Regent lowering their standards??

We are booked on the Mariner 72 day cruise around South America and were just informed that there is no pre cruise hotel stay and "Gala dinner" with entertainment for the full cruise passengers. We did this same cruise in 2012 and thoroughly enjoyed it so we booked it again. We also noticed when we booked our tours that many of the ones that were free in 2011 are now fee tours. I guess this is another move by NCL to cheapen the "Regent Experience". When the ownership change was made we were told that Regent would remain the same, NOT!! I think if we had known that the cruise would be so different we would not have booked it.

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I'm surprised that you think that this has anything to do with NCHL (Regent's immediate parent company) since the top management of Regent has not changed. I do believe that Regent management is committed to keeping the Regent Experience as close to the same as it has been as possible. Costs do go up (food, salaries, excursions, etc.) and are passed along to customers - just as it is done in most companies.

As you know, Regent "includes" excursions up to a certain dollar amount. If it exceeds that amount, it becomes a "Regent Choice Excursion" with a fee.

In terms of the night at the hotel, didn't that change in 2013? Now only certain suite categories are entitled to the included hotel (note: I disagree completely with this policy as well as the "Concierge" benefits but that is another discussion).

I am surprised that your TA did not advise you what was and was not included in your upcoming cruise. Are you still outside the cancellation window?

Too late for cancellation. We always told everyone that the "Circle South America" cruise we took in 2012 was our favorite cruise and hoped it would be as enjoyable this time, but I think we are going to have to lower our expectations. The pre-cruise "Gala Dinner" with entertainment by the "Platters" was a great send-off and a wonderful way to meet the fellow passengers we would be with for the next 72 days. Really unfortunate that they have eliminated this event.

Too late for cancellation. We always told everyone that the "Circle South America" cruise we took in 2012 was our favorite cruise and hoped it would be as enjoyable this time, but I think we are going to have to lower our expectations. The pre-cruise "Gala Dinner" with entertainment by the "Platters" was a great send-off and a wonderful way to meet the fellow passengers we would be with for the next 72 days. Really unfortunate that they have eliminated this event.

IMHO the area of Regent excursions - whether 'Free' or 'Choice' appears to be in disarray. Many cruises appear to have been advertised with Events or excursions which could sway one into booking, only to find that later in the day, these enticements are taken away with no recourse. We are on the Cape Town to Cape Town cruise Nov 2015, and I cannot begin to mention how many excursions have disappeared since we first booked. One particular 'event' especially was key to many people booking this cruise, and many of us felt let down when we found out that it was never intended to have been included. I don't believe NCHL are entirely to blame, but if Regent has had to make cuts, then the debacle of our cruise smacks of not enough competent staff organising events and excursions. By the time we (the customer) highlight the problems, it is too late for Regent to put matters right.

I am sure that, like us, you will get over your disappointment and concentrate on enjoying your cruise. However, it's all about expectations, and unfortunately the product that Regent have built up, appears to be falling short in this particular area.

Need to remember there is a $50M bonus sitting out there for cost savings during the first year of the purchase of PCH which might be affecting some of decreases in amenities. This bonus is scheduled to be paid to stock holders of the precious PCH and includes many of the current executives.

Also in regards to the included vs. extra cost excursions, while it is true that excursions up to a certain "value" amount are included while above that "value" amount there is an extra cost, the "value" amount is simply a dollar figure that Regent puts on the excursions and often times is significantly more than the actual cost of the excursion the operating company charges. That said, Regent does deserve an upcharge on what they actual pay however, perhaps not as high as it often is.

It is also true that operating costs do increase year to year but, that is mostly covered by the increases in the price of the cruise which have been very high recently and for a Grand Voyage such as Round South America, would certainly expect there to be exclusive events like the pre-cruise Gala and other extra items for those doing the entire cruise.

Everyone needs to decide for themselves whether a specific cruise or cruise line is of value to them based on the total cruise experience.

