federalexpress

I've been in 8062 on Pursuit. I don't recall any significant problems with noise from above. My hunch is it might be worse under the pool deck in warm weather, the fitness centre and maybe the Patio. The only problem our cabin had was that is was bang opposite the service door and that did make some noise, but nothing too terrible and often it was propped open anyway. At least it meant my glass of wine got to me quicker.

My cruise was back in January but assuming things haven't changed, here's some responses on the questions you ask (speciality restaurants is, I think clear from other comments). 1) Other than the spirits you are given as part of being a suite guest, any other alcohol in the room or mini bar will be chargeable. Soft drinks and water are not. You can however bring wine (and I'm guessing spirits) to drink in your cabin free of charge. 2) Not sure but on my cruise, I don't think you get free entry to the spa deck and pool, unless you're in the big suites. What I did get with my suite was a big allocation of on board credit, $1000, which I used towards buying the Indulgence package (I had to pay the $499 difference with my own money). In addition to an excursions and spa credit (totalling just under $1000 alone), this package also includes free wifi for 2 for the whole voyage, ultimate drinks package for 2, a chef's table for 2 and many bags (7?) of laundry, plenty enough for a 17 night cruise. For a long cruise, this package was a bargain, if like me you only have a smallish amount extra to pay. It meant my final bill was minimal- about $50. It's possible they have increased the price- or give less OBC- because it was such exceptional value. 3) The butler is a big bonus, maybe you have them anyway on Regent. It may have been just ours being very good, but instead of wondering what I'd use him for, he was invaluable. The answer was, pretty much anything you ask for. I had a veranda dinner, served course by course, proper table set up etc. We chose from the MDR menu- I think only the big suites can have the speciality restaurants. Your butler should bring drinks as you wish to the cabin if you are on the Ultimate package. We used this a lot because the cabin is pleasant to relax in pre dinner and some dessert wine after. Never any problem, sometimes the Whispering Angel Rose came so quick, I was wondering if he had already pre-empted us! Other than that, they do come around every day with afternoon tea, which is nice, if only for the cup of tea- tried not to eat too much of the scones etc. I've not been on Regent but my perception is, it would be more luxurious and 'posher' than Azamara. The latter is quite informal, with a vibe of a slightly ageing country house hotel. I loved it but be aware that it might be different.

Ah well, that is because I am a bit of a wine bore! Actually it was a lovely evening, superb company- and my wife and I are not generally all that sociable so were were a bit wary- and all were into the wines. The unusual bit about my wine is that I had picked up on a visit earlier in the cruise to Deicas winery in Uruguay, not a country renowned for this style, but it was superb. I seem to recall it was the last night at sea and I wasn't going to get through it all without some help....

I don't think I'd take a glass of wine with me from the cabin, even from a bottle I'd paid corkage on, and certainly not on a sea day, given spillage risks. I'd have no problem taking the bottle though, full or part empty, assuming corkage had been paid. I tended to be 'by the glass' in restaurants because I was on the Ultimate package so never needed to take a glass back. Just ask the butler to bring me another one. Now I think about it, I did take a bottle that I hadn't paid corkage to the speciality restaurant. But that was for chef's table for which all wine (and fairly decent stuff) is included. The sommelier was fine with this and was happy to have my fellow diners have a taste of what was an unusual dessert wine, versus the one he selected.

I can concur with Grandma Cruising that I could not (and I assume this is still the case) buy the Indulgence package until I got on board, unless I paid with my own money. Given. like you I wanted to use my OBC for the package, that meant I had to wait until getting onboard. The only problem this causes is on excursions. There was one I wanted to use the excursion credit for, but supply was limited. The work around for this is apparently to book the excursion on your card before your cruise, then buy the package at Guest Services, then go along to the excursion desk to cancel your original excursion booking, then re-book with the excursion credit form your package. Most excursions can be cancelled with I think 48 hours notice and you should insist the money is refunded to your card. I had an additional problem, the excursion I wanted to book wasn't cancellable. It was for a private driver and these don't tend to be cancellable for understandable reasons and are of course limited supply. I was told they tend to hold back a small number of these tours for those averse to online booking- catering for the older, non tech savvy. So we had a bit of a first hour to organise, my wife to the speciality restaurant booking table to book our reservations for those and the chef's table, me to Guest Services to book the package, then on to the Excursion desk to book the private driver, excursion and then up to the Spa to ensure my wife could make her spa booking with the package credit. But it all worked. Then back to the cabin to sit on the veranda with a nice glass of vino to reward yourself. All good....

