DeepFreeze63

Yes, as noted by Turn8A. Maitre'd La Verandah said "but only periodically".

TAP flight - We flew a TAP A321LRneo aircraft from Dulles to Lisbon using Star Alliance FF miles. It was a very satisfactory flight for DW and I. The aircraft is very small for transcontinental trip and had an unusual configuration. Business Class ("Executive") held 17 passengers and was configurated as 2-2, 1-1, then 2-2 etc. Seats, when flat, would only be comfortable for persons under about 5'10". Also, window seat passengers may have to climb over the aisle passenger in the 2-2 aisles.

Monday AM. Am now aboard the Voyager, my home away from home - great to be aboard after the CHAOS of the pre-cruise excursion. Venues and events were great BUT the hotel and the Regent contractor were not prepared to handle a group of about 150. Transport to/from the hotel involved using 1 14 passenger van (nice but small) to get downtown to board a 40 passenger bus. As embarkation was easy as our "morning "tour bus reached the port at 3:30. Process was very efficient with emphasis on passports, proof of vaccination, and Yellow Fever vaccination card (or waiver). No one looked at our Regent Boarding Passes! Public areas of the ship looks great but our F cabin is in need of refurbishment soon. Lots of new crew from when we were on the Voyager 6 weeks ago. John E is the CD and Ugo is the GM. We shared a table in Prime7 last night; very tasty meal and very enjoyable conversation (2.5 hours) with couples from London and from Oslo. Very nice international feel to passengers; CD said there are 150 Brits aboard.

Fun but chaotic day! Group overwhelmed the breakfast venue as half the tables were set up on a patio- beautiful but- Brrrr outside. Morning tour was 34 “tuk-tuks” , 4 passenger, electric, open-air. Vehicles. Had “whispers”. Our diver got separated from the main group on the downtown portion, so we winged it. Got back to the hotel (an oasis) about 2; now preparing for a group dinner with Fado.

we’re at the Lapa Palace hotel on the Regent pre-cruise tour(about174 of us). Beautiful property! Arrived at LIS at 5:15 AM. Had a VERY NICE direct flight on TAP- Yes really. I’ll post about the flight in the Sticky above in this forum. Had to wait about 30 minutes for our luggage. Regent reps were waiting; saw our baggage changed us into a private van. Wewere the first of the day to arrive and immediately got a beautiful rom overlooking an extensive garden surrounding the outdoor pool and the river -way to go Regent. The hotel is in a residential area; on the same street as the Chinese Embassy and around the corner from the U.S. Embassy. The Regent local contractor appears to be very efficient; we,ll see how they handle this big group.

We leave tomorrow evening for a B2B on the Voyager from Lisbon to Cape Town with return on 12/22. This includes a 3-night Regent pre-cruise excursion and 39 nights on-board – our longest cruise. I am starting this thread but, should some more extensive thread start (with photos and menus), I’ll piggy-back on it. We have had this cruise booked since 11/2020; developed a well-edited/modified set of notes (11 pages); and already experienced several “adventures”: do we have enough blank pages in our passports; do we need malaria meds; can we get Yellow Fever vaccinations; and, oh yes, also Regent “forgot to make payment for our return flight in time” so the airline cancelled it (Regent got us an acceptable substitute). I expect more interesting events as several of the African ports haven’t had cruise boats since before the pandemic and I have tracked only 2 ( German) cruise lines with 3 ships in southern African waters as yet this year. I just checked in for our non-stop flight from Dulles to Lisbon on TAP’s Airbus 321neo. We are using Star Alliance FF points going and Regent Air for return home. TAP has a spotty reputation but so far so great! Have spent hours on You Tube and TripAdvisor researching the aircraft, Lisbon (although, it is our 4th visit), and various ports. We’re taking 4 suitcases and 2 carry-ons, the most luggage that we have ever taken! We know from our 2 earlier 2022 cruises on the Voyager that we’ll need to store some stuff in a suitcase under the bed. The standard cabin (F) on Voyager has a terrific walk-in closet but sleeping/living area storage is minimal. The bath has plenty of storage (drawers and shelves) for personal sundries. We use the tub as a clothes hamper; we send out laundry almost every day. Happy to run down any questions that you have but expect very spotty internet will delay responses.

