red1head

We have done four land tours, two pre-cruise and two post-cruise, both free and paid for: Angkor Wat and Singapore, Montreal and Ottawa, Barcelona and Cordova, and London and the Cotswolds. We have enjoyed them all and thought they were well managed and true to the listed itinerary. Guides worked to ensure we arrived back at the end of the day at the stated time. On evenings when dinner was not included (Montreal and London) we simply booked our dinner reservations for 45 min. later than the expected arrival to ensure we had time to change and freshen up. We have been fortunate to have excellent and informative guides who had to occasionally manage wayward/tardy members of the group. I hope you have a great time on your cruise and land tour.

For our arrival transfer in June 2022 in Montreal and this past June in Barcelona, we were meet by a driver holding a Regent sign with our last name after we came out of baggage claim. We were escorted to a Mercedes and whisked to our Regent hotel. YMMV.

Our experience has been the same as Portolan’s. We are sold on small groups and will book them whenever possible.

We received $200 credit for booking while on board and used that credit towards some Regent Choice excursions we booked one year before sailing. After making our final payment we also received $250 Regent Select Shipboard Credit, which was refundable. We didn’t use it during the cruise. We received the refund check about a week after we got home on July 17th.

Based on our recent Voyager cruise, disembarking on July 14, the survey had to be completed prior to leaving the ship. I was unable to access the survey using the provided url on my and DH’s iPads, so we used the ship’s computers in the computer room. We prepared ahead of time with a list of names of crew members we wanted to acknowledge/praise and a few things we wanted to mention about our experience on an otherwise fantastic 19-day cruise.

We were just on Voyager for 19 nights from Barcelona (Tarragona) to Southhampton, disembarking July 17. Though the cruise was sold as a single cruise, it was also sold as two segments: Barcelona to Lisbon for seven nights, and Lisbon to Southampton, 12 nights. The first segment had 701 passengers, of which approximately one quarter were children and teens. Yes, that's correct. There were three generation families and also parents-only with their children. There were also some of the crew's children aboard. The Mariner's Club was open and had kids there during the day.. Sitting at the pool grill after lunch and looking out at the pool area it seemed like an upscale family resort with kids playing (nicely) in the pool. On one excursion in Jerez de la Frontera to visit a villa and take a tapas cooking class, five of the 20 people on the excursion were youngsters or teens (three were under 10). It wasn't uncommon to see strollers on excursions or parked at the entrance to La Veranda in the morning for breakfast. We never saw any misbehavior or acting out by any child. In our tapas class a brother and sister (about 9 and 7) were able to participate and excited because they liked to cook at home. This was an unexpected but not surprising experience since the first segment was seven days in the Mediterranean in the summer. There were teens and even college-ages young people on board, too. The second segment from Lisbon northward had on'y a handful of kids and teens, but nothing like the Med. segment.

I completely agree, Forevertravel. Were you on the post-cruise tour? If so, we may have traveled together to see Stonehenge, Hampton Court Palace, Bath, and the rest of the sights.

We love the Tour but hadn’t been paying close attention this year because we were busy with the pre-cruise tour and the cruise itself. We were in Bilbao a day after the Tour left, so I checked the course and saw it was headed for Bordeaux. But it wasn’t until we docked that we realized the location of the finish line for Stage 7 the next day and the plaza where the support trailers and the fan park would be located were right across the avenue from the ship for the next day. Needless to say we canceled our excursion for the next day. We watched them set up the award stage from our breakfast table in La Veranda. We visited the fan park after breakfast and bought a couple of cycling jerseys for DH and a Tour t-shirt, then walked across the finish line. We sat on the aft deck outside of the Horizon lounge in the afternoon and watched the crowds, early fan races and sponsor vehicles arriving. We saw the final 500 yards from Deck 12…except for the final 100 yards which were obscured by trees. Beyond fantastic day!!!