Yes that is correct and it appears Grandma Cruising suggests it is the same even for a 25 night cruise. Given I already had $1000 in OBC, the extra $499 was a no brainer, given what you get. We made extensive use of the wi fi (which on our ship was Starlink and much better than we expected) and the drinks package, especially for the somewhat better wine offered. We were in a CC suite so got the premium restaurants anyway, but the chef's table, offered as an alternative was fab. The free laundry (I think 5 bags worth) was also great. The excursions and spa we used with the credit provided were heinously expensive for what they were, but not so bad if effectively free! For 25 days it would be one of the few bargains you will find these days. It meant our bill was otherwise pretty much zero.

Interesting and it is indeed worrying, if not for me, then for sure AZ senior management. And their owners. These are not easy times for private equity though unless they are trying to offload pension liabilities, it doesn't really make sense for PE forms to see their acquisitions go bankrupt. Though they may be transactioned in a fire sale. As an aside, I wonder if the strains are widespread among the industry. As I say, I have very limited cruising experience but a relative recently went on a family cruise with MSC out of Southampton. I could have advised the risks of sailing with that particular line, especially in summer holidays- I may not cruise much myself but I've worked with some cruise lines so know the brands. The ship was actually overbooked, not just full, and the experience so appalling, they disembarked on the second stop and spent over £1000 flying home. It must have been bad because I believe they got their money back, so MSC must have realised the shortcomings. There were a lot of accumulated losses during Covid. Maybe some cruise lines are trying a bit too much to make that money back, to their long term detriment.

Thanks for explaining who Larry is/was. It remains the case that I don't recognise the issues raised in relation to my own cruise. I have a pretty high quality threshold on holidays but it was easily matched, even surpassed on my cruise. That said, it is my one and only cruise with AZ and only second ever so I am a rank amateur compared to some of you on here who seem to have sailed dozens of times over the years. You have a rather bigger sample size than me! Moreover I sailed before all this changeover nonsense happened (in fact the date might have actually been while we were onboard). It seems clear that has been an unmitigated disaster on the IT side. Moreover some of the criticisms raised would have passed me by. I had no interest in loyalty programs or the future cruises booth, I booked almost all my own excursions, I don't do trivia and was only an occasional participant in entertainment options, aside from the excellent Azamazing evening and a well run bridge group. Finally I was in a CC suite with a butler who became my main conduit for any issues arising and who was exceptional. In truth, I probably have relatively little to bring to this debate, though I note very many others on here who also seem a bit perplexed with the onboard criticisms. Anyway, I wish you and babykay many years of happy cruising on whichever line you choose.

No idea who Larry is but all I will say is I simply don't recognise your experience from the cruise I took in January. The crew were excellent, some of the best service I've come across, with the exception of the shorex individual, and I've spent most of my career in the leisure and tourism sector so I know how hard it is to pull off. Maybe it has got worse since January or maybe I was lucky in my experience but to be honest, when it comes to the onboard experience and what others have said on here, you look like the outlier, not me.

I think most of the problems you cite are to do with offboard issues. I was asking about 'concepts' onboard the ship that are now not there. I can't see any evidence of that having changed much. Of the areas you quote, customer service was overall v good onboard, other than the shorex, and even that was just one below par person without much empathy. Communication lines were very open for me- I had some issues with wine, and that was looked after and I got a sorry. Otherwise, all good. The crew were fantastic. The butler exceptional. But I sailed early in the year and it seems apparent, if I am to believe others, that the pre cruise experience- and there's parts of that which will also affect onboard- has been shambolic at times, if not most of the time. The CEO has much to answer for from what I can see. It's possible RCCL also played their part in doing the minimum, or even less than that. A lot of issues seem to be connected with the loyalty program but as a seriously infrequent cruiser, that passes me by, though it's clear it is a major issue for many.

