Booked our first Regent cruise July 2022 Iceland to Copenhagen

[wwinfl91]

HI,

Well we have booked our first Regent cruise on the Voyager 12 days from Reykjavik to Copenhagen. It is a long time away but we are excited and will be asking lots of questions of Regent veterans. I have over 40 cruises on a variety of lines beginning in 1997 and my wife and I have over 20 since we got together in 2012. You can see all the cruise lines in my signature if interested but we have only done one high end cruise line, Seabourn twice. The last few years we have been sailing suite class on Celebrity which has a separate and much better dining room and Michael's club to relax in. But with the Pandemic we made a decision to begin only sailing on smaller ships and since all the main line cruise lines have gotten rid of those type of ships during the shutdown in meant looking into Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Azamara, Crystal, Silverseas, or Windstar which all are still sailing ships mainly carrying less than 1000 passengers. I'll throw my first question out to end this post. Does anyone know what hotels that Regent uses in Reykjavik, Iceland for the night before the cruise we are getting? We will probably extend our stay for more than 1 night but I want to start checking into hotels first. We will also be staying over in Copenhagen for a few days after the cruise and if anyone has a recommendation for a good hotel they have stayed in there please let me know about it. Well this is long enough for now. Talk at you all  later and have a great next cruise whenever that is going to be. Get vaccinated when you can,

stay in if you can, wear a mask if you have to go out, stay well and stay safe.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wonderful, congratulations!  I'll be paying attention to the Copenhagen recommendations for our cruise the same month on Splendor.

[Mudhen]

Welcome to Regent! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time and you've got a terrific itinerary!

It may be a little early to actually know what hotel you'll be in Reykjavik, but check your account from time to time and you may get some info. We'll be on the Splendor out of Rome in Nov '22 and I had asked our TA if they had any idea of what hotel would be used....they couldn't get that info yet. You might also ask your TA about hotels that are being used.

[mj_holiday]

Prior to our cruise our Baltic cruise in 2014 we stayed at The Copenhagen Admiral.  It was very close to the  Nyhavn district, and we walked wherever we wanted to go. Had a nice bar, breakfast and restaurant.

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the replies. My wife thinks I'm a little crazy starting to look into things but our last cruise or trip anywhere was a cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver and back in Sept 2019. We normally cruise at least twice a year and it is now over a year of social isolation and I need to have something to look forward to.

[annapolitan369]

Before a cruise, we stayed at 71 Nyhavn Hotel, right on the water in Nyhavn.  An interesting building, well located.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

17 hours ago, wwinfl91 said:

Thanks for the replies. My wife thinks I'm a little crazy starting to look into things but our last cruise or trip anywhere was a cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver and back in Sept 2019. We normally cruise at least twice a year and it is now over a year of social isolation and I need to have something to look forward to.

We feel exactly the same way, although our last cruise was Sept. 2018!  That's because we were saving up for the world cruise, which would have started this January.  Sigh.  Enjoy the planning--I love it.

[DeereNan]

We just booked the same cruise! It is to celebrate our 30th Anniversary - a year late. So excited to have something to look forward to!

[wwinfl91]

Hi Deerenan,

Please go out and add your name to the roll call for the cruise. I started one and you would be the second one. Sounds like a great anniversary present.

 

[wwinfl91]

I've started my planning with where we will be staying Reykjavik and Copenhagen. We get one free night before the cruise and have a lot of travel points with a credit card so I was trying to find which hotels Regent uses (not hard) and then match that up with hotels that the credit lets me use the points on. I am hoping that Regent will work with me on this and if they don't I will use the points after the cruise for a stay in Copenhagen. Get vaccinated and have a great next cruise.

