Mystictraveler

Voyager customers received an email this morning from Regent telling us they would NOT be going to HK because the port is currently closed due to the quarantined ship. But they don't know where they are going. This situation changes daily. They need to do the right thing, think about the impact on future bookings and offer passengers the option to cancel for future cruise credits. 

One other option if you care in look into, my TA will simply hold back their OBC and send a check a couple of weeks after the end of the cruise.

28 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

Many times Regent does not have enough information to verify the hotel in advance (until they know how many passengers will be taking part in the 3-night pre-cruise or the 1 night pre-cruise.)  We did that itinerary last year and loved the hotel that we stayed at but didn't know exactly what it would be.  Interestingly, we ended up at the hotel that Regent thought that we would be at and it was wonderful.  It is hard to find a hotel that isn't beautiful in Bali!

Thank-you for your reply. Do you happen to recall at what point prior to the cruise you were notified? And did the hotel happen to be The Apurva Kempinski?

Currently booked on the Voyager from Bali to Hong Kong on Feb. 12, 2020 and have a 3-night pre-cruise land package provided by Regent so currently set to arrive on Feb 9th. We have made our own air arrangements but are considering a change which would mean we would need to arrive on Feb. 8th. Regent has advised our TA what our most likely hotel will be, but they will not commit to when we will know for sure. But when my TA inquired today about adding on another hotel day through them, somehow they were able to tell the TA there was a waiting list and the cost would be a whopping $758. I can book online at the "most-likely" hotel for less than half that cost.

So can anyone share there experiences regarding the timing of the confirmation of your pre or post-hotel arrangements? And does it make any sense to have a waiting list for an extra day when they won't or can't even tell me where we will be staying?

On 9/17/2019 at 6:04 PM, FlyerTalker said:

 

Those Qantas flights are actually codeshares operated by Air Tahiti Nui (TN).  Ditto with some of the Air France flights, though AF operates their own equipment a few days a week.  These are the only two airlines flying PPT-LAX.

 

Between PPT and SFO you will find flights operated by both United and French Bee.  Both may carry other airline designators as  well, serving as partner codeshares.

 

There is also service between PPT and HNL on Hawaiian, but that is usually only a once a week round-trip.

 

 

 

Atlas is primarily a cargo carrier and only has three passenger aircraft, IIRC.  The one that would likely be used is the 747 VIP with a 2-3-2 business class configuration.  Look for those seats in the photos in this story on the aircraft.  Please note....this story is just for info on the seating.  Inflight service is a matter for the chartering operator to determine for any PPT-LAX flight.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/flying-the-houston-express-houston-luanda/

 

 

Thank-you very much for posting this link about the Houston Express. I actually took that flight many times when it was the World Airways MD-11 as I had to attend meetings in Luanda with other oil company finance folks. You really never knew what to expect. One time I had to pay $5 to the immigration "officials" to leave Angola (all dutifully reported to my company). Another time I showed up at the airport only to discover the flight to Houston had been cancelled due to a possible hurricane in Houston which went to the east but caused massive gridlock as hundreds of thousands tried to evacuate westward. I made it home two days later after racking up a $1,000 phone bill at the hotel trying to rebook myself. But it made for a good story. I have seen some cruise itineraries which actually call on Luanda but I have no idea why. We always traveled with a driver and another local in case we got involved in a car accident so that one person could always stay in the car with us. Sorry for the trip down memory lane.  :)

For you folks who have sailed on these types of extended journeys, how do you keep from putting on too many extra pounds? With all the food and alcohol options and temptations, and being pre-diabetic, I just don't see how I could manage effectively.

In the U.S., our carrier (AT&T) offers international plans which allow us to use our phones in any foreign country we would care to visit. Of course the plans and the options vary. This charges are billed through AT&T and there is no mention of the foreign carrier. But, this does not cover us while we are on the ship. I once made that mistake as the Cellular At Sea Charges were outrageous. Fortunately AT&T took pity on me as their instructions were not very clear at the time.

So my point is perhaps you could do what you need to do while onshore but ultimately your bank will have to clarify for you.