A few decades ago my since deceased parents who used to be more avid cruisers than I am, used to wait for very last minute offers. When I say last minute, I mean they kept bags packed because it could be next day or so, not just next week or month. They used to use Ceefax for this- there, that shows just how long ago. They had a simple premise, if the cruise was £50 pppn, they were in. They figured it was pretty much similar cost to being at home or at least, very little more. Now I'm retired, I'd be open to that too, but my impression is, cruise lines have gone more to airline type yield management, so the prices tend to go up, not down as the date approaches . I imagine they might also have been stung by people hearing how their expensive cruise had been bought by someone for a third or quarter the price, so the extra revenue might cause more grief and brand damage than it's worth.

Just one thing I noticed regarding drinks and suites, we stayed in a CC suite and the butler was perfectly happy to bring our wine to the suite, as and when we ordered. We did this both before and after dinner and of course they would also do it if you dined in the room. We had the Ultimate drinks package so it's possible you must have that too.

On Pursuit in January '23, spa deck access was not offered for CC suites, just the bigger suites. There were passes you could buy but I din't think they were worth it.

If you wanted to dress casual/wear shorts, but still want a table service dinner rather than a buffet, Patio is a good choice. Simple but tasty grills, partly outside, but with heaters if needed, and while busy at lunchtime, tends to be pretty quiet in the evening. No extra charge either.

Shorts are fine, if you wear them in Jan in Miami, you should be OK here. Just check the weather cos we can see some pretty heavy downpours in July. As others have said, there's quite a bit of difference from north to south of the UK, so around north Scotland, likely to be somewhat cooler, especially evenings.

My experience on Pursuit earlier this year supports that. We cruised to the Falklands and Chilean Fjords. Sometimes speed was astonishing, up to 90MB, other times nothing.

To be fair, Silverado Cab Sauv would retail for £40-50 in the UK. It might not be worth that much, but that's a different story. And for sure, is someone was offering me a Canyon Road Merlot, which is a pretty rubbish wine, in the Plus package and I can get Silverado for a few bucks more, as you suggested earlier, that to me looks like a no brainer. It's actually the implied mark up on the Canyon Road I'd have a problem with. That's a seven quid bottle which they appear to be selling for not far short of £40.

How disappointing given what appeared to be the case before. But I think your solution makes sense, trading up in the evening. There's some good stuff at the higher price level and as you say, only a few bucks extra.

Yes I saw that option from the list. You're right, the Duckhorn Paraduxx and Silverado Cab Sauv are very good quality wines for not an awful lot more. But I'm still interested in 'not an awful lot more' than what? There was another thread on here where someone posted a similar/same Plus list as above, but seems to have asked the barman to show the bottles he was offering. There was a very ropy Canyon Road. But then next to it, A Duckhorn Decoy Merlot. That's not too bad at all. Is one likely to get that onboard? Is it really pot luck and they just serve you a Canyon Road if you don't say, no thanks to that?

If the Plus package allows you drinks for up to $15, how come the only wines available are a lot less than that, $12 maximum? Does anyone, maybe currently onboard, know what you get as a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauv? Is it just any old stuff they have to hand because it seems very sneaky not to specify what the wine is. I'm sure it used to be much more specific...

No they are telling you what is not allowed too. Spirits and liquor. And beer. And so I ask, where do fortified wines fit in. If they are not allowed, why not specify that. Let's be honest, they just haven't thought it through in much detail, probably because these are likely not popular drinks onboard, in fact I doubt they sell white port or oloroso sherry. So it's understandable in a way but not much use to those who would like to know if it can be brought on, or not, even with a corkage fee. As you might have gleaned from the answers on here, it doesn't seem clear either way in practise.

Yes you could argue wine and fortified wine are two different categories but the question remains, given Princess do not reference the category 'fortified wine' in their rules, are they trying to place it as a liquor/spirit or a wine? You could make a case for either given it sits somewhere in between but if you regard liquor as something typically with an alcohol content of 40%, which would be my understanding of that category, then clearly 18% is a lot further from that than it is for wine which often is around 14%. No idea what Ripple is but I do know the difference between a Banyuls and a Maury...

True but it would help if the rules were clear in that case. Sherry may not qualify as wine but it is sure not a spirit or liquor.

So they are classing sherry as a liquor? That seems off given it is little more than a table wine in alcohol content.

Quick question: I gather you can bring a bottle on board to consume in your cabin. Can that be a bottle of sherry or port, rather than wine?