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LIVE – Explorer Transatlantic – 11/23 – 12/7/2019


Travelcat2
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Time to prepare a blog for our upcoming cruise.  We are leaving today (Thursday, 11/21) and will fly Air Canada to Heathrow and then on to Lisbon.

 

We booked our own hotel but forgot to tell Regent, so we had to cancel the hotel and stay at the hotel that Regent booked (Four Seasons, Ritz, Lisbon).  Being Titanium, we booked transportation from the airport to the hotel and will have Regent’s private transfer to the ship.

 

Hoping that other people will post as we have done this itinerary a few times previously.  I’ll mainly be posting photos of a few excursions – one in particular in Funchal that we have done previously and will do again (weather permitting – we missed Funchal last year due to storms).  Will also post information on the daily activities.  When sailing to Miami from Europe, many times the ship will be due for an inspection when it arrives so the crew is quite busy.  Not sure how often these inspection takes place but there is a possibility that it will be an inspection when we arrive in December.

 

Looking forward to seeing Andreas (G.M.) on board as well as a friend that we have cruised with several times.  

 

Will post more when we are actually on the ship. 

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Great Jackie!!   I was waiting for this...

 

Hope you and Dennis fly safely and comfortably to Lisbon and that you have smooth sailing all the way across the "pond".  (And no snow causing last minute changes of flights like last time!) .  Am eagerly waiting to read what you have to say.

 

Bon voyage!  Gerry

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Hope certain things have improved by the time you get here.  A huge communication problem with WiFi and the tv.  Dinner in every restaurant took from 50-65 minutes to get the main course, after appetizers.   Last two nights have been a big improvement .   Many excursions have issues and considering they return 2-3 pm. the only thing available is the pool grill.  Very small selection available at that time for non meat eaters.  The service in that area has been not the best.   Today I was sitting for 20

minutes and not offered water or a drink.  Not the first time. Everyone knows you and I’m sure will give you wonderful service.  
Our toilet had to be completely replaced. That meant no usage for 3 hours.  We were on an excursion, so really wasn’t an issue.  I’m not complaining, it’s been fun and is a beautiful ship.   The internet issue is a big problem that hopefully can be addressed.

 

Safe travels and be sure to have lots of motion sickness meds.  It’s been a rough

ride so far.

 

 

 

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Jackie!  I’m so glad to see your post!   I hope you and Dennis have a great time and you post lots of pics. Lisbon is on our bucket list and we hope to visit on a Regent cruise one of these days. Have a great time and enjoy your flight over the pond. 

Z and TB

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Jackie, Hope we get to meet and wish you a safe trip to Lisbon. We are in Lisbon now enjoying much nicer than anticipated weather, eating delicious food and drinking great wine! Looking forward to boarding the Explorer on Saturday. 

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Wishing Jackie, Pat, Briar14, and any other CC members sailing a wonderful cruise, and very much looking forward to hearing about your experiences.   I hope that some of the issues that Judi666 referenced get resolved.

Bob

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5 hours ago, golfer21 said:

We are leaving for Lisbon this evening, direct flight Toronto to Lisbon with Tap, first time we have had a direct flight, looking forward to our first time on Explorer. See

you all onboard.

Pat 

First, have a great cruise Jackie. We will be on the Explorer Dec. 17th.

 

Pat, could you comment on your experience on TAP. It is an option for us on a cruise next year from Lisbon. Thanks

 

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We have not experienced the service issues reported by @judi666 in the restaurants and have dined as a party of 2, 4, or 6 at various times and venues without long delays. I agree about the "after lunchtimes" return from excursions, but room service is always a good option.  One time we returned very close to 2pm....they kept La Veranda open a bit longer but it was impossible to find a seat as everyone seemed to be returning at the same time.  This was not helped by some passengers sitting at tables who had apparently finished their meals but lingered to read a book, scroll the internet,  etc. 

Yes, we've had a bit of a rough ride at times but that's  Mother Nature.   Feel sorry for those on really high decks forward.

Internet has been up and down.  Would think that this newer ship would not have such frequent issues.  We were on the Navigator last month and had much better internet reliability. As far as the TV external channels - apparently  Miami had to do a "reset " to get the service back in place.  Has been fine since then.

Have just pulled into a very foggy Lisbon.  See you all soon.

 

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6 hours ago, captjohn said:

Pat, could you comment on your experience on TAP. It is an option for us on a cruise next year from Lisbon. Thanks

 

I was about to ask the same question.  TAP has a Business class but I am not sure how good it is.  Their fares tend to be lower than most airlines so I would really like to get some first-hand info (and comparisons to other airlines if possible)

 

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Flown with TAP many times mainly Dublin to Lisbon or Porto or Funchal. 

Not sure what their long haul is like but I would not put them in my favourite airline category. Business class mediocre in comparison to airlines like Emirates, pretty much on a par with British Airways’ Club Europe, ie not great

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