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We did the 2018 137 day WC and 14 days over Christmas 2022 and New Years 2023. She and the Mariner are our favorite ships. Many of the Dec crew were the same as in 2018 so it was like coming home. The crew are truly great! The Navigator has a special feel about her that the other ships don’t have. We were on the Splendor the first 2 1/2 weeks of this Dec. She is a beautiful ship, all new and shiny, but we much prefer the Navigator. We did not miss the extra specialty restaurants at all as many of the dishes are offered in Compass Rose menu rotation or can be ordered with 24 hours notice. I love the Tempura and just order it for dinner. And she is much better laid out… you can get to the dinning room from both ends of the ship, the basic suites are much bigger.

No, we were in a H the lowest level and moved to another H different deck.

As I told my daughter when her babies came…” you are the adult here… set the tone from the get go or you will be sorry later.

It is just that easy and only takes a few minutes less than 30 in our case. The only thing we packed was the odds and ends … computer and papers. We stuffed that in a small carry on the staff out that in the cart. Do in again in a heart beat ti get a cruise combo that I wanted.

Must be just you…..we put the odds and ends sitting out like iPad, computer and various cords and papers in a small carry on bag and put it on the bed. Left everything else in the draws and on hangers. They came with a cart moved the full drawers in-tack and put the hangers on hanging rack. This was about 9:30, we all walked down to 7 from 8 and they put everything back in place. And took away empty drawers Took maybe 20-30 minutes. They had given us a key the day before good for the dates of the second cruise in case we wanted to leave the ship early before the move, we could get back on by passing the checkin lines. But the move happened so seamlessly we were done before we were ready to leave the ship. So we stopped by reception and picked up our new key as we left. The staff handle our clothes and things more doing our laundry and cleaning the room. In our new room everything was exactly in the same place just the mirror image as we moved from an odd number to an even number. It was hardly a “lost day” nor were we “homeless” at any point during the 30 min the staff were moving us. Absolutely painless! Ideally staying in the same room is best, but if you want a specific set of cruises and are maybe late booking don’t worry go about your day and treat it like any other day when your room is cleaned. The move didn’t take that long and it is first thing after the disembarking passengers leave

But if you can’t get the same suite on the BtoB you want…. Go for the two different suites. We did this on the Splendor this Dec. Your Stewardess and housekeeping will make this painless and no work for you while you go ashore even. The only thing we took care of ourselves was the safe items.

Pre Covid the Alvear Palace was a great hotel! We stayed there several times. They had a Sun Brunch that was out of the world…

This is the video Flossie and I are talking about. It is the Splendor Christmas 2022 video filmed starting in SJ when the film crew boarded through sometime in the first 10 or so days in Dec. We boarded in Miami on Dec 3. The scenes, some are staged, happened during this time. We were on the muddy tour in DR with Annabelle. That was real, as are some of the other scenes like decorating while we were on a tour, but others were staged because the film crew left before we did. We changed ships on Dec 20.. The film is supposed to show what the ship is like during the whole Christmas season.

Well, I was wondering what others were seeing …..Greece? crafting? They actually filmed me in a crafting session with Annabelle but showed it out of context with nothing to do with crafting but it fit into the Christmas theme.

They were filming some staged clips as in the Christmas morning breakfast scene. The dinning room was empty. During the filming the ship was nearly full. The deck scenes were early before people were fighting for loungers that were reserved with books and towels. Wouldn’t want to film that mess.

We were on the Splendor during the filming and I actually think it is not bad and really fits with the vibe of the ship. It is an ad for life on the ship after all. I can see suites and food in other places and 30 minutes of that is a bit boring as far as I am concerned. The drama with the decorations was actually there and we did come back from a tour and the staff was madly vacuuming under the newly hung decorations! The video was a fairly actuate view of our experience on the ship for 17 days at Christmas. The video crew was only on few a few days of that tine and they managed to get us in two different settings. Crafting is not for everybody just as pickle ball isn’t. But if you enjoy doing things with your hands with a group of women, a few men sometimes and visiting it should not be missed. Annabel was a delight! We then spent Christmas on the Navigator which we really like better, the vibe of that ship is just different. This difference comes though on the video.

Sorry you are having problems with the room change. On the Splendor in Dec they gave us a key with the second cruise end date that only worked for our current room but would allow us back on the ship in Miami on the change over, a couple of days early. I carried the passports and valuables with me in my travel purse when we left the ship that day. We call our stewardess’s when we got the room stuff ready and left the ship. When we got back on we went the the desk and picked up new room cards. There was no line and our stuff was moved. I had some changes on tours and I just called told them about the changes needed. Then just picked the new tickets up at my connivence. I agree though that the destination department is on the whole terrible!.

