Never Say "Never"

[MsSommelier]

Although I thought I would never book another Regent cruise after our (very) disappointing experience on Mariner (in a PH, Istanbul to Istanbul) a couple years back, I succumbed to an attractive offer on Explorer for Oct 17, 12 days Venice to Barcelona. We booked a PH A on deck 14 (1408).

 

 

Any special tips for enjoying the ship? Is 1408 a good choice? (I still have time to change, if it's not). I am guessing it is good to reserve specialty restaurants and shore excursions as soon as I have access to do so (which should be Monday).

 

 

As a reference point, we have cruised on H-L Europa (a few times), Seabourn (several times), Crystal (inc. the yacht) and Regent (Navigator and Mariner).

 

 

Thank you in advance for advice.

[msmillie]

Although I thought I would never book another Regent cruise after our (very) disappointing experience on Mariner (in a PH, Istanbul to Istanbul) a couple years back, I succumbed to an attractive offer on Explorer for Oct 17, 12 days Venice to Barcelona. We booked a PH A on deck 14 (1408).

 

Glad you decided to give Regent another try. The Explorer is a very fine ship, a good choice for your Venice to Barcelona cruise. It is my opinion that this time your experience will be very special and that you will want to return. Angie

[Travelcat2]

Deck 14 is a lovely deck. My only comment about the deck is that you would feel the "motion of the ocean" much more when you are that high up on the ship. We were in suite 1200 which is one deck down from deck 14 since there is no deck 13 and it was quite bouncy.

[MsSommelier]

So nice to hear from someone from Los Gatos, MsMillie. We lived in Los Altos before moving to Germany. Thanks for the feedback.

[MsSommelier]

Travelcat2,

Thanks for the input. Fortunately, we do not get sea sick at all, and we've had some really rough rides on upper decks, esp. fore. Last trip on Europa, going through the last bit to Melbourne, we were really glad we did most of our packing the day before - literally we were tossed from side to side in our suite as we tried to finish!

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

I think a PH-C on the 8th deck, mid ship is a great location on the Explorer. If it is still available, check it out and save some money. All amenities and the suite layout are the same.

Sheila

[MsSommelier]

Thank you Bellaggio Cruisers,

PH-C is wait listed - probably for a good reason! - therefore we booked the PH-A.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Thank you Bellaggio Cruisers,

PH-C is wait listed - probably for a good reason! - therefore we booked the PH-A.

 

Suggest you check ou PH-B also. Some are very good locations, mid ship.

Sheila

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Available - 930 or 722 are midship PH-B. You can save $400 p.p., = $800. Just a suggestion.

Sheila

[Travelcat2]

Sheila - just curious why you don't care for the suite that the TS booked? We think that deck 14 is great. It is so out of the way, quiet and private. The only issue I had is feeling the ocean but that isn't an issue for the TS.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Sheila - just curious why you don't care for the suite that the TS booked? We think that deck 14 is great. It is so out of the way, quiet and private. The only issue I had is feeling the ocean but that isn't an issue for the TS.

 

Jackie

Personally, we prefer to be midship wherever we can. It’s not just seasickness, it’s also items falling off shelves or not being able to balance in rough seas. ( which we have had in the past).

I have never encountered noise, or lack of privacy wherever we have been located on the Explorer, whether the Explorer Suite-918 near the elevator or Conceirge mid ship.

Also, $800 is not crumbs—-

Just my opinion.

Regards

Sheila

[Travelcat2]

Jackie

Personally, we prefer to be midship wherever we can. It’s not just seasickness, it’s also items falling off shelves or not being able to balance in rough seas. ( which we have had in the past).

I have never encountered noise, or lack of privacy wherever we have been located on the Explorer.

Just my opinion.

Regards

Sheila

 

Sheila - thanks for responding. They do put bottles, etc. on the floor of the suites in rough seas but it was the seasickness that bothered me (and I almost never get seasick). Hopefully they have fixed the noise issues in suite 1200 ..... they indicated that more insulation was being installed between the Observation Lounge and the suites above it. I love Explorer and don't mind the few idiosyncrasies. In fact, when the new itineraries come out for 2020, we will be looking at Explorer rather than Splendor (after "our" special cruise) since most people will be interested in sailing on the newest ship in the fleet.

