Carol From California

Love the F2 Cabin on the Explorer. We have a cruise booked on the Explorer and one booked on the Splendor. Both are in F2 cabins. We love the layout with the bed facing outward. We love the huge walk-in closet and there is so much additional storage in the room it's amazing. The bathroom is also very nice with a separate tub, separate shower and dual vanities. Can't go wrong with F1 either of course. 

I cruise on both lines. On Oceania I like the Marina and the Riviera, and I just booked a cruise on the new Vista. On Regent I like the Explorer and the Splendor and will probably book a cruise on the new Grandeur. Regent includes everything, although we always take the credit for the air and do our own air. We usually have miles for booking the air.  With Oceania you have to pay for the liquor and for gratuities. You also have to pay for the excursions.  We never take the pre-cruise hotel with Regent. We don't drink a lot. If we go on Oceania we buy some bottles of wine and may have a few cocktails. On Regent of course you can drink as much as you want. Regent includes excursions, although many of them carry a surcharge. With Oceania if you do the OLife package you can get some of the excursions included. I have compared the pricing on some of the itineraries and believe it or not sometimes Regent turns out to be a better value when you factor in everything. I think the age of the crowd on the ships is dependant on the itinerary and length of the cruise. Retired people may take longer cruises for example. Cruises to the Caribbean and to Alaska may attract younger cruisers. The Oceania ships I mentioned above have more passengers than the Regent ships I mentioned above. That is also something to consider. I think the dress code is the same on both lines.  

56 minutes ago, RachelG said:

I haven’t posted much in the past year and a half,  partly because we haven’t been able to cruise, but also because i have just been so incredibly busy at work.  So many doctors have either quit or retired that i have been working nearly every day, so i it time for a break.

 

Since Regent doesn’t go to the Galapagos, George and I had booked a cruise on the brand new Silversea Origin.  We leave today.  My blog will be over on the Silversea board.   Can’t wait to get onboard a ship again.

We are booked on the Silversea Origin too (Galapagos). We were supposed to go last December which was of course cancelled. We are scheduled to go this December. Will be anxious to read your blog. Have a wonderful time! 

Thanks for sharing all these photos! We go in 4 months! 

On 8/12/2021 at 2:59 PM, Boats07 said:

Will be following for answers, as we are going to those cities in October 2022.

We are booked on the October 11 "Glories of Spain" cruise. Is that the one you are on?

Someone has posted a bad review from the first voyage. I found it here>>> Silver Origin Cruise Ship: Review, Photos & Departure Ports on Cruise Critic. I don't think it is every great to go on the "first voyage" on a brand new ship, and especially during a pandemic. Someone posted more favorable comments on the Facebook Silversea Passengers Group. We are going in December. Hopefully they work out the kinks by then. 

On 7/9/2021 at 5:34 PM, khuselid said:

Hi all,

 

I am trying to get my brother and SIL hooked on Oceania. We have not cruised with them before and all they have done is RCL. They mentioned wanting to see Norway (land of our people). We have done Montreal to London via Greenland, Iceland, Norway etc.....I am sure they wouldn't want one that long so thinking of 14 days or so. I see 2022 is totally booked. Someone mentioned (gasp) that Viking actually does an excellent job with Norway.....however I do want to share Oceania with them. Would prefer not to do the Baltic again. 

 

What are your favorite Iceland/Norway itineraries on O? I see I may have to wait until the 2023 schedule shows up.

 

Thanks all!!

Kim

Generally we prefer Oceania over Viking but we did do this itinerary on Viking and it was a great cruise. The one we went on is called Iceland's Majestic Landscape. We started in Bergen, Norway which is very charming. We visited the fjords with stops in Flam, Alesund, and Geiranger. On the way over to Iceland we stopped in the Faroe Islands. When we got to Iceland we had port stops in Seydisfjördur, Akureyri, ĺsafjördur, and finally Reykjavík. When we ended the cruise we stayed a few days in Reykjavik and did some private tours of the South Coast and Golden Circle. It was a spectacular cruise and the tours we did afterwards were amazing!  

5 hours ago, DCCruiser57 said:

According to cruise mapper it sailed from San Cristobal Island yesterday and is now in Bartolomo, Santiago Island.

I looked on there too (yesterday) and could not tell if it was just docked. Thanks! This is very good news! Anxious to hear after some have sailed on the new ship. 

