water snorkeling having a chain ladder. This still required some upper body strength to pull yourself up and over the large rounded sides of the zodiac. No ladders are used on beach (wet) landings. This is where I had trouble because I was standing in water up to my knees and had to hop up and land my rear on the edge of the zodiac. Not easy for shorties. There was one crew member driving the boat and a guide on each zodiac. The crew member usually held the boat from moving in wet landings .I never saw any guides helping people. I would certainly call and ask Silversea how much assistance is available.

There are several zodiac outings that involve just riding in the zodiacs observing. These begin and end at the ship,s platform where crew members do assist passengers in and out of the zodiacs. I think if you decide to go, that you will find plenty to see and learn. The Galápagos Islands are fascinating.

I don’t want to be discouraging, but I am a very fit senior, yet I struggled getting into the zodiacs at wet landings. This was because I am vertically challenged (5 ft tall). There isn’t a lot of assistance that I observed, but then I never asked or saw anyone else being assisted. There are some easy landings and the overall experience was terrific. If you decide to do this trip you will just have to determine from the briefings which landings will work.

Kayaking on Silver Galapagos is just kayaking. It does not involve any snorkeling. Snorkeling is either “deep water” which is off the zodiacs or beach. The deep sea requires physical strength to get into the zodiac. Beach is much easier. The hikes are either dry or wet landings. Wet being physically harder to enter and exit zodiac. Some hikes are very challenging as far as jumping from rock to rock( marine iguana island). Sorry I don’t remember the name. The day before briefings are very detailed . You may not be able to do everything but I must say that the beach snorkeling was my favorite.

Don't know if the asking of suite numbers is maybe a new policy. We were asked at every dining venue every time we entered by the person seating us . This was not when the iPad's came into play while ordering.The iPad's were used by the waiters.

Avalon1025, we were on the10 days previous Spirit cruise (Nyc to Montreal). The weather was getting quite cold at the end ,so I feel for you. I have to totally agree about the non-changing menus. 10 days is not a long cruise, but we were becoming depressed at the prospect of "foraging" for something new to eat. We tried twice to brave the elements and eat outside. It was crazy cold even with heaters and windscreens. We were kind of irritated with the constant iPad and "what is your cabin #" at every meal. That said, the service was flawless and very polished. Timing between courses was perfect.  We took SS excursions in every port and while we enjoyed them, I was shocked at the size of the groups. One had 41 people!  The non-changing menus ,and jam packed tours don't speak luxury to us.  We usually cruise Crystal and occasionally Regent.Sorry,but no more Silverseas for these cruisers.

As I posted earlier in this thread, this was the same Sheraton that Regent used for our disembarkation day stay in February of 2017. We did follow up in emails and through our TA.

I sincerely hope that Regent uses a different hotel this year.

Thank you Flossie009 for the great pictures. As you can see Rio and Copocabana/Ipanema beach and their accompanied hotels are far in the distance. Their is no place to walk to from this Sheraton except the favella( not recommended)! The beach is lovely but is also a public beach and favorite for the favella residents(again not recommended) . No showers or lockers/safes were made available. There are many hotels located in the Copacabana and Ipanema area that would have been more desirable and much safer.

Go army! Your suggestion to disembark the evening before is brilliant! We were aware of the situation beforehand as was our TA. What we didn't know was the choice of hotel . The Sheraton was an extremely poor choice as to location . We certainly did provide feedback to Regent about this situation and can only hope that this has changed. Rio is such a dangerous city,that I feel that Regent should absolutely provide an added responsibility for their disembarking passengers.

Here is what Regent did on our February 2017 cruise that disembarked in Rio ;since the majority of flights from Rio leave at night,the majority of passengers had this situation. Regent provided a large meeting/ ballroom at the Sheraton and some water and limited coffee tea( ran out quickly) .The room was very cold so everyone left and found seats throughout lobby etc.

We ate lunch and just read our books. Other people took taxis etc.One couple tried to use Sheraton pool and were told "no ,guests only".This was a very poor choice of hotel mainly because of its isolated and dangerous(at base of a large favella) location. Lots of unhappy people and bad end to a nice cruise.(ps our lunch was at the Sheraton and purchased on our own)

Our first"classic" Silversea cruise is booked for Oct 16th on the Silver Spirit. We are long time Crystal and Regent cruisers and have also sailed Silver Galápagos. We certainly remember when Crystal had formal and informal nights and dresses accordingly. In preparation , we asked our travel agent to check with Siversea to determine the number of formal and informal nights. He was told that there were NONE! Only smart casual for all nights! I told him to double confirm which he did. Is this a brand new change? I'm totally confused .

Thank you for posting this review. We have just booked a cruise from Siem Reap to Saigon in February 2019. I would also be curious about the excursions. From the write-up of the program it sounds like there are a couple of different excursions at practically every stop.

One of our favorite excursions involved a ride from the mooring pt on a unique vehicle that resembled a buggy used in harness racing except pulled by a bicycle. This mode of transportation took us to a small silk factory that made "black lacquer" silk. After viewing the quaint factory we walked to a field where th silk was vegetable died and spread out to dry. This sounds boring but in fact was both exciting and very interesting. The tours in Siem reap involved multiple visits to Angkor wat, plus visit to Angkor thom, plus my favorite the overgrown ruined temple used in "Tomb Raider". Great guides ! Final gala in Siem reap was outdoor four course gourmet dinner held outdoors at a backlit ruined temple with elaborate entertainment during dinner. Fabulous!

