Explorer...Rome to Miami

What can one say about the most beautiful ship I ever been in? My fellow travelers kept a wonderful blog of their experiences. The ship is not only beautiful, it's elegant. So much care and good taste was put into it. I love black and white and blue and tan, therefore, I loved the colors. Granite, murano crystal, marble, everywhere. The best crew and service we have experienced and we have always had excellent service with Regent. We reconnected with crew members we knew and met some new ones. Everyone smiled and was so professional. The food is the best we have had on any Regent cruise (and the food has always been good in my opinion). I loved our cabin with double sinks and a larger walk-in closet. The itinerary was very good and time flew. Are there any kinks that any to be addressed? Of course, it's a new ship. However, nothing major. The only thing we noticed was the sound of the wind outside at night. I think they need to add more caulk around the balcony doors. That said, the pluses outweight anything else. It's a truly beautiful ship done in such good taste.

We loved the cruise and the service was over the top. I do think this is the most luxurious ship in the world. Mr Rio, Mr Montague....you have done well.

We are not boarding until January 15

Do you think there will be a lot of turnover by then? Talked our Seabourn cruising friends into trying Regent and an hoping Regent shows its best side

We just got off a Seabourn cruise that has depleted their crew to staff their new ship and had a lot of "deer in headlights " newbies. It would be nice to experience the best of the best

Glad to know about your great experience onboard. Thanks for the feedback.

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Happy that you loved it as much as we did. I urge you to post a review I the "Review" section of CC. For some reason it seems that more people have been posting negative reviews there and not sharing the positive ones. I just submitted mine and hope it will be accepted.

To be fair on our Rome to Venice cruise we found the Explorer to be a lovely ship, unfortunately due to another experience during this holiday we would give up cruising before ever using Regent again, "customer" service? is awful!

To be fair on our Rome to Venice cruise we found the Explorer to be a lovely ship, unfortunately due to another experience during this holiday we would give up cruising before ever using Regent again, "customer" service? is awful!

So sorry for your customer service issues PP76. In our opinion, it is difficult to complain about customer service as it so often is non-existent and if it were there, extremely difficult to complain about a department to that very department. IMHO a lot like complaining to Destination Services about issues with their services. We do agree with your conclusion after many times having the same or similar issues and hearing of others with the same problems.

To be fair on our Rome to Venice cruise we found the Explorer to be a lovely ship, unfortunately due to another experience during this holiday we would give up cruising before ever using Regent again, "customer" service? is awful!

Could you please elaborate? Which area of "customer service" are you referring to?

I'm sorry you had issues with customer service. Do you mean the registration desk? We never experienced any issues and thought service all over was excellent. We did see a gentleman in the Meridian lounge that said "service is gone down hill" because he had to wait for a glass of water. The bar was full and Irina was working as fast as she could. Waiting a few seconds is not bad service in my opinion. I also thought the destinations department was the best in this cruise. It was a lot smoother getting bus tickets this time. I guess we all look at service with different expectations. I hope your future cruises are to your satisfaction with whichever cruise line you are on.

A glass of water is the easiest drink to make and not very time consuming.

To be fair on our Rome to Venice cruise we found the Explorer to be a lovely ship, unfortunately due to another experience during this holiday we would give up cruising before ever using Regent again, "customer" service? is awful!

..................and the experience that led to your conclusion regarding Regent's customer service was?? :confused:

If you are unwilling to share the details, could you at least outline the general nature of the issue e.g. was it on on or off the ship?.......before, during or after the cruise?

I'm sorry you had issues with customer service. Do you mean the registration desk? We never experienced any issues and thought service all over was excellent. We did see a gentleman in the Meridian lounge that said "service is gone down hill" because he had to wait for a glass of water. The bar was full and Irina was working as fast as she could. Waiting a few seconds is not bad service in my opinion. I also thought the destinations department was the best in this cruise. It was a lot smoother getting bus tickets this time. I guess we all look at service with different expectations. I hope your future cruises are to your satisfaction with whichever cruise line you are on.

