Regent Seven Seas-NOT worth the $$$!!!

[Ravenscroft]

Thank you very much for coming back to tell us more, OP.

[UUNetBill]

DJinLA - I'm both surprised and happy that you returned to the forum. Having read of your experiences, you are MORE than justified in being upset with the service, in my opinion. Cranky or not, I'd have been upset with ANY of these issues, but to suffer through all of them...wow.

 

I have a fairly high tolerance for 'service issues' as well, and what you've described is unacceptable. I'm definitely going to be wary on our next sailing; hopefully they've addressed some of these issues.

 

I sincerely thank you for taking the time to reply to us and for providing such a detailed and thoughtful account of your concerns. These trips aren't inexpensive and for the price, you expect a certain level of competence. As tallship noted, there has been a noticeable increase in fares recently (I'll have to go back and see what the difference it between our first cruise with Regent in 2009 and our current trip) so one would expect service at least as good as before, if not better.

 

<sigh> Man, I hate being cranky. :(

[cruiseluv]

DJinLA, thanks for expanding on your comments and giving us this report. You have now explained the reason why service in the dining room is inconsistent and slow after 8 PM. We usually go to dinner between 8-8:15, unless we're dining with people that prefer earlier, and many times encountered the "slowdown" you describe. However, I had not noticed that it was because they deploy some of the dining room staff to other venues, that explains it. Many times I would sit with an empty wine glass, straining my neck , trying to flag down a wine server.

I find unacceptable that they reduce the staff to the point of impacting the level of service. Nobody should be forced to go earlier to dinner in order to have acceptable service.

 

We haven't cruised on Regent in the last 3 years and our next cruise is not until Nov 2016. I will pay attention to see if they engage in this practice and if they do I will raise the issue with whomever the appropriate manager is.

[cAPS lOCK oN]

I was on the Mariner cruise after DJ's, and we had similar dining room service issues. We usually dined after 8:00, and decided that made the problem worse. It seemed like the staff was in "shutdown mode" at that time, and service suffered. We found that if we entered Compass Rose from the rear entrance, we were put in a section had more reliable service. Still, on the final night we ordered dessert, and had to wait 20 minutes for a slice of cake and a scoop of ice cream. That was at 8:45.

 

Late dining at Setti Mare had the same problem but when we ate early at SM the same server was excellent. The worst, though, was a breakfast in CR. I think we had a busboy dressed up as a waiter, and everything that could go wrong did. It was a disaster.

 

On the other hand... The food was very good in every venue, the bar service was great, the ship was absolutely spotless and the butler and room attendants were perfect. Plus the entertainment was great (although not a biggie for us). Regent delivered in every way but one; unfortunately the dining room experience is too important to mess up.

[Travelcat2]

Regent does have challenges in CR (and sometimes in Sette Mari). They do move servers from one dining venue to the other if/when it becomes more crowded than expected. While asking for the same server every night does help to some extent, when their section gets slammed, the service does get slow. It has been our experience that the last night is the worst in terms of service. I'm not sure if this has to do with some crew getting ready to depart the ship for their vacation the next morning or more passengers dining early as they also have to pack and have their luggage outside the door by 11:00 p.m. We generally make dining reservations in a specialty restaurant on the last night.

 

Sometimes it is difficult to predict when the "crowd" will arrive. We dine early and have seen more staff than passengers in CR for at least 30 - 45 minutes. It seems that when servers are sent up to Sette Mari, CR suddenly gets crowded and then there are not enough servers there. It is important to note that this situation has been the same since we began cruising on Regent in 2004. It is not worse - or better. There have not been cutbacks in servers but more ships are running full than a few years ago. This is one area where complaining does not seem to help.

 

As mentioned many times, the worst time to go to CR is after an "event" such as the Captain's Reception, Seven Seas Society cocktail party and the night when Krew Kapers is presented. CR becomes full in a matter of minutes and there is no way any restaurant could handle this amount of people arriving at the same time. It isn't simply a server issue but an issue of food preparation in the kitchen. Some passengers have indicated that dining at 8:30 p.m. is a good time as the majority of passengers have already been served their entrees or are having dessert.

[tallship]

Tina, does this mean that Regent is out of the picture for you right now?