No doubt you have checked to see how much it would cost to just buy the tickets on your own and take the airfare credit from Regent. We are on the Bali to Hong Kong cruise a couple of months before yours. We were able to book a great connection from Houston to Bali on EVA at a cost which was less than $50 more than the Regent credit plus the $175 deviation fee and we booked it prior to 270 days out. The flight is fully refundable for $300.  We booked our return using miles. Good luck!

We had a category F suite booked for an 18 day cruise on the Voyager next year. When I inquired about the cost of an additional logon, if memory serves me, it was going to cost over $500 for the voyage. So we switched to a concierge suite so we could have the multiple logons. Since we already had a pre-cruise land package, they gave us credit for the one night pre-cruise hotel stay that comes with the concierge suite so in the end, there wasn't a significant additional costs when compared to the cost of the additional logon.

Sorry for this granular question, but I am borderline diabetic. Can anyone tell me if RSSC (Voyager) stock diet tonic (to go with my Vodka) of their ships? We have not sailed with them in several years and it was not a concern back then.

Currently considering moving to a Category E cabin on the Voyager. The only port side cabins available are 900, 902 or 904 which are underneath the bridge on deck 10. Has anyone sailed in any of these cabins (or the comparable cabins on the starboard side) and can you offer any advice or comments? Thanks much.

No I did not ask since I was still a month away from the early booking date.

I posted a few days ago about options heading to Bali for a February 2020 cruise. I had already managed to get our return with miles so was working on the outbound trip from Houston. I ended up booking the one way with EVA for about $50 more than the Regent allowance plus deviation fee. It is by far the best connection I could find and the cancellation fee is only $300, hence my decision to go ahead and book now. Just an FYI.

Lots of great information on this thread...thanks to all. Will be on the Voyager from Bali to Hong Kong next February. I have already managed to use miles to book our return flight to Houston. I can purchase a ticket from Houston to Bali for just a few dollars more than the Regent air fare credit plus a deviation fee. So is there any reason to wait for the 270 day mark to see if Regent can put me on my preferred flight.....which is EVA by the way? Does anyone know if Regent even contracts with EVA?

We are booked for the land package in Bali, so if we book our own flights, I presume we just advise Regent of our flights and they will arrange transportation?

And lastly, there are some very reasonable round trip business class tickets on Qatar Airways through Doha (which means we would redeposit our miles). The outbound flight is about 25% further and the return is 40% further. Having a hard time with that extra travel....put it is significantly cheaper. Has anyone gone this direction and if so what advice might you have?

Thanks much!

My TA spoke with a Celebrity representative this morning and they confirmed they had a separate group which handled these types of requests. However, the representative said they generally granted them only in dire cases such as a death in the family, an unexpected divorce, etc. My situation would most likely not qualify. 

But we visited the surgeon this afternoon and, while my wife does need surgery, he will do in on Wednesday and we should be good to go on our trip.

And for what it's worth, I had a credit card which had $10,000 in trip protection until a year or two ago and then they lowered it to $1,500. But about 6 weeks ago I got around to cancelling that card and picking up another one with the $10,000 in protection.

My wife broke her wrist a couple days ago and we have a cruise coming up in early January. Have not seen an orthopedic surgeon yet (hopefully tomorrow) so don't know if surgery is needed. Unfortunately, no trip insurance (appreciate no lectures). So worst case she will be facing surgery and best case she will be in a cast.

Our same itinerary is available in March. Under the assumption the doctor advises against traveling, I would appreciate any first-hand experiences of Celebrity taking pity and either 1) not invoking the penalty or 2) allowing a rebooking on the same itinerary to a different date.

We generally book suites, are Elite in the Captain's Club and the March cruise cost slightly more than the January cruise if those factors make a difference. Thanks for your insight.

Yesterday I received a MoveUp email for a January cruise. I submitted a bid for one of the class of cabins on offer. It was on the low side and I decided to up it a bit. So I clicked on the Modify link on the bid confirmation email. But now the modification scale starts at a number which is almost 3 times higher than my original bid. So I called Celebrity and waited on hold for over 30 minutes. When I finally got a rep, she basically said the scale was based on what someone had already bid. My guess is she really doesn't know what she is talking about.

