OzKiwiJJ

We found the Pizza Place by accident as well. We decided to try sitting out on the wide promenade deck one afternoon, went out one side of the ship which was in full sun, decided it was too hot there so went across to the other side which was where the Pizza Place was. Even though we knew where it was it still took a bit of finding on the last day when we wanted pizza for lunch.

I agree, and I'm another one who get's hot at night. The Princess "Queen" beds are definitely what I call King beds.

Mostly that's what we do although once in a while we might go to Sabatinis for dinner. We've done traditional dining in the past with mixed results. We've had just a few really great tables but as many, if not more, that weren't, and some where we were the only couple at a table for 6 or 8 and once at a table for 10 (we had amazing service that time). What we love now is the ability to choose whether we want just a table for two one night, or if we're feeling sociable so want to join a share table. Are we planning on going to the show - we'll have a table for two. Have we had a relaxing sea day - we'll join a share table for some (hopefully) interesting conversation. Tired and just want a quick meal - that's a table for two. It's just so much more flexible.

I won't be doing a review but if you want my take on Regent v Cunard send me a message on ozkiwijjuliej at optusnet dot com dot au. I'd be happy to chat with you about this.

It seems strange that Bounce payments would incur a foreign transaction fee unless those payments somehow go though an overseas bank. That may happen if the Bounce storage system is an international set-up, working through local shops/cafes, and payment to Bounce are processed overseas. You can drop-off baggage at the cruise terminal from around 8:30am. However there is no storage facility there for things like hand baggage that you would wish to retrieve before boarding. All baggage handed in to the baggage drop-off is taken onboard and delivered to your cabin. You will need to keep your hand baggage with you. Perhaps minimize what you need to carry on with you - valuables, medical needs etc - so they are easy to take with you while sightseeing.

I'm waiting for a couple of weeks more to see if they do get something sorted out.

When was the cruise? There was no shortage of bacon on Diamond in November. Are you sure it was cost cutting? It could have been supply problems ie they were running out and their new supply hadn't arrived when it was supposed to.

Tell your wallet to be quiet! 🤣🤣🤣

Just go up on deck and you'll get a great view of the harbour and city lights in all directions.

Why not book your back-up cruise? You can always cancel if Virgin does come back here.

I've found it very much depends on who is cooking or even perhaps as far up as the Executive Chef. I've been on one, maybe two, Princess cruises out of 20 that had perfectly cooked crispy bacon that actually tasted like bacon. So the odds are usually stack against decent bacon on Princess. On some cruises I just gave up ordering bacon.

There weren't many people working in the kitchens when we were there either. Just two, I think, making Valentine hearts.

We stopped at Anvers when we were on a tour out of Burnie earlier in the year. The visit included a slice of deliciously wicked cake and the best hot chocolate I've ever had.

??? Power usage has nothing to do with dirty hulls. Plus the regions NZ is most concerned about are places where cruise ships don't dock - Fiordland is scenic cruising only and the Bay of Islands is a tender port.

Surely your itinerary would distinguish between Tokyo and Yokohama? If it is Tokyo it's probably the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal, which I think is fairly new. We stayed in Shiodome, which is right next to Shimbashi, when our November Regent cruise departed from there. It's a handy spot to stay as quite a few train lines go through either Shimbashi or Shiodome stations which is useful for sightseeing, and it's a quick taxi ride to the terminal.

It's probably a combination of this plus the Suez Canal being out of action making it harder to reposition a ship from Europe to Australia. Easier to send it to the Caribbean and a bigger market there too.

S/he gave Rolf a cuddle! 🤣

We went to a show on the last afternoon by The Diva - Round the World in 80 minutes. It was a hoot but it was one of those shows where they pull up members of the audience to participate for a short time and there was just a bit too much of that. Great costumes though, and most of the songs were well known so everyone joined in.

We didn't see the Arcade either but the games area was very impressive.

I have seen smaller bathrooms but they were on luxury trains! But, yes, it was actually a very usable bathroom. The Regent cruise we did in November had a similar shower setup but the wand spray was set higher so you could use it as a regular shower. But it was too easy to overshoot when turning it off and accidently turn on the rainforest shower which obliged with a burst of cold water right onto my head! Did I say I hate rainforest showers?

We couldn't see down into the sea from our balcony, just into the lifeboat. The restrooms just outside The Gallery had great views from the handbasin area, and that deck must have extended right out as there was no sign of lifeboats or decks directly below, just ocean.

Nora might like to look at some of Australian designer Camilla's outfits. I wear Camilla kaftans on formal evenings. They are made from silk georgette and are incredibly light. I have 7 or 8 of them and altogether they take up less space than my husband's dinner jacket. https://au.camilla.com/

Surely there should be a way to solve this problem. I'm guessing there aren't any issues with ships transiting between Australia and NZ, it's just ships that have come from further afield including on world cruises. Could hull-cleaning stops be scheduled into itineraries, essentially as sea days but not going anywhere? If this was done when a ship arrives in Aus/NZ from elsewhere would there be a need for more cleaning while the ship remains in this region?

Container ships and oil tankers don't enter the areas, like Fiordland and the Bay of Islands etc, where biofouling is a concern. They visit commercial ports.

We cruised on Regent Seven Seas Explorer from Japan to Bangkok in November, then on QE in Princess Grills in January. The standard Regent Verandah Suite was far superior to the Princess Grills Suite but that's where it stopped. The food was very variable - some dishes were wonderful and others were very poor. Service was also variable, especially in the Compass Rose restaurant. Overall I preferred the look of QE, she is far more elegant. The main "atrium" area on Explorer looked like a boring apartment building. We would not cruise with Regent again but are looking at future Cunard cruises.