[Carol From California]

On 3/2/2021 at 11:37 AM, wwinfl91 said:

HI,

Well we have booked our first Regent cruise on the Voyager 12 days from Reykjavik to Copenhagen. It is a long time away but we are excited and will be asking lots of questions of Regent veterans. I have over 40 cruises on a variety of lines beginning in 1997 and my wife and I have over 20 since we got together in 2012. You can see all the cruise lines in my signature if interested but we have only done one high end cruise line, Seabourn twice. The last few years we have been sailing suite class on Celebrity which has a separate and much better dining room and Michael's club to relax in. But with the Pandemic we made a decision to begin only sailing on smaller ships and since all the main line cruise lines have gotten rid of those type of ships during the shutdown in meant looking into Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Azamara, Crystal, Silverseas, or Windstar which all are still sailing ships mainly carrying less than 1000 passengers. I'll throw my first question out to end this post. Does anyone know what hotels that Regent uses in Reykjavik, Iceland for the night before the cruise we are getting? We will probably extend our stay for more than 1 night but I want to start checking into hotels first. We will also be staying over in Copenhagen for a few days after the cruise and if anyone has a recommendation for a good hotel they have stayed in there please let me know about it. Well this is long enough for now. Talk at you all  later and have a great next cruise whenever that is going to be. Get vaccinated when you can,

stay in if you can, wear a mask if you have to go out, stay well and stay safe.

We usually book our pre-cruise hotel on our own and take the credit from Regent. We have found we can book for much less, and we usually stay a day or two additional. Regent charges much more for adding days. I recommend the Canopy by Hilton in Reykjavik. Since you mentioned this is your first Regent cruise do you have someone who referred you? If you would like a referral please email me. My email address is at the bottom of my signature. 

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the recommendations both the hotel and taking the credit. We will definitely want to stay for a few days both in Reykjavik and in Copenhagen. We always try to do this before or after or both if the ports are interesting places. I had posted on the referral thread and 2 people answered me but I have not replied to them yet so I will probably go ahead and drop you an email. Thanks again and have a great next cruise.

[wwinfl91]

Submitted my referral to Regent about 5 or 6 days ago and no response from them yet. I guess they operate on Island Time. Still excited about the cruise. Have been researching hotels and tours in Reykjavik and Copenhagen where we will staying for a few days before and after the cruise. We may decide to book our own airfare and save some money. Especially since we have to fly to Reykjavik and could use Iceland Air which seems to have some very affordable flights. Have a great next cruise.

[Ladys Mom]

On 3/6/2021 at 10:59 AM, Carol From California said:

We usually book our pre-cruise hotel on our own and take the credit from Regent. We have found we can book for much less, and we usually stay a day or two additional. Regent charges much more for adding days. I recommend the Canopy by Hilton in Reykjavik. Since you mentioned this is your first Regent cruise do you have someone who referred you? If you would like a referral please email me. My email address is at the bottom of my signature. 

Several years ago we took the Regent cruise from NYC to Reykjavik.  We stayed an additional three days at the Canopy and it was wonderful.  Its location is excellent.  One block from the main street and one block from the tour bus stop.  We took a variety of tours including, of course, the Blue Grotto and a number of walking tours in the city.  We also took a tour to one of the glaciers, and an evening at a lovely bar/cafe to taste authentic Icelandic cuisine.

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the hotel and tour recommendations. We are really looking forward to this cruise.

Have a great next cruise.

[wwinfl91]

Thinking about not taking Regent's flights but having our travel agent arrange our air transportation. What do most of you regular Regent cruisers do?

Thanks and have a great next cruise.

[pingpong1]

WWINFL91.....For me/us (DW and I), it's on a case by case basis.  For cruises leaving/returning in the US, the "included" Regent flights are in "economy".  We don't "do" economy.  We take the Regent air credits and buy our own F/C tickets.  Hint...domestic (US) F/C tickets wind up being cheaper if you pay cash (rather than using FF miles).  If you consider the "worth/cost" of FF miles at somewhere around 2 - 2.5 cents per miles, you will wind up spending far more money (in the "cost equivalent" of FF miles) for a domestic F/C ticket, than if you just look around for "bargains" and pay cash for those domestic tickets.  If you mind flying "economy", then using Regent's air is probably Okay. The potential "savings" of "doing you own thing" (booking your own economy flights inside the US) will be very small.

 

Save any FF miles you might have for overseas B/C flights.  If you have "the miles" (even consider buying enough for a particular overseas trip) it will be cheaper to pay for your overseas flights in B/C (again averaging 2 - 2.5 cents per mile) using FF miles, than it would be to pay cash for those tickets.

