2021 World Cruise

Sneak peek...for those that might be interested:

http://www.rssc.com/ebrochures/JUL1868_World_Cruise_21_Brochure_JD_V3indd/

Thank you for sharing, Kwaj girl.

Thanks for the link; however, the cruise seems quite pedestrian. No new and exciting ports. I think I will wait to see the Grand Voyage options instead.

Marc

Thanks for the link; however, the cruise seems quite pedestrian. No new and exciting ports. I think I will wait to see the Grand Voyage options instead.

 

Marc

Agree totally and it isn't even a world cruise since it ends in Barcelona! There maybe a second cruise that will get you across the Atlantic, but this is only a grand voyage!

Carolyn

All the luxury lines seem to define a world cruise as not being quite all the way around the world.

I think the "last leg" of the 2018 Regent WC proved less popular than the other segments - wasn't that so, Carolyn? We haven't sailed the whole voyage, only parts of it. But my parents sailed a Southampton round trip, returning via CapeTown and always regretted not flying home from there. As they sailed north, the weather became chilly, the ports felt less exciting and there was a general feeling of ennui . Sadly, they didn't have the opportunity to learn from their experience but maybe they were not the only ones to feel like that about a last segment?

I think the Mariner goes into dry dock in Europe in May of 2021 which is why the trip ends in Barcelona.

Peggy

Gilly,

The last segment and the one from Perth to Singapore (think that was it) had fewer passengers. How ever the last segment had some great ports and we really enjoyed them even though we had been to most of them several times. The problem with that last segment, on our itinerary, was the 10 days across the South Atlantic broken only by the one stop which we actually didn't do. We love sea days but many don't.

Given that the Mariner is ending in Europe...the last part to get all the way would be across the northern part of the Atlantic which is a nice cruise by its self most times of the year.

For us, a world cruise is all the way around with no long haul flight to get us home. Otherwise the cruise is just a grand voyage...Cunard does this much of the time as do a few others. But that is just us and why we picked the Regent 2018 cruise.

Wish we had some cool weather here right now. It was 100 degrees F yesterday! Shades of SE Asia!

I think the Mariner goes into dry dock in Europe in May of 2021 which is why the trip ends in Barcelona.

Peggy

Just got the brochure in the mail today. I agree that it appears not too exciting for a world cruise. Also it's significantly shorter than the past three or four (in view of no Atlantic crossing).

If Mariner goes into dry dock in May 2021, which ship will do the early Alaska season?

We were invited to dine with Jason Montague in April after Mariner came out of its dry dock. I asked if 2021 WC would be going around Africa as that is what we wanted to do. Tired of going through Suez!! Our 2010 WC on Voyager went around Africa and we left ship for 4 days to do a safari on our own. Perfect time to do safari! Jason said, no not in 2021 as Mariner was due back in dry dock (every three years) so had to end in Barcelona. Maybe this will explain why it ends in Europe and not in US.

We were invited to dine with Jason Montague in April after Mariner came out of its dry dock. I asked if 2021 WC would be going around Africa as that is what we wanted to do. Tired of going through Suez!! Our 2010 WC on Voyager went around Africa and we left ship for 4 days to do a safari on our own. Perfect time to do safari! Jason said, no not in 2021 as Mariner was due back in dry dock (every three years) so had to end in Barcelona. Maybe this will explain why it ends in Europe and not in US.

Glad we did our WC this year, though 2021 does have a few ports we'd like to repeat. Agree with others that this is not really a "world cruise" as it's not a full circumnavigation.

Just booked this cruise as a retirement present to ourselves. Beyond excited.The shorter itinerary works better for us. Although we would have been interested in the west coast of Africa, not so much the east coast.

Just booked this cruise as a retirement present to ourselves. Beyond excited.The shorter itinerary works better for us. Although we would have been interested in the west coast of Africa, not so much the east coast.

Congratulations! We just happened to look at this itinerary, and I think it's wonderful. Do not think it's pedestrian at all! Easter Island overnight stay, Pago Pago (lol), good coverage of New Zealand, Indonesia, Panama and Suez Canal transits, ends in Barcelona which is perfect--lots of our buttons are pushed. It even stops in Manta, Ecuador where we have friends. For the first time, my husband said, "we didn't want to leave any money behind for our son, did we?"

I've been trying to think out the consequences of a 4-month WC. Banking: not a big problem, since we do everything electronically anyways. Health: some routine stuff included with ship's doctor, and we have good travel coverage. Pets: we won't have any by that time. We're used to being away from "home" since we routinely spend the winter in Florida.

Issues that worry me: Age (I'll be almost 73 at the end of the cruise, better half, well, a bit older). Cancellation insurance--would need good coverage at our age, and might be difficult in Canada. Cabin fever--would we go nuts in those little Mariner cabins (actually we love Mariner, so the public spaces would become very important.

I worry that I'd get tired of shipboard life. So far our longest cruise (on Mariner) was 18 days. And my ankles swelled up (from the salt in the food I think.) Not sure I'd be disciplined enough to make sure to walk my laps every day, and do some weights in the gym.

Let alone things like paying to have my hair cut.

What am I missing? Could we actually do this? Travelwell, what things did you consider before you booked?

To any others who have done a World Cruise--how would you plan a wardrobe? Could I stand dressing for dinner every night? Normally I take a small collection of evening "uniforms", pants, nice tops, a dress and skirt or two, and just ring the changes. But for four months? Fortunately this itinerary has no cold weather segments, so perhaps it would be simpler that way.