 

Hi Wendy-

The pricing is crazy and the pricing differentials across regions are irksome. We may book again if we get a good deal but for now we have decided to sit this year out..

[cAPS lOCK oN]

As mentioned many times, the worst time to go to CR is after an "event" such as the Captain's Reception, Seven Seas Society cocktail party and the night when Krew Kapers is presented. CR becomes full in a matter of minutes and there is no way any restaurant could handle this amount of people arriving at the same time. It isn't simply a server issue but an issue of food preparation in the kitchen. Some passengers have indicated that dining at 8:30 p.m. is a good time as the majority of passengers have already been served their entrees or are having dessert.

Except the OP and I had the opposite experience. 8:30 and later seemed to be the worst time to dine because the dining room was understaffed and they seemed to be more concerned with cleaning up for the night than serving.

[RachelG]

I am happy to see the OP came back and explained the issues. And I definitely understand the slowness in CR. we eat early in general, so have rarely encountered this. It helps to try to eat with the same servers each night and be clear on expectations too. If you want the courses to come out quickly, they have usually made that happen.

 

On a river cruise, everyone eats at exactly the same time, so it is a whole different thing. The kitchen is set up for that, and in fact, we found that if we were even 15 minutes later in arriving, it threw everything off as far as service.

 

I have no explanation regarding the tea at breakfast. Totally bizarre. I always drink tea for breakfast, and in over 150 days on Regent, have never had any trouble getting my tea. We are on Mariner again in September, so I will report Back for sure.

 

As far as the OBC, if they gave it too you too late to be used in the gift shop, you should have been able to get it in cash IMO. I would fuss about that.

[JohnM65]

This will be our first cruise with Regent (Mariner, Lisbon to Cape Town). I think we are seasoned cruisers, although, this will be our first luxury cruise and we are planning more. I always read the comments made by cruisers on the various cruise lines and ships and weigh their statements in light of what my wife and I have experienced and what the responses are. Sometimes I think people ‘look for fly poop in pepper’. That one is for you UUNetBill!

 

As far as customer service not being available (on weekends). We did a B2B (Princess) in January and on the second sailing I was not able to receive the internet minutes I was entitled to (I had them on the first sailing). I talk with the customer representative (CS) (can’t remember what they are called on ship). It was a Friday when I reported the issue the CS e-mailed the home office to find out what to do! Ah it was the weekend (CS does not work the weekend) so I could not get a resolution until Monday! I had all the documentation necessary to prove my case! But they needed authorization from the home office to add the minutes, which was done on the ship! It was resolved on Monday. I hope the Captain does not need to wait over the weekend to resolve an issue!

My point is it is interesting to note no matter what class of cruising you select; you are subject to poor customer service over a weekend. I know that I have made a generalization (I have had an experience with NCL) but for what a person pays they should be able to achieve resolution for simple matters without waiting an inordinate amount of time. Let me point out we have had great service on most cruises with the exception of Carnival and the last 2 NCL’s.

 

On most sailings I send a letter to the company acknowledging the special crew members for their excellence. If a complaint is warranted, crew or policy, it is sent under a separate cover.

[Travelcat2]

JohnM65: In the case of the internet, IMO, the General Manager would have no difficulty taking care of the problem. Thanks for sharing the fact that the weekend issue does not only exist on Regent.

 

Enjoy your first cruise and do hope that you post on CC to let us know what you think of Regent.:)

[JohnM65]

JohnM65: In the case of the internet, IMO, the General Manager would have no difficulty taking care of the problem.

 

Travelcat2 You are right about adding the minutes. They do it all the time either that or make an adjustment. I just could not believe what I was told.

[OctoberKat]

DJinLA, appreciate your input and impressed by your gumption. Hope to see you often in these parts. You're quite sensible.

[Pamela1]

DJinLA,

 

Thank you for the response, it seems others were a bit wary but i held the faith. :)

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise and maybe can iron out some issues if you're ever to cruise Regent again.

 

Hope you get something that will sort your needs.

 

Pam.

[Two Happy Cruisers]

DJinLA, thanks for expanding on your comments and giving us this report.

 

I find unacceptable that they reduce the staff to the point of impacting the level of service. Nobody should be forced to go earlier to dinner in order to have acceptable service.

