LIVE From RSSC Explorer

I have been on the Explorer since Barcelona on Sept 4, 2016. I am finding many of the posts about the crew odd as our experience has been very positive. Cabin steward doing job extremely well. Asked for a certain soda to be in frig in cabin and have never run out and plenty always there. The restaurant staff has always been very friendly and accommodating, often going way out of their way to please in an agreeable mood.

I am not saying some people may have experienced differently , but just saying our experience is different.

We are long time Regent cruisers, so may alway look at the positive.

Bennett - good to hear. I know everyone can't be happy all the time, and I'm sure crew members get pushed to the breaking point at times, but it's been my experience that the crew is almost always smiling, friendly, and helpful. I know there are exceptions, I'm guess I'm just fortunate to not have experienced it firsthand so far.

Enjoy your cruise!!

Very happy to hear that problems seems to be rectifying themselves. We're actually very low maintenance but we hope to see some smiling, happy people.

While I agree with you, I also understand that you can't just snap your fingers and come up with 550 trained crew members. I'd expect some hitches in service the first few months, but there is NO excuse for nasty/surly behavior. If that's happening, it needs fixed immediately, if not sooner...

How long did it take for the Explorer to designed and built? HOW MANY YEARS? There was no need for Regent to snap its fingers and come up with a satisfactory crew. They had PLENTY of time to train people. They just didn't think that was as important as a half million dollar piano in the Regent suite which they could exploit for publicity.

wripro, Effort and results don't always mesh. Low blows about trying to make money are not necessary. That is what management is there for.

One of the themes of Regent board that has always fascinated me is the sense that passengers are ENTITLED to what they think is appropriate service. Remember there is another participant in the experience-the stockholder.

Neither is bound to their financial commitment. The cruiser can choose another line, the stockholder can sell. Management has to maintain a balance.

Well, I don't for a second claim to understand the intricacies of running a cruise line, especially a 'luxury cruise line', but I know that running a cruise line, like pretty much everything else in life, involves a trade-off of some sort. True, Regent knew years in advance that they were building a new ship. But until it's build and staffed, how do you really train a crew to perform all of the necessary tasks? Do you build a mock-up of the ship and have them work in that? Do you poach 25% or more of the crew from other ships? How far in advance do you hire (and pay) people for training? Do you double up on existing ships to train? And as newlondon said, even if you spent a fortune on training, you'll have the shareholders complaining.

Personally, I'll just keep on sailing when I can and on the off chance I encounter a 'nasty' crewmember on board, I'll deal with it then...

How long did it take for the Explorer to designed and built? HOW MANY YEARS? There was no need for Regent to snap its fingers and come up with a satisfactory crew. They had PLENTY of time to train people. They just didn't think that was as important as a half million dollar piano in the Regent suite which they could exploit for publicity.

Just as a reminder, the ship was not turned over to Regent until early July. The new crew was being trained on other ships. Not sure if you have watched "Chopped" or other cooking shows where highly trained, successful chefs try to work in an unfamiliar kitchen/environment. Many end up making what they consider "rookie" mistakes and get quite frustrated at times.

Bringing this back to the Explorer, one of our favorite servers, "Risky" has been with Regent for years - has a bubbly personality but is also extremely efficient. On the Explorer, while she greeted us with big smiles and a hug, I saw her concentrating quite a bit and someone that did not know her may take that as being overworked, unhappy or ???

In terms of training, the only way that the crew could have been trained on the ship for more than a few days would have been to cancel the first couple of cruises (which would likely cause an uproar from the passengers on the cancelled cruises).

I also agree with newlondon regarding some passengers who feel that they are ENTITLED to what they think is appropriate service. And, IMO, "appropriate service" is as subjective as food.

P.S. The only "nasty" (and rude) crew member we have encountered on a Regent ship was also in Destination Services and we definitely "dealt with it" (from the G.M. on the ship to her boss in Miami).

We sail from Venice on Friday and have been looking forward to this for over a year. My silly question is that I can't remember if there is a good alarm clock in PH-C so I don't have to pack mine!!

I've been reading all the reviews and critiques, both negative and positive, but we decided we'll go with the flow and celebrate our 45th in style.:)

Safe travels home for everyone leaving the ship in Venice!!

