papaflamingo

Here is a link to the Vero website. It'll tell you all you want to know about the purity of the water. https://www.verowater.co.uk/

A bit off topic, but we are going a day early to Hong Kong and will pay for the one night for our room. There are different levels available and I was wondering what level room Regent normally books? Don't want to book an upgraded room only to find we'll have to move to the Regent contracted room Thanks

I don't really need the brochures, but in all honesty I do read them, for all cruise lines that I get them from, including some of the Major lines like Holland America. I do it to see what's being offered. If anything piques my interest I go on line and check it out. I also get emails with any special offers. If anything piques my interest I go on line and check it out. Regent DOES offer different marketing channels. They have mailings, emails, Facebook ads, etc. What other "marketing channels" do you suggest?

Thanks Mike.

Not being in on the decision making process I can't really address this point accurately other than to say that it appears Regent believes that the cost of mailing brochures is worth the money due to the business it brings in. And they surely believe that it expands their customer base, so, I assume, their research shows that the brochures actually DO affect their customer base. Then again, I repeat, I am not a Regent employee and have no knowledge of their marketing decisions other than simple deduction.

So in the past you could select to use Regent Air only one way and arrange your own air the other way. I assume this is still possible? And can you still arrange your own air but take advantage of the hotel room? Or is it "all or nothing?"

I agree 100%. I'm a grandparent of 5 aged 12-18. We took the whole family on Royal Caribbean in 2017, grandkids were 6-12 and it was a "kids sail free" promotion. I was able to get 3 Crown Loft suites in a row and open the balconies. It was the cruise of a lifetime for the grandkids! We were on an Oasis Class ship and they had access to zip lines, flow riders, kids only pool complex, teen programs, water slides, as well as river rafting in port, the suite only beach at the private island. They still talk about it. And they're "hooked." All 5 keep asking when we're doing another cruise. As for us (the grandparents) we had the quiet serenity of the Suite lounge, our cabins were on a private floor, we had access to the suite only beach at the private island so no crowds or rowdiness. And all of this cost about what it would have cost for TWO people on Regent (there were 11 of us).

It's very likely the "wave of the future." But on Regent you don't have to print anything. The Boarding Pass is downloadable into your phone and the luggage tags are still sent. Seems all that's changed is the fake leather pouch is gone.

The luggage tags (at least since we first sailed Regent) haven't changed. The only thing that's changed is they don't come in a fake leather pouch (unless they've changed since last May). As for only addressing the envelope to one person... not sure that's changed either. Honestly can't say for sure because I never looked. When I get the luggage tags, etc. I'm just excited because the cruise is finally arriving so I have, quite honestly, never looked to see who the envelope is addressed to.

As mentioned the Regent tags are as durable as airliner tags. If you're talking about print your own tags, RCCL's system is one tag per piece of paper. You fold the paper as instructed on the tag and it is quite durable. To get around that, we bought plastic tag holders off Amazon that are sized per cruise line. We still use those for our Regent tags. We simply slide the tag into the plastic holder (isn't custom fit since they're RCCL sized holders but still fit quite well) and attach with a metal screw type ring and the tag is on securely and well protected. Works great. Highly recommended.

I guess I'm different than many. For me, the excitement of the upcoming cruise never counted on a fake leather pouch. Was it nice? Sure... but we don't keep them or re-use them so pretty much a waste. As for printed luggage tags,... again...nice but not necessary. We were loyal Royal Caribbean passengers until I found Regent. Royal Caribbean stopped sending ANY mail documents YEARS AGO. They were all downloaded and we'd have to print our own luggage tags (or get them from a porter at the port). If you wanted paper documents you had to request them. And I believe (may be wrong on this) they charged for printed luggage tags. So, my "pre-cruise excitement?" Printing my luggage tags! Seriously! That meant the cruise was imminent. It would be the last thing gathered and placed along with the passports, tip money, etc. It meant the cruise was about here. So I'm good with printing my own if that saves money. For us (my last cruise was last May) downloading the Boarding Pass into my phone was the ultimate of pre-cruise excitement. The cruise was ON! And I could look at it any time of any day while waiting to leave by simply pulling it up on my phone!!! A pre-cruise "gift that keeps on giving!" Can't do that with paper docs.😎 So I admit that I realize that after losing BILLIONS due to Covid, the cruise lines have to make it up. Royal Caribbean has cut back cabin service to once a day, reduced their menus, and added charges for many things that were once free. Giving up faux leather pouches and printed luggage tags is, IMHO, a "minor" sacrifice I'm willing to endure. By the way, I agree they can stop sending brochures, however they must feel there's enough business generated to warrant the expense. Not involved with the decision making so I can't really say.

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.