And reading material. I guess it would be ebooks all the way; although they have a decent library, it would pall rather quickly I imagine.

Any other considerations?

To any others who have done a World Cruise--how would you plan a wardrobe? Could I stand dressing for dinner every night? Normally I take a small collection of evening "uniforms", pants, nice tops, a dress and skirt or two, and just ring the changes. But for four months? Fortunately this itinerary has no cold weather segments, so perhaps it would be simpler that way.

 

And reading material. I guess it would be ebooks all the way; although they have a decent library, it would pall rather quickly I imagine.

 

Any other considerations?

Salt - we also have this problem. We will meet with the "kitchen" after boarding and tell them our problem. We are assuming they will be able to accommodate a no added salt diet. Other cruise lines do. Our travel agent has been assured by Regent they can do it. Based on previous experience with other cruise lines, we expect to preorder our dinners and have them prepared with no salt.

Reading - I have a box of paperbacks I read 40 years ago. Since we can ship 4 suitcases for free, I am shipping the books. I will read them once more and add them to the library.

Finances - We have scheduled an appointment with our accountant to prepare our taxes the end of December. He will file them in April with an extension. We have a trusted family member who will handle all other finances while we are gone.

Clothes - I don't really care if I wear the same thing every night so this is not an issue for us. My perfect day is to wake up in pajamas, change to a swimsuit, and back to pajamas for dinner. Know this will not work on a cruise unless we do room service. Our plan is to take 14 outfits for day and night.

Haircuts - Agree on paying the high price. Don't forget about those pedicures. I am working with my hairdresser now. Instead of every 6 weeks a hair cut, she is cutting it shorter so I can go 12 weeks. So far it is working. I am on week #9 this week.

All of the above is based on my opinion. We are crossing an item off our bucket list with the 2019 World Cruise. I will be happy to report back after we are on the ship for a month or so. Might also add, we have sold two cars and expect to sell the last one in December. Our house is for sale and hopefully it will sell and we will be homeless when we take the World Cruise. If it does not sell, we will cancel TV, internet, phone, etc. We are looking forward to the next adventure after the World Cruise.

One other thing is the mail. Post office only holds mail for 30 days. If gone longer have to send the mail elsewhere, relative, friend? Or have someone else pick up the mail once delivered, neighbor, friend , relative? Maybe you have some other solution which is great, just thought I would mention it.

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One other thing is the mail. Post office only holds mail for 30 days. If gone longer have to send the mail elsewhere, relative, friend? Or have someone else pick up the mail once delivered, neighbor, friend , relative? Maybe you have some other solution which is great, just thought I would mention it.

 

 

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We are working on changing our address to our brother. We will also put in a forwarding address with the post office. That is good for 6 months.

One other thing is the mail. Post office only holds mail for 30 days. If gone longer have to send the mail elsewhere, relative, friend? Or have someone else pick up the mail once delivered, neighbor, friend , relative? Maybe you have some other solution which is great, just thought I would mention it.

Good point, hadn't thought of that, we'd have our son pick up our mail probably. Also hadn't thought of taxes (we have both to do, US and Canada.) But I think our accountant could figure it out. As long as we can scan, fax and print onboard we should be fine.

This is all blue-skying at this point. Would probably have to sell one of our properties to afford the darned thing, lol.

One other thing is the mail. Post office only holds mail for 30 days. If gone longer have to send the mail elsewhere, relative, friend? Or have someone else pick up the mail once delivered, neighbor, friend , relative? Maybe you have some other solution which is great, just thought I would mention it.

 

 

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In the US, post offices have a form to request longer than a 30 day hold. It must be approved by a supervisor. I don’t know if they would approve a hold for the duration of a world cruise but we have had a two to three month hold.

Also, you should go to USPS.COM and sign up for the free service called Informed Delivery. You’ll get an email Monday through Saturday showing most of the envelopes and packages you’ve received that day. Could come in handy on a long cruise.

Hope this helps.

In the US, post offices have a form to request longer than a 30 day hold. It must be approved by a supervisor. I don’t know if they would approve a hold for the duration of a world cruise but we have had a two to three month hold.

 

Also, you should go to USPS.COM and sign up for the free service called Informed Delivery. You’ll get an email Monday through Saturday showing most of the envelopes and packages you’ve received that day. Could come in handy on a long cruise.

We get our mail redirected from the States up to Canada for 7 months every year. Don't get a lot, but it appears to work. So I think you can get mail redirected to another address for as long as you like. (We do the reverse when we go to Florida for the winter, although Canada Post charges for this, unlike USPS.

>>USPS.com Informed delivery<<

Dave, is there a time frame for this? How long?

I've never heard about it . . . . thanks!

Peggy

Informed delivery is a great service, esp if you receive a great deal of packages because if not at home, you can notify a neighbor to be on the look out

Check out the following:

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/informed-delivery-overview.pdf

gnomie :)

Would anyone hazard a guess how much good cancellation insurance (i.e. pre-existing coverage) would cost for a cruise like this? Assuming a base fare of, say, $65K?

Here is your answer to how to deal with mail for long periods of time. Boaters and RV people use this all of the time.

https://www.sbimailservice.com/

I wonder when the segments will be released for this cruise. Wouldn't mind something like Miami - Sydney. Or Lima - Singapore perhaps. The segments will be interesting.