Agree with you and Irina was one of the best bartenders we have had on Regent. I cannot imagine a passenger going into the busy Meridian bar (where Irina was working at night on this leg of the cruise) and expecting the world to stop for a drink of water - particularly because the water in the Café (aka Coffee Connection) has water available 24/7 and is across the hall from the lounge -- just a few steps away. IMO, someone wanting water is not more important than

anyone else unless they were choking.

I find it strange that the most negative comments on this thread are from posters that have not been on the Explorer and have not sailed on Regent in a long time. Those of us that were on the cruise the PP76 is discussing are truly interested in what their negative experience was - whether they reported it and received no satisfaction or ???

The service and staff on the ship were excellent and we really enjoyed the cruise, our issue with Regent was before boarding and the attitude of the "head office" customer service after the cruise which in my option was truly awful.

They clearly think that customers are expendable and we will simply move on and enjoy other cruise lines.

PP76

I am glad you came back and responded to the questions you had after your post re cruise Rome to Venice.

Sorry that the land side issues were such that your cruise was not as it should be. We have been lucky?/fortune? That we have had no issues on any of our past Regent cruises, but our TA works closely with Regent UK office. Mybe that makes a difference?.

Thanks for clarifying your situation to everyone, Jean.

The service and staff on the ship were excellent and we really enjoyed the cruise, our issue with Regent was before boarding and the attitude of the "head office" customer service after the cruise which in my option was truly awful.

They clearly think that customers are expendable and we will simply move on and enjoy other cruise lines.

Thank you for letting us know that the difficulty you had was with the head office (not unusual). It is too bad that you didn't use a travel agent that is familiar with Regent. A good TA is a perfect go-between and makes it possible to never contact the home office. While dealing with customer service in Miami can be problematic, IMO, the onboard experience is so good that it outweighs the customer service issue in Miami (and, other luxury cruise lines also have issues with their home offices -- they really need to get their act together!)

The service and staff on the ship were excellent and we really enjoyed the cruise, our issue with Regent was before boarding and the attitude of the "head office" customer service after the cruise which in my option was truly awful.

They clearly think that customers are expendable and we will simply move on and enjoy other cruise lines.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the on-board experience with Regent

As you are in the UK, I assume that your problems before and after the cruise were with the Southampton office

If you have no joy with Regent and/or your TA resolving the issue(s) to your satisfaction, you should refer the matter to ABTA; this can be easily done on line or by phone

Hope you find a cruiseline that treats your booking better than your obviously unfortunate experience with Regent

The service and staff on the ship were excellent and we really enjoyed the cruise, our issue with Regent was before boarding and the attitude of the "head office" customer service after the cruise which in my option was truly awful.

They clearly think that customers are expendable and we will simply move on and enjoy other cruise lines.

While I'm glad to hear that the cruise itself was well run, it's a shame that the onshore experience didn't match it. I think Regent is making some progress on that front, and they sure need it.

Seems like the two biggest gripes I read about here are the home offices (both US and UK) and Destination Services. Obviously it can keep you from having a 'true luxury experience' if you get treated badly at ANY stage of the cruise, from initial inquiry to arriving home afterwards...

My final thoughts about the cruise.....this is my new favorite ship. The crew was fantastic and the ship is beautiful. But the absolute best part of this journey was seeing some old friends, and making a lot of new wonderful ones. I am already missing you all. Thank you for making this such a memorable, once in a lifetime experience. May we all meet again someday.

The service and staff on the ship were excellent and we really enjoyed the cruise, our issue with Regent was before boarding and the attitude of the "head office" customer service after the cruise which in my option was truly awful.

They clearly think that customers are expendable and we will simply move on and enjoy other cruise lines.

This seems to be have been the overall opinion of many of the first time Regent cruisers on the Haifa-Rome segment - one should not need a "good TA" to get an honest and respectful answer - if a company promotes itself as having the most luxurious ship, it needs to start from the top, something that the people in Miami fail to realize and in the long run, may hurt the bottom line. Many of these same individuals have cruised the other luxury lines and were disappointed that management believes they are expendable.

A MAJOR problem seems to be that it appears that no one on the ship can make any type of decision without authorization from Miami and somehow there always seems to be communication issues.

gnomie :)

It seems that many people are blaming destination services for problems and services they are unable to solve because their hands are tied - we had a problem in that some of the passengers were not paying careful attention to the excursion description, esp with regard to the activity level. There were passengers with serious mobility issues on excursions where they could not keep up and then got upset because the guide would not adjust the tour to their level. I spoke to destination services about this and was told they are not allowed to deny passengers access to any excursion unless there is an issue with transportation, i.e. nowhere to store a wheelchair on the vehicle.

