Regent's new all inclusive policy makes it very attractive to do "their" excursions. Unfortunately that means it is attractive for EVERYONE and so where you used to have some people getting off the ship in port spread out over hours, you now have the MAJORITY of the passengers getting off the ship at around the same time all heading for 6 or 7 different tour buses. Regent does the best job possible with coordinating the tours -- all of the buses or vans are as close to the ship as they can possibly get so there isn't much walking. But it is still an exercise in patience waiting for all the passengers on your tour to get off the ship, get on the bus and get ready to go. It makes it especially painful when you have people on your tour who either A) have gotten on the wrong bus because someone made a mistake somewhere along the line or B) you have people on your bus who should not have signed up for the tour in the first place due to old age, medical infirmity, etc. Yes, Yes, I know we're all going to be there some day. I get that. All I am saying is that since Regent has taken it upon themselves to be running/scheduling these tours, they should also be responsible for vetting the guests who are signing up for them and making it clear as to what is involved. Example: one of the tours was a Chivas bus ride into Monte Cristi. 
The word "bus" is purely operative here as this vehicle was less a bus than it was a wagon cart with narrow benches. The climb into the "bus" required a fair amount of flexibility and dexterity as it had a very high step, no railings and the space between benches was narrow. We spent a good 10 minutes (3 of us) basically lifting a heavyset woman, squeezing her into the vehicle and getting her maneuvered onto a bench seat. She was thankful for the assistance, but I'm sure also mortified at three strangers mushing her hips and ass in and around the framework to get her situated. She didn't even bother getting off the bus when we reached our destination and I don't know who helped her get off the bus when we got back to the ship. On the same trip, another gentleman who was somewhere between 98 and 118 (years, not pounds!) insisted on getting on the bus even though it was clear there was no way he was going to be able to pull himself up into it. Another 15 minutes for the three of us to again use our lifting technique and get him on. Our 9:10am bus tour finally departed at 9:55am -- I would expect this on a mass market cruiseline, not acceptable for a luxury experience. Regent could avoid some of these problems in the future if they are more specific: rather than say generically "the bus has a high step" they could say "do not sign up for this tour unless you can easily get yourself in and out of our pool" Okay, well that's enough of that....on to the sites!
The word "bus" is purely operative here as this vehicle was less a bus than it was a wagon cart with narrow benches. The climb into the "bus" required a fair amount of flexibility and dexterity as it had a very high step, no railings and the space between benches was narrow. We spent a good 10 minutes (3 of us) basically lifting a heavyset woman, squeezing her into the vehicle and getting her maneuvered onto a bench seat. She was thankful for the assistance, but I'm sure also mortified at three strangers mushing her hips and ass in and around the framework to get her situated. She didn't even bother getting off the bus when we reached our destination and I don't know who helped her get off the bus when we got back to the ship. On the same trip, another gentleman who was somewhere between 98 and 118 (years, not pounds!) insisted on getting on the bus even though it was clear there was no way he was going to be able to pull himself up into it. Another 15 minutes for the three of us to again use our lifting technique and get him on. Our 9:10am bus tour finally departed at 9:55am -- I would expect this on a mass market cruiseline, not acceptable for a luxury experience. Regent could avoid some of these problems in the future if they are more specific: rather than say generically "the bus has a high step" they could say "do not sign up for this tour unless you can easily get yourself in and out of our pool" Okay, well that's enough of that....on to the sites!
CURACAO: was our first stop and we were anxious to get off the ship and see some land after 3 days. We have been here before (playing golf and touring the island) so this time we decided to do a couple of beach visits. Our first stop was Porto Marie which is a small public beach with lounge chairs for rent and food/beverage stands. Prices were reasonable. The beach is clean and narrow but loaded with coral and rocks (not just at the water's edge, but all the way out which I discovered when I triedgliding in once it got a little deeper and sprained 3 toes by jamming them into a rock). There is a dock which juts out a little deeper and you can snorkel off here, but the ladder climbing in/out off the dock is slick with algae so be careful. Our 2nd beach was Cas Abao which you enter via a former private plantation. Again, this beach is very clean with the same services as listed above, but still loaded with coral and rocks. Water shoes are a must for both places. I did get to see a baby reef shark which was pretty cool and of course there were multitudes of other fish swimming along with us, especially along the stone "wall".
ARUBA: wanting more beach time we headed to De Palm Island which is a small islet that is privately owned and developed. You take a ferry from the Balschi beer brewery parking lot over to DePalm. Once on the island there is every amenity you can imagine: beach volleyball, basketball, snorkeling, banana boats, water park, kayaking, lounge chairs, pavilions, thatched umbrellas, bathrooms, showers, open bar and unlimited buffet etc. All INCLUDED in one price (about $115 pp). You can also do a helmet dive or snuba or get a massage for an additional fee. We stuck with the included activities although Regent had paid for the Sea Trek helmet dive (we just couldn't stand waiting on another line after the last two days) and we heard from others that the walk under water was good so maybe we'll try that in the future. One thing we did do was the banana boat ride. Expecting a short ride, we were surprised when the crazy driver took us out for nearly a half hour and it was all we could do to hang on for dear life. Really fun was the fat Russian behind me whose knee kept squishing my already injured toes into a throbbing mass of pain! We had taken bets on who was going to be the first to fall off the boat with a pretty clear consensus that it would be the 80 pound 80 year old grandma. We were wrong....it was me! (In my defense it was the fault of the kid who hopped off my side of the boat and jumped into the middle causing the boat to buckle) Anyway, because my life jacket was too big, as soon as I hit the water it came flying up around my neck and my arms couldn't reach the water to swim but luckily some brawny guy hopped in to my rescue while Mike looked on! It was a great time!!!
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