Thank you for your thoughtful review, TV Dad. We boarded Voyager in Barcelona on 25 June and continued through Lisbon on to Southampton. For us it was a wonderful cruise, our third on Regent and second on Voyager, though we also sail on Seabourn and enjoy river cruising on Scenic. The crew were fantastic as always on Regent and the food was some of the best we have had. I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing wine experience. We thought sommeliers Allan and Janelle were outstanding and along with wine and drinks servers Cyriel and Dianara. They always had something interesting for us to try. DH enjoyed a Côtes du Roussillon Villages, a 2016 Bordeaux, a lovely Bourgogne Pinot Noir, and a South African pinotage among others, and he sampled the excellent Sancerre, Pouilly Fuissé, and Pouilly Fumé I was often drinking. It was also fun to try some of the Italian wines in Sette Mari and some of the Spanish wines they featured. We enjoyed all our excursions, some free, some Regent Choice or small group (paid a fee). I agree it's unfortunate that people book excursions that are beyond their physical capabilities. In Almeria we were on an excursion to visit the Moorish fort and castle which one could see from the ship was up on a high hill (better for defense). The description upon booking and in the listing onboard clearly said it there would be several hours of walking outdoors with steps and uneven surfaces. It was a hot day though our guide did good job finding us shade along the way. We had a number of older people in the group who were struggling even with a slow walking pace because it was hot and we were going in stages up the hill (foot traffic only, no vehicles permitted). One gentleman said to me somewhat ruefully that he should have read the description more closely as he thought it was a bus excursion. People need to take responsibility for their own choices and Regent can only do so much to offer information and guidance. It was an outstanding cruise with memorable experiences: visiting Rabat, Morocco; seeing Stage 7 of the Tour de France finish next to the ship in Bordeaux and enjoying the fan park before the race; visiting Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao and Wales, and on the post-cruise tour visiting Stonehenge. The pre-cruise tour outside of Barcelona (which we had visited twice before) was excellent as well.

On Voyager now in a concierge suite. The magnifying mirror is not lighted but large and the vanity wall mirror is lighted on both sides. One side of the mirror is magnified and the other side is a regular mirror.

Photo of plug and light switch plate. One on either side of the bed. There is a US style plug at the vanity. No USB ports in the suite. Concierge 925.

Flgreg, the flight to Barcelona was a Polaris flight, so we had access the the Polaris lounge at Dulles. Very nice with food a cut above the United Club. The flight had lay-flat beds in BC and the service was United competent with dinner and light breakfast right before landing 7.5 hour flight, so not all that much time for sleep if you wanted it. We had visited Barcelona twice before and so took the Regent pre-cruise tour which included a night in Barcelona and two nights in a hotel situated in a medieval castle in Cardona. It included a visit to the Abbey at Monserrat, a tour of the castle and church (tallest Romanesque church in Spain) and the nearby salt mine which was the source of wealth for the dukes of Cardona in the 12-15th centuries. Our hotel in Barcelona was the NH Collection Barcelona Gran Hotel Calderon. It was in a good location to visit the city if you wished, with nice rooftop pool and bar with killer views of the city and the sea. It was for the tour group. We booked the night before our arrival to ensure we could go straight to the room.

FWIW, we just flew on United from Tampa through Dulles to Barcelona in business + domestic FC arriving about 8:30am. We paid the deviation fee, but that’s all. We were at the hotel by 10:30am. Immigration was very slow… On board Voyager now.

I should also add that the tour is definitely not for anyone who has mobility concerns or other health issues as there is a good amount of walking up and down inclines and stairs in Monserrat and at the castle, and on uneven surfaces during the tour of Cardona’s old town and the visit to the salt mine.

Snorkel Lover, we are on the pre-cruise tour right now (boarding Voyager tomorrow) and we’ve really enjoyed it, as have the other 11 people who are on it. But, we have been to Barcelona several times and seen all the sights. So we have enjoyed getting out to another area of Catalonia. If there are things you haven’t seen yet in BCN, then focus on that. The tour started with a visit to see the Madonna at Monserrat. It was excellent, in part because of the history; in part because of the mountains. A day well spent. Then traveling to Cardona and staying in the castle has been lovely, and more medieval history, plus a tour of the nearby salt mountain that was the basis for attraction to the area since Roman and even Neolithic times, but especially during the 12th-15th centuries. Excellent guide as well. We booked the tour on a promotion as a free pre-cruise tour. Plus, we have had the opportunity to meet 11 other passengers before we are even aboard.