nonu731

People on this forum definitely know how to complain BUT if you're paying the high prices, I definitely think it's fair to expect a high standard of service. 

11 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

My cruise was in 2019.  IMO Regent should set up and advertise a fund to add extra compensation to the employees and equally distribute it.   Maybe they could also make it so people could donate their OBC.  I would donate generously to a fund of this nature. 

 

Arbitrarily handing out cash to employees is a very slippery slope and someone being opposed to it shouldn't be misconstrued as the person not having compassion.

I'm against tipping on principle even though I participate in it. 

Just make it policy to not accept tips and increase the cost of cruising slightly if Regent can't afford to pay their employees properly. 

On 11/11/2021 at 12:43 PM, travelwell said:

The reality is that you can get a objective review on some aspects of cruise comparison on this forum. An example is food variety, and room size and amenities. You can get the feel of the culture of the ships; do they encourage passenger/crew interaction for example. This is a plus for some and a negative for others and good to know. Many on this forum have cruised on different lines and switch back and forth. For us it is hard to go back to premium or premium plus but we will do so if taking grands or cruising with others. We love Regent and Seabourn but we have our first Windstar booked in 2023. I am on the Windstar forum to find out more. As for Viking I have heard  on this forum that the ships are extremely  beautiful,  food  is good and not great, and not much variety in menus. The basic rooms small but have heated floors( I would love). We have friends and families who have cruised with Viking who confirm the above and added the free excursions are bus tours. Of course that is opinion. For us if on Viking we would pay for tours on our own or upgraded excursions. We would be in a higher level suite and pay for alcohol. We would consider Viking compensating for what we know is true  and for the rest make an objective opinion whether to include Viking in our mix for future cruise choices.

What you've described is subjective. 

People listing facilities and food choices is not a review. That is objective - just listing facilities and food choices by itself is not the review. 

Now, commenting on the quality of those facilities and food choices would make it a review, which is subjective as people. Whenever you're judging by an internal set of standards that you yourself have set, that makes it subjective. The users commenting will be judging by their own set of standards, which is therefore not 'objective' as you claim. 

>You can get the feel of the culture of the ships; do they encourage passenger/crew interaction for example.

Which is subjective. You've just described something incredibly subjective. For example, if I say they encouraged too much interaction, that's a subjective assessment based on the standards I hold as being the correct level of interaction. 

I think Regent's great. But there are users here who think Regent is terrible and not worth the money. It's subjective. 

On 11/1/2021 at 11:46 AM, Gilly said:

I've also found the replies interesting - thank you.  We have friends who wax lyrical about Viking Ocean and it's not easy for us to make an objective comparison because they have never sailed with Regent and we don't really want to start a "my ship's better than yours" conversation! 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience @Derosja @Tsunami74 and @Jimmcdaniel.

I mean the reality is, you're never going to get an 'objective' review from other users particularly on a forum where people have loyalties to certain cruise lines. It's also posted on a board dedicated to a particular cruise line so I'd also keep that in mind. 

18 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

$5 for a beer in 1975?  You ran in different circles than I did.  I remember 10 cent drafts (Genesee) and 50 cent Michelobs on certain nights in college.  We went to Ft Lauderdale for spring break in '78.  Complete debauchery.  Ten of us went to an early bird all you could eat fried chicken place, we ate enough for three days, the owner eventually came over and said you guys can't have any more and have to leave.  

 

I'm sure the Diplomat is a fine hotel.

 

 

Not quite what I'd describe as college debauchery but then again, it was 1975.. haha.

28 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

My wife has a CPA nonu. 😡🤬

Oh please, she'll know exactly what I mean 😉

4 hours ago, TomBeckCruise said:

 

For sure. 

I'm not old enough to have experienced a pre-2008 finance world but my older colleagues tell me that it was a completely different era that I missed out on. People getting drunk on the trading floor and colleagues ignoring anything that mentioned the word 'risk' or 'regulation.' 😂

Nevertheless, speaking of regulations, I hope Regent enforces the regulations they've set on masks. Otherwise, there's no point to having them at all. 

2 hours ago, TomBeckCruise said:

Ha, As a CPA our saying was, "Call the IRS with your tax question. If you don't get the answer you want call back until you do."

I guess some things never change.