 

We haven't cruised on Regent in the last 3 years and our next cruise is not until Nov 2016. I will pay attention to see if they engage in this practice and if they do I will raise the issue with whomever the appropriate manager is.

 

Appreciate all the comments made here re: lack of service etc. We haven't cruised with Regent in a couple years either, but are booked on one in December, and will definitely watch closely and compare the current level of service to what it's been in the past. Hope it's still satisfactory, especially since the prices have gone up so substantially. ;)

 

~Benita

[Travelcat2]

Appreciate all the comments made here re: lack of service etc. We haven't cruised with Regent in a couple years either, but are booked on one in December, and will definitely watch closely and compare the current level of service to what it's been in the past. Hope it's still satisfactory, especially since the prices have gone up so substantially. ;)

 

~Benita

 

Hi - love your CC name! I believe you will still be happy cruisers after returning to Regent. It is important to know that there is zero evidence of staff cutbacks. Rather, it has been confirmed to me by headquarters in Miami as well as General Managers on the ships that there has been absolutely no cutbacks in crew. However, since the ships have been running full on many itineraries, it may seem as if there are less crew members. At least one ship (the Voyager) expanded their crew quarters to accommodate more crew members. Additionally, some officers are staying in guest suites (which affects Regent's bottom line) in order to hire more crew members.

 

The crowds in Compass Rose has been an issue for as long as we have been cruising with Regent (11+ years). While passengers may not want to dine early or late on nights when they know that CR will have 300+ people wanting to dine in CR at the same time, this is the reality on Regent (and Silversea). When an event takes place from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., you are pretty much assured that almost everyone attending the event will be going to Compass Rose at when the event ends. One way to avoid the crowds is to make reservations in a specialty restaurant on the nights of the Captain's Reception and other "special" nights.

 

Really hope that you enjoy your cruise and will report back to CC.

[cruiseej]

If I may offer a slightly different point of view: I think for someone who is new to luxury cruising, or to Regent, going to the captain's reception and dinner that night in Compass Rose, is worth doing.

 

Travelcat2 offers good advice for avoiding the crowds, but she's speaking as someone who has cruised many times on Regent. After awhile, seeing the captain introduce the management team and make some pithy remarks probably does get a little old, but I think it's fun until yo get bored with it. Unless things have changed, the menu in Compass Rose on this night usually offers some higher-end customer favorites -- lobster tails, beef Wellington, etc.

 

If you have somewhere to be on that day -- if you very strongly want to make the show, or if you had a long day of touring, and a slightly longer dinner would make you unhappy, by all means follow TC's suggestions to avoid the crowd. Otherwise, kick back and enjoy your luxury cruise. If there's a short wait for tables, have another drink in the lounge until a table to your liking is available. Relax with your wine if the service is a little slow because the staff is slammed with a heavy load -- you've got nowhere to be, and you don't have to drive!

 

(Interestingly, we found this to be less of an issue on our recent Seabourn cruise, perhaps because the main dining room is sized large enough to be able to seat all passengers at once.)

 

Eric

[cruiseluv]

Hi - love your CC name! I believe you will still be happy cruisers after returning to Regent. It is important to know that there is zero evidence of staff cutbacks. Rather, it has been confirmed to me by headquarters in Miami as well as General Managers on the ships that there has been absolutely no cutbacks in crew. However, since the ships have been running full on many itineraries, it may seem as if there are less crew members. At least one ship (the Voyager) expanded their crew quarters to accommodate more crew members. Additionally, some officers are staying in guest suites (which affects Regent's bottom line) in order to hire more crew members.

 

 

 

TC,

 

The OP wasnt saying there had been overall cutbacks in Regent's staff, rather that they redeploy staff to other venues after 8:00 pm from the Compass Rose. To me, this explains why I , in prior years (my last time on Regent was 3 yrs ago), consistently experienced a slowdown in service in Compass Rose after 8:00-8:30 PM.

[Travelcat2]

TC,

 

The OP wasnt saying there had been overall cutbacks in Regent's staff, rather that they redeploy staff to other venues after 8:00 pm from the Compass Rose. To me, this explains why I , in prior years (my last time on Regent was 3 yrs ago), consistently experienced a slowdown in service in Compass Rose after 8:00-8:30 PM.