When I looked on the Silversea website a few weeks ago it showed the Galapagos sailings would be commencing in June. I think there were 2 or 3 dates listed for June. Now there is one....June 26. Does anyone know if the earlier cruises went ahead or were they cancelled? I wanted to know if the first cruise on the new Origin ship ever sailed or is June 26 the first one? We are going in December so anxious for feedback from anyone who might go sooner. The hotel where Silversea puts up their guests for the pre-cruise in Quito is the JW Marriott. Until recently it had been closed but it has since reopened. Hopefully these sailings will go ahead soon!

Have cruised on both but prefer Regent over Silversea. We do not like the more formal dresscode on Silversea. It's good that there are options for those that do like it.

We were supposed to go last December. The cruise of course was cancelled. We have rebooked for this December. Looking forward to it! 

2 hours ago, 1teach53 said:

The following is a part of an email we received this AM….

”

ur 14-night voyage, Canary Island Crossing, set to depart on October 31, 2021 from Barcelona to Miami aboard Seven Seas Mariner^® will now sail aboard Seven Seas Explorer^®, while adhering to the originally scheduled day-by-day itinerary.

 

Our Reservations team is currently rebooking you on the updated voyage aboard Seven Seas Explorer^® — no action is required to secure your updated booking. We kindly ask that you hold calls and allow us until June 2, 2021 to complete the rebooking process. All bookings will be moved to an equal suite category aboard Seven Seas Explorer^®. An updated invoice will be issued on June 2, 2021.

 

After receiving your new invoice on June 2, if you do not wish to remain on the revised voyage, we will cancel your booking and provide a 100% Refund on the amounts** paid as of May 26, 2021. Please contact your Travel Advisor or our Reservations team at the phone numbers below by June 9, 2021 if you would prefer to cancel your booking. Refund requests will be processed within 60 days of receipt.

 

To ensure priority as we update your booking, we will not be accepting new bookings on this voyage until the rebooking process is complete.

 

 

Return to Sailing Update

 

We are pleased to share the very exciting news of our return to sailing, beginning with Seven Seas Splendor^® in September 2021 and concluding with Seven Seas Voyager^®’s return in February 2022. More information on our return to sail plan, including details by ship, will be made available on RSSC.com later today.”

FYI 

Karen 

 

 

 

I would take this switch. Would rather sail on the Explorer than the Mariner and itinerary is the same. 

17 hours ago, Frncie said:

I have the opposite problem. We were booked on a Navigator cruise in September 2021, New York to Montreal. When Canada closed up, we expected the cruise to be cancelled by Regent, and it was, on April 28, 2021. We were promised a refund within 60 days. 
 

As of today, the cruise and all the excursions still appear on the website for my Regent account, AND the final payment is TODAY, May 25. 
 

We haven’t received our refund yet. 
 

 

We were booked on an Alaska cruise (9-1-2021) which was also cancelled on April 28. We were told we would get the refund (deposit and excursions we paid for) within 60 days. I checked with my TA yesterday since it's been around 30 days and she said it is taking the full 60 days since they cancelled so many cruises all at once and it takes time to process them.

On 5/21/2021 at 12:44 PM, madrick said:

JW Marriott in Quito now shows open.

Yes, I was finally able to book extra night (we go in one day early) in Quito. 

8 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

WE always find it best to book are own hotel and transfers at a much lower cost.  This also gives us the flexibility that we like.  For us we'll always take the hotel credit from Regent.

Agree. We do the same.

14 hours ago, gui218 said:

Silver Origin departed Manta on April 23 and is now off San Cristobal!

Are they getting ready for passengers?

Guess the sailing start Date!

We all look forward to Reviews of this new Ship. 

Received an email from Celebrity that the Galapagos cruises will start on July 4. Celebrity and Silversea are owned by the same parent company. The Celebrity Flora and the Silversea Origin are identical builds but customized for each of the lines. I also read this past week that Linblad Expeditions is starting up their Galapagos cruises in June or July. So, Silversea can't be that far behind. We are booked on the Origin in December. The JW Marriott in Quito has not reopened yet and that is where Silversea and Celebrity put up their guests pre-cruise, so hopefully they will reopen soon or another hotel will have to be secured.    

As some others have stated you will need to wear the insulated muck boots on the landings, which go up to your knees.  Some of the landings you are walking through mud, snow and penguin poop.They are difficult to to take off and on and when you get back on board you put the boots through a sort of car wash and they are sanitized because they will be full of penguin poop. They are stored in the area where you get ready to get off/on the ship so you don't take them back to your cabin. One pair of thick wool socks will keep your feet warm.  

I just received an email from Celebrity noting the start date for the Galapagos (Flora) on July 4, 2021. I hope that means the Silversea Origin cruises will also be going ahead. I wonder what they are doing about the JW Mariott being closed. Does anyone know if they are using a different hotel or when the JW Marriott is reopening? 

