Same cruise as Bill & Mary Ann - just returned from Canada/NE

[south seas sue]

We joined the Navigator in NYC for the 10 day cruise to Montreal. I had followed some of the reports by Bill & Mary Ann before NYC, so read with interest their reports on the segments we cruised. Here is my take on some of the issues I was concerned with before sailing. I'm going to cover quite a few topics, so this will be a long presentation ........

 

Bus Tours - Excursions

I have been following the discussion about the free excursion policy, and the various opinions about whether it degrades or enhances the cruise experience. This was our first cruise with one of the 3 Regent ships, although we have sailed many times on the Paul Gauguin, and 3-4 times on Silversea.

 

When the tours are free, naturally everyone and their mother will sign up, and thats exactly what happens. With a full ship, that makes for some tours with 100 people or more. Of course they just add more buses, and then people disperse somewhat on arrival at the destination, so it doesn't feel too crowded. However, the queing up in the Lounge, and the headcounting, and waiting for stragglers, and confusion at the beginning about where to go, is a bit offputting to say the least. We had a tour almost every day, and they all had full loads. All in all the Excursions people did a decent job, but they should have had more signs about where to get the buses, and each tour should have had a staff member with a sign. Sometimes that happened, but often not.

 

In contrast, Silverseas tours were much smaller, and of course you paid for them, and almost every one had a SS staff member on board to keep things organized. On balance, the tour guides Regent hired to conduct these tours were good, and very knowledable about their area. All the tour guides comments were repeated in French, but that is to be expected in Canada.

 

We took this cruise to see the countryside, hopefully in full Fall color, and were in the end, not disappointed. It is true that in the first part of the cruise - New England and up to Halifax - the color was just beginning, so there were some yellows and golds, but not a lot. But as was reported, by Saguenay I would say we were in mid-color. Absolutely georgeous National Park. We were on the same tour as B & MA (Yes, the same same ricketty school bus), and what was billed as a "Stroll" through the Park turned out to be more of a "Hike" - but that was okay - this was my favorite excursion, due to the professionalism and knowledge of the Naturalist Park Ranger, and the beautiful colors in the foilage. It was a georgeous day too!

 

I must say this about our cruise in general - perfect weather, except for cold and wind in Newport and Bar Harbor. NO RAIN! Calm seas!

 

My other favorite excursion was in the Quebec Countryside, where we did see Montmarency Falls (a bit of a disappointment), and more of the beautiful Quebec trees in full color.

 

Service and Food

I thought the service was good, but not quite up to the standard of SS. Of course, there were 100 more pax on this ship than on the Shadow or Whisper, so that makes a difference as far as the amount of personalized attention one can receive. No one called us by name, except for the room steward. Everyone smiles, and you can certainly get whatever you want - they help you with plates, etc. The seafood lunch buffet served on the pool deck was spectacular and yes, you could eat on the deck! Yes it was cold, but we really enjoyed it - especially when the wind died down a bit. The food was very good, equal to SS. Prime 7 was fine - I did not find it any better or more interesting than Compass Rose, and that is where we dined almost every evening.

 

Decor and Public Rooms, Shows

I liked the bars and public rooms jsut as much as on SS. the Navigator bar was right in the middle, and very cozy - always had a hubub of conversation, and conveniently located right across from the Library. I think the Library was much better than on SS - bigger, and the computers were right there in the Library as well - no going off to a tiny room to use the terminals. I quite liked the Gallileo Lounge at the rear of the ship as well - the quartet for dancing/listening was quite good, expecially if you livened them up a bit. Playing Eidleweiss and Danny Boy for pre-dinner dancing puts a bit of a damper...........

 

A word about the art. They really promote it here with a gallery, and lectures, and an auction at the end. It was more obvious than on SS. I was going to attend a lecture, but the speaker was more of a slick sales type, and when he said he was going to cover Rembrandt to Picasso in 30 minutes, he lost me.

 

The showroom is not decorated as nicely as the SS ships, and the seats at the stationary tables are almost impossible to get in and out of! Not comfortable. We did not attend most shows - only the first one. We are really not show goers, and after a long meal I am ready to wind down and retire! (Age will do that to you.)

 

Casino is much bigger than the SS ships. Not too well visited it seemed to me. After losing at the crap table and slots more than once, we resisted the temptation as well!

