2012_Alaska_bound

3 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Restaurant details & times are shown on the back page of Passages, which are not shown in the above images.

Also there is usually a little picture ad section called "Culinary Corner" where the brunch will appear.

@VegasTW I don't see the Sunday Brunch at sea on the schedule, but did you have one?

I found it wasn't listed on the daily schedule on the Splendor TA in April 2022, but was shown in one of the little side picture ads. So I always advise reading everything, even the "ads", because some info is only found there.

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

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.

@mj_holiday I've learned to take a picture including the name tag! Then add to list I keep on my phone for cruise surveys.

Also have noticed that the TV Destination Services descriptions are not as thorough as they used to be.  In 2018 on the Amazon, each tour was described in great detail with appropriate warning and film of difficult terrain. I haven't seen this on my cruises since then.

2 hours ago, NCCruzQueen said:

 I’m not happy seeing older cruisers pushing themselves on excursions and slowing down the tours.  I’m not sure what to do about it, either, but I think Regent has done their job.  

It would be so great if Regent could offer one bus on the tour for "Gentle Walkers" as AmaWaterways does on their River cruises. These were also great for photographers. I did notice when signing up for my Iceland / Greenland cruise on Navigator next summer, that there are several places where accessible versions of the standard tours are being offered. So maybe improvements are coming. Something in between would be great.

@pappy1022 since it was the Saturday or Sunday of the Festival and the most crowded day, not sure our routes were the norm.
I seem to remember some sights were pointed out on the way to the Castle. The bus parked as close as possible on a side street close to the Castle entrance so that only walked up a short portion on the Royal Mile before entering the Castle grounds. Lots of uphill (and then down back out) once in the Castle grounds. Guides are only allowed to stop in certain areas to talk outside. They are not allowed to talk inside, but I seem to remember a Castle guide took over there. I think our total time in the Castle area was about 2 hours. I don't remember if there was the option to stay longer, since we wanted to take the tour bus back to the ship.
The drive back to the ship had lots of commentary about what we were passing including Holyrood. This was because we were at a snail's pace because of the crowds on the Royal mile. I do know the driver modified the route in some way to get away from the crowds.

Follow on to @Gilly, as we were on the cruise with them.

Did the Castle tour, and we were given the option to return on the tour bus after or just use the shuttle at our leisure. If you weren't there when the tour bus left, then take the shuttle!

Agree about the crowds. And agree do not miss Royal Yacht.

8 minutes ago, Flgreg said:

Now I'll need to determine whether the taxis in Barcelona take credit cards.

Always ask before you get in.  But in Barcelona all the ones we used last year did.

I only cruise on Regent and on Disney. Which line depends on who I'm cruising with. All the kids I want to cruise with would definitely prefer Disney. I was even hesitant to bring my 24 year old daughter on Regent, being worried she might be bored. Turned out I was wrong, she enjoyed it very much, but it was a port intensive Baltic cruise, so new locations each day.

Taking the grands (ages 3-10 currently) sounds like way too much work on a Regent cruise.

I don't know why I haven't had the cheese at Chartreuse, but will certainly correct that on Splendor in November!!! So glad your husband thought it was worthwhile.

13 hours ago, LoveBora said:

We were on the Mariner in October; and to our surprise, the breakfast buffet had sticky buns. Not every morning, but we did check every morning. 

On a Navigator cruise in 2018 I was told by the La Veranda manager that they only made sticky buns on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Also, if you don't get there early, they may run out.

So check with La Veranda manager.

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

While there may be some pantries or storage lockers near your cabin, most of that long space is the AC air handler room

On Splendor this is exactly what was across from 932! Didn't hear any noise from it.

20 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

We’ll be Gold after our next cruise and then we can reevaluate the value proposition. 

If you become Gold on that next cruise, they will put you on as Gold from the day you board. I was so happy to turn Gold on a TA so that both of us could be logged into WiFi for the whole cruise!

11 hours ago, edgee said:

Thanks for this. We just booked the Splendor March 31, 2024 Miami to Barcelona TA. You affirmed our choice!

