clarky

John, what you described is very similar to what I reported.  We spoke to Ricky (Food and Beverage Manager) about our experiences and whilst food delivery did become more efficient in Compass Rose nothing changed at the Veranda.  What I failed to mention was that it took us 5 tries to get into Sette Mari.  It got to the point where the staff were getting very embarrassed about not being able to accommodate us.  They kept telling us that if we came at 6.30 p:m we could get a table.  We did not want to eat at 6.30 so eventually put our name down on a wait list for 7:30.  They called the bar to let us know that a table was available and we immediately left the bar and headed to the restaurant.  When we arrived they told us they had given our table away as someone was waiting for a table of 4.  I became very annoyed (something I try to avoid on holiday) and insisted that they make a table of 4 immediately.  This they did but what a fiasco.  I understand it is first come first served but Dine anytime?  Not true on this cruise.  John, we asked to be seated at Romeo's table in Compass Rose every night as his service was amazing, never a wait for food and no mixed up orders.  We had breakfast at compass rose as we could not handle the mayhem of the Veranda and Putu really looked after us.  Like I mentioned we have never been on a luxury cruise with so many hiccups and I hope like me you mention this in your comment cards.

Wes,  it was really too cold to eat out on the pool deck at all and after looking at the offerings during the day it did not entice us to eat there the couple of evenings  when it was warm enough.  

I write reviews on our cruises because I have garnered such a lot of insight from other guests reviews and I would like to pay it forward to help others make informed decisions.  Also as we all know things change all the time with cruise lines.  I don't like the Champagne offered on Seabourn (nor do many passengers but despite the complaints about this Seabourn has not listened). The bottles of Molton Brown have gotten smaller over the years (offered on Seabourn).  I like the Champagne offered on Regent and Silversea and the wine.  The aftertoon tea, pre- dance music and buffet are a let down on Regent and better on Seabourn. However if management read these reviews or listen to the comments on our comments papers then things may change. We are very lucky we have such choice in cruise lines.  I hope to try Crystal in the future now they have open dinning.  We are probably going to do more expedition cruising in the future.  We have a Kimberley cruise booked for August 2020 with an Australian Company Coral Expeditions on their new ship.  I will be reviewing all the cruises we are taking this year and next year.  Will be interesting to review my Voyager cruise in August.

I would like to give a bit of back ground info on myself so that when reading this review you can judge if it is relevant to what you deem important in your cruise experience.  My husband and I are in our late 50's early 60's we have over 250 days on Seabourn, 150 days on Silversea and 60 days on Regent.  We sailed the Navigator for a month and loved that ship (even though I felt it was a little crowded at times).  We sailed on the Mariner in Nov/Dec 2018 and enjoyed the cruise experience very much.  We would sail on either of the three lines mentioned but the itinerary comes first for us.  In fact we have a Silversea cruise booked in June 2019, I will be taking my mother on the Voyager in August and we have a Seabourn cruise booked in February 2020.  In this review I won't go into the ports because there have been live blogs done of this cruise so I feel that is redundant.  What I will do is talk about the on board cruise experience.  I'm a positive person and I'm aware how fortunate we are to be able to vacation in such a luxurious way but want to give both the positive and negative views of our latest cruise so it may help others in selecting a cruise line that suits their needs whilst also giving a realistic view of what to expect and not what the glossy brochures portray.

The good:

Cruise director: John Baron is probably my favourite cruise director.  We sailed with him on Seabourn (his first actually) and then again on both Mariner cruises we have taken.  He is friendly, approachable a good entertainer (his show was really enjoyable) and a great trivia host.  We have also sailed with Marla (his assistant) on Seabourn many times and it is always nice to catch up with her.

Compass Rose and both specialty restaurants.  Food was very good at all three of these restaurants.

Wine: I feel Regent along with Silversea offer the best wines on any cruise line we have been on.  I also really appreciate the wine tasting of non revenue wines that Regent does.  I wish other cruise lines did this.  The selection of beer and spirits is very good.

Cocktails:  The best of all three lines as mentioned above.  Yes, Seabourn has this new mixology cocktail menu.  Very trendy but honestly IMO not as good as Regents offerings.  

Shore excursions:  I know a lot of guest really enjoy having the all included shore excursions.  I'm not a fan really as I like to do a bit of both and I know I could do that on Regent but I feel in some way I have already paid for these so I may as well take them.  I find I'm far more adventurous when sailing Seabourn or Silversea as I do a bit of both the cruise lines excursions an independent excursions.  Having said that I can not fault both the organization and the tours themselves.  They are as good as anything that you would pay for on either Silversea or Seabourn.   We did two tours that included lunch and both were a highlight of the trip.

