powlan

Once you are used to the area I'd say BART, but for the time being UberXL.

Ditto. We live in Sausalito and Uber picks us up at the door, we can track them on the IPad, and they drop us off at the pier. About $60. This is definitely not a place you want to save a few bucks.

Five trips on the Navigator, I have never experienced the horror stories of brown water, smells, or crowds. I find the vibration no worse than the Voyager and for me, the ride is fine. Have been in 15 foot swells and it rolls just like a 130,000 ship in fifteen foot swells. The ship rocks. The regular suites are better than Mariner and Voyager (have not been on Explorer). Still I have traveled with people on the Navigator when I had a great time and they did not like the ship due to its small size and limited dining options. Everyone's experience is different and if you do not like it, feel free to do other ships. Still, choice is important and the reason Regent, should keep her, because some of us do like smaller. I have my sixth Navigator booked and assume I will enjoy it as much as the first five.

Hear, hear. We're going on the 7/20 Panama canal from SF to Mia. I know it will be great even though we're in a Guaranteed cabin and have no idea where we'll end up.

Comments?

I've been on high end and not so high end, large cabins and not so large cabins, good food and not so good food, great entertainment and no entertainment, fun and no fun, great deals and budget busters , port intensive and transatlantic, and people I cared for and people who I didn't care for. That being said, I was and am glad that I'm healthy enough and have the resources enough to cruise. (I've cruised on O 4 times) Go on it with an ultra positive attitude and you'll have a great time on Oceania. Enjoy!!

Just found out yesterday from My Account on the Regent website that we are in a cat F cabin after booking a guarantee H cabin. We are sailing on the 18th of June on Voyager so we found out just a week before setting off. We have been on Voyager several times so we were happy with whatever we ended up with. Wouldn't book a guarantee on Navigator though.

Why wouldn't you book a guarantee on Navigator? I ask this because I did book an H on Navigator.

Cat H on Navigator are wonderful; you should get assigned a Cat H cabin and then offered an upsell to a balcony. If you have any concerns about vibration, probably want to say no to a Cat F balcony towards stern. Forward Cat E or Midships Cat E or D are good upgrades to purchase at right price.

 

 

Sailing on 7/20 Panama Canal cruise. Got a call from TA telling us that our tickets are in the mail and also saying that if an upsell is offered then it would probably be a week or so before sail. Like other posters he recommended that we should always go midship regardless of the deck.

I wish everyone were this considerate. We once sailed on Seabourn which was chartered by a national carpet company that awarded its top salespeople with a cruise and all the booze they and their spouses wanted. Not fun at all.

Three safaris, wore Ex Officio and BuzzOff from Orvis and had no trouble with the tse-tse flys. If I remember correctly, the clothing takes about 24 washes. Wore shirts and pants that zippered into shorts a hat with ear flaps and socks . I thought I looked kind of dorky but there were many other travelers wearing the same type of clothing. FYI Women's clothing also came in different styles and colors. I may take some of the long sleeve shirts on this cruise.

In a recent post I said that I'd be taking malaria pills and DEET. After speaking with my physician's Travel Department, and reading this board, I've decided to just wear long sleeve shirts. (oh yes, and pants). :)

We didn't get any on our previous Canal cruises but the ship recommends the malaria pills for this one so we got them, and the travel nurse said to get typhoid and hepatitis too based on the itinerary, but advised against yellow fever for anyone over age 65, saying the side effects were as bad as the disease. It may be unnecessary but I feel safer.

When you say ship I assume you mean Regent. Did they send you something or did they tell you this in a phone conversation?

I'm not certain that either my TA or Regent have the "right" information. In fact even my internist who I trust implicitly said that at my age (72) there are pros and cons for any vaccinations and as far as my Panama Canal is concerned, it is up to me. In other words, as many posters have already said, it's up to the passenger to become informed and then to make their own personal decision. I'm just looking forward to the cruise and if anything or anyone bites me I intend to bite it/them back. :) Look forward to meeting all of you!!!

We are taking the 18 day Canal cruise on 7/20 from SF to Mia. Regarding Malaria and Yellow fever shots I checked with our TA who checked with Regent who then told us to check with my doctor. Our doctor said she did's see the shots as necessary. (I'm 72 and my wife is 66). Nevertheless I decided to take Malaria pills, DEET, and a few long sleeve shirts. I'm not worried at all on this cruise.

We booked passage on the Panama Canal cruise because it was such a phenomenal deal and even booked the least expensive cabin (deck H). We thought that perhaps we'd get upgraded or even offered an upgrade at a reasonable price. Any idea what would be a "better cabin" for a reasonable price. To me a reasonable price is $150-$200 pp. Even if we didn't get an offer we'd be happy.

Best cabin on H deck. On the off hand chance that we are offered an upgrade, anyone know what a good cabin on Deck H is?

I never thought cruise art mattered, other than something to hang in your foyer or great room.

 

It's not like the "art" is a Van Gogh, Monet or Seurat.

Agreed. We've bought a bunch of "sort of" paintings over the years because it was fun and we liked them. However we would never spend more than $175 for one. When we got home we did hang them in various places and like them.However we liked going to the auction more than the paintings. Sort of like an excursion. The champagne sucked but heck, it was a kick to drink champagne and hold up a number. Couldn't believe the number of people who paid big bucks for stuff. Oh, well I'm sure they liked it. Just not my cup of tea.

I've been on HAL (Westerdam) and NCL (Jewel). On both, the food was somewhere between OK and pretty good.

 

May I call upon the collective wisdom, experience and epicurean appreciation of this board's users to ask which cruise line you think has the best and worst food, and why?

 

Please exclude the 6-star lines.

 

Thanks a lot!

Since you exclude the six star lines my vote goes to Oceania for the best and HAL for the worst. Although we've never sailed on RCL or NCL I have heard that their food is not very tasty. Once a waiter told us that it was really difficult if not impossible to cook and prepare excellent food for any group over 700 people. All of this being said, I'm sure that some of the larger ships have excellent "boutique" restaurants.