Did this cruise in 2022. Loved it! Don't miss the Sunday Brunch.

Yahoo! So happy to get to travel along with you both virtually! We have been missing you around here.

I will chime in too. My first river cruise was Budapest to Amsterdam in October 2016. I was a "tag along" with a friend who's daughter was not able to go, so no planning and no expectations! Had a wonderful time and got hooked just like everyone else. That was Emerald. Since then have done Scenic (Douro) and Ama (Burgundy). All were great.

One great thing about the October cruise was the Fall foliage!

2 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Could it be that this is a EU brochure instead of USA?

Yes, it did say ".eu" as it came up.

On the Bordeaux cruise on Ama in March, there was a gentle group offered for all the main tours. It was great. Guides knew how to avoid a lot of stairs, where to have us sit for long descriptions, etc. Since we were consistently a group of only 6-10 people, we often felt we got the best tours. Our guides always seemed to be the best too. Also affords plenty of time to take pictures. Sometimes the "regular" walkers would switch to our group if they preferred our guide. With the use of the QuietVox you had quite a wide range to wander or find a bench.

21 hours ago, cwn said:

Regent always has the best lamb.

Absolutely agree. Always delicious in every venue. On 24 day Amazon cruise, had lamb everyday for the first 7 days!

On 5/20/2023 at 5:53 PM, snoozecruise said:

The cruise was also sold as Barcelona to Istanbul.

 Similar for our end of October Med cruise. Full set of excursions offered in Athens for what would be the embarkation day for the 7 day cruisers. Signed up as usual, though considering taking it as a sea day since there are none for the whole 14 day cruise.

"Regent Choice" excursions have an extra fee. If you look at a port under excursions, the ones marked with binoculars are the Regent Choice. Should list a price in the description. Sometimes these are Small Group tours corresponding to the free larger group tour, or a special locale including a meal, or helicopter flight, etc.

5 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

If you have a domestic leg where you are placed in economy, will Regent upgrade that to business for a price?

I have always gotten First Class for domestic if continuing on overseas in BC when Regent books my flights. All of these have been either American or United with partner airlines though. 5 flights so far with 2 more also booked that way.

20 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I dislike Frankfurt airport. There aren’t enough gates to accommodate flight traffic. You will likely deplane onto the tarmac very far from the terminal, and will be bused over to the terminal. You will need to descend from the plane using narrow stairs while carrying all of your own carryon luggage as you try not to trip and fall down. 
The process is reversed when you board your next flight. IIRC first/business class boards the bus first (very few seats) and then everyone else gets on the bus with you so it’s definitely not a first class experience boarding the plane.

Amen to all of the above! I avoid Frankfurt for all of these reasons! In fact, they didn't even have First class board the bus first. Every person for themselves! Luckily for me a kind young woman carried my carry on up the steps for me. First class was a standard 3 seat row with the middle seat left empty, which I believe is normal in European "domestic" flights.

Regent flew me home from Porto on Iberia and I liked it very much, so if that is a possibility you might consider it.

2 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

We were more concerned with easy flights.  Vancouver is non stop.  It turns out Juneau is only one change of planes in Seattle.

 

 Sorry to repeat myself, but it is Anchorage you fly in or out of on a 7 day, which is also only a plane change it Seattle but a 6 hour flight from Seattle to Anchorage. I prefer flying to Anchorage and boarding in Seward and ending in Vancouver so that might shorter flight is on the "going home" end of the trip. Also, if you are flying home from Anchorage, soonest flights will be overnight ones.

Also, the flight will be business/first class the whole way if booked through Regent. They started that just pre-pandemic I believe.

11 hours ago, douginct said:

Don't know when you are looking to go - but in 2024, there are a couple of 14 day Vancouver to Vancouver cruises that you can book instead of doing two 7-day cruises.

I was just going to mention this. The 14 days cruises are in May (that's the one I'm going on) and another in August (middle of the month also I think). Advantage is we don't repeat any ports and have 2 days of glacier sailings.  I think maybe they are trying this out to see if it is more attractive than B2B.

Totally agree about 7 days being too short, and long flight to or from Anchorage (not Juneau).