ccruzer123

The German Restaurant is near the one on State Rd 84.

Correct, the Holiday Inn Express on State Rd 84. I have never stayed at the other one.

My travel agent recommended the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel - but we have IHG points, so I was hoping to hear something good about Holiday Inn Express? Anybody have any input on these?

We have stayed several times at the Holiday Inn Express, the one close to airport and cruise terminal. We have enjoyed our stay all times, though it has been a couple of years since we lasted visited. We will be doing a pre-cruise night with them in June.

Note: There is or was a very good German restaurant about a block away from the hotel.

Just booked this cruise for October. We are definitely looking forward to exploring Milan, Venice and surround areas. Everything we read and reviewed convinced us that this was something we wanted to do.

My expectations on the quality of meals varies with cruise lines and ships. When I'm on the Regent, where I pay more, I expect better variety and quality of meals, but when I'm on Princess, where I pay less, I expect the quality of a chain restaurant. If I had paid what the OP paid for his Viking cruise I would also have expected better quality. It would be like going to Denny's for dinner and expecting to get Ruth Chris Steakhouse meal for Denny's prices. I definitely would be upset if I went to the Steakhouse and received Denny's quality at Steakhouse prices. Am I making sense here? I enter each cruise with expectation of that cruise line, that ship and the price I paid for that cruise.

(Note: I like Denny's, especially for breakfast, but I know what to expect when I go)

Since you talk about "we" I assume you are travelling with someone. I travel on my own, and while the destination is primary, I do need to socialize. I spend a lot of time on my own, and it is important to me to have some company on a trip. But I don't want to feel like a fifth wheel.

Totally understand. It is always nice to share the wonderful sights with someone, in your case friends you have made on the cruise.

The problem on a boat that size is that it is possible that many of the others know each other, and you will feel more like an outsider.

Really!! We are on the cruise for the itinerary not the socializing. If we met new people and have wonderful conversations than great but if not oh well!! We do not need other people to enjoy ourselves. Besides on the small ships we have taken we have found people to be very accepting and friendly, happy little community. I really doubt that will change with this cruise.

Wow! Can't wait to see it.

Here is a blog/review I found on the Uniworld River Countess. Very detailed and helpful.

http://europeforvisitors.com/cruises/reviews/river-countess

There are also some short you tubes of the River Countess on the internet. Gives you an idea of the ship other than what Uniworld puts out.

Need to add that you pay the deviation fee once ..... unless you make a change and then your pay the deviation fee again!

 

As someone who deviates all the time, I am familiar with how the deviation works. We give our first and second choice of airlines and flights to our TA (strongly urge you to use a TA that has expertise with Regent). Since we are fairly familiar with which airlines Regent contracts with, we generally get our first choice). Alternatively, you can call Regent directly.

 

Keep in mind that you will forfeit transportation to the ship by deviating. There are several things to consider. Hopefully your TA will give you better advice than you could receive on CC).

 

P.S. Since you are "ready" to book a cruise...... please spend some time looking for a TA that specializes in luxury cruising. They are a wealth of information and will save you a lot of time. Booking through Regent (or any cruise line) is fine but Regent will likely not tell you which suites to avoid as they want to sell every suite. TA's are looking out for your best interest and can provide benefits that Regent does not provide.

Thanks for the information, very helpful.

We live in Arizona so American Airlines will be our major airline and I believe Regent uses AA. Our TA has a call into Regent, they are trying to coordinate our pre-cruise itinerary with the actual cruise.

Papa B Me,

Was very happy to read your post. We also heavily researched the River Countess cruise and came to the same conclusions as you. The more we researched, read reviews and viewed youtube on the River Countess the more excited we became about doing this trip. We are looking forward to taking this cruise in October. Looking forward to reading your review of the cruise prior to ours.

Can't see how you could close Glacier Bay, you sail in and sail out, no facilities are used. Also, Alaska might do what Arizona did regarding the Grand Canyon when park was shutdown. Arizona paid the furloughed park employees to open and run the park.

Depending on where you cruise, Coke products can be different. I'm a diet Pepsi nut but can & will drink diet Coke but have a hard time when the ship carries Coke Light, Coke One or some versions like it. Be aware that the taste from the fountain is different from the diet Coke in the can. The diet Coke from the fountain can even vary by the location of the bars. Not my imagination, many people have mentioned the same thing on different cruises. Also, diet Coke and diet Pepsi products in foreign countries will taste different than those in the USA.

We are getting ready to book a cruise on Regent for a trip out of Venice. We would like to arrive about 10 days before the Regent cruise leaves so we can explore the area. We will have free business air through Regent from Phoenix. Question: Will Regent allow us to take an earlier flight to accommodate our pre-cruise plans? Also, can an individual give Regent air a sample of flights that work best for them and will Regent select from this list, if reasonable?

Quote: "Is being able to get into the MDR when I want is worth approximately $90 per person per day?"

Out of curiosity, I just figured how much it cost me per day to upgrade from the original mini-suite I had booked to the Club Class for our June cruise. $5.55 per person per day. I find that pretty reasonable for what I will be getting.

Regarding the diet cokes in a can, I believe it has to do with the location of your cruise. I've never had a problem getting my mini bar set-up changed to diet coke except on the South America cruise around the tip. They started out with diet cokes both can and fountain but within a few days ran out of cans. Then the fountain diet coke started running out in certain areas on the ship. It became a game for the passengers to try and find areas that still had some diet coke. The ship totally ran out of diet coke about halfway through the trip. I asked why they ran out of diet coke and was told that getting shipments to South America was difficult and the shipment that was suppose to meet the ship didn't get there. The funny or not so funny part is that they ran out of alot of other things on that cruise because of the delivery problem. Was not happy since I had prepaid for the soda package so I could get my diet coke. Some passengers ended up buying their owe diet sodas when onshore.

