PaulMCO

That Don't Impress Me Much

For a luxury cruise line kind if ridiculous to have to pay for these..

They did sell Regent branded reusable plastic to go coffee cups in the gift shop.

🙂 Could not let a 40% discount go unused 🙂 My TA had trouble getting in touch with Explora today -- lines are busy Booked a short 10 day for the Caribbean that includes an overnight in New Orleans..

I use one of the many Internet TA's that allow booking on line.

Tend to agree and even with this sale, I am sure there will be another next year. Looked at a Jan 2025 sailing on Explora 2 and it remains wide open. What are selling are the OT's for this winter Explora I Caribbean.

Yes especially those that have fully paid. Otherwise your TA can request a refare.

Black Friday sale... 30 to 50% off. Lots of limitations Only OT4 to OT1 suites Blackout dates (Christmas and New Year Cruises) https://explorajourneys.com/us/en/info/terms-conditions/the-exclusive-sale

@Sthrngary good to hear all of your planning and questions went to good use. Time to begin on your next adventure. Very nice and balanced review. Agree with your conclusion that the OC suite is the best when you can get a great deal, as we did on our last cruise.

The cheapest fare from US to Reykjavik is on Icelandic. Then ask which airline Oceania will use.

We know there is a SINGLE forward elevator. But it was heavily used compare to the FOUR at mid ships. During heavy sea states that forward elevator was shutdown.

not silly if you need to use a cane and have limited mobility.

@tulok what ships are you comparing between RSSC and SS?? we are just completing Quebec to Fort Lauderdale on SS Shadow. a couple points. Do not do this late in the season. Weather is very cold and many of the port stores are closed as it is end of season. We are not a fan of the small Shadow ship. Quirky layout and stay away from Deck 8 and 9 suites. No through way from the cabin to the rest of ship. You must go outside in the cold and rain to cross from Forward to Aft. Food on Regent was definitely better than SS. Menus on SS lacked creativity. When in Maine and Halifax would have expected to see some fresh fish and crustaceans. Not to be only lobster was a frozen tail. our biggest issue concerned the coffee. The barrister machine in the Atrium was broken for at least 3 weeks. With this broken machine, the only alternative was a self service machine, which provided the most vile coffee. Management had plenty of opportunity to fly in someone to fix the machine. But HQ refused to do it. Maybe it gets in FLL.

I do not want to hijack the thread. Please look at the SS Shadow reviews on cruise critic. . The last one is mine.

we are currently on SS Shadow..

safe travels -- looking forward to your comparisons. We board on 5 January, after a break from our current SS cruise which has been very disappointing.

Unless they are unique special excursions, all of the cruise lines use many of the same guides and tour companies. We are on Silversea now and our guide in Halifax had recently handled the Seabourn and Crystal ships, same in Quebec.

I hope you all do not like good coffee -- because the SHADOW Atrium barista style machine has been out of service. I was really surprised when talking with the Hotel Director that they do not have any spare parts or spare machines. The coffee from the push button machines has really been bad (very bitter -- poor grind and temperature). It was supposed to be fixed in Quebec, then Halifax and now maybe New York. Very disappointing...

We have 15 cruises on O and only a few on Regent (though more are planned). Try the wings or the Samosa's for the Canapes. And yes same issue is the sameness every day. Our biggest dislike of Marina and O in general is that the menus repeat too many times. OK for a short cruise -- bad for a 35 day cruise. We preferred Jacques over Charteuse, but Jacques is never more on their new ships. Would like to hear your comparison of the GDR versus Compass Rose. Our criticism of last Marina cruise in Jan 2023 was the slowness of service and food temperature of the entrees of being warm to cold. We had just completed a Splendor TA and jumped on Marina so the difference in the two were stark.

And I don't have 12 suitcases worth of clothes.. Can I still cruise Explora?? My DW does have 12 suitcases worth of shoes...

no not live.... yes same shtick with Jan and Dean Is he giving away some of his bracelets.... he tried to sell them in the Regent shop, but the contractor pulled them. I saw him first on one of the OC final cruises -- then again twice on Regent. His shows are good and interesting. He had a great rock history trivia quiz at the end. Really tough..

Bob Ray -- I wonder if he has updated his show. Seen him 3 times in last two plus years... And no his interviews are not live.

Chose the ship that has the fewest passengers because any landings are capacity restricted. There are so many hours per day and the greater the number they will either do fewer or shorter excursions. Avoid the 400 passenger Expedition ships. My opinion is that Endeavour, Venture, and Pursuit would preferred. Also you could consider A&K who leases a Ponant ship yearly. Other lines you might consider are National Geo and Quark. I would avoid the small players as some have recently gone bankrupt. Our favorite ship was Explorer where we did 3 expeditions.

please post some photos of your suite. We are in a Cove residence in Jan. Interesting to know if Explora is living up to their published promises, like free transfers (was told up to 50 miles), departure lounge for air disembarking, butler service.

It depends on when you delete the credit. The free land is capacity controlled. So if they are still offering the land excursions -- yes you still can get a credit. If they closed it out with no more space then no credit.