pingpong1

GMIAC - Hi. That is for "basic service". Regards

PCARDAD - Howdy! I just ran a speed test. I'm not on a VPN. I'm now on Splendor and we're about 1,000 miles out in the middle of the Atlantic on our way westbound to St. Maarten. I have a Download Speed of 1.74 MBPS and an Upload Speed of 0.31 MBPS. That's bouncing off a test site in McPherson, Kansas. It's certainly fast enough for routine Emails and doing banking and website searches... but might prove to be marginal/challenging for streaming activities such as facebook, etc. Best Regards.

Bruce - Correct! At least on Splendor, where we're on right now, there is an electrical outlet that is specifically marked as "Hair Dryer". It's at the desk/makeup table where the phone, large wall mirror, and small vanity mirror is. The receptacle is underneath the wall mirror and just above the desktop. It is a dual voltage outlet. On the right side of the outlet is a 220-volt outlet and on the left side is a 110-volt receptacle. Regards

Just like Crisy - We went to the Sunday Brunch Extravaganza today! Wow! What a way to spend Sunday morning at sea! It was all superb. We got there early as well, so no lines and were immediately seated at a 4-top. Spent about an hour+ in CR just "grazing"! As Crisy also said, the internet was horrible for most of the day today. It has just "come back on" at around 6PM "ocean time". I guess somebody had to go up to the satellite and change the battery! Tonight, in about 45 minutes, the 4 of us head off to our first trip to Pacific Rim on this cruise. Really looking forward to it, although DW has a bit of trepidation. She is not a real fan of fish or Asian food. Sooooo...we'll see. 🤞 I'm sure she'll find something she'll like. I'll report back later. The entire staff... from room stewards all the way up to the Captain have been superb. All very welcoming, helpful, and smiling. More to follow. Regards to all.

Best meal ever tonight in Setti Mari! Timing of service was perfect, wines were very good, service was prompt, and the food itself was wonderful. We'll certainly be back there again in the next day or two! Regards.

We too, had a nice Thanksgiving onboard. We ate in CR last night, as well. They were indeed busy, as everyone seemed to arrive at about the same time (at first opening). The restaurant opened about 30 minutes earlier (6PM) to accommodate everyone who was eager to "dig in" to an early turkey dinner. I think the individual speed of service experienced at the various tables probably was most dependent upon the particular wait staff "teams" that were assigned to and handling each of the individual tables/sections. At our own table of 4, our service was much quicker and more efficient last night than at our previous night's dinner at CR. And both of our nights at CR were far more efficient than our one night (so far) at Chartreuse. On Wednesday night, we arrived at Chartreuse at 7:30PM, and didn't leave until about 9:45, missing a lot of the night's performance in the Theater. Certainly not a "deal breaker", but the overall meal service in Chartreuse from start to finish, took longer than it needed. But overall, life is still good onboard! For my own "Turkey dinner" on Thursday night in CR, I actually selected the Branzino filet with a baked potato and sauteed spinach (delicious), while my 3 dinner partners chose the more traditional turkey dinner with all the regular "side fixings". I thought my own fish selection last night was my best dinner so far on this the cruise. I would definitely select it again! After 4 nights onboard, we've had 1 dinner in P7, 2 dinners in CR, and 1 dinner Chartreuse. For me, the best (so far) was last night's Branzino. Our 2nd dinner in CR. I think that tonight (5th night at sea) we'll be giving SM our first try for this cruise. I've always had "high expectations and experience" at SM and hopefully, my expectation and eagerness will not be "dashed" tonight. 🤞 Yesterday, was our first of two days in the Canary Islands. We were on Lanzarote. We selected the tour of the northern part of the island, which included a visit to an underground grotto, an aloe farm, and several stops at beautiful high overlooks for picture taking and bathroom breaks (yea!). Overnight, we left Lanzarote and sailed to the 2nd island of Santa Cruz, where we are today. My DW and our 2 traveling companions are taking an hour's drive to several high scenic overlooks, a 1 hour hike, a visit to a cigar factory, stopping for some appetizers at a 3rd location, and then heading back to the ship. I chose to stay onboard today (I often do that on our cruises) and will just be enjoy having the ship to myself! 😜 On our excursion yesterday, I was finally able to meet another fellow longtime CC poster ("Jim B" from Montana) and his charming wife. What a nice couple! I've met so many nice folks onboard so far and hope to meet many more before the cruise is over! Best Regards/More Later.

