Pies4u

For clarity & completeness: The former quote - “…you are disgustingly drunk…….you will still be disgustingly ugly..” was Churchill to another MP, a famous Labour MP from Liverpool, Bessie Braddock. He was paraphrasing WC Fields from some film, I can’t recall the title. The latter, “…….I’d drink it..” was a reply to Lady Astor but there has been some dispute whether it was actually Lord Birkenhead, who was present at the time, who gave the riposte, not Churchill.

Sorry, that was “…..speculation…” - auto text randomly amended it!

As I indicated previously, this sod ulstion isn’t helpful! It strikes me that Regent are not going to completely refit a ship - then sell it! That is just a waste of time & effort and not very shrewd business sense unless the new owner is paying for it (On that basis, the published cruises should be honoured in my view.

Open decks forward of the pool and an aft facing lounge, with outside seating, would be a major bonus in my view! The older ships offer these facilities and they are much missed by many, from what I can gather, on the more recent offerings.

Interesting development, given that a few weeks ago they announced major refits for Mariner & Voyager in late 2025. Several Voyager cruises were then waitlisted but they’ve now re-appeared on the website. There seems to be a slight lack of clarity and some uncertainty about what is actually happening with existing ships, never mind new ones! We’ve cancelled a cruise on Voyager scheduled for 2026, because of the changes made since we originally booked. It would surely help prospective sales, and customer relations, if there could be some confirmation that if you book a cruise on .voyager, it will go ahead. The posts regarding which ships might be sold exacerbate the uncertainty. I appreciate that they are not “official” but if people imply that they are “in the know” it may make some - me included - slightly nervous. .

Crikey! That is outrageous - sorry to hear your news. Hope you can get sorted and adequately compensated, not that ‘compensation” is any substitute for the loss of a cruise or the anxiety involved. Really worried about using Blacklane myself - their reliability seems questionable and the “additional luggage” charges sound somewhat dubious too. Nit much if a service if customers have to pay extra for a few miles plus actually taking luggage with them. SS need to get on top of these issues pdq. All the best with your claim(s).

No, you don’t owe anyone anything - but thanks for providing a feasible response. Used courteously, I’d guess you are unlikely to disturb neighbours. In respect of your question, I can’t recall either - it may depend on ship and/or suite tbh. We were in a PH on Explorer last Oct and didn’t use/need Bluetooth speakers but genuinely don’t recall if they were there. (We had them on SS Dawn last year for certain).

Really? Headphones or ear pods would, surely, be a safer and more sociable proposition in order not to disturb others? Just a thought. I certainly wouldn’t want to be next to anyone who played music in their balcony - on the basis that sound travels and you can hear most conversations, even if somewhat muffled occasionally, when neighbours are on their balcony. That is unavoidable but music that is loud enough for you to hear it would carry well beyond the confines of a balcony on a ship.

Just a word for Tenerife - it is a spectacular island, with the highest peak in Spain, Mount Teide. The national park is amazing, the entire north coast offers plenty of interesting and inspiring experiences and Santa Cruz is more than just a commercial cruise port and industrial capital city. There are dozens of quaint villages and fascinating places to see on Tenerife, it isn’t just “sun & sangria” in Playa de las Americas. Whilst Madeira is certainly a great place to visit, and Funchal is easy to get around, I would rather spend a month on Tenerife tbh. There is plenty to see and do there too.

We have a 2026 cruise booked on Spirit. Several of the excursions I booked early as “included” are now “select”, with hefty price tags! As yet, they still appear as “included” in my account and there is no charge appearing. If that situation changes then I will be more than disappointed and would actually consider cancelling altogether as there would be a serious breach of trust. You can’t do business with people who act dishonourably - we are only booked on this particular cruise because Regent did something worse on our planned cruise with them!

Country Fairs - yes! I’ve seen and participated in them. Never seen water fights or people chucking water filled balloons at people tho’. One of the many reasons we left P & O and RCCL was to avoid “throwing people in the pool”, “water fights” and similar annoying daytime activities! When I was 12 they were great.

Wow, just wow!

Country Fairs are 1 thing - no problem - water filled balloons are NCL, Carnival, RCCL and P & O activities.

If Regent have descended into having “water filled balloon” events then I, for one, am somewhat concerned! We have almost 100 nights on board and I’ve never seen, or heard, of that happening before.

Nagasaki is a port not to be missed - the Peace Park is less commercial and not as busy as Hiroshima & if you get the departure “send off” from the Girls High School band, dancers and cheerleaders, that is a highlight not to be missed. They were, quite frankly, the best entertainment I’ve seen connected to any cruise! The opportunity to visit Obi “Castle Town” from Miyazaki is also a bit special in my view. Lovely scenery around Aoshima in particular with the Jinja shrine & “devils washboard” is very interesting. Japan is stunning and each of the 4 main islands provide varied experiences, try to visit at least 3 of them, which most cruises do tbh.

