Carol From California

We did this cruise in December. It was amazing! 

With the OLife, if you choose the excursions you can choose excursions priced under $200 pp. 

As the Endeavor has been added to the Silversea fleet and cruises are posted for the upcoming Antarctica season 22-23, does anyone know what the itineraries will be for the Endeavor after that? Nothing is on the website. I suppose they are working on them.  

On 8/1/2022 at 4:15 PM, Boatmans Lady said:

On Regents website the Hotel for the pre-cruise Winelands and Wildlife is listed as The Southern Sun Cullinan or similar, so hope it has improved since 2018.

We stayed at The Westin in Rome and it was fine. 

Avoid the Southern Sun Cullinan if you can. 

6 hours ago, KBrote said:

We have booked our first Oceania Cruise. It's a 10 day Greek Islands and Turkish Riviera cruise, October 24 - Nov. 3, 2023. We booked over the phone and have been speaking with Al Hernandez, one of the Oceania Reps. My husband and I will be using miles for our flights and our friends we are traveling with will be booking their air fare and plan to buy business class flights. So far we have done all the work ourselves as I am the one in charge of all travel plans in the family. I am comfortable booking trains in Italy, VRBO rentals in France, renting cars and driving all over Europe, etc. But now I am wondering if there is any advantage in transferring our booking to a travel agent? I am wondering about shipboard credit, getting good airfare for our friends, help with pre and post cruise hotels. We are spending 3 nights in Athens pre cruise and 4 nights on Santorini post cruise. I already have done research on hotels so not sure we need help there.

 

If you use a travel agent for your cruises what are the benefits? Do you think they can add to the perks on the cruise? We are in a low category...C2, Deluxe Ocean View, so we won't qualify for much. We are not doing O Life and chose Cruise Only fare so we will be responsible for all transfers, etc. which is not a problem for us. But we have gotten nothing in the way of credits while booking directly with Oceania ourselves. Any advice is welcome! 

Transferring your booking to a TA can result in getting rebates, shipboard credit, etc., plus you have someone to advocate for you.

We have both the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards. We use the CSR for insurance. The coverage is better. Also, you only have to put "some portion" of the trip on the card to get full coverage. With Am Ex you have to put the entire trip on the card to be covered. 

Travel insurance: Sapphire Reserve vs Amex Platinum - The Points Guy

The pre-cruise Cape Town hotels that Regent used in 2018 were Southern Sun the Cullinan and the Westin. We got the Southern Sun and it was a dump. We paid for an extra couple of nights there so we could spend time in Cape Town. Not a great experience. The Westin must have been the better one.  

23 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

We've not been on the new ships yet, but also have had the Superior suites recommended to us.  As it turns out, our January Splendor cruise will be in a Concierge (which is the same configuration), but that's just because it's what was available when we booked.  I don't mind a well laid-out small cabin but love the bigger one if I can get it.

You'll love it Wendy.

On 7/24/2022 at 1:10 PM, IotaEtaPi said:

Hi, This is my first time on Splendor. I have sailed on Voyager, Deluxe Veranda Suite, category  F, deck 7 and was happy. I am now looking at booking a Mediterranean cruise next spring. I'm trying to decide between:

 

Deluxe Veranda G1 - deck 6 rms 678 - 83. Plus is it has a large balcony. Minus is it's close to the fitness center. I'm concerned abut the noise.

Deluxe Veranda G2 - deck rms 619 - 41. Plus is it is mid to front of ship. Minus is the smaller balcony 

 

I'm disappointed that the Deluxe Veranda suites on Splendor are Queens. We had a King on Voyage. Do we splurge for a a Superior Suite (F2) which gets us the king and a larger room? It also moves us up to deck 7-9.

Any thoughts and experiences welcome.

 

We book a Superior Suite (F2) and absolutely love it. Love how the bed faces out. There is a huge walk-in closet. The bathroom has a tub and separate shower. There are two sinks. There is lot of storage in the suite. Go for it! 

I was told August as well, from someone who works at Regent.

We went in December and it was AMAZING! Loved it! 

On 5/18/2022 at 5:37 AM, Wayco said:

Good Morning Everyone,  we have always travelled on deck 10 of the Riviera.  We are very late in trying to get a Caribbean Cruise for February, 2023.  Have found one but only availability was cabin 11007.  Have read tales many years ago about being too close to the bridge and lights at night as well as the overhang from deck 12.   Can anyone that has stayed in either that cabin or any of the other ones near the bridge offer their thoughts.  Much appreciated as have just a few days to decide.

 

Thanks, Wayne

There are always people who drop out at final payment so have your travel agent check to see if anything opens up that you might like better. 

We also have a great travel agent who gives great service and generous rebates. The rebates are paid to us BEFORE we get on the ship. The check is sent to us with our final cruise documents.

