Tomorrow, Regent will announce their Winter 2011/2012 schedule. So far, we know that the voyager will not be doing a World Cruise. We know that Voyager will winter in Asia. I don't think we know anything about Navigator and Mariner schedules except that Navigator will be in Ft Lauderdale on 28 Oct 11 and Mariner will be in Ft Lauderdale 4 Dec 11.

So, if we were the ones writing the schedules, what itineraries would we like?

My preference for an Asian itinerary would be a WWII Naval Battle tour with stops in;

New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Guadalcanal
Phillipines
Borneo
Saipan
Guam
Iwo Jima

Marc, I like your itinerary and Jerry would love it --bring it on!!! Jerry would also like to do Dubai to Singapore. He doesn't really care where it would stop (probably Maldives, Mumbai, Cochin), but there'd be a LOT of sea days.

I would like regent to start in Tokyo and end somewhere. Japan is one of the few countries left that is on our Bucket List. Would like to do a 10-14 land tour first then finish off with a cruise.

May even consider a "Circle Tour" around Asia,even if we have been there before...Pat

My husband and sons would be the first to sign up for your WWII trip!

Would love a detailed Australia/New Zealand itinterary of about 14 or more days. Like the idea of Japan, and of course we haven't done anything in that area of the world at all, so we know nothing. LOL. :D

Do you think the winter 2011/2012 schedule will be posted first thing in the morning?

Love your wish list Marc. I would love to cruise to the wish list ports.

I like the idea of a WW II Pacific tour, but wonder what can be seen now in New Guinea and Borneo. Can people like us even get to the areas where the fighting took place? How about Tarawa and Okinawa? In the Philippians, Bataan and Corrigedor would be "must see" areas, as would Leyte Gulf.

Unfortunately, there would be nothing to see now of the Battle Off Samar, where a US force of three destroyers and four destroyer escorts protecting the Taffy 3 task force of six jeep carriers fought off the Japanese Navy’s Central Force of 5 Battleships, 8 cruisers and 11 destroyers! Perhaps the most heroic naval battle of World War II, although clearly not the most significant.

Personally, I'd love to see Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Iwo Jima. A great accompaniment to that cruise, if it ever comes off, would be a bunch of the old classic war movies – Guadalcanal Diary, Sands of Iwo Jima, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Mr. Roberts, etc. President Bush '41 would be a truly wonderful enrichment lecturer!

We're pretty booked up for 2011, so the winter of 2012 would be great for a WWII remembrance cruise. Timely too; many of the veterans of those battles are gone already, and many of the others are having increasing trouble traveling with every passing year. Without a doubt "The Greatest Generation!'

I still would like to see a cruise from San Diego or San Pedro to Hawaii with some sort of
resort stay available at the end. And do a reverse of this for those who prefer to go over there first then cruise back. Maybe around a 14 day package??

Ohh like that one Jim - we would definitely add a pre or post stay at Napili Kai in Maui -- our most favorite place in the world. Frank says he wants his ashes scattered in Napili Bay right off the bar at the Napili Kai Beach Club.

Jim I like this idea too - and JoAnn NK would be a perfect resort - right Ralph????

No better place in the world than Napili Kai Beach Resort. JoAnn, we changed the name from club to resort some 10 years ago. I think it was the second or maybe third year I was Chairman of the Board.

I leave on 11/2 for a two week stay. I return in May to scatter Carol's ashes.

Not sure if this will work, but this is the place for Carol. She loved to sit under these trees on the beach and talk story with the "girls". Our friend Lisa Nelson took this picture.

http://carolwebstersmedicaladventure.shutterfly.com/pictures/123

What a beautiful photo, Ralph.

LOL Ralph, tells you how long since we have been there. OK so now its Napili Kai Beach Resort. I like that, and it is soooooo much more elegant.

Carol's ashes are being scattered there, how perfect.

Have you been there Joanna? If you have then you know what heaven is like. If not, you need to go to find out. Right Ralph?

