Phillygirl3

Thank you St. Paul. I'm still wondering about inoculations--were any required?

Your feedback was much appreciated!!

Has anyone done the Rio to Buenos Aires itinerary on Oceania? We are considering the 12 day sailing in October but wonder if it's worth doing. We have heard of so many people saying that these sailings tend to result in a lot of people getting sick or a Code Red Alert being issued. In addition, I was wondering if inoculations are required as I have read on other cruise lines web sites, that they are required for South America. I am not thrilled about the thought of getting shots as my doctor has said that some of the required inoculations produce worse side effects than what it was supposed to protect one from. I would appreciate any feedback from my fellow cruisers who may have done this particular cruise.:)

I am agreeing with Sharon about waiting to get to the cruise terminal as close to boarding as you can because we did wait more than 2 hrs. and yes, you literally could walk to the terminal. We did not book our cruise directly through Regent and our transportation to the hotel in Vancouver and then to the ship was provided through a taxi as we were given vouchers to present to them from our travel agent.

Regarding waiting in the theater for tours in Alaska. We did the Vancouver to Anchorage itinerary in late May and we never met in the theater. We were told to report dockside before the scheduled departure time for each tour. One thing that really surprised us as well as frustrated us was the amount of time spent in line to check in before boarding the ship. I and many others in line stated that they had never had to wait in line to check in--you simply walked up to a desk in the ship's terminal (usually lines were separated with alphabetical listings such as A - F, G - K, etc.) now there were several layers of check in involved, including scanning your passport at a kiosk. There were so many people in line to board ships (ours was not the only one departing that day), that it took at least two hours to check in. One poor lady finally made it to the check in desk to simply be told that she was in the wrong line and needed to go into the Holland America line which looked as if it had a couple of thousand people in it. I felt so sorry for her. So, if you are leaving for Alaska this summer which is the high season, I can't imagine how long the lines will be. I'm hoping that they hire more agents to check in people because of the increase in the number of ships departing in July/August. Good luck!

For Cruzaround's questions regarding Alaskan cruise: it was never on our bucket list but we are so glad that we did it--spectacular scenery, fresh seafood and we lucked out with perfect, sunny weather each day. Did it get boring--not really, but when I see that some people have taken 7 cruises to Alaska, I ask myself, "Why?" You can only look at so many glaciers and see so many tourist shops. I guess that can be said for a lot of places and I will just assume that people who return again and again to Alaska are truly nature lovers. My husband and I enjoy seeing historical places, cities, museums, etc. But even when visiting these places, there are not many that I would say would be worth paying to see again. Some places are "one and done," other I would visit again, but only if it was a place the was combined with many other different ones. To each his own as they say, travel is a personal experience where not everyone will agree. Enjoy Alaska for its beauty, you won't be disaippointed.

Yes, we did not notice any ipads being used.

We just got off the Mariner in early June and the ship was fine. You can see that it is getting to the time for some refreshing--as edges of drawers in some places were chipped, but overall, everything was fine--lots of storage room, nice rain shower head in bathroom, nice verandah furniture compared to many lines--sturdy wicker with cushions, not just the vinyl strapped furniture on most ships. Public areas were clean and well maintained. The only thing that was a little annoying was that the windows in public areas like dining room and lounges were streaky with dirt, but I think that can be attributed to the poor weather that the ship encountered on its previous trip to Alaska as we heard they had a lot of rain! However, in one port, the crew was out painting and cleaning! Service in MDR was fine during dinner hours but very slow during breakfast, and we ate there only once. My brother took his first Mariner trip last year after taking three previous trips on Oceania and when I told him that I thought Regent would be a step up from Oceania, he said, "No, it's about three steps up." While we enjoyed Oceania, I feel that Regent offers more personalized service and the included shore excursions were better than what was offered on Oceania. Enjoy your trip--remember, travel is a personal experience and you have to experience it yourself and form your own opinion, which may be totally different than anyone else's opinion!

