papaflamingo

Here is a good video (a bit long) of the Helmet Dive, Show him this and let him decide.

As Kristin Blade described, boiler heat is heating water that is distributed to radiators in the rooms. You've likely seen these radiators in older buildings, most in the U.S. have been replaced with more modern HVAC systems. To my knowledge it is completely separate from your hot water system. Here's a pic of a boiler heat system radiator.

Not always 1 liter. When we were on Navigator in June-July, my bottle was replaced the firs time liter for liter (it was a 40 night cruise) but I ran short about 4 days from the end of the cruise and they replaced it with a 750 ml (fifth). I didn't open it, but the Cabin Steward said that once it's in you cabin they can't restock it so I took it with me as we were staying in England with friends for a week. I think the size of the bottle may be connected with how many days are left, but not sure. Could have been an anomaly that I got a fifth at the end of the cruise.

YES....IT....IS! We came home Christmas night to a broken water line in our attic and flooding in our living room and finished basement. No we are having to replace hardwood on the main floor, LVT on the basement floor (our finished second level) and replace ceilings, insulation, walls, and some furniture damage. To top it off, my wife slipped on ice, ice I had made by throwing water sucked from the furnace drip pan, and ended up in the ER for 7 hours. Thankfully all is good with her, but it was a 24 hour Christmas night. Pretty much "dampened" the Christmas spirit. I'd might actually have opted for the squirrel. 😱 I definitely can't wait for out Navigator cruise in March! 🍸🍹🥃🍷😎

Boiler heating is fairly common. Here's a pretty comprehensive discussion of it. https://quality-hc.com/heating/boiler-heating-system/

All promotions, specials, etc. have conditions. They're very easy to find. Your TA should have told you when you asked. That's part of their job. But it's fairly common knowledge that promotions can't be combined, common among most business,. but definitely the cruise lines. When I book I always compare the price with the promotion or without the promotion but other perks like frequent cruiser discounts, etc. My objection to your original comment, "If they want solo travelers then they should provide us with all promotions," is that It's completely incorrect. You do have the option of ALL promotions. Take the ONE you like the best, just like we non-solo travelers do. We don't get combinable promotions, and don't have the opportunity to a deep discount like the solo supplement. As for "wasting your time," if you don't read the printed Terms and Conditions, then you are going to continue to waste your time. And as soon as you priced out the cruise you were made aware of the inability to combine promotions. And yes, you STILL get other perks based on the Frequent Cruiser program. Those are earned perks, not "other promotions." You get those perks with this particular promotion too (unless it says otherwise in the Terms and Conditions).

Pretty sure you started this discussion on another platform, correct? If not, then I'll simply repeat what I posted there. The 25% solo supplement is a special promotion as is the Gift of Travel promotion. If you read the rules, the promotions can't be declined. If you'd rather have the Gift of Travel promotion, then decline the 25% solo supplement promotion and book the cruise with the standard solo supplement and then get the other promotion. You aren't asking to get what others get, you're asking to get TWO promotions. No one is denying you anything. Here is the applicable part of the Terms and Conditions for the Gift of Travel promotion from the Regent website. "Offer is available to all suite categories* and may not be combinable with other offers.". Here's the applicable part of the Terms and Conditions for the Solo Supplement special promotion: " Single Supplement savings are not combinable with Upgrade Offers, Resident Specials, Special Savings for Kids, or other promotions." Pick the one you'd prefer, but like everyone else, you are only entitled to one promotion according to the Terms and Conditions posted on the website.

We did 40 nights this past summer on Navigator. We also loved the outstanding crew, intimacy, quiet atmosphere, and great food very important on a port heavy cruise. We were in the North Atlantic. Yes she's small and the ride can be felt. But it was never so bad we couldn't walk or get around. It's a ship, a relatively small ship, you will feel the seas. But that's cruising. I love the small, friendly, intimate feel of Navigator. So the vibration in the aft portion of the ship, the ride, etc. didn't bother me. We loved her and have booked this March on her.

