Dining reservations on the Explorer in May

[life_rafter]

Hi, this is our first Regents cruise and curious about dining reservations. My account says I can make them on February 7th. Is it something I should do right away and imperative? I'm not sure how dining works on this ship? Thanks for any tips and advice!

[Travelcat2]

Hi and welcome to the Regent board:D. First, dining reservations are the same on all Regent ships. Explorer is only different because they have one extra dining venue - Pacific Rim!

 

Yes - you should making dining reservations as soon as possible. This would be midnight Eastern Standard Time, 9:00 p.m February 6th Pacific Standard time (or anything in between - depending upon where you live).

 

While you can get reservations the next day, the best reservations "could" be taken. You will have a choice to share your table (which gives you more options) or not to share (fewer options).

 

Hopefully you already have your excursions booked and either deviated your air (which enables you to select your routing) or are willing to accept whatever Regent assigns you 75 days prior to the cruise.

 

Hope that your first Regent sailing is wonderful:D

[life_rafter]

Thank you! I will get on tomorrow night and get these booked! I'm working on excursions this week so hopefully I'll get a few that I want.

 

I'm a little confused on the air selection process so I think I'll ask my TA tomorrow to help me with this. I'm a little nervous to have Regent pick my flights. There is a great nonstop BA flight from Austin to London every evening but didn't know if I could pick that one? I figured it depended on the contracts they have with certain airlines? Hmmm?

 

Thank you for the advice travelcat2!

[Travelcat2]

Thank you! I will get on tomorrow night and get these booked! I'm working on excursions this week so hopefully I'll get a few that I want.

 

I'm a little confused on the air selection process so I think I'll ask my TA tomorrow to help me with this. I'm a little nervous to have Regent pick my flights. There is a great nonstop BA flight from Austin to London every evening but didn't know if I could pick that one? I figured it depended on the contracts they have with certain airlines? Hmmm?

 

Thank you for the advice travelcat2!

 

Hope that your TA regularly books Regent cruises and is giving you a rebate on your cruise (as well as on board credits). In any case, people that "deviate" can book flights 270 days in advance of the cruise so, if you are interested in that particular flight, I would get on it immediately. I'm surprised that your TA has not urged you to book flights and excursions sooner. Not trying to sound harsh - there are many wonderful TA's out there but are clueless when it comes to booking luxury cruises and therefore may not be as helpful as those that book luxury cruises on a regular basis.

 

Yes - Regent does have contracts with certain airlines and BA is one of them (but not on every route). We have deviated using BA, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and others. We tend to avoid airlines based in the U.S. (United, Delta, American, etc.) as we don't feel that their service is as good as foreign airlines.

 

Let us know how things progress. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[life_rafter]

I did get on board credits which was good and he has sent me excursion info. I just booked 3 tonight and didn't have a waitlist.

 

As far as flights go, I'll be on that tomorrow and good to know BA could be an option! We just booked our cruise in full today as a matter of fact (not sure if you have to do that before you book flights?). He works for a luxury cruise line agency so I hope he would know Regent but again, I always try to do my own homework!

 

Keep you posted - Thanks!

[life_rafter]

I meant to say "paid our cruise in full" today. We booked only about 6 wks ago.

[coljack]

Life rafter,

 

Have you flown Business Class on BA? If not, one thing to keep in mind when reserving seats is that (at least some of) their aircraft, have privacy dividers between most of the seats that make them awkward if you want to talk with your flying companion. Check the Seat Guru on the net for seat maps and info.

[life_rafter]

Thank you for the heads up! I will look for sure. I just gave my TA some flights I preferred from Austin and Houston. Both included BA and KLM. what other international airlines do y'all prefer? Air france? Is Delta any good overseas?

Thanks for help!

 

I also got my dinner reservations made last night but I guess there are only 3 restaurants to book.

[life_rafter]

Life rafter,

 

Have you flown Business Class on BA? If not, one thing to keep in mind when reserving seats is that (at least some of) their aircraft, have privacy dividers between most of the seats that make them awkward if you want to talk with your flying companion. Check the Seat Guru on the net for seat maps and info.

 

 

Looked at seat guru. Do you know if Regent would put us in World Traveler plus or club world? That makes a difference? I have no idea?

[Travelcat2]

Glad that you got the dinner reservations that you want. It is possible to get a second reservation when onboard - it depends upon the length of your cruise since everyone is pretty much guaranteed one reservation per restaurant.

 

In terms of airlines, we do research because we do not like "slanted" flat-bed seats. BA and Lufthansa have true flat-bed seats. KLM used to have slanted but may have upgraded. We find the flights that we like and look up the Business Class seats either on the airlines website or on seatguru.com. seatguru.com also indicates the best and worst seats on each type of aircraft.

 

Again, let us know which airline you end up with and thanks for allowing us to follow along in the process:D

[life_rafter]

Glad that you got the dinner reservations that you want. It is possible to get a second reservation when onboard - it depends upon the length of your cruise since everyone is pretty much guaranteed one reservation per restaurant.

 

In terms of airlines, we do research because we do not like "slanted" flat-bed seats. BA and Lufthansa have true flat-bed seats. KLM used to have slanted but may have upgraded. We find the flights that we like and look up the Business Class seats either on the airlines website or on seatguru.com. seatguru.com also indicates the best and worst seats on each type of aircraft.

 

Again, let us know which airline you end up with and thanks for allowing us to follow along in the process:D

 

 

 

Do you find the BA flights have those dividers between the seats, which wouldn't be so great when traveling with the spouse? I'll look on seat guru. Thank you!

