Pcardad

Silversea has a pretty killer offering in the 17 day range...and Polar Class rated hulls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Endeavour

I've done 6 since COVID and I can see a slight difference in the experience of the crew. Many did not return to the ships after COVID as they cannot be expected to go 2 years without pay. Add in 2 new ships that need staffing and you have some crew who are relatively green. This will sort itself out.

This can happen with any cruise line - especially when you are dealing with countries that might have a.....more laid back attitude. Common with every cruise line. You are lucky you left early as Drake is no joke. I've been across it in a much smaller ship in very bad conditions and most of the (older) guests were in bed for a day as they could not walk. His job is your safety - I would not presume to 2nd guess him or comment on his "attitude'. Usually the GM or the CD will make an announcement regarding these things. All ships make noise in rough seas. I was in a crew member's cabin a couple of years ago and she had about 100 pieces of paper wedged into the ceiling tiles to keep them from creaking. Best staff in the industry! You were in Antarctica and probably had bad/limited LOS with the satellites used for internet. Can't help you here - in 450 nights, I've never had a bad cruise, just a few things that annoyed me and were immediately rectified by the staff.

There are 2 captains (and 2 staff captains) for every ship. They rotate.

Hooray!!!!!

I couldn't agree more, my friend.

What demographic has raise this group of 70/80 year old entitled passengers who want to misbehave themselves (get drunk, fight, berate the staff, argue politics, etc.) on board?

Different countries have different rules/laws/etc. and I suspect that Regent would also like to expand their market share a little bit.

What I am saying is that I can see Regent pricing, stripped of the extras, down to what's on that site. I do know that Regent does offer some last minute pricing outside of the US market but what is on the site I looked at is no different than what a normal TA can get. To the best of my knowledge, even though TA's are paid different commissions, they access the same pricing. Some "discounts" are merely specials that you "have to ask about" but any decent TA will get the best pricing offered by their person no matter what.

I am pricing them now and, so far, they are all the same as what Regent offers. I will keep going.

Just so you know...."Sample prices are in U.S. Dollars and are per person, double occupancy, and do not include U.S. government fees, taxes, port expenses or airfare unless otherwise noted".

HAL is a great line...we use them as well. Heck, I have fun on RCL every year too.

One metric of bookings is measured as a % of capacity. This is a big number that Wall Street looks at. Regent's largest area of weakness is not losing guests to other cruise lines, it is losing guests to time. They have shifted marketing to people who a little younger than usual as Regent is now within the range of a large segment of the younger population due to emerging tech and the fact that young people are the greatest beneficiaries of this new money.

Bookings are at an all-time high. Their concern, my opinion only, is attrition of existing customer base due to natural causes.

To clarify...this is not a new "sale" for Regent to offer. They did the same last year. They are not trying to fill the ship with kids. They just want people to know that the kids are welcome. The new marketing is to guests from 40 and up....a decided change from the past.

You will find any children...if there are any...to be extremely well behsved....possibly better behaved than the adults. 😉

Kids are welcome on all Regent cruises and the standard additional charge to put them in the parent's cabin is pretty negligible. This is more marketing than a big savings.

When things, and people, get older they are weaker and more prone to failure. I am certain this is a planned repair in the future but, for now, the issue has been solved.

Agreed...they are not sisters.

True - the shipyards are different but the toilet systems are very similar and Regent doesn't have a history of skimping on maintenance. Its like getting hot water tank from different plumbers - the systems they use can all be the same. The shipyard does not make all the parts installed in a ship....they build (assemble) the ship and source most parts/subsystems from 3rd parties.

Manufacturer's maintenance schedule is followed and Voyager isn't having the issue. When a system is mis-treated, it places additional stress on the system.

They are 23 years old - seals dry out over time. Mariner is in for a few nice upgrades next year and there might just be a surprise or two coming this WC as well. I am in NO way affiliated with Regent.

But I could be wrong! 😉

I know that the WL is not always first come-first serve...but I have never heard of the person releasing an actual position on the WL simply because it can change.

You might be surprised. Regent is aggressively making offers to booked guests on cruises that have deep waitlists in order to sell more cabins on other cruises.