We have the Galapagos booked for December so have been following the hopefully soon "reopening" of Galapagos cruising. Also, the JW Marriott (used by Silversea for 2 nights pre-cruise) is closed and has been for some time, with no scheduled reopening date. Found out after we booked our air (going in a day early) and could not book the extra night at the hotel. 

3 hours ago, vegasdriven said:

I am fine with booking hotels myself online, but just wondered if there is any benefit to doing it through your TA? On their website it shows added perks, mainly free breakfast.

Just wondering if that is added into the price so you are paying more than you would online through the hotel?

I usually book hotels on my own....sometimes with the hotel directly. It's best to check rates booking directly, or with American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (if you have a Platinum card) OR with a Virtuoso travel agent. That gives you an early check in, late check out, room upgrade (if available), $100 to spend at the hotel, and daily breakfast.  

1 hour ago, ladymadeline said:

I spoke to a customer service representative at Regent Seven Seas today to clarify their current refund policy. She pressed me to book with her. She said I could book the cruise with her, submit a deposit and then transfer my cruise to my travel agent. Can someone explain what she was doing? Does she get some sort of credit or commission from Regent? Wouldn’t that be a disadvantage to my travel agent? Enlighten me, please.

I often book Regent and Oceania directly (I have a nice rep there), and then I let my TA take over the booking in order to get a rebate and other perks. I belive the Regent/Oceania rep gets some kind of commission for handling the original booking.

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

This comment is not directed particularly at you, Carol, but I'm wondering why someone wouldn't just go ahead and cancel?  It's obvious that this cruise will not go--Canada will not be opening its port up that soon.  Is it that you're hoping for an enhanced FCC?  I'd rather take the refund, myself, so why wait?  I presume you can take any penalty and use it to on a future booking?

 

I contacted my TA and she said they will most likely extend the final payment due date so she told me not worry about paying the balance on May 4. That being said, I am still slightly hopeful that the Alaska cruises may go ahead. I read something this weekend about a lawsuit with Florida and Alaska and the CDC. I am not doing this for an enhanced FCC. I'll wait a little bit and see what happens. 

The final payment on my Alaska September 1, 2021 cruise is due May 4. I know it is doubtful that this cruise will go ahead, but I did get an email from my TA that the final payment is due soon. I know that they are still hoping to be able to work things out to salvage some of the Alaska cruises but it's not looking good. I hope they change the payment due date to 60 days out as some of you have noted. 

We were booked on the Origin December, 2020 to celebrate a milestone birthday....of course that was cancelled. We rebooked for December, 2021. As we ended up booking our own air I tried to book an extra night at the JW Marriott pre-cruise (in addition to the 2 nights included with the cruise). When I contacted Marriott I learned that the hotel is closed. There are no rooms that can be booked and all dates are blacked out. So not only does cruising to this region need to resume in order for the Origin to sail, but the hotel Silversea uses for the pre-cruise needs to reopen. Fingers crossed this works out. 

On 3/7/2021 at 8:28 PM, Carol From California said:

Thinking about going business/first class and booking air on our own. We booked the Baltra to San Cristobal itinerary.  At the end of our cruise we disembark and they include a day at a hotel in Guayaquil if you have a late flight (which most of them seem to be) when checking the distance from Guayaquil to the airport in Quito, it is a very long distance. Do you know how they transfer you?  If you book  your own air will you still get the transfers? Are you just booking the flight from Miami to Quito or are you booking RT?  Do they give you $750 pp reduction on the package for one way or RT?  I'll be checking all this out with my TA tomorrow but thought you may already know the answer.  Thanks!

On 3/15/2021 at 3:26 PM, govanguy said:

On 24th Feb 2021 we booked and paid a deposit to our TA.

We were referred by a kind Ambassador on the same day.

I received an email confirming the referral on 24th Feb. and stating that an FCC of $250 would be applied to my account within 14 days.

Today, I emailed RSSC to follow up as I could not see FCC. on my online account.

In response, I received 2 FCC certificates   valued at £100 each 

I`m assuming I forward this FCC Certificate to my T.A. prior to final payment?

 

 

 

I am not sure why it is quoting the above when I wanted to make a new comment. We are booked for the Galapagos for December. We ended up taking the air credit and booked our air independently (business class). We are going to arrive a day early and tried to contact the JW Marriott to book the room for an extra night. Well guess what, the hotel is closed with no reopening date scheduled. So for those of you who are planning to go on this cruise in June (if it's a go) they will need to reopen the hotel OR find a different hotel to accommodate the group.