As Matt has stated, the sea is "like glass" at the moment! Either I'm being lulled into a false sense of serenity or "Splendor" is rolling along on fantastic tires and shock absorbers. There's not the slightest feeling of motion (at least not last night). It was my best night's sleep since leaving Arizona a week ago. No food pics from here, either. But still a delightful meal in P7, too. A huge shrimp cocktail, filet (medium rare) and mushrooms, accompanied by a Silverado Cab (off the premium selection list), and then finished off with the popcorn sundae. Yummm! We went to the show in the theater after dinner (a nice brief but very talented musical review), and then dropped a few (unrewarded) "bucks" in the Casino before retiring for the night. A nice unhurried breakfast in LV this morning. Mary is off to Coffee Connection and then on to a lecture ("All Roads Lead to Spain"). After breakfast, I reconnoitered the Connoisseur Club after leaving LV, but didn't have my cigars with me (but will definitely be back there this evening). Met two very nice sets of folks while I was there. Tomorrow night will be dinner at Chartreuse. All for now.

And if Matt will indulge me, Mary and I boarded this cruise this morning in Barcelona, as well, at about 11:15. Our first time on Splendor but not our first time on Regent. Splendor is a beautiful ship. We're now all unpacked and settling into our "home" for the next two weeks. Our room steward just knocked on the door to introduce himself and take our mini-bar order. I might "chime in" from time to time as the cruise progresses. Our dinner will be at 6:30pm in P7 tonight. The staff is super friendly. Regards to all.

Thanks! 😜

Any "luck" in the cassino yet? 🤞

Hi Crisy - We're in Barcelona now and staying at the Intercontinental. Having a great time...But also looking forward to getting on Splendor on Monday! Regards

Thanks much, Dave. Yes, I'd definitely like to meet up with you! Mary and I are in #732. Regards

Crisy - Thanks so much for the picture. How about getting a couple of those slot machines "warmed up" for me, once you get back out to sea! 😉

Hi Crisy - Please keep the reports and pictures coming! Enjoying them! We'll be joining up in 7 days! Best Regards

Hi Dave - I'm glad to hear you're on Splendor now! Thanks very much for checking on that for me. Very nice of you to do that. Fortunately (Thanks to you), I've still got some time for "plan B" (getting some cash) to kick in before I fly out of Phoenix (on Wednesday morning). Mary and I will be arriving in Barcelona on the morning of Thurs (the 16th), and we'll be staying at the Intercontinental with our traveling companions(Rob & Sharon) for 4 nights. Then, the 4 of us will board Splendor on Monday morning (the 20th) for our "ride" back to Miami. Will you be staying onboard with us back across the Atlantic? Hope so. I'd love to meet you. Best Regards.

Hi Jim - Thanks for the info! That aligns exactly with what I remembered it as being the last time I was onboard (and it was also the Mariner). A 1.4% service charge for that convenience seems very reasonable to me! 👍 Best Regards.

Hi Crisy - Hope you get to Rome okay and without any problems. We'll be joining up with you in Barcelona! Best Regards.

