Portolan

Indeed!

Well, that's certainly a change since what I stated has been true for our previous cruises. It seems like this would allow someone to book a specialty reservation for every night of the cruise as early as the 4th night? That would potentially lock up access for many on-board. Not a good move from my perspective. Regent has always been very egalitarian in terms of providing equal access for all regardless of their booking category except for a few very high-end suites.

Yes

You can book a new reservation for a specific restaurant once the previous reservation for that restaurant has been used. You can also try for a same day reservation even with a pending reservation in the future. Your odds go way up if your time is flexible and/or you are willing to share a table.

It's been about 15 years since we were allowed on the bow of Voyager (under the Captain Dag regime), but the crew may be allowed to lounge there on occasion.

Definitely "shore side." Even a long way off-shore, you may be able to see the sky-glow from the eruptions and other interesting things ashore. The "sea-side" will give you a view of...the sea.

And a Regent Facebook post about this offer talks out "First Class Suite.". No such thing for domestic flights (which includes Canada and Central America). Just 2 across slightly reclining seating with more leg room versus 3 across coach, plus free drinks and (usually) some included food. Plus, no-charge checked bags. No lounge access as you'd have for international business class. Nicer than coach? Yes, but not to the degree it is being hyped.

The Chase Sapphire benefit is $10,000 per person ($20,000 total), so splitting the fares would face the single person limit. We just used the Chase insurance recently and the process was managed quite well and fairly expeditiously.

now why didn't I think of that? Also a favorite of ours at the Pool Grill. And, the Ahi tuna burger. And the grilled shrimp brochettes with jalapenos. And, ...

The official Regent policy is (or was) to require 75 minutes between excursions. As earlier mentioned, there aren't a lot of opportunities to do this, but we have done so on quite a few occasions including 2 booked (morning and afternoon) on our upcoming cruise in Montreal, 90 minutes apart. On our 2023 Regent cruise in Japan, there were no opportunities to double-book...or at least of excursions we were interested in. Some years ago in St Petersburg, we did 3 excursions in 1 day! (because they overnighted in port and had evening excursions)

Indeed. Very much looking forward to our first sailing on Grandeur with a very interesting itinerary. I can usually be found near the pool bar at sail away (tall, grey hair and beard, and, invariably, a camera around my neck). Maybe we'll cross paths.

to the extent of the amount you paid by credit card for the excursions or received as refundable OBC (like from your TA) . Two examples: 1. Paid $200 for excursions in advance by credit card. You have $300 of nonrefundable on-board credits. $200 of the OBC will become refundable, but the $100 of OBC remains use or lose. 2. Your prepaid by credit card excursions were $400. Now the full OBC is refundable. Regent finally made this accounting easier a few years ago. Your onboard account (available on the TV will list all of your expenses (excursions, boutique, cooking classes, etc.) and then apply all of your nonrefundable credits first, regardless of the timing of the purchases or credit card payments. Whatever is left (up to the credit card payment total) is refundable. Any refundable OBC as are sometimes provided by TAs is treated as if a credit card payment. A final word about the shipboard accounts. Regent will be default treat each person in the suite separately. A word to Reception will consolidate all expenses and credit under one person's account which makes it easier to track.

Let me add to GoArmy's advice: a feature of the Explorer-class ships (Explorer, Splendor and Grandeur) is that 2 of the specialty restaurants (Prime 7 and Chartreuse) have small bars next at the entrance where you can enjoy a drink while waiting for your table if you arrive early. We've seldom seen these utilized, but Regent just leveraged the fact that they needed to have a full bar to support the restaurant patron's orders, so they just made it public and added a few seats and tables...a pretty brilliant solution.

Since you may want to spend a night back in Anchorage between the travel from Seward (try the train!) and the trip to Whittier, you might want to book that night through Regent as a pre-cruise night. Rates in Anchorage are running about $500/nt for one of the nicer downtown hotels. Regent will charge you something like $350/pp (yeah, they quote it per person unlike what the hotels are actually charging. But, that includes the transfer to Whittier and also makes getting you to the ship Regent's problem in case there are any other changes. The train trip form Seward to Anchorage is very scenic and much more pleasant than the bus ride. Seward — Girdwood 6:00 PM 8:50 PM Girdwood* — Anchorage 8:55 PM 10:15 PM Alaska Railroad also runs the Glacier Discovery train which goes to Whittier until 15 September. And, they'll check bags on both routes. Anchorage — Girdwood 9:45 AM 10:55 AM Girdwood — Whittier 11:00 AM 12:05 PM

...and ask the same Regent rep to book your new excursion. They'll often ask if you have a substitute, but they can do it instantly and save you a bit of web time.

We've often signed up for more than 2 per cruise. Might be a function of the length of the cruise (ours are usually in the 2-week range). We're signed up for 3 on an upcoming 2-week TA crossing. I you see an option to waitlist it is likely just because the session is filled and not an imposed limit. The "trick" here is that the CA sessions do not show up at some easily determined point. We've booked them before the 365-day excursion window and sometimes many weeks thereafter. So, if you really care about these events, check early and check often until they appear.

Thanks for letting me (and those reading this thread) of that change. It worked the last time we tried. It's unfortunate because we've done it post-cruise on occasion rather than fighting the crowd to get into talk to the cruise consultant. In a cruise we have the end of next month, we'll be booking it in advance for a change (for the same reason).

You can get the "book on-board" savings from 30 days before until 30 days after your cruise. The discounts vary with the length of the new cruise and the suite level, but it'll be the same as if you booked on-board.

I think mostly a poorly worded response since they probably don't want to name the chef because things change. While the chef on-board will have been contracted for by now, there could be some issue between now and then requiring a change.

No way that I know of that you can see that information on-line though possibly your TA can check or the Regent phone rep will check for you. One other possibility is to find the thread in the Roll Calls for your cruise (if there is one), and some kind 365-day soul will check for you. Once the window opens, those who have already registered can see which tours are sold out, but somewhat painfully excursion by excursion, so asking for information about all will not likely get you an answer.

When you go to the page describing your cruise, there is a major section entitled "Itinerary & Excursions." At some point in advance of the 365-day booking window, there should be a line immediately below the section title which says, "Click here to receive a list of all shore excursions being offered on this voyage." The word Click is a hyperlink. You'll be asked for your email and a pdf of the excursion offerings will be sent to you.

If you have the email receipt when it cleared and it showed as free, then you or your TA ought to be able to get the charge reversed. We have seen excursions which had been free become Regent Choice, but from year to year, not mid-cruise.

There is a game room which is well equipped with board games and standard games. It's just down the entrance hall to the Observation Lounge. I have never specifically looked for or noted chess sets, but given the very large number of games, I'd give it about a 99.9% probability. There are sometimes organized game sessions (bridge, Mah Jong, etc.) but if there are tables open you can still make use of them. If the bar staff is aware of your presence, they will bring you drinks and check for refills. I usually stop by the bar and order drinks and mention that we're in the game room and that handles the awareness. Of course, it has to be after the bar is open. Noonish? There is a refrigerator in the room with water and sodas all the time.

I think the only visible difference is that since the Explorer-class ships are much roomier, they can set up a spread in Compass Rose showing off the brunch whereas the older ships will offer you much the same brunch, just not as showy.

Not, per se, canapes, but for lighter bites we love the lobster nachos and the jalapeno shrimp skewers at the Pool Bar . Both of which could be carried back to your suite to enjoy (we are seldom in butled suites).