Some notes from the 2010 Regent Council

[liindajean]

this was posted by a travel agent on another cruise site..thought it was interesting:

 

Key items from the Regent Council meeting that took place on January 11 – 14, in San Diego.

 

BIGGEST CHALLENGE

The biggest Challenge for Regent right now is staffing with all the new ships that have just come out including the Oasis of the Seas the demand for crew has never been higher. The supply and demand is creating a problem for everyone. All the lines are forced to hire new people and the training is taking place on the ships. Slips in service have been reported with Regent, Silversea and Seabourn and I am sure this is the issue. Once the new staff are trained and up to speed this situation should improve, and should not take too long to be back to normal.

 

There have been many questions about the ratio of the crew to passengers. We were told it has not changed. However, they said they are adding new cooks in the kitchen, often any delay in the dining room is related to kitchen issues.

 

WINE

I am glad to report that many of the wine choices of the past are coming back including Pouilly Fuisse, Chateauneuf de Pape, Sancerre. The select wine lists they are keeping the pricing at approximately what you would pay in a wine store rather than the highly inflated prices at a restaurant. Select wines might be a good way to spend some of that onboard credit.

 

FOOD

Big changes are coming here as well.

• Canyon Ranch Menus

• More Kosher Menus

• New Desserts

• Possible changes in Prime 7

• Afternoon Tea

• Expanded and more interesting lunch buffets in La Verandah

• Expanded casual on deck dining, more choices of hamburgers

 

Starting in Spring 09 the new Canyon Ranch meals will be available. These are low calorie offerings, Breakfast (500 calories) Lunch (600 calories) Dinner (700 calories).

 

More Kosher items will be available. Also coming is Kosher wine.

 

New Desserts – they are looking at enhancing the current desserts with some new creations.

 

Prime 7 – Looking at changing the menu to offer some smaller cuts of meat. Smaller cuts may allow more control over the cooking to ensure a better steak. (The large cuts served now I have always felt are not the best offerings on the menu).

 

Afternoon tea is now going to have individual tea pots and a dessert trolley.

 

Themed La Verandah luncheon menus are on the horizon featuring the foods of the areas the ship is visiting and a variety of different ethnic offerings.

 

NAVIGATOR REFURBISHMENT - Couple of items I thought you may like to know.

 

Outside deck dining

They made the swimming pool smaller and used the extra room for an expanded area on deck for casual dining for breakfast and lunch. The area is covered and has a much larger buffet offering food similar to that served in the La Verandah buffet. On all the ships the hamburger and casual menu has been expanded as well and the meat size was very generous (we tested this out on the Voyager – someone has to do it). Also the addition of the ice cream station that is also making smoothies.

 

La Verandah

Prime 7 has a sliding door so if the seating is required at lunch time it can be utilized. This was a concern of many but this should alleviate any problems that may arise for seating.

 

Compass Rose

The new dining chairs look similar to those on the Voyager and Mariner, however they are wider and do not have the curved back.

 

Vibration

We were told that this has been significantly reduced with the addition of the “duck tail”.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

New mattresses across the fleet are coming this year. Actually I thought the new mattresses they just did were great but we have new ones coming.

 

2011 will be the last year that a “heavy fuel” ship can go to Antarctica so this part of the South American itinerary will not be available after the 2011 cruise for any larger cruise ship.

 

Average guest age now is 58 years

95% of the Regent guests are from USA/Canada

35% of the Regent guests are retired.

 

Regent’s new pricing model has been very successful with the lowest price offered initially and then as the ships fill the pricing goes up. The $1000 off per person for instance is now gone for the majority of the 2010 cruises. The 2 for 1 (50% discount) will change to a lower discount. This is a far preferable situation for everyone concerned so no last minute deals – book early for the best value.

 

At this time the ships are 72% full for 2010. That still means 28% is available but many of the most popular itineraries are on a waitlist.

[gfranzen]

Thanks for posting this. All good news.

[liindajean]

yes, I thought it referred to a lot of things discussed on this board.