Catlover54

Not good. I would struggle more with the broken AC in your suite than the sewage smell, but I am likely in a minority (but would still worry if the smell is just a lead-in to more than just smell 😳). I thought it was only the Cloud that had had sewage smell problems last season -- now also the newly refurbished Wind.

Certainly it seems a good place to isolate oneself from others, especially post Covid, alternative to just staying in one's suite. And the "good lunch" sounds tempting, given the other options. Putting cost and semi-egalitarianism issues aside (not to mention staffing shortages), what I didn't like about it was the lack of a good sea view.

"If I like it I like it, if I don't I don't." I feel the same way! But, I am not "good with it all." As the saying goes, life is too short to drink "bad" wine -- whatever tastes "bad" to that person, of course. Wanting and getting a list (which I ask for on every cruise) absolutely does not preclude trying the daily wines -- it can be fun to find a hidden gem that is also inexpensive (which is why it is on the included wine list)! In our travels, we have made note of (e.g., taken a picture) of included wines we enjoyed, then looked them up, and got more at home! Happy sailing.

Would you mind providing the name and contact information for your guide Carlos? I am taking notes for a future voyage that will involve that port again, and of late, I have been concerned about the quality of included excursions and transfers (not just on SS, however)

1. Unless I'm misunderstanding, what many pax want is a list of *included* (no extra charge) wines to be easily provided, to avoid guesswork. I don't know how many Regent has, but comparable competitors (e.g., SB and SS) may have 25-30 available and I think it is in that range (maybe less since Covid, I haven't been on Regent since 2019). 2. There is no realistic danger of "500 potentially different bottles" of included wine opened each night a) first, there are only 30 or so included, if that (they may also just be out of some) -- see #1 b) many people (especially on a cruise that caters to Americans) don't order wine (not a jab, just a fact) c) IF people get wine, most are happy with the generic white or the generic red of the day that is easily poured (either because they don't care about wine pairing , or don't want to deal with the wait that ordering a wine that is not already "right there" requires, e.g., don't want to hold up dining companions, or have a show to get to, etc. 3. There are various devices, such as Coravin or similar , that allow wine stewards to extract just 1 glass from a bottle of wine, without violating the cork. These bottles can then have wine served from them quite a few nights or even weeks in a row. There is also the older method of using a vacuum, or gas, to help preserve integrity of a wine at least 1-2 days (so not as long as a Coravin), maybe longer on a bold red 4. Deciding how much wine to stock, for how many guests, on how long a voyage, is what a skilled professional's job is, e.g., the food and beverage manager/coordinator. A luxury line that does this very well is Hapag Lloyd (caters primarily to German customers, though there are cruises that are English and German). They typically have 30-40 decent "open" wines available in 0.1 liter, or 0.25 liter portions (or the whole bottle). You do pay a reasonable markup, though (there is usually no cheap, substandard included wine that is "free" and requires game-playing, though for some speical events "free" champagne, no Prosecco, is provided). BTW, I have no financial interest or perks to get with HL, I am just mentioning them to show it can be done, and I have cruised with them many times. 5. Of course, if they would come around with better (usually but not always more expensive) whites and reds, there would be less need for game-playing

I am sorry about your bad experience, (though saddened, and not too surprised) but appreciate your reporting it in detail to us here, so at least some of us have perspective. It is also good you took it up a level.

That bath tub sounds wonderful. I'll be sure and stop by next time I'm in San Antonio 🙂 A cruise ship suite gets bonus points in my book if there is a tub to lounge in, the bigger the better, and if it has an ocean view -- the best (rare). DH prefers visiting hot tubs as long as they are reasonably private (like one is on the Moon). Will the Nova just have tubs at the pool, or also perhaps one or two in a more hidden spot?