On 4/20/2022 at 7:31 PM, PhD-iva said:

This must be a policy change as I recently received a referral using cruisecritic. Sorry to see it go…..

Regent did just recently change it in their "rules". 

6 hours ago, amerswed said:

Is the dress code on Expedition cruises on Silversea more casual?

Yes!

Just so you know, Regent does not allow Ambassador referrals through Cruise Critic or any other online sites. There used to be a thread on this board with hundreds of posts. People emailed each other for the referrals. I had some of my referrals denied by Regent as a result. I assume others may have also. Referrals are supposed to be to family and friends. Just letting you know their policy.  

They should have this feature on the website but alas I had to call my TA to cancel an excursion I booked. I decided to book a private tour in one of the ports so wanted to cancel the included excursion I had selected. She took care of it for me today. 

We went on a cruise to Iceland in 2019. 

On this site Iceland Intro - Guided day tours from Reykjavik : Iceland Intro go to the Premium Mini Bus Tours.

The tours I recommend are the Southern Iceland Tour and the Golden Circle Tour. They are both all-day tours.  These tours are both a MUST SEE and were the highlights of our time in Iceland. Both were long all-day tours with amazing local guides. You’ll see all the amazing waterfalls, black sand beach, a glacier, the farm where they grow tomatoes and see the Icelandic horses, etc.

If you decide to go to the Blue Lagoon, there is no reason to do it with a tour group. Go on the Blue Lagoon website to reserve your time there (directly with them) and from that website there is information on the bus that takes you there from Reykjavik and brings you back. It was a great day! Welcome To Blue Lagoon Iceland Resort & Spa | Blue Lagoon Iceland

We stayed at the Canopy by Hilton In Reykjavik for 3 nights which is right in the center of town. 

This question is for anyone who has been on this cruise this year. We are scheduled to go in December. I know that Silversea includes a Night Tour in Quito pre-cruise. What time does this tour start? I am trying to plan two days of sightseeing with a private guide (we are flying in one day early) and want to be sure we get back to the hotel in time to meet up with the group for the Night Tour. Thanks!

On 9/15/2021 at 8:59 AM, slw207693 said:

Our TA tried to book us a PH2 mid ship  on the London to NY and then NY to Montreal and we ended up on deck 7 back of the ship.  She said their website froze, called Oceania and this is all they had left.  We have sailed 35 times with Oceania and  I assure you, there is pent up demand.  Look at what cabins are left on these sailings.   

Keep checking because cabins open up and you should be able to switch to a PH2....especially when final payment is due. 

On 9/15/2021 at 6:21 AM, WNcruiser said:

Without starting a debate, no thank you. I was able to book the sailing I wanted and get the exact cabin I wanted in 5 minutes on my own. No lost sleep 🙂

 

I was surprised all categories were open and no website issues. I see they lowered the Olife credit to $300 though 😞

The OLife money credit varies depending on the cost of the cruise. I booked one that has $800, although we chose the excursions option instead.

On 9/19/2021 at 4:45 PM, pinotlover said:

Carol;

 

So what happens if next month’s release of cruises for six ships has a resounding response? I don’t believe their infrastructure could handle it! Things seemed to get fairly shaky last Wednesday. 

I always book through my person at Oceania. Then within 30 days I transfer the booking to my TA for additional perks. 

Thought I'd Share This:

On 9/9/2021 at 9:36 PM, csolyn said:

Ember and dining on Vista. Seasoned O cruiser here, went on my first on at 35 and have just kept on with them for a decade. Woofa, agree with you about Ember, the younger generations not eating in MDR (I haven't since one night on my first cruise), and although I have learned to love the cooking vids of Jaques because of my time on O, I had no idea who he was before that! I have learned a lot from him on my O tv over the years. 😉

 

Toscana is my hands down favorite place to eat on O. Red Ginger is my second. I don't get the love of Polo Grill. I can get a fillet from room service, on a sandwich at Waves,  and a great grilled steak of some sort in the Terrace Cafe. Terrace Cafe grill is my FAVORITE and keeps me on O ships if I'm honest. 

I agree with you about the restaurants. I love Red Ginger and Toscana, and of course the trill at the Terrace Cafe. We are neighbors by the way.....I am in Encino.

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

Not sure, it depends on the Chef that night, but for us we’ve a to many mishaps on “O”.  It’s just an opinion—what one likes the other doesn’t.  We’ve had more really good meals on Regent (and a few not so good).  It also depends on your waiter that night-they can break a great meal.

In my opinion the cuisine on Oceania is better than on Regent. Last cruise we were on (Regent) met the food manager who said she worked on both ships and she agreed that Oceania was better. The new restaurant on Vista looks interesting too....replacing the French Restaurant Jacques.