jeb_bud

We’ve sailed on Voyager once, earlier this year, in a Penthouse. I won’t argue with any of Lonedaddy’s issues but I will say that the only item on his list I really considered to be a weakness was the tiny shower. We assume there will be a lack of plugs where we want them so we bring multi-port chargers and multi-outlet extension cord on all cruises. I like the intimacy of the smaller specialty dining venues on Voyager.

I don’t know that they’re throttling. It just seems suggestive when every time I run Speed Test I get very similar results. But in answer to your question it would make the up charge for the “streaming service” more attractive.

How does StarLink affect your decision? I’m just ending a cruise on Mariner which now has StarLink. They appear to have the basic internet throttled to about 1Mbps but it has been consistent.

We have used Regent Air for two cruises, one pre and one post-COVID. We deviated both times choosing United/Star Alliance. We got our Mileage Plus miles both times.

We're getting off in New York. We wouldn't mind the chance to experience some warmer weather but it's not to be this time.

We had that happen on our current cruise. We had booked a non-sharing table in Prime 7 on embarkation night and when we got there is was a sharing table. It turned out great though, we were paired with a very nice couple and as we started talking we realized that we had been conversing on the roll call before the cruise. It was a very enjoyable experience.

Boarded Mariner on Friday. There's a new-design tote bag. So far I think I like it.

That’s interesting…. In May on Voyager in a PH we had the best internet we have had since our first Regent cruise on Mariner in 2018. Explorer in 2019 and Splendor in 2022 were abysmally horrible. Voyager by comparison was wonderful. Obviously YMMV. We’re boarding Mariner this Friday and looking forward to giving Starlink a try. I agree that the shower in a Voyager PH is tiny although ours did have both a regular and hand shower. No USB ports but really, who doesn’t carry chargers?

We’ll be boarding on Friday. It’s encouraging to hear that the ship and crew are in good form. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

If you booked your air through Regent they will get you to the airport. We had a cruise end in Venice a few years ago with a 7:00am flight. We were in the first group off the ship.

You’re not missing much. The air credits for Asia cruises tend to be bigger than for European cruises. For those of us living in the western US air fares are routinely less than the Regent air credit. If you were booking a European cruise you would likely find that the air credit would be nowhere near enough to cover business class air booked by you.

I booked a cruise last week for August 30, 2025. I sent in the shareholder credit yesterday, via email. I received confirmation this morning. Apparently if you can book the cruise you can claim the credit with no limitation on the long end. I think there is a cut-off for claiming the credit close to cruise date.

Our first leg home from Istanbul in May was a Turkish flight to LHR. We had booked our own air to use a flight credit that was due to expire. We were never able to access our Turkish booking online, as we were never able to learn our E-ticket numbers. Chase travel didn’t know it and apparently neither did Turkish Airlines’ US call center. The phone agent was at least able to confirm that we were actually booked on the flight. We finally got our seat assignments when we checked in at IST. Once we got past check-in the Turkish experience was great. Amazing business class lounge and very good service on the plane.

@papaflamingoyour information is probable newer than mine. Our first Regent cruise was to Alaska in 2018. I don’t remember excursions starting the minute after docking and definitely the George Inlet crab feast left the ship in time for the feast to be at lunchtime. The current schedule for that excursion would have us back to the ship in time for lunch in Prime 7.

We’re on the June 12 departure. Last time I checked we dock in Ketchikan at 7:00 and most of the excursions start at 7:01, including lunch excursions. Other ports have similar schedules. I think(hope) that these are placeholders while the tour operators get their ducks lined up.

If you’re a balcony person the Concierge balcony might be a big deal. Much more comfortable for sitting out or dining on the balcony. I think I’m in the minority on this but I like the convenience of the in-room coffee maker in Concierge.

We stayed there in 2019 before a Barcelona to Venice cruise. As others have said it’s away from the tourist areas but a as my wife just said it’s very nice. Taxis were not very expensive and it didn’t take long to get to Park Guell or La Sagrada Familia.

I think the solid railings are on the Explorer-Class ships. You should check the deck plans but I think the suites you are asking about are Penthouse suites on Navigator. I’m pretty sure the only ship with Horizon View suites is Mariner.

The only casual night is the last night of the cruise.

@ChucktownSteve You’re right that NCLH hasn’t been a great investment. If you think of the shareholder credit as a return on that investment it looks like a pretty good dividend. A $100 OBC is about 6% of $1728. Longer cruises or more cruises drives the dividend up.

And a few weeks before that there is a Preliminary Vacation Cruise Summary with the same information about booked excursions. For our October 20 cruise we got the preliminary summary August 6.

If you still have the brochure that was current when you booked it should be there.

We were able to use the app two or three times during a 16 night cruise in July, 2022. That was just before they discontinued it. I liked the app and was happy being able to lag the group and still hear the guide. The tech was a little glitchy and I had to back out and restart every so often. I’m fairly tech savvy so it wasn’t a problem for me. Some others in the group were more challenged so the guide needed to be part tour guide and part tech support. I suspect that helped lead to discontinuing the program.

Assuming one is available when we book we’re definitely booking on deck 8 or 9. DW is an early to bed type so deck 7 is off the table. I’m curious about deck 10. Deck 10 Horizon View suites are beneath La Veranda. I imagine that the most problematic times will be during clean-up after Sette Mari and setting up for breakfast. How bad is the noise from La Veranda in the deck 10 aft suites?

Don’t know the dimensions but my wife’s CPAP fit fine on her bed table in a Splendor Concierge suite. I’m pretty sure there was a U.S. receptacle.