Explorer CHRISTENING CRUISE -- 7/12 - 7/20//2016 - LIVE

[eliana]

All the suites we viewed are occupied. They were not able to get an "H" or "G" suite to show so I obviously cannot comment on them. I am not sure if it only the "G" level or both "G" and "H" that do not have walk-in closets.

 

One thing I must mention is how refreshing it is to be on a cruise where everyone is really interested in the Regent product, is not complaining about anything and are just learning about the ship and enjoying themselves. Wish that more cruises were like this.

 

Thanks Travelcat I always find your comments helpful.

 

You mention that G suites do not have walk-in closets. Is this correct since in the brochure they state that all suites have walk-in closets. If you have a chance i would appreciate it if you were able to have a look at a G suite. We are booked in one and on a recent cruise on Navigator we were told that they woukd be on the small side and should upgrade.

 

In today's Times (the British one) there is an article on the Explorer. Mainly full of suprlatives, but it was highly critical of the restaurant service but did not mention which one. Have you experienced this?

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Edited July 16, 2016 by eliana

[RachelG]

Not a problem. Keep sending all you want and we will gladfully post them. Now for the price of my services: How about a pic of the wine list if available?

 

Rachel: Hopefully, your whole family is OK. Let us know, please.

 

Z and TB

 

Amazingly no loss of life in this huge storm, but lots of property damage for some people with huge trees down, fences and roofs gone, etc. we escaped unscathed!

[RachelG]

Love all the photos. Dennis could take a shower with a dozen of his closest friends in that huge shower.

The space between the end of the bed and the wall does seem to be quite narrow in that one picture. The bathrooms look lovely.

[Snackdaddy]

Hi Jackie,

 

Has there been any feedback on the Culinary Arts Kitchen classes? We are booked in a number of them on the 12/28/16 Miami to Los Angeles Grand Canal Crossing.

 

Thanks and regards to Dennis.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Snackdaddy

[golfer21]

Wonderful pictures of the suites, we are seriously thinking about the transatlantic cruise in November 2017. Thank you I really e joy your posts Travelcat.

 

Pat

[Caroldoll]

I was not only interested in the height, but also the width. It seems like Joe will fit!

 

Please tell Dennis that he does not look one day older.

 

Thanks a million.

[Zqueeze1]

Rachel: glad to hear you and your family are ok. We really enjoyed meeting you and your wonderful son. BTW have you ever heard from TB's "fan club" from the Navigator?

 

Z and TB

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited July 16, 2016 by Zqueeze1

[cruiseluv]

Thank you Jackie for all the pictures and commentary. Glad you took a picture of the closet in F2. Wish I could experience that marvelous shower in the Grand Suite you photographed, but I'm sure the one in F2 will suffice! Continue having a great time!

[xrvlcruiser]

Snack daddy,

 

I'm doing a class on the next cruise and will let you know. Since the staff is the same as on Oceania - where

I took a few classes - I am sure it will be great

 

Peggy

[lincslady]

Journalists from both Times and Sunday Times on board - as said above, yesterday's comments on dinner were pretty scathing, both about the food and service. Both articles are full of stuff about the top suite; how much everything cost etc. It does all sound rather vulgar to me, but maybe I am just jealous!

 

I imagine there are many TAs and journalists on board; hope they do not spoil the atmosphere for actual 'guests', though it sounds as if this trip is a freebie anyway?

[Travelcat2]

We are in Ibiza, Spain and Dennis pried me off of the ship to walk around in the heat (warm but not too bad yet). Nice little town. It's Sunday so only tourist shops and restaurants were open (lots of them). The area is quite crowded with summer visitors.

 

Security is definitely in place. There is a service dog on duty and you pass port security personnel. In order to board the shuttle bus you need to show your card key (great idea). We also noticed four "security vehicles" just parked - not far from the ship.

 

Will respond to a few comments. I'm wondering if the newspaper reports are from this cruise or the last cruise. I'm guessing the last one as they are few British accents on board - mostly TA's from North America. It is not typical to hear the "cost of everything" on a cruise, however, these TA's are partners with Regent and they need to know as much information and detail as possible about this ship so they can answer questions from their clients. I must admit that even touching a $150,000 bed is something I would not do in real life.

