mj_holiday

Did Alaska in 2011 and doing it new April and planning on the best for excursions. Our first cruise out of Covid on Regent was Cape Town to Cape Town. Cruise itself was great. But several of the excursions were not that great, but heard that for many of the tour people this was their first job since before Covid. I am planning on Alaska next year having tours of the expected quality since they would have been through a whole tour season and hopefully gotten the bugs out.

Thanks

I have just started to look to see if Wind Star would be right for us. Looking at a cruise to see destinations and total price etc I am trying to figure out pricing for various cabins. The cruise shows an all inclusive and cruise only price, but doesn't say what cabin that is for and what the other cabins - say one with a balcony - would cost.

In March on the Onward, we went through the boarding process, Got a class of bubbly and was escorted into an area off the dining room. There we were given the safety briefing. There were probably only 6 people there.

Thank you for taking to time to give us your impressions and experiences. We have taken 2 Azamara cruises and both were because of the itinerary we could not find anyplace else. For the second cruise we upgraded to a club continent suite and felt it was worth it. There are several nits about Azamara that we do not care for, but with the itinerary that is great we can put up with/ignore the things we do not care for.

The couple of times our excursion had a late return, we were met at the gangway by the CD who informed us about plans for our dinner that evening and no need to change for dinner.

Not sure of another place to ask this. I am looking at a couple different flights for upcoming travel, looking at using miles vs costs. And we look at Business class. Today looking at a couple flights far out, I see "Not Available" for a lot of Business Class seats and just now saw it for Premium seats on a flight. Does anyone have an idea of what this means?

Our TA recommended Allianz and we had a claim from our last RSS cruise. I made sure I was very precise in providing the receipts with easy to understand file names, etc. I really didn't get much status and when I called I was told one more thing that was needed. But, it got completely settled with in 9 weeks

When we took the train (2011) Not only were we comfortable and able to walk around, there was also a car that checked you in and you could purchases a drink if you wanted (all inclusive didn't start til you got on the ship).

Yes, these are outside firms that Regent hires. But just like anyone else that is hired they need to do the job contracted for or not get rehired. Many contracts have penalties for noncompliance and bonuses for exceeding the compliance. Regent has the say on how their contractors work.

Our RSSC cruise since COVID was December and there were several missteps during the pre and post cruise. I am hoping by the time we head to our next RSSC vacation that things would have gotten back to what we had become use to, great service. Now I am beginning to wonder.

It is probably different for each airport. Our last transfer from the airport started when we saw a smiling face with a Regent sign as we came out of the luggage area. As to whether or not, you have other people in your transfer just depends on when they are arriving and how many there are. Just keep looking for a Regents sign to find you transfer.

I am sure you will also find that the MDR is very nice with a great menu and service.

We have had 2 cruises since COVID, on with Onward and the other with a different brand. No problems with room service in either. When we don't have an early appointment, so don't know when we will be getting up, I do not use the door tag and call for coffee when we get up. It is usually there within 5 minutes. We have our coffee while getting ready to go to breakfast. On the mornings when we need to get to an excursion I will use a door tag and have not had any problems with anything (except for the morning when the coffee pot arrived empty, called and fixed quickly).

For me, the best way to make sure we don't leave any "cash" on the table is to look at our account when we get onboard.. It will specify what is refundable. On one cruise we had both refundable and nonrefundable OBC. I played Bingo and wondered what OBC would pay for the event. It was the nonrefundable that paid for the Bingo and the winnings I had went into our refundable account. I think I remember that our refundable OBC was credited to our credit card.

I have seen the "free night " ads and have no idea how to look at one. From what I am seeing here, you just look at the cabin and need to believe that that price includes the free nights? I guess I would like to see that my response to the ad would show me what the savings is. What I see here is it is just a gimic to get you to look. That doesn't seem right.

Don’t understand your reasoning. Are you saying that Regent may be paying more or less for the business class ticket that they value at $3000? Based on pass experience I had with flights cancelled and paying for the replacement ticket and negotiating the insurance claim, I feel it is much more complicated, and Regent probably pay as a package for the various flights and the $$ they post for flight credit is result of some algorithm.

Yes the bottles are hard to open, I let our room steward know that I need them opened. Yes, they are hard to pour from, but it is only water and will dry. While the bottles are heavy and hard to pour from, I remind myself that these bottles are really reusable and that has to effect the shape etc of the bottle. Similar water systems are showing up in nice hotels (Iberostar in Lisbon) and in restaurants. For me the positives out weigh the negatives, less single use plastic bottles being the main issue.

Yes for tipping guides and bus driver. It is easy to find out the customs, just google it. They should also be in the back of any guide book. If don't have Euros or local currency, then tip in USD but need to be rather new looking bills, no rips etc. Many time these will not be accepted at a bank.

Well, that makes alot of sense. Thanks.

I have been looking for flights to Tokyo and thought I saw connections in S. Korea had changing airports, guess I need to look again.

Thank you for taking your time to give us your review, those are always appreciated. As someone who needs to avoid strenuous tours I need to add to this conversation about excursions that the ratings don't seem consistent between tours. We have been on two man activity level that was more strenuous than described and also been on 3 man level excursions that had me wondering why the rating was given. On our past 2 Regent cruises many of the excursions had activity level ratings changed between when we booked the excursion and getting on the ship.

As I have said before - Giving a favorable review for a crew member in the midcruise survey got me a thankyou from her supervisor and he said it would help him on the next salary and promotion exercise. But it does take time to learn their name enough to write it so someone else can understand it, but it is worth the effort.

Thank you so much for all of your information on your Tokyo to Vancouver cruise. We are on this cruise in 2024. I am going to compare your comments on the various tours with the tours that I have scheduled for us already. I know weather can change, but how was the weather in Japan chilly cold, mild.

I have found them on the vanity near the bed with a seat and large mirror, very convenient