RetiredandTravel

The free (really free) pre cruise package on Regent was fine. We would probably do it again. All of our Regent Japan excursions were very well executed and the guides excellent, including Tokyo. The excursions were all larger (50-60) and the buses near or at capacity. Its easier taking the tours but it has the obvious limitations. It was so crowded at some locations the guide was at no value, that's not their fault. The Regent group in charge of setting up and allocating the excursions at the hotel although very nice IMO did a poor job, it was chaos. The Tokyo Hilton is a very nice Hilton but it is a Hilton and was very crowded at times.

Here it is. Footnote on the tower which I said was a tourist trap. Many people said they liked getting the view of Tokyo. When we were there it was 8 deep to most of the better windows. Tokyo is a wonderful modern vibrant city. Its very easy to manage on your own. Some taxi drivers may not speak English but they will go out of their way to communicate. We had a cab driver get out and walk us to the restaurant. Reminded me of NYC, uh maybe not. The Japanese people are a delight. link to the whole thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2859002-links-to-any-tokyo-to-tokyo-trip-reports/#comment-63382085

Correct and in my case there were options where the probability of seeing Mt Fuji would have been much much higher. Near 100%. If you click on attached link then on Shimizu Port and the then "Fine Traditional art of Edo" excursion you will see the beach I'm referring to. Quite sure this is the same excursion. This doesn't give me an impression of a 25% probability but that's me. https://www.silversea.com/destinations/asia-cruise/yokohama-tokyo-to-tokyo-sm240417014.html

Although we absolutely loved Japan our Regent cruise was a also a big disappointment. Our excursion (group) in Shimizu was to a beach & park that was advertised as having Mt Fuji views. It was rainy day and we couldn't see any of Mt Fuji. A local gentleman on the beach told me you can only see Mt Fuji about 25% of the time, so if your objective is to see Mt Fuji I'd recommend getting closer. I have a write up of our Tokyo experiences in here somewhere. If you'd like me to dig them up let me know. Cheers.

I'm hopin and prayin the two year stops at 5%. Unfortunately there aren't many indications its short term over sold (price) at this point . Years ago business class to Europe was almost entirely business people (duh), on our recent trips to Europe I'd venture business class is 80% people going on vacation. Many we've met are 60+ and going on a cruise (river/ocean). RCL going to a new post Covid high is a good thing I think. LIBOR (BID) - RIP

I'm also very surprised security wasn't there, especially if he really hit three people. IMO our society is far to eager to jump to conclusions based on short phone videos. Best to wait for all the facts.

I would make sure the trip included a full day (land or sea) private tour of Kyoto. When we went to Hiroshima museum & park it was extremely crowed because several cruise ships and school arrived (9/10 AM) at the same time. It was difficult to get a full appreciation of the museum. I would probably also do a private tour here that arrives early. Agree with drron on Kagoshima. If your trip extends into late April/ early May be aware of Golden Week, its the biggest vacation week in Japan and tourist sites will be very crowded. In our experience ANA has a great business & first class. Wonderful country & people. Cherry Blossom Prognostications https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001033/

Youngins!!

Just to be clear you specifically asked for a BLT (not on menu) and they said no or its just not on the menu? I read about people getting special entire Indian dinners I'm sort of surprised they wouldn't make a BLT on request.

Thank you for the information Terry, you're the best. Vancouver looks like a beautiful city. Our cruise is 10 days. We have never been to Alaska or Vancouver. Honestly we are more "urban" vacationers but we are looking forward to the trip and being on the Muse. Yes RCL is on its 2021 highs. The all time highs were in 12/19 - 1/20 around 133. To put things in perspective the S&P 500 closed 2019 @ 3230, Barron's reports that RCL for fiscal year (Dec) 2019 reported 10.95 Billion in revenue, 8.95 EPS (diluted) and had 9.02 billion in LT Debt. It would be nice to see 2020 RCL estimates before Covid but I don't have that information. CCL I have no idea. Possible S&P 500 support levels at 4300, ~4200 (50 day MA & Feb High) and 4083 (38.2% Fibonacci)?. https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/rcl/financials

Another great call on 4444, I'm starting to think you know what you are doing. 😃 RSI like all this stuff has shortcomings but when the 9 day gets ~90 or ~10 I pay attention. Terry I noticed you were in Vancouver before a Muse cruise. We are also picking up the Muse next year in Vancouver. I'm thinking 3 nights two days in Vancouver should do the trick (making air reservation's soon). We are pretty laid back with the touring stuff. Couple hours in the AM then a nice lunch w/wine a little more touring in the afternoon. Hotel Georgia seems well located and gets good reviews. also has AMEX benefits. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sorry to hear that. Away from the money I would think the worst part is such great anticipation ending in disappointment. I may convince my wife to take Regent again but I'll never convince her to take the Mariner. I see SS is using their new ships on some of the upcoming World Cruises. Great idea. HPD interim top or RSI reset? I'm not sure but I'm pulling for the reset, need a turn around here soon I would think.

