papaflamingo

We had a cruise booked on Navigator in March of last year. Four days before the cruise Regent gave us the opportunity to switch to Mariner one of 2 or so cruises in Nov. or Dec. with an upgrade to a Penthouse and a significant refund (yes, we took the deal). So that may be one of the reasons your cruise filled up. It's like so many other things. You don't really know (without asking) how much someone really pays to be on the same cruise, hotel room, airline flight, car rental, etc. It's just a factor of marketing and maximizing profits. About all you can do is find a cruise you want at a price that you consider "worth it" and book the cruise and never look back.

We're the opposite. I love seafood and my wife is allergic. But we found that Pacific Rim (on Grandeur but the menus are close if not identical) offered many non-seafood choices. She was very happy with the available choices. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, at least she was. But your wife will be very happy... and as we both know... that's what counts. 😜

Thanks. Yes, we are in Business Class. I'm sure I'm just stressing over nothing, but it did put a new wrinkle in our planning. We fly First Class from ATL-SFO with 13 hour layover in SFO then Business Class to HKG, all on United. Our return is HND-ATL. on Delta. My real gut feeling is that since we're only talking about 2-4 inches total they likely won't notice. Oh well... if we have to pay it, we have to pay it. 😎

I'm a retired pilot. Pilot's love telling people "things." It's what we do best. 😜🤣

We did Mariner on Dec. 2 and Grandeur on Jan. 8. We love Mariner (our first cruise on her was 44 nights in 2018) but Grandeur is spectacular!!! I hope you clear the waitlist! You won't be disappointed!!!

United over and Delta back.

Ok... an odd question... we leave on Thurs. for our cruise out of Hong Kong. My wife bought new luggage, and when we measured them it turns out they are 2 inches too big for the airline's checked luggage regulation. Our's measures 32 inches by 20 inches, by 12 inches for a total of 64 inches. The airlines regulation is total of 62 inches or it's "oversized" and incurs an expensive penalty. I'm hoping that it's simply so close they won't notice, but was wondering... anyone has any experience with this?

When we were on Grandeur in Jan. our friend had the escargot. It was "weird." He didn't like it all, but he broke the "shell" open and just ate the snail. I was thinking it might be better if you also ate the "shell" with it. What was your impression? Was it worth ordering or not?

We were on Grandeur in Jan. If you get to the theater by 9:15 you won't have any problem (believe the doors open at 9:00 or 30 min. before showtime). We were a group of 4 also and with the exception of Krew Kapers and maybe one other show, 9:15 is fine. Krew Kapers, like every other ship, will fill the theater so get there early (it was as 6:00) so we got there at 5:30 when they opened up the doors. We even walked in at 9:29 one night and got seats (had to hunt more for those). As to where to sit, that's up to you. The balcony, if you're back a couple of rows to see over the rail, has nice seats but no tables for drinks. We tended to sit more in the back on the lower level in case we wanted to leave early, but you do lose sight above. Not a big deal, but during the Pirate show they did come down some stairs on the set and we couldn't see them, but again, that was the only time. Other than that, the sound, view, etc. was great from about any seats.

I believe the hotel credit is $150 per person, so $300 per night. Pretty much will offset the cost for your room. All you'll lose is a free breakfast and transport to the ship. So since you are already settled, taking your hotel credit might definitely be advantageous to you. We do that all the time The included hotel night can be cancelled up to 60 days before the cruise. If you look on your Booking Statement, it shows the cancellation schedule.

I believe the only way you can check your luggage all the way through is if the flight is sold as a published connecting flight. Example, we are going Atlanta-Hong Kong as a single ticket so even though we have a 13 hour layover in SFO, I believe (haven't done it yet) that the luggage will be check all the way to Hong Kong. If you are on 2 separate bookings (not sold as a single connecting flight), one to Miami, another the next day to Barbados, then likely your luggage will have to be claimed and checked the next day. Also on the return leg, you will have to claim luggage to clear customs and recheck either way (unless you clear customs in Barbados). BUT, make absolutely sure you know when you check in for your flights and double check your luggage tags to verify the destination printed. It would not be good to assume your luggage is checked all the way through only to have it sitting in Miami.

We were on Grandeur last month. Dianara was not only in the Coffee Connection, but also Compass Rose serving wine and the theater serving drinks. By FAR one of our FAVORITE crew members (in a huge bunch of favorite crew members).

If you look at a map, Abu Dhabi is nowhere near the Red Sea where the Houthis are attacking shipping. There is currently no greater threat in Abu Dhabi than there was in the past.

They're giving them a discount (I believe 30%) on 3 specific cruises OR 100% refund! Why do they need FCC when they get 100% refund? There are NO "restrictive limitations" since they can get 100% refund. "The entire inventory of cruises" IS available since they get a 100% refund. Not actually sure what the problem is. Take the 100% refund and book whatever cruise desired, or take the 30% discount on the offered cruises. Remember, it's not like Regent asked the Houthi to shoot missiles at ships in the Red Sea.