Don't count on "neat" for an after-dinner drink either, be specific. On the Quest a few weeks ago in the theatre, before the show started, the waiter took DH's order for an armagnac (we have fond memories of our rituals of ordering either armagnac or calvados before theatre shows). A few minutes later what was brought was a tall long drink glass, piled high to the top with ice cubes, and way, way down below, nested a pale and diluted beige substance (presumably the armagnac). It looked sort of like someone had drunk his tap bar diet coke and left a couple cc at the bottom, along with all the ice. DH never ordered it again, so that saved management some money. He should have *specifically* asked for it to be served properly (describing each step in detail and hoping that would be transmitted up the chain ), but that was usually not necessary on luxury lines (and even on SB, it was never necessary before).

You are off to a great start, and I am looking forward to more, thank you for taking the time to share!

Oceania's furniture is nice and soft and cushioned (not hard in so many places, as is so popular, like on Seabourn) , as are the beds. Nothing poked into my back or worsed sore muscles on the older Oceania ships. I loved it, and thought their furniture was the best part of the cruise line. I liked it so much I am keen to retry Oceania despite the other problems I perceived. And I am definitely not a midget! 🙂 Of course if proximal muscles, e.g., thighs, are weak, or there are major balance problems, there is a cane to negotiate, or there is large body mass to maneuver, a chair that is too low is hard to get out of. I know that the day is sadly approaching when I will not be able to get up and out of DH's sports cars, but cruise couches and lounge chairs are still ok. As for grab bars: they should be in every shower and bath on cruise ships, to limit injuries. Their position should also make sense (putting them in a stupid spot, e.g., away from the area where people can grab them, does no good -- those locations are likely selected by 25-year-old health fiends on no meds other than birth control who run 10 miles a day and have never had an injury). A rubber bath mat also helps with traction and prevents falls (especially if there is no ribbing on the shower pan) , but is usually ugly, hard to keep clean and easily disintegrates.

For a change, we agree on something 😳 Maybe the bread is good (crisp on outside and fluffy on inside?) Perhaps Silver Spectre was trying to be funny

LOL, sorry about the rechristening! I hear you on all the points, including Covid (not just the old noro). I too miss the leisurely lunches with wine (referred to by those who believe we make mountains out of molehills, as "boozey" lunches, or "3 martini lunches").

For Brittany's sake, as she will be joining the Quest in December and MDR B/L are important to her, let's hope that the breakfast in MDR remains open daily like it is now , and also at least stays open for lunch on sea days and/or a semi-sea day like Halifax 2PM arrival (if not other days). Maybe the Panama canal cruise will have more pax on board, more personnel, and minimal Covid, e.g., enough to make it logistically possible to keep breakfast open and have more open lunch. Calm Down Dear is obviously having an opposite experience on Encore, with neither B nor L open in MDR. At least on Encore for lunch he reports one can eat Japanese in a sit down quiet venue (if one is in the mood for that) , but there is no equivalent for a quiet breakfast. Otherwise, it sounds like YMMV ship to ship, cruise to cruise, sea day or not, Covid count to Covid count. And as Brittany said, brochures should simply not advertise that MDR is open at breakfast and lunch absent an emergency (something more "emergent" than 2.5 years of Covid, since the presence of Covid now has to be assumed to be mainstream and baseline, though in varying degrees). However, another point raised before that I want to emphasize: even if the MDR remains open for breakfast, as it was on our Quest cruise most days, for anyone taking early morning excursions (many), it was useless since it was only open 8-9:30 or so. DH and I are not generally formal sit-down breakfast eaters, but especially if people will be going on an excursion, with often limited or late lunch availability, it is important to many to be well-fueled for the day (in a relatively quiet place) before they set out. So if pax want to give SB feedback (even though SB likely does not care as long as they can more or less fill ships without the MDR eaters), I suggest including the MDR breakfast (if/when open) timing issues.

How do you get guaranteed reservations every evening? Is that a high level suite perk on Regent? (I haven't been on Regent since 2019 due to some really horrible food issues, but have been thinking of giving them another go)

On my Quest trip a few weeks ago, I got a strange alert on my phone, which had the SB Source app, offering me 15 minutes for $29.95 in "The Retreat". I wasn't interested even if there was one on Quest.

