papaflamingo

A quick comment. Many people, me included, have seen children of crew members on board that are all very well behaved. I don't think you can consider them when discussing children on board. Crew members who bring families are risking their jobs. If their kids run rampant about the ship and are annoying passengers there's a pretty good chance they'll be fired. Passengers don't have to worry about their jobs if their kids are unruly.

We did the Orkney's Archaeological Wonders in Kirkwall. The tour takes you to Skae Brae which is a 5000 year old Neolithic village of 10 clustered houses that was uncovered during a storm in 1850. You also visit Skaill House which was built in (I believe) 1620. But I found the ruins of Sake Brae quite interesting. Drive was pretty also. I'm retired Coast Guard so interested in ships, etc. so driving past Scapa Flow was "cool" for me because of its historic Naval history. In Belfast we did the Titanic Trail. like I said I'm a "ship lover" so seeing where the Titanic was built as well as the museum was great! They've done a good job showing the scale of the ship. The museum is really about the construction of the ship not the ship itself, so quite interesting. Glasgow we did Stirling Castle. Beautiful old historic castle with amazing views. Very important in Scottish history. William Wallace defeated the English in 1297 at the Stirling Bridge. You can also see the William Wallace Memorial on the adjacent hill. If you're a history buff (I like history, especially military history) it is a quite interesting castle to visit. Liverpool is easy. We did the In the Steps of the Beatles Small Group. I would highly recommend paying the additional for the Small Group tour. You see the same stuff, but we only had about 12 people on our tour and it was extremely personal and intimate. We had a fantastic guide and we were able to spend extra time at each stop with personal narration since we were such a small group and able to on and off the buses quickly etc. Since we are from the 60's we just felt this was one tour we'd like to do in a small group, and really happy we did. Waterford we did Kilkenny Castle and Waterford Crystal. Kilkenny Castle was a self guided tour and quite interesting. Not as important as Stirling Castle, but still an interesting place to tour. We also had some time to walk around the beautiful village before meeting for lunch. Had a very nice lunch then (after searching for a missing member of the group)😏 we visited the Waterford Crystal Experience. I really enjoyed this part. Not only can you see some great crystal exhibits (and lots of stuff for sale), but you follow the manufacturing process and watch the crystal being made through the various stages. All in all it was a great tour. Anyway, hope this helps. We really enjoyed the cruise over all. Of course we had 12 straight days of port tours and we'd been on the ship for a month so by the end we were pretty exhausted (in a very good way). That's why we didn't tour in Portland. Last day of the cruise so we wandered into town, packed, and took it easy. We did another 7 days in England visiting friends so our entire trip was 50 days! 😎

Interline rates do not include Air. Generally the only Interline discount is simply the cruise minus air. HOWEVER they do sometimes offer GREAT interline rates. What I do is decide if I'm using Regent Air or not then compare bottom line. So far I have NOT been able to beat Regent Air using the Delta Employee discount (Fly Confirmed for Less). We do have one cruise booked through Interline rates. It was an INCREDIBLE deal. We were scheduled to sail out of Miami on Navigator in March. On Christmas we had a pipe freeze and had some pretty major damage. Since it was after final payment we were obligated to go on the cruise. The week of the cruise was when they were on the cruise. Four days before we were to leave for Miami we got an offer from Regent to change the cruise to Nov. or Dec. and they'd give us about 20% of what we paid in a refund and put us on Mariner in a Penthouse. Of course we leapt onto the deal as it allowed us to be home for our house repairs. We now have a 10 night Caribbean cruise in a Penthouse A on Mariner for over (I won't tell you how much) cheaper than the cabin sells for. It's an amazing Interline Deal! But those rarely happen for the cruises we are interested in. Anyway, since you asked, I have not tried to book an Interline Rate then buy Regent Air. You can ask a TA if that's possible. But I suspect that it would be a lot higher than the published rebate for air. We usually use the Delta FCFL program for domestic air but Regent Air for International Business Class. By the time you take the domestic discount (around $150 per person), add the cost of baggage (we usually take 2 pieces of luggage each since the cruises have been long), and consider that First Class allows 70 pounds per bag, it isn't much more to get a First Class seat.

I'd be happy to, but the cruise was 40 nights from Montreal to Southampton and included 9 UK ports so it would be easier if you had specific ports in mind. Our UK only ports were: Kirkwall, Portree, Belfast, Glasgow, Dun Longhair (Dublin), Liverpool, Fishguard, Waterford, and Portland (didn't do an excursion in Portland).

Regent excursion descriptions all have a disclaimer. People simply need to read those. For example, here is an excursion disclaimer for a castle tour in Scotland. "This tour includes some 2 hours of walking at the castle, over mostly even surfaces and with approximately 150 steps to be negotiated. The excursion is not considered suitable for wheelchair guests or those with mobility concerns." Not sure how much more pro active they can be.

Rumor was the infinity pool was going away to be replaced by jacuzzis, deck plans seem to affirm that.

