Musings from the Voyager: 10/27 Athens to Barcelona

[doc47]

We just returned home from the October 27th Athens-Barcelona cruise on the Voyager.

 

Almost two years ago, I wrote a rather lengthy review of a Mariner Panama Canal cruise.

Since this was our first trip on the Voyager, I thought I’d share my impressions again. I’ll try not to bore the readers with all the background as before, but for those interested, that review began on January 4, 2008 and is on page 49 or 50 under the title of “Musings from the Mariner”.

 

As before, my comments are from my personal experience on a single voyage. I understand that people have varied experiences and expectations, and that opinions may be different. So here goes:

 

Embarkation: We waited in line for an hour at Passport Control. Only one of four windows were open, even though there appeared to be several agents around. It may have had something to do with the current labor situation in Greece. Even with the wait, we did take the opportunity to meet and chat with some fellow cruisers, so the time went by pretty fast. Once through Passport Control, the embarkation procedure was seamless. Crossing the threshold onto the ship (always a goosebump moment for me), we made our way to the Constellation Theater, where we surrendered our passports and credit card number, and in return, got our room cards. The process took 10 minutes start to finish—including the champagne welcome.

 

We have a ritual when we first board a cruise ship. We start on the top deck- deck 12 on the Voyager- and work our way through all the public areas down to the bottom. With three weeks in dry dock, it was obvious that the company did more than repair an engine. It looked like the entire ship had been deep cleaned from top to bottom. I’m sure that some carpets were replaced and some furniture reupholstered or replaced. Bottom line is that the Voyager looked fantastic-almost like new.

 

More to follow…

[RachelG]

Looking forward to more!

[mikeb384]

We were on that cruise also, and the ship was in very good condition. Although on our second night at sea in rough waters, there was a very loud thump as if we'd hit something. We were having dinner in the Compass Rose and many of the ships senior officers were in the room having dinner with passengers and they all leaped to their feet and exited the dining room.

 

Immediate thoughts of the recent propulsion pod difficulties jumped into mind, so we were relieved when the officers returned a few minutes later and resumed eating.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and look forward to the next one.

 

Mike Barns

[doc47]

Demographics: I know that some high-end cruise lines are trying to attract a younger demographic. This was not evident on this cruise. There were about 660 passengers and the average age seemed to be around 65-70. The mix was overwhelmingly American. There were only a few under 40. I saw only two “kids”. One was a baby with a young couple and the other was a young teenaged girl traveling with a grandparent.

 

There were 54 Gold, 14 Platinum, and 4 Titanium members. I don’t know how many Bronze and Silver members were aboard, but I’m guessing at least 75% were repeat Regent customers.

 

I saw the usual collection of loud-mouths and boors, but really no more than on previous cruises.

 

Suite: We make it a rule to try to get a cabin as far forward as possible, far away from the elevators and launderettes. There seems to be less noise and minimal outside foot traffic. We were way forward on deck 7. On arrival, our suite was immaculate. There were fresh flowers, the usual complimentary champagne chilling on ice, fully stocked liquor cabinet and mini-fridge. The wife enjoyed the Hermes toiletries, but for me, I’d be OK with a bottle of Baby Shampoo and a bar of Ivory soap. There was no sign of skimping on the cabin suites.

 

Our cabin stewardess and butler were outstanding. Throughout the cruise, they were attentive and prompt, but not intrusive. Regardless of when we stepped out in the morning, we’d return to the suite clean, tidy, and fresh.

 

Just a brief aside about the muster drill. Our section was assigned to the Constellation Theater. At the time of our drill, we were directed through the door at the very end of the hall marked “Crew Only”. Our entire section ended up lost in a crew quarters section of the ship with no direction from the staff. Finally a deckhand got us all back on track. Clearly more staff training is needed in this area.

 

Food services: As before, I found the food to be very good, but not outstanding. Portions were more generous than I remember, and there was never a problem with special requests. We ate breakfast in La Veranda and Compass Rose with no complaint. The menus in both venues are extensive but unchanged from the past. I do like how they turned La Veranda into essentially two separate spaces with the divider at the buffet. This change seems to have corrected the logjam in the buffet area at the busy times.

 

We usually like to eat in the outside area behind La Veranda. I guess there is a quirk with the Voyager in that there is an annoying vibration and engine noise in that area making that morning meal a little less enjoyable.

 

I have previously described the Pool Grill as a shining star. Not so on this cruise. There was a fair menu selection, but there wasn’t the daily specialty grill items such as the seafood buffet, Mexican Day, etc. This may be due to the fact that this was a port/tour intensive cruise. I food the hamburger meat to be inedible regardless of how it was prepared. This seemed more an issue of the supplier rather than the preparation. I enjoyed the ice cream parlor, but did not try the pizza bar.

 

We dined at Prime 7 and Signatures once each. The meals were great in every respect. In my last review I told a story about how our pre-arranged restaurant reservations were messed up. They now have a system in place where if you have made those reservations online prior to departure, you’ll get a confirmation note delivered to your stateroom on the first day of the cruise.

