seasickphil

It is a bit of a faff for Saga i know but there must be a reason why they are prepared to carry on doing it. As you say there are ways in which other cruise lines do promotions but they don’t receive any money upfront for those, last year i pre registered for summer 25/26/27 at a cost of £540 (totally refundable at any time i know) maybe receiving that money might have something to do with them carrying on with their pre registering system, only Saga would really know the reasons behind that though wouldn’t they.

I’m sure you can, years ago it had to be through an agent but I don’t know if this is still the case. I don’t think you will get the included travel insurance and as you don’t live in the UK then you would obviously not get the included chauffeur transfer to and from your home either.

There are several excellent hotels in Reykjavik to choose from which you may review and reserve online or by contacting your travel professional. As Regent is not providing you with what was initially booked and sold by them, then how can they say it is down to you or your TA to sort out. Surely it must be down to them to be proactive and rectify this situation and certainly with no cost to you (even if it means putting people into many different hotels) after all this is not the fault of you nor your TA and you have already paid for this anyway.

No problem, unlike you we don't spend much time in our cabins/rooms and it's very rare we dine in them. With my profile name you might guess that position of the cabin is more important to me when cruising. We are all different and some peoples needs/requirements in what they look for in cruises/holidays are different to others. We still fly regularly although as we get older long haul is becoming much more of a chore. We should actually have been flying out to Rio in just over 2 weeks for a cruise on Regent but my wife's mum is very poorly so we cancelled, families always come first with us and indeed for most people, therefore holidays at the moment will be on hold for us.

@Victoria2 I can give you my take on Cunard not PG but QG [your preferred i know] versus Regent, whether it helps i'm not sure because most things on cruises are very subjective, as you know. My wife and i are not loyal to any cruise line but have sailed on both Regent and in QG Cunard a few times, both pre and post Covid. We were on both last year, 12 nights in July on Regent Splendor and 14 nights on QE in October Cunard QG. @OzKiwiJJ view of Compass Rose is different to ours, we have sailed on 10+ cruise lines and CR is without doubt the best main dining restaurant we have frequented, apart from the daily al a carte menu, this is the always available menu without having to to preorder, although if there is anything you wish not on that you can preorder as well. Fish & Seafood Traditional Shrimp Cocktail American Cocktail Sauce Alaskan Crab & Avocado Bloody Mary Sauce *Norwegian Style Gravlax Honey-Mustard Dill Sauce Lobster Bisque Cognac Cream MEAT Iberico Ham baby Artichokes, Piquillo Peppers *Black Angus Beef Carpaccio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Parmesan Gratinated Escargots Garlic Butter, Toasted Baguette *Pan-Seared Foie Gras Figs & Port Wine Reduction, Toast d’Epices *Soft Poached Egg & Black Truffle Croutons, Asparagus Coulis SOUP & SALAD Seasonal Fresh Fruit Cup Mixed Garden Greens Choice of Salad Dressing Classic Caesar Salad Romaine Lettuce, Anchovies, Croutons, Parmesan Shavings San Marzano Tomato Soup Pesto, Bread Croutons Design Your Entrée Select the meat, fish or seafood with your favorite sauce & sides FISH & SEAFOOD *Jumbo Shrimp *Lobster Tail *King Sea Scallops *Salmon Fillet Whole Dover Sole Branzino or Fresh Fish of the Day SUGGESTED SAUCES Garlic-Herb Butter Hollandaise Lemon Cream Beurre Blanc Caper Butter Creamy Herb MEAT *Black Angus New York Strip Steak *Black Angus Rib Eye Steak *Black Angus Filet Mignon *New Zealand Lamb Chops *Marcho Farms Veal Medallions Roasted Half Chicken Smithfield Pork Chop SUGGESTED SAUCES Green Peppercorn Béarnaise or Chimichurri Madeira-Truffle Mint Sauce or Mint Jelly Demi-Glace or Mushroom Sauce Cranberry Relish or Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Hickory Barbecue or Apple Sauce SIDES Lyonnaise Potatoes ~ Mashed Potatoes ~ Baked Potato ~ Sweet Potato Fries French Fries ~ Potato Gratin ~ Steamed Rice ~ Vegetable Fried Rice Buttered Vegetables ~ Steamed Vegetables ~ Sautéed Spinach ~ Green Asparagus Sautéed Mushrooms ~ String Beans ~ Cauliflower Rice PASTA Freshly Cooked Pasta of the Day: Choice of Pomodoro ~ Pesto ~ Bolognese Sauce Now after saying that we still consider QG to be the best dining experience at sea, for us the food is no better nor worse but on Regent if you don't have a speciality restaurant reservation then if you like to eat, at peak times like us at 8.00pm then there is very often a slight wait, up to 15 mins [they do come and get you in the bar if you decide to take in an extra drink] whereas you know whatever time you enter QG your table and dining staff will be waiting for you. The suites are different, Cunard more traditional, Regent are very modern, everyone will have their own take on which they prefer. [ we have not been in the top end suites you travel in though ] Everything is included on Regent flights[ if needed ] excursions and drinks which i'm sure you know. at the end of the day everyone have to make their minds up on what suits them best. Us, we would go on either in a heartbeat, in saying that, we take more land holidays than we do cruises.

