NanJ0508

Yep, and I think El Nino contributed to the bad weather this year.

Thanks for the replies. It makes sense that categories are waitlisted, not individual suites.

We have booked a cruise in May 2025 and asked our TA to book 2 Grandeur suites out of a list of 8 that we gave her. Only one of our choices was available. Does anyone know if Regent has a waitlist system for suites? We are low level Seven Seas Society members so have no pull there! Our TA is out for surgery so I emailed Regent to ask the question but I'm guessing it could take a while to get an answer.

Not yet. We are traveling with another couple so we are getting together soon to discuss options. It will be between Silversea and Paul Gauguin. We need to decide soon because it is "only" a little over a year out. I watched a video by Gary Bembridge, Tips for Travelers, who said the cruise companies are forecasting record capacity in 2024.

Yikes! How disappointing.....

Wow, how fortunate! Thanks for posting - enjoy your cruise!

So happy you enjoyed your cruise! Disappointing to miss Mo’orea but it seems Regent and the other ports made it a wonderful trip nonetheless. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Yes, I am furiously exploring other cruise lines now! From my research, FP choices comparable to Regent in the dry(drier) season are Paul Gauguin, Silversea and Windstar. I'm leaning to Paul Gauguin but I think it will be even more expensive in total than Regent - gasp. I haven't asked the travel agent to price it out but she said generally PG is more expensive once you add it all up. This is a dream cruise for us so we will probably just have to suck it up and pay more.

Thank you for sharing your perspective. I think our decision will boil down to PG, also. We don't cruise often so the luxurious Regent experience is part of the enjoyment for us. But as expensive as French Polynesia vacations are, the whole experience has to be considered, and like you said, for FP, the beauty trumps the luxury accommodations.

Oh, I am so sorry for you! But thank you for replying and sharing. We may have to rethink this Regent trip. A forum member who travels to the South Pacific a lot says December to April is a crap-shoot. For our pocketbook, these cruises are too expensive for a crap-shoot!

How was the weather when cruising Tahiti in their summer season aboard Regent? I don't understand why Regent chooses to cruise Tahiti in their summer! We are currently booked for February 26, 2025 but now I am having second thoughts after checking the weather for Tahiti the past couple of weeks. I know any tropical area can have rainy afternoons but it seems this time of year is worse than "some afternoon showers". One of the things we love about Regent is the size of the suites and the overall luxurious feeling of the ships. My impression from our travel agent is Paul Gauguin Cruises does not meet Regent's level of luxury or suite size and is more expensive. I would love to hear your experiences!

Yes, I thought that might be the case. Thank you for the help! No rush on this - we are choosing a cruise for 2024 because we had to cancel a scheduled cruise the night before we were to leave on December 1. ☹️ san05080509@gmail.com

bitob, can you share more information about how you book your own excursions, please?

From the Regent email: " Check availability online – this will show you flight options from your departure city. If the lowest business class fare does not show available, it is not likely available within our contracts. Note any options that are your preferred schedule and routing - including the pricing of each of those flights." What site are they referring to? Their site? We have a cruise booked in December and I do not see a place on our account where we can check flights that Regent has within their contracts. Am I not understanding their instructions? Or is this just for intercontinental flights (ours departs from Miami)?

We are in the upstate, near Spartanburg. Our family vacationed at Folly Beach outside Charleston for most of my life - wonderful place! I did notice the changes daily on the right side of the menu but didn't know about special orders. Good to know - thanks!

We sailed on the Mariner this year and will sail on her again in 2023. We wonder how often the menu changes in Compass Rose and the specialty restaurants? I assume customer favorites remain on the menu but how often is the menu refreshed? One of the pleasures of cruising is trying new foods so I hope there are new selections for us. Does Regent include meals that relate to the cruise ports?

North of Spartanburg, outside Boiling Springs! We are new to cruising and went first class with Regent. No going back now.....

Thank you for your insights!

As newbie cruisers, we realized this after our first cruise. The week was over and we had not taken advantage of much of what the ship had to offer. I think we may have to mentally accept that it is okay to not do an excursion. We haven't traveled much internationally so we are torn between seeing the world and enjoying the relaxation time. Answer to this? More cruises!

I had not even seen this part of RSSC.com - and I have spent wayyyy too many hours on their site, lol! Thanks for the tip! I've downloaded the entire excursion lists for several cruises to review but it is tedious going through pages and pages. I see on Ports & Excursions there is a filter button for activity level - nice.

We are choosing a future cruise to the Mediterranean. Our group enjoys the beauty of nature (like Alaska) more so than castles/cathedrals. I've heard the eastern side of the Mediterranean may be more what we are looking for. With some of our group having difficulty walking we hope to do excursions that sail or cruise along scenic areas. Does anyone have experience with itineraries such as this Voyager cruise in October, Rome to Trieste? We are new to cruising and have the "we don't want to choose the wrong one" mentality! Although after our first cruise which was on Regent, I don't think there is a "wrong one"!

We did our Inspire proctored tests on May 30 for sailing date of June 1. Four of us sat together situating the computer so the camera view included all of us. As the proctor watched, we each swabbed one at a time then put the swab in the liquid cup. Once we all finished that step, we each put the drops on our cards so our waiting times were simultaneous, not one at a time. Worked smooth as silk. The proctor talked us carefully through each step, no rushing, very patient.

Other members of our party stayed in this suite. Mariner Suite 8101 Suite 8101.xlsx

No, my husband doesn't use a wheelchair. While he uses a cane mostly for balance, his primary issue is shortness of breath due to having 2 lung lobes removed. The special walker is a good idea, thanks!

CWN, thank you so much for the very well-thought out response! You obviously have overcome the limitations as best as you can. My husband and I appreciate the suggestions and will evaluate the tours with your suggestions in mind. I had not thought about talking with the Tour Desk once on board. Great suggestion. On our recent cruise they were very helpful and patient with us as we changed a couple of tours. Arranging our own tours is a bit out of our comfort zone. We have not traveled internationally a lot and appreciate that Regent vets the tours, requires the operators to adhere to certain guidelines and can be in touch with the tour operators in case of problems.