 

Before I wander further off the topic of food, I'm not sure what food the reviews are referring to. We are finding the food better than normal and certainly the choices in CR are above what is typically offered. It sounds as if this menu will remain on the Explorer and I wonder if it will extend to other ships. As has been said hundreds of time on CC, food is subjective. We had lobster twice in CR -- it was the best we have had on Regent. We finally have a reservation for Pacific Rim this evening (the most popular dining venue on the ship -- have not heard anything other than rave reviews for Pacific Rim). Tomorrow evening we'll dine in Chartreuse.

 

Really wish I had the time to post menu's from the restaurants but it would take too long. I may take a few notes from the Pacific Rim (time permitting). I'm also lax in terms of answering questions regarding the wines. If this were a "normal" cruise, I'd have no problem getting a list but this cruise is far from normal (not in a bad way) and all of the officers are extremely busy. It took three times for us to find a wine that we liked (we are Cabernet drinkers). We ended up with a Burgundy. I wrote down the name - gave it to a sommelier last night and no longer have the name.

 

In terms of the suites. Unfortunately, I cannot get into suites that are occupied and were not open yesterday. Hopefully someone on the Maiden Voyage will be able to take photos of their suite. I will take a picture of our balcony and chairs -- they are the same as F1 and F2 except the balcony is slightly smaller and has one chair less. The bathroom photo that is posted of the PH suite is just about the same in the concierge suites and even the F1 and F2 suites (double sinks, etc.) I will ask about the closets in the lower suites. Although we were told that they did not have walk-in closets, the person that told us may be mistaken.

 

We have the head chef of the Culinary Center from Oceania on this ship. Her classes are wonderful (we haven't taken them here but have on Oceania). I can't imagine anyone not loving those classes.

 

There has been some discussion regarding the staff taken from other ships for the Explorer and how it affects service on the other ships. Most of the crew that we have spoken with transferred directly from their last assignment onto the Explorer about a month ago along with new crew members that have been training on other ships. So, we have 25% "newbies" (BTW, FDR uses that term), and 25% of the crew from the Mariner, Navigator and Voyager. There have always been crew members in training on Regent ships - this is not something new. I am guilty of getting frustrated with a couple of new crew members last December but realize that I was being overly judgmental (note: I did not take it out on them -- just mentioned that more training was needed when I filled our my questionnaire at the end of the cruise).

 

As may know, the ship was turned over to Regent a bit late. Still there seems to be very few bugs to work out. Work is still being done on the ship during the day while guests are ashore. The main thing I'm noticing is new artwork appearing on what had been bare wells. I better stop posting as I feel that I'm all over the place and not focusing. Will take a few more photos before lunch.

 

Today is a Spanish buffet on the pool deck. We will go to La Veranda so that we can taste some of the pool deck food and partake of things inside as well (plus we can eat in air conditioning).

Edited July 17, 2016 by Travelcat2

[eliana]

Since this or the previous one is a PR cruise I am surprised that Regent did not ensure that service and quality of the food was impeccable. Also as far as the Times and Sunday Times are concerned Regent have failed in their PR since in both papers their articles are mostly about the Regent Suite which few of us cannot afford to book and probably will not be able to visit if we wanted to.

Edited July 17, 2016 by eliana

[Snackdaddy]

Snack daddy,

 

I'm doing a class on the next cruise and will let you know. Since the staff is the same as on Oceania - where

I took a few classes - I am sure it will be great

 

Peggy

 

Hi Peggy,

 

Thanks a bunch! I look forward to your comments. Safe travels.

[Snackdaddy]

We have the head chef of the Culinary Center from Oceania on this ship. Her classes are wonderful (we haven't taken them here but have on Oceania). I can't imagine anyone not loving those classes.

 

Hi Jackie,

 

Thank you for the feedback. We are so looking forward to the Explorer experience including the Culinary Arts classes. Enjoy the rest of your amazing cruise. Safe travels.

[flossie009]

I haven't read the Times or Sunday Times reports but the journalist from the Telegraph gave a pragmatic view of the issues with both their suite and restaurant service.

The Telegraph report is dated 16 July but it appears that the journalist was on the 'shakedown cruise' not the 'christening cruise'

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/first-look-inside-seven-seas-explorer-regent-luxury-cruise-ship/

 

As eliana and lincslady rightly say these reports will not be particularly useful in enticing new clients to Regent and, together with the value of the UK pound and euro against the dollar, will not go very far in helping Regent to achieve their target of increasing UK and European guests on their ships

[Zqueeze1]

More pics from Jackie:

Concierge Suite balcony. F1 and F2 is slightly smaller

 

Cabinets in Concierge Suite

 

More storage

 

Love seat in Concierge, F1, and F2

 

My lunch at an Irish Pub in Ft Lauderdale

 

Dessert

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[forgap]

Zqueeze, I LOVE your sense of humor. I hope we cross paths on some future cruise!