Apologies, i meant it was the first sailing after Covid.

I don't think Splendor's first public sailing was until September 2021 out of Southampton.

The price has gone up a bit since you last went, when we went in October last year it was €40 before tip.

We were there last August aboard SoA and whether you go on the paid excursion with Saga or book independently, on either you will still have to walk the 200/300 metres [all on the flat] from the ship to the train station. That is of course if your ship docks in the same place.

If you asked your butler he would provide you with them, if not then just ask at any bar for two martini glasses or any other type of glass come to that.

Last October on QE our butler left us another drinks form when our bottles were about 2/3rds empty, this was handy for us as we did chop and change our choices. Don’t forget if you can’t see your desired choice of drink on the form then write what you would like and if they can they will willingly oblige, ours did anyway.

I had it, not on Cunard but on Regent, I reported it after not feeling very well and cancelling our excursion, Monday afternoon the medical staff came and left dehydration drinks along with some type of Imodium. I was told not leave the cabin and while my wife was allowed out she had to have room service for all her meals. Tuesday morning the nurse came to see me, i was still in bed feeling lousy, she took my temperature and it was 102 degrees she said that she would make arrangements to get me into the ships hospital, i asked if I could stay where I was,with a loo near and handy, she agreed but told me that she would return later that evening and if my temperature was still as high would really urge me to let the hospital team take over. I could not have left the cabin if I had wanted too, getting out of bed was difficult let alone walking around the ship. Anyway when the nurse returned in the evening, my temperature had dropped to 101 degrees, so i was allowed to stay in our cabin. Next day after feeling much better I was told that I would be allowed to leave the cabin 24 hours after my last you know what, (sorry this is far too much information I know) so a full 3 days after reporting it we, yes my wife stayed with me the whole time until we were allowed out. Unfortunately we disembarked the next day Good Friday and flew home, on Easter Sunday i tested positive for Covid. Not one of our better cruises and one which we will not look back with too many fond memories.

We are not so fortunate, as on Splendor last year (it was full) we had a short wait most evenings to be seated in both Compass Rose and Sette Mari, we do tend to eat between 7.45 & 8.15 though, so at peak times, which is probably the reason. There is a plus side to that though, as we can then have another G&T before dinner.🙂

That is very interesting, i don't have any allergies but know someone who sails on Regent that do have an allergy to some shellfish, so are you saying that the suggested sauces which accompany the always available meat dishes in Compass Rose actually contain fish? or are you just saying some unspecified sauces accompanying other dishes contain fishy things. ie Green Peppercorn Béarnaise or Chimichurri Madeira-Truffle Mint Sauce or Mint Jelly Demi-Glace or Mushroom Sauce Cranberry Relish or Thai Sweet Chili Sauce Hickory Barbecue or Apple Sauce

What do paying our Cunard gratuities have any bearing on their wages?

It could become a problem, the reason being is if more people remove gratuities then the backroom staff would presumably move on to cruise lines that pay more. While this would be Cunard's problem it could also have a detrimental effect on services provided to us, giving us passengers a worse product. So in reality we all miss out.

If you do that then the non frontline staff ( cleaners, chefs/kitchen staff etc ) have to survive on the poor basic pay.

Are you saying cruise lines don't pass on prepaid gratuities to their crew?

Also like that the crew then get properly rewarded.

I do believe that for most people , the best scenario is like most other cruise lines do presently and that is factor the gratuities into the headline price, that way it takes away much of what is being said now on here, then all of the crew get their tips and us passengers are still paying for them but without all this hoo-ha.

You might be ok, Britain over the weekend is forecast to be mild and temperatures in the teens, you will of course have to make your own tea though.

True but we can transfer a booking to another cruise of the same value or greater, without losing your deposit.

The weather may well be pleasant but the sea conditions for most parts of the year are certainly not and as you might guess from username those conditions don't float my boat.🤣

Yes for some this would be true but not everyone me included would relish going round Cape of good Hope even on QM2 but it is what it is and there is no other safe way of getting home.

That does but if what @Fairplay & @KJR999 is correct then not everyone are being treated the same, which then becomes not reasonable.