Room Service:  I really like the way Regent handles room service.  You place your order and then they call you just before it arrives to your room.  We often have breakfast in our room and it is so nice to get this call and be ready for when it arrives.  Seabourn and Silversea call you after to ask how your food was and inform you that they are going to pick up the tray.  Every time! This gets annoying and feels somewhat disingenuous.  Also when you ask for a glass of Champagne from room service they bring you a bottle.  Seabourn will bring you a glass.  So kudos to Regent for that.

Quietness and stability of the Mariner:  This ship rides so smoothly in rough seas and we had a couple of days of those.  The noise insulation is very good.  Never heard our neighbour or any guests in the passage ways.  No vibration that we felt.

Breads:  My husband loves bread (french bread in particular) and I will agree with him that Regent has the best bread of the three cruise lines.  Crusty French bread and great artisan breads.

Internet: My husband is Tech person and he finds it very important to have good internet access so he can keep in touch with his business.  He appreciates that you can have multiple devices connected in your room. 

The not so good:

Waiting two hours to be served lunch in Compass Rose.  I later spoke with Ricky (Food and Beverage Manager) and he explained they were implementing a new ordering system and had some teething  problems. This did get better as the cruise went along.  We did get numerous apologies for the wait. He also let know that on our last cruise there were only 500 passengers on board and that this cruise they was at capacity with a full ship.

La Veranda:  I can not tell you how disappointed we were in this venue.  Crowded beyond acceptable.  Extra tables were put in the walkway on both side of the buffet and whilst this was appreciated by guests trying to find a table it made the buffet even more crowded.  A full ship with early spring weather (some sunshine but mostly cool) and the Veranda could not handle the passenger numbers.  Management needs to have a good look at this problem.  Perhaps offering a special menu in Compass Rose for lunch to entice more passengers to dine there at lunch would help.  We just avoided going there as it was a disaster.  People bumping into one another.  Dishes running out (seafood platter) and people waiting in queues for 10 minutes to get a portion.  They just did not cope with the amount of guests trying to dine here.  People couldn't find a table, food running out, long waits for it to be replenished.  I also found the food here to be unimaginative.  This is where Regent falls down.  Seabourn's buffet is so much better in variety and quality.  I will say the pizza was good but honestly that was about it. Regent makes the best burger as sea I have ever tasted.  That is where the good ends.  Look at what Seabourn and Silversea do at night on their pool deck.  A real alternative dinning option.  The buffet on the Mariner for lunch is not great at the pool deck.  They had a Mexican buffet and Greek one day and that was just okay but they could really improve on the food offerings here.

Afternoon Tea:  Again this is an area where Regent falls behind the other two lines.  Chocolate afternoon tea.  Same tea bags that you can get in any venue and a couple of the cakes were still frozen.  If it is not a special afternoon tea event, you get a small buffet and an offering of tea bags.  Both Seabourn and Silversea have a tea selection which is served at your table and on Silversea a tower of afternoon tea snacks.  Some times we like to skip lunch and just do afternoon tea but we did not do this on Regent.

Entertainment:   Some good and some not so good.  The pianist Nicky was fantastic.  The Duo at the bar at the back of the ship are great in the disco but not really suited to pre- evening dance music.  An example of this is that we had a full ship and only 4 or 5 couples dancing.  They are not great and we had them on the last Mariner cruise as well.  Seabourn wins out in this regard as they have a trio and a guitarist and also a pianist so you have much more choice.  Silversea is about the same as Regent.  The guests entertainers were also a mixed bag.  The Australian entertainer was very good.  The Filipino vocalist who won The Voice (or something similar) was good the first night but not so good the second night.  The entertainment is not the most important part of a cruise for me but I do like to dance before and after dinner and we did not do much of this on this cruise as the Duo was really not good. 

Summary:

As you can see there are more positives than negatives and we really did enjoy this cruise.  Having said that we have never experienced so many little hiccups on one cruise before.  Yes, no cruise is ever going to be perfect or perfect for every guest on board but there were a lot of little hiccups that I have not mentioned. These hiccups happen on all cruise lines but on this cruise there were more than usual.  I have tried to be honest and balanced in my review as I think this helps perspective guests set their expectations and helps them to select a cruise lines that works for them.  I usually like to end my review with would I cruise on this ship again.  Well, yes and no.  I would not cruise Mariner on a cold weather cruise where there was a possibility of a full ship.  I would probably cruise Mariner again a hot weather cruise if the itinerary was right but it may not be my first choice.

