At the risk of sounding snobby...

Just a general observation here - I recently followed a random link on CC to another cruise line's threads and read 4 pages about people discussing the break-even point on drinks vs. drink packages and complaining about the constant worry of spending too much on drinks. Then there were threads on how to smuggle alcohol on board to save the charges and it occurred to me how nice it is to not have to worry about that on Regent at all. No worries about package prices, or wristbands, or card-swiping...

I just wanted to say that even with the occasional glitch on Regent, I'm so very happy that A) we discovered Regent early on in our cruise careers, and B) we're fortunate enough to afford to sail with Regent at least once a year.

Reading the other forums sure helps keep things in perspective. Is it July yet??

Very well said.........................but I think the word you are looking for is 'enlightened' rather than 'snobby' :)

At least our first-world challenges on Regent just come down to those esoteric questions, such as:

"I wonder if anyone will mistake these slacks for jeans?"

"Should I tip the Captain after dining with him/her?"

When we get to the airport and security asks "Did you pack this case yourself?" is it OK to say "No, our Butler took care of all the packing"

NB: For anyone with a sense-of-humour relapse, these are all offered tongue firmly in cheek :rolleyes::D

We have only cruised 3 times (Seabourn, Oceania and Regent) and will sail for the 4th time with Seabourn in July. If you actually cost out all of the extras you have to pay for on some of the other cruise lines to give you the same experience, (which can come as a shock :D) there really isn't that much in it particularly if you get one of our excellent British deals ;).

The other thing with the drinks packages is the 'needing to get your money's worth' mentality which friends who sail on the larger ships have told us about which can lead to excess alcohol consumption and obnoxious behaviour.

In my limited experience I have never seen anyone obviously and obnoxiously drunk on any the 3 ships I have sailed on so hopefully the people who choose to behave like that sail with these other lines.

I would also agree we feel as though we do get value for money when you add everything up. Even going ashore for trips we are supplied with water, which you would be paying for and a tax surcharge on it too. All things considered the Regent package is expensive but you can then relax and enjoy the wonderful cruise ahead of you.

A good thread to start Bill, holidays are coming. Jean.:)

Good thread and not snobby.

It's funny that i also thought about the "all inclusive" aspect recently.

We (like you) are fortunate enough to be able to travel on Regent but have also sailed on less salubrious ones.For us, it was the all inclusive aspect (including excursions) that attracted us to this brand and clearly read up on what we wanted from a cruise line. We are not very well traveled (as yet) and think the free excursions give you a little glimpse of where you may want to travel to in the future.

I personally love the fact that you can order drinks without having to sign for everything and neither us or any other passengers we have seen have taken advantage of that, in fact, it was fairly quiet on the nights we decided to stay up a bit later.

Flossie, your humour is not lost here!

Pam.

I love the all inclusive cruises and have had extensive experience on Seabourn, Silverseas and Crystal not Regent yet.

But, unlike some of you, I have witnessed over consumption, normally on the shorter leg cruises where some try to get maximum value for money (and it seems to me the legs on the more exclusive cruises are getting shorter) or on those legs which haven't been sold out and passage has been given to those who normally wouldn't travel on such expensive lines.

My solution: for the first, choose longer cruises. For the second, ??

We too love the all inclusive prices. We have sailed with Silversea, Seabourn and Regent who all do all inclusive and it's a delight not to have to sign for a drink. We have sailed with other cruise lines that aren't all inclusive and it's a nightmare signing for a drink. I remember one particular P&O Cruise many years ago - we were on deck for the sail away and the drinks waiter came along asking if we would like a cocktail, which he was carrying on a silver tray. Of course we said yes and lo and behold out came a bill for us to sign! We've also seen many drunks on ships that are not inclusive - work that one out! On all three ships we've sailed on where drinks are all inclusive we've never seen anyone remotely tipsy - perhaps they hide in their suites!!

Maureen & Tony

We too love the all inclusive prices. We have sailed with Silversea, Seabourn and Regent who all do all inclusive and it's a delight not to have to sign for a drink. We have sailed with other cruise lines that aren't all inclusive and it's a nightmare signing for a drink. I remember one particular P&O Cruise many years ago - we were on deck for the sail away and the drinks waiter came along asking if we would like a cocktail, which he was carrying on a silver tray. Of course we said yes and lo and behold out came a bill for us to sign! We've also seen many drunks on ships that are not inclusive - work that one out! On all three ships we've sailed on where drinks are all inclusive we've never seen anyone remotely tipsy - perhaps they hide in their suites!!