As CWN said most people do ship excursions since they're included in the cruise cost. As to the tours themselves, Regent is part of NCL so it seems they use the same vendors (also many vendors are used by other cruise lines also). But we have generally been happy with them. We have done up-charge tours and they have all been worth the extra money. Many of the tours are simply bus tours. We tend to avoid those and look for tours that include stops. We have also found that, generally, the busses aren't full so it isn't as bad as it sounds. If we can't find a tour that really interests us, we book the "next best thing" then we'll decide as the cruise progresses. We always cancel as many days ahead as we can so they can clear the waitlist. If we can't find a tour we like or simply decide to cancel one, we will just wander the port and see the local sights as opposed to booking a private tour. Anyway, we see some very interesting tours on the 2024 cruise, including beach days, zip lines, canopy skywalks, tequila sampling, winery visits. So we'll book one at each port.

I believe we are on the same cruise, Grandeur sailing Jan.8, 2024? I assume you have downloaded the excursions and are able to see them? When you go online, at 8 pm on Jan. and select your account, the cruise should come up. On the right is a list of what dates each thing needs to be selected or completed. The prompt "Select Shore Excursions" will turn blue when you can access them to select. Also if you click on "manage this booking," it'll take you to a page where you can "customize" shore excursions. That will also become active at 8 pm EST. Then you simply select each port and select the excursions you want. Once in you cart you need to save them. It will show a checkout prompt. When you do this your excursions will be saved and any extra cost will need to be paid for. Even though most are included, it will still show some kind of "pay" prompt. Don't worry, the cost will show zero if you didn't select any upcharged excursions. But to save your selections you must do the full checkout. Once done, excursions can only be changed via a phone call. You can't change them on line.

Seems since a 50% refund and 50% FCC is being offered, passengers AREN'T "sharing" the expense. Likely you are correct, but we don't really know, do we? Princess and Viking also got caught by this. I read an article that this has only happened 6% of the time since around 2014 or so. That means that cruise ships have successfully sailed Australia and New Zealand 94% of the time. How do you "prepare" for an event that has only a 6% chance of happening? Lots of speculation here and on other sites. Before we nail Regent management to the cross, maybe we should wait until the real details are issued. Bet this doesn't happen again.

We did 40 nights on her from May 28-July 7 and loved her. Yes, she's small and doesn't have all the specialty restaurants, but I found the food good to excellent. The ship vibrates in the aft portion so may want to take that into account in cabin selection. Chair Hogs weren't an issue, but then again, we were in the North Atlantic and it was pretty much too cold for pool use. I thought the Coffee Connection, small as it was, was fine. I never had trouble finding a seat, but that could be more a function of when I went down there. It also doubles as a bar at night. Has a piano so can get crowded before dinner. We had a lot of weather days and I never felt the ship was too crowded. People seemed to spread out a lot throughout the ship. I think the ship is in fine condition. Obviously not "new and shiny" like Splendor. She's in a class of her own. But we found the crew to be exceptional in all respects and really enjoyed her. We are booked again in March and really looking forward to it. It seems one either a loves or hates of Navigator. We loved it.

Honestly, a lot of it is what you're used to. If you have sailed frequently on Seabourn or Silversea then that's what you'd likely prefer. For us, we did over 35 cruises on a variety of cruise lines. We started on Royal Caribbean and that set the bar for us (we also tried HAL, NCL, and Carnival). As we aged and started looking for more quiet, luxury cruises we switched to Celebrity. We found Regent as a recommendation from our TA. We booked (on a leap of faith) 44 nights in 2018 from Honolulu to Sydney on Mariner. This was my retirement gift to myself. After booking, I decided to look at options. Royal Caribbean and HAL offered a somewhat similar itinerary if we were willing to switch ships, etc. Comparing the cost with an equal (or so) cabin and I discovered that, after paying gratuities, alcohol, specialty restaurants, shore excursions, etc. I found that the cost was very close to Regent and we'd still have Business Air to factor in. So off we went. Fell in love with the ship, the crew, and the experience. I prefer less formal so that helps too when compared to other luxury lines. But if we had started on one of the other luxury lines, I'm sure we would have loved them too. So now it's long cruises on Regent that we like. Small ship, great crew, wonderful food, included drinks, included excursions, and more casual.

We were on Navigator in June-July and had dinner with the F & B manager. Yes, they are having supply issues like everyone else. As to "optimizing cash flow," sure, it's the nature of business. But I would seriously doubt they'd purposefully skimp on something as cheap as Diet Coke. As to price increases,.... Regent increases prices every year. As long as the ships book, and Regent tends to book exceptionally well, they'll continue to raise prices. Also their costs have gone up considerably. Crew is. harder to come by, food and alcohol costs have gone up, fuel has had major price increases, shore excursions have likely gone up and a number have not come back after the Covid shutdown, etc. So plan for more increases.