They were using this at some ports on the Navigator in Dec , maybe on the Splendor also. I just don’t remember.

We were last on the Navigator for Christmas New Year this year. Husband took slacks and silk shirts to wear for dinner…no jacket or tie. Though some nights he just wore a sports shirt and docker type slacks. Some men wear a sports coat sone even a tie… all are very acceptable. I wore black skirt or slacks with a silk top. Some women wore fancier dresses, slacks and sparkly tops, a few in cocktail type dresses and some dressed in what you might have seen in church years ago. Wear what you like, dressy evening wear or nice daytime outfits…. what you are comfortable wearing… the dress code is the minimum acceptable. Noone will bat an eye. Same goes for the formal optional nights, non on our 14 cruise even News Years Eve.

We were in 706 in Dec and never had any vibration, really never had any except one night in Setti Mare, but that area is “famous” for having the shakes at high speeds. Spent 100+ days in 621 or 23? again no vibration just sometimes in the back of the ship.

Your agent should get a form from Regent showing amounts due including deposit and when. Get her to send it to you or just give you the booking number and go to your account and then to booked cruises and enter the cruise info and booking number. Then try looking at the excursions. The Regent office personal don’t always have the answers.

This past Dec we found the lunch menus in the speciality restaurants to be the same as the lunch menu in the past in Compass Rose. We too like table service and would always eat in Compass Rose for all three meals if possible. Compass Rose is open on sea days on the Navigator (this past Dec) but not on the new Ships. I found many of my long time favorites from past cruises on the Navigator and Mariner on the lunch menu in Dec in Splendors speciality restaurants.. The lunch menus are very different from the dinner menu and not really steakhouse, French or Asian . The Dinner menus were the same each night in the different restaurants.

Glad Papaflamingo explain how to see the excursions before you book. We never had trouble getting what we want. The helicopter and plane rides are wonderful but of course an extra cost. Do try to get out on a glacier by helicopter. We did the first time we went in 1991. And do at least one whale watching tour. Several ports will have them. Go to a salmon bake also. They are kind a hokey, Last time we were there we had a young bear visit looking scrapes of the s'mores. And the salmon is good and fresh. But do not pass up some just walking around. There are bits of history hidden in the towns, it is harder to see now that 2 to 5 ships spit out 1000s of passengers each day, but it is there.

That is one of the ones we are looking at. It is early in the season so the weather should be at its best, down side is it is baby time at the glaciers. Sometimes the ship are limited in how far they can go toward the glacier. We have been once in May one e in late June and the rest of the time at the end of the season…. Sometimes the last ship! But we want to do a 14 day cruise just to have longer on the ship.

For first port 3 of the 4 are free.

Glad you could open the files. Hope you can convince your hubby to go a couple of days early, Alaska is worth it and is so much more than what you see from the ship though that is wonderful also! You are going later in the season so expect some wet, but there should not be as many kids. Lodging and eateries tend to be more rustic than big city USA, but the seafood is fresh and good. Have fun planning. We are thinking about a BtoB from Vancouver in 2024.

Try this for the blogs…. https://northtoalaskajuly2009.blogspot.com and https://tigerbluecheese.blogspot.com

If you can bring up our blogs, it will tell some of the things we did. We also flew to Anchorage in 2002 and rented a 35ft RV and drove 2200 miles in two weeks almost all of Alaska driveable roads. Alaska is beautiful. easy to drive. do not take a bus tour. It is two easy to drive and do your own thing. Order the Mile Post driving guide for Alaska from Amazon. We use that. it tells you what there is to do, see ,stay and eat mile by mile.For the time you will spend flying to Anchorage you need to rent a car and see some of the beautiful interior. It is a really easy place to self drive!

I have blogs of two of our trios to Alaska. One, a RV trip of two plus months tells about Kenai Peninsula and Homer and also Denali Nat Park. www.northtoalaska2009.blogspot.com Sept 3-5 for Denali and Sept 8-11 for Kenai and Homer. Second one is a driving trip and 14 day Seabourn Alaskan cruise a few years ago. e probably hit some of yur ports. www.tigerbluecheese.blogspot.com

Alaska is popular, but you should not have any problem. If you should have to waitlist for one you want, it usually clears by final payment. And you can book a back up and a waitlist at the same time, A couple of the ports don't really need a booked tours. They are fun to just walk around and explore on your own. We have been there 6 times on cruises and twice on RV trips