mrlevin

Maria, are you on Mariner NYC - Iceland 2 June 2024? If so, we will see you there. Marc

How was the colour of the leaves when you were in Canada?

You will never totally miss hurricane season; always take a chance. You just want to be late enough to see leaves. I think the Canadians can pipe in, but I think you should be good once you get to Novia Scotia and beyond.

On our last cruise our flight was not until 1840. Destinations agreed to give us the bus tour and transfer for free given that we were entitled to the titanium transfer. Alas, the forecast was for cold and rain so on penultimate day we went to destinations and they were able to switch us back to titanium transfer that took us to hotel where we had booked a day room. Regent really does aim to please, Marc

Horizon Lounge - dance floor and outside seating. Outside decks adjacent to Observation Lounge so you can go out to take pictures and quickly come back inside. Stars Lounge - additional lounge over all other ships so Mariner Lounge gets to be open relaxed lounge unlike Voyager, Explorer or Splendor Lounges. Best (and original) Coffee Connection I will keep thinking and add more I am sure. Marc PS I have spent 166 nights on Mariner but only 24 on Explorer (least favorite Regent ship) and 43 on Splendor (now my wife's favorite). PPS Even Splendor is a lot better than Explorer as they have addressed a number of design flaws.

Mariner is still the best ship in the fleet! Never had any of those issues you mentioned; last time i was on her was last September/October. Ship is extremely stable. Service fantastic. Only food disappointment for us was lack of king crab legs in Prime 7. I never complain about wine as I always find something I like. What I would be concerned with is the itinerary if it is too early in September.

50 miles to ship and 50 miles from ship. Where they pick you up and drop you off is totally up to you. Maybe they do home to airport instead but it never was a bother to me. When we have had pre cruise hotel we have taken from airport to hotel and then just taken bus to ship.

In my experience, on a small bus without many if any empty seats and lower in stature so not as scenic. I would hesitate booking a SG unless the bus part is short and not scenic.

And I have been trying to get on your trivia team for ten years. 😉

Do you have specifics? So far I can only find 25% and only on H, G1, and G2; in other words, in lieu of two category upgrade.

We actually liked Alotau (four years ago on Mariner) as we took a WWII excursion; not eight hours. Port Moresby was cancelled for us, also, and I have yet to meet anyone that actually went (on Regent) to Port Moresby. Why do they keep putting it on itinerary and then canceling?

Have a great time on your sea day down to Antarctica! Really looking forward to your pix from the continent.

When you book excursions they give you starting time(s); however, they may change by the time you board.

Plenty of F2 cabins available in better locations, so why a Cat B? You will have same chances of getting excursions as you are within 240 days even if you are not Silver.

This suite is actually a Grand Suite on current deck plans. We spent 23 nights in 903 which is just back of 901on starboard side. There is movement but not too bad. One thing to note is that a large part of your balcony is covered by the bridge wing. And the part of your balcony that is not covered by bridge wing is clearly visible from the bridge wing. Wife learned that she needed to be decent to head out onto the balcony. That said, we loved the balcony and enjoyed breakfast, drinks, and relaxing there; no issues with seas or vibration.

I'm also doing Venice to Barcelona later this year; lots of choices on excursions both free and expensive. No problem with excursions in the Med as plenty of volume so easy to add on one more bus or an additional tour. Difficult in Africa (in my experience) wherein there was not enough availability for everyone to get on a tour let alone an included tour. I have been very vocal since free excursions were added in 2009 against their inclusion. I have accepted that they are here to stay so I have to learn to live with them. I still cruise Regent even though we just went on a 23 night cruise and didn't take a single excursion; in fact, we never got off the ship. Excursions already booked for next three trips and found tours to our liking in every port; we will see how many we actually take. Marc

I think your daughter will absolutely love the cruise on Regent. I don't think she will feel out of place at all.

Looking at RSSC.com deck plans and comparing it to deck plans in new brochure; looks like Regent has reinstated two Cat H cabins so there are now four instead of two. HOWEVER, all SIX (771 - 776) of the shower only Cat H have been taken out of inventory. Can anyone confirm same finding? Why would they take out shower only versus shower/tub combos if passengers (generally) prefer shower only? I have 771 booked for three cruises in late 2024 so will be amused as to what Regent does with these bookings. Of course, that is a long time away and we will probably go through a multitude of changes before then. Marc

Explorer has arrived at Sydney.

papa, pcardad is a TA; he is just stating that TAs should have been notified not every customer; I kind of agree with him.

I waitlisted for this past Christmas/New Years on Splendor through the canal. I think I cleared in around two weeks (due to status I was told) but others also cleared; just took a little while. I did five categories but got my first preference. That said, I believe you might be considering Grandeur for her first Christmas/New Years through the canal so might be a little harder (i.e., a lot in front of you on waitlist). Marc

Guernsey will accept GBP but will provide change in local pounds.. I think you are overthinking this. In first EU port go to ATM and get Euros. In first British port stop at ATM and get pounds. If you run out guides will accept USD for tips.

I have done both East Greenland and Northwest Passage on two different trips on Silver Explorer. Northwest Passage is for the history; I almost think 21 days is too short. You need to make sure that it is late enough in August so that you minimize ice issues (we spent three days behind an ice breaker). Scoresby Sound in East Greenland is absolutely fantastic. We sailed through there on an end of season trip from Longyearbyen to Reykjavik. Probably the best scenery on trip. Have fun whichever you choose. Marc

You will enjoy that overnight from Dunedin. We spent five days in Queenstown as part of a post cruise driving trip in 2019 and the meal served after the sheep show during the Earnslaw excursion is probably one of the best meals we have had on any excursion anywhere in the world. Hopefully Regent was able to reschedule for one day later.

If you have never been to Seville I would go to Seville. If you have been before, not necessary. As for Gibraltar on your own, you can meet the monkeys and go to top of hill and maybe fit in a visit to the caves; that could wait for a future cruise that might actually stop at Gibraltar. Just me two cents, YMMV. Marc