Gcto

sorry

Agree with GoArmy, would not venture out on our own. The tours are usually quite decent, and having a tour guide and sanctioned tour gets you into the Hermitage faster. You have a tour guide and based on his/her quality, you get a decent overview of the museum. I found it overwhelming though, not just the amount of art and treasures, but also the amount of people. There was never a time when we were not surrounded by 100s of people. You can look at things, you can listen to your guide, but it's just...overwhelming. Next time I go to the Hermitage, I will get a private guide...

Lines everywhere...including the bathrooms 

It's like the Vatican Museum, in 2008 it was fun to go, in 2018, it was a disaster....you get shuffled through with another 1000 people, the noise and people just doesn't make it pleasant. 

9 minutes ago, tripperva said:

So you don't think Regent will be sailing the holidays December 2020  ?

No. I don't think the CDC will make a decision on opening cruising or what the guidelines should be until the election. And then, depending on change in government or not, might even wait until Jan or Feb. There are just too many unknowns and the whole system is so politicized on top of the scientific part that (imho), nothing will move. 

So anything will depend on what other countries might do...but just looking at the immediate shutdown in NZ as an example, I don't think much will happen. Europe is dealing with spike of cases right now after people come back from vacation. Spike in cases, not real spikes in deaths though (which is a good thing). 

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

You can wear whatever you want after 6 on the pool deck....

I hope not....:-)  I could think of all sorts of things once the rebels come on board 😁

10 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

What is Signature?

Oops, sorry, should have added this. Signature was the predecessor of Chartreuse... So Chartreuse and Prime 7 have non-changing menus.... Signature had those as welll. 

Of all the lines we've been on, Regent has by far the best selection and best food. There is always something absolutely delicious. CR has of course, the biggest variety of dishes, while Signature and Prime 7 are having a fixed menu (which only changes with catch of the day and sometimes other local additions).  Yes, you can request a special meal, but, if it is something new to the crew or not "often requested", the chef/team will accommodate you, but the results may not be what you expect. People talk about special "indian" meals and they are great, but we also had special dishes which turned out not quite as good. We actually stopped requesting special meals because we realized the kink it causes in the kitchen. And the new menu has always something to our liking (but I digressed). 

One of the great features though (imho) is that any meal on the menu can be ordered in different sizes. You want to try one dish...but you are not sure, get a small portion...you really like...get another one. We've been on the ships often and meet the same staff often. It happens that they automatically bring a bigger portion of one of my fav dishes. They remember and I love it. That is another aspect of the Regent Food experience. No, not the double amount :-) but that the staff creates a welcoming and wonderful dining environment. 

Enjoy the cruise. 

4 hours ago, Lynne&Barry said:

We are booked on the Splendor 4-18-21 and are getting concerned with the Covid situation.  I checked with my TA on moving it to a cruise late in 2021.  He tells me we would lose the $1800 we have spent on their insurance, have to cancel the Splendor, then book a new cruise and buy insurance again.  Can anyone confirm if this is correct?

 

Thank you.  

Had to do this twice in the past years. Had insurance, but then Regent changed changed the itinerary big time (aka places we couldn't go...long story). Our TA worked with Regent to change our cruise to a different itinerary and...our insurance moved with us. Basically the amount we paid to the insurance was just applied a different cruise. Easy (and out TA was great). 

As you haven't made final payment for the 4/21 cruise, I wouldn't think you'd have paid for the insurance either yet. We usually sign up for insurance the day of Final Payment. 

3 hours ago, GOARMY said:

Sue and I are hoping (against hope) our April-May, 2021 Tokyo pre-stay,  then cruise via Russia to Alaska and Vancouver, B.C. goes.  But--put odds at 1 in 4 as this is becoming a longshot.  Another instance reported in A.P. within the week as to a small Alaska charter boat (about 25 passengers) out of Seward, AK that got the go-ahead for a brief 7-day "voyage" to nowhere.   That lasted a few days; then passenger tested positive for COVID.  Back to Seward.  Everyone--passengers and crew quarantined. 

 

That Line had three follow-up cruises planned for later in August.  All canceled.  

 

Alas, one step forward; three steps backward.  Take care, all. 

 

GOARMY!

