Oz_Steve

Forget MSC and try Celebrity. If you like the spa book Aqua Class.

We are on Virtuoso now in the Yacht Club and to be honest it is not worth it. The good news is that you won't have to work out what a butler does because on this ship they don't do anything except escort you from one place to another. I really can't see what value they add.,

The concierge staff only want to book stuff for you and don't have any information on anything. Want to know what the different menus are for the Butcher's Cut or the Teppanyaki? The response is when do you want me to book that for you? Ask about what is included in a tour and you get the same response.

As for the food it is slightly better than what I imagine the MDR is like but nothing to get excited about. The times for when the dining room is open for breakfast are ridiculous.

The drinks are very similar to what the Carnival drinks are like, somewhat less than average. In spite of having the premium drink package they are always trying to give you the cheapest possble spirits. As for wine you don't want to know. I was told that they reduced the included stuff a few months ago and it shows.

If being nickle and dimed at every turn is your thing you will enjoy this line. Forget the all inclusive experience and the priority stuff is mostly an illusion. It is more Carnival with a less crowded dining room than anything like Celebrity Michaels Club or any of the other lines premium product. Quite frankly I would not book it again and would strongly recommend not booking it to my friends. It is not worth the premium they charge.

We are on Virtuoso now in the Yacht Club and t

ikWe are joining the Virtuosa for a round trip from Rotterdam on the 23rd of this month. Like the sound of not many passengers from this port.

Be responsible and follow instructions which will probably be to isolate for 5 days.

17 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

You will have a lovely time. You are so well looked after from arrival to disembarkation.

 

Have you been to these ports before?

We are living in Den Haag at the moment so we have been to Rotterdam several times. Have been to LeHavre before (not on a cruise) and we have been to Mont St Michelle and Normandy. Haven't been to Southampton or Hamburg. My wife is keen on going to the Christmas Markets in Hamburg.

My wife and I are booked YC on the Virtuosa from 23 to 29 November (Rotterdan-LeHavre-Hamburg-Rotterdam) so interested in your insights. First time MSC and first time YC.

On 6/6/2022 at 5:52 AM, MMDown Under said:

We can buy delicious pasties in Queensland.  In fact, Cornish pasties are my first choice, pie and peas under the lid my second.  

Where do you get those? I will try them next time I am up that way.

IMHO don't buy a pastie anywhere else than Sth Australia.

The drive through bottle shop at the Kingston Hotel have great chunky steak pies. They are made on premises. In the burbs the Erindale cakery bakery does excellent mince pies.

On my first Regent Cruise in a lowly Penthouse A we got free laundry. I was really annoyed that my cousin also on her first Regent cruise in an even more lowly Penthouse C also got free laundry. Not sure how we earned it but it was welcome anyway. To keep in the spirit of the thread the included champagne was excellent for washing socks as suggested by an earlier poster.

Blue top in suites and the Germain above in the bars. Good news is all my socks are clean.

My wife and I have done several cruises (mostly in Suites with Celebrity) and this was our first time cruise with Regent. I am currently on Voyager and this is our last night.

Our cruise embarkation was changed from Monaco to Marseille due to weather damage at Monaco. The mechanics of the transfer was handled well but we were not notified of the change until we reached the hotel in Monaco. Disappointed about the change but nothing Regent could do except manage the communication process better. Overall it was an experience where the good evened out the bad. 

It turned out that this was to become a common theme for the cruise where there was stuff that was done extremely well or extremely poorly. 99% of the staff were extremely pleasant and friendly, 1% were surly and in some cases rude. Of the 99% who were friendly, 75% of them were actually good at their jobs, the others were mostly not very good. The staff at Chartreuse in particular were rude, it was the worst food experience on a cruise ship that I have had.

I am going to make some general comments on specific areas and where applicable I will compare them to Celebrity, travelling in a suite.

Food

The food in Compass Rose was mostly better than the MDR on Celebrity, except for the two nights when it was terrible. They could not get their act together, get orders right or deal with and rectify deficiencies. It was definitely better in the buffet but it was regularly closed for quite long periods. I understand you need to change food etc but you could at least have a limited availability of something. Pool Grill food was better but the process of ordering and getting your order were chaotic/shambolic. Prime was great and comparable with the specialty equivalents with other lines. Chartreuse was something else. It was in a word rubbish. The food was just ok but the service was rude, slow and inattentive. I didn't make a complaint as I couldn't quite work out who was running this rock show. I think they were self organised as an autonomous collective that had locked the boss in a supply cupboard. The coffee at all venues is something else and I don't mean that in a good way. Eating in the suite restaurant on Celebrity is superior to everything but Prime 7.

Drinks

The included wine is better overall if you work at it. An exception is the champagne, it is not great and IMHO is not as good as the Californian Chandon. The spirits were about the same except they didn't have Tanqueray 10 and only had 3 bottles of Fever Tree on the ship. Cocktails were about the same. I am not sure if I mentioned it before but the coffee is terrible.

Service

The service is fantastic (with one or two exceptions but they happen) if you want the staff to smile and kiss your butt. If you want them to competently fulfill their duties then it is very hit and miss (75% hits). One of the casino staff was an absolute shocker. There was also one bartender who was terrible one night but actually quite good the next 3 nights.

Cabins

The cabins are about the same (good) but I do like the included Mini Bar which is restocked daily. The balconies are very small which is a negative.

Atmosphere/Entertainment

There was no buzz and very little going on. I saw the cruise director and his minions on the ship after 5 anywhere other than the show never. As for the entertainment it was somewhere that I never found.

Overall Experience

I found it to be a little dull and was completely underwhelmed by the included tours with a couple of exceptions.