[bebop bonnie]

Yes, Zqueeze, you are not only great with posting photo skills....but I too love your humor....and all the info I'm learning on this thread. Thank you, Jackie!

 

One more Penthouse Suite question. From the photo I could see that that space between bed and wall is tight. Does the PH living room have a more 'spacious' feeling or is it as 'narrow' as the few photos indicate.

[Travelcat2]

"z", I cannot stop laughing at your pictures. Thanks so much !!!!!!!!!

 

Re PH suites, they are as narrow as they look.

 

In terms of food and service, I strongly disagree with U.K. newspapers. Perhaps the dishes are too "American or Canadian" oriented. Tonight we saw Peter Greenberg and his crew in Pacific Rim. I look forward to his review. I find it hard to believe that the extra special food is not good enough for these reviewers. Regent isn't for everyone and it sounds as if it's not for these reviewers. Keep in mind that many people on board have not sailed on Regent or any other luxury cruise line.

 

Tonight I learned that the only difference between concierge and F1 and F2 suites is the size of the balcony. Hope that's s is helpful.

 

Will elaborate on Pacific Rim tomorrow. I took a photo of the menu but haven't looked at it yet. The drink menu gives choices of sake as well as the specialty drink (absolutely delicious).

 

A word about the one chair in the suites. Yes, another small chair would be nice but it is basically a non-issue since the chair at the desk is the right height so two people could dine in-suite utilizing the love seat and chair.

 

Interesting, Barcelona will only in the 70's tomoRrow so I may have to go off of the ship. Will give more details of PR (Pacific Rim) tomorrow.

[poss]

Loving it all! Thanks so much T&Z!!

(I hope that maybe the TA's get a chance to view the lowly "G" suites?)

[Zqueeze1]

Aww shucks. Thanks for the kind words, but be advised that my sense of humor comes from my perpetual immaturity, lack of good taste, and my first sergeant at The Citadel who tortured me every morning for a year for refusing to eat grits. Let's get back to Jackie:

 

Dressing area:

 

Beds separated into twins (sucker bet that it will happen to me at least once during the Nov TA).

 

Jackie sent this pic for The Boss and me, but it's best shared with all since some of you may know her plus you can see the new women's uniforms jackie mentioned previously as well as see the bar. The bartender is our favorite Regent crew member, Olga.

 

Z and TB

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited July 18, 2016 by Zqueeze1

[RachelG]

Tight space between those twin beds!

 

New uniforms look nice.

 

Z, grits are the food of the gods. When I was a resident at UAMS and we were going to have a 6-8 hour surgery, we would all eat grits for breakfast because you could stand in the OR all day with a bowl of them in your stomach and not get hungry. Unfortunately I have never encountered grits on a Regent ship.

[Anna B.]

I agree, Rachel. Grits would be a great addition to breakfast.....maybe we could work on that! Jackie and Z, loving the posts and pics! Thank you for being so generous with your time!

 

Regarding those negative restaurant reviews. I don't know anyone who would go to a restaurant the week it opened and expect perfection - just not gonna happen, but I am sure they will work out any kinks!

[petlover]

I've been so busy at home that I'm just now able to catch up here. We arrived in Nice yesterday. It is so wonderful to be in this beautiful city. Inspite of the horrific tragedy, the city and people are beautiful, strong and moving forward.

 

Jackie, I'm so thankful that you've posted so much great info about the ship and with the many many photos circulating, it kind of takes me out of the hot seat. We have so many plans with friends and reunions with friends we haven't seen since World Cruise days and having such a port intensive schedule..... you may not be hearing much detail from me.

 

We booked this MV the first day the bookings opened (F2) so I will be happy to share info about our cabin. Poss, we also have very good friends who are in a G cabin so I may be able to share helpful info with you there as well.

 

I'm just sooooooo excited to be here !! Woo Hoo !

Edited July 18, 2016 by petlover

[witt's end]

I will be happy to post as well.

We fly tomorrow!!