Bridson - Thanks for reporting in. So sorry to hear that your first Regent experience hasn't been stellar. It would seem like the problem of being served consistently cold food (that's supposed to be "hot") would be a reasonably easy problem for Mariner management to quickly address and solve, if the problem was "high on their list". As to the plumbing problem... I think that some folks have been far too willing to "dismiss" the Mariner's "Toilet Problems" as simply a case of a "few people" (randomly and inconsiderately) flushing "something wrong" down their own toilets in their own suites, which results in the whole ship's system becoming jammed up. It is a "Fact" that not every person on every cruise ship is ever going to always flush "only the correct things" down a toilet. And a huge modern public "plumbing system" (like on a cruise ship) should be designed and built to "accept and tolerate" those occasional "flushing faux pas", without it shutting down large sections of the ship's waste water system at any given time. I don't think the core problem is caused by those occasional/errant/random "flushing mistakes". This "Mariner toilet problem" has been reported and experienced by too many people for too long, and has affected many areas of the ship at the same time when it does occur. And I would bet that it has caused more than a few folks to simply "not book on Mariner" anymore. I'm not sure we would book a Mariner cruise in the future, if there were other acceptable options on one of the newer ships. I believe the obvious root cause of the (Mariner) problem is that it's an "old wastewater system" on an "old ship". The ultimate "fix" would be extremely expensive and I would surmise that Regent simply doesn't want to have to spend/invest that kind of money (that would be needed to upgrade/modernize the entire waste water infrastructure) on a ship that's 22 years old (Mariner construction was completed in 2001) and won't be in Regent "service" for too may more years. So when these "flushing system problems" continue to occur on Mariner (and they certainly will), the maintenance folks will have to continue to scramble around in "emergency mode" to fix the problem. As you said, it certainly detracts from an overall "luxury cruise experience". Regards

That's The Spirit! 😜

Loriva - Absolutely correct! We're not talking about a bus load of 18-year-olds, with stainless steel bladders/bowels! We are overwhelmingly groups of 60, 70, 80-year-olds! Regents got to "get realistic and be considerate of their customers' needs" here!

Thanks everyone for the input, so far. I'm still wanting to know if anyone recently recalls seeing an "ATM-like" cash machine in the Cassino area/s. I seem to recall one being there (and actually using one) there 2 years ago. It was the same machine that you inserted "printed receipts" into in order to "cash out" winnings from the slot machines. I recall a "slot" in the machine that you could insert a debit/credit card into in order to draw out "your own money" from your own personal bank account "back home"?

Hello Everyone - It's been nearly 2 years since we were onboard Regent. Thankfully, that will change in less than two weeks! 😜 I seem to recall that up in the Cassinos, there was/is an ATM "cash machine" that you can pop a debit/CC into and get U.S. dollar (bills) out. And as I also recall, there was either a percentage or fixed fee charged for the transaction. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 5%-7%, I think. Are those machines still there in the Regent cassinos? I'm just trying to avoid carrying a lot of (U.S.) cash with me overseas. Thanks

Now that would be extremely convenient! I wouldn't even have to set my beer down! 🤪

Thanks for this, Mike! I was also having difficulty in "figuring out" how to do this (select another check-in time). My continuing Thanks to you for being so pro-active. Best Regards.

Hi Pappy - We're boarding Splendor in 2 weeks (Barcelona). Our first dinner (embarkation day) will be in P7. I hope 🤞 someone in the kitchen will have learned how to properly cook a filet and a lobster tail before our arrival! Several (certainly more than a few) recent "negative" kitchen reports on several of the ships have really been pretty disappointing! One of the main reasons that Regent asks for (and gets) the huge fares they charge is ostensibly driven by the "exquisite dining experience and food quality" they claim to offer. They can only "trot out the Covid excuse" for so long. I'm able to buy perfectly good quality filets, lobster, AND king crab leg from my local grocery stores in Arizona - and that's in the middle of the desert! I'm thinking the "food problem" might center more around "kitchen staff competence" rather than there being a scarcity of quality of food sources. I'm also wondering if R has now gone "way overboard" in the pursuit of saving money rather than maintaining their own tirelessly stated "quality standards". For now, I'm still willing to pay the huge fares (along with the huge increases) ...but not forever. Best Regards.