I think what you are proposing is a very good idea. Here are some links for you to look at that may help you.

http://www.kakadu.travel/

http://www.outbackfloatplanes.com.au

also to find flight from Darwin to Cairns

https://webjet.com.au

We stayed in Kakadu National park and also did a Mary river house boat tour and both experiences were fantastic. I know that this company can arrange all the tours for you if you want a travel agent to arrange everything. flightcentre.com.au Or you could contact a travel agent in Darwin.

I think you maybe one of the younger ones on board but if you do a Med cruise it does tend to have a younger crowd. Are you upper middle bogan this is the question? No, really I think if you like good food and good company you will fit it. Dress shirt and pants for dinner and you should be fine. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how friendly people on board Seabourn are.

I can give you a recommendation http://www.balicharterbus.com Ketut is who you want to ask for. We have used him for 10 years (we had a house in Bali) He has picked up many friends of ours and given them tours whilst they were in port. He has good English and is very reliable. Just mention that Ibu Karen recommended him. He can give you a tour of anything you want to see or can make suggestions for you. If you have other passengers who want to join you just let him know. He has cars and buses so can take as few or as many guests as you want.

I hope this helps. Also New Years eve for us is not a big deal for the Balinese so it should be no problem to arrange a tour.

I have encountered two experiences of chair hogs. One where a Seabourn crew member saw I was looking for a lounge chair and removed a passengers belongings and gave me their chair. About 20 minutes later the passenger returned (after having lunch) and started her march towards me. The crew member intercepted her (I assume he was reiterating the lounge chair rules) and she marched off with a very unhappy look on her face.

The second time was on Seabourn on deck 5 at the rear of the ship where they had the bali type round pool chair with the cushions. I noticed that the chair had be unattended for over an hour. I removed the passengers belongings and placed them near the towel stand. About 30 minutes later a man approached saying that is my chair. I kindly explained the rules to him also adding that the rules were posted for all guests to see. He became belligerent saying he had only gone to the toilet and was only gone for 10 minutes! I corrected him on his timing and said that he should be more courteous to other guests and not hog the pool chairs. He became more unpleasant and at that point I ignored him but it was awful being on such a lovely cruise and having to have this sort of interaction. I would not involve myself it that way again. In future I would approach a crew member and ask them to remove the passengers belongings. Unfortunately at the rear pool deck on Seabourn there is never a crew member around.

I have not had a problem finding a pool lounge on Regent but I imagine this happens on all cruise lines luxury or not.

I hope someone can help you with your question. We did London -Montreal with Silversea which took in Iceland and Greenland. We actually started the cruise in Copenhagen so we were on board for 28 days. We loved this cruise. We really loved Iceland but the highlight for me was Greenland. We have cruised over 250 days with Seabourn and 150 with Silverseas. We actually had a Seabourn cruise booked but changed to Silverseas because the itinerary on Silverseas was better. Having said that I looked at both itineraries and I like the look of the Seabourn itinerary better as I think if you stay in Iceland for three days before you would get a lot out of that starting point. This is a difficult one and I hope someone who has done these particular itineraries can help.

I have flown with both airlines (not from Atlanta) and if I had my choice I would fly with Korean airlines. A lot does depend on what aircraft both airlines are using out of Atlanta. I would suggest you go to both airlines web site and check out the aircraft they fly from Atlanta to Shanghai and also Tokyo. You can do this by entering your flight details and then at then looking at the aircraft they are using. Also you could type the flight numbers into seatguru.com and get details of the business class seats.

I really enjoyed your posts during your cruise and your final summary. I appreciate that even though you cruise a lot with Regent you have a very fair perspective of your cruise and the ship. I say this because it is often the case that a poster who cruises or has a favourite cruise line only gives the positives. Thank you.

It is so easy to catch the train from the airport and then a bus direct from the train station. All up the cost is about $12.00. We have done it many times. The full information for how to do this is on the Hong Kong airport web site. The bus from the train station will drop you off at your hotel. Also it is so much faster than a taxi or private transfer. The train has lots of space for luggage and the bus transfer is so easy.