I would rate it 7.5 out of 10, I would rate a Celebrity an 8.5. Would I sail again? Maybe if the price, timing and itinerary was right but I would not go out of my way. Would I recommend it to my friends? No but I wouldn't try to talk them out of it either. I would let them know my experience. IMHO I may be a touch too young for Regent (age 58) and maybe will try again in 10 years or so.

Last night on Voyager. They have Schweppes and another cheap brand. They had three Fever Tree on the ship, that was it.

Thank you for confirming that this is what was served. It will be interesting to taste the champagne when we board in one month and 6 days (but whose counting?)

I will report on the champagne situation as I am on the same ship in 27 days.

Life is too short to drink bad wine. If they are serving Champagne it should at least be reasonable. Serving average Champagne just so you can say you are serving Champagne is a black mark in my books. I was looking forward to trying the Mountadon on my upcoming cruise in November on Voyager.

We are booked on the same cruise so if you go to the roll call thread you can register for the meet and great. :D

We have booked our excursions but we have been to all ports except Naples and Majorca. One of the posters on the roll call is organising a private tour in Monte Carlo that you may want to take advantage of.

If you haven't been to Florence and Rome you should do the tour that takes you into the centre of both and shows the sights you want to see. We are going on the HOHO bus in Rome and a wine tour of some description in Florence. First time in Florence go see David etc and we can point you to a pretty cool little restaurant that isn't a tourist trap in the middle of town.

Naples you have 3 choices Pompeii, Capri or Positano. These seem to be the three main sights people want to see. Naples also appears to be interesting so you may want to explore there a little as well.

Marseille is basically the Vieux Port or the Nortre Dame de la gaurde (sp). We have chosen to go into Provence to have a look at the villages.

Barcelona is fantastic and he must sees are La Sagrada Famiglia (sp), a couple of the Gaudi houses, the Gothis Quarter, Picasso Museum, La Rambla(and the market), the central square and Parc Guell. If you have time the trip to Montserrat is well worth the day.

2pm here when the bookings open. Worked a treat. :D

It is Eastern Daylight Savings time in the U.S.

 

Not sure if this will help but you could try it https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/est-to-australia-sydney

Thanks for that. I assume that NYC is on EDST?

I am trying to work out which time zone Regent uses. The page says I can book the specialty restaurants from 7 August but does not say if it is GMT or any other time zone. Does anyone know?

I would go to Flinders Chase on KI. Also Kuranda and the Butterfly house are good, try to go up by train and back by skyrail. Enjoy Adelaide I grew up along the beach from the terminal (near the Police Academy) and the school on the sea front is my old school.

Do you get a discount for joining the cruise fashion police or is it a voluntary position?

Here is the thing. It depends upon what you want. We have been Regent cheerleaders, but right now we are in a Celebrity Royal Suite in Alaska for a bit less that a similar itenary we could have taken on the Regeny Mariner. Our suite is a real suite with a big living /dining room 27’ by 14’, plus separate bedroom, walk in closet, bath with shower stall and jacussi tub. The balcony is huge with lounge chairs, a dining area, and a hot tub. The MDR for suite guests

Interesting handle, I would have thought you were an Aussie or Kiwi with that name.

We are doing the opposite to you, trying Regent instead of Celebrity. The suite restaurant , Luminae , is really excellent IMHO. It is like dining in an intimate bistro every night, you find it difficult to actually give up a night to go to the specialties. If you think the buffet on Celebrity is a zoo you should see the one on Carnival (long story). Reading the Edge blurb makes me think that Celebrity may be making a push into this market segment.

I find the drinks to be excellent on the premium package but the wines can be a little ho hum. I am expecting better wines on our upcoming cruise, especially as it is a Wine immersion cruise. Will be disappointed if the cocktails are sub standard as I will only have a few and don't want to waste my time with an inferior drink. I do find that cocktails can be better if you use better quality ingredients. Grey Goose instead of Smirnoff, Patron instead of Jose Cuervo, Havana Club instead of Bacardi, Tanqueray10 instead of Gordons etc.

I am a little concerned that we might find the ship a little quiet as there are still 150 empty cabins on our cruise (Voyager) and we are expecting an older crowd. Regardless I am sure we will have an excellent time.

I agree 100% with your 100%.

We don’t tip bathroom attendants for extra service. We tip them because they are mostly forgotten and do a great job. They probably are working to move up to cabin steward level.

On one particular cruise at the end of the cruise my wife gave one of the bathroom attendants a generous tip. It was near a bar that we frequented every night and my wife would comment every time she went to the bathroom how good the attendant was. I did notice that most of the people that came out of there were smiling. I think it was on an RCI cruise many years ago, Radiance of the Seas was the ship I think.

I lived in Fiji for 4 years and have a large collection of Bula shirts (Fijian equivalent). I am looking forward to my next cruise so that I can get them out again. I think that type of shirt has been becoming more fashionable in general over the last couple of years. Bula shirts are appropriate for any occasion.

We have been offered upsells as well and we have a terrific TA who sells a lot of Regent and only deals with luxury lines. We like our suite and stay with it. With over 200 luxury cruises on many luxury lines we have never been given a freebie and staying in top suites but we don’t hob knob with the crew or corporate. We simply want to meet other guests and many have become good friends as well as crew.

 

The real people you meet on a cruise and not officers is the reason we like cruising.

That sentiment is how we feel about cruising as well. We go with friends when they are available the same time as us but also cruise alone if others are not available. Going in a group is great fun but the downside is that you don't really get to meet a lot of other passengers. Going alone it is getting out there and meeting other people, learning about other places from people who live there and experiencing new places. All experiences on a ship you can pretty well experience at home. We like to meet other people and enjoy the social interactions. We don't spend a lot of time in our cabin and would prefer to have a meal with great company than dine alone in a cabin.