OskiBear

Isn't that what happened with Norwegian Star?

For me, the missed ports and day in Antarctica were made much worse by the terrible communication by the captain. His attitude was simply, "this is what I'm doing." That demeanor probably gave birth to the various conspiracy theories that sprang up during the cruise. If the reasons were completely legitimate, transparency and empathy would have gone a long way to defusing the situation. Instead, the captain's delivery of the information gave rise to more hostility. I did notify Regent about my disappointment and found a letter in my cabin the last night that I was supposed to use as evidence for a claim due to the missed ports. Whatever...

Thanks to everyone for the perspectives. I would say that I definitely didn't come on this cruise with any true expectations or preconceived notions of what the experience would be onboard. Even though Regent bills itself as highly "luxurious," I took that as a lot of marketing bluster and simply hoped to have a decent time. I'm not super-picky about the food (and it's been perfectly acceptable) and will enjoy whatever entertainment is offered. Every crew member I've interacted with (other than the captain) has been unfailingly polite and eager to offer whatever service/assistance is required - often prior to even being asked. The true disappointment has been skipped ports that were the focal points of this journey. I get that there's bad weather and, not being an expert, can't second guess the captain's decision to not dock. However, the presentation of the situation was what really rankles me. There simply has been no expression of regret/apology for missing a significant aspect of the journey. This just does not sit well with me and, evidently, many of the other passengers. There certainly has been a great deal of chatter about the skipped ports and what recourse (or lack of) there is from Regent. I'm also pretty surprised by how much my cabin creaks/rattles or whatever you call it. I've made numerous transatlantic crossings on the Queen Mary 2 in winter and in very foul weather - our most recent crossing was in a Beaufort Scale 10 storm. There was some creaking in the cabin, which I can accept. My cabin on the Voyager is significantly more than "creaking" - the walls are literally torquing with the motion of the ship and it is LOUD. It's not really described as "creaking" or "squeaking" - I'm just surprised at this level of noise. I've had to use ear plugs each night to try and sleep to minimize the noise. Internet is pretty poor - funnily, it really picked up when we were cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula (when I expected it would actually disappear) and then disappeared later on when we sailed out. So, not sure what's going on, but it does drop out for periods of time throughout the day where it's simply non-existent. I think this has been a poor introduction to Regent. It definitely hasn't encouraged me to give them another try when there are so many other options out there. All in all, not a disastrous cruise, but certainly doesn't rank high up on the list.

Relatively experienced cruiser here and we are currently on Voyager (Buenos Aires to Santiago) with an extraordinarily disappointing voyage. I’m not usually one to complain about little things and I tend to roll with things, but some less than optimal things have so far combined to make this journey one that is leaving a very bad taste and impression of Regent. So far: 1. Embarkation – I had read about the issue with the terminal in Buenos Aires in advance so expected a bit of a “shuffle.” However, we were given a specific time to arrive at the alternate terminal at which point we were instructed to simply sit and wait an hour for a bus to shuttle us to the original terminal. It seemed a very poorly managed process with everyone waiting for a long time without really much coordination. 2. Skipping Ports – we arrived at Stanley, Falkland Islands and the captain informed us it was too windy to disembark, so we sailed away. We then turned around to disembark a passenger with a medical issue before sailing away. We later found out other ships had arrived Stanley with no issues. On our second of three scheduled days cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula, the Captain announced that we were hightailing it out of there because of anticipated winds in the Drake Passage, cutting that part of the journey short by one day. Prior to arriving Ushuaia, the Captain informed us he would be skipping Punta Arenas because of weather – this was announced three days in advance of even arriving at the port. Currently, everyone is aware that Holland America Oosterdam (that we saw in port in Ushuaia yesterday) is currently docked in Punta Arenas while we are skipping the port. 3. Captain – not sure how much of the port skipping attributable to the captain’s or Regent’s decision, but the whole situation has been very poorly handled. The captain is very cavalier in his announcements. There have been no apologies for the deviations from schedule and he’s just been generally flippant and dismissive of the diminished experience of the paying passengers. I overheard a passenger inquiring and he because defensive and borderline hostile. 4. Overall, the ship is old and tired. During the first night of rougher seas, our cabin not only creaked, but sounded as if it was going to explode. 5. Food has been okay and service, while slow, has been very pleasant and staff have all been wonderful. 6. Internet - this has been abysmal. There's a router outside our cabin but no service unless I sit on the floor at the. The signal doesn't extend to the rest of the cabin. It's really slow in general and has actually constantly gone down ("satellite" problem). We just did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in November and the internet was fine the entire journey across the Atlantic. Why is it so bad on Voyager? So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

Thanks for all the replies. I seem to recall that I had previously sat in the terminal for a bit while waiting to board but couldn't determine if that's still a possibility. I truly don't mind sitting and waiting until admitted. However, the thought of not having a space to sit and wait didn't seem appealing and that led me to consider alternatives. If, as a previous poster suggested, I could simply wait a bit in the terminal, that should be fine for arriving around 1300. I'd rather be early and wait than deal with the stress of a transportation hiccup and running out of time.

It's been a few years since the last time I boarded the QM2 in Southampton and I had a bit of a journey to get there from London. There was a problem with the train, we were disembarked at some intermediate stop with no directions as to how to continue our journey. I ended finding a taxi to drive us the rest of the way to Southampton. For our upcoming crossing in November, I'll plan on taking a train that'll get us to Southampton around 13:00 just to have a little extra time for contingencies. If we're too early for our assigned boarding time, is there some place we can hang out either near the station or the cruise terminal?