Robroy

Frankly I would love to simply sail (assuming calm seas) around the Carribean with absolutely no port calls for ten days for a change......for me, the ship is the destination sometimes!

Afraid I must take issue with TC on this one. As Canadians, we've almost always paid a premium due to currency disparities in the 35 years we've been cruising - with a couple of exceptions.

I have no issue with the rising prices which Regent has implemented since we first sailed with them in 2007. Since the majority of premium and luxury lines have always charged fares in U.S. dollars, I fail to see how "......U.S. citizens have had the same challenges they (pax paying in Euro/Cdn/Aus etc) now have". Really???

I recall a $10,000 U.S.D. Mediterranean trip in 2002 which we paid for with a .62 cent dollar - that was interesting to say the least. At this point, although we have a Regent trip booked for next May, as of this morning I'm working with a .75 cent dollar which is forecast to likely drop below .70 cents over the coming months. Not looking for sympathy or complaining, as we knew the score going in and nobody forced us to spend discretionary dollars.

Sure - there have been problems with both of our economies over the past ten years but I don't recall seeing this type of disparity or price differential for Americans with respect to cruising. No doubt wealthy people won't be too concerned (although I don't know too many wealthy people who are frivolous with their money...!) but for people like ourselves who look forward to a special experience perhaps once a year or every other year, this is becoming onerous and has caused us to seriously consider cancelling the cruise. I realize this is not a Regent problem - it's ours, and we have a choice to make. Just my two cents however as to how this type of challenge has affected the American cruiser who has always paid in U.S.D. - I don't quite get it.......

We have sailed the Caribbean on the Spirit and Voyageur and our experience on both lines has been excellent - very good service and food and we really enjoyed both ships. The open dining seating policies on both lines was a big plus for us, as we don't care for set seating and I understand that Crystal's attempt at providing an open seating opportunity is going through some growing pains. Butler service on the Spirit was a nice touch but we found the room stewards on Voyageur gave us everything we needed.

The eternal debate about what constitutes "six star/five star and straight luxury" gives me a big headache so I won't go there. Suffice to say, both lines and ships suited us very nicely although I'd give the nod to Regent as I don't care for the formality with Silversea - nice to leave the jacket and tux at home!

Based on the lines you're considering, I don't think there are really any bad choices. Have a great trip!

RollingRocks:

As mentioned, the coffee on Navigator recently was undrinkable throughout the various dining venues. The exception is the Navigator Lounge as previously mentioned where it is as good as it gets! Staff custom make each cup - our favourite quickly became "Americano" which was excellent coffee. Their cappuccinos and lattes were also really good. In the dining rooms, I'd suggest sticking with cappuccino - it's from a machine and not as good as the Navigator Lounge custom fare but it's at least a pleasant drink. But be forewarned....the regular coffee is unbelievably terrible!

Hope you enjoy the ship - it is lovely!

Rob

Hi TC!

Thanks very much for the tip. We're mid-ship deck eight so should be fine. Neither of us has a problem (so far!!) with motion and really looking forward to the itinerary as well as our first time on the Mariner.

Welcome back by the way! Your trip blog was really interesting - hope you get a chance to consolidate it into a review at some point!

Thanks,

Rob

Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to do as they wish. We feel however that as gratuities are "included", it makes more sense to contribute to the crew welfare fund which will extend benefits to the several hundred staff "behind the scenes" who all contribute to making our cruise experience what it is. Sure: the butlers/servers/stewardesses are the "faces" of the crew but without the team effort extended by the laundry staff/kitchen staff/cleaning staff/maintenance staff etc in support of highly visible staff, it just wouldn't come together.

To outright bribe staff for "special privileges" and put them in an awkward position reminds me of Vegas in the old days but at least that was the culture there and then and everyone knew the rules. It's unfortunate but in this "me" society, there will always be people needing to be at the head of the line by whatever means it takes.

Hi TC!

We're doing San Francisco to Vancouver - May 8-18th - hopefully with a few extra days in San Francisco as this will be our first visit to the city. We felt the seven day trips would be too short and fourteen would be too hard on the waistline......LOL!!!!

My wife and I just returned from a ten day trip on the Navigator - Bermuda and the Southern Colonies itinerary. Just posted a review - in a nutshell, we had a great time and loved the ship. Not sure if it was a four star, five star or six star experience though. I know some people seem to be fixated on the various levels of luxury and how to accurately assess where Regent stands in the greater realm of things and it's obviously a very subjective topic. All I can say is we were favourably impressed with the whole experience, as I've pointed out in my review and wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again. The ambiance suited us to a tee and it was everything we could ask for.

