We signed up for this cruise in 2020. We hoped by end of Oct. 2022 things with Covid would have settled down. Since this was to be our 6th Regent cruise, 2nd on Explorer, we believed the tours would be very good and safe. We believed we needed to be careful in many parts or the world now. Especially since we are in our seventies and walk a bit slower. We believed Regen would take good care of us as we had experienced in the past. Not that everything was always perfect, but nothing ever is. We had challenges right from the beginning. We were not picked up at the airport and it was 11pm when we landed in Istanbul. We told them and they didn't seem to care. No apology or explanation except they would let Miami know. A great many of the tours now have and additional charges and sadly most are not good. Made up tours, uncomfortable transportation, tour guides very difficult to understand and it was certainly not safe since most tour guised took off and never cared about those people who were a bit slower. Luckily, we're good with managing on our own. We were on wait list and they added 3 more groups and we still did not get on the tour. They lost us! Destination department was a really weak link. Reception was also weak. There were 2 young women who tried but the rest were usually not very in any of our concerns.

Our cabin key didn't work, and security had to come 3 separate times to take apart and fix the lock mechanism. Most of the food was average. 10-15 times the food was not hot when served in the dining room. The salads were warm. So, we didn't order after numerous tries. I was served lobster that was not cooked, and it took 45 minutes for the server to bring me the entree. Although they knew in the room about this, it was just ignored, and one hostess said sorry as we left. No one ever followed up about this. That has never happened on Regent before. The pool grill was closed 12/30 without any notice. It was good alternative for dinner. I did complete most of the evaluations and we never heard back from any of the staff/officers. In 73 days not one officer ever spoke to us. A few may give a faint smile as they passed by. It just went on and on. The 4th segment was a bust because we could not get into New Zealand. You can see what others have to say about this.

To bring this to an end, we truly enjoyed our cabin and balcony. We needed an additional chair or stool in the room. The crew was absolutely great. They saved the cruise for us. We met a few wonderful people whom we really enjoyed. We also got to see many places on the first 2 segments that were on our bucket list. This made us happy and we were off the ship. In the end we paid a lot of money for an experience which was less than satisfying. Our 6th Regent cruise will be our last. And for reference, we have been on 7 different cruise lines and over 55 cruises. We usually book penthouse or concierge cabins. We are blessed that we have cruised all over the world. We'll continue to cruise on Oceania.