We booked 27 nights in 2026 (2 x 7 nights in the Caribbean and a 13 night crossing to Lisbon) - and it would appear now that several months of Spirit cruises between April & Dec 2025 have all been “waitlisted”. Something is going on, but nobody seems to know, precisely, what is happening with this ship.

Recent experience (last 12 months) of both SS & Regent suggest that they are both struggling to provide previous levels of service quality and restaurant standards tbh. However, it is in the corporate admin and management that things have taken a serious nosedive in both cases! My assessment, based upon those recent experiences and numerous telephone conversations with UK based office staff is rather gloomy. It appears that there are many people who seem to accept declining standards and put it down to Covid, “the lines are doing their best” etc & similar sorts of excuses. Reality is that plenty of customers will simply put up with whatever cruise companies do because they love cruising. So do I, but I’m not prepared to pay 6 star prices for 3 or 4 star standards. There are far higher standards of service and cuisine for far less expense to be had all over the world. Cruise lines are relying on loyalty from a declining number of past customers whilst trying to attract a new clientele that will be happy with what’s on offer. Interesting times.

Only flown out of Narita - as indicated, that is at least an 80 minute journey to central Tokyo. It is always a risk at airports, depends where the plane docks in relation to baggage & customs etc. Unlikely to be a short distance in my view, the chair would be a sensible move for my money.

Many thanks - that’s helpful to know.

That sounds odd - and excessive. I was quoted a similar price as our normal exec limo provider to go from Nottingham to Heathrow when I enquired last year. That was not an inclusive deal, it was just a direct enquiry - £300 each way. (Our normal firm are slightly cheaper tbh & they are top class, reliable and look after us very well). We’ve got a Blacklane incl “door to door” job for Nott’m to Birmingham in 2026 & I believe we will be charged for a couple of miles on each trip as it is about a 52/53 mile trip. I thought they might waive a fee as it is so marginal - so I’ll have to wait to see what they charge at the time. I was told it would be minimal but I’m not convinced based upon Fletcher’s figures.

Looking forward to this - we are doing Rio to Lisbon on Splendor in March 2025, so it will be interesting to gain some insight into the itinerary and ports. Have a safe & healthy journey!

It is really a question of whether you want “big cities”, with the facilities and variety of things they offer - or - smaller, quieter, more picturesque spots that are quintessentially “British” but might lack museums, theatres and thousands of people. As a resident, I would far rather go to Cork, Oban & Ullapool (they are all atmospheric, unique and it’s easy to see everything) than London or Edinburgh, but that’s because I prefer scenery and countryside to urban sprawl. Newcastle is the gateway to Northumberland and, apart from being a vibrant & interesting city, it is well located for seeing a wide variety of sights & experiences. Alnwick, Lindisfarne, Durham & Rothbury are all worth seeing. I also have an irrational dislike of London due to having to work there in the past. It is big, loud, crowded, noisy and I’m, not remotely interested in going to the theatre when I’m on holiday tbh. If you’d like to see the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London & Tower Bridge plus dozens of museums then London’s the place to go.

We had 14 nights in an aft suite, don’t recall much, if any vibration tbh. The only noise was when docking - anchor, thrusters etc - early morning usually but it wasn’t a serious issue. It’s a ship, at sea, there are noises. I think there can be some minor vibration at a particular speed when cruising but, as I say, it wasn’t noticeable to us. The SS Aft suites are very good vfm & the views are spectacular. I’d take another any time. Indeed, we were happily booked in a PH C for 38 nights in 2026 until the cruise was subsequently amended to our detriment, so we cancelled. I wouldn’t forfeit an aft suite just because of occasional external noise, that can occur anywhere, anytime tbh.

We boarded a SS cruise in Mar 23 & there were 4 or 5 other ships embarking at the same time. 2 of them were massive RCCL & Norwegian things. There must have been the best part of 10,000 boarding - assuming some might have been on b2b cruises. There was no problem with pre cruise hotels as far as SS were concerned, we had a couple of nights at the Hilton (c 120 of us altogether) & they used a couple of other hotels too. However, the cruise terminal was pretty chaotic and it took ages to get processed and then shuttle buses to the ship. It was not a great experience - I suspect that the volume of passengers trying to board between 2.00 - 4.00 pm was just too much tbh. We are back there in 2026 and I hope it’s a more pleasant experience. It may be that Regent will stop using Barbados but if the bigger ships continue to embark/disembark there I can’t see it improving much tbh.

Amazing hotel - we were there for 3 nights in 2018 prior to 14 night HK to Bangkok. Top class hotel, superb service, well located, impressive reception & lobby lounge area and very stylish rooms. Probably one of the top 3 or 4 hotels in HK tbh.