I work at a bank and the joke around here is that those who can't become bankers become accountants. 😉

5 hours ago, cece50 said:

To chime in once more…..to compare the “typical” passenger on both lines feels to me to be a form of snobbery. Crew, decor, food service are subjective of course, but to generalize passengers as country club vs faculty lounge “attitudes” says more about the judge.  It implies…..well… not sure what it implies.  We enjoy people from all walks of life.  The best thing about cruising is that at the end we all go home to enjoy what we love. 

I think it might be slightly ironic that someone talking about snobbery is themselves probably slightly snobby themselves. 😂

1 minute ago, bitob said:

Interesting

 

Seabourn is the only luxury line we have sailed where fellow passengers “dropped” comments about the airplanes they owned, they vacation homes they owned etc LOL

 

We don’t care.  We can keep up with the best of them but we are private people and would not think of making comments like that.  I concur with the other posters.  There are some of those folks on Seabourn.  They just make me laugh.  You can ignore them

Huh. 

You sure it was in the bragging sense rather than just making conversation? Flying airplanes is a popular hobby and mentioning vacation homes just sounds like someone making small talk to me. 

But I can easily see why different people have different perspectives on this. 

On 9/30/2021 at 12:59 AM, Will Work for Tiramisu said:

Captain Lyle,

My DW & I have done 4 cruises on SS (Muse & Spirit pre-stretch), and 1 (the most recent) on Seabourn Odyssey (3 weeks banging around the Adriatic & Greece).  While we liked the staff (but we always do, as we try to be as kind to them as possible & they respond), we came away saying - nope, back to SS.  The food was good but not great, the hype of Thomas Keller was tiresome, and the standard of upkeep and cleanliness was noticeably lacking.  We have friends who LOVE Seabourn and sail with them all the time.  MY DW said she felt like it was a country club crowd.  (That is not a compliment from us - too many social climbers, hyperaware of the pecking order.)  I said I thought Silver Seas is like the best faculty lounge - interesting  people to talk to, well read and educated, well traveled.  Seabourn is still a great line, one of the best, but we feel if we ever can cruise again, it will be on SS.  Wherever you land, I hope you have a splendid time!  

What do you mean by 'social climbers'? As in how could you tell and the comments made?

Isn't everyone a 'social climber' to some extent? Not to get too deep with this but I can't see why the country club atmosphere would be different to real life on any luxury cruise. Any group of people, particularly among those with a few assets, will have a few 'judgemental' members. 

36 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

I have not read any posts from anyone on this forum who has said they were going to "refuse to wear a mask", when or where required to by Regent.  All that some folks have said, which is certainly their right to say, is that until masks are no longer mandatory on board (or on sponsored excursions)....that they will delay their cruising plans until masks are no longer required.  That should not be construed by anyone as being unruly, immoral, stubborn, non-conformist (or whatever other adjective one might choose).  Regards.

You two are going to veer into politics eventually I fear, which isn't allowed. 

Best to stop the discussion on the qualities of individuals wearing/not wearing masks for both of you. 

16 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Luxury cruise passengers are generally an orderly group 😏 but who's job is it to enforce these mask mandates?    It doesn't seem fair to waiters, bartenders, maitre ds etc to reprimand people not wearing masks especially being their job performance will be evaluated by the review that person gives. 

 

I was in a restaurant the other day and they let in two guys, one with the mask completely under his nose and the other wearing a cloth mask that hadn't been washed in a very very long time.   They later tell someone without a mask he can't come in so he walks away.  

I suspect it will be more of a polite request rather than people forcibly enforcing things. 

If you want to be rude about it, I suspect nobody will be able to stop you really. It's the same with lockdowns in my country - if people wanted, they probably could disobey it and some definitely did. However, most people chose to follow it anyway despite the police not really being able to strictly enforce things. 

It will probably be the same for masks. People tend to follow rules even if they disagree with them. 😉

Everyone is commenting that they don't like masks. 

Is that really necessary? 😂  Surely that's implied? Otherwise, pre-pandemic, you'd have seen everyone wearing masks all the time. Yet nobody I know was wearing masks regularly before the pandemic was a thing haha.

Nobody likes wearing masks (although I'm aware exceptions exist). Wearing a mask on a cruise sounds like a hassle to me - wearing a mask on an excursion bus doesn't sound fun to me. But without being morbid, you have to weigh up how much time you have to fully enjoy cruising versus waiting for mask requirements to be removed. Our bodies are decaying over time and there may come a point where you're not able to cruise to the same extent you are today. 