We have a house in Bali and I have stayed there during Hari Raya Nyepi many times. Silence is strictly enforced. We booked a plane flight a year in advance and later found that the flight was scheduled for the day of Nyepi. We were then informed by the airline that we could not board our plane from Sao Paulo - Doha - Denpasar as it was Nyepi. We ended up flying out of Sao Paulo via Sinapore and spending a night there before flying into Bali the next day. This shows that many companies don't take into consideration Nyepi. You will not be able to check in to an hotel on the day of Nyepi. In fact the ship could not dock on this day or off load passengers on this day. This year the government were even talking about shutting the internet off.

I would imagine that the cruise line will need to re-adjust it's itinerary. Good for you for ding your research. Also Nyepi falls on a different day each year according to religious rules (not sure what they are). It is actually the most wonderful time to visit Bali as the parade of the Ogor Ogor the day before is amazing. They parade monsters and beat drums to scare away the evil spirits and the next day is Nyepi a day of silence so the evil spirits think the island is deserted and therefore leave it alone.

As wripro points out each of us has a favourite for our own reasons. There are many reviews (in fact I have done one myself) comparing Silverseas, Seabourn and Regent. I have cruised enough now that itinerary is the most important reason for my choice of cruise line and I would happily take either of these cruise lines. I would not hesitate to board Seabourn after my last Regent cruise but I would also happily take Regent again. In fact I have a Regent and a Silverseas cruise booked. You will find like most of us that you prefer one element on one cruise line they do better than another. I don't think you will go wrong booking a Seabourn cruise.

Favourites:

New York

Venice

Cape Town

Bordeaux

Lisbon

Worst.

Petropavlosk Russia. - avoid if possible. Horrible place. Drunks and prostitutes hanging around the port.

Most ports in Brazil. - Over rated.

Our first Seabourn cruise was with David as assistant CD. He will be sorely missed. We had such good times with him and Miss Martha. She will be just one of the Seabourn greeting party ready to welcome him.

I;m so glad to hear about the smoking policy change on Seabourn. Our cruise mates were not made aware of this when they asked for their on board cruise deposit returned and they just did this in November this year. Why the Seabourn office did not mention this to them when they told the Seabourn office the reason they wanted their deposit back was due to the smoking policy and the affect it had on them on their last cruise is a mystery to me.

Thank you for your comment on my review as I did try and keep even handed when I made my comments. So many things make a cruise extra special. It could be the service from the staff, the food, the entertainment, the other guests, the ports of call and also the guest's attitude.

We are in our late 50's and early 60's have done over 250 days on Seabourn and 100 on Silverseas. This was our first Regent cruise and we sailed Miami to LA for 28 days. I titled this review from a Seabourn and Silverseas cruiser because comparisons between these lines are often the topic of posts on CC. The opinions I give are based on my experiences noting that several people taking the same cruise will have very different opinions on their experience.

We stayed pre -cruise at the Coral Gables in Miami and found this to be a good hotel for a one night stay. The transfer to the ship was handled well and embarkation ran smoothly. We were greeted with a glass of Champagne and told the Verandah was open for lunch. Our cabin (837) was ready a short while later and our suitcases were already in our room. I liked the suite, I especially liked the position of the makeup table as my husband did not have to struggle to get by me when we were getting ready to dine or leave the ship for an excursion. My husband also like the desk position as he could wake up early check his e-mail with the curtains closed and not disturb me if I was still sleeping. I do prefer the bathrooms on Seabourn as they have two sinks but all in all the suite on the Navigator was equal if not better in some respects to the suites on Seabourn or Silverseas. The storage space on Seabourn and Silversea might be better but we found the storage in this suite all we needed.

Navigator compared to Seabourn -Odyssey,Quest, Sojourn. Silverseas -Whisper, Wind.

