Mocamps

Sorry, I don't understand this? Can you possibly explain?

Thank you all so much. This is all really good info and very helpful. Do keep it coming!!

Forgot to say - we tend to make our own flight arrangements as we get discounted flights on British Airways and Emirates and we also often add a few days at one end or the other to do our own thing!

By the way, not at all fussed about having a butler so don't need a penthouse unless there are other clear advantages!! We've had a butler on all of our SS cruises and never really know what they do that the cabin steward doesn't!! Ours has always had absolutely no demands from us!!

Hi, We are almost new to Regent!! We did one cruise a long time ago and have good memories but we were fairly new to cruising in those days. Now we are old hands, but mainly on Silversea and Windstar - and occasionally Celebrity if we go with my dad and my sister who like BIG ships!! But we are currently looking at Regent as they have a few itineraries we like the look of. I'd really welcome some comments on the advantages and disadvantages of the various ships in order to guide our choice. Our previous Regent cruise was only a 7 day cruise in Alaska on Mariner and we had nothing but good to say about it. How do the other ships compare? We're not particularly bothered about having top of the range suites but do like a balcony on a hot cruise. That shouldn't be a problem on Regent I think? Neither of us get seasick so not too bothered about location unless there are any clear things to avoid? Or tips for good locations? For example, we liked being near the laundry on SS on a long cruise. I've been looking at one cruise on Voyager and all the more basic cabins seem to be a similar size so is there any clear advantage in opting for something above Grade H? I do like the idea of a coffee maker in a Concierge but is there any other reason to pay $1000 more per person? These are the kind of things it would be useful to know before booking so would welcome any pointers from more experienced Regent cruisers before we go for it!! Many thanks in anticipation of your help

Yes, we were on it and it did happen in Puerto Deseado. It took some time to sort out the repair and inspection but all seems to be well now. It did mean that we missed Camarones, Puerto Madryn and a tango night in Buenos Air. However we had awesome weather in South Georgia and a great time in the Falklands so still loved the cruise. Just the last week was a bit boring!

Thank you for that info. So the charter flights is obviously to Capetown. That’s exactly what I wanted to know.

We are currently looking at a cruise that ends in Walvis Bay, Namibia but I understand that there is then an included charter flight. Does anyone know where this flight goes, please? Is it Capetown or Jo'burg?

We were on the Cloud for an Antarctic trip in November 2018. We bought our own boots and have been pleased we did as we've used them on 2 Arctic trips since then. However, they DID have LOTS of loan (not hire!!) boots on the Cloud and plenty of people used them. I called SS to find out about this before our trip and I was told they had a few but couldn't guarantee they would have our sizes. We didn't want to risk it so took our own but they seemed to have ALL sizes!! These were boots belonging to SS and not from Ship to Shore who didn't actually have a hire service on our particular cruise - though wouldn't have considered it anyway as I bought mine for less than the hire prices quoted for later cruises. They also had loads of excess parkas on board and lots of people exchanged the ones they had for smaller/bigger sizes if the ones waiting in their cabins didn't fit.

Quite possibly. The name doesn’t ring any bells for me but the location is about right. It was definitely further away from the usual hotspots and we walked through to Oustins in the evening. There was also a surf school nearby where my husband had a surfing lesson! But if you haven’t been to Barbados before I think I’d probably stick to St Lawrence Gap or Carlisle Bay Area - both are between the airport and the cruise terminal. If you have and like something a bit more ‘local’ then it’s worth a try and we’d go back. Or try to go back if we could get the right place!!

I’ve been to BGI several times. It’s typically Caribbean. Unless anything has changed recently, you walk down the steps onto the tarmac and then across to the terminal. It’s easy enough to navigate but can be busy at Immigration (though never as bad as our worst experiences in Miami!!) We’ve stayed a lot at the Hilton near Carlisle Bay but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it! I like the location and Carlisle Bay is lovely for swimming and snorkelling around the small wrecks. And Cuzzy’s fish stand near the Hilton car park does awesome fish sandwiches! But the Hilton has seen better days and the staff can be surly. St Lawrence Gap is a good area to head for with good beaches and is always lively in the evenings. But last time we stayed in a more boutique place (sorry, can’t remember the name) near Oistins fish market and I absolutely loved it there. It has great local vibes and amazing fish! And the beach was nice as well. Or you can head north from the cruise terminal to the area near Holetown. There are some good beaches there as well but it’s further from the airport. The bonus there is you can often see turtles while swimming- though we did see them further south last time. There’s nothing much close to the cruise terminal that I can think of. Good luck!

We also did the Southampton to Copenhagen cruise and absolutely loved it. Excursions were mostly great. We went kayaking in Geiranger and Olden plus one other port (can’t remember which) and lots of hikes. We thoroughly enjoyed the Flam railway. Our least favourite was the Aarhus coach excursion where our guide was particularly long-winded and chatted constantly about nothing in particular! But the other bus said their guide was fine so I guess that’s just the luck of the draw! And we did enjoy the walk at the other end of the bus ride!!

We have mainly been on expedition cruises with SS and they’re a bit different. But we recently went on our first ‘classic’ cruise on Silver Dawn and most of the included excursions were great! We’re very active and our worst nightmare is sitting on a coach with loads of other people then all traipsing off together to look in a church or museum or similar. Only one of our trips vaguely fell into that category! We did 3 kayak trips, one bike tour, a couple of train rides and several hikes. We returned from the holiday feeling we’d had plenty of exercise and probably as much as we did on expeditions.

I agree that it’s too stressful arriving on the day of the cruise. I always like to arrive at least a day early and I can then relax and get properly excited about the cruise. And if you have to go through Miami, I think it’s extra important to allow plenty of time!! Last time we were there (earlier this year) it took us 3 hours to get through Passport Control!! It’s my least favourite airport in the world!!

Oh No........!!! I thought the Panorama lounge had decent coffee on the Cloud and Wind!! Though maybe not as nice as the Arts cafe but I thought it was a proper coffee and not a machine push button one!! And canderson..., the Arts cafe coffee is BETTER than Cafe Al Bacio in my opinion!! Though I think Celebrity have the edge on cookies!