Any suggestions or any similar experiences? And has anyone received acceptance of their offers ahead of the last 49 - 72 hours prior to sailing?

Thanks!

My wife and I were on the TA just prior to your cruise. This is probably getting to you too late, but if you have the opportunity, please tell Wida, one of the servers in Luminae, that Charlie and Carol said "hello" and we really appreciated her.

We use AT&T and purchase one of their international plans when out of the U.S. We try to use our cell phones sparingly when not connected to WiFi. I think most of those plans allow for unlimited texts. As mentioned by others, WiFi calling is the way to go as far as phone calls. But make sure the WiFi calling symbol in on so you know you are using that instead of Cellular at Sea or a local carrier. I speak from experience after having made that mistake in New Zealand last year.AT&T also has a Messages app that I have installed on my tablet which I use for texts when we are on the ship's WiFi.

I am currently on the Solstice and can confirm we are back to normal procedures thanks to the very hard work of the crew and diligence of my fellow passengers. I can also tell you that I became ill the first night but with only one symptom. This was not something I picked up on the ship but somewhere else like an airplane or hotel. I was isolated in my cabin for 48 hours. They treated linens and paper goods that left our cabin like bio hazards. And after speaking with the hotel director after my isolation, I learned he was personally aware of my case as he told me what I had for dinner the night I became ill. So as others have mentioned, it is us humans who can cause problems on a ship, not the ship. Kudos to Celebrity.

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I have sailed on AZ once and Celebrity three times with the fourth coming up shortly. As they say, "it depends" on what you are looking for. The customers on AZ on our cruise were generally older much like on the Holland America cruises I have been on. The entertainment was lacking as one of the things we enjoy is varied entertainment before dinner and during the day. The food was good and the cabin was nice as well but we were in a suite. Celebrity just ticks more boxes for us....good and varied entertainment, great service and good food. We tried a suite on our second cruise and are now hooked. Really enjoy the access to the restaurant Luminae and the private lounge with the concierge. They will bend over backwards to meet your requests.

Milford Sound is breathtaking and not to be missed together with Queenstown they are the icons of New Zealand. It is important to realise that the entrance into Milford Sound is narrow and if the winds are up the ship will not enter for obvious reasons, we waited 3 hours and our journey into the sounds was aborted. We waited to pick up the passengers that took the land tour from Dunedin to Queenstown and onto Milford, they were the lucky few. Since you are in Queenstown pre-cruise I would recommend you take a flight over the sounds in the small planes from Queenstown airport. Included in the trip is landing at the small airport, a 2 hour boat cruise thro the sound and return back to Queenstown airport cost US$350/pp - money well spent.

Thanks for your suggestion. We actually decided to do this option earlier today. After the long (28 hours with plane changes) trip from the U.S., we were not looking forward to a 13 hour bus trip so we are going to do the fly/cruise/fly and are already looking forward to it.

We will be in Queenstown for a few days before sailing out of Auckland on the Celebrity Solstice on Nov. 11. Our itinerary includes a day cruising through Dusky, Doubtful and Milford Sounds.

We are looking for advice on whether we should also do a day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound as it is one of the most recommended things to do on TA? One of our hesitations is that it is a 13 hour trip and we would have to take the tour 2 or 3 days after a 28 hour journey from the US.

I know these things can depend on personal preferences, but if anyone has experience with both, I would love to hear your thoughts.

EDITQUOTE

Thank-you. Great suggestion.

We will be in Queenstown for a few days before sailing out of Auckland on the Solstice on Nov. 11. Our itinerary includes a day cruising through Dusky, Doubtful and Milford Sounds.

We are looking for advice on whether we should also do a day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound as it is one of the most recommended things to do on TA? One of our hesitations is that it is a 13 hour trip and we would have to take the tour 2 or 3 days after a 28 hour journey from the US.

I know these things can depend on personal preferences, but if anyone has experience with both, I would love to hear your thoughts.