maryogreen
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Posts posted by maryogreen
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@bebop bonnie My husband and I were on the Explorer's November Tokyo to Bangkok cruise and took Regent excursions in most ports, including the "Vibrant Tokyo" pre-cruise. We were extremely pleased with the tours and guides. I agree with @briar14 that Kyoto is best to do with a private guide, especially if it's high on your "must see" list. Our itinerary didn't overnight in Kobe, so we had just one day to see Kyoto. We took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and met our guide at Kyoto Station for a whirlwind tour!
Here is link to my blog posts on Japan, which may help with your tour selection as well as photos of the places we visited.
https://www.themodernpostcard.com/category/japan/
Happy travel planning...Japan is a fantastic experience!
Mary
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@forgap So happy to see that your Japanese adventure has begun! Looks like a terrific pre-pre cruise. I hope your Regent pre- cruise and the main event are as wonderful as we experienced in November. I look forward to following along! 😊
Mary
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8 hours ago, papaflamingo said:
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! We have booked the same tour! And for info, it's simply added to our booking so we don't actually have to pre-pay anything. But NOW, thanks to your spectacular blogs... I am REALLY EXCITED to do this tour!!! And my wife, really Egypt is her "bucket list" item as she studied all of this in college, will be amazed and thrilled by your wonderful blog and pictures!!
Now if only the "world situation" will resolve in time.
@papaflamingo You are very welcome! I'm delighted this fuels your excitement and am happy to answer any questions about the overnight excursion that arise down the road. I hope the area finds peace soon, too. When we visited Luxor, Egypt was just opening up to tourists again, and everyone we met was wonderfully welcoming and incredibly grateful to have visitors. It's a spectacular part of the world!
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@papaflamingo My husband and I did Regent's overland Luxor tour in November 2019, and it still remains an all-time favorite. We secured our spot shortly after booking the cruise, and although I'm not certain, I think Regent required an upfront payment. Everything was absolutely top-notch – from our guide to the itinerary to the hotel and food. Seeing the Valley of the Kings had been a long-time dream of mine, and I was thrilled with the experience!
Here are links to my blog posts from our time there:
https://www.themodernpostcard.com/the-road-from-safaga-to-luxor-a-photo-essay/
https://www.themodernpostcard.com/luxor-at-last-karnak-temple-luxor-temple-a-milestone-celebration/
Mary
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@Gilly Have a fantastic time on your MAD GIG adventure! Herb and I look forward to reading all about it here and on your blog. Wishing you safe and happy travels 🥰
Mary
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@Shelley G My husband and I were on Regent's Tokyo to Bangkok cruise in November and did a day trip to Kyoto on the Shinkansen. It was surprisingly easy and fast – less than 15 minutes from the port to Shin Kobe station and about 30 minutes on the bullet train to Kyoto, including a brief stop in Osaka. No difficulties getting a taxi at the port or at Shin Kobe for our trip back to the ship. Here's a link to my blog post from our day in Kyoto, which includes photos and information on taking the bullet train:
Best of luck!
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My husband and I booked Cape Town to Port Louis, Jan. 27,2026, when we were onboard the Explorer in November. The cruise consultant told us that this would be the Voyager's third cruise post-dry dock. Now it appears that it will be the first.
We had no idea about these changes and send a big thank you to @briar14 and everyone else who posted on this thread. Our itinerary is still the same as when we booked, and the cruise is not waitlisted...but we will be keeping an eye on our itinerary and the cruises that follow.
Our best guess is that Regent is planning to avoid the Red Sea and much of the Middle East, even at this far-out date. It's reminiscent of when Egypt was taken off itineraries for quite some time – two or three years. When travel opened up in 2019, we jumped at the chance to take what became one of our all-time favorite cruises from Barcelona to Dubai on the Voyager.
We will be watching these boards closely and will also follow up if we learn of changes to the Jan. 27th itinerary.