You will love it. I would love to hear your thoughts when you return. Have fun!

I would highly recommend choosing a "five star" company such as Scenic or Uniworld for this part of the world.

Food and personal safety is a real concern ,and being taken to properly vetted restaurants as well as premium on board food and preparation is vital.

We just returned from a Scenic Mekong cruise and never had nor heard of any "health" issues.

I also feel that we were treated to exceptional excursions that we will never forget.

Passengers were not herded around,but had plenty of choices and treated as respected adults not schoolchildren.

We really appreciated the open dining time and choice of venues. This resulted in an uncrowded and relaxed dining experience. We dined when and with whom we wished and often just each other.

We just returned Friday Jan 26, from a 13 day Scenic trip.This included 3 pre -cruise days in Saigon ,and 3 post-cruise in Siem Reap.

The ship was very new and beautiful.All of the cabins except 2 owner suites are identical. They are spacious with a separate bedroom and living area (pocket doors), large bathroom, walkin closet,floor to ceiling "wall of windows" ,sunroom,and mini fridge stocked to your alcoholic and soda/mixer preferences.

Hotels used in Saigon and Siem Reap were both Park Hyatts in great central locations. All land accomodation,restaurants,and tours were first rate.

Best of all were the Cambodian Spirit crew who were fantastic,as was the food. Both reminiscent of our Crystal(ocean) experiences.

What was truly exceptional was the unexpected excellence of the excursions. What sounded mundane became extremely interesting due to special touches. We didn't miss a one!

We are longtime ocean cruisers (Crystal,Regent) and had one prior Tauck European river cruise (which I disliked,hubby loved),and recent Tauck African land tour/safari(we both loved).

I was reluctant to try another river cruise, but am glad I did! I highly recommend Scenic for a special experience.

As I read TC's comment about the special carpet for the named suites I couldn't believe what I was reading. Did they roll up the carpet before the others could board? That is hilarious and in my view tacky.

 

We boarded today in Miami but boarding was delayed until close to 1pm. We boarded in classless groups based on arrival at registration.

 

Ka Honu, I've missed your posts here. Welcome back.

This sort of " in your face" elitism is why we quit mainstream cruising.

Many years ago we cruised Holland America in their Neptune suites. On a South American cruise we had a pre-cruise 5 day Machu Picchu small group tour. It was a great and friendly tour. Subsequently, while on the ship the Neptune suite passengers were treated to a private cocktail party held in a very public bar behind velvet ropes. Two of our pre-tour friends spotted us and undid the ropes to join us. It was extremely awkward and made worse when staff told them to leave.

We never sailed mainstream again and for the past 15 years have varied between Regent and Crystal for the precise reason of mutual luxury enjoyment and treatment. Shame on Regent. We will only be sailing Crystal now.

Can you plug in a converter and use it that way?

It's just so silly that I even think I have to have mine, but you know how it is when your hair is a mess. You feel like a mess. :)

Dual voltage curling irons are readily available, in fact your curling iron may already have this feature. I have purchased mine in grocery stores and one from Walmart. Mine is made by Conair and was under 20$. Read packaging and look for Dual Voltage. You will need a plug adapter ( also cheap) so that prongs will fit. This is found at any airport store. You do not need to "flip a switch" on these curling irons . They are foolproof. I,ve used mine many times no problem. If Amawaterways is fussy I would keep packaging to show them.

We also get lots of Regent mail ,and unwelcome Oceania brochures. It is excessive ....but I have to admit that we did book a Regent cruise to India ending in Cairo a few years back because I saw it in a mailer . It was a great deal with both a pre and post land segment .To date is was our favorite cruise of all time! So it never hurts to look ;)

"There is a group of approximately 120 passengers that will meet at Regent corporate next month. I, for one, will make a point to point out the lack of enforcement of their policies. While this will not help you, bringing this issue to our attention will definitely help in the future. Thank you so much for your input!"

 

My wife and I are taking our first Regent cruise this summer having been a long time Crystal cruiser (this summer they didn't have an itinerary we liked so we thought we would try Regent). We have also cruised on other lines in the past (Carnival, RCCL, Oceana, etc) and the problem of lounge hogs exists on all cruise lines. What makes the premium lines different (i.e. Crystal and Regent) is how they react to these kinds of problems. I was disturbed to read how the Regent GM responded to the OP's complaint. I'm hoping that this is not the norm for Regent and would hope that at your meeting you will try to impress on Regent the importance of onboard crew enforcing the rules and regulations especially at the management or supervisory level.

We are just back(1 wk) from the BA to Rio cruise on Mariner , and I am very happy to report that the dress code was not only enforced, but accomplished in a very polished way! On the last night of the cruise in Compass Rose we observed 3 couples enter to be seated together. One couple was very nicely dressed , the other two were all wearing grubby t shirts with the distinction of the men wearing equally grubby shorts while the women wore long pants. Very swiftly the two men in shorts were approached by the maitre d and subsequently left. They returned in long pants. All seemed to be handled very cordially. I can not say enough how glad we were to see this!!! I hope this is always the rule and not the exception!

We came into Quito a day early and booked a tour through Viator and it was excellent! Check out Viator.com. We have used this company in Singapore, Iceland,Barcelona, and Mexico and they, ve proven very reliable. You will love this trip! The Galápagos are amazing!Please read my Silver Galápagos reviews under cruise critic reviews.

Please read the review I posted of our Silver Galápagos December cruise in the cruise critic reviews section. I hope it will give a bit more insight.