Regent quality

[Woody bailey]

My wife and I are about to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We've cruised three other times (all on Princess), but this time its special. Two weeks not one and all inclusive for sure. Problem is, the reviews of Regent lately have been rather poor. Is this a fleet wide problem? I'd like to book the new Explorer in December... what do you think?

[gnomie1]

My wife and I are about to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We've cruised three other times (all on Princess), but this time its special. Two weeks not one and all inclusive for sure. Problem is, the reviews of Regent lately have been rather poor. Is this a fleet wide problem? I'd like to book the new Explorer in December... what do you think?

 

I have to be honest, I do not spend much time on CC - I actually have a life and much more important things to do with my time. From other posters, it seems that the Regent board (which is the only board I actually have time to follow) gravitates toward the negative, mostly because there are some posters who cannot let go and allow subjects to become much different than intended by the original poster or refuse to allow posters to express their opinions.

 

If you go in with any open mind and do not expect some imaginary level of service or ambience, in general, it is a wonderful. Also, please be assured, that many people who cruise on Regent are not represented on these boards and are really lovely people. With regard to life on board ship, it depends what you are accustomed to - I live in New York City and have many friends in the Broadway theater community so my level of expectation of theater/dance is not met by the entertainment offered on Regent (although I love and never miss a Krew Kapers show) as is my expectation of fine food. I have come to know what to expect and am fine with that. Others my feel quite differently and I respect their opinion. Things can and do go wrong - it is just when many things go wrong at once that people start to complain, many rightfully so.

 

Others may disagree with this, Regent has/is going through a period of transition. Now that they are owned by a publicly traded company, there are earning calls to be met and management is under the promise of a rather significant bonus for meeting or exceeding budget cut goals. While there are many on this board who will insist that there have been no cuts, that is completely unrealistic to believe. I assist companies in their attempt to cut expenses so what may not be obvious to the average person jumps out at me and I will tell you, there have been substantial cuts over the past couple of years. However, since this will be your first time sailing with Regent, you are unlikely to notice them.

 

You and your wife will probably be happy on any of the luxury cruise lines, as long as you take anything mentioned or pictured in the glossy brochures with a grain of salt.

 

gnomie :)

[RachelG]

Just finished a cruise on navigator, and it was lots of fun. Not my best ever, but certainly not the worst ever. Food was very good, up to the same standard as we have expected on regent in the past. Drinks were quickly refilled, and included wines were fine. The ship was super clean, and our cabin totally comfortable.

 

Nobody has been on explorer yet, as it is a completely new ship, but I am expecting good things. We will be on in September, and I will report

[Gilly]

We disembarked Mariner about a month ago from what I described (truthfully) as the worst Regent cruise we'd had. Does that mean we had a dreadful experience? Not at all. We enjoyed the company of delightful and interesting people, we appreciated the consistently attentive staff who did everything they could to ensure we had a great time. What created the problems were generally issues beyond Regent control: the weather, the sea conditions and the GI cases which appear to be a consistent problem when sailing to South American ports of call, all things which would affect all cruise lines to some degree. The big question - and one which we were unable to answer then or now, for that matter, is to what extent did the new ownership affect the response to these challenges? It's our experience that it's pretty easy to keep high standards when things are all ticking over nicely, with everything running smoothly. It's when things start to go wrong that an organisation finds itself challenged and is put on its metal. For the record, I don't think Regent covered itself with glory during our cruise and though I won't reveal details here or anywhere else, I'll simply say that the company agreed their shortcomings during that particular cruise.

 

Does that mean we'll never sail Regent again? Not at all. We've booked another cruise on Voyager and are confident that we will have as great a cruise with all "the good things" mentioned by Rachel G that we have also come to expect. As Gnomie says, they are in a period of transition, which may/may not explain the response to the events of our South American experience. But all the benefits of the all-inclusive service, the unstuffy and very relaxed atmosphere on board and the delightfully attentive crew remain. We find it suits us to a T and hope you do too!

