Focused1

6 hours ago, drib said:

Say Goodnight, Hambagahle. and happy holidays. 😉

 

 

Perfect!

7 hours ago, kjbacon said:

While most people know Billy Joel and are aware of his musical talent, not many people know that Christie Brinkley indeed is an artist as well. For example, she painted the River of Dreams album cover that won her the Rolling Stone award for best album cover of the year. 

Yes, she is an artist in her own right as you stated.  She also had a leading role on Broadway in the musical Chicago; in London in the West End; several US TV sitcoms; plus she is a great activist for the environment, animal and human rights.  She is certainly a different choice than the godmother of the Explorer, but nonetheless a deserving choice by Regent.  Don't think it matters that some folks have never heard of her. 

17 hours ago, kjbacon said:

On a brighter side, Christie Brinkley is well known to be a timeless beauty and is lesser known for being a talented artist. 

6 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

We believe that Celebrity Cruises already has her as Godmother of the Celebrity Edge.

 

As an aside, a trivia point we thought about is that Christie sort of has an attachment to the sea, as she has a daughter named Sailor.  

But her former husband, Billy Joel, is a talented artist. 

Yes, $399 for unlimited internet. And, excellent connectivity on the Ovation recently. 

7 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

This has been an issue for several years now.  Yes, having a lot of users on board will consume more bandwidth...but the bottom line is that Regent just has poor internet.  Always has, in my experience.

 

I’ve heard others say that some mainstream lines have significantly better internet, even on 5,000+ pax ships.  I honestly believe it comes down to money...I’m pretty confident that Regent could upgrade their sat links and get better, faster internet...but I’m sure there’s a significant cost involved.

 

It’s almost 2020 - there’s no excuse for having substandard internet on a ship in populated areas.  I’d expect marginal/no internet near the poles, of course, but current technology should provide service throughout most of the globe, IMO.

Totally agree with you. There is absolutely no excuse for such consistently slow internet on the entire fleet. I have been on several of the luxury cruise ships lines (Silversea, Seabourn) in the last two years plus a premium line (Viking). All of them had internet far superior to Regent with great connectivity (even in the middle of the Tasman Sea) on ships where everyone had free internet. Regent needs to invest in the equipment needed to provide decent and consistent service. And Regent loyalists should stop making excuses for slow service. If other cruise ships can provide acceptable and reliable service for their passengers,  why can’t Regent?

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

If I go onto a website and book an appointment via its contact form I consider I have booked this online.   Clearly you don't!  But come on - does this matter ?

Splitting hairs, I suppose.   Two different definitions of booking online. Maybe generational.   For me, it is being able to view availability, select date/time, treatment, and receive immediate confirmation, just like booking a hotel on its website (or Regent reservations and shore excursions).  One doesn't have to wait for a live representative to send back a confirmation back based on requests.  Just makes things easier, which is what I hope is available when Steiner takes over the Regent Spas.

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

If you re-read what I said you will see that I made no mention of booking treatments via the Regent website.   You booked them in advance via the Canyon Ranch site which had separate sections for Regent, Oceania, Cunard etc.  And my bookings were made via that site.  (I tried to call them once but nowhere did it say they were in California (!) and with a 9 hour time difference I preferred to go via their site).

Either way, through the Regent website or directly through Canyon Ranch website, you cannot book services online. I have taken 4 cruises in the last two years on Regent and always have had to call or email my requested appointments. Whether you view the FAQs on the Regent website regarding Spa appointments or go directly to the Canyon Ranch website to the Regent section, it still instructs your to call for more information or appointments. There is no mechanism to book online. However, they do list the treatments available. 

3 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

You have been able to book on board treatments online  for years... with Canyon Ranch and the predecessor which I think was Carita of Paris... so nochange here...

I think you might want to check the accuracy of your statement by reading the FAQs on the Regent website. There is no online platform to select times, dates, type of service on the Regent website. You are instructed to call or email to secure appointments for Canyon Ranch. 

