Dolebludger

I don’t know about Silversea, but we were able to deviate with Regent to get a direct business class United flight from LHR to DIA. It cost a little, but we were able to avoid an additional connection in the US, and avoid a rather long domestic leg in basic economy.

We cruised Alaska on the Explorer last summer with our 12 year old grand daughter. There was no problem at all about this. And she loved the experience.

When the PG was owned by Regent/Radisson, and after that when it was owned by a Tahitian resort owner, all was great. But after Ponant acquired it, it reportedly was downhill — leading to the refund fiasco. We can only hope the PG will have a new owner soon.

And another note. The Seaborne Legend, Pride, and Breeze were sold to Windstar, and one of them (think it is the Breeze) is now sailing year round in FP. Its smallest suites have 277 sq ft, interior space but real balconies are few. The Silver Whisper that makes its home in FP in 2026 has its smallest suites at 285 sq ft interior and have a balcony in addition.The Paul Gauguin (PG) has its smallest suites at 200 sq ft interior, some with balconies, The smallest suites on he RSSC Mariner are 250. sq ft interior plus balcony. The PG and Star Breeze carry about 312 guests, the Silver whisper carries about 390 guests.the Mariner carries about 750 guests. We must draw our own conclusions I lean toward the Silver Breeze. We had several great cruise on the PG be four the pandemic. But when Covid cancellations hit, PGs parent (Ponant) refused to give cancelled cruisers cash refunds, that soured me on the PG.

Just a side note her. For those considering FP in 2026, Silversea will have a ship there.

Question ; Do those of you who are having a good SS experience have included access to the mini fridge? Just asking, because that is an important perk to me

I might agree, if stewards are given the full duties for services I expect (and a reasonable number of suites). It is that way on some lux lines. There, the stewards do everything a steward and butler did on X in the Retreat, and are assigned a fewer number of suites in order to do so. But, as I have observed, the stewards only make up suites on X and have so many that is all they have time for. Thus the need for butlers on X Retreat.

I looked at Cunard Grills on the website and couldn’t find anything about included things like beverages, excursions, and such. Did I miss something?

I have several. Three are Pikolinos, two are Kennith Cole, and one is a brand I don’t recognize. But all have real leather uppers. One Pikolonos is white leather and will be left at home. I’ll bring a dark brown pair, and possibly a charcoal pair. I like them for comfort and light weight. They help walking with stability. Important as I just turned 80, and sometimes the floor on a ship moves. Interestingly, my search for the Regent dress code revealed several slightly different versions, and only one mentioned shoes. It said sneakers OK before 6:00 PM and not after that. The question became which is the real dress code, and what is the definition of “sneakers”. But thanks to my CC friends, I’ll take and wear those shoes with no shame. (I’ll bet nobody even looks at my shoes.)

Because the YC is priced so far below the retreat, it is difficult (impossible?) to fairly compare them. I believe that MSC has YC on ships that are larger (in terms of number of passengers) than X ships. In our observation, the larger the ship, the more congestion there is in certain public areas. Outside the suite area, we have found X to be a nicer, less crowded experience than MSC. But both are superior to NCL outside the Haven.

Terry, I see you mention that the return of butlers to SS is waiting on hiring and training new butlers. Makes me wonder what happened to the old butlers that served SS up until a few months ago.

I think the problem when leaving the suite area of a mass market ship has to do with crowded conditions and lines, and not with the presumed educational level, financial status, or intellect of those cruising in the “main ship”, It is not the status of the people there that makes it undesirable, it is the fact that there are too many of them for the space and services provided.,

Thanks, all!

I have searched for the dress code online, and seem to come up with different versions. One version mentions sneakers,— fine during the day, not fine during the evening. Other versions don’t mention shoes at all. This question is about the definition of “sneakers”. As I’m sure all know, there is a fairly new style of mens’ shoes that are designed rather like low sneakers, but they have fine leather uppers. I’ve seen men wear them with suits and ties. So my only question is whether shoes of this type would be appropriate on Elegant Casual nights.

