Voyager post refurbishment

[flossie009]

We have been on Voyager for 12 days, having joined in Dubai. Did not want to post our thoughts any earlier - best to reflect on the ship rather than make snap judgements

 

We should also say up-front that we have not yet sailed on Explorer or Navigator so cannot make any comparisons; however, of the two Regent ships we have been on, Mariner still remains our favourite............even after seeing Voyager in her "new clothes"

 

We have not been on Voyager for at least 18 months, so apologies if any of the changes described in the following posts were done before this latest refurbishment

 

Hopefully others who have been on Voyager since Barcelona will chip in with their observations

 

Any questions, please ask

[flossie009]

Compass Rose restaurant :

This has undergone a complete revamp. Very light and airy feel with new chairs, upholstery and lighting; slightly different layout and new serving stations; in our opinion, very well designed and executed

No problems with noise levels (as reported from Explorer). The lighting is generally kept constant white with blue edging; On some