 

Maureen & Tony

On the luxury German ship Europa 2 cocktails and wines are not included (but you can pick from 600 or so wines with very fair markups) and you still do not have to sign for anything or show your room key or card. The waiter just asks your suite number

and you give it to him verbally and that is it. Honor system, and on a ship with 516 pax ( though most are Germans, I do not think that is a reason to say an honor system could not work on English language luxury lines with such small numbers of pax). Ultimately, the crew do know who you are and how to find you, if you were to consider cheating, or just make a mistake, there is no good escape route, and apparently cheats have not been a problem.

If alcohol were not included, non-drinkers could pay an average lower price for their fare, instead of subsidizing drinkers, and drinkers could avoid dealing with the problem of inferior included wines being offered and then complaining about them on CC like I did :)

And there were no displays of gross drunkenness either, on the Europa 2, despite the non-included booze.

I have generally not seen serious drunks in public areas on any of the luxury lines except on one SS cruise that had quite a number of heavy-drinking Russians on board, unfortunately mostly in a group of suites right near our suite, which were filled last-minute and not in the best location, so they were likely significantly discounted. The all-included free -flowing vodka was presumably too hard to resist

We cruised on Regent for the first time in 2015. Lisbon to Cape Town/ Cape Town to Cape Town. We had a beautiful suite on the stern and enjoyed the fact that we only used our room key for getting on and off the ship and access to our room. We also enjoyed the free excursions as sometimes the cost can be excessive with other cruise lines. We have been fortunate to be included in private tours through the meet and greet cruisers (other cruise lines) and we were not disappointed with the Regent tours.

We have used the drink packages offered by Princess and have been chastise by some people about drinking so much. What some do not realize is that this includes all beverages, with the exception of wine (40% off on bottles under $100.00) and drinks over $10.00. The cost of coffee, tea, sparkling water, soft drinks can easily put you over the daily charge for the drink package. For specialty coffees you would think you were at Starbucks!

A quick story about one of our visits to a regent bar. My DW had ordered our cocktails. The gentleman to my left must have been a first time Regent cruiser as when his drink was served the commented about the glass not being filled up, DUH…:eek: just order another you do not need to finish it. I had to contain myself from making a comment. Something about “going placidly amid the noise and haste” :)

We do have a few cruises under our belt and Regent had become our cruise line of choice. We will be on the Voyager next year sailing from Bangkok to Venice and possibility on to Barcelona.

We also like the policy of receiving our cruise points at the beginning of the cruise and not needing to wait until you disembark. More on that in some other forum.

Well that is our story and we are sticking to it.

John

Ah Bill, you don't know how much I've been angsting about these matters the last few weeks, as we sorted through all kinds of plans for cruises, some of them on mass market lines, mostly HAL but also X. I also read that thread, if it was the same one, about drink prices, as I was studying how it would be done on HAL--15 drinks a day, none over $8, but that includes soda pop, water(!), specialty coffees, who knows what else. And whether the barman will pour you doubles or not!

Just plain depressing. I'm not a big drinker these days, but really... And then there's the whole rampaging-happy-hour-crowd phenomenon, which we experienced on Oceania. Did not do the ambiance of the ship one bit of good!

So here I am now happily back, having booked a Regent cruise, with no worrying about tipping, or even excursions!

I'll briefly wade into Snobby Waters, which I think is a small lagoon adjoining Lake Woebegon. The fact of the matter is that there is a very rough but real correlation between the financial resources a person ends up with and their intelligence and ability to work hard with good concentration. There are exceptions, of course, but in general this is still true. So the people on Regent, the Paul Gauguin, Uniworld river cruises, etc. are folks I am more likely to be able to have an intelligent conversation with, will probably know some interesting things that I would like to learn about, and will also perhaps know some good if subtle jokes.

Exceptions to this rule include the fact that almost every high end cruise I've ever been on has had a least one flaming dork aboard. I've mused that cruise lines may hire a "shill" to play this role so the other passengers have lots to talk about with each other. Maybe there is an agency that rents these characters out: "Flaming Dorks R Us!"