For example, there are a fair few 70-somethings and a few 80-somethings on here. Without being overly cruel, is it really worth waiting a year or more just to not wear a mask? I guess my rambling point is that the older you are, the less likely I'd recommend putting off going on cruises.

To be honest, like with a lot of these posts, I'm not sure what you're seeking. 

You don't have to like wearing masks or going on cruises where they're a requirement. That's a perfectly valid reason not to go on cruises - I don't like wearing masks either. 

And as much as anyone gripes on here, I'm not sure most complainers can do anything to change mask requirements 

I'm young, 5ft 11 (so medium-ish height) so it's not really a deal breaker for me. 

I've never really had any problem with shower/tub combos. Although I'm not sure what you're looking for with this post, if it's a deal breaker for you, it's a deal breaker for you. If you're short, older or have social mobility problems, I probably wouldn't recommend them. 

I'm not too worried about falling myself. 

2 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

My wife loves the "free" advertising.   We should feel fortunate though that we are getting the 2 for 1 deal on the price and the exquisite wines (retail $8-14).  Rally when I'm on an excursion they may be saving money.  😲

For what it's worth, I appreciated your little joke 😀 

I think you can now say life has truly peaked. 

10 hours ago, flossie009 said:

From Regent's Ts&Cs for included items:

"Free unlimited shore excursions are capacity controlled, and on first-come first-served basis"

Not sure what is "false or untrue"; Some find the word "free" to be misleading but most realise that it is marketing shorthand for "included".

If there's a disclaimer, I fail to see what Regent is doing wrong. 

OP would have a case if there was no disclaimer but I feel the disclaimer is clear enough that you're not always going to get to go on an excursion. 

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

These are not state-specific....just what one company is doing. Regent is not allowing any - nor should they. They will lose far more clients than each one they gain by allowing them.

 

Cruising is not a right, it is a privilege...you don't get to go without a vaccine and put others at risk just because you made a donation.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/09/15/pastor-donate-vaccine-religious-exemption/

With that line, I fear the conversation will turn to vaccine discussion which isn't allowed. 

Agreed for what it's worth. Considering the demographics of luxury cruisers (older etc.), Regent definitely will lose more customers than they gain if they allowed unvaccinated people on board. 

To be honest, I've actually found the entertainment on most luxury cruises slightly boring. There's really not that much going on that would be described as exciting or thrilling. 

But it's fairly obvious I'm not really the target demographic on most luxury cruises as a younger guy. If you're a young person, I probably wouldn't recommend going on a luxury cruise for the entertainment. I enjoy luxury cruises in spite of the entertainment, which tends to appeal to people like my parents/grandparents. 

Not having kids under 18 on a cruise is probably a positive for most people on the forum, not a negative. 

I'm sorry to say but I would much prefer it if luxury cruise lines permanently banned kids from travelling. 

I think the saying goes, if it flies, floats or <fcks>, you're better off renting it. 

A friend of mine was looking at private jet options and he came to a similar conclusion. Buying a spot on a boat makes no sense from a financial perspective and it isn't going to appreciate in value. 

2 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

I also have used the Verizon roaming plan which has worked well if the ship is in port or close to a land-based cell tower.  But cruising across the ocean, cell coverage is unavailable so guests are stuck with Regent's internet service (or lack of service). 

 

Regent emphasizes its commitment to top-notch service and generally provides such on board.  Yet its corporate management has a long history of not fixing major shortcomings such as unreliable internet and a web site that is too often problematic.  Seems like markedly inconsistent messaging for the "luxury" image that Regent tries to portray in its advertising.

Exactly.

My phone plan already has unlimited data in most countries/ports except at sea where the costs are outrageous. When at sea, I would like a solution that provides me with fast internet but relatively cheaper. 

Has anyone got a solution for this? 

Mobile tethering at sea is too expensive but I wouldn't mind paying a little more for the privilege of fast internet. 

9 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Well, can you work from 2AM to 4AM?

 

Regent is WONDERFUL in almost every regard, top of the competition in almost every area, but why they won't buy greater bandwidth is beyond me. The hardware is in place...just need a service agreement for more bandwidth.

 

I would pay for it. I have actually NOT booked cruises because the speed was insufficient to work while on board. They need to stop assuming that this is not an issue for their customer base....it is.

I'm guessing they're banking on the fact their customers are predominantly over 60 and without stereotyping, its probably a demographic that's less likely to need 'fast' internet speeds. But I totally get your point because clearly a lot of people do have an issue with internet speeds.