8 hours ago, flossie009 said:

My understanding is that Steiner will be operating this new spa brand for Regent on their ships

 

Yes, that is correct. This is a Steiner-owned spa.  Steiner owns Elemis and has since the mid 90’s. 

Having disembarked from the Ovation on September 28, I can say that I am not a fan of the reusable bottles of water provided at the disembarkation point on tour. These bottles are large and bulky. I would say that about half of the passengers took these bottles on their excursions. Those that did, complained about the taste of the water and the size of the bottles.  And, in some cases, those who took them on their excursions either disposed of empty bottles while on excursions rather than carry the empty bottle all day, or left them on the bus. Not sure how this solves any environmental issues. As for us, we passed and purchased smaller bottled water on shore. 

She was the CD on our Cape Town to Cape Town over the Holidays earlier this year. I can certainly agree with your statement regarding the CD influencing setting the tone of the cruise. Although she is a talented singer, she rarely engaged the guests. Just did what she had to do, and departed the scene. I wrote about it in the cruise review. 

Enjoying your comments on Crystal. Very well done. Regarding your Seabourn smoking policy comments, we stopped sailing on them in 2012 because of it so we are one of the customers they lost.  When they finally changed it, we booked a cruise on the Ovation which departs on Saturday from Dublin. However, I just learned that even though they have a no smoking policy, they allow smoking of E-cigarettes in cabins.  

A business card also works. 

13 minutes ago, SWFLAOK said:

Just curious as to which east coast location you fly out of . We just flew out of MIA to BCN and the regent credit didn't come close to paying for a BC fare.

We fly out of RDU (Raleigh). Current quoted fare for business class (next May)round trip is $3053. 

4 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

 

I stayed at the Hotel Arts in October last year.  Yes,  it is a long walk or short taxi ride to La Rambla area and other tourist sights.  The location is on the beach with nice views and without the hectic pace (or noise) of some parts of Barcelona. Since the stay was in October, there was almost no beach activity, so I'm not sure what the area would be like in the summer for crowds.  

 

Booked a room with Club Lounge access. The lounge is top notch with great views and food and overall one of the better Ritz-Carlton-style lounges I have been in. Nice place to just relax in the evening, recover from travel fatigue, and enjoy drinks and casual Spanish tapas, etc., without having too go out to restaurants if you don't want to. Breakfast offerings were also good.  They have mid-day food offerings too but didn't partake because of sightseeing.  Snacks and coffee are available in late afternoon.

 

Also stayed one night with Regent pre-cruise package at Le Meridien.  The room was small with no view.  But hotel was comfortable with a good location for walking around to local sights on La Rambla.  While I was interested in seeing the scene of La Rambla at night, I preferred the Hotel Arts location because of the less hectic atmosphere, the great views, the quick access to the waterfront promenade, and the ability to access the Club Lounge.

 

Planning to go back to Barcelona later this year for a couple nights and will stay at the Hotel Arts again. 

 

As for transportation to the ship, the distance is not far from the where the ships are docked and would be an easy taxi ride if you don't want to use Regent's transfer service.  

Thank you for your response. Very helpful information. We have been to Barcelona many times so have done most of the tourist attractions. So, staying at a hotel a bit away from the crowds, works for us. We love the Ritz Carlton club lounges and glad to hear this one is top notch. 

Speaking of Barcelona hotels, has anyone stayed at the Hotel Arts and , if so, would you recommend it to others?  We are considering it pre cruise for next May. 

What an excellent cruise blog, Flossie. It is nice to hear your positive comments while on the Navigator. Continue to have a great time. 

11 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

I agree with you, but even if the credit is lower---who really cares, I've been happy with all my air credits.  And you have a choice to take it or not--it's really but to each person as what they want to do--not Regent.  And I like the idea that they let you decide.

Exactly, who cares. You have a choice and most of us compare the credit to posted fares and make that choice that is the best deal for us. 

We are booked on the Splendor out of BCN ( round trip) next May and current BC fares shown from my east coast location are equal to the credit offered by Regent. If I add the deviation fees (as we always deviate), then it is a better deal to take the Regent credit and book our own fares. We never use the transfers so haven’t incorporated it into the equation. 