Bill,

We couldn't agree more. We also found Regent early in our cruising careers and are thankful for that.

I so look forward to just getting away from the grind for a couple weeks a year. I wish it could be more, but we have a business to run.

Well, we were already booked this July and have since picked Regent twice more next year...so I guess we've found our home. Unless something happens to drive us off, I guess we're now official Regent cheerleaders.

Gimme an R! Gimme an E! Gimme a G! Gimme an Ent!

What's that spell?

A lot of checks, apparently. :D

UUNetBill, we too. After our less than stellar experience this February, we thought it was maybe time to look elsewhere but if anything, that exercise simply confirmed all the small - and not so small - things we love about Regent. We found ourselves looking through all of the alternatives and realising that by choosing to sail with one of them, we'd be making compromises; something we really didn't feel we needed to do. So within a couple of weeks, the status quo was restored and a Regent booking was added to our "ticket box", because since 2008, we have always had at least one Regent cruise up our sleeve.

It feels good!

As you can see from my signature - I tried Riviera. But now we are going back to Regent.

We didn't think the food was any better. We didn't like having a different waiter every night in MDR. We love Regent's free drinks (no receipts to sign) & tours - so that we be our #1 choice forever.

Also like the free Business travel next year

Just our opinion.

People love to throw around the word FREE. Free tours, free booze...sorry it is not free on any luxury line. You are paying for it in the price of your cruise. Included yes but free no.

I'll briefly wade into Snobby Waters, which I think is a small lagoon adjoining Lake Woebegon. The fact of the matter is that there is a very rough but real correlation between the financial resources a person ends up with and their intelligence and ability to work hard with good concentration. There are exceptions, of course, but in general this is still true. So the people on Regent, the Paul Gauguin, Uniworld river cruises, etc. are folks I am more likely to be able to have an intelligent conversation with, will probably know some interesting things that I would like to learn about, and will also perhaps know some good if subtle jokes.

 

Exceptions to this rule include the fact that almost every high end cruise I've ever been on has had a least one flaming dork aboard. I've mused that cruise lines may hire a "shill" to play this role so the other passengers have lots to talk about with each other. Maybe there is an agency that rents these characters out: "Flaming Dorks R Us!"

Wade away David the small Wonder. Having been confounded with a lack of intelligence from birth, I guess I'll have to aim high for the "shill" role on my next cruise (of which I do many despite my low IQ). Such a shame as I do know some subtle if not good jokes. Oh, well.

People love to throw around the word FREE. Free tours, free booze...sorry it is not free on any luxury line. You are paying for it in the price of your cruise. Included yes but free no.

Your point is dead on. But, it's great marketing material when the line says "free" instead of "included".

That said, if you figure the cost of the 'free' stuff and deduct it from the actual fare we have found that Regent is still more expensive but well worth the extra dollars.

People love to throw around the word FREE. Free tours, free booze...sorry it is not free on any luxury line. You are paying for it in the price of your cruise. Included yes but free no.

I think we all realize it is not FREE. Like you said, it is Included.

Just more fun to say FREE.

FREE Internet

FREE Booze

FREE Tours

FREE FREE FREEEEEEEEEE! LOL

I think we all realize it is not FREE. Like you said, it is Included.

 

Just more fun to say FREE.

 

FREE Internet

FREE Booze

FREE Tours

FREE FREE FREEEEEEEEEE! LOL

And "Freebies" sounds a lot better than "Includedbies"...

... if you figure the cost of the 'free' stuff and deduct it from the actual fare we have found that Regent is still more expensive but well worth the extra dollars.

I think that Regent now has free:

Food

Booze

Business Class Air

Cruise

Excursions

Transfers

Tips

EVERYTHING IS FREE!!!

(But there's a $20,000 surcharge to step aboard the ship)

I think that Regent now has free:

 

Food

Booze

Business Class Air

Cruise

Excursions

Transfers

Tips

EVERYTHING IS FREE!!!

 

(But there's a $20,000 surcharge to step aboard the ship)

Darn that fine print again! Now I now why the Visa bill is so high.:eek:

We have only cruised 3 times (Seabourn, Oceania and Regent) and will sail for the 4th time with Seabourn in July. If you actually cost out all of the extras you have to pay for on some of the other cruise lines to give you the same experience, (which can come as a shock :D) there really isn't that much in it particularly if you get one of our excellent British deals ;).

