Boatmans Lady

Thank you.

We are interested in doing the tour of the caves and to book directly with the caves, it is £22

Does anyone know the rough cost of a taxi from the port to the caves and then possibly dropping us at a beach for a couple of hours.

Is this feasible? and has anyone done the caves?

Hi, I saw someone say that all the winter season to the Caribbean was out, so I would think if you are waiting for a different area, I would keep checking, as I had no email to say they had gone live, so should be anyday.

I understand if you're a first time cruiser you might want to stick to ship's excursions, but TBH you can do the same or better excursions, organising them yourself, for a fraction of the cost. After 3 European cruises we'd done very limited DIY - walking around easily accessible places that you could walk into or get the ship's shuttle - but for the Caribbean I took the plunge and booked tours from the UK with private operators in the islands. Everything worked like clockwork - we were met where agreed, when agreed, were always back at the ship in good time and had some amazing trips and experiences. Lots of recommendations on this site for reputable and reliable operators.

Thanks for the info. I have only booked a few excursions and they mainly involve some kind of other transport on the water and tend to be longer tours, as we witnessed people being left behind when they weren't on a ship brought excursion, but for the other Islands I will look for things we can do by ourselves. Hubby is interested in going to the Concorde experience, so will get a taxi, then onto a beach that friends have recommended.

Time is ticking by and it's time to get excited :D

I have had our flights on the 15th December Cruise confirmed, but it tells me seat selection isn't available till 14 weeks before the flight and I understand that this goes live at midnight.

Saw today that the excursions went live for our Christmas Cruise on Azura round the Caribbean, if there are any other first timers out there waiting to see what is on offer.

Better pay my balance tomorrow

As far as I am aware (but best check with Regent UK to be sure!) you can request changes (e.g. different routings, upgrades, air credits etc) anytime up until flight tickets are issued. Make your request as early as possible via your TA or direct with Regent UK who will advise what alternatives are available and what additional costs will be charged.

Thank you Flossie

Just a quick question, can you deviate after you have been given your routings?

. Kind of strange that there would be so much difference unless the Frankfort route has so much less traffic than Heathrow. Would say it was the significant extra London departure tax to the long haul flights but, that doesn't apply to Heathrow inbound??

 

Very strange and hope they do something for you like they did for the OP.

But we would be departing from Heathrow to Frankfurt anyway, so would still be subject to departure tax.

I'm one of the 95% and my return flight has a stop over and my group didn't even blink when we saw it! We are just ecstatic to be going on what will surely be an amazing trip and don't sweat the small stuff.

OK, I'll hold my hand up to being one of those that are a little upset with the changes to the flights to and from the USA.

NO it isn't a deal breaker, and if it means over doubling our travel times, we will deal with it, BUT the issue is there are non stop/direct [with layovers on route home] available that are cheaper, but Regent appear to be routing us out of the way, even in the wrong direction and then wanting extra money to deviate to the cheaper more direct flight.

I don't know where you live, but it is like someone living in Salt Lake City, being routed via Newark, with a 6 hour layover in Newark to get to LA.

Yes, it might take the shine off travelling. Yes we may need those first 5 sea days to get over travelling. Yes it may impact on returning to work, BUT it won't stop us enjoying every minute of or trip and hopefully it will be a fantastic cruise with great fellow cruisers :D

Travelcat2, I totally understand your point of view having been a frequent traveller to the US for around 40 years. My family live in the Midwest and sometimes the routes they are offered seem very odd, but with the exception of overnighting in NYC most of the layovers offered are around three hours.

When we travel East into Europe our layover can be as long as our flight, which to the West Coast of the USA can be anywhere between 10-12 hours depending on the route taken and head wind. So an 11 hour non stop flight, now becomes a 1-2hr flight to Europe, a 8-10hr layover [cannot use the lounge this long] then a 10hr flight to the West Coast. Total time without travel time to airport [and we have to be at the airport 3-4hrs before a flight] equals 22hrs which isn't conclusive to a good start to your trip.

This is what we Brits are on about.

Just to confirm, in the UK we often get to book cruises on a prelease basis and you register to book when bookings open around the 21 month in advance mark of the cruise sailing.

We booked over Easter 2017 for this cruise, and on talking to our TA they expected our flights to be non stop outward and one stop, possibly changing carriers coming home. But nothing would be confirmed till February'March time 2018 when scheduled flights open their booking window and they couldn't give me an upgrade price till then.

My worry now is, that the outward leg may well be routed via an European hub like Frankfurt or Amsterdam which could see us, travelling for 24hrs+ to get to LA and a similar routing home, could mean us travelling for two days.