[JMARINER]

I still cruise Princess a lot, maybe have done 15 Princess voyages. Even with everything you have read here, Regent is a vast step up on every level. Go, have fun.

 

j

37/535

[flossie009]

We have been cruising with Regent for the past seven years having previously cruised with other lines.

We love the Regent product, mainly because of the excellent service from friendly, well trained staff; it is also genuinely all-inclusive.

Sometimes we have had complaints (mostly minor), but these have always been properly addressed when raised with staff.

Most other passengers are a joy to meet; the ships are just large enough so that you can avoid the odd rude or obnoxious ones.

We were on Voyager last spring and on Mariner in the summer and at Christmas. We perceived no negative changes from the takeover by NCL

 

Hope you find a cruise to your liking and have a great celebratory voyage

[flossie009]

If you decide to go with Regent then immediately before you book go onto the relevant Roll Call and/or the 'sticky' entitled 'Member Referral Credit' and ask an existing Seven Seas Society member, who is booked on the same cruise, to sponsor you.

You will receive on-board credit and the sponsor will receive future cruise credit.

:D:D

[CruisetheCs]

I have to be honest, I do not spend much time on CC - I actually have a life and much more important things to do with my time. From other posters, it seems that the Regent board (which is the only board I actually have time to follow) gravitates toward the negative, mostly because there are some posters who cannot let go and allow subjects to become much different than intended by the original poster or refuse to allow posters to express their opinions.

 

If you go in with any open mind and do not expect some imaginary level of service or ambience, in general, it is a wonderful.

.........

gnomie :)

 

Agree with this. I think that overall there is not a lot of major criticism of Regent on this board, but rather much of it gets magnified by the inability of one or more posters to tolerate criticism of Regent. The efforts to refute or minimize almost any complaints backfires as then the complaints get repeated over and over, sometimes in a contentious tone that makes problems seem worse than they are. The seemingly endless arguments also may wrongly give an unfavorable view of people who travel on Regent.

 

Having been on many Regent cruises, generally I think they do quite well. I was on Regent earlier this year from Singapore to Bangkok and found the service from the crew to be excellent throughout the ship. The food and service was quite good in Compass Rose, Sette Mare, and Prime 7. Service was terribly slow in Signatures the one time I ate there. Entertainment was variable, ranging from okay to quite good. Lectures were excellent, but were more about the politics of Southeast Asia than the culture. I would have liked more cultural history.

 

I do find that Regent has some “holes” in its product. Internet is abysmal and management just doesn’t seem to care. There was a big fuss about it a couple years ago when I was onboard and assurances that it was all going to fixed and improved. But little has changed. If even mediocre internet service is important to you, you will be disappointed if not downright annoyed. One person who was a first timer on Regent told me how much better the internet service was on another of the luxury lines (can’t remember for sure which one now) and said this was going to be his first and last Regent cruise.

 

Then there can be other things that one personally finds annoying, such as the inability to get a list of the included wines on the ship.

 

For the most part I didn’t see much difference in the quality between my last cruise and prior cruises. I never did find a white wine that I thought was better than mediocre on the cruise, while on prior cruises Regent had one or more wines that I liked fairly well. Not sure if this was related to cutbacks in quality or just idiosyncratic. (Of course I found it irritating that no one could provide a list of included wines on the ship.)

 

On one cruise destination services staff were more than disappointing at handling a problem. And the departure from the last cruise was marred by a totally unnecessary ungodly early departure time that left guests at the airport about an hour before the counters even opened.

 

As long as passengers realize that everything may not be perfect and are aware of what other people see as shortcomings, Regent can be quite enjoyable.

[DeepFreeze63]

I think you will have a great time; we are also booked on the Explorer in December (Panama Canal). We have sailed one or more times with all of the senior staff recently announced to be with the Explorer - terrific personnel! We probably would have enjoyed any of the "luxury" cruise lines' service, food and type of guests but we have come to adore our time at sea with Regent during 7 cruises (2 more booked). The standard cabin size, the showers instead of tubs, the walk-in closet, and especially the dine anytime at any table has us hooked on Regent. I have to say that I learned during my early Regent cruises that if a problem arises tell Regent staff immediately - my "problems" were immediately rectified.