 

No....Regent's air credits usually do not fully pay the cost of our own purchased tickets.  That doesn't bother me.....certainly not for taking cruise with fares that averages at least $10K per person.  The price of buying my own stateside F/C tickets is "peanuts" compared to the total cost of the cruise,  and we look forward to the entire trip as being "a total luxury experience" from start to finish...including booking a limo to/from our house/airport.

 

For overseas flights, It's a bit more of a "calculation" to go through.  In some cases (actually, I would say in almost all cases) Regent's overseas flights (using their "included" B/C air) could/usually will be "cheaper" than taking the air credit and buying your own tickets (particularly if you're going to pay cash for overseas B/C air tickets).  However, I don't consider "cost" to be the only factor in determining the best course of action (using Regent's overseas flights vs. booking my own).  But I'm also sitting on about 1 million FF miles with AA. So, YMMV!

 

Booking/paying (whether you're using cash or miles) for your own flights gives you "maximum flexibility".  Yes, I know you can pay a bit extra to Regent and "deviate", and "almost  always" get suitable flights/airlines/itineraries of your choice....but not always.  On some very expensive Regent itineraries (perhaps mostly to Asia/OZ/NZ/FP, etc.) I've seen Regent's air credit as high as $7K a person.  I can probably/most likely buy B/C tickets using my FF miles to those places for a "cheaper total cost", if I "shop around", and I might even get a bit of money back (the "difference" between Regent's air credit any my cost for independently bought tickets), if Regent gives me the air credit.  But not always.  Just keep all your options open and "think outside the box".  Calculate things both ways. I book all my flight myself and online.  I "think" that TA's might be charging a bit of commission on air tickets if you have them do it (since they're not getting anything from the airlines anymore).

 

Of course, others might have completely different views and experience on all of this.  Regards.

[mrstanley]

Regent had been using the Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen. We have stayed there twice... not with Regent.

Basic Marriott hotel.

For a more upscale hotel The D angelterre

is really nice and better location.

Be sure to make sure if it’s air conditioned! The Marriott is.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, mrstanley said:

Regent had been using the Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen. We have stayed there twice... not with Regent.

Basic Marriott hotel.

For a more upscale hotel The D angelterre

is really nice and better location.

Be sure to make sure if it’s air conditioned! The Marriott is.

Can you tell me why the d'Angleterre is a better location?  Never having been to Copenhagen, I'm trying to get a sense of the place--I see the Marriott is right on the water, and close to Tivoli, for instance.

[Brownie54]

We stayed at the Marriott in Copenhagen in August, 2018 prior to our Explorer cruise. We thought it was just fine, and as you said, close to Tivoli. We walked everywhere! It’s also fairly close to the train station; there are direct trains from the airport.

[briar14]

A favorite Regent cruise was Reykjavik to Copenhagen on Voyager. Living in SC, I loved that weather was cool. And, we saw lots of Puffins in the Faroe Islands. Both Reykjavik and Copenhagen are worth spending extra time in.

[mj_holiday]

I let our TA work air tickets, either through Regent or taking the credit and book separately.  I want someone to help if there is ever trouble with flights and cruise when we are in a foreign country etc.  She also usually knows if she can get us B/C tickets cheaper than the credit.

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for all the advice and help. I will be working with our new travel agent went flights begin to be available.

 

[wwinfl91]

Well is everyone still with us. Darlene and I are vaccinated but still restricting our outside activities. We did have a Mother's day dinner with her 2 sons and 2 grand sons all vaccinated with no masks inside a restaurant. Hopefully you have all gotten vaccinated or will have done so before your next cruise. I doubt we will try to cruise this year although I really would like to. Still seems risky.

Have a great next cruise.

[Mr. B]

On 4/14/2021 at 12:14 PM, mrstanley said:

Regent had been using the Marriott Hotel in Copenhagen. We have stayed there twice... not with Regent.

Basic Marriott hotel.

For a more upscale hotel The D angelterre

is really nice and better location.

Be sure to make sure if it’s air conditioned! The Marriott is.

 

Another vote for The d'Angleterre it is a very elegant and luxurious hotel, well located without being overrun with the tourist crammed into Nyhavn