MTnesters2014

On our last trip,  we asked our hotel waitress at breakfast where she and her family would go for dinner.  She was very young and told us that she and her parents go to L'Ostia for special occasions.  

The cab driver didn't know it by name, but asked another who knew it and dropped us off in a quaint plaza where we walked a short sistance to the open-air restauarnt L'Ostia Barcelona.

We asked the waiter to order what he would serve his family as we wanted a truly local experience...and weren't disappointed!

Starting with Cava and the traditional bread/tomato/olive/cheese beginner, we then had a yummy shrimp appetizer, followed by oxtail for me and lobster for my wife...we also enjoyed a Catalan Syrah with our dinner.

I was so happy I made sure to take a pic of the menu so we could return some day...we'll be there in less 2 weeks!!

I wouldn't suggest 'Self Guided" at La Sagrada Familia...you don't know what you'll be missing if you don't get a guide!

Its been under construction for more than 100 years for a reason...there is some meaning to almost everything you see, and a guide will shed light on facts you simply cannot get by yourself.

Whomever you select I emplore you hire a guide there...

We're on the Explorer 4/18 and are arriving a couple of days early to spend time revisiting Barcelona...we have hired a guide for La Sagrada Familia again!

Sorry if this has been discussed but I looked through pages of threads and didn't see this topic.

We're setting sail for our first VO cruise in 3 days (Cultural Cuba)...

We've only ever sailed Regent where tipping of any kind is discouraged and for some critics its a no no. 

We've often slipped a tip to the Matre D', Sommelier, our butler and room steward but never a bartender or anyone else. 

What is customary on VO? 

I read in a thread that there's an auto tip of $15 pp/day...who gets that and is it enough?

We bought the drink package but do passengers tip bartenders per drink/round?  

I appreciate any comments...

We're interested in old charming cities and always look for relatively high activity levels...

We did a paid tour "A Day in Provence" and visited the cities of Roussillon and Gorde.

In both cities we ditched the guide and explored on our own and would do it again in a flash. We had a wonderful lunch and bought artwork in Roussillon, and truly enjoyed exploring in Gorde (a city literally built into the side of a mountain).

I feel the listed activity level on the Regent site is underestimated. There is a lot of climbing in Roussillon, and the bus can't drop off in Gorde so there's a fairly lengthy uphill walk to the city and downhill walk back to the bus.

I think it was worth the $129 pp

Thanks again...to add some color, we lost our business and need to layoff 95 people starting 10/1...I need to do it in person...may not compare to the death of a spouse in reality or contract clauses, but it is like a death in the family to us...again not sure the insurance would have covered it

Thanks for all the help everyone...yeah we booked directly with Regent...this was our biggest splurge...Grand Suite on the Explorer...lets hope someone in corporate has some compassion!

Thanks for the reply and concern...We don't have cancellation insurance unfortunately, but I'm not sure it would have covered our situation...

I live in Florida and can't go on 10/4 Explorer sailing due to the effects of Irma on my business.

I tried calling Regent but got the standard answer to a non-standard situation.

Does anyone know of a high-level contact that I can plead my case to?

Lots of companies are trying to work with Irma victims and hope Regent is one of them (as a Florida based company)!!

Thanks in advance...

As is the case in many large cities, the area surrounding the airport is a scary place...one wrong turn and you may find yourself in a bad situation. I live 30 minutes north of Miami and can attest to the traffic, but also the relatively confusing streets surrounding the airport...I'd suggest staying with the Regent offerings!

I understand the difference between speed and bandwidth (my OP didn't mention speed). Speed is affected by lots of things including latency and packet loss (among others), but no available bandwidth means 100% packet loss.

This is clearly a shared connection like cable, because the test won't even run (the upload always fails) during peak usage times...1.5MB/.65MB is when everyone is sleeping.

I'll stand by my original statement that they need more bandwidth to support hundreds of concurrent users.

So we were told when we boarded that the internet is free for everyone...cool!

On our previous 3 voyages on this ship we were allowed one login (my wife and I shared) and the internet was sooo good. We were in Horizon and Seven Seas suites as we are now...never a problem... I even followed fellow travelers 'Live' posts right here on CC with high def pictures that were clearly uploaded from the ship

BTW...I'm able to post this thread since its prime dining time and not everyone onboard is using the bandwidth.

I regularly spend 20-30 minutes trying to connect/reconnect to get to email and its super frustrating...

I did a bandwidth test really early this morning when very few users were probably online and got 1.5MB down and about .65MB up...that's just not going to sustain 100s of users

If the internet is going to be free for everyone, someone needs to investigate how to get more bandwidth...

Thank you

Also in the fine print..."RSSC recommended shopping program is handled by Harding Retail" so they must make some money from the program if they're outsourcing it

No inference...just asking if anyone has any experience. The fine print says "while shopping ashore you can be assured of quality, customer service and authenticity" so I guess there's some assurance you won't get green glass i guess...just not sure if anyone has experience with the price competitiveness...

Onboard the Mariner headed to Cartagena and there are VIP shopping lectures (?) with strong recommendations for 2 Emerald shops from the Regent reps...is this legit or does regent get a kickback or referral fee?

We're being told to bring a VIP card so they know we're on the Mariner to get the best deal...seems like announcing that we're suckers?

Anyone have any insight as to whether the deals are better or worse?

Thanks all...

Thanks for the posts... I'm on board as well (7 aft) and the reporting is well written and accurate!

I do have a question about seating in the Compass Rose for those of you with more experience (my second cruise ever but both on the Mariner). I seem to get the same awesome waiter (Sherwin) every time...is that by chance or design?

btw...We'll be staying in 10 aft for the Montreal->Miami in the fall and again Miami->San Fran next spring...we really love this 'all inclusive' thing, the extra large balcony, and the Champagne and Vodka in the room are nice!!

you may want to check table limits also...I know there's a $10 limit on the roulette table for straight bets so max payout is $350.