flossie009

13 hours ago, DarthCruiser said:

In our case most of the onboard bookings get the "Deposit needed ..." status whenever a change has been made to the reservation. 

Same issue with one of our bookings. 

Seems that a lower than normal deposit (e.g. for an on board booking) triggers the glitch.

Rang the Regent(UK) office this morning and the representative was able to rectify the issue swiftly.

However he was not able to rectify another issue on one of our bookings, where Culinary Arts Kitchen reservations are not available to us but are available to others booked on one of the segments included in our our booking. He is emailing Miami to resolve 🙄 🤞 

1 hour ago, Lady Meer said:

I think it’s the Victoria and Alfred Hotel

You are correct

https://newmarkhotels.com/accommodation/the-victoria-alfred-hotel

………… the hotel and V&A Waterfront are named after Queen Victoria and her second son Prince Alfred

26 minutes ago, Oregonangelwings said:

My Husband has always wanted to see the Victory in Portsmouth.

Note that HMS Victory is presently undergoing a major refurbishment and is encased in scaffolding.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2023/october/20/20231020-hms-victory-restoration

https://historicdockyard.co.uk/discover/hms-victory/

Still plenty to do & see at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, but didn't want you to be disappointed by not being able to see HMS Victory at her best.

6 hours ago, Polari said:

are the plug sockets (Concierge) U.S. only or U.S. / European ??

6 hours ago, Polari said:

are there any USB charging points ??

US and European sockets on all Regent ships. No UK sockets.

No USB sockets on Voyager, Mariner or Navigator.

Will Regent be employing additional chefs, wait staff & sommeliers to cover these additional venues ?

We like choice but not at the expense of attentive service 🤔
 

On 5/7/2024 at 12:52 AM, SWFLAOK said:

We do, however, avoid buffets whenever possible.

On 5/7/2024 at 12:52 AM, SWFLAOK said:

If you want a lighter meal, the Coffee Connection has great coffee and and a selection of light breakfasts and pastries.

Yes, Coffee Connection is very popular …………. and is also a self-serve buffet arrangement. 

6 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

We have done many Regent cruises, and enjoyed most aspects of them.

We have done many Regent cruises, and enjoyed all aspects of them including the lunch self-serve buffets in La Veranda.
The buffet offerings during our recent Navigator cruise, which I believe you were also on, were particularly good.

1 hour ago, redraider1966 said:

We board Voyager in three weeks with growing trepidation as we could not cancel without forfeiting all monies.  Perhaps our cruise, which is labeled "Elegance of Travel" should be relabeled "Voyage of the Damned?"

So sorry that you are approaching your forthcoming cruise expecting the worst.

I hope you have an enjoyable, & uneventful, time on Voyager and I am sure you will be able to find an alternative to the lunch-time buffet if that is what is fuelling your extreme pessimism.

55 minutes ago, welshfamily said:

How do you find out if excursions are offered on turnaround day.

You will need to speak to Destinations on board to see if anything is being offered in Piraeus.

55 minutes ago, welshfamily said:

We have to change cabins and have to different booking numbers.

Not a problem. Regent staff members will move all your hanging clothes & drawers. You just need to obtain new suite key cards from Reception & move your valuables.

Suggest you have a chat with the Executive Concierge during the first segment to finalise arrangements & timing.

............ or if you want to do your own thing locally:

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Osborne House  (on the Isle of Wight, a short ferry ride away)

5 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

We are on Auckland to Lisbon, will you and David be on for one segment or two?

TBD 🤔 

Decisions, Decisions !!

8 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

these cruises were just announced a few weeks ago

We hadn't realised that; makes sense now that we didn't spot them before. Was this a re-routing to avoid the Suez Canal?

Looking at two Voyager cruises in 2025 and surprised to see no pre or post cruise offerings in Cape Town

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY250516/summary  (final segment of a Grand Voyage)

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY250604/summary

This seems unusual & Regent (Southampton) confirm that this is not just a website glitch. 

Any thoughts as to why nothing is available through Regent for this popular location?

11 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

Dame Edna was very stylish

As was her/his alter ego, Sir Les, who always went beyond the minimum requirements of the Regent dress code

18 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

 

4 hours ago, mo-chuck said:

What does that mean?