That works for 2023 but WC 2025 "starts" in either Miami or San Fran!

Hi: We're 85 & 82, frequent Regent cruisers who have done 2 Voyager cruisers in the last 4 months and leave in 10 days for 2 more Voyager cruises. In July, we cruised with a 16 year-old grandson and on our December cruise we will bring 2 adult children with us. I assume you will have 2 cabins with 2 in each. Regent will convert a normally king-size bed configuration to two twins if you choose. If 3 of you are in one cabin, the Penthouse-B layout is terrific (with the big sitting chair removed) - it worked wonderfully with 3 of us in one cabin for 15 nights the 5'10" grandson slept "like a log" in the pull-out sofa. There are still plenty of available cabins for the April Voyager TA. So, you can still change categories; just do it this year as prices will probably jump again on 1/1/2023. Your grandmother has made a nice choice in Concierge - it removes a lot of hassle. The Regent hotel is very nice, we stayed there for a Regent cruise in April 2022. I'd be happy to respond to questions now or when I'm back on the Voyager. This CC Forum has lots of good "stuff" for your planning.

We are with you on LIS to CPT and the pre-cruise excursion. It'll be our 23rd Regent cruise. My advice would be - relax; you'll have a nice cabin. As of a few minutes ago there were at least 9 unassigned E cabins and some Ds. Never had a GTY cabin but also have never heard of any GTY left behind but some GTYs reported that they only found out their cabin when they arrived at the ship. We will do on-line check-in tomorrow when its initially available. Won't you? See you at the hotel.

My guess is that there is a on-deck special dinner those nights.

Regent, our TA and Jason Montague told us that there would be "significant" price increases on October 1. Our booked cruises went up from $700 p.p. (2022 cruises), $800 p.p. (early 2023 cruises), $800 p.p. for Grandeur inaugural, and 1850 p.p. for 1/24 grand voyage. Wow - used to be about $100 p.p. every 3 months! Thankful that we booked earlier. While I was digesting these increases and the stock market swoon, I noticed Regent had 4 FULL pages of ads in the Wall Street Journal. Oh well, as a Brit informed me years ago, many of us are SKI-ers.

The ship is kept cool. I am always cold in the public areas and bring a sweat shirt for days and nice sweaters for dining areas. Breakfast areas outside near the pool are sheltered from the wind but open on the aft deck.

Pretty easy to determine which have larger balconies.. The Deck plans on the Regent website (Our Ships, Deck Plans) show the comparative size of EACH cabin.

"Generally" is the operative word. We now have done 21 Regent cruises and 5 or 6 have been in Concierge level and 2 0f our booked future cruises are in Concierge. Personal preferences and which ship, besides price differential, enter the decision. We did Concierge before attaining Gold level to arrive (on Regent Air) earlier than departure day and yet avoid the deviation fees. We also love both the larger verandahs for Concierge on the newer ships and E608 etc. for easy access to Deck 5 and the 5 forward elevators. The nicely soft cashmere blanket, binoculars (excellent), and shipboard phone (like a walkie-talkie) are just a bonus for us.

Stayed there 5years (i think) ago on a Regent 3-day pre-cruise excursion. The excursion was marvelous; that hotel was horrendous! I wrote a write-up on this Board upon return home. We stay ed for a few days before the Divani at the Hilton, just p the street, and loved the Hilton. Our Divani room was dark and the bath shower was designed/built such that it overflowed during use. The eating area in the basement felt like a modified swimming pool and was dangerous to walk around in. Luggage for Regent group departure was delayed an hour due to Divani. I wrote critique to regent. Yes, find another hotel if Regent allows such for excursion participants.