So, as a result, people who should not be on specific excursions are, and the rest of the passengers are sometimes denied the full benefit of the tour. I completely understand and promote the rights of the disabled and it can be a very sticky situation. In areas where there is significant interest in a tour that is on the more strenuous side, maybe Regent should consider having the "regular" tour for able bodied individuals and then a "lite" version which is not as strenuous for those unable to keep up.

The other problem seems to be that people are unable or unwilling to follow the rules - so many times I would wait in the theater for my bus number to be called, and although I may have been one of the first ones out of the theater, when I got on the bus, it was already half full, obviously people leave the theater as soon as they get their bus number.

gnomie

A MAJOR problem seems to be that it appears that no one on the ship can make any type of decision without authorization from Miami and somehow there always seems to be communication issues.

gnomie :)

This really is a problem-Miami needs to work on. If they don't it could be to late-it cost more to get a new cruiser than to keep the one they have. If the head office thinks this is a problem-they need to work on it now - not later. The cruiser isn't always right, but they should get a good answer from someone.

I send an e-mail to HQ, got my answer-not what I wanted to hear, but it was done right and that's the it should be all the time.

Rick

A MAJOR problem seems to be that it appears that no one on the ship can make any type of decision without authorization from Miami and somehow there always seems to be communication issues.

 

gnomie :)

This really is a problem-Miami needs to work on. If they don't it could be to late-it cost more to get a new cruiser than to keep the one they have. If the head office thinks this is a problem-they need to work on it now - not later. The cruiser isn't always right, but they should get a good answer from someone.

I send an e-mail to HQ, got my answer-not what I wanted to hear, but it was done right and that's the it should be all the time.

Rick

Rick,

I disagree that the onboard officers do not have the authority to make decisions (based on our 29-30 cruises on Regent). Obviously, the Captain can make any decision that he feels is in the best interest of the ship and passengers. The G.M. makes many decisions on his/her own. The area where Miami needs to have input is more in the area of food which, IMO, is not a big deal. Also, if something needs to be escalated, it is escalated to Miami.

We have gone to the G.M. with issues in the past and were given instant responses - absolutely no waiting until they contact Miami. While I agree that Customer Service (the people that answer the phones at Regent in Miami) need more training, the onboard officers are well-trained and have the answers to 99% of questions/issues presented to them.

In my experience, it's fairly straightforward for a well-run, high end company to provide excellent service when things are running smoothly. What separates the sheep from the goats is when things go awry. That's when small cracks appear and gaps in the organisation are apparent. The ability of a company to maintain excellence in trying circumstances is what makes the difference IMHO and that usually involves empowering people at all levels to make decisions and follow them through.

Gnomie, I second your observations re the varying ability of people on excursions and have been similarly frustrated by those who have not chosen wisely and impede the enjoyment of everyone else on the tour. For some time, Regent has been clarifying the activity levels of tours by adjusting the "walking man" symbols they use on the booking form, but I'm not sure it's made much difference.

Gilly, I also agree about excursions but feel that this presents a huge dilemma for Regent. How do you tell a paying passenger that they cannot go on an excursion? There are excursions that make it plain that wheelchairs cannot be accommodated but people with walking difficulties sometimes think that they will be able to do excursions and end up holding everyone up. These same people sit in the front of the bus (as they should) but do not allow others to get off of the bus first ....... they hold up the entire bus.

What would you suggest that Regent do to remedy this situation?

I have no idea what Regent can do to remedy the situation and suspect that, were there an easy answer, we wouldn't be discussing the challenge. ;-)

I have no idea what Regent can do to remedy the situation and suspect that, were there an easy answer, we wouldn't be discussing the challenge. ;-)

It is not fair to the paying customers who can handle a three man tour and people show up who clearly can handle only one man. There really needs to be some weeding. I was on a rainforest hike excursion and a couple of people showed up in sandals carrying an umbrella. Really?????!!!!!!