The person who the article was about did a few things wrong. First, sounds like she opted not to try to catch the cruise. If she had purchased tickets to meet the ship, it's possible that her insurance would have paid for them. She also, after going home, filed a Trip Delay claim, not Cancellation. The policy clearly states that to cancel for any reason you must file before the cruise begins, She stated she filed the cancel for any reason claim later. So here's the thing... I always buy insurance. But I always look at the policy to know exactly what I'm buying. I have had to cancel 2 cruises (one this past Oct.). I looked at the policy and got my "ducks in a row" before filing any claims. If she had done that, maybe she wouldn't have had a problem. I'm not defending the cruise line nor insurance companies, but as adults, it's on us to make sure we know EXACTLY what we are doing and ask appropriate questions.

I suspect that the people on the cancelled cruises were offered cruises with availability and were about the same cost of the cruise that was cancelled. Surely you don't expect Regent to offer someone a cruise that is sold out or much norm expensive than the cruise that was cancelled do you? Oh, by the way, they also have a 100% refund option.

Absolutely true. But we were on Mariner in Dec. and the "word" was that they were finding some seal issues in the system that prevented the vacuum from building in areas. They took the entire system down (I think it was the entire system) for a relatively short time when we were in port one day to work on it. Sadly all they can do is troubleshoot when trouble occurs. My son was a Navy Pilot. When he deployed for 7 months on the U.S.S. Bush (they also have vacuum toilets) and the system was not working the entire 7 months. They actually had to dedicate a couple of crewmen full time doing nothing but keeping some section of the toilets working throughout the ship. My son told me that first thing in the morning an announcement was made as to which "heads" were operable.

We were in a Superior Suite which is the same layout as a Concierge so that could certainly be a factor. It seems higher suites (Penthouse and above) also seem to not have much of an issue. Would make sense since the beds in the suites below Superior Suites are against the shared wall.

Honestly, y'all are overthinking the soundproofing issue. As I said somewhere on here, we were on Grandeur a few weeks ago and we only heard our neighbors from one side, the side with the couch, and only a couple times, and I was sitting on the couch as, apparently, was my neighbor. My wife could barely hear them (if at all) from the bed. The couches were back to back with only a wall separating them so I heard him talking (since I was also on the couch) and barely his wife answering from across the room. We were traveling with friends who were on our other side, the side with the tv. We never heard them and they never heard us or the tv. But bottom line, if you have neighbors that are excessively loud at times when you're trying to sleep, simply let them know politely and I bet they'll make the effort to be quieter. But I'll say this, I loved Grandeur and the soundproof issue was so minor that it won't even factor into my decision to book again. Just sayin'.

For the non-stop Haneda-Atlanta on Delta the up charge was $1000 per person. Figured since it's about 13 hour flight, it was worth it. If I was to purchase the flight using my employee discount (I'm retired Delta) it would cost about $5500 per person (without my employee discount the cost would be $6100 per person). I think the air allotment today for one leg is $2850 so you can see even adding the $1000 I save about $1200 per person using Regent air. And I believe when we first booked the cruise the air allotment was a bit less as it's gone up as the airlines are getting more expensive.

We were also on that cruise. Yes, missing Greenland was a bit disappointing, but when I looked at my weather app and it was "heavy rain and 50 kt winds" I figured I'd "deal with my disappointment." But it was a fantastic cruise!!!! And I thought St. Pierre was a fun stop. Something really unique and unexpected. But everyone needs to understand, the weather in the North Atlantic, especially somewhere like Greenland, is very fickle indeed and very unforgiving. That's why it's so desolate.

I wouldn't "not sail Regent" because the pricing on a sold out cruise (waitlisted only) that leaves in a month on their brand new ship is high. Regent is a "for profit" business after all. As such they'll charge whatever the market will bear. That's why it's always best to book as far in advance as possible, as the ship sells out the prices go up. The stockholders would have it no other way. True story.... a number of years ago I saw an INSIDE CABIN on a Royal Caribbean cruise, one of the older class ships, for $100,000 PER PERSON!!! 😱. It was the only cabin left, so I guess they figured, what the heck. Don't know if it sold or not. But it certainly didn't make me say "won't be booking again." I simply laughed and moved on to cruises that I found more in my price range.

I understand your disappointment, but have to say, this was not unique to Regent, all the cruise lines did similar cancellations. Why not just look for a similar itinerary? There are lots of cruises that go to the Caribbean islands that were on your original. So really nothing that unique. Why not just book one of those?

Thanks! Wow...some pretty interesting cruises! I assume they haven't given any prices yet?

What are the "3 new itineraries?" Are they posted on line?