Disagree that bonuses have anything to do with anything. Regent and Oceania have strived every year to continue their success. Yes - some things have changed - not always things that customers are happy with. However, I see absolutely no difference in the Regence experience since being purchased by NCLH. At least one change indicated by the OP was made at least two years ago (pre-cruise hotel). Perhaps the OP can tell us if the "Gala Dinner" was advertised when they booked the cruise. It sounds as if it was not but no one noticed it. To my knowledge, the only equivalent to the "Gala Dinner" that was done a couple of years ago will be the events prior to the world cruise in 2017. (It should be noted that Regent has not done a world cruise since quite a while before being purchased).

I'm curious as to what changes rallydave (or anyone else) has experienced on Regent since they were purchased by NCHL -- things that specifically went into effect since the date of purchase through today.

We are also on the Cape Town to Cape Town cruise and have noticed cancelled excursions. I know that in one case, the people that owned the property that the excursion was to visit no longer open their property for excursions. The event that many of us were disappointed in not seeing on the list was cancelled before the change of ownership.

IMO, in order to "see" or "experience" real differences in Regent, one must have cruised last year (prior to the sale) and this year. We have cruised both years and find the experience to be the same. There were dramatically more changes prior to 2014 - at least that is our experience.

I am particularly interested in this discussion. I think I noticed a reduction in the perk level for Oceania on-board-booking. In the past, I always booked on board when on an Oceania cruise. This time, while on Insignia's June Panama Canal, Los Angeles-Miami, the skimpy inducements didn't send me. I didn't book anything. After all, the perks we get are in exchange for creating a fare cushion for the line usually long in advance. The cruise ship market is getting very competitive with lots of fancy new choices. We get juicy offers at least once a week from every line we ever sailed. With over 60 cruises, that's lots of lines. We shall see. Shopping is fun

Mary

We recently enjoyed the Mar-Jun 87-night Grand Voyage on the Voyager from Tokyo to Southampton. No pre-voyage gala there, either BUT we had several special events throughout the cruise for those taking the full voyage...the first week was a lovely Champagne brunch in Signatures, another was an Arabian-style dinner...there were others, IIRC, and a day or so prior to disembarkation was a special video presentation of our whole voyage.... Most senior staff were present....cocktails & hours d'oeuvres were served, and everyone received a copy of the DVD. Quite special, in our opinion.

We were on the 2013 version of this trip and like the original poster thought the pre-cruise gala night and accommodation - in our case at the Biltmore in Coral Gables/Miami - a great way to start a great trip. This was way more than just a pre-cruise hotel: it basically set the scene for the whole trip and gave us a chance to met our fellow 'circlers' as well Regent's senior Miami staff - one was seated at each large table. No Platters, but the entertainment, food and ambience on the outside terrace was top notch. In addition, this was our first ever cruise and we found having Regent staff on hand from arrival, and our interaction with our fellow cruisers invaluable for our 'dumb user' questions.

The elimination of the 'free' pre-cruise night for all passengers for all cruises I think came into effect about this time but this gala was special. The Gala was clearly advertised in the promotional material and it would be reasonable when rebooking such a cruise to assume that this would be standard fare, it's not like there's been a reduction in the fare.

It would be interesting to see if other 'Circler' perks like the 'free' side trip to Quito, the two special on board events and 'free' cruise CD will also be canned.

In reference to the excursions, I note this cruise is more Caribbean focussed than ours was; a number of Brazilian stops have been replaced. For the 30+ ports that are in common, however, no tour we did as free is now a Regent Choice excursion. And a popular tour we did as a Regent Choice in Rio is now no longer available though I suspect the unpredictable traffic is more the catalyst for that.

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In reference to the excursions, I note this cruise is more Caribbean focussed than ours was; a number of Brazilian stops have been replaced. For the 30+ ports that are in common, however, no tour we did as free is now a Regent Choice excursion. And a popular tour we did as a Regent Choice in Rio is now no longer available though I suspect the unpredictable traffic is more the catalyst for that.

I'm not surprised to see some Brazil ports dropped or replaced because Regent was given quite a hard time when we were in Brazil earlier this year. We had four or five stops in Brazil and the Head Chef and F&B Director were having a heck of a time getting food in port. While I do not know the specifics, we discussed the fact that fresh fruit (especially lemons), veggies, etc. were missing the entire time we were in Brazilian waters. Additionally, only performers that had a visa to work in Brazil were able to perform on the ship at night. This eliminated the entire Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers. The Cruise Director put together a one person show in 2 days (and he did a great job).