Mary
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My husband and I were on the Explorer's Tokyo to Bangkok cruise in November and had a fantastic trip. We had a few concerning issues with food and food service at the very beginning of the cruise, which we brought up right away and which were dealt with right away. Here is a link to the review I recently posted:
Mary
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Thanks so much @boblerm! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and always welcome insights! 😀
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@Redking, I'm so glad you enjoyed the review. We sometimes book our trips quite far in advance as well...and then suddenly they seem to arrive more quickly than we'd imagined!
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Thanks @RachelG! We heard quite a few comments about the size and more openness of Splendor's Coffee Connection compared with the Explorer's.
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1 hour ago, 1982CruzStart said:
Thank you so much for taking the time to do such a detailed review of your experiences.
We were also lucky enough to do the Regent included tour to Angkor Wat and will never forget it.
@1982CruzStart You're very welcome! It was great to hear that you had an unforgettable Angkor Wat experience as well. Regent did a great job on this, and the destination is one of the greats.
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This was my husband Herb's and my first cruise with Regent since the pre-pandemic, when we'd sailed on the Voyager from Barcelona to Dubai in November 2019. After that terrific experience, we were excited to return – and especially to sail on the Explorer.
"Vibrant Tokyo" Pre-Cruise
We signed up for the complimentary "Vibrant Tokyo" pre-cruise tour, which included transfers, three nights at the Tokyo Hilton Shinjuku, daily breakfasts and half-day excursions. Our expectations weren't too high after reading @rkaratsu's most helpful report here a month earlier, but it seemed that by the time our tour arrived, the organizational wrinkles had been worked out.
Thank you to everyone who posted about the pre-cruise! It truly helped us understand that these were not guided tours in the traditional sense and enabled us to make plans beyond the tours. The land program was run by a fabulous director named Theo, who held meetings each morning before we left the hotel and offered extremely helpful tips and insights into life in Japan. Guides provided commentary on the buses as we traveled to various destinations, but once we arrived, we toured on our own.
We found the Japanese guides to be absolutely delightful and loved the way they shared stories about their personal lives and lifestyles. One guide was a jazz singer by night, offering to sing at the end of the tour, and another ended our tour by serenading us with the classic Japanese song, Sukiyaki!
The Hilton Shinjuku was terrific – a bustling business and tourist hotel in a convenient location. The breakfast buffet offered a large selection of Western and Japanese dishes, and the two hotel restaurants we tried – Chinese and a light meal in the bar – were tasty and convenient. Our favorite meal was at an Indian restaurant called Ashoka located just below the Hilton in the underground passageway. The ATM for securing yen is also located below the hotel. Our room was on the 26th floor and offered a great city view.
The Ship
It's almost impossible to find issues with the Explorer. Our cabin – Concierge Suite 825 – was the nicest of any ship we've ever experienced. Tremendous thought was clearly put into designing the space, with the most storage imaginable and wonderful flow of the cabin. Extraordinarily comfortable bed, fabulous shower, spacious walk-in closet and really nice-sized verandah. I can't say enough good things!
The ship is quite stunning and has a big job living up to its slogan of "the world's most luxurious ship." The only area we found a little disappointing was the Coffee Connection, which felt cramped and always crowded, especially on sea days with a full ship.
Food, Service & Crew
My husband @bizinsider and @Stickman1990 posted live threads here about food and service issues on this cruise, so I won't repeat details of our experiences. Something was clearly "off" when we arrived on board. Food service was slow, some items were not prepared properly or served hot and the crew seemed understaffed, undertrained and stretched beyond their limits. As @minotaur suggested here, perhaps some of the more seasoned crew members were transferred to the newly-launched Grandeur.
We spoke up about specific concerns right away, which I think is the key to making things right. And we spoke to the top people in charge. There were lots of grumblings around the ship, and Regent requested feedback a few days in, posting a questionnaire box on the main desk.
Food and service improved quickly, and we began to find our favorite crew members, requesting their tables for dinner. Our best meals were in Sette Mari and Chartreuse, where food and service were consistently top-notch. We especially loved Rustine, who left the ship in Vietnam and will be returning on the Mariner for the World Cruise, and Rey, the ever-smiling, greet-you-by-name waiter who made our dinners a delight.