Quote: "Maybe the price difference between a Club mini and a non-Club mini will come down, or Club minis may even disappear--but I would bet the farm Club Class Dining for suite lifers is here to stay."

Just to let you know, prices do come down. We booked a min-suite on our upcoming cruise near the front of the ship, Princess called, asked if we would like to "up sell" to a suite. The $2000 per person was more than what we wanted to pay, but when I was looking at the open suite map I noticed 2 Club Class rooms open. I priced them and the difference between what I paid for the forward mini-suite and the club class was $100 per person. I told my TA to switch us to club class and we now have a middle of the ship mini-suite. My suggestion is to keep a watch for prices, they do drop.

Glacier Bay is a most see place. Tracy Arm was really disappointing.

Quote: "Good thought, but the room differential between interior to mini suite in no way is enough to offset casino revenue. I think many underestimate exactly how much is made in the casino on a cruise...."

Depends on the cruise. Elite cruisers, especially if they are retired, will look for longer cruises with itineraries that are probably to places they have never cruised. The cost of these cruises are quote a bit more expensive than a 7 day cruise and the differential between rooms is greater. Example: We are Elites and our next cruise in a Club Class Mini Suite is $7000.+ more than an interior room. In addition, because the ports we will be stopping at are new ones and different, we will be booking some tours with Princess. What we spend on Princess Cruises now is a lot greater that what we spent when we first started. But that is just us, we just spend it differently now.

Regarding the casino, I love slot machines but have stopped going to the casinos on the ships because of poor quality of machines and payout. Would rather spend my gambling money in Las Vegas where they will comp me rooms, food, shows, etc. Just my thoughts on this....

Just a thought: Younger newbies tend to purchase lower level cabins, they might start with a window room. As people sail more they tend to move up in cabin levels wanting more room, comfort, amenities and experience. Therefore overall, the repeat cruiser will probably spend more on a room than a young newbie, which can more than make up the difference they are not spending in casino or photos. I also believe that repeat cruisers are more willing to go with an "Up Sell" than a young newbie.

Just a thought.

Quotes: "I have seen scooters parked in the hallways on Oceania, but it is a clear violation of SOLAS. Scooter, wheelchairs, etc are supposed to be in the cabins to keep the hallways unobstructed." AND "On our recent Insignia cruise there was a scooter parked in the hallway a few cabins away from us for the entire 22 nights. I found it hard to believe that Oceania allowed it, as it's a clear violation of SOLAS regulations."

I also have seen scooters in the hallways, those on the Riveria. I walk the halls very early in the morning and they were either in front of someones door or tucked in spaces near cabins. I wondered at the time it if was legal to do so, one was definitely an obstacle.

Looking out our balcony window and seeing the Aruba Coast Guard helicopter flying next to us. It was preventing our ship from entering the port, the ship was a "Sick Ship". Because we had so many people on the ship with norovirus we were denied entrance to Aruba. The ship circled for hours outside the entrance to the port with the helicopter watching us. The pilot boat wouldn't even come out to the ship.

Quote: "As for the Royal potentially moving to the West Coast...Large pax ships leave me feeling rather bleh.

Some of my more memorable cruises have been on ships that were <2500 pax -- More intimate, better service, less queuing from embarkation to disembarking to everything in-between, greater public space-to-passenger ratios, simply better quality overall.

Princess is missing the boat with their strategy of 'keeping up with the Joneses' in the mega-ship arms race in my opinion."

We are also not interested in the Mega-ships, reason we stopped sailing RCCL. We prefer ships like the Pacific Princess, Coral Princess and Island Princess. We have sailed on the Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess and Emerald Princess but more for the itinerary than the ship and they were okay. But we are just not interested in the new ships Princess are producing. I would really be disappointed if Princess moved the Coral or Island away from the West Coast.

We have expressed our concerns with Princess when they sold the Ocean Princess and had the Pacific Princess up for sale. I guess we were not the only ones because the Pacific Princess is getting a make over sometime the end of May & beginning of June. We will be on her first cruise from FLL in June 2017, we are excited to see what they have done. Know they have added Club Class, we are in one of the CC mini-suites.

Cruzinchick

I am not sure why this bothers you. There are people who prefer to cruise a certain way. Why would I cruise on a ship that has things that dont interest me. Before I did my first cruise i researched all lines and found i fit better on princess. I dont drink or party so we chose not to do carnival, we have no children and have not need for wave pools, rock climbing so why would i pick NCL. I read the reviews it seemed more for the adventure seeking or geared for families. We don't have children nor do I find vacationing with others children appealing so we chose princess. I am not saying NCL sucks or they are bad i am simply stating that I/we prefer the atmosphere on princess. ..if you like NCL..that is great. .people are different which is why each line offers different things so everyone can be happy with their vacation. And so you know we have also been on HAL and celebrity but still prefer to be on princess as it feels like home...to each their own and no need to make those types comments when you know nothing about me or why i made the decision to go princess.

 

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Totally agree with you. We have tried several lines and continue to come back to Princess. NCL cruises were all a disaster, RCCL ships are just to large and crowded for us, Oceania handling of Norovirus problem when we were on board, Carnival is just a party ship (we don't drink), etc. We like the layout of the Princess rooms and the ship. Princess fits our needs the best so far.

I really enjoyed the baskets, was disappointed when I didn't get one with my Fettuccine Parmesan on the last cruise in February. I thought maybe it was just something they omitted on the Australia/New Zealand cruise since so many things where left off the menu which have normally been served on previous cruises. I'll miss the baskets, I really enjoyed them.