Yes, we have cruised Silversea, Paul Gauguin, and Regent. Regent is sort of our go-to line. We’ve cruised it more times than I can count. There are kids on Regent, and they don’t bother us a bit sometimes Regent even has kids sail free promotions. There ships are very spacious in public areas. zero crowds. The only thing that might be a problem for the kids is that Regent has fewer specialized children’s programs than, say, Disney. But if your kids would enjoy cruising on the ocean and visiting the port countries, they’d be fine. We’ve encountered kids on Regent who really enjoyed it. We took our grand daughter (12 years old) on a Regent Alaska cruise last summer and she loved it.

We have cruised in both YC and Retreat (before all the cuts) and we pretty much agree with the comments above. But some classes of MSC ships have no YC, and to get the YC you have to choose a larger ship than we’d like. But since X has raised its prices greatly (while cutting benefits), the YC and Retreat are no longer direct competitors. Instead, the Retreat is now in a price class that puts it in competition with Silversea, Regent, Seaborne, and a few other true lux lines. And the Haven on NCL has been mentioned. The smaller NCL ships (Jewel class) have a “Haven (?) but it it has no separate dining, lounge, pool or anything else. You don’t even get included drinks in the main bars, though you do get a fairly full bar in the suite. So, to get a “real Haven” you have to book on a ship too big for us. And it is more expensive than the YC too. So for some of us, it comes down to a choice between the Retreat and a lux line The cost is about the same, and the lux line sometimes costs less. So for us, it is a no-brainer.

It seems possible that a large local celebration at a port could cause unavailability of excursions and local transportation — thus creating legitimate grounds for cancelation of that port stop.

Yes, a line like Regent is offering a better deal than the Retreat these days. And you’ll be surprised how much it does offer, even though it has only 750 guests. And I think you’ll like something it doesn’t offer — like lines and crowds.

Yes, something like the Chef’s table is an included as a shore excursion on Regent — even though it is not on shore. The point of this thread is not that Celebrity is worthless the way it is. But the fact that the Retreat is priced at, or dangerously close, to Regent’s price merely means that it is no longer competitive — at least in my opinion.

I found a wine list for the RSSC Splendor. Actually there was a list for complimentary wines, and one for wines at an up charge. All I can say is the complimentary list was a much longer list than what I have seen on Celebrity. No prices were given, as Regent operates differently. There is no “included below some price” situation. It is included unless it is on the up charge list. And if it is not on either list, it isn’t on the ship. The wines on the up charge list show a per bottle price ranging from $60 to $2,500. Average around $200. I agree that Regent uses the term “all” and “free” way too much. However, I have seen mention in its literature that some alcoholic beverages (and some shore excursions) carry a charge. But this mention isn’t prominent enough IMHO. However, it should be noted that we have two seven night Regent cruises booked, and each has a $1000 suite credit (which Celebrity no longer offers, as I understand). We spend most of that on the longer shore excursions. But we could use it on premium wine, if we wished. And there would not be a mandatory 20% tip. All (in this case really ALL) tips are included on Regent, except the Spa. If Regent’s handling of wine service doesn’t suit, check out Silversea and Seaborne. And if you don’t like the situation there, it doesn’t exist on a cruise line.

I looked and couldn’t find a list for wine, or any other beverage. Of course, online searches are not of my generation. And I’m not much of a wine expert. What I do know is I’ve cruised Regent more times than I can count (and as recent as last summer), met many wine enthusiasts among the fellow guests, and heard zero complaints.

I’m no wine expert (seldom drink it). But I do know that a wine has to be VERY COSTLY to be at extra charge on Regent.

On our Explorer Alaska cruise last summer, CR was open for lunch on some days and some not. Never figured out the pattern. CR always seemed to have breakfast open hours.

My wife does the booking on this cruise and I was in error. We only booked P7 for one night. Sorry. But on our Explorer,Alaska cruise last summer, we found that on some nights it is possible to eat there without a reservation.

Well, don’t get me started on airlines.,I’ll just say that I hate them, and now sign off.