Gcto

AWED32: I'm not sure a wager would make sense as we both are firm in Seahawks territory. Should be a great game though, but it'll be tough to up the one yesterday.

:-)

Kickoff will be at 6:25 PM ET, which I think would also be the local ship time at that point of the cruise).

If they show it in the theatre....I would assume CR will be very empty that evening.

Go Hawks

We certainly hope it will be shown on the ship (cruising the coast of South America).

If not, I hope the internet bandwidth can handle it :-)....

AWED32. I agreed with your posting and it made me smile.

Awed32: :-)

Having been on the Navigator a few times (as well as the Mariner and Voyager), I might add a few points.

Yes, the Navigator was not originally designed as a cruise ship. I was originally a Russion Support Vessel with a strenghtend Hull to be able to navigate in icy waters (ice ). Also, the length of the ship and other measurements are indicative to how it operates in less calmer seas. Regent did a good job using the original hull, but yes, it's shorter than Mariner and Voyager and is therefore more prone to be affected by waves. (We've been on the Voyager with cross winds and high seas as well and..it was rocky too).

On the staff and service: Yes, crews rotate and we've had great service on the Navigator and less great service on the Mariner. It depends who runs the ship and who runs the kitchen. Last trip on the Navigator we met a lot of old friends/staff from our previous Voyager tour and staff, crew and service was great.

Then on a Mariner cruise, the staff was new or we had two groups not working well together, service was still good, but not the Regent standard.

But either way, it's usually above par and the minor mishaps are not important. Enjoy the cruise and don't worry about the little things.

that really depends on what bills to pay.

here's what I would suggest (and I'm neither a lawyer nor a tax advisor :-)

1. I would not use a Hotel computer to pay bills or connect to my financial accounts. One never knows if there are key loggers or other stuff installed.

2. If I have my own laptop/tablet/computer with me, the wireless on the ship should be safe (but slow) considering that most banks use encrypted communication already.

3. If you are connecting a standard http site, be careful. If the site shows as https (secure) you are most likely fine.

But if it's just bills, I usually do the following.

1. Phone, power, water bills usually have quite some grace period. If you come back and pay them late, it should not be a problem.

2. Credit card bills. You can always pay in advance based on your current balance. If you think you have 1K in balance while you are cruising, sent in 1200 to cover things. The overpay will be applied the next period and you are fine.

but back to technology. Own equipment is safer than hotel provided equipment. Https and other security issues should go on top of it.

There are a few ways to call from abroad.

The easiest is to have a GSM phone (ATT, T-Mobile) are GSM phones and your phone will work without a problem in Europe. ATT usually has international roaming switched on and your phone will connect to a local carrier partnering with ATT (T-Mobile). You can then make calls which will cost you anywhere from $1.29 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) to 2.49 (Turkey). When you are close to shore or at shore, your phone will automatically connect. And you pay by the minute.

Another way is to use your phone on board. Most ships (and Regent ships are part of this) have an onboard feature called Cruise ship roaming. See link below. When you are at sea and away from land based carriers, your phone will use the on board cell network.

Verizon uses CDMA and it is not compatible with the European GSM networks. That's why you could rent a phone....or again, use the on board network (which does work with GSM and CDMA phones).

The link below explains how it works with Verizon and how much it costs.

We've done both, called via the on ship network and waited til we were close to shore or at shore.

Here's the verizon info.

http://businessportals.verizonwireless.com/international/Cruise_Ships/index.html

Enjoy your trip