I'm not certain if there are new rules or what was going on. In some ways I'm surprised that Regent is even stopping in Brazil in the foreseeable future. All of us were cheering when we finally left Brazil.

Speaking of Brazil, it is taking longer and longer to get a Brazilian visa (probably due to the upcoming Olympics. If you have to mail away for a visa, allow several weeks. We expected it to take 2 weeks and it took 6 (plus numerous phone calls). Just a helpful tip:)

I suspect the itinerary was determined some time before then, possibly based on feedback. We loved Brazil - even the ports that were dropped such as Fortaleza and Salvador de Bahai, but others were impatient to get to the Amazon region. The ports north of Rio were very different to those south and they remain on the itinerary (Paraty and Ilha Bela for example).

We had no issues with food or entertainers but I think the Captain had to be accommodated based on Visa issues:o.

If the concerns TC identified were as described, it sounds like poor planning - it's not the first time they've sailed in these waters after all. Although lemons (as we were told on board when learning about Caipirhinas) basically don't exist in Brazil - it's all limes.

Speaking of Brazil, it is taking longer and longer to get a Brazilian visa (probably due to the upcoming Olympics. If you have to mail away for a visa, allow several weeks. We expected it to take 2 weeks and it took 6 (plus numerous phone calls). Just a helpful tip:)

TC2 - we,too, were concerned about how long it would take to get the Brazilian visa for our upcoming grand voyage on the Mariner as we have 2 more voyages prior to then. Quite surprisingly, we sent our passports/photos to Visa Central in NY on 8/3 and received them back from Atlanta on 8/17. Last time we needed these visas it took much longer, similar to your experience.

Gemlea please comment; I suspect the event you were referring to was the dinner in the Namibian desert which was high on our list. It previously had been offered on both Regent and Oceania, but obviously not this year. I called O and discovered this has not been done since 2011. I commented that it should be removed from the list of possible excursions. Let's see what happens for either O or RSSC.

Gemlea please comment; I suspect the event you were referring to was the dinner in the Namibian desert which was high on our list. It previously had been offered on both Regent and Oceania, but obviously not this year. I called O and discovered this has not been done since 2011. I commented that it should be removed from the list of possible excursions. Let's see what happens for either O or RSSC.

Correct, it was the Dinner under the Stars. The wonderful description of that particular evening was quite a pull. OK, it wasn't the sole reason for our booking the cruise, but it played a large part. When I spoke to Regent about its demise, they informed me that it had been an "event" in the past, not an excursion, and their policy now was not to organise "events". The fact that this "event" remained in all the brochures and promotional documentation for quite some time, is just another example of Regent's poor standard of organisation in this particular area. Don't get me started on how many problems I have had with excursions for the Cape Town to Cape Town cruise - the mind just boggles that so many excursions have been lost.:rolleyes:

I would like to add to the above post. We did this excursion 3 1/2 years ago and loved it. However, it had miles and miles of very difficult roads to get to the site. It would shake the heck out of most vehicles. When we Googled this excursion, we noted that Silversea was another cruise line that offered this excursion.

This year, when we Googled it, it did not appear anywhere. While I certainly do not know this as a fact, it is possible that this excursion is no lingered offered to anyone.

I suspect the itinerary was determined some time before then, possibly based on feedback. We loved Brazil - even the ports that were dropped such as Fortaleza and Salvador de Bahai, but others were impatient to get to the Amazon region. The ports north of Rio were very different to those south and they remain on the itinerary (Paraty and Ilha Bela for example).

 

We had no issues with food or entertainers but I think the Captain had to be accommodated based on Visa issues:o.

 

If the concerns TC identified were as described, it sounds like poor planning - it's not the first time they've sailed in these waters after all. Although lemons (as we were told on board when learning about Caipirhinas) basically don't exist in Brazil - it's all limes.