The Navigator was in excellent condition and has recently undergone a refit. This ship is a little more traditional in it's decor compared to Seabourn ships but I liked aspects of that. Silverseas Whisper and Wind although having refits are more similar to the Navigator. What we really enjoyed on the Navigator was the coffee connection. You could go there for a light breakfast or lunch and make your own toast in the morning and tea or coffee. Normally we order room service for our entire cruise but we loved this place so much we had breakfast there more often than not. Seabourn has Seabourn Square but you must wait to be served and this often has a line of people waiting. Navigator had self service or a coffee bar where you could place an order. If only this was a larger (it often got crowded) space it would have been perfect. I have mentioned the word crowded and I must say that although I loved the Navigator to be perfect it would need to have 400 passengers like the Seabourn ships and Silverseas (approx). It just felt like there was less room and more people than on other ships we have been on. Especially the pool area. There were nights when if you came to the Compass Rose to dine late you could not be accommodated. We asked for a table of 6 one night and the lady next to me said they had already been waiting for 45 minutes for a table of 6. The staff told us to go the Sette Marre to dine as a table would not be available for a long time. I'm not saying this does not happen on other ships but it has never happened to us on Seabourn or Silverseas. I will say that the pool chairs on the deck are far superior to either Seabourn or Silversea. Like I mentioned to be perfect there would have to be less passengers on the ship as it did not feel as spacious as Seabourn or Silverseas. Having said that I loved the ship, to me the crowding was not a huge issue but for comparison sake I'm trying to be objective in my opinions. The other thing I did miss was a view from a lounge while having evening drinks. Again not the end of the world but just an observation. I know Regent people say but this is the smallest and oldest of the Regent ships. Yes, but I'm comparing it to it's competitors ships of a similar size. Now the big talking topic of this ship - the vibrations. Yes, it did vibrate, it did bob about a bit more than other ships but honestly I really like that ( I know I'm strange) I felt like I was sailing the seas. I do know several people were sea sick and there were a few passenger accidents from the rocking and rolling. Bottom line for me -would I sail this ship again? Yes, I would. While there are aspects of the ship that are not perfect we still really enjoyed the ship. I forgot to mention that the wifi was the best my husband has experienced on any cruise ship. It was fast and had very few periods where it went down. Wifi is his business, so for him to be impressed that says something. He usually buys the full package from Seabourn and even then it was not as good as Regent.

Food and Wine.

This is very subjective as we all have different palates. I will be general in my comments. I would list Seabourn above Regent but only slightly. I think Seabourn was better before Thomas Keller but this is only my opinion and many people love the Keller experience. I did miss the caviar on Seabourn but again this is not the end of the earth. Regent had bar far the best hamburgers I have ever tasted on a ship! We did not eat on the pool deck very much as it did get crowded but when we felt like a hamburger or a Seafood BBQ buffet we ate there. I did miss the fresh pizza that Seabourn offer. It is a shame that they do not open the pool deck for evening meals as this may alleviate some of the wait times in Compass Rose and when the weather is so nice it would have been lovely to dine outside like you can on Seabourn and Silverseas. We did not have one bad meal on board the ship. The seafood was a standout on Regent far better than I have experience on either Seabourn or Silverseas. The beef is probably better on Seabourn. Wine - Here is where Regent stands out from the our two cruise lines. The wine was outstanding and I'm talking non revenue wines. I like that they had a tasting day on the first sea day unfortunately it was at 10.00 a.m. not when I felt like tasting wine but it was still there at lunch and they were kind enough to let me try all the wines. The French wines on offer were particularly good. So Regent number one for wines, Silverseas second and Seabourn last. The other way they stood out was in their snacks in the bars before you went to dine. Never a shortage as we have experienced on Seabourn. Never waited long for a drink in any venue.

Entertainment - Guest speakers.

The guests speakers were both very good and similar to Seabourn and Silverseas. I like the fact that Seabourn has a singer and a band in one lounge and a guitar or piano player in another. I like to dance and felt Seabourn offered more modern music to dance to. I will say the piano player Regent had on the last two weeks of the cruise was outstanding! He took requests and there was nothing he could not play and his voice was amazing. The guitar player they had at the Galileo Lounge was also very good. We did get up to dance to his music but we were the only ones that ever did. The show by the cruise singers was about as good as Silverseas and Seabourn. We loved the crew show and that was a standout. They had two really good comedians and two really good guests performers. So I would say it is just a matter of your taste in music and if you like to dance but I don't really feel there is much difference in the lines. For me maybe Seabourn 1 Regent 2 Silverseas 3. I will add that Regent is the best at keeping announcements to a minimum and we enjoyed their trivia and like the style of the cruise director (very relaxed but great interaction with the guests)

STAFF.

