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PaulMCO

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Everything posted by PaulMCO

  1. Explora does begin boarding according to suite level (at least earlier in the year in the Caribbean). Residences at 1130, Penthouses next and remainder by 12 noon.
  2. At 30 days you should have received the tags, though they are not really important you can get these at the dock. Have you completed fully your guest registration on line. Including health, accepting the contract and providing your passport details?? The hotels are in your VACATION SUMMARY. Preliminary one is sent 90 days prior (and will have your hotels) and final is sent 30 days prior. Myself, I would call your TA or Regent.
  3. Lunch was not included. We went to the restaurant with guide and paid for ours plus his. Our guides were... Patrick L and Eiichi M. Check the reviews of the guides on Tours by Locals. Length -- depends on your stamina. Many do the tours using public transport. A few at considerably more $$ will use a car with driver (that was the reason we chose Eiichi-san). Also consider the first few days after you arrive you will be jet lagged.
  4. We are currently on Mariner. No real issues. Ship seems well maintained. Everything works well in the cabin. We are in a PH C on deck 8 (mid forward). This is the first time on one of the older ships. Layout is a little quirky from Explorer class, but it works. Actually prefer the coffee connection layout and seating to the newer ships. More comfortable and less sterile looking. Decor is darker - presume they will change that. Carpets in the stateroom are a little worn, but it is comfortable. Air Con works great, and actually we can over A/C the room and have to keep the thermostat higher. Food is good and service is Regent quality. Happy to answer any questions.
  5. Patrick from Tours by Locals is a great guide. Ex-pat fluent in Japanese can give you an unique experience. I find many Japanese guides too regimented with pre-set tours, less flexible.
  6. Contact Regent directly to learn the extra cost to ship your EXCESS bags to Capetown. You are allowed one free per person to be shipped from the IHG at the airport to Capetown. Many people can do such a cruise within those limits.
  7. We are Regent fans. BUT -- You should also include Crystal, if you can find a cruise you like. Food is better than Regent, as was the entertainment. Only down side is the ships are older and their suites are smaller. Explora does not have any of the entertainment you desire. They do not have a grill or food by any of their pools (a big negative for us) Our last Silversea experience was a downer but that was on Shadow. We won't sail on Oceania as there has been too much inconstancy in our past cruises pre and post COVID (19 cruises in the past) We like Seabourn for their unique itineraries, but would prefer Regent and Crystal over them for the Caribbean.
  8. Polaris is only allowed on the start or termination of the international leg (so none at EWR).
  9. We enjoyed the Indian restaurant in the basement, it was a good treat after a week of Japanese food. The best was the Sushi place near the fish market. Quickie market was perfect for lunch. Sandwiches or even the sushi /rolls were good. Coffee place was ok at the end of the basement. Hint: Go shopping in one of the two big department stores at the Train station. They all have excellent food markets and food courts. Just interesting to watch or eat. Too many people on the tours. Guides were so-so. Remember that this was the first year of full tourism and many guides quit and did not return. They all do a standard Tokyo tour. Asakusa, Ginza, Emperor Palace, Tokyo Tower, Meiji Jingu shrine... If you do a private tour, you could at least tailor it to your desires.. there are food tours, evening night tours, antique areas, plus areas outside of Tokyo. Generally Regent saves the Meiji Shrine and Tokyo Tower for the last morning as they are both on the way to the port.
  10. The best part of the Tokyo Pre-Cruise is the hotel is being paid for by Regent plus the transfers (from airport if using Regent air). Agree the tours were very underwhelming. What we did is two private day tours and skipped the first two Regent tours. Used the Regent tour the final morning for the transfer to the ship. 1) Regent does not do the fish market - because it would be impossible to take a group through there. We did a Tokyo day tour using a Tours by Locals guide which allowed us to do the gardens near the Hilton, Asakusa, and the fish market. We chose our guide from Tours by Locals. Had lunch at a great local Sushi restaurant that caters to locals. Make sure if you do Asakusa, you do this on a weekday. The weekend is a zoo - wall to wall people and you have trouble moving through the crowds.. 2) Second day we went to Hakone using the high speed train - again using a guide from Tours by Locals. The pre-cruise does not include any dinners. Some cruisers went to Denny's near the hotel -- not our style. There are a couple of good restaurants in the Hilton basement. There are several within a short walking distance. There is a good 7-11 type quickie market in the basement also with snacks and sandwiches. There is also an ATM in the basement mall that is low fee and good exch rate. The one in the hotel has a high fee. The Hilton has a shuttle to Shinjuku station that runs every 20 minutes. Lots of restaurants and shopping there.