Many thanks to Travelcat, Computerworks and others for their insights into the ship. We booked the Mariner for Alaska next May while onboard and look forward to getting back to Regent again!

Thanks!

Rob

Troban:

You should be fine both with a lack of vibration and no noticeable smoke smell. The smoke is most noticeable between the Connoisseur Lounge (bit of an oxymoran if you like to breathe IMHO! :)) and the elevators just past the Lounge itself. It does not extend down toward the suite area.

They did as of last week on the Navigator. Great fun!

Rob

Computerworks - Will be watching your thread with great interest! We really enjoyed your photos of the Navigator and just got off it yesterday, having completed the Bermuda and Southern Colonies run. Loved the cruise, ship and all that it offered and will be posting a review shortly after trying to catch up on work and recovering from cruise withdrawal symptoms!

In fact, we enjoyed the trip so much that we booked your exact itinerary on the Mariner for next May so will look forward to your comments.

A couple of observations: you should be in a great location forward - the vibration aft was quite severe at times and we were glad not to have deck 7 aft - the dining room coffee was nasty - best was at the Navigator Lounge where "café Americano" was excellent. Otherwise, the ship and overall experience on board was fabulous in our opinion.

Hope you have a great time!

Rob

Agree with you 100% Wendy on the BA World Traveller +. We did it on a trip to Europe several years ago and loved it. Last trip we booked it again and got bumped up to Business class. Very impressed with BA overall.

Rob

....I was very impressed with how we have been treated as Canadian residents. We made final payment on the April 4th "Bermuda & Southern Colonies" sailing back in early January. About four weeks ago, our T/A called to let us know we had received a "Canadian Resident" refund on our fare - which amounted to about 13% of the fare. This came from out of the blue, with no explanation whatsoever and was credited to our Amex card. Since the CDN dollar has been tanking since last fall when we originally booked, the credit gave us a better rebate than it would have when we made final payment.

Yesterday we received a brochure announcing special rates on selected sailings for CDN residents. The fine print indicated that these fares were for"......residents of Canada - payable in U.S. dollars...." with no indication of citizenship at all. It went on to say that ".....the 13% savings off U.S. fares was to align fares with the Canadian dollar."

With the current exchange rate at roughly 27%, it doesn't quite align things but it still offers a substantial savings. We were pleasantly surprised at the rebate we received - not frequent Regent clients as we've only been on one other Regent cruise back in 2007. The fine print also indicated the fares were for "new bookings only" - which we weren't. Our T/A isn't a Regent specialist, so no special treatment there.

In view of a lot of the negativity I've been reading on these Boards about Regent over the past few weeks - on various subjects - just thought I'd mention what we felt was excellent customer relations and totally unexpected. Now we're just waiting for April 4th....!

Just wondering if Martin Cliff is still with Regent? He was the Dining Room Manager in Compass Rose when we sailed on the Voyageur in 2007. We couldn't say enough about his professionalism, charm and manner. We're on the Navigator in April this year and were hoping perhaps he might be on the ship. Anyone seen him lately?

Thanks!

Rob

Thanks to all for their advice and suggestions. Think we'll wait until about 3-4 weeks prior to sailing and have our TA check into it. Happy New Year!

Rob

Thanks TC - makes perfect sense. Sounds like we'll have a much better idea closer to sailing and if our category is in a "waitlist" situation versus "guaranteed" and if there is availability in higher suites.

We'll see what happens - we'll have a great time in any event!

Rob

My wife and I have booked the Navigator in early April and took a category "H" window cabin. We haven't cruised without a balcony in over 20 years and are starting to think it might be wise to upgrade to a balcony - ideally though through an "upsell" as opposed to simply paying the rack rate.

In checking the Regent site (which I understand doesn't give the full picture) is seems there is availability in virtually all categories. My question is at what point does the inventory dept decide to make "upsells" available and at what level of cabin do they generally begin? I appreciate that you should always book a level you'll be happy with and it won't be a huge deal if the opportunity doesn't materialize but I want to be ready should it present itself and if savings are worthwhile.

Thanks!