Excursions
We signed on for Regent excursions in every port except Kyoto, where we hired a private guide. I wasn't happy with Regent's limited tour offering there, and because we had only one day, I wanted to see as much as possible. Herb and I avoided the long drive from the Kobe port by taking the bullet train, which got us there in half an hour and added to the fun of the experience. Our guide was fantastic and took us all over the city by taxis, local trains and on foot. A special tank you to @Gilly, whose helpful information here on taking trains in Japan gave us the confidence to give the bullet train a try!
We paid extra for two small group tours in Vietnam, which was very much worth the cost, and took complimentary tours everywhere else. Guides were good-to-excellent and tours were well thought-out. The biggest issue in this part of the world is the long distance from Vietnam and Bangkok ports to the cities, resulting in very long bus rides. There were also a few awkwardly timed four- and five-hour tours than ran from late mornings to early afternoons without including any snack or food break. What made it worse is that we were told we weren't permitted to bring any food off the ship in these ports.
Tours were quite full, and we were surprised that Regent ran such packed buses. We were most surprised by the tender ride in Nha Trang, where Regent packed three buses into one tender from the port to the pier. In all our years of tender rides, we have never experienced anything that unpleasant.
Tour selection was quite varied and seemed geared to both first-time (as we were) and repeat visitors to the ports. I especially loved the off-the-beaten-path experience we had in Taiwan, where we traveled to an old mining town in the countryside to write our wishes on traditional lanterns and launch them into the sky, afterwards hiking around a beautiful waterfall.
Angkor Wat Post-Cruise
If I had to pick a highlight of the trip, it would have to be Angkor Wat. The ancient temples have been on my travel wish list for many years, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to experience this magnificent place. The paid excursion was organized by Regent and included round-trip flights from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia, two nights at the Borei Angkor Resort, one night at the Sheraton Royal Orchid in Bangkok, most meals and two days of touring Angkor Wat. Everyone packed a small bag – there were 18 in our group – and Regent transferred our remaining cruise luggage to the Bangkok hotel for storage until our return.
The land program provided a representative who traveled with us from Bangkok and joined all the tours as well as a local guide in Siem Reap named Salon who was one of the best we've ever had. Salon adjusted the schedule each day to maximize our time and avoid the crowds. He provided commentary on our short rides to the site as well as while we were visiting the ruins. And best of all, he loved photography. I don't think I've ever had so many photos taken of Herb and me in a special place like this. Salon knew all the "best spots," and every time he'd reach another location, he'd say, "Now this is the best spot!"
For anyone who is interested, I've just posted my first blog from the trip and will have photos and stories from every port in the coming days.
Mary
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4 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:
Do you remember if the laundry service on the Flora was free to everyone, or just “free” based on your X loyalty status? For example, we’re elite+ which means our 2 bags each would definitely constitute free laundry on a 7-day cruise.
We didn't use the laundry service and do not have loyalty status, so I'm not sure whether it is free. I would guess that your elite+ would apply, and I do remember a number of people using the service. There is no laundry on board.
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18 hours ago, mahasamatman said:
For those people who have flown between UIO and GPS with Flights by Celebrity, do they use commercial flights or charters? And are you able to use status benefits at the hotel in Quito?
For our May 2022 Flora cruise, Celebrity flew us non-stop on a chartered Avianca Airlines A320 from Quito to Baltra. There were no other passengers except our group. The return flight was handled the same way. It takes about two hours.
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@Poconolady My husband and I were on the Celebrity Flora's Inner Loop in May 2022. I can't begin to say enough great things about the trip. From the Quito pre-tour to the ship and expeditions to the crew and Celebrity staff, everything was just wonderful. Here's a link to the review I wrote for Cruise Critic, which may answer some of your questions:
I also have stories and photos on my travel blog from each day in the Galápagos, which you might find helpful. Here's a link to the Ecuador archives:
https://www.themodernpostcard.com/category/ecuador/
Happy planning and best of luck with your decisions!