YES, YES, YES - there is a difference in ships! The Splendor is a magnificent ship -there is a great blog here on CC, done during the February 2020 initial sailing. However, much of what we love about Splendor is related to sea days. For the choice between the two cited cruises, I'd jump on the Splendor, even though it'll probably cost more. There is a possibility of more children on the Voyager (under 18 yrs. discount fare) but that close to the opening of school, probably not a big difference.

Lots of personal preferences involved in such a comparison! We have done 20 Regent cruises; just off the Voyager (7/30/2022) and sailed on the Explorer in February 2022. We have cruised 8 times on the Voyager (3 times in PH B) and 7 times on the Explorer (never in PH; once in Explorer Ste. but usually in Concierge). As luck would have it, we have reserved 4 future Voyager cruises (73 nights) and 2 Explorer cruises (also 73 nights). Our favorite ship, based upon our 1 TA, is the Splendor, in Concierge. But ALAS, she doesn’t go where we want to go! Recent Voyager cruises have been selected because of their itineraries. We heartily enjoyed our recent Voyager cruise but it had a lot uniquely going for it – Iceland/Greenland, special Regent 30year anniversary cruise, and also we sailed with our youngest grandson, So!!!! For us, the comparison of the ships is: · Explorer has MUCH nicer cabins. Our recent PH B cabin was “dated” (especially the bathroom)and tight on storage space for a 15-day cruise. · Voyager theater has great sight lines and can be walked through safely. Explorer theater has terrible sight lines and even after modifications the steps on ground floor present DW difficulty with the lights dimmed. · Aft lounge on Voyager is very enjoyable. We only used the Explorer’s aft infinity pool once. · We love the Explorer's light lunches in Prime7 and/or Chartreuse; much nicer than lunches in Voyager’s CR. Otherwise we expect the same Regent experience of staff service and passenger comradery.

We're vaccinated, double "boosted" and have had COVID recently (mild cases). I think that Regent was unwise to follow NCL's lead and allow unvaccinated passengers. Unvaccinated persons of Regent's demographic are demonstratively more likely to have severe symptoms rather than mild cases of the more active, younger NCL patrons. Last thing Regent (and the passengers) need is more frequent medical emergencies that disrupt itineraries.

About to go on our 4th Regent cruise of 2022. Also, my 4th non-alcoholic beverage cruise in a row due to med interference! I'm normally a Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio imbiber. Any suggestions on NA wine that I might purchase prior to embarkation?

Thanks for the info.

Bill, please input. Category: Voyager PHB 657 Reviewed By: DeepFreeze63 Mo/Yr Reviewed: 7/2022 Port/Starboard/Mid: Starboard Fwd/Mid/Aft: mid-Aft Sq Ft (if known) Cabin/Balcony: 3??/approx. 50 # Bathrooms: 1 w/ 1 sink Tub/Shower/Both/Combination: both Noise issues? none Recommend? Probably. Yes, if 3rd person is child and verandah view isn’t important day Comments/positives/negatives/concerns: Used for sofa bed (suitable for 5’10”) and comfortable with big chair removed. PHB has nice layout of bed and sitting area. Forward view blocked by tender. The cabin storage is just about adequate for 3 persons during 15 day cruise.

AMEN!

"The two pictures in post #126 were our deserts. The ever popular “popcorn sundae “ and the 14 layer chocolate cake. Both YUMMMMMY. " Our 16year-old grandson agrees! He has a "14-layer" delivered to the cabin most evenings.

Loved David's country music show and got a CD of his opera renditions

Can you bring a grandchild? Presently on the Voyager with 16 year-old grandson on his first trip outside U.S. If allowed, he would have spend the $1800 in the Regent shops buying gifts for his friends! I didn't even know that male teens used cologne and perfume - go figure!