  

I hope it works...you might want to to consider the September cruise.. van to tokyo....same itinerary.. just less cherry blossoms and hopefully less covid

5 hours ago, GOARMY said:

A bit of  history  as to "throw said passenger off the ship". 

 

While not an exact historical parallel (history does not repeat itself); but close enough (but, history tends to rhyme).  

 

Recall several years' back when cruise lines such as Regent and Seabourn got  serious about smoking restrictions--specifically in Staterooms.  Like--No.  Full-stop. 

 

At the beginning of one Regent cruise--entered our Suite and encountered  very strong odor de' cigarette.  Not from our Suite, but from either fore or aft of us.   Had to open the veranda sliding door; turn-up the air conditioner full-blast; and alert our Suite Attendant.   He advised taking appropriate action which would be one warning only.  Smell went away--for two days.  

 

Two days later,  same smell.  Another  report to Attendant and Hotel Manager. Result:  Passengers were removed from ship at the next Port.  I don't know if folks from other contiguous Suites complained.  Hotel Manager reported back to advise of action.  And, another bottle of champagne--and a box of chocolates to our Suite with a  nice letter thanking us for reporting.

 

Second situation:  Passenger  getting into a physical altercation with another passenger  or Crew member.   I saw the push-shove by  an obviously drunk passenger escalate into a punch.  Recall the spark  was  dispute  over a deck chair.  Crew intervened.  Reported what I witnessed,  and  there were others  who saw same.

 

Result:  Offender restricted to cabin; then removed from ship at the next Port.  This time, a letter from the Captain detailing action taken. Can't recall if another bottle of champagne accompanied the letter.  But, on Regent,  Silversea,  Seabourn, and Crystal--this has never been a problem (obtaining champagne).  That letter also included information that the offender was banned from further cruising on that Line.  Can't  recall (again) if this was Regent or Seabourn.     

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

so in somewhat jest.... If there is a passenger who come on board with covid (no knowing)...I'd try everything to help (return to port, etc etc)...but if this is one of those...I smoke where I want....... here's that old song ..."what shall we do with drunken sailor"...:-)     :-)

On 8/4/2020 at 3:54 PM, GOARMY said:

A whole lot of people were scheduled to be on Splendor, at San Diego, for March 14th departure.  Including us.  We were there on the 13th--at Regent's designated hotel.  Alas.  But,  did get that nice  March 14th hotel breakfast.  Then, back to  SEATAC.  The first of several scheduled 2020 Regent cancelations.  

 

GOARMY!

 

Regent does include free breakfast 🙂

what will it take for us to be cruising again ? Good question. 

We are currently booked on a few Regent Cruises and we are looking forward to travel again. Regent is one of our fav lines and we love the crew and most of the passengers :-)  Will those cruises happen ? We hope, but we are not sure. Australia is still iffy and so are many countries. 

But...and here is the big caveat. We cruise to have fun and to enjoy cruising, we don't cruise because we feel we have to. If it's not fun...why do it ? 

We wear masks because it helps, but mostly we stay at home. We wear mask when going shopping and to places we have to, but we don't wear masks at our home or back yard. We understand that masks help, but I don't consider masks or other restrictions to be fun. If wearing masks or having limited access to dining room or other restrictions become a requirement on cruises, it would make me think about the value of it. I love Regent because I think I get a good value for what I pay. But... I there are restrictions in the "value I get" ...would I cruise.  

We sailed on NCL and RCL, Celebrity etc in the past and the restrictions on dining time,  assigned seating, etc was not pleasant (once you realized what Regent provided). If cruising goes back to the model of assigned seating or assigned time, etc etc., I'm not sure I'd like it. We like Regent (or Cruising) because you have your hotel (aka the ship) getting you to your new place. But if it's cumbersome or inconvenient.. not sure it's worth it. Our alternative is getting a vacation home somewhere or traveling to different places and stay put. 

Another thing is fellow passengers. We enjoy meeting great people on our trips and have made live long friends with many. But if the restrictions with masks, limited seating (or only with people in your cohort :-) ) is implemented, meeting new "friends" will be difficult. 

Cruising, while fun, is not an essential thing. There are more important things to worry about. 

2 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

 

For cruises 15 days or longer 150 days; for 14 days or less is 120 days.  Since we are on the back to back our final payment date was 1 July.

