Voyager, Dubai to Singapore November - December 2017

Wejust got back from a magnificent 21 night cruise on the Voyager from Dubai toSingapore. Our 10th Regent cruise was our BEST! From ship, fellowcruisers, food, crew, entertainment, tours, ports, pre- and post cruise hotelseverything was nearly perfect.

Pre-cruise: We went to Dubai afew days early and stayed (on our own) whereRegent put us (Penthousecabin level) up at the J W Marriott Marquis. A superb, luxurious hotel welllocated. Had a very enjoyable time in Dubai and the weather in mid-November wasgreat. Regent provided a nice room, an enjoyable breakfast, and drove us nextmorning to ship. Checking in was quick as I remembered to bring our Regentpaperwork.

Ship: Voyager looked beautiful, even a year after re-fit. We reconnectedwith Captain Green but most of the other Staff were new to us. The GeneralManager was Anatoly Makaev. He was very attentive (seemed to be everywhere) andmade sure everything on-board ran smoothly. We had dinner with him anddiscussed his native Bulgaria. The cruise director was Margaret Lynn whom DWand I voted the “Best Cruise Director in any Pay Grade”! Base upon this cruise’sexperience, DW and I now rate the Voyager above the Explorer – mainly due tothe Horizon lounge and the very-friendly theater on the Voyager.

Cabin: Our forward B cabin (I’m keeping its specific location a secretuntil I book my next Voyager cruise) was very convenient, and immaculately wellcared for. Not much creaking and no vibration. Plenty of storage space.Everything worked and was clean and tidy. The Cabin did need some extraadapters for use of U. S. appliances.

Crew: The crew is one of the main reasons we keep on cruising withRegent. We got lots of hugs from many crew members we have cruised with before.It’s terrific to find out what's been going on in their lives. Too manywonderful ones to mention here by name but did in our ship reviews. We saw ourBEST Crew’s Capers Show EVER!

Food and Drink: We thought the food (coffee being a notableexception) was good to superb in every restaurant venue. Had a delicious Americanoin the Coffee Connection most days. We enjoyed the variety in CR, so much wecould have gladly eaten there every night. Cold soups on Pool Deck were myfavorite unique food (not something that I get at home from DW, a superb cook).I got schooled in Gin & Tonic by the bartender in the Observation Lounge.

Ports/Tours: We loved almost all the ports andexcursions; Phuket was a disappointment (more later). Yangon, Burma for 3 dayswas the STAR port. Much nice to write about there but the Novitiation Ceremony (sponsoredby Regent) where 5 somewhat poor young boys officially became Buddhists washeart-tugging. Of course, we on this excursion got thousands of great photos.Langkawi, Malaysia was the most pleasant surprise – a real treat.

Phuketis a world-class destination BUT the port is on the other side of the islandfrom the great beaches and resorts. “Spectacular Phang Nga Bay” wasunderwhelming to us and over-run by tourists. No nice scenery along the long,crowded (38 passengers) way. It didn’t help that Regent served us lunch in aderelict “Resort”. If you want to see Phang Nga Bay, I recommend a small, fast,private boat sailing directly from the port, with lunch in a real resort.Regent needs to do more QA on its contractors.

We hadNo tender ports and very little rain during our excursions.

Entertainment:In our opinions, theRegent on-board entertainment varied from mostly spectacular (the Lecturer andthe female vocalist) to awful (the comic). I think that this area has improvedafter NCL ownership. The song/dance troop was a happy, well-managed, cohesivegroup of “kids” from U.S and U.K. with lots of talent and energy. We were over-the-moonabout Margaret Lynn, the CD. John Freedman, the Lecturer, was a WOW – the bestthat we have heard on our 10 cruises and beyond! A “guest” performance by RaySolaire at the Seven Seas Society event was a real treat.

Post-Cruise Excursion: We opted for the 3 night “Chiang Mai –Singapore” because we had been to Angkor Wat. It was terrific but not withoutglitches. After final payment, Regent changed the published itinerary flightsfrom non-stop Singapore to Chiang Mai and return to ones with changes inBangkok. This and an inept Regent contractor guide led to many glitches and a lossof about a day less than the expected 3 days of sight-seeing. NonethelessChiang Mai is a world-class tourist destination that we thoroughly enjoyed. Regent put us up at theShangri-La Hotel (a marvelous venue that is very convenient to the NightMarkets); provided a very competent local guide and took us to 3 excitingvenues plus a nice dinner with regional dancing. Having worked the National Zoofor about 13 years, I can report that the Elephant Camp experience was the BEST“meet and greet” animal experience that I could imagine. Upon our return toSingapore, Regent put us up for a night at the Grand Hyatt on Scott road – a hotelthat I would readily recommend to anyone. We stayed in Singapore at the Hyattfor 2 more nights and loved Singapore and were amazed at the beautifulChristmas decorations.

Summary: Heartily recommend this itinerary inNovember as weather is hot and humid but tolerable and the things to see in theports are breath-taking.

Wow - what a wonderful, detailed and balanced review - thoroughly enjoyable!

We will be on Voyager in March so the information about the ship is most welcome as we have not sailed Voyager in about 3 years. Great to hear that Margaret Lynn is such a great Cruise Director. Hope that she will be on Voyager at the end of March. And, it is so nice that Ray Solaire did a special performance.