 

Thanks for clarifying. Agree that staff is sometimes redeployed from CR to Sette Mari. It also seems as if the majority of the serving staff for breakfast and lunch are in La Veranda leaving minimal staff in CR. When you last were on Regent, was Sette Mari in place? I know that time flies but it seems like Sette Mari has been around approximately 2 years.

[tallship]

Thanks for clarifying. Agree that staff is sometimes redeployed from CR to Sette Mari. It also seems as if the majority of the serving staff for breakfast and lunch are in La Veranda leaving minimal staff in CR. When you last were on Regent, was Sette Mari in place? I know that time flies but it seems like Sette Mari has been around approximately 2 years.

 

Sette Mari debuted mid 2012

[fizzy]

it seems like the best way for guests to enjoy good dining service is to try to accommodate the crew schedule. Perhaps an idea would be to re-deploy "dressed" desk (back of house) staff for a short split shift to do simple tasks such as refilling water and removing dirty dishes, resetting tables etc. This is often done, as needed, in hotels where guest satisfaction is of the utmost importance. If this entails overtime pay to accomplish a stellar experience....so be it. It makes more common sense than to try to build more crew quarters.

[Travelcat2]

While the last suggestion may work in the U.S. where workers actually get overtime (time and a half, double time, etc.), the crew on the ships work 7 days a week, many hours a day and look forward so much to having a short nap that they often forego going ashore. When you get to the officer level (i.e. crew members that actually work for Regent), I have seen General Managers schlepping luggage onto the ship so that the ship would not leave port late. Short of having officers skipping dinner and untrained restaurant workers missing their sleep (and probably getting in the way of the trained servers) in order to pour water or wine into glasses, I don't see this working.

 

If there were a way for Regent to get passengers to arrive in CR throughout the evening instead of a large percentage of them showing up at once, they no doubt would have implemented it by now. They really cannot make CR a reservation restaurant or they would be like Crystal where you have to make a reservation every day in order to dine when you want to (or you can have set seating). I don't think this would fly with Regent passengers.

 

IMO, P7 and Signatures do a good job by spacing the reservations. Most of us have noticed that when you dine early (6:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m.), there are several empty tables. This avoids having a full restaurant right after they open and gives the servers a chance to get drinks, appetizers, etc. to the tables before the next group arrives. The service is much smoother this way.

 

When we dine in CR, we expect to be there for approximately 2 hours. We take things slowly - sipping wine and enjoying our conversation (and people watching). Since we sit in the same area each night, they pretty much know our routine - down to my glass of port after dinner (many times it has arrived without my asking for it). If we were concerned about time, it would not be a relaxing meal. We more or less set our expectations to what we have experienced in the past and don't stress if it takes a few minutes longer than usual.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Travelcat2

[fluckey]

Of course, different people want to eat at different times and at a different pace. Maybe Regent just needs to be honest and post a sign something like "If you come to dinner around 7:00 pm, the pace of your dinner may lag as we generally can't handle the crowds then. If you come 7:30 pm or later, it may become very slow as we move servers to a different venue. If you come at 9:00 pm or later, you may get the bums rush as closing time approaches."

[msafiri]

These service issues don’t show up as frequently on the boards of other luxury cruise lines. Maybe Regent should send someone to the competitors to find out how they do it.

For the fares Regent charges, I think it is reasonable for the OP to expect better service than they received.

[Linda VH]

My husband and I love Regent but do know that it is a "leisurely" dinner of 2 hours or more. Our group seems to love that - ordering apps for the table of 10+ and going on from there. We, however, often eat in Sette Mari for a shorter dining time so we can enjoy the casino. We do join our group for the specialty dinner nights as well as at least one night in CR.

[cAPS lOCK oN]

Of course, different people want to eat at different times and at a different pace. Maybe Regent just needs to be honest and post a sign something like "If you come to dinner around 7:00 pm, the pace of your dinner may lag as we generally can't handle the crowds then. If you come 7:30 pm or later, it may become very slow as we move servers to a different venue. If you come at 9:00 pm or later, you may get the bums rush as closing time approaches."

I don't want to be pedantic, but you're misstating what happened. In a nutshell, 7:00-ish dining was properly paced. 8:30 and later dinners were very slow, to the point that we would wonder where our server went. A bum's rush would have been preferable.