I don't mind flying for example, Heathrow-Chicago-LA as have often had one stop in the USA flying to the west coast, and these layovers only tend to be 2-3 hours, but to fly East to then fly West, just doesn't make sense to me.

Will have to wait till New Year and see what we are offered, but will discuss it with my TA in the meantime.

I have read this thread with mounting horror.

We are booked on the LA to Tahiti leg of Navigators round the world in January '19 and booked this 21 months out in 2017

We were told that our flights would be confirmed at the 11 months before mark as we are coming from the UK.

Knew that the homeward flight would include one stopover, as there are no direct flights, and looking at this years flights, we are expecting 20-24hrs travelling, but if we are then allocated a stopover on the LA [presuming this is airport used] to Heathrow/Gatwick the flight really would become a nightmare.

We were kind of expecting that the UK to LA leg would be direct, but not at all certain now.

Think a phone call to our TA is in order, but will probably get told that they can't do anything until our flights are notified.

On an aside, we have asked about business class flights and wondered if anybody from the UK can give any indication on how much we will be looking at? Thanks

Have just signed up for our cruise in January '19. Now just need a few more to join in :)

Thank you for your speedy replies.

Just another quick question, what sort of cost are the paid for excursions?

We are booked from LA to Tahiti, if anyone knows a rough price range of excursions.

Thanks in advance

Just reading this with mounting horror, being English, hubby is a Real Ale [darker beer] drinker. Very rarely touches larger type beers and we are doing a 25 nighter with no real ale.

Do you have to have booked a certain category of suite to request your preference?

seriously? I'm new to Regent as well and what you just said is the complete opposite of what I am expecting. I'm also booked on the Navigator next year and glad to hear you love the ship and the food.

We will be new to Regent too when we embark in January 2019 and this wouldn't be the level of service that we would be expecting, but on a positive note, I'm glad you love the ship and food.

Can I please chime in, we took a holiday/vacation to a luxury resort where tipping was included and we were informed "please do not tip the staff as if they are found accepting tips, they could lose their position"

This was instigated when it was discovered that tips were being offered/accepted and other clients level of service was suffering.

For instance, a busy bar, you have been waiting patiently for your turn, Mr X approaches and gets served immediately. Mr X tipped the bartender last night, so said bartender now looks after Mr X.

But for what it is worth, my thought is if someone has exceeded their remit on their job, then yes that person would possibly be worthy of a tip, but on the whole, if tips are included, I wouldn't, but we normally make a donation to the crew emergency fund.

Thank you. It sounds lots of fun and we will be getting lots of sea days as we are booked on the Bora Bora in Bloom cruise January 2019.

Only a few more months to wait :D

We will be on the Navigator in October and are wondering if Regent still organizes the block party. We've enjoyed them in the past. Thanks!:)

Can I please show my ignorance and ask what a Block Party is please :confused:

Oh my, Boatsman's Lady, you will not be "looked down on". When the seas are rough, especially, I also wear flat shoes, albeit they are dressy flats. There are only a few people on this board who tend to "Lord it over" other on dress. It is much better to not have an injury that impose high heels on yourself.

My wife has a closet full of gorgeous designer heels, but as a result of a car accident several years back she can barely wear them. Her 'go-to' shoes these days are her Ferragamo flats, which look nice and don't cause her pain. There shouldn't be any problem wearing nice flats.

Thank you for your speedy reassurances. I'll go back to looking forward to our cruise even if it is months and months away

Ballet shoes are not what I call elegant footwear.

I read this with a sinking heart. Am I really going to be looked down upon for wearing flat shoes/sandals?

Owing to a bad unusual broken ankle, coupled with a bad hip, killer shoes and sandals are out, most of the time and if I can wear them, it doesn't usually last long, so I tend to opt for nice sparkly flat sandals, or sparkly ballet shoes, but rest assured, they won't be teamed with skin tight leggings, but with a nice long dress ;)

Have twice been upgraded on guarantee bookings & once offered an upsell. We are in the UK.

Thank you for your answer, and now the dilemma, stick with what we have and say n upgrade, as our suite seems to be in a favourable position, or run the risk of getting upgraded to a less desirable position.

Thank you for your replies, all were informative.

We have booked and have our cabin number, so not a guarantee cabin and the booking was done over the phone. and the upgrade/no upgrade box was just a question we were asked.

Yes we are in the UK and no grade of cabin offered business flights, but we have asked for a business class price, but have been told that they will contact us 11 months before the flight and tell us the prices. TBH, not overly fussed about upgrading on the outbound flight to LA, but coming home, they are a must.

As we still have twenty and a half months to wait, I'm sure I will be back with lots more 'odd' questions :)