The staff were wonderful and a good mix of nationalities which I really like. Seabourn also has a good mix of nationalities but Silverseas not so much. Regent staff are a bit more informal than Seabourn but I really enjoyed this. There were a number of Balinese staff on board and when they discovered we spoke Indonesian and a little Balinese they sort us out and loved to chat. We lived in Indonesia for many years and have a house in Bali. I can not fault the service on Regent. When I mentioned that one evening they could not accommodate us in Compass Rose we ended up eating in Sette Marre and half way through our meal the Maitre'd from Compass Rose came to our table and apologized for not being able to accommodate us. She mentioned that the chef did a cooking demonstration that day of fresh Cod that had been bought on board and everyone wanted to taste it. The next thing we know the chef himself arrived at our table with plates of Cod for our table. Regent is right up there in the service department.

Excursions.

I usually arrange private tours where possible as we usually travel with at least another couple or often two other couples and this makes it really easy to arrange a small group tour. This takes a lot of work and co-ordination on my part but the outcome is really worth it. I know a number of people who don't cruise Regent because they like to arrange their own tours and feel that they have paid for these tours in their cruise fare. I must say it is the most relaxed and easy cruise I have booked because all I have to do was select a tour I was interested in. The tours were well organized and never crowded and there was a great number to select from. Like most ship tours you pay for either on Seabourn or Silverseas some were better than others and one of the main reasons I usually avoid these tours like the plague is because (although being female I hate shopping) they often include the ubiquitous shopping stop. This only happened on a couple of the tours but It really made a difference in my feelings of the tour. I do not want to be captive in a Jade Store for 40 minutes with no option to walk or see anything else. This is why I work so hard on making the most out of my time in a port and enjoy planning this part of the cruise myself. Yes, I could still do this on Regent but to be honest I have paid for tours in my cruise fare but I understand that for a number of people it is much more relaxing to have the cruise line do this for you. So the tours are equal to any that you pay for on Seabourn and Silverseas. Where Regent stood above the others is that their destination staff organization was outstanding. You never waited long in the lounge, their instructions were clear and the whole process carried out with ease.

In conclusion I would like to say that we really enjoyed this cruise and loved the Regent experience (my husband particularly loved Regent and it is now his favourite . Another thing I will add is that Regent is far more relaxed in it's dress code than any of the other lines we have cruised on. I did not love this but I also did not hate it. Hawaiian shirts on the formal night in Compass Rose was not an abnormally. I liked that it was more informal but I wish on the formal night men would at least wear a dress shirt. Some guests we spoke with would never try Seabourn or Silverseas because they did not want to dress up. I'm flexible so I have three cruise lines I now love. I just want to add the reason we tried Regent is because one of the couples we cruise with who had a penthouse suite on Seabourn in the Antarctic could not sleep at night because they allowed passengers to smoke in the lounge which ventilated into their passageway and consequently into their rooms. All the guests in the Penthouses on this floor made complaints to management and were told this was their policy. Our friends told us that one of the suite passengers nearly got into a fist fight with one of the smokers in the lounge as he could not sleep with the smell of smoke. So if we cruise with these friends it will not be on Seabourn until they change their smoking policy. I never experience any smoking issues on Regent. I have had an experience on Seabourn where our neighbour was constantly smoking a cigar on his balcony. I complained to management and they send him a note asking him to consider his neighbours on not smoke his cigar on his balcony. I would be happy to cruise on either three cruise lines. As we have cruised so much we are now doing repeat itineraries so for us we will make our decision on timing and destinations offered on a cruise. We have booked the Mariner next year in a seven seas suite (aft) from Tahiti to Auckland and a Silverseas cruise in 2019. I feel fortunate to now have three cruise lines that while all offer something a little different are all a wonderful experience. If anyone has any questions in particular they would like to ask I'm happy to try and answer them. I hope this has been of some help to people trying to decide between these lines and which will suite them best.

Restricted Business air in my understanding is the lowest cost business fare on the sector you are flying. Airlines, depending on the competition on a route will offer these fares (low cost) to entice travelers to take their airline over another airline. In gateways that have less competition the need to offer these fares is not as great. Most airlines only have a number of these seats on offer. Tour/cruise companies that agree to purchase a certain number of seats in advance would get this low cost fare - called restricted. The restrictions are often a high cost to make changes in routing or dates or high cancellation costs. I myself have bought this type of fare well in advance (often 11 months) with the understanding that changes and cancellations are not possible.

Travelcat2, we are on the same cruise as you and as soon as I received the notification of the itinerary change I logged into my account to select a new excursion but found they have not been posted yet. I like you will try again next week. I'm sure they will do their best to get the excursion up as soon as they can.