[vlinbin]

We have very much enjoyed our three Regent cruises (around South America, From Rekjavik to Copenhagen, and from Monte Carlo to Venice). If you want to get a real feel for cruising on Regent, read the thread "Random Notes from the Mariner" by Mr. Rumour. He gives great daily descriptions, includes pictures, and will tell both the good and the bad.

[Gilly]

The single aspect that bowled us over from the minute we decided to sail on a Regent ship, was the inclusivity. I mean that in every sense of the word but in particular, the ability to enjoy a drink or dine with whoever we choose, whenever we choose with no worries about the bill/check. The ability to sit quietly anywhere on the ship without someone coming to try to sell me something - the "nickel and diming", I mean - and the fact that every public area on the ship is open to all, no class or service-level restrictions. We now take that for granted but I'll not forget how refreshing it was on that first Regent cruise to realise that yes, we could do exactly as we pleased and not expect a shock when the final account was presented.

I guess all of that is true about any all-inclusive, luxury cruise, but having been delighted with the whole Regent experience from first encounter, we have stuck with it!

[flossie009]

.................and no photographers. ;) :)

[mj_holiday]

I first picked Regent because of the itinerary and even though we have gone on some other lines because of group gatherings and itinerary, we return to Regent. We have received exceptional service from the moment we meet the first Regent Rep (at airport or hotel) through leaving the ship to go home. The atmosphere is very relaxed and enjoyable. The staff is always just great. We have enjoyed all the food and restaurants, except Setti Mar which I found chaotic but will try again on our next cruise. Destination Services has always been responsive to our needs. Our other cruises have included luxury lines and while there are some things on them that may be nicer than Regent, comparing the entire package that you get puts Regent at the top of our list.

[fizzy]

I would like to add that when the dates work which is our primary concern, we find that some of the ports are of less importance to us and we simply enjoy everything on the ship for a most truly relaxing, stress free vacation. As dopey as it might sound with all of the choices of dining options, sometimes we just order fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches and fries on a tray...we don't need the table setup available....and scrunch up with a good movie before falling asleep. Oh.....there are no lines!!!!

[JPR]

The Explorer looks to be fantastic! We're booked on her for the New Year's Panama Canal cruise.

[Gilly]

.................and no photographers. ;) :)

 

Oh, flossie, where is the 'like' button?!

 

Thank you, Woody bailey, for inviting us to focus on what keeps us cruising with Regent! As you can tell from reading here, we sometimes forget the good things and allow the small niggles to overtake. Really though, there are so many great things we begin to take for granted and I, for one, am glad to count my blessings, of which being able to enjoy a Regent cruise is one ☺

[motone]

We are like everyone else on this post, we are Regent converts. Having sailed regularly with Silversea and Seabourn, we thought we'd put our "toe in the water" - sorry about the pun and try Regent. Well that was two years ago and now we're hooked. We've also noticed that there are a lot of negative people who post on Cruise Critic, but we can only tell you about the positives. We will be sailing on the Voyager on the 2nd May Dubai to Barcelona for our Ruby Wedding Anniversary and the cost of the cruise has just been discounted - again. The first time we had a revised quotation but the second - nothing. So we spoke to our Travel Agent who got onto Regent. The price for our suite category has only been discounted £40.00 each but £80.00 is £80.00. Well Regent have told us they will give us an on board credit of US$150.00 to spend, so on our special day we'll look at the 'fine wine' list.

 

We're booked on Explorer in November, doing the transatlantic from Rome to Miami and are hoping that Ray Solaire, the Cruise Director will still be on board then. He's a brilliant all rounder and we think he's the best Cruise Director we've ever sailed with.

 

Whatever cruise you decide on, go and enjoy.

 

Maureen.