Rob

Just my opinion as well but I was very pleased with the entire booking process with Regent recently. A few weeks ago I contacted Regent to book the Navigator April 4-14th Southern Colonies and Bermuda on a Saturday. A very friendly and helpful agent helped me book exactly what we wanted - despite advising that I would be turning the booking over to my local travel agent. I said we would want to deviate and fly in a day early and she said I would need to speak with the Air Deviation dept directly but that I would have to call back on Monday, which I did.

The Deviation (does this make their reps "deviates"????:) ) agent I spoke with was again very helpful when I explained we wanted to travel a day early and requested an Air Canada direct flight from Toronto - specifying the exact flight we wanted. She checked on the AC contract and quickly advised this could be done - then booked us seats on both flights.

Perhaps this was a simple situation - Toronto-Miami return but I must say I was very impressed with the service. We haven't travelled with Regent for seven years but it was a very good beginning to what I'm confident will be a great vacation!

Rob

TWG

I concur with TC2 wholeheartedly! Positive expectations and a great attitude can help to minimize the "bumps in the road" which any trip can provide. Sounds like you'll have a great cruise. Please be sure to provide a review on your return. It sounds like you'll have a terrific time!

Rob

I would agree with Hambagahle wholeheartedly in terms of "tailoring your expectations". We took one NCL cruise years ago when we were dedicated Princess cruisers and swore "never again". We had the unfortunate experience of being with what seemed to be a large incentive trip and we soon grew tired of baseball hats in the dining room and boorish behaviour by many. This was before we had tried Regent and Silversea and I'm afraid we've been spoiled by a more sedate and "classy" (using the word advisedly:) atmosphere. A return to Princess, which we used to love, is no longer in the cards for us due to size and overall ambience. We would sooner cruise less often in a style which we're more comfortable with. Just my 2 cents...

Rob

Thanks very much Computerworks for your wonderful photos and narrative! My wife and I were on Voyageur a few years ago and were contemplating the Navigator but were a bit concerned about some of the (albeit few) negative remarks on the board regarding the ship needing a drydock refreshing as well as the usual comments about brown water/vibration etc. There was an itinerary next April which really appealed to us but we had some concerns due to the above.

Now that we've reviewed your photos, we're excited to book Navigator for next April. The ship looks terrific and we can't wait to board! Many thanks!

Rob

Interesting thread. Our experience somewhat parallels the OP's situation although it was through Silversea when we booked a Med trip in October 2012. This was when Silversea was still offering included airfare. We took their air - opted for deviation and selected BA from Toronto - London - Nice and return from Venice. A couple of weeks later we decided to opt for World Traveller + for the Toronto-London flight - put the request through our TA to Silversea and they set this up for us. We had to pay the difference ($750 per person as I recall) and that was it. This was for a cruise in late April 2013.

We also received the BA booking reference and pre-selected our seats for all segments well in advance - no status with BA either and no charge which surprised us but we attributed that to a perk of Silversea's standing with the airlines.

Must say we were pleasantly surprised to see that when checking in online the night before we departed, we had been upgraded to Club World with all it's perks for the Toronto/London leg.

Point is, I can't understand why the full cruise tariff should be payable although the deviation and upgrade makes perfect sense. Hope you get this sorted out - we're looking forward to getting back to Regent at some point ourselves. Good luck!

Rob

Hi Scott,

Glad to hear you had success with Alain. To answer your question - no, we haven't visited there. Our trip with him was strictly from Nice to Monte Carlo to board the Spirit last April.

Hope you have a great time! It'll be refreshing to get away from this "winter wonderland"!!!!!

Rob

Hi Scott,

My wife and I booked Alain from Dreamtours between Nice and Monaco last April and I agree with Herman - he was excellent. Quick to respond to my email, on-time, informative and an excellent driver. His van was very clean and modern. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

Have a great trip!

Rob

Must echo the comments of other posters who are also thoroughly enjoying your detailed commentary on Oceania and Regent. We have been on Regent and Silversea and although we thoroughly enjoyed Regent, found the all-inclusive pricing for many tours we would never take didn't make sense. Oceania seems to be a logical line to consider - for us, Silversea food is a bit too much "haute cuisine" to suit us while a review of O's menus looks lovely.

I've always been impressed with your observations over the years on CC and look forward to more. They have provided excellent food for thought in helping us make cruise decisions - all a major part of the spirit of sharing opinions on CC IMHO!

Rob