It means that Navigator has as much, if not more, issues getting in to ports with shallow water.

For example, in 2019 Navigator was scheduled to dock near the centre of Bangkok but had to dock about 2 hours away in the container port of Laem Chabang due to low river levels. A Silversea ship with shallower draft managed to dock successfully in Bangkok on the same day.

On our recent Navigator cruise the embarkation port of Bangkok was again changed to Laem Chabang a few weeks before the cruise; again citing low river levels.

9 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

You would hope but the thousands of posts here and on other forums indicate otherwise.

IMHO, many of the posts simply indicate that some would like Regent to adopt their own lower, or higher, interpretation of the simple, and widely understood, term "Elegant Casual" 🤨

28 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Why Regent doesn't spend 5 minutes and clarify the dress code is beyond me...

Perhaps they assume that their customers have enough common sense to not require any further clarification of a their very simple dress code 😉

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

47 minutes ago, frankpc123 said:

Does anybody know the minimum gap time for booking tours between the return of a shorex and the departure of another shorex? 

From Regent Shore Excursion Summary:

“Please be advised that when booking multiple tours on the same day online, the later tour must begin at least 75 minutes after the first tour is scheduled to return to the ship”

50 minutes ago, frankpc123 said:

surprised to see at least one port with no free or pad shore excursion availability

Just waitlist your preferred excursion; hopefully space will open up later.

On 4/21/2024 at 7:25 PM, Pcardad said:

...and rumor has it that K&B might be onboard Navigator in November....

Maybe they are replacing the pianist for the contract that includes Christmas & New Year ?

Boogie is an excellent keyboard player.

23 hours ago, lprp said:

How was your experience in obtaining an Indian visa?

I’m in the slightly concerning situation of needing to get a new passport in July (can’t do it before as we’re shortly off on an Australia trip) followed by the visa for India for our Christmas cruise.

I am assuming that you will only require an eVisa (valid for most Indian airports & seaports)

Obtaining the Indian eVisa was relatively straightforward but tedious and for us came through within 24 hours of the on-line application.

Things to note:

1. Make sure you use the official website (there are lots of agencies on line claiming to be official but just charge extra fees)

2. Before applying, run through the sample application on the website to ensure you have all the information required; including photo of applicant in correct format and scan of your passport.

3. Regent (or whichever cruise line you are sailing with) will supply the necessary contact details in India

4. Don’t apply to early. The visa period starts the day it is granted (We applied for multi-entry tourist evisas valid for a year)

For our cruise we also needed a transit ETA for Sri Lanka (very simple) and a Singapore landing card (can only be applied for within 3 days of arrival)

Hope you have a fabulous cruise 😎

Final round up:

An excellent cruise with an itinerary that took in many of the ports & countries that we love.

Weather & sea conditions were good throughout; albeit sometimes too hot & humid for comfort.

Navigator is a small and friendly ship.

Communications during the cruise were the best we have ever had. Captain Abhi was always willing to share information; either direct or through the CD, Ray.
 

Yesterday morning was packing then a walking tour of old Dubai in the afternoon.

Captain Abhi handed over the ship to a new Master yesterday as he is also returning to the U.K. today.

The new Captain took us the short distance overnight to Abu Dhabi.

We were off the ship bright & early (06:30) this morning, collected our luggage and transferred to the almost new Abu Dhabi airport.

David encountered some unknown issue at Passport Control; but finally resolved and we are now having a coffee in the lounge before boarding the 10:10 BA flight to Heathrow.

We were a little concerned about catching a flight this early but in the event we had plenty of time.

15 hours ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

Do you know when he's returning to Navigator, and who will be running the show in his absence? Thanks!

No CD required for the next month while the ship sails without guests on its diversionary route around Africa.

Not sure who will be CD for the cruises June to August; maybe John Ekin.

I think Ray is due back on Navigator in September.

Goodbye Fujairah 

Hello Dubai

Ray was walking through deck 6 this morning singing that refrain from Les Mis “One Day More” ………. He is also on his way home tomorrow 😉
 

Tonight we were in Prime 7

Our table companions indulged in the infamous popcorn sundae 😋