[Travelcat2]

Do you find the BA flights have those dividers between the seats, which wouldn't be so great when traveling with the spouse? I'll look on seat guru. Thank you!

 

Yes - they have dividers but they come down. I like facing my husband - we toast with champagne and can talk easier than when we are side by side in the larger seats. He doesn't like to sit "backwards" so I sit at the window and when he goes to sleep, I put up the divider (not sure why - just don't need to see people/fight attendants walking by.

[life_rafter]

Good to know they come down! Thank you! I hope I can get on the BA flights!

[Travelcat2]

Looked at seat guru. Do you know if Regent would put us in World Traveler plus or club world? That makes a difference? I have no idea?

 

They will put you in Club World and you will be able to visit BA's lovely lounges!

[life_rafter]

They will put you in Club World and you will be able to visit BA's lovely lounges!

 

Yay, thats great! So we decided to go out of IAH and now just need to pick the airlines....BA, Air France, KLM or Lufthansa seems to be the nicest business class. Thanks for all of your help!:)

[Travelcat2]

In my humble opinion, Lufthansa does have the best service and food but fairly uncomfortable seats and their lounges pale in comparison to BA. Despite that, due to flight times, when we deviate a flight on February 15th, we will pick Lufthansa.

[MalbecWine]

The Senator lounge for first class in Frankfurt is fabulous. Singapore Kris Lounge is wonderful as well. The Centurion clubs vary and overall not that great.

[rallydave]

Yay, thats great! So we decided to go out of IAH and now just need to pick the airlines....BA, Air France, KLM or Lufthansa seems to be the nicest business class. Thanks for all of your help!:)

 

Singapore actually flies from IAH to Manchester and you can connect there to almost anyplace in Europe. Not a crowded as LHR and Singapore is head and shoulders above those you mentioned. Not sure if Regent will book Singapore but, worth a try.

 

We're flying Singapore in October and easy connection to our River Cruise followed by an Ocean TA.

[Travelcat2]

The Senator lounge for first class in Frankfurt is fabulous. Singapore Kris Lounge is wonderful as well. The Centurion clubs vary and overall not that great.

 

Thanks for posting this information. We haven't been in Frankfurt in a while (intentionally - really difficult airport to navigate). I believe that the last time we were there the lounge was under construction. Good to know that their lounge is so good.

 

Unless the TS is going to Singapore, it is doubtful that Regent will do Singapore Airlines (unless things have changed). It seems that the airline that Regent uses for Asia is Cathay Pacific (which we are flying next month). IMO, their lounge in Kong Kong is one of the best in the world.

 

Sometimes it is hard to tell which airline you can use for a deviation since Regent's contracts are based on routes as well as specific flights and the airline itself. Their contracts also specify how many seats can be booked per fight which is why sometimes Regent will tell you that a flight is full when in fact the fight has seats - just not "contracted" seats. For this reason, I always recommend deviating as close to the 270 day mark as possible.

 

For our November cruise (which can be deviated/booked on February 15th), we already booked our own First Class air from Miami but have to wait for the outward fight. Also consider what time of the year your flights are. We are returning from Miami on Thanksgiving weekend so it behooves us to book ASAP.

 

Anyway, MalbecWine, I also wanted to tell you what a great "name" you have. Anything wine related sounds good to me:halo:

[Travelcat2]

Just realized that we are totally off topic. So, speaking for myself, I apologize -- did not realize that this had happened. I will not post any more flight information on this thread. Sincerely sorry!

[MalbecWine]

Thanks for posting this information. We haven't been in Frankfurt in a while (intentionally - really difficult airport to navigate). I believe that the last time we were there the lounge was under construction. Good to know that their lounge is so good.

 

Unless the TS is going to Singapore, it is doubtful that Regent will do Singapore Airlines (unless things have changed). It seems that the airline that Regent uses for Asia is Cathay Pacific (which we are flying next month). IMO, their lounge in Kong Kong is one of the best in the world.

 

Sometimes it is hard to tell which airline you can use for a deviation since Regent's contracts are based on routes as well as specific flights and the airline itself. Their contracts also specify how many seats can be booked per fight which is why sometimes Regent will tell you that a flight is full when in fact the fight has seats - just not "contracted" seats. For this reason, I always recommend deviating as close to the 270 day mark as possible.

 

For our November cruise (which can be deviated/booked on February 15th), we already booked our own First Class air from Miami but have to wait for the outward fight. Also consider what time of the year your flights are. We are returning from Miami on Thanksgiving weekend so it behooves us to book ASAP.

 

Anyway, MalbecWine, I also wanted to tell you what a great "name" you have. Anything wine related sounds good to me:halo:

 

We have friends in Mendoza Argentina and love the Malbec wine. Really not expensive there or in the US. I can’t drink white wine as it gives me a headache.

[Travelcat2]

We have friends in Mendoza Argentina and love the Malbec wine. Really not expensive there or in the US. I can’t drink white wine as it gives me a headache.

 

That is so funny! I drink red wine for its purported health benefits, but need to be careful as it also gives me headaches. For some reason, when we are onboard a ship, I can drink more without feeling it or getting a headache. It is likely because there is so much food in my stomach that the alcohol doesn't get through it all:cool:. I just lost the weight from our last cruise (plus 2 pounds) but will be boarding the Voyager in March.

[life_rafter]

Sorry, my fault. I can start a new thread if need be.

 

Thanks!