Regent Seven Seas Experiences??

[kbruceh]

I have just received a very tempting promotional deal from Regent SevenSeas cruises that inclues airfare and all shore excursions, thus making this expensive cruise line almost affordable. I like the idea of small ships, but I would like feedback from anyone who has been on a Regent 7Seas cruise about whether they were the only gay people and what the general experience was on this cruise line. THANKS

-----Ken

[kennetro]

Hi Ken. (Another Ken here!) Haven't sailed them YET, but we're booked next year on the Voyager from Barcelona to a couple of stops in Portugal, Morrocco & the Canary Islands before doing a T-A back to Miami. I can tell you that Regent is our Travel Agent's absolute favorite line. He swears there's no other like them. I, too, like their "all inclusive" feature, and am especially looking forward to their "Le Cordon Bleu" cooking classes on sea days! Hope to meet ya'll onboard some day!

[njbuddy]

Hi Ken-Partner and I and our travelling buddies, a couple from the UK, sailed Regent's Seven Seas Mariner for the holidays last year. We found the ship, staff and crew, the food and the cabin to be top notch. Shore excursions are incuded in the fare. We found Regent's free excursions to be of a higher caliber than those from most other lines (very organized, high staff to passenger ratio, smaller groups) and the few shore offerings you may optionally buy up to are extaordinary. There were several other 'family' members, couples and singles, on board and the only children aboard departed with their parents after a few days because Regent has no facilities for children. The passengers on our trip were well travelled, extremely accepting even welcoming and well educated....which made trivia bloody and a real challenge. We detected no difference in the way crew treated us from any other passenger. This is a pretty quiet ship, so if you like a larger group to pal around with, Cunard or even Seabourn may be a better choice. If you are cruising to unwind, particularly if you like hearing tales from pretty seasoned travelers - Regent is a great choice.

[badcowboy]

My husband and I did a Med cruise on the Voyager - I really never want to do another cruise line (even though I am going to) - the experience on Regent is one that you will not soon forget. The highlights for me were:

 

• We are used to handling our own luggage as far as we can - here a rep from Regent came up to our cab as we were getting out, ordered us to give our bags to the attendent, and then took us to the front of the security line and pushed us through in front of a very long line boarding another ship. Checkin was on board which was very nice.
  
• Once on the ship, never had to sign for anything - walk into the bar and order.
  
• The food was unbelievable - and there was no charge for the speciality restaurant which is based on Le Cordon Bleu
  
• There was no add-ons at the end of the cruise - no tips added in, etc. The price up front was what we paid.
  

 

In other words - have a great time and let me know what you thought.

[jbandkb]

We sailed with Regent a few years ago and it was a wonderful experience. Terrific food, service, great ports. Staff are very friendly, we never felt uncomfortable. We didn't come across any other "family", however we were welcomed by other passengers. I did hear one passenger remark to my Dad, with whom we were traveling, how lucky he was to be traveling with his sons. To be fair, we do look similar but it was pretty obvious we weren't brothers.

[jroettger]

My partner and I have been on several of the luxury cruise ship lines, including Silversea, Seabourn, Sea Cloud and Regent. We sailed on Regent twice.

 

You can obtain most of the luxury cruise ship experience details on this site. They all are top notch relative to cruise industry rankings. Any luxury cruise line choice will provide a memorable vacation experience.

 

Reflecting back to our feelings as a gay couple on our cruises, in every day life we tend to hang with people we like...regardless of their orientation. Our friends are people from all walks of life. That seemed to extend to our experience on these ships. There are many interesting folks on board that you will have many things in common with while on your vacation. I find that while cruising, the dominant topics are the ship and the port experiences of each day. We also found that most people are welcoming and friendly. We found the Regent experience to be perhaps a little more festive, lighter and "less serious" than the others, which we liked.

 

 

The Regent ships are exceptionally comfortable. The Regent ships were also larger than the others I mentioned, and therefore more gay couples on board. On our two trips, we met a number of gay couples. We also met Stan Wu and his partner Doug through this site on a Regent sailing. Stan Wu writes travel articles for gay publications and for this site as well. Stan was beginning his writing career at that time, and we met in Venice prior to the sailing.

 

If you are comfortable with yourself, you will be comfortable on board a Regent ship. Have a great time! Go for it!

[wripro]

I couldn't agree more. Same for Seabourn and Silversea. You will meet sophisticated people who are much more interested in who you are than who you sleep with.

[mikenbob]

My partner and I have traveled on Regent for three cuises totally 35 days and continue to absolutely love this cruise line. The service is outstanding and the ships are beautiful without being garish. We also love the fact that there is no need to pack tuxedos as they utilize a country club casual dress policy on most evenings. The all inclusive pricing is also wonderful.

[SanFranCruizer]

My partner and I have done two cruises on Regent totaling 27 days, and we are booked on another one come November 2011. On both cruises, we met "family" both among the passengers and the crew. We also met lots of straight couples we became friends with. We love Regent. We have also sailed on Silversea, but we like the slightly more casual vibe on Regent.

[RMS Olympic]

I have sailed Regent 5 tines....as a single passenger.... and loved every aspect of the line, the crew, the food and casual atosphere.

The attention to detail is fantastic.......

Love it love it love it.

[act1966]

My husband and I sailed on Regent recently and had a wonderful time - we met a great bunch of gay men that we socialized with quite a bit but also straight people who were just as much, if not more, fun! Regent is a wonderful line - luxurious and all-inclusive. We never encountered an issue. We're in our forties and enjoyed the company of everyone we met - especially a wonderful straight couple from New York, in their eighties, who didn't bat an eyelash when we sat down to dinner on the first night with them. We had dinner and lunch with them a few times and we've kept in touch! I think the higher-end lines tend to attract, seasoned, educated, well travelled passengers and homophobia just wouldn't sit well with that kind of individual.