flossie009

Look out for ceiniogs in your change in Wales 🤣 …… or barter them for laverbread & cockles 😋

Explorer & Splendor: P7 and/or Chartreuse open for lunch; Compass Rose closed Navigator, Voyager & Mariner: Compass Rose open for lunch; specialities closed La Veranda and Pool Grill also open for lunch on all ships

Good video of Franck :

£GBPound and €Euro

Suite reviews from recent cruise on Splendor (changed suites between segments): Splendor suite reviews_Jan 2023.xlsx

Lunch menus (fixed/regular items) in P7 & Chartreuse differ from each other and are totally different from the evening offerings. From memory the lunchtime daily specials are the same in P7, Chartreuse & La Veranda

Another thing to check when experiencing internet problems on board is whether you are still logged in. Sounds simple but a number of times during our recent Splendor cruise we found that our devices showed connected to "Splendor Wi-Fi" but we had actually been logged out of our account. Once we typed in "login.com" and went through a couple of check pages we were back on line.

Posts #96 & #104 on the following thread gives our experience with Wi-Fi repeaters on Regent ships (some are in the suites): Our takeaway from our experiences on Mariner a year ago, and Splendor more recently, are: - Some repeaters are in the suites; not just in the hallways - If you have to go to the lengths of wandering around looking for a connection, propping suite door open, wearing a tin hat etc. then it is worth seeking help from the on board internet manager; who may in turn have to seek help from a ship's technical officer - "3 bars" on your device confirms that you are connected to the nearest W-Fi repeater; however that repeater may not necessarily be connected to the internet 🤨 - Some internet managers are more au fait with the ship's Wi-Fi infrastructure than others 🙄

We are on a B2B (one booking number) in February and have 6 advance dining reservations (one per venue per segment) I think you mean one per location per segment

The RSSC letter (January 02?) included in post #11 of this thread indicates that RSSC encountered difficulties locating suitable contractors & a suitable location to have the necessary hull cleaning carried out. An RSSC spokesperson on another social media site stated on January 13 "........... Cleaning operations have been executed twice prior to the ship’s entry to New Zealand, most recently on January 4. Both operations were carried out by diving companies recognized by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries. Following an inspection by New Zealand authorities while the ship was in port in Auckland on January 12, New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has instructed the ship to repeat the cleaning operation. The additional cleaning will take place on January 13, 2023 ................." In the event it appears that cleaning operations were not completed to an acceptable standard until January 15.

We are joining Explorer in February. Interested to know who we will have as Captain, GM, CD, F&B etc Can anyone on board at present let us know any info? Thanks

Another social media site reports that Explorer has finally passed inspection 🙂 MarineTraffic shows her en route to Wellington, arriving 7am on 17 January. One day later than original itinerary.

I assume that the hull fouling on cruise ships is very heavy since they were sitting idle for up to 2 years during the pandemic, and have not dry-docked since. It appears Regent, and other cruise lines, totally underestimated the work required to clean hulls to be compliant. From the various reports it appears that divers spent a total of 5 days (some curtailed by sea conditions) on Explorer’s cleaning; whereas Regent had assumed one day of cleaning would suffice.

Disembarkation tours, if available, are only offered when you are on board. Qatar provide an excellent service from our experience. The Qatar flight will arrive at LHR Terminal 4 so you will have a transfer for your onward flight to Aberdeen

Is the new offer (at todays price) more advantageous than the price you secured in November with the 25% discount?

MarineTraffic shows Explorer heading for Gisborne; scheduled to arrive 06:00 on Jan 16. The rest of Explorer’s NZ itinerary will have to be revised. Very frustrating & disappointing for guests; a nightmare for staff trying to deal with the changes. Just hope the latest hull cleaning attempts were more successful and pass inspection. I am sure NCLH, and the rest of the cruise industry, will be reevaluating the risks & costs of trying to operate in this region in the future.

There is a description of the likely cleaning process in post #19 of a thread about Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, also caught out by the NZ protocols:

UK mobile service providers only provide for Wi-Fi calling within the UK; hence my tip to use WhatsApp when cruising if regular texting does not work with mobile data roaming turned off. Worked a treat for Christmas & New Year messages to friends & family while on Splendor recently 🙂 (Honestly, we really were not just trying to remind those in cooler climes that we were travelling through a sunny Panama Canal on Christmas Day 😉 😎)

As above but use WhatsApp

Let’s hope this third(?) attempt at cleaning Explorer’s hull is more thorough & effective than the previous efforts. Commiserations to those on board suffering this ongoing frustrating saga.

It might be worth moderating their expectation of Wi-Fi connectivity and internet speeds on Regent ships 🤨

An impossible one to predict and it is very difficult to obtain entertainment schedules in advance of your cruise. There are numerous tribute bands plying their trade (some better than others); I believe Regent had the tribute band the Mersey Beatles on board for an anniversary cruise in July and they gave two performances. Even if there is no tribute band brought on board then the entertainment team will probably stage a Beatles Dance Party in one of the lounges.

Glad to see that Explorer has arrived in Auckland on time. Hopefully no further disruption to subsequent itineraries 🤞

Voyager plus points: - longer cruise - Horizon Lounge - cheaper because of a special offer Splendor plus points: - Suite layout, storage & bathroom 🙂 - cookery classes - Pacific Rim restaurant 😋 - Chartreuse and/or Prime 7 open for lunch - Sunday sea day brunch Both cruises have the drawback that travelling east you lose time - clocks will advance 1 hour a number of times during the cruise…………… but you will have a daytime flight going home. Decisions, decisions …………

You may have missed the point of this thread/topic. No one is saying they would rather fly in on the day of the cruise. The OP is simply trying to ascertain the likely hotel that Regent will allocate for the pre-cruise accommodation. It is Regent (UK) who use the rather quaint phrase "forced" when they supply overnight accommodation (at no additional cost) because of the available airline schedules Like you we normally arrange our own flights & pre-cruise accommodation. However, for our February cruise we left the arrangements for the outbound flight to Regent and were amused to see that in their terminology we were being forced to stay an extra night in Bali. This will not be a hardship 😂