3 minutes ago, SLSD said:

As I tried to explain above, Seabourn has made a financial calculation that the profit they are making on their slow internet connection is worth annoying some (many) guests with the fact that it is slow AND expensive.  Seabourn also does not think that providing internet service "free" is going to make more people book their cruises.  You may disagree.  But this is the calculation they have made.  

I guess it must be nice to have official insider information such that you can speak so affirmatively on Seabourn’s marketing strategies in this competitive environment. 

1 hour ago, raphael360 said:

The "slow and expensive internet" ember keeps reigniting.  The internet is slow and is expensive. It is what it is.  If free fast internet is a priority when choosing a cruise, one should not book on SB.

 

The RCC Oasis has an internet system that allows 5000 shipmates to all stream live at the same time.  AND there's gold by the inch and bingo.

Free internet is slow on Silversea, Regent and Crystal but it is included in their fares.  All luxury lines include internet in their fares. Seabourn is still the only luxury line to continue to charge for internet and they provide the same, slow connectivity. Just as they were one of the last lines to change its outdated smoking policies, they are an outlier in this area.  When will Seabourn move to the 21st century in alignment with their competitors and provide “free” internet to all passengers albeit slow?

2 hours ago, liptastic said:

Travelcat 2 I for one feel this is a rather distasteful post against people in Europe as to why we do chose to cruise Regent.  Do you have any issues as to why we cruise with Regent?  

We enjoy immensely cruising on Regent for a wide variety of reasons and have never onboard felt out of place .     Jean.

Agree.  Distasteful and somewhat offensive to Europeans for sure.

7 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Unless something has changed, discussions of percentages is not permitted (for a darn good reason). 

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

My travel agent is one of the top Regent agent's and as such gets information about things that will happen in advance of the public.  She keeps us informed and thanks to her and her agency we were able to get the exact suite we wanted on Splendour for the San Diego to Miami voyage.  Someone from Regent actually came into her office to sort out all the bookings the day that reservations for the Splendour opened.   And in addition to this wonderful expertise and contacts she also happens to rebate part of the commission earned to her clients.  I see nothing wrong with this.  I would use this agency even if I did not get a great deal through them.  But the combination of their knowledge and contacts AND the reward for booking is a truly great one.  It has made a loyal customer out of me for more than 10 years.

This has been mentioned many times by a variety of posters on the board. 

4 hours ago, Mahogany said:

No, I am not working with a TA who gives a percentage back because that is their policy, not to return the commission. But I wouldn't trade her for anything., since I agree "Knowledgeable TA's ...world".  What I object to is your saying/implying that using one that does is the only way to go.

Rather than the “only” way to go, perhaps the “best”  way to go is to have a knowledgeable TA who also rebates 10% - 12% of the cruise fare. Very nice, indeed. 

15 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Wow - that's a really reasonable upgrade fee - I'd expect Regent would have charged $1,500 per person each way back in the old days.  Did that also include the domestic portion of the flights or just the overwater sections?

Yes, it is very reasonable.  That is why we booked it. If I remember correctly, it was only a one week or so special through our TA. Coach fare was already baked into the base cruise cost. Flights were first class from Raleigh to SFO, then business class from SFO to Auckland. All on United.  Total cost of cruise was $18,268 per person. Even though was a great deal which enticed us to try Viking, I would not book with them again given our experience if a similar offer was available. 

4 minutes ago, RachelG said:

Agree Viking and Regent would be very different experiences.  As Viking only offers one included shore excursion k and it is generally a bus type tour, we would not be interested in that, unless the cruise were to somewhere that we just wanted to do our own thing all the tIme anyway.

 

are the Viking airfares even upgradable?  I have no idea.

  

 

Having sailed to Alaska multiple times on Regent, including 15 years ago, I am quite sure that the float plane excursion was never included.  We have done it, and paid extra, and that was 15 years ago.

 

Yes, Viking’s airfares are upgradable. We paid $1500 each for round trip business class upgrade from the east coast to Auckland and Sydney back to the east coast.