We are in Australia and our travel agent is in Queensland. They are a Virtuoso Travel agent and book a lot of Regent and other high end cruises. The last quote I received from them for our Regent cruise was the exact amount of the brochure fare and they offered us some onboard credit. We booked with another agent we used in the US as with the currency exchange that agent quoted $2,000 less when converted to AUD. I book with both agents depending on the fare they offer.

UUNETBILL, We are platinum on Seabourn and have sailed over 100 days on Silverseas. We have two cruises booked with Regent, one this year and one next year. Your post was very helpful to me as it clarified that art auction and photographer comment that was posted earlier. It also set my expectations regarding drink service at the pool bar. Thank you for posting your comments.

We have sailed both Seabourn (250 days) Silverseas (100 days) last year. I enjoy the wine/champagne on Silverseas over Seabourn. The staff on Seabourn are more polished IMO than on Silverseas (having said that we had one of the best wine waiters (he was not a sommelier) on Silverseas last year who would select a wine to match our meals (from the included wines) every night. Food is subjective but I would give the nod to Seabourn. I do favour Seabourn over Silverseas but I now base my cruising decisions on itinerary and I'm happy to cruise either line. We are trying Regent for the first time in November so that will be interesting. As we all know you can have good cruises and great cruises a lot depends on the staff on board at the time and also the passenger mix.

I have also been frustrated with trying to book excursions. This is our first cruise on Regent after over 200 days on Seabourn. I way away when the bookings opened and when I check last month to book excursions for our November cruise some ports had zero options left. I can understand not getting my first choice or even second but no choice at all? They know how many passengers they have to accommodate I don't understand how there can be no choice at all. Also I had to call my travel agents to get me on a wait list for some ports. Would have been much better (as suggested) if there was the option to wait list yourself.

Hi,

We also did this cruise in April and I agree with Rivercove 10's comments regarding the ports. I will however recommend that you take the ship shuttle in Borcay and walk the short distance to the beach. We walked along until we found a reasonable price for a boat for three hours and arranged to go snorkeling. We had a great day and it was easy to arrange on our own.

I actually really enjoyed Manila. We walked off the ship with the intention of taking the shuttle into the Intramuros part of town. As we walked off the ship we saw a free tour shuttle (from the Port of Manila authority) and jumped on this along with about 6 other seabourn guests. It was on open old style bus and very comfortable. We all thought we were just going to be dropped off in the old part of town. This was not the case as the driver took us to all the places of interest and waited for us. He even came into one place that was charging enterance fees and told them we were from the cruise ship so we were not charged. The driver did not give any commentary in fact he spoke no English but all the sites we visited had markers explaining the history of the buildings we visited so all in all for a free tour it was excellent. I will say that we got off the ship as soon as we could as we did not want to be out in the old part of town in the mid day heat. As mentioned by rivercove the heat and humidity were high. We then took a taxi to the old Chinese cemetery as I had read this was an of the beaten path thing to do. This was something unreal. Huge streets with street signs and huge crypt building to house the dead and not a person to be seen. The crypts even had bathrooms in them. Some of the crypts were very large and abandoned (obviously the family had died out) so people had actually moved in and were living in these crypts. It was like the suburb of the dead. Very unreal but I'm really glad were went to this place. The next day we wanted to take a food walking tour but unfortunately there were none being offered the day we were there. I researched where the food tour took guests and just followed their route and visited all the restaurants and ordered the recommended food. Was very enjoyable as you got to see parts of Manila you would not normally visit and try the local specialties. This port was well worth doing on your own if you have the inclination to do some research.

I missed the next two ports as I was ill but my husband and our friends said that Coron and Porta Princesa were the two best ports. In Porta Princesa they did the tour to the underground caves and really thought it was amazing so I can highly recommend that Seabourn excursion. In Coron they again hired a boat on the beach and went snorkeling and said this was by far the best snorkeling day they had in the Philippines.

My tip for you is to do some online research on the ports you will be visiting to get the most out of your time in the Philippines. Take lots of water with you at every port as you will be amazed at how much you drink due to the humidity. Also lots of sunscreen and a good hat!

We were fortunate to have sailed with Miss Martha. What a joy! I will never forget her at the sky bar with her clip board signing people up for the helicopter ride "weather permittin". The Captain would come along and ask her how the tour sign up was going. She was a real character and will be missed by many Seabourn cruisers. I wear the Seabourn bracelet she gave me on every cruise I go on. It will now hold a special meaning to me.

RIP Miss Martha.