Thanks...  I'm following the Explorer right now as we are (hopefully) cruising on it later next year...Seeing all those waitlisted cruises so far on her "trip" from Barcelona to Singapore 

3 hours ago, mrlevin said:

The last November cruise, 28 Nov Splendor, final payment date is 31 July; I wonder how close to that date we will get before Regent cancels October and November cruises.

I thought final payment was 151 or 150 days before cruise (unless you want to incur penalties) ? Am I wrong here ? So that would be 7/1/2020.... 

Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

13 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Further, it is very possible that some cruise lines will be approved by the CDC while others may have more work to do.

while that might be a hopeful though, I doubt the CDC would do this. The administration and legal implications are just to much, imho. 

I understand you want Regent to sail soon and (if safe) we all want. But in the absence of information, people speculate and assume things. Some of the assumptions are just that, others are based on facts and knowledge. There a plenty of smart people on this board who have seen a thing or two...and with no information coming from Regent, we are just guessing. Now, I don't think Regent has all the information either, but I do think they have some inclination of what they might be able to do and what is already out. As they are continue to collect money (Regent Assurance or not), their clients (aka Us) are free to worry about what will happen and ...what the next step will be. 

Do I think Regent will survive....yes

Do I think Regent will try to be safe and not rush it....yes

So we all have our opinions and we all hope for the best, but...in our own way. Different opinions are just that... and we should accept it. 

On the lighter side....here's a pic from the cartoon Dilbert 🙂

The way I look at the "waitlisted" cruises is that those are cruises where the destination or ports on the trip have already indicated they are most likely not taking cruise ships (like South Africa, various asian countries etc). The ones in December still "
sailing" are in South America and some Caribbean islands. And yes, while there might be some who would argue it's because of capacity...I see so many open cabins that I don't think it's capacity (maybe the Christmas Cruise from Miami).

Just thinking.... 

13 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

Aida, the German based cruise-line, is planning to start short cruises next month:

Cruise Industry News

AIDA Cruises

yes, AIDA will open cruising again. Keep in mind, this is mostly a German cruise line with German guest and German entertainment (no judgment here :-) )...  And they have a few limitations to start with . 

1. Considerable less ships start from Hamburg, Rostock, Kiel or Bremerhaven (that makes sense)

2. Only passengers from Germany, Austria or Switzerland are allowed to book. No other passengers. 

3. They plan short trips of 3 to 7 days

4. Number of passengers will be limited.

When and If other ports open up, they will integrate those into their program, but timeline is flexible and it will depend on whether hygiene standards can be maintained at those ports. 

After more ports open, regular "scheduling" will commence, depending on hygiene standards of the ships and...if they can meet standards set by the ports. 

5 hours ago, loriva said:

 

Explorer's first sailing showing availability is 21 December, Singapore to Sydney. 

 

Australia is having a new spike in cases, with new travel restrictions even internally.  If the 14-day quarantine for non-Australians is still in place by the time of the sailing, five ports of call would appear to need to be cancelled not to mention its disembarkation port.  It seems unrealistic this sailing will occur--at least without a vastly changed itinerary or if things open up in Australia.

don't think it will happen. Our Australian friends tell us that the gov is clamping down fast and hard. Err on the side of... So I don't think they let cruise ships come in in December or January. Same for NZ. 

18 minutes ago, blacksmith said:

 

Just noticed on an Oceania thread that some final payment dates have been formally changed to 90 days.

Has anyone heard about Regent doing likewise perhaps?

Maybe some well connected posters could check and see if anything is afoot along those lines.

We have a final payment coming due soon for a January 2021 cruise, and like many of us are pondering what we will do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

That would be an interesting change and for many a welcome announcement. I see that Oceania still has their "cancel for any reason up to 48 hour" offer up, while Regent is now offering "cancel for any reason up to 15 days". With various countries still not opening up and not planning for a while, I can see this uncertainty linger for quite a while. Especially thinking about Australia and NZ (see earlier discussions), paying full price now as final payment without having some knowledge what would/could happen is difficult. Blacksmith, I assume you are booked on a cruise down under considering the time frame :-) 

However, if Oceania is offering a later full payment date, would Regent follow suit ? Being part of the same big company, yet under different management to some extend, still doesn't mean much in todays environment.  If Oceania is offering later payment, Regent should follow, otherwise, passengers will be upset. But, as both lines offer 100% FCC when passenger cancel, would one line prefer to have the full payment sooner and thus have the cash flow ? 