Great Question. RCL is also on a percentage basis down much less from its pre Covid highs. Attached is a comparison of RCL vs CCL earnings performance vs estimates and future estimates. RCL seems to have done a good job in these categories and its appears they are in good shape to return to profitability. Very important stuff given the level of debt these companies have. https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/rcl/earnings https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/ccl/earnings Here is a somewhat dated overview of JP Morgan's take. Maybe some of the reasons for outperformance are in here. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3962009-royal-caribbean-is-jpmorgans-top-cruise-line-stock

I know and Bloomberg shows the whole damn speech (LaGarde). So much for 4325. WSJ had an article a few weeks back how institutional money mangers had large cash positions, could be part of the issue. I'm not complaining.

Looks to me that the S&P 500 August high of 4325 could be some sort of resistance. Big rally and breakout above the 200 MA for the Russell 2000 recently. This is good. I don't have any statistics to back this up but my recollection is Fed meetings haven't been positive for the stock market recently. If my wife walks by and sees Powell speaking after the meeting she just says "Oh God" and keeps moving. Ultra luxury is a relative term but IMO we have no other choices if you want to cruise.

Yes I'm also seeing a 87+ 9 day RSI and if I recall the post covid high was in the high 90s.

I don't think we have ever tried the Vintage Tunina, gets great reviews, We will try it in the future. Cervaro della sala (Antinori) has always been one of our favorite whites, it also resembles a White Burgundy. Dover Sole also one of my favorites. Have Fun!

Good Question. Yesterday there was a lot of reporting that they were close to a debt deal and rates continued to rise so I doubt that thats the catalyst. I would think if the market thought there was a serious chance of default yields would be a heck of a lot higher. Credit spreads haven't changed much (attached). The best reason I've heard is that the SVB/FRC fiasco is behind us and rates are just going back to where they were prior to the "crisis". The belief was that banks would freeze lending and that would have a serious detrimental effect. The economy also continues to be remarkably strong especially the labor market. Glad we are retired and don't go to Europe in July & August. The stock market rally has been very narrow with the tech behemoths leading the charge. NVDAs blow out quarter made investors quickly forget the debt crisis and plow into stocks, tech and semiconductors had a great week. People are flocking to anything "AI" which reminds me a little of internet stocks in the fall of 1999. I read an article today that said just 35% of the S&P 500 is above its 50 day moving average, 42% above the 200 day. There is a large gap between the S&P 500 and the equal weighted S&P 500. Some are pointing to the narrow participation as a negative sign. Sometimes the leaders just continue and the laggards catch up tho. Enjoying the trip report please send more food & wine menus and photos. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BAA10Y

My apologies Kwaj Girl I probably overreacted. I asked them to delete my post. I'm comparing the Navigator with Silversea. Very similar itineraries, we prefer the Regent itinerary but SS is a brand new ship. Price very close. And yes we do prefer shinny modern bathrooms to older dated ones, if they are both clean that is. We haven't really sailed with Covid, then Covid restrictions but are planning a few trips now.

I'm asking Sheila to elaborate on one of her comments what we prefer in our bathrooms is really none of your business.

Away from this unfortunate event how was the rest of the cruise? Food, wine, service etc. Sheila, We're considering a Navigator cruise. You mentioned that you liked the Navigator but the bathrooms were dated in another post. How seriously are they dated? I guess they weren't redone in recent refurbishments. thanks

If I recall some of the bonds are backed by ships. Considering the number of cruises you take you could use a ship, save money. win win 🤓

Although the disclaimer mentions mobility issues I think it really isn't that cut and dry. It was a boat ride with a swim which IMO could be interpreted as the swim isn't for people with mobility issues but the boat ride would be ok. I think in this attached video from another thread (~8:40 on the video) may be the actual excursion, seems to me if you could get on the tender you could get on the excursion boat, but that's me https://youtu.be/KwUaKX9vcqw Now I haven't made a mistake since the mid '70s but errors do happen. So even if Shiela picked an excursion that was too physically demanding it would have been nice to inform her along the way. Like when she met with destination services (if it came up), when they gave her the ticket to get on the bus or the minute she got off the bus. There is no way I see that its acceptable to take her ticket at the boat, make her wait and then tell her she couldn't board. It would also have been nice if someone from management reached out to her afterwards, especially considering that they are such loyal clients.

Enjoy your journey and thanks for keeping us updated.

I'll give two (my wife says I don't listen😉) 1) Sette Mari (Veranda) is first come first serve and you need to get there around 6:30 when it opens to be sure to get a table. Daily dinner menus are posted on the TV to help decide between Sette Mari & Compass Rose. 2) Included wines - Regent has a fairly large list of included wines. This isn't apparent to new travelers. Its my understanding that there is a tasting early in the cruise that goes over the wines available or you can ask the sommelier (insist if you get pushback) in CR for the entire list. You can ask for any wine at any venue and the better ones aren't readily poured, you have to ask. If you are a wine person still be prepared to be underwhelmed.