Mary
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@Ken the cruiser You're not overthinking at all! I remember there were zodiacs going back-and-forth from the beaches to the ship at various times after the walks. Everyone in the group did their own exploring post-hike – some snorkeled, some spent time walking or sitting on the beach and some went directly back to the Flora.
On the excursions with no independent time – hiking to Darwin's Lake, mangroves cruise, Bartolomé Island hike – everyone stays together, but I don't think you'll have a problem with getting back to the Flora at your preferred time. If you have any concerns, just ask one of the naturalists before heading out. There is also a meeting with the naturalist team every evening before dinner when excursions for the following day are discussed and sign-ups are taken.
It has been over a year since we were there, but the images are as clear and memorable as if it were yesterday. It's a really special part of the world, and you're sure to have a fantastic time! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions.
Mary
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@boblerm That rainbow photo is a stunner! I love how you captured it disappearing over the golden hills. Just magical. I know what you mean about it being the most dramatic you've ever seen. A few years ago, I witnessed an extraordinary rainbow on a sea day in New Zealand and serendipitously had my camera with me. I've never experienced anything like it since. Maybe these are the rainbows with pots of gold at the end.😊 Wishing you continued happy travels and a safe journey home.
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@SLSD Hi Susan, we had planned to stay at The Pig on the first of our cancelled Norway cruises in 2020, which embarked in Dover. It looked like a great place, and they were very kind about the cancellation. I'm happy to hear that @DC Traveler244 highly recommends it, and I hope we will one day be able to stay there.
Mary
https://www.themodernpostcard.com/
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@boblermWishing you and Jeannie a wonderful cruise! Herb and I look forward to reading your always delightful reports – in real time, post-cruise time or any time!
Marywww.themodernpostcard.com
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@SLSD I'm delighted to have provided some inspiration for a return visit to Norway! I agree with you that there is so much to see and do that you will not be repeating excursions from our June cruise. Iceland will be a great new addition to the itinerary!
Mary
www.themodernpostcard.com
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10 hours ago, SLSD said:
I j just wanted to take a moment to point everyone here toward a superior travel blog written by one of our posters here. It's Themodernpostcard.com by Mary O. On her blog, she is writing commentary accompanied by fabulous photography of the recent Copenhagen to Copenhagen itinerary we shared with her in June. I think most of you will really enjoy following along with two installments so far. https://www.themodernpostcard.com/alesund-norway-dreamy-art-nouveau-town-on-the-norwegian-sea/
@SLSDIt's incredibly kind of you to post this. Many thanks! The Modern Postcard is truly a labor of love, and I'm happy to share it with fellow travelers. This was a great cruise! I love what you said about how we were on the same cruise, but had different daily experiences. It's a testament to the diversity of travel in Norway as well as the variety of excursions offered by Seabourn. Over the next couple of weeks, I will have stories and photos from every port and am happy to answer any questions others may have about our experiences on the Ovation and travel in Norway.
Mary
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@Gilly, wishing you a wonderful, dust-free cruise! I look forward to reading your thoughtful and entertaining blog posts and onboard comments here, as always.😀
Mary
Travel Blog: https://www.themodernpostcard.com
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@SLSD So glad you enjoyed the review! We had a great time getting to know you and "Mr. SLSD" on the cruise, sharing stories and comparing notes over tea time and dinner. I agree with you about sailing into Nordfjord, although I don't think I was up at 3 am!😱
@nancygp Many thanks for the kind words about the blog. You must have incredible perspective about Norway after three sailings there! I imagine each visit is a unique experience, with such varied and unpredictable weather. And I'm also glad to hear that you found Rajeev as delightful as we did! Such a great crew.
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Konichiwa! Japan pre pre cruise on Explorer
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Posted
@forgap Your wonderful posts and photos are rekindling great memories from our November cruise. I could completely relate to "obsessing" over taking the Shinkansen, which turned out to be a surprisingly easy experience. Looking forward to your continued travels and experiences on the ship!
Mary
The Modern Postcard