As everyone knows--travel is a personal experience where two people having the same experience report their feelings differently. That is why it is difficult for me to recommend places to my friends or to say anything negative about places they plan to visit that I may not have enjoyed. My friend disliked St. Petersburg, we loved it. She loved Amsterdam and we were not exactly thrilled with it. We just returned from a trip to Alaska on Regent and I compared it to our favorite line--Seabourn. I actually liked the cabins on Regent--lots of storage and for some reason, the loud, flushing toilets that are the norm on most cruise ships, seemed to be more quiet on Regent (Mariner). We enjoyed the specialty restaurants, didn't have a problem with room service and there certainly was a large variety of choices of food at the grill and buffet. We enjoyed every excursion and overall, pleased with the Regent experience. I agree with most posters, that the service on Seabourn is more personal and I feel that the food, in general is better on Seabourn. Would I cruise Regent again? I would if the itinerary was of interest but for now Seabourn does have a slight edge over Regent.

Dear Fellow Cruisers:

My husband and I are contemplating a cruise from Dubai to Singapore. While there are a few consecutive sea days, the itinerary looks interesting. However, a visa is needed for India and I'm just not sure about some of the ports. I Googled images of these places and they do not look that exciting--Mumbai, Muscat, Doha. We are interested in seeing Dubai and Singapore but feel that embarking and disembarking in these ports will require us to spend extra days on each end. Can anyone give me advice regarding this particular cruise and its itinerary? Thanking you in advance for any help that you can provide.

Los Pepes: I, too, would like to hear from anyone, who recently (this year) did a river cruise in Russia. I think that there are very few who do this cruise (Uniworld, Viking and Scenic). I, too, have read through the threads on CC and there are many positive comments and, perhaps, an equal number of negative comments like--"too long on bus getting from place to place." I am thinking of doing this cruise as I would love to visit Moscow but have been to St. Petersburg, but, like you, don't want to spend the money if the trip is not worth it. I would be willing to see St. Petersburg again, but if the rest of the trip is just so-so, I won't bother. Hopefully, we will hear something from our fellow CC posters.

I believe it was on Deck 7, Nice cabin, nice verandah--but night sailing vibration when sailing at a certain speed, again, depending on how close the next port was the following day! Good luck! Seabourn is awesome!

I, too, am fine with movements on a ship and never get sea sick. The vibration that I was referring to was like (if anyone can identify with this) one of the vibrating beds that used to be in cheap motels where you put a quarter in. Don't ask--but in college, those were the ones we could afford when traveling. I could not have been the only passenger that stayed in this suite that didn't experience this problem. Again, it was fortunate that our itinerary had ports relatively close together, so all nights were not spent with this vibration and it has not deterred me from sailing with Seabourn in the future. I just will not book a cabin as close to the front of the ship as I did that time.

The old adage "You get what you pay for" is true as Seabourn offers a more luxurious and personalized cruise experience. I don't think you can compare the two. I haven't been on a Princess ship in many years and, perhaps, things have changed but getting top shelf wines/liquors, included gratuities, a choice of beverages in your cabin, 24 hr. room service and just being on a smaller ship and not having to deal with masses of people, waiting in lines, going to buffets, people hogging deck chairs, is something that you won't have to deal with on Seabourn. We were just in Alaska and a huge Princess ship was in dock--certainly looked like a floating hotel. If that's something you want, than you will find Seabourn completely different--no midnight buffets--but elegant dining options, special deck barbecues, beach barbecues and special events just for Seabourn passengers in some of their Mediterranean ports.

Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience with a forward cabin. I can't remember what the cabin number was but it was right next to one of the larger suites with a wrap around verandah. It was fine on the first night but on the second night, the bed vibrated so badly that sleeping was impossible. I actually went to the ship's doctor to get a sleeping pill, but got a $100 bill at the end of the cruise for the visit. It was pretty terrible! What we discovered was, that the problem was related to sailing at night to make up time. When the captain announced what the sailing plans were for the evening, if he said that he was sailing over a certain number of knots, the vibration would occur. If he kept it under that number it was fine. When sailing during the day, at a slower speed, we felt nothing. So beware of front cabins. The doctor, when I visited asked me why I would book a cabin in front, knowing that that is where you are more likely to have issues. Like you, I was assigned this cabin under a guaranteed upgrade, so had no choice, but I will never book a cabin in front, again. Because Seabourn is so wonderful, the trip was wonderful, but the vibrations that we suffered through for a few days was not fun!

We did Shanghai to Beijing on Viking--it was excellent--still one of our favorite trips and Vietnam/Halong Bay/Cambodia on AMA and it was also, excellent!!!