You said one can count on MDR not being open for breakfast. that is not correct

You have not been on board in several years. Lunch is almost always closed if the ship is not sailing, might be open if it is at sea (consolidating other people's reports since Covid on varioius ships) Breakfast was open most days on Quest on my late September cruise.

". . . .. Medical history and consultation with MD by phone. Meds arrive in an hour. . . . " By "meds arrive in an hour", are you saying the ship got you Paxlovid for the Covid, or just general cold and flu over the counter type treatments (which of course you could not personally go pick up)? It hasn't been clear to me if the luxury cruise lines routinely stock Paxlovid (for what it is worth) or not, e.g., if they just go secure it when they get an over 50 and/or "vulnerable" patient. I have read reports of some ship doctors (on different lines) having it aboard

You know a thing or two about ranching, right? So what the heck do they do to it to make it so bad? I can buy cheap hamburger and have it in the freezer for months, accidentally not double wrapped so it is freezer-burned, and after thawing, still turn it into something edible. 🤔

Thank you. You were on more recently than I, so I will of course defer to you about whether SALT needs reservations (and Nemanoxer will have a list right now of what he can and cannot book in advance). La Dame and Kaiseki were by reservation and for a fee for dinner, but Kaiseki also did lunch without fee or reservation.

1. SALT is included, and requires reservations, but only once you are on board. I recommend checking it out early in the cruise to see if you like what they are serving, and then making reservations for more dinners if you do. Same thing for Silver Note (a very popular venue and small, with a music duo, so reservations may likely be needed even if the ship is not full) 2. As you are cruising solo, and like to socialize, (short of booze parties), I encourage you to let the maitre d' know early in the cruise that you are interested in joining other solos for dinner (if that is the case), so you can scope them out (or, if they are awful, avoid them going forward :)) Also keep a lookout in the daily programme for solo get-togethers, and make yourself known to the CD (again, only IF you want to socialize). 3. Download kindle or ibooks in advance of the cruise (make sure they are on the device, not just available online), in case you get bored. My guess is you will have a wonderful time. Meanwhile, I will head for Hapag Lloyd for variety 🙂

Who's stopping positive posters from writing positive stuff?

As on some other luxury lines with "inclusive" wines (meaning generally cheap), they want to make it easy for pax to get the less desirable wines (the ones they comes around with and push, usually one specific red and one specific white each evening regardless of what you are eating ), and reserve the somewhat better (though still cheap) wines for the truly motivated, e.g., those who fuss and persevere. They know the fussers (or ferreters, if you will) are a minority, and train staff accordingly. It has been part of the profit game for several years. But for many pax, e.g., those not that into wine, they feel special and happy to get a "luxury experience", i.e., included wine. A few years ago DH and I also went on an expensive Regent excursion (scenic touring in Italy and then lunch with wine in a famous "luxury" restaurant). There were, as I recall, five varied food courses (from shellfish to beef). The menu had nothing to do with the menu the restaurant was famous for, and each course was served with the same 7 Euro bottle of white pinot grigio wine. We now know better than to book such a profit generator excursion , and either buy or bring our own wines as often as possible to meals on "luxury" cruises where wine is included (a couple exceptions). The disingenuous "included luxury wine" game is one reason I prefer an upscale line where you have to pay for your wine -- that way you choose, decide if the markup is ok, and know what you are getting. You also know that it hasn't been sitting around getting oxygenated for a couple days as an "included' wine that did not finish getting drunk.

Alcoholic beverages list from the RC Yacht: inclusive, plus premium (though no prices on premium, are likely elsewhere) https://online.flippingbook.com/view/1002013830/

I wish you a wonderful cruise! It will almost certainly be a step-up from your prior Holland America cruises ( to partially match the step-up in price). The most significant improvement will be the increased amount of public space available per passenger that you will see, and the general ease of getting off and on in ports, compared with HAL.