Thanks for the information regarding lemons and limes. We were simply told that they could not obtain lemons (or strawberries or most other fresh fruit). We have sailed to Brazil previously (2012 I think) and did not experience the problems that occurred this past April. Passengers and crew were truly happy to leave Brazil. Because of our last cruise, we turned down an offer to extend our November, 2015 cruise simply because it ended in Rio (actually, there were two reasons - flights into and out of Rio are horrendous for us whether we fly into and out of Seattle or Vancouver).

Travelcat2 asked for an example of a change in Regent policy that has occurred subsequent to the merger. I believe that I can provide one. We have cruised on Regent seven times since 2011. Most of those cruises were bridge cruises that had bridge instruction and play on sea days. While we are bridge players and did participate regularly, we did not choose those cruises because of the opportunity to learn and play bridge. On our last Regent cruise in February of 2015 rumors began among the bridge players that Regent was significantly changing its approach toward bridge cruises. In the future (probably starting in 2016) bridge with a certified instructor would only be offered only if a cabin was available for the instructor several weeks before the cruise. In the past the instructor was assigned a cabin when he/she was offered a contract to join the cruise, typically a year or more in advance. In addition to having only a few weeks notice that the cruise would be available the instructor would now have to pay his/her travel expenses. I don’t believe many people would agree to these conditions.

I asked the cruise director if Regent had plans to reduce or eliminate the number of bridge cruises. He contacted Miami who responded that “Regent was always evaluating activities for their passengers.” I reviewed the 2016 cruises and found none that were advertised as bridge cruises. Bridge instruction and games attracted anywhere from 50-70 people on our cruises. This would seem to be a large interest group that Regent is alienating to save one cabin and one persons travel expenses.

For the past 2-3 Regent cruises that we have taken we have felt a lowering of standards about the food and particularly the on board lecturers, but these are subjective concerns. They are real enough, however, that our next cruise will be our first on Silversea.

jgm: Thank you for the example - a really good one! Hope you enjoy your Silversea cruise. We have sailed Silversea three times and really enjoyed the Whisper and Shadow. We have sailed on their newest ship and did not care for it and toured a smaller ship and felt the same. Silversea is a good cruise line. We tried not to compare every item with Regent right away which helped. At the end of the day, we find some things better on Regent and some on Silversea. The hardest part about sailing on Silversea is that we do not have the internet, phone and laundry benefits that we have on Regent. I guess we are more than a bit spoiled!:)

jgm, A very interesting example, I am intrigued by your numbers, though, as on our cruises the maximum tables have been 6/7 and some days 5. True, we have not been on advertised bridge cruises, but there have been instructors on board-some very good. Much as I love to play bridge, and a cruise is my only chance as DW despairs about the competitiveness, I understand an examination of the C/B.

I sure would rather have a tender steak than a few bridge sessions. Of course both would be perfect:D

Very interested in this train of responses as to Regent-Seabourn-Silversea-Crystal comparisons/concerns.

Specifically, Sue and I have been on all of the above Lines numerous times over the last 20 years. We will be boarding Mariner at Cape Town on 12/09 following a three-day safari (lodge still to be determined) staging out of Port Elizabeth. That cruise will conclude at Rio on 12/22. Unless there is some change--we will depart the ship that evening for the airport to board a 11:09PM Delta flight to Atlanta. Thus, return to our home near Seattle on the afternoon of 12/23. I agree: Rio can be a challenge, based on our previous stays at that city on two prior occasions.

As to Crystal: Our outstanding TA strongly recommended getting a Penthouse. Which we did. Plenty of room. No other comments, as this has been well-reviewed by others.

Regarding Brazilian Visas--no problem. We have utilized a Seattle office of Travel Visa Pro to obtain Visas to Russia, Brazil, China, wherever for the last 10 years. Turn-around time has been less than two weeks.

As to canceled shore excursions--just received news that our scheduled visit with the oysters when at Namibia on the upcoming Mariner cruise has been cancelled. Somehow, we will deal with this as it is really, in the scope of time, a First World problem. Thus, no problem.