Wonder what will happen. 

20 hours ago, sanne said:

 

The Australian tourism minister has advised that its most likely there will be no international leisure travel until into 2021 apart from possible  ‘ bubbles’ with NZ and some Pacific countries. Safe to say that since Aussies can’t fly out of the country, no one is coming in unless it is essential and then only with 14 day strict hotel quarantine at travellers expense. 

 

 

 

 

Just verified this with friends in Australia...yes, this is true and they don't expect any international travel until into 2021 (unless ...those 14 days quarantine). So I guess, the season is done...and itineraries have to be changed.  But all is in flux it seems. 

9 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

No answer (or opinion) on your question but I have to admit when I first saw topic title I thought you were posting that you had taken a job as crew.  😀

 

Truthfully, we are booked on Explorer Auckland to Sydney next January but will have to wait and see if it sails.

 

Marc

🙂  you are watching too much TV 🙂  But then....thinking about it...what job (as crew ) would I do....hmmmm...that keeps me busy while mowing the lawn.  🙂

Now that NCL has canceled (or removed) all cruises for Australia and NZ this winter, what do you think the chances are that RSSC and Oceania are also canceling their cruises. Both are still showing the trips for this winter. Information I find (spotty at best) says Australia might limit or not allow cruises this winter, but I wonder if that is just speculation or fact. 

Any ideas here ? Have NZ on our bucket list for a while and am wondering what to do. 

Thanks

One of the many reasons we like Regent is that there are NO (repeat NO) photographers constantly taking pictures of you and trying to sell you those...shots. But there are many photographers on board  and you can take advantage of them. 

1. We haven't met a passenger or staff member who wouldn't take a pic of your with your own camera or phone, no matter where you are.

2. Every fellow passenger is more than happy to take your camera or phone and take a pic of you (if they don't...well...don't worry, they'll leave the ship soon :-) )

3. yes, there is an official photographer on board to take pics during the block party or other venues... (actually we have only seen him/her during the block party and sometimes on shore....) ...but never in your face. 

So if you want a picture taken...there are plenty of photographers around, all with the best intentions. Use them. 

yes, normally (whatever that means) it's a tender port, but.....we've there a few times and had both tenders and docks in Naples. It's too early (imho) to say right now what will happen, so I'd be flexible and see what the actual itinerary say 4 weeks out. It seems to me you are planning a tour on your own. There are plenty of tours/agencies/operators you can book and they will be equally flexible based on where the ship will dock/tender. 

We had booked the April cruise a while ago, but then changed to the Vancouver to Tokyo trip last September. We figured that it was easier to adjust to the time on the Vancouver to Tokyo trip and then arrive in Tokyo "rested" and without jet lag, thus being able to enjoy the additional days in Tokyo. Plus, based on research, weather should be better in September (don't quote me on it, though :-) ) and having a portside cabin a bit more sun. Ocean Temp should also be a little better, but I don;'t think it makes a big diff. 

Hope all will be working out...

Well, it really depends on what you are looking for. In general, the passengers on Regent are a bit more "mature" 🙂but that's about it. If you go to a Caribbean cruise, you find "yournger" people there, if you go to a Baltic Cruise, the passengers are a bit older. But, as we've been on many Regent Cruises, Age is not what it used to be. We've met people in their 80s who are younger than people we've in their 50s.  

We love Regent, not only because of the overall service, offerings, no nickel and dim'ing, etc, but mostly because of the people we meet. The ships are small enough to meet great people, but also large enough to "never see the people you never want to see again". On each of our cruises with Regent we've met great people, some of which have become great friends across the globe (thinking of my good buddy in Australia right now).  Yes, if you are a clubbing person, want to dance until the weeeee hours...Regent might not be it, but if you are looking for a relaxing trip, seeing things and meeting  great people...go for it.

A few years back we took our daughter on a trip....certainly way above her age group. Yet, she found some honey mooners on the ship and the dancers and singers came out...she was 21 and had a blast.   So as they say...YMWW.    With all Regent offers, the food, the service, the "easiness" ...  I can only recommend it.