Beautiful way to end the cruise! Thanks for these photos! My friends still do not believe that it was warmer in Juneau when we were there, than it was in Philly! Boy did we luck out! Take care,

Glad that you have this last sunny day. I have spoken to many people since we returned from the trip and they all said how lucky we were to have such great weather during the May 24-31, especially in Ketchikan. Continue to enjoy your time in port and have safe travels home and once, again, thank you for your wonderful posts and photos!

Mr. Rumor:

We were on board with you until May 31 when we left the ship in Anchorage. Thank you for posting pictures and commentary as it reminded us of the good time that we had while on board. I'm glad that the Code Red alert is diminishing but I am wondering how it is going with the 200 financial planners, spouses and children on board. It makes me worry about booking future cruises with the possibility of this happening. I have heard nightmare stories about groups on cruises. First, I would think financial advisors would be educated, well behaved people but it makes me wonder how companies can afford to send this many people on a cruise line like Regent, rather than one like Carnival. I guess it goes to show you that these people must be making a lot of money for their bosses. I think I'll have to mention this to my financial advisor and see if he's treated as equally well as this group was. I hope that the remainder of the trip was a great as the first half. Take care, safe travels and again, thanks for your wonderful posts.

Just received the 2018 Viking River Cruise brochure and noticed that Elegant Elbe cruise is not offering an extension to Krakow and Warsaw. My husband and I took this cruise last year and while some cruise critic posters warned that I would spend a lot of time on a bus, we considered it to be one of our best Viking cruises. The bus time between Prague and Krakow and Krakow and Warsaw were planned well, with stops halfway between the departing city and destination city. The stops were made in lovely towns with plazas/squares that offered outdoor dining options, so the bus trips were enjoyable--big buses, comfortable, restroom facilities and small group of people on the bus. Viking allowed for two buses when one would have held all participants but Viking thought it would be more comfortable to split up the group--good call. I'm not sure why Viking is no longer offering this extension to Krakow and Warsaw, but I'm sorry that others will not be able to enjoy this wonderful trip. Perhaps, this itinerary will be offered, again, in the future.

Dear CC colleagues: Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback that I have received regarding attire for this trip. However, could someone tell me what type of shoes I should bring for the excursions. I am trying to cut down on heavy things and I am taking a quilted, weatherproof coat (or is this too much?) but I'm wondering what type of shoes would be appropriate for excursions? Will sneakers be enough or hiking boots or rain boots. I may end up looking ridiculous by wearing them on the flights as I tend to overpack and don't want to risk going over the allotted weight for baggage.

I have been on so many cruises, most for 14 days or more, but it seems as if this 8 day cruise may be the most intimidating one as far as knowing what to pack. I'm assuming that Regent will send info regarding this situation, but if someone has good advice regarding footwear off the ship, I would appreciate it. Once again, I appreciate all of the feedback that you can provide.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question about evening attire in Alaska. You have given me some great advice. I can always depend on my fellow Cruise Critic followers. :)

Dear Cruisers: First, thanks to all of you who replied to an earlier request for advice on proper attire for excursions on an Alaskan cruise in late May. Next, I would appreciate any advice/suggestions for proper attire for dinner on board. Specifically, should I bring clothing more suitable for fall weather dressing such as sweaters and slacks or should I lean towards Spring/Summer attire--linen pants/tunic tops, etc. I have heard comments ranging from sweaters and boots to Spring dresses with dressy sandals. Therefore, if anyone has taken this May cruise to Alaska and can give me an idea of what type of clothing (to wear indoors/outdoors (but not coats), I would be most appreciative. Also, did anyone use their verandas during this cruise?

Agreeing with TLCOhio's comment. Capitalism was quite apparent in both Vietnam and Cambodia. The status symbol in Cambodia is a Lexus and putting a huge "L" on the car door was a pretty common site. Also, as far as people in both countries and their acting as though there is no animosity towards Americans--we were told by many Vietnamese that they are a country that is so used to dealing with war that they are just happy to get on with life without war.

Sorry, Travelkat 2, but I thought you would understand my sarcasm relating to the first post. I know that they are not dealing with Zika nor did they pull their employees off the streets, but the original thread had no background information regarding what was going on and it sounded as if he was dealing with some issues without giving any reference. Sorry, if you misunderstood my post.

Not sure what you are making reference to in your post? Fruit--teaching the crew? Is there a problem with fruit--Zika--did they pull crew members off the street? This doesn't sound like Regent, at least from what I have heard. It's a little troubling since we are booked on the Mariner for Alaska.