 

Jackie

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Sheila - thanks for responding. They do put bottles, etc. on the floor of the suites in rough seas but it was the seasickness that bothered me (and I almost never get seasick). Hopefully they have fixed the noise issues in suite 1200 ..... they indicated that more insulation was being installed between the Observation Lounge and the suites above it. I love Explorer and don't mind the few idiosyncrasies. In fact, when the new itineraries come out for 2020, we will be looking at Explorer rather than Splendor (after "our" special cruise) since most people will be interested in sailing on the newest ship in the fleet.

 

 

Jackie

 

I agree with you— but can’t wait to see the changes in the PH suites on Splendor on our cruise.

Sheila

[Travelcat2]

I agree with you— but can’t wait to see the changes in the PH suites on Splendor on our cruise.

Sheila

 

Agree - hope that the redesign of the PH suites make it much better. We will be in an Explorer Suite for that cruise, a Grand Suite for our transatlantic cruise and a Seven Seas suite for our February, 2019 cruise.

Jackie

[Hambagahle]

Agree - hope that the redesign of the PH suites make it much better. We will be in an Explorer Suite for that cruise, a Grand Suite for our transatlantic cruise and a Seven Seas suite for our February, 2019 cruise.

Jackie

 

Jackie -- I think you made a mistake... there are no Explorer suites on the Splendor only Splendor suites. Tsk! Tsk! :)

 

I shall be very curious to get both your and Sheila's comments on Splendor versus Explorer when we are on board. Needless to say Ken and I haven't been on Explorer so cannot make comparisons. I can't wait to see you both!

Gerry

[Travelcat2]

Jackie -- I think you made a mistake... there are no Explorer suites on the Splendor only Splendor suites. Tsk! Tsk! :)

 

I shall be very curious to get both your and Sheila's comments on Splendor versus Explorer when we are on board. Needless to say Ken and I haven't been on Explorer so cannot make comparisons. I can't wait to see you both!

Gerry

 

Thanks for catching that. John Barron's comments are in my brain. He always had us saying "I am Explorer" to the point where there seemed to be no other ships. We are in a Splendor suite on the Splendor and are both so looking forward to it. Finally meeting you and Ken will be a highlight.:D

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Thanks for catching that. John Barron's comments are in my brain. He always had us saying "I am Explorer" to the point where there seemed to be no other ships. We are in a Splendor suite on the Splendor and are both so looking forward to it. Finally meeting you and Ken will be a highlight.:D

 

Jackie

We had the Explorer Suite in November. I wonder if changes were made to the Splendor Suite. The photos are not the same as our suite. Check it out in 2020. :cool:

[Travelcat2]

Jackie

We had the Explorer Suite in November. I wonder if changes were made to the Splendor Suite. The photos are not the same as our suite. Check it out in 2020. :cool:

 

Sheila,

 

You're right. I wondered about the photos. Guess that we'll have to wait 1 year 8 1/2 months to find out (that sounds too long). Now that I think about it, going back to Explorer, The current Explorer suites were originally the larger Seven Seas Suites. When these suites changed, the "old" Explorer suites became Grand Suites which made sense since they were almost identical to the other Grand Suites.

 

Jackie

[seaknots]

Agree - hope that the redesign of the PH suites make it much better. We will be in an Explorer Suite for that cruise, a Grand Suite for our transatlantic cruise and a Seven Seas suite for our February, 2019 cruise.

Jackie

So good to have all those cruises to look forward to and in such nice suites. We should follow your example of future planing

[Travelcat2]

So good to have all those cruises to look forward to and in such nice suites. We should follow your example of future planing

 

Cruising has become a priority in our life and we book cruises as far out as possible (and rarely have to cancel them). We typically book future cruises onboard the ship in order to get the benefits (which unfortunately seem to be decreasing). Having cruises booked through March 2020 gives us a lot to look forward to. :D

[Silver Sweethearts]

You're right. I wondered about the photos.

 

While we were on the Navigator recently we booked a Splendor Suite for a cruise when it debuts, but in studying the brochure we were given about the ship, the proposed Splendor Suite isn't even close to what our Explorer Suite looked like when we sailed in that last year. We realize the pictures are computer-generated since nothing is built yet, but are there any very recent (read: new) renderings that are possibly more accurate than the first ones?