Yes, there have been glitches on occasion on all of the above Lines dealing either with shore excursions or just, basically getting on and off the ship(s). Well recall an event at St. Petersburg while aboard the Silversea's "Cloud" when a dust-up between Russian Customs Officers and ship's staff left passengers lined up for about two hours attempting to get off that vessel and get on busses for scheduled shore excursions.

Stuff happens. Like, for instance--volcanic explosions which canceled several excursions we had planned during last-year's trip to Indonesia.

That said: Hope to see some folks who might remember us when we board Mariner at Cape Town on 12/09.

Regards,

GO ARMY!

Very interested in this train of responses as to Regent-Seabourn-Silversea-Crystal comparisons/concerns.

 

Specifically, Sue and I have been on all of the above Lines numerous times over the last 20 years. We will be boarding Mariner at Cape Town on 12/09 following a three-day safari (lodge still to be determined) staging out of Port Elizabeth. That cruise will conclude at Rio on 12/22. Unless there is some change--we will depart the ship that evening for the airport to board a 11:09PM Delta flight to Atlanta. Thus, return to our home near Seattle on the afternoon of 12/23. I agree: Rio can be a challenge, based on our previous stays at that city on two prior occasions.

 

As to Crystal: Our outstanding TA strongly recommended getting a Penthouse. Which we did. Plenty of room. No other comments, as this has been well-reviewed by others.

 

Regarding Brazilian Visas--no problem. We have utilized a Seattle office of Travel Visa Pro to obtain Visas to Russia, Brazil, China, wherever for the last 10 years. Turn-around time has been less than two weeks.

 

As to canceled shore excursions--just received news that our scheduled visit with the oysters when at Namibia on the upcoming Mariner cruise has been cancelled. Somehow, we will deal with this as it is really, in the scope of time, a First World problem. Thus, no problem.

 

Yes, there have been glitches on occasion on all of the above Lines dealing either with shore excursions or just, basically getting on and off the ship(s). Well recall an event at St. Petersburg while aboard the Silversea's "Cloud" when a dust-up between Russian Customs Officers and ship's staff left passengers lined up for about two hours attempting to get off that vessel and get on busses for scheduled shore excursions.

 

Stuff happens. Like, for instance--volcanic explosions which canceled several excursions we had planned during last-year's trip to Indonesia.

 

That said: Hope to see some folks who might remember us when we board Mariner at Cape Town on 12/09.

 

Regards,

 

GO ARMY!

I cannot compare luxury lines since I have only sailed Regent. I am surprised by dissatisfaction I have read about recently in regard to the Mariner. We sailed our sixth cruise on her this past February. Tom and I felt Regent was the best ever. Totally on top of their game. Perfect. No. We do not expect perfection ever. Things happen. We pretty much did not use butler as we had no needs.

We do plan to enjoy dinner in our room a couple nights on this upcoming cruise. Do hope not to be a bother to butler.

A good traveler rolls with problems and finds solutions. See you on board in December. Totally expecting an awesome trip aboard the Mariner.

I cannot compare luxury lines since I have only sailed Regent. I am surprised by dissatisfaction I have read about recently in regard to the Mariner. We sailed our sixth cruise on her this past February. Tom and I felt Regent was the best ever. Totally on top of their game. Perfect. No. We do not expect perfection ever. Things happen. We pretty much did not use butler as we had no needs.

We do plan to enjoy dinner in our room a couple nights on this upcoming cruise. Do hope not to be a bother to butler.

 

A good traveler rolls with problems and finds solutions. See you on board in December. Totally expecting an awesome trip aboard the Mariner.

Agree with you 100%. We have sailed on Silversea as well as Regent so we are able to make a comparison. Our last Mariner cruise was in April and was awesome. We expect our Mariner cruise next week (Istanbul to Istanbul) and in November (Cape Town to Cape Town) to be the same. No lowering of standards whatsoever!

Agree with you 100%. We have sailed on Silversea as well as Regent so we are able to make a comparison. Our last Mariner cruise was in April and was awesome. We expect our Mariner cruise next week (Istanbul to Istanbul) and in November (Cape Town to Cape Town) to be the same. No lowering of standards whatsoever!

Bon Voyage. Hope you write a review upon returning.