  11. Flying is generally not fun anymore (me after 7 million miles), as we just arrived in Amsterdam. But of our course cruising is... Bon Voyage Mr. Keith....
  12. And dressing for dinner with two persons might mean war 🙂 @BWIVince as an Engineer we tend to design for building and producibility rather than use. That is why we have HMI engineers involved to align the human use cases into the design. Obviously the refits were a rush job to get the ships back into service so this did not occur. Even in the new Sapphire Suite, there are lots of bath issues, including the need for the towel on the floor.
  13. Since its a US port of entry you will have to clear and likely there will be a zero count immigration, meaning everyone has to leave the ship and clear before the B2B group can reboard. Last time we did this we had some jerks that did not comply and we could not reboard until almost noon. It is irrelevant that you are booked on a 14 day cruise. It is the first US port of entry. Everyone clears immigration and you are on two 7 day segments.
  14. Just used luggage forward and luggage free. They tend to be overly cautious on the delivery allowing for unexpected customs delays. Luggage forward use DHL as their forwarder and free uses Fed Ex. Our recent luggage was picked up on the 29th with a desired delivery to our pre-cruise hotel on the 7th. Actually no delay and luggage was delivered on the 1st and in the luggage room at the hotel. Generally a few weeks before you leave as they need to time to send you all of the documents for the return.
  15. You could break up the trip with a stop in Hawaii for several days. I have done this several times.
  16. As it was explained to us. They have no procedure to transfer it back to your credit card. It is on your account. Either spend it or take it in cash in Euro's on the last day.
  17. Myself I would wait for their big holiday sale, since you are looking far in advance. Their bookings are not going like hotcakes. Last year they had a 30 to 50% off sale on Black Friday. No guarantee that they will repeat, but these heavily discounted sales are "new bookings only" and they will not refare an existing.
  18. Both the lamb and the lobster were two of the best servings we had on our voyage. We did 3X visits, and substituted our 2nd Umi visit for Osteria.
  19. Bistro -- Obviously they did a cost/benefit calculation. For 3 months every two years was it worth it. It only affects Alaska season sailings on a full time basis. Caribbean really not (except for Mia and FLL), plus occasional stops in NY or Boston. To me it was functional. But decor is stark and non-inviting. Still love the place.
  20. We are on Mariner in 2 weeks time. Will definitely report back..
  21. We did this in March. You do not have to do this. However it is well worth it as it speeds clearance both passport and customs. We made it through from plane to arrival hall - in 15 minutes with carry on. Yes one log on for entire family. Just add the people. But you will get multiple QR codes one for each person. @silkismom only for airport arrival.
  22. The link is at the bottom of the crystal page. Discount is 15%. You will see a revised price with a cross through the original price. https://app.luggageforward.com/cobrands/DTZVGDNDCECH?cpn=GACFEGQKD3RQ&utm_campaign=crystal%2Fxr34dxa44k6xqndx&utm_id=GACFEGQKD3RQ&utm_medium=strategic_partner&utm_source=crystal
  23. fairness.... The perfume shop has only custom made perfumes. Nice but if you like a scent you better buy a gallon because you will never see that scent again.. The sundries are in a closet. @Waltershipman we had 1100 Euro in OBC from Explora. We were not able to access it ahead of time -- that was in Jan (so do not know if they have changed)
  24. You can use them for the Spa, decent wines, decent champagne, transfers to the airport, and most shops (except for the watches). If your OBC is Travel Agent provided -- so called refundable, then you can cash this out on the last day of the cruise.
  25. Are doing the check in using a browser or the APP. We could not get the browser to work, did the APP with no issues.
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