staysealee

Thanks TC, that is very helpful!

Something to look at. while you wait.... liked the map of district's

http://meet.barcelona.cat/en/discover-barcelona

Thanks TC, that is very helpful!

On our trip in October we deviated. Had TA do private trans from airport to hotel central. I think it was 150.00 US. Mercedes van. Not many on our bus from hotel to ship. short drive. no lines

you can spend the first day just walking the gothic quarter, the hotel is right there great location for us. both sides of the street, pick an alley and go. When we were there, the day of the referendum vote to succeed and the next day=days were the protests. no problems other than we booked some tours ahead with Barcelona day tours that were cancelled due to protests so we didn't see familia and the museums but it is just a great city to walk around, drink and eat!!

Thanks for your AF note. We are scheduled on AF from Dulles to Barcelona via CDG and our connection is about 2 hours. Nice to know that we have a shot of making it. We are going in a day early and there are a lot of flights from CDG to Barcelona so we have options if needed. Coming back on United from Rome. TA arranged these flights via Regent. We took deviation to stay in Rome an extra 4 days.

Did you take Regent bus from Barcelona to port? What time did you all arrive at the ship to embark?

Melissa

I think it was about 1pm ish stayed at the grand central hotel. Nice rooftop bar pool views. close to the port. You can check in with regent the day before as there was a rep in lobby, real easy no lines or crowds..for us.

susar.

We Just sailed regent Barcelona to venice 10/4. We Used regent air and was quite pleased flew air france SFO to CDG.to BCO Liked AF and the A380 which was not the newer interior but was good for us. Paris to Barcelona was ok as inter Europe first/business is just a vacant middle seat. On the return flew British airways venice to heathrow to San Francisco. Liked AF better food and seats!! No problems with connection times even with an 75 min in cdg!! All went well....Long days but worth it!!

We will be taking our first Regent cruise in October ( Med). I am wondering how to know the cost of an excursion that is not included ( free). Also would like to know if anyone thinks they are worth paying extra for. Our itinerary includes:

Florence, Amalfi/Positano ( we have been to both places before), Sicily, Corfu, Montenegro, Dubrovnik, Rijeka (Croatia) and Venice. The included ones to not sounds very exciting to me. Any help is much appreciated.

We did Barcelona to venice earlier this year and cant remember which ones were paid excursions but I think we did maybe 3 paid and I think they were wine/food excursions, the Most we had on any excursion was rome maybe a full bus, all the rest were 12-14 maybe not crowded at all.

Hi, I'm a newbie to Seabourn, haven't sailed yet. But I'm a Regent veteran.

 

I would have thought the demographic on Seabourn would skew even older than Regent, so I'm surprised to see comments to the contrary (we're late sixties and mid-seventies.)

 

If you are "young" and adventurous, and want to see Greece, my suggestion is not to do a cruise at all, but to do it by land, with appropriate ferries and/or flights. Rent a car when appropriate, see the real Greece. You can't do that with day-stops in Santorini. You can luxe it up as much as you like, and many Greek towns are known for their night life.

Thanks wendy,

Cruising is soo much easier, I find I like it!! That's why we went on a port intensive cruise on regent to see all the ports and where we might want to return and focus on in the future. I was thinking the same way on the seabourn 14 or 21 day greek island cruise, port intensive but I wouldn't feel so guilty if we wanted to stay on board a couple of times or do a short day in any of the smaller ports. The tours on regent that we did were fine just getting back to the ship, a glass or two, shower, more drinks, dinner and bed time for 9 days out of 10, not much time to chill, some of the tours were rushed especially rome and 1 other...Smaller ship and smaller ports I think on seabourn might give us a little more time to relax and explore....maybe:)

So we just finished our first cruise with regent on the explorer barcelona to venice. Nice cruise and a nice experience since its been a few years since our first cruise on princess........

Was looking at seabourn for there greek island sailing 14 or 21 days next year. so the questions are:

1. Is the crowd a little.....aaa.. younger than regent. we are in our mid 50'S and would like a bit more night life I guess?? a little less critical I don't know..We meet some great folks on regent

2. We had a concierge suite that was nice. What suites are comparable on Seabourn as to size and how do the balconies compare size wise.

3. Has anybody taken either of the greek island cruises 14/21 day?

4. How is there air service. We might use our air miles to keep the cost down. The wife really liked the included business air. uncorked that bottle>>> my bad and that is pricey even using points....

5, We used a local TA for regent and paid full boat... I believe and talking to others on the ship and on CC we might be able to lessen the hit a bit...local TA would give us 375 OBC each for the 21 day sail... she still seems a bit high on a per day basis.....online... big TA?? I know talk to friends just don't have many that need one..I know cant recommend a ta......

Any replies would be appreciated and thanks in advance

arrived on referendum day no problem..next day some protests and the federals got aggressive....next day protest, day tour cancelled, no taxis, but it was like a parade no problems whatsoever..walked the gothic quarter had a nice lunch,dinner drank some more...next day boarded explorer no bad days....

I could accept the sheet music/royalty excuse but for the fact that the band did on occasion play modern music, i.e. at the Atrium party when the whole ship, including people in wheel chairs were dancing. It is in their repertoire as they demonstrated that evening. They made choices in the face of polite requests for something different, at least for part of each musical set. If Oceania can do it, Regent can too. It chooses not to.

 

With the greatest of respect to TC, a business that operates only on its present clientele without an eye to the future is doomed to fail. I suspect that within the next 5 years, a large portion of the passengers on this cruise will no longer be sailing. Regent needs to build for the future and those of us who have reached a certain stage in our professional lives and who appreciate excellent cuisine and service can certainly afford Regent. I would think that we are a very desirable demographic and our suggestions and input should be embraced while at the same time Regent should continue to offer the things that appeal to their longtime and loyal passengers.

 

Just my thoughts...

I have followed this thread as my wife and I will be on our first regent cruise this weekend on the Voyager I am bringing my bose sound bar. I really enjoyed your observations and appreciate youre posting. I hope that we aren't the youngest of the cruisers..but they say I am an old soul.

really, they just got real cell service in sitka 3 or soo years ago...been going there to fish for 20 years...I know some may need to stay in touch but enjoy the calm while you can

Really no way to tell, could be non-stop or could be to the east coast and then to Europe. Really depends on where Regent can get the lowest priced tickets. If you really care, you can deviate for $175 pp and choose your flights and times and you might get them a no additional cost or perhaps an additional charge.

 

Most of us here strongly recommend going at least a day early to avoid any possible issues, especially when going overseas. Plus gives you sometime to overcome jetlag at least some. Remember, while Regent might help you if you have flight problems arriving in Barcelona, officially they are not responsible to get you to the ship or have the ship wait for you. Getting to Barcelona after the ship leaves could add costs to get to the next port to start your cruise.

Thanks dave,

We will be going to Barcelona a few days early and we do have 1 night pre departure hotel inc I will contact my TA tomorrow to start the process of additional hotel and flight deviation and see whats available. Just wanted an idea from the more experienced here as to what I might expect with regent air as I see after [lurking here] that most book their own flights. Thanks again

we are booked on explorer in oct bareclona to venice. Leaving out of sfo. was wondering if some of the air experts here might have an idea as to how we will be booked. I hope SFO to Europe as to not endure a long coach flight. Our first trip on regent and we are rolling the dice as to air