Yeah... I've been retired for 7 years. I don't non-rev to cruises...especially on long flights. I use Regent's air with deviation. Even with an occasional upcharge it's cheaper than the Fly Confirmed for Less or Even Less programs. 😎 My days of sitting at the gate in an international airport watching seats disappear are gone. I leave that "sporting event" to the young and adventurous (and those not flying S3B). 😜

Thanks. The KAL flight to ICN is much more expensive than the Delta flight so I assume that Regent won't have contract rates on that flight. So I'd be changing from Delta to KAL. But thanks for the info.

We had Sunday Buffet on Navigator last year and on Mariner in 2018. May be a function of the chef, who knows?

Regent generally offers a tour in each port that is not strenuous, bus tour, etc. However people decide to choose something they can't do. Not Regent's fault, they seem to do their best in the description to show how strenuous a tour may be and people either are unaware of their own ability or ignore the description. Not much Regent can do about it.

We did the British Isles last June/July on Navigator and every excursion was great. No problems or cancellations. Met or exceeded all our expectations.

Has anyone connected through Seoul/Inchon (ICN) airport? We are looking at flights from Atlanta to Hong Kong and Delta has one that has about a 2.5 hour connect time in ICN. Wondering from experience how easy it is to transfer from Delta to KAL?

If you use an on line TA website you should see more. We use one specific to the travel industry (I'm retired airline) and they show all cabins in each category, not just 6. I use the TA for booking but also to determine what the available cabins are when I book.

Nope. I would take them on one of the Royal Caribbean Oasis class ships which are designed for children of all ages. They would have the BEST time on one, not such a good time on a Regent ship.

You can do a "mock booking" on Regent's website. Simply select your cruise, select "itinerary," you'll see what categories are "available" or "waitlist." Then select "Plan My Cruise" and follow the prompt through the booking process. You select a particular category of cabin and it'll show you the cabin numbers available. You can do that for any category that shows availability. OR, you can go on an internet travel agency's website and do the same mock booking and you should be able to find what cabins are available for selection.

On our cruise last year it was printed on our Boarding Passes in a section entitled "Terminal Arrival Information."

Thanks. I'll check. They also added $399 to our booking for China visas (multiple it says). When I went on line I could get visas for less, but not absolutely sure it would be the correct visa so I figure I'd just let Regent handle it. That's my theory anyway. 😎

"G" is a Deluxe Verandah, and the second cheapest category ("H" is the cheapest). "GS" is a Grand Suite. And you are correct, "RS" is the Regent Suite.

Very good to know. Thanks!

According to my booking, Regent will handle the visas for China. I expect I could save money doing it myself, but in the grand scheme of things it'll be easier to let them do it.

What about if you stop in one Japanese port then another the next day? Will they stamp both ports? And will they stamp on the same page or do you need a blank page for each entry and exit?

Ok...ok... I know... this has been discussed before, but I have a more specific question and don't actually feel like weeding through months of posts to see if it's been answered. We are going from Athens to Rome in Oct. and make stops in Israel and Egypt in addition to Greece, Italy, and Cyprus. Does anyone know if any of these countries stamp the passport? Additionally we will be doing Hong Kong to Tokyo next Feb. The cruise stops in Taiwan, Shanghai, and Busan besides Hong Kong and Japanese ports. Anyone know if any of these ports will stamp passports? My wife is "freaking out" due to the email that everyone seemed to have received about having enough empty passport pages. We currently have 12 empty pages and my theory is that will be plenty. Any first hand knowledge? Thanks. Again I apologize for starting a new thread.

Sounds like people are getting worked up over nothing. Health questions are standard (and have been for years) for pre-boarding most cruise ships, just answer the questions. Asking if a woman is pregnant is like asking if someone, clearly over 21, for an ID to buy alcohol. It's just a rule that is put in place and to avoid any question of discrimination ("why didn't SHE get asked that question?") they simply ask EVERY woman. Covid is here to stay. If you're going to cruise it's you're going to be asked about Covid, it'll be recommended you mask, and recommended you test before cruising. All this is to protect the cruise line if you get Covid and decide to sue. So... is it worth all the angst people seem to be expressing? Nope...it's just the "new" Norovirus.

Sorry to jump in late, been on vacation. We switched to an alternate voyage. We were supposed to cruise in March but now in Dec. I believe (NOTE...do NOT know) that you are correct and that as far as Regent is concerned I am past Final Payment on the original cruise so those restrictions apply. However I had cruise insurance and was able to shift the dates so I'm covered for any significant reason. However if your alternate cruise is EARLIER than the original, then IT'S restrictions would apply. Again, I don't actually know the answer to your question, but from what I read in the email, since we past final payment for the first cruise, then that is the date we fall under. Hope this helps a little.

Hmmm... when I select the link I don't see that. However last year they were not allowing anyone to call the Air Dept. to arrange flights due to all the changes that were happening, so you had to work through your TA via emails. I thought that was no longer the case. In fact when we booked in Jan. I called the Air Dept., gave her my preferred routes, and they sent their offer for me to accept. One caveat is that you have to get your TA to tell them it's ok for you to talk to them directly.