 

Demographics

This was interesting to me. Demogr. much different than on SS. Very homogenous group of almost 500 pax, almost all Americans. Lots of Californians, Texans, Southerners, Midwest - Floridians. Sprinkling of Brits. All white, all about the same age - I would say 60's and 70's, with some 50's and 80's. Not much diversity in color, as I said. One Black couple who sounded like they were from the Islands. Maybe one Asian couple, no Latins that I could see. This is in contrast to every SS cruise we have taken, which has always included visible groups of South Americans, Asians, and Europeans. I prefer more diversity, so to me the sameness of the pax was a disadvantage. Everyone was like us! (except with more money and having taken many, many more cruises!) This was a well traveled group.

 

So there you have it - my opinions and observations, for whatever they are worth. To us, itinerary is always the deciding factor - we like lots of stops and ports, so we will be tempted to take both SS and Regent again, I am sure. We really enjoyed the cruise, and met lots of interesting and friendly people. It was a very friendly ship. Lots of camaraderie, and I did enjoy that. The calm seas and lack of rain were big pluses, and we stayed healthy!

 

Any questions, feel free. Although I don'lt post often, I read this board almost every day and enjoy all of the different discussions and information that all of you knowledgable cruisers have.

 

Glenda

[south seas sue]

I forgot to mention the wines they served every day. One white and one red. Not impressed. They served Bogle for gosh sakes! Now, I like Bogle, especially the red, but I expected more than a Trader Joe's staple for our dining experience. No New Zealand wines at all, maybe one Australian. Lots of Chilean, and California of course.

 

Of course you could pay $50-75 for a reserve bottle, but we chose not to do that and just thought the daily wines served would be more special.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

 

Demographics

This was interesting to me. Demogr. much different than on SS. Very homogenous group of almost 500 pax, almost all Americans. Lots of Californians, Texans, Southerners, Midwest - Floridians. Sprinkling of Brits. All white, all about the same age - I would say 60's and 70's, with some 50's and 80's. Not much diversity in color, as I said. One Black couple who sounded like they were from the Islands. Maybe one Asian couple, no Latins that I could see. This is in contrast to every SS cruise we have taken, which has always included visible groups of South Americans, Asians, and Europeans. I prefer more diversity, so to me the sameness of the pax was a disadvantage. Everyone was like us! (except with more money and having taken many, many more cruises!) This was a well traveled group.

I prefer more diversity myself. Passenger demographics do vary on different Regent itineraries a bit, but in general I agree with your observations, and sentiments.

[harrodsfan]

Totally agree with you about diversity. We did an Oceania cruise in August and had the same demographics with perhaps a few more Australians. Mostly older crowd...a lot over 80. It made shore excursions challenging.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you so very much for that balanced review. I was able to identify with much of your comparison between the Navigator and the Whisper.

 

My take on the diversity issue is that Silversea caters more to the European lifestyle than Regent does. While we have seen a large number of British passengers on Regent, they have yet to add loose leaf tea and to prepare it "properly" and "hot". Silversea does an amazing job with their tea service. Their more formal dress code also seems to appeal more to Europeans. The fact that Silversea is Italian owned probably helps as well. Just my opinion.

 

The Navigator and the Whisper/Shadow are approximately the same size as the Navigator. The fact that the Navigator holds 100 more passengers easily explains why the ship lacks public spaces and their dining venues can be a bit cramped (particularly Prime 7 and La Veranda).

 

Your experiences with excursions is the same as ours as are our feelings regarding Regent's art auction. To my knowledge, art is not sold on Silversea. If it is, we have not heard about it or viewed any art for sale.

 

I disagree a tiny bit about food on Regent and Silversea. While La Terrazza is far superior to La Veranda, Compass Rose has been pretty much the same as The Restaurant. Both venues have some excellent food choices and they are prepared well. Prime 7 on the Voyager and Mariner have been better than our visits to Prime 7 on the Navigator -- not sure what the problem is there. Since you could only compare the restaurant on the Navigator, perhaps I do not disagree after all:confused:

 

Had to laugh about your comments on Bogle wines. We do buy them from Trader Joe's and learned of them on Regent. I probably prefer wine on Regent because we have not as yet learned to appreciate Italian wines. . . maybe someday!