[doc47]

We were on that cruise also, and the ship was in very good condition. Although on our second night at sea in rough waters, there was a very loud thump as if we'd hit something. We were having dinner in the Compass Rose and many of the ships senior officers were in the room having dinner with passengers and they all leaped to their feet and exited the dining room.

 

Immediate thoughts of the recent propulsion pod difficulties jumped into mind, so we were relieved when the officers returned a few minutes later and resumed eating.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and look forward to the next one.

 

Mike Barns

 

Hi, Mike:

 

We were dining with the Captain that evening, and we remember that very loud thump. I thought we'd hit something. Captain Mario excused himself for about 10 minutes, and after his return, he told us it was a particularly hard wave. He did not use the word "rouge" however.

 

Remember how how the room erupted in applause when the Captain got up from dinner and took a bow to the passengers in the room before leaving to check on his ship? A very classy move, I'd say.

 

More review to follow...

[Hambagahle]

Mike -

The buffet area at la Veranda on the Voyager has always had the separation between the two sides and as you say, it helps a lot... the Mariner (we were on her in April this year) still has the "flow through" at the stern and there IS quite some congestion there at breakfast and lunch...

[doc47]

Let's continue:

 

Senior Staff: Captain Gianmario Sanguinti has been with regent since 2008, having been with Oceania prior. A youngish fellow, shaved head, and a big fan of AC/DC. We found him to be competent, and very friendly and approachable. He always made a point of warning us ahead of time of the possibility of rough seas. Bottom line is he got us where we needed to go safely and on time. His pleasant personality was icing on the cake.

 

Dionne Lochner, our CD, is a former dancer on Regent since 2001. She then became a Social Hostess, then assistant CD, and finally CD on the PG for a couple of years. I can't say she is a superstar CD yet, but she is very pleasant, and approachable. I feel she will grow in to the role with time. Of course I'm comparing her to the likes of Jon Barron, Ray Solaire, and Barry Hopkins-all of whom come from a different entertainment background. Her assistant CD, Chris Shafer, probably had the best singing voice of anyone on the ship-including the professional singers.

 

More later...

[Threechicks]

I met Dionne and Chris on the Navigator in January. I agree with you about Chris's voice. He did one of the shows and he was terrific. He is also a wonderful person and a great "face" for Regent.

[hondorner]

I met Dionne and Chris on the Navigator in January. I agree with you about Chris's voice. He did one of the shows and he was terrific. He is also a wonderful person and a great "face" for Regent.

Chris has an operatic quality voice. I asked him if he performed any opera, and he said he did in the past, but he no longer has time to practice as much as he would like to meet his standards for opera.

 

Add to that his friendliness, willingness to help and ubiquitous presence, and he'll be a Cruise Director very soon.

[thecleave]

Doc thanks for your posts. Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts, and as someone who was on the October 3rd non-cruise, really glad you were able to sail!

[Naper]

My hubby and I were on this cruise too.lt was our second only cruise and both have been on the Voyager. We too experienced long lines at passport control. We also had a long line checking in for our room.

 

I thought the age on this cruise was a bit younger from our previous Greek Islands cruise. We are in our early fifties and we met several others in our age group. We were very pleased with this.

 

I was not that impressed this time with the food. The speciality restaurants were excellent though. I thought the pool deck buffet lacked much in variety from day to day.

 

One thing I wish Regent would rethink are the "included excursions". I know I paid for these in our trip price so I didn't book any private tours. I am very sorry that I didn't book private tours. Too many guests ignored the warning that many of the tours were walking intensive. This led to the whole group moving very slowly. I wish Regent could somehow group more mobile guests together. We left several of the tours and went on our own because of this.

 

Next time I will allocate money for private tours and weigh this cost against other cruise lines when making our decision.

 

My husband and I met the captain on several occasions and thought he was very personable. We also enjoyed the "Block Party" cocktail party. This was a great way to meet our "neighbors".

 

Our stewardess seemed to be fairly new to the job. Every time we asked her for something she had to ask her supervisor. Even if it was only for a bottle of liquor.

 

My husband and I were at Prime 7 when the "rogue" wave hit. He got a bit seasick and had to go back to the room. I was so happy that were able to fit us in another night. I thought the service at the restaurants was outstanding.

 

All in all it was a great trip.

[RachelG]

Naper, totally agree about the problem with people ignoring the written description of an excursion and going on ones that they cannot physically handle. It is a pet peeve of my husband's--and we too have left the group a few times because of it. Wasn't a problem so much on our recent Mariner cruise as the age demographic seemed much younger, but was a serious problem on the Reykjavik to Southampton cruise earlier this year.

[doc47]

There have been many excellent posts about recent Voyager experiences including the atlantic crossing to FLD. My comments would be redundant, but suffice to say that the Regent product is a great as ever-especially the very high level of service-at all levels and all departments. I rate this cruise an "A".

 

We are now planning our next Regent adventure...