Sorry that the OP has declined to give even one example of the "nasty" behavior that they experienced from crew members. I'm not an apologist for Regent or the crew but that's a loaded word, and if its not going to be backed up maybe it should not have been used. I see that examples of the other defficiencies were provided. In any event, glad that the situation is improving.

We sail from Venice on Friday and have been looking forward to this for over a year. My silly question is that I can't remember if there is a good alarm clock in PH-C so I don't have to pack mine!!

I've been reading all the reviews and critiques, both negative and positive, but we decided we'll go with the flow and celebrate our 45th in style.:)

Safe travels home for everyone leaving the ship in Venice!!

No alarm clock but you can request a wake up call. I use the alarm on my iPhone.

Since I'll have my iphone along anyway, guess that's a good answer to my question. So it was Crystal last January that had the alarm clock.

Thanks for the quick response, Rachel.

I just can't see someone on the crew being nasty - bad service yes. If that happens it needs to be changed. Paying what Regent wants demands good service, just because it's a new ship isn't the cruisers problem - it's Regents and needs to be corrected asap or you move on to another cruise line that works for you. But before you move be sure it isn't you and what you expect out of a line.

On board now, and we have not encountered any nasty crew members.

I whole heartily agree. We will soon be departing after 34 nights on the Explorer and we couldn't be happier. The staff and ship may be experiencing some growing pains but give me a break, certainly nothing worth affecting having a fabulous 34 nights on board.

We certainly have never experienced any rude, non-smiling crew. I think the ship is amazing. It's definitely our favorite Regent ship (we've spent many many nights on all the other Regent ships). Hats off to Franck and all the others that worked hard to get it ready for the inaugural cruise. John Barron, current CD, is fabulous and never disappoints with his outgoing personality, wit and talent (don't miss his show, it's the best !).

I guess everyone needs to cruise on the Explorer to form their own opinion but IMO...it is FANTASTIC and we can't hardly wait to be back again !!:)

Wow, what a huge amount of flack the OP has received for suggesting some staff were less than nice to them! I agree that the ship's new crew must be under a lot of pressure to be perfect, especially with all the hype about this ship. But this should result perhaps in some frazzled service, not rudeness.

Give the OP the benefit of the doubt, that he has in fact experienced these problems. And then move on. Hopefully the crew will "gel" soon and be less stressed-out.

Just to be fair to the OP - I don't know who they found 'nasty', but certainly two other different posters have commented on a young man on Reception who they found rude or difficult. Maybe it was him?

Well, I certainly hope none of my comments were taken as 'flak' as that's not how they were intended. I was merely pointing out that we had never encountered any nasty people on board. I certainly believe it could happen, though, as we ARE dealing with human beings, so nothing is ever out of the realm of possibility.

And as I said, thinking back, we did have a run-in with someone in Destination Services, too, years ago. We reported the issue and I hope it was addressed...

But yeah, it could happen. Easily. But I sure wish the OP would pop back in and provide some additional details, maybe it was the same Destination Services person! :-)

Wow, what a huge amount of flack the OP has received for suggesting some staff were less than nice to them! I agree that the ship's new crew must be under a lot of pressure to be perfect, especially with all the hype about this ship. But this should result perhaps in some frazzled service, not rudeness.

 

Give the OP the benefit of the doubt, that he has in fact experienced these problems. And then move on. Hopefully the crew will "gel" soon and be less stressed-out.

It has nothing to do with not giving them the "benefit of the doubt", and all about knowing in what areas the so called "nasty" staff members work rather than just hanging the cloud over all the ship's staff. If I had that experience, and felt compelled to write about it I would certainly have no problem in describing what I meant.

If this was a serious issue - the General Manager's door is always open. On all the ships.

We have never met anyone "Nasty" on any cruise line...maybe indifferent or aloof, lazy. Nasty is a pretty harsh word.

Hello Petlover (Marcie), we will be on the Explorer on November 16 doing the first transatlantic cruise. Do you know if John Barron will be the CD then? We met him when he was with Seabourn and found him brilliant. Really looking forward to the cruise.

Thanks in advance.

Maureen

John Barron told us he would be onboard with his family.