The other thing with the drinks packages is the 'needing to get your money's worth' mentality which friends who sail on the larger ships have told us about which can lead to excess alcohol consumption and obnoxious behaviour.

In my limited experience I have never seen anyone obviously and obnoxiously drunk on any the 3 ships I have sailed on so hopefully the people who choose to behave like that sail with these other lines.

You are certainly correct regarding "getting your monies worth". It just doesn't happen. I'm dreading the my next trip now on Carnival Vista booked purely as a family cruise and have decided not to get drawn into the (semi) all inclusive drinks package, where you are limited on what you can have, where you can have it and how much you can have. The limits are OK... I'd not reach those so not an issue, but the other bits are crazy considering the cost of them and the "You must both have" or no one stance.

Having drinks included suits us, but I can't help think those who do not drink are subsidising those that do. Baring in mind on Carnival, a 10 day drinks package for 2, works out at $1200. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to appreciate the tea total are paying and not receiving. There is no way of separating things without compromising the model, which I see that Silversea are now following by including flights and tours too.

I've not traveled on Regent yet, but likely to in the near future. Its very noticable that SS usually sell out and cruise wait listed. They dont tend to appear on TA discount sites (though I have at times seen that). Regent OTOH are often on them and on its own site discounting. I'm not knocking that (who wants to pay more?) but it does beg the question about pricing levels I think?

You are certainly correct regarding "getting your monies worth". It just doesn't happen. I'm dreading the my next trip now on Carnival Vista booked purely as a family cruise and have decided not to get drawn into the (semi) all inclusive drinks package, where you are limited on what you can have, where you can have it and how much you can have. The limits are OK... I'd not reach those so not an issue, but the other bits are crazy considering the cost of them and the "You must both have" or no one stance.

 

Having drinks included suits us, but I can't help think those who do not drink are subsidising those that do. Baring in mind on Carnival, a 10 day drinks package for 2, works out at $1200. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to appreciate the tea total are paying and not receiving. There is no way of separating things without compromising the model, which I see that Silversea are now following by including flights and tours too.

 

I've not traveled on Regent yet, but likely to in the near future. Its very noticable that SS usually sell out and cruise wait listed. They dont tend to appear on TA discount sites (though I have at times seen that). Regent OTOH are often on them and on its own site discounting. I'm not knocking that (who wants to pay more?) but it does beg the question about pricing levels I think?

Really interesting post and good insight. Over the years it has appeared that Silversea and Regent are more in direct competition than the other luxury lines (although the tendency is for Silversea to copy Regent). It should be noted that most of Silversea's ships are less than half the size of Regent ships which obviously makes the ships easier to fill.

I really do not feel that people that do not drink onboard the ship subsidizes those that do any more than I feel that those of us that do not take "free" excursions subsidize those that do. We sailed on Regent prior to included alcohol and the environment was very different. It isn't that Regent passengers drink a lot but rather they enjoy a pre or post dinner cocktail in a lounge. Passengers sit in the lounge, sipping a cocktail or a non-alcoholic beverage and socialize. All-inclusive is not for everyone and fares can be more expensive.

Most importantly, make sure that you book with a TA that has experience booking luxury cruises (specifically Regent if possible). Two of Regent's three (and a half) ships have a significant aft vibration. An experienced TA will know this and will steer you in the right direction. Many TA's that book luxury cruises give a percentage of the cruise fare back (5-10% is the "norm") and TA's give OBC's on most cruises. "Discount sites" do not necessarily have the best deal so look around.

Thanks travelcat2. Its a shame we're not allowed to pass TA info to assist.

Just replying really just to say, I wasnt suggesting people who dont drink and (take the tours) think they are subsidising others..... its just a reality and I was drawing conclusions purely based on the packages for alcohol on other ships..... where if you dont drink there.... you really dont spend as much! (Im aware people that use the luxury cruises dont abuse the alcohol like they can "to get their moneys worth" as the OP was saying.

Like I mentioned, we are on the new Carnival ship that launches next month. The whole "drink" thing, is a nightmare. I do like a tipple, but i dont need to get blotto - and unless thats you, its pointless buying their "cheers" package.

Just an opinion. We will have their soda package and PAYG for a couple of glasses of wine at dinner.