Good Staff news for FDR

[VIRGINIA ARTIE]

After many years with Raddison and Regent, our loyalty is now with Oceania, and we haven't even cruised yet.

In making reservations and needing help, your staff member Brenda Schofield has been exceptional.

Thanks to Cruise Critic members and your supporting staff, we are looking forward to our vacations.:)

[happy cruzer]

So I was reading this review and saw a mention FDR

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=62995

 

Is this reviewer confused? Should the review get changed somehow?

 

I did not want to start a new thread. Thanks.

[hondorner]

So I was reading this review and saw a mention FDR

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=62995

 

Is this reviewer confused? Should the review get changed somehow?

There are three general types of reports by Regent cruisers:

(1) New, first time guests on Regent, who generally love the experience. Note: some old-guard Regent guests arrogantly attribute this to a supposition that all new Regent guests are part of the Great Unwashed Masses who generally sail lower-class cruise lines and are thus easily impressed.

 

(2) Experienced Regent cruisers who are open-minded and reasonable, and genuinely expect a positive experience, with glowing reports, even after the ownership change.

 

(3) Old-guard Regent cruisers who expect negative results from the change, who resist any change, and who generally give poor comparisons of the "new" Regent to the "Old" Regent/Radisson.

 

My opinion is that folks generally get what they expect. That reviewer was an extreme example, showing their bias with terms like "gauchely" and assuming the same motivations shown by greedy bankers. FDR has recently been making occasional posts on the Regent board, and they are beginning to learn that he is not the Devil...

[Paulchili]

Well said, Don.

I believe someone pointed out recently that Regent was slowly headed "down the tubes" due to poor management by previous owners and were essentially saved by the new ownership.

Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

[StanandJim]

Well said, Don.

I believe someone pointed out recently that Regent was slowly headed "down the tubes" due to poor management by previous owners and were essentially saved by the new ownership.

Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

 

We've also heard this from a number of sources, particularly from an ambience standpoint.

[pacheco18]

So I was reading this review and saw a mention FDR

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=62995

 

 

The reviewer is less than literate. Laughable to be so haughty and so poorly educated. Hard for me to take seriously. I bet many others see it the same way.

[Paulchili]

[quote=pacheco18;24233740

The reviewer is less than literate. Laughable to be so haughty and so poorly educated.

 

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when you tell her that;)

[VIRGINIA ARTIE]

Since I started this thread, let me clarify that my DH and I enjoyed both Radisson and Regent.

The service on our last cruise was exceptional. We met Mark Conroy and told him how pleased we were. Nellie, in her review, appears to have soured on the whole experience.

My intention in writing was to showcase the great service that I received when making reservations on Oceania. We do not need the all inclusive alcohol and excursion policy of Regent, and will be happy with smaller accommodations.

As Will Rogers said "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

We are happy cruisers.

Hope this settles any misgivings.

[hondorner]

Well said, Don.

I believe someone pointed out recently that Regent was slowly headed "down the tubes" due to poor management by previous owners and were essentially saved by the new ownership.

Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

Mark Conroy, the President of Regent, is an able executive, well liked by Regent guests, responsive, and good enough to be retained as President when Apollo purchased Regent and rolled it into Prestige Cruise Holdings along with Oceania.

 

The previous owner of Regent, the Carlson Companies, owners of Regent and Radisson hotels, TGI Fridays and many other companies, is certainly a successful and well managed company.

 

However, according to what I have heard (not necessarily fact), the Carlson family was undergoing a generational change, and the newer generation apparently did not feel a cruise line was part of a good mix for them As I understand it, the older generation pretty much operated Regent (formerly Radisson} Seven Seas Cruises as a hobby, not investing the capital needed to keep the ships up to date, and also not especially caring if the ships were not full and if there was little or no profit, as long as the passengers were happy.

 

Based on what I have heard, and buttressed by the need for PCH to spend nearly $100 Million dollars in the last year to bring the ships up to date, I'd say that the reports of sailings with lots of empty cabins, and ships that were going down hill, is probably true.

 

I'd also say that the crew members of their ships were able to spend lots of time and do extraordinary things because there were so few passengers. This, in turn, made many of the passengers very happy.

 

Today, under FDR, management has been tightened, money has been spent, pricing has been brought into line, policies have been set, and Regent is now sailing with nearly full ships and complete renovations.

 

Some of these new, tighter policies may not have been agreeable to some of the older, more relaxed and flexible crew members, and they may have left for greener pastures. Some of the changes mean that some individual passengers may not be getting the same attention to which they had become accustomed under a more loosely operated ship, and some of them may be unhappy about it. I observe (my opinion) that those who feel the most "entitled" tend to be the unhappiest.

[pacheco18]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when you tell her that;)

 

I would have no problem doing so.

Her arrogance cries out for it.

[VIRGINIA ARTIE]

I have also found [my opinion also] that those who feel 'entitled' never have the experience live up to their expectations. Those of us who look at cruising as a great adventure appear to have a better time. Anyone who reads Cruise Critic has a wonderful opportunity to thoroughly research any cruise line.

Since the industry is constantly changing to increase passenger occupancy, and also increase profits, the management objective of Regent will differ from Radisson

Nellie has to live in the present.