Hearing your take on Phuket is interesting -- have to agree with your thoughts. We visited there a couple of times before the devastating tsunami and it was a low key beautiful beachside community. Now it is a touristic mess (IMHO).

Thank you for sharing your great adventure!

Thank you for taking the time to post your thorough and balanced review. I really enjoyed it.

It was a great cruise; we really enjoyed cruising with you. Margaret is fantastic. Ricardo sure ran a good destinations department on that cruise.

See you next time!

Thank you for posting. Your review was very informative.

We will be at some of the same ports this spring. You specifically mentioned two that will be new to us......

"Langkawi, Malaysia was the most pleasant surprise – a real treat."

That is great to hear as we know nothing about this port. Did you do a ships tour, if so which one? What did you enjoy about the stop?

"Phuket is a world-class destination BUT the port is on the other side of the island from the great beaches and resorts. “Spectacular Phang Nga Bay” was underwhelming to us and over-run by tourists. No nice scenery along the long,crowded (38 passengers) way. It didn’t help that Regent served us lunch in aderelict “Resort”. If you want to see Phang Nga Bay, I recommend a small, fast,private boat sailing directly from the port, with lunch in a real resort."

We are actually signed up for the tour you did, as we wanted to see the Bay after hearing so much about the area. Are there small (safe looking) boats for hire right at the dock area? Do you know the name of a resort that allows non guest to drop in for lunch by any chance?

Thanks again for taking time to post a review.

Thank you for posting. Your review was very informative.

 

We will be at some of the same ports this spring. You specifically mentioned two that will be new to us......

 

"Langkawi, Malaysia was the most pleasant surprise – a real treat."

That is great to hear as we know nothing about this port. Did you do a ships tour, if so which one? What did you enjoy about the stop?

"Phuket is a world-class destination BUT the port is on the other side of the island from the great beaches and resorts. “Spectacular Phang Nga Bay” was underwhelming to us and over-run by tourists. No nice scenery along the long,crowded (38 passengers) way. It didn’t help that Regent served us lunch in aderelict “Resort”. If you want to see Phang Nga Bay, I recommend a small, fast,private boat sailing directly from the port, with lunch in a real resort."

 

We are actually signed up for the tour you did, as we wanted to see the Bay after hearing so much about the area. Are there small (safe looking) boats for hire right at the dock area? Do you know the name of a resort that allows non guest to drop in for lunch by any chance?

 

Thanks again for taking time to post a review.

In Langkawi, we took the Regent "Langkawi Overview". We liked this excursion's 4 venues ; all were interesting but the "Prime Minister Gallery" was really great, like a U.S. Presidential Library with hundreds of gifts that he received from world dignitaries beautifully displayed. The "rubber plantation" was a grove of rubber trees where an actual woman worked showed us how to milk the trees. Langkawi is relatively new to tourism (they'll tell you about the "curse") but getting it down pat. The excursion "Langkawi Highlights" suffered the cancelation of the cable car after those on the excursion were in the queque up!

Don't know specifics but saw many 6-8 passenger crafts of same design in Phang Nga Bay near James Bond island. I'd try Trip Advisor and I seem to remember a post on CC where a poster was seeking a few partners for such a trip - I should have done something like that. Panyee Village (an island), where the Regent tour stops but doesn't eat, looked nice and safe. Besides, I expect that you could see the Bay and return to the ship for a late lunch.

In Langkawi, we took the Regent "Langkawi Overview". We liked this excursion's 4 venues ; all were interesting but the "Prime Minister Gallery" was really great, like a U.S. Presidential Library with hundreds of gifts that he received from world dignitaries beautifully displayed. The "rubber plantation" was a grove of rubber trees where an actual woman worked showed us how to milk the trees........

 

Don't know specifics but saw many 6-8 passenger crafts of same design in Phang Nga Bay near James Bond island. I'd try Trip Advisor and I seem to remember a post on CC where a poster was seeking a few partners for such a trip - I should have done something like that. Panyee Village (an island), where the Regent tour stops but doesn't eat, looked nice and safe. Besides, I expect that you could see the Bay and return to the ship for a late lunch.

Thanks for the information.

We are signed up for "Langkawi Overview" also. It sounded the most appealing to us as we are not much for cable car rides or beaches in general. Your report sounds like we will enjoy this tour also.

I will do some more research on Phang Nga Bay. We would like to see it.

Thanks again.

Thank you for an excellent review. We got off the Voyager in Dubai after an over the top cruise from Rome to Dubai. Margaret has become our favorite CD. She has so much energy and is so warm and personable. We cruised with her last March in Asia and were happy to see her again on this cruise. I agree with everything you said about the cruise. I'm glad to hear it continued to be as good as ours was. We also love Captain Green so you're in good hands. Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

Deepfreeze63; thank you for your excellent voyager review.

We concur with Marq/Marc, forevertravel/Ann and shel and you Margaret Lynn is our fav CD of both Silversea and Regent. At dinner with her in March on board the Voyager’s grand voyage from Auckland to Hongkong, we arranged for this cake to be presented to her at our dinner together.

We look forward to sailing with Margaret Lynn and Marc & Arlene on board the Mariner (Lima to Buenos Aires) this January.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Deep Freeze, I loved your review. It brought back great memories of our Bangkok to Abu Dabhi cruise last April.

Hi to Mary and enjoy your Explorer cruise. It is a lovely experience.

Ann