I agree, downloading each port is arduous on a long cruise, but I actually find it most beneficial. I download each port and attach a number (generally the date we're there) so they're in order as to each cruise stop date, and place them in a file on my desktop. I "airdrop" them to my wife and she has them on her computer too. Then we go through each port individually and prioritize our tour desires. No need to print anything. For me it's a lot easier to go port to port on individual pdf's than to have to scroll on one long one. Just personal technique.

It's generally best to go to the source for accurate info rather than news services alone. The speed restriction has been in effect for years for vessels over 65 feet, so no real changes to the cruise lines. The purpose is to expand the restrictions to 35-65 foot vessels and to do some expansion of the zones. But it's not like the entire east coast is going to be shut down. Here's a link to NOAA's program and proposed changes: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/reducing-vessel-strikes-north-atlantic-right-whales#seasonal-management-areas---northeast

No problem. 😎

YES! Since at least 9/11 the ports have a very high level of security. So parking at the port would have a high level of security too.

We did 44 nights on Mariner in 2018 and 40 nights on Navigator this past summer. As mentioned the "left side" of the menu has a significant selection of items. You can mix and match as you please and create your own meal. On the "right side" of the menu is the chef's daily selections. There is some repeat, but not much. This last cruise I found a bit more repeat but I think that had a lot to do with supply chain issues. But honestly in 44 and 40 nights I never felt bored with the menu and only repeated dishes I particularly enjoyed. The variety is excellent. You won't be disappointed. The specialty restaurant menus do not change. But pretty good variety there too.

Agree. We loved Pool Grill after a long shore excursion. But keep in mind, you can always use Room Service for dinner if you don't want to dress.

We flew Delta Business Class in July from Heathrow so we used the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class check in and lounge. Yes, it's fairly easy to find, up an escalator. But be forewarned, Heathrow was very busy and we had a bit of a line. Not more than 20-30 minutes, and way shorter than any other line, but factor that into your arrival. The Upper Class lounge was fairly crowded but we did find seats. Anyway, here's a very good review of the Virgin 787-9 Upper Class and it shows both the entrance to the Upper Class security check in and a view of the lounge.

I NEVER once suggested that damage was intentional. What an absurd allegation. Damage does happen, but it would be very hard to prove intention. And to accuse someone of criminal conduct with nothing more than "gee I didn't tip so they purposely damaged my luggage" is pretty arrogant. But if you're worried about it I suggest you hand carry all your luggage yourself. For me, I want porters so I don;'t have to hand carry mine. I'm on vacation and don't want to have to work any harder than I need to.

I was referring specifically to our last Regent cruise. The tip seemed totally unexpected and she seemed genuinely embarrassed to take it but was extremely grateful. Can't speak to your experiences, only my own.

Yes, most cruise traffic in Miami IS on Sat. and Sun. The porters agree to work on weekends because it's. profitable. It's profitable and worth their time so they "signed up" to work weekends. It's profitable and worth their time because of tips. Take away the tips and you'll see fewer and fewer porters giving up their weekends. I have been to ports where there is only a couple of porters. It results in a long wait to get luggage both collected for boarding or assistance for going home. And since this was a discussion begun early, why do you think my response isn't pertinent? I didn't start it, I simply comment on a number of comments.

Here's what I do and why. I always tip the porters. I tip them very well (about $5 per bag). I do that because I want my bag taken care of, they are working on a weekend (generally), it's a job I don't want to do, and in the grand scheme of things (cruise cost), it's a drop in the bucket. It also keeps them coming in on Sat. or Sun. I've been on a cruise with no porters. Not fun to have to find and "lug" your luggage by yourself with no help. I say tip them and keep them working. As to ships crew, NO tip is expected. We tipped our cabin steward on the last cruise for all she did for us. She balked at taking it, and seemed genuinely surprised. We insisted as it was a 40 night cruise and she took VERY GOOD care of us. So.. tip as you want. The tips are included so keep that in mind. And don't worry at all what others do, just do as you wish. The crew does not expect extra tip money. So no need to worry about it.