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On the first iteration of my flights, I had an 8 hour layover in EWR. I sent a better routing to them through my Regent cruise consultant. They responded with a better arrival time, more reasonable layovers but added a stop. When I asked my cc to look into it, he told me I had to call the Air Department directly. That’s when I got the “$75 to talk to us” recording.

My specific facts are that the initial return routing the Air Department gave me included an 8 hour layover in EWR getting me home at midnight. I sent them an alternate routing which would have been one 2.5 hour layover getting me home at 10p. They responded with a 2 stop flight but didn’t include any ridiculously long layovers and gets me home at 10p. Rather than pay $75 to reject whatever nonsense they would offer, I accepted the 2 stop offer. I’m quite disappointed, but it probably is the best I was going to get out of them. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that low cost carriers charge to speak to a human. Is Regent on the road to becoming a Low Cost Carrier?

I had a question about the routing on my not-yet-accepted flights. My Regent cruise consultant told me that as of today, I have to call the Regent Air Department instead of his handling it for me. Not what I wanted to do, but I did it. I got a recording that said I would have to pay $75 to talk to someone in the Air Department. 😳 Wow. The nickel-and-diming has started…. Or did I misunderstand?

Have you ever tried solid shampoo and solid conditioner? I haven’t, so I can’t comment on it. I have a friend who swears by it when she travels. The solid won’t count against your TSA 3-1-1 limits.

See how little conditioner you can get by with. I only need a tiny dab. I carry mine in …wait for it… a contact lens case! Filling both sides will last me a couple of weeks.

There are a number of You Tube videos showing people using video-proctored testing. Perhaps watching a couple of those will ease your mind as to what to expect and how to set everything up so that your testing goes easily. I watched this one and this one If you have any of the free tests, you might take one just to get the feel for it.

FWIW, I dealt with some FCC issues for quite a while. Finally got a person who was knowledgeable. She sent a question to whatever corporate area is responsible for FCCs. After that, the credit showed up in my account within a day. She also advised me if I had to call back, to call ~6:30 a.m. Pacific Time because that is when they open.

If you are looking at ships only and not itineraries, I vote for the Koningsdam. I just got back last week from a 7 day cruise aboard the Koningsdam. We opted for Club Orange and loved every minute of it. All in our party but me used the Club Orange upgrade. They paid for a mid-ship balcony, but booked an aft balcony. I chose to stay mid-ship so didn’t use the upgrade. Loved the small Club Orange dining room and the extremely attentive service that came with it. Club Orange gets the MDR menu plus an additional special entree. One evening it was a veal chop and it was delicious! Priority boarding comes with Club Orange, too. It was nice although the boarding experience as a whole was chaotic.

Dare I say it? “Oh, crap!” I’m trying to get 4 friends to go with me on CB in December for a 10 day Panama Canal cruise. I don’t want them all p!ssed at me because we are on a stinky ship. (All puns intended.). Following …..

@MyTMo777can you fit enough product into contact lens cases to last you a week? I use them for moisturizer and conditioner. Can you off-load some of the stuff to your DH? I covet and save every little container that passes thru my hands.

Cautionary note to light packers: Check your hotel room thoroughly before checking out!! I was on an Alaskan cruise last week with my sister and other friends. My sister had only a carry-on suitcase and a tote. Somehow, she failed to look in the hotel closet before leaving to board the ship. She left a pair of pants behind! It made for quite a challenge to be one pair of pants short when there were no “extras.” She rose to the challenge and still looked nice every day.

I had similar experience. Loaded everything on VeriFLY up to taking the Health Assessment. The app would not allow me to submit the Health Assessment. VeriFLY tech support told me to uninstall and reinstall the app. Then the app would not recognize my trip. After multiple attempts and much to-ing and fro-ing with VeriFLY tech support, I went old school with paper. At check in, it went quickly and smoothly using paper. IMHO VeriFLY is useless!!

My experience was similar to OP’s. We are Club Orange. Supposed to get priority boarding. Other than getting an early time, I didn’t notice a difference between regular boarding and priority boarding. My VeriFLY crashed and I had to use paper docs. It was still remarkably quick. Also, I have Global Entry. I was initially the only one in the GE line, until I flagged down my sister and BIL who also have GE. It was super quick to go through US CBP with GE.

I’m having the same problem🤯. I got everything uploaded but could not get the app to take the Health Assessment answers. Tech support said uninstall and re-install. Now it won’t let me enter my booking code. More pleas to tech support were answered with canned answers that were no help!! I’m just going to have to go old school with paper. Not a happy way to start my trip!!

Thanks, Martin. The Observation area it is!