Looking forward to seeing you on FUN2 Ralph, and would you join us for dinner one night? Our friends who are also coming, are also very big NPK fans.

NO I have not been there - some time ago I wanted to take the kids and their kids to Hawaii and found NKBR looked perfect!!! ...kids annoyed me with their indecision so we did not go "take my offer, timely fashion, or forget about it!"... but I do remember emailing Ralph as he had posted his love of it and then we met Ralph and Carol!!! :lct:

Count FL,
There's a lot to see in New Guinea. On the outskirts of Port Moresby is the end of the Kokoda Trail where Australian troops exited to retake the city. There are also some Australian Coast Watcher outposts preserved. There are still some plane wreckages, both Japanese & Allied in the jungle areas.
Rabaul has Admiral Yammamoto's headquarters and caverns dug into the mountainsides along the harbor to hide barges. Thousands of natives died doing the digging for the Japanese under horrible conditions. Several of the barges are still there.
Bougainville island has several spots to see.
In Honiara, Guadacanal there are still underwater wrecks of ships & planes to be explored by scuba or snorkel.
Midway is an excellent stop for WWII buildings & equipment (as well as a few hundred thousand albatross known as Gooney Birds.)
Jim

Jim, thanks for the info. Too bad we can't trade in Thursday Island and either Cairns or Townsville for Port Moresby on our Sydney to Beijing cruise. It would be a much more interesting stop without really going out of our way.

Thanks for the info, Jim. Unfortunately, the 2012 Winter schedule is out, and our wishes are as yet, unfulfilled. Perhaps if the Navigator does a Grand Asia-Pacific in the fall of 2012 - Hope Springs Eternal.

Well there you go.
Ralph. Get with those at Regent who can set this up and let's get this done!! :app:

I really like Jim Bittle's ideas too!

If Regent would offer a WW II South Pacific cruise, we would make a deposit in a heartbeat.

Over the course of 35 years of SCUBA diving, my wife and I have explored several WWII Pacific sites on the surace and under water - the Solomons including Guadalcanal, Truk Lagoon, Fiji, the Coral Sea, Palau, Peleliu (truly haunting to go ashore here - little changed from the time of the battle). An itinerary of this kind is captivating. A practical consideration are the distances involved and weak infrastructure. But, count us in!

hrprof, understand about distances involved and weak infrastructure in the SoPac. That's what makes a cruise to that area so alluring.....every night one has a fresh bed to sleep in, an air conditioned mozzie-free room and safe, hygienic food to eat.

It seems to me that they have taken Norway off the agenda, and I wish they would put it back. Maybe because Captain Dag jumped ship?

I'm with you, hillorama!! I would love to cruise the Norwegian fjords and also go to Spitzbergen to see the polar bears... we did dothe Hurtigruten some time ago but nice as it was it isn't Regent!!

I wondered when someone else would notice. It would be interesting why they took that itinerary off.
Lynn

Maybe because Dag has unleashed the trolls on them ???

We would like to do a 21-22 day cruise in Asia which originates or ends in Beijing, includes Japan, Vietnam...something like that. My husband sent Regent an e-mail yesterday and said if they do a cruise similar to the one they've done in the past (Beijing, Vietnam, etc.) Early this morning, we received a call from one of the VPs saying they would be releasing the remainder of the 2012 schedule any day now.

Great -- anxiously awaiting the remainder of the 2012 schedule!

Norway did not sell well the last trip but they still may have it on the remainder of 2012 itinerary. I hope so that is a wonderful trip. To see the Polar Bears you really need to do the Prince Albert ll Artic expedition trip around Sptizbergen it is sensational. Just be sure to book one of the later departures once the ice has broken up. Our trip in 2010 was amazing we saw about 24 polar bears up close and personal.

Wow, surprised that Norway did not sell well. It is one of our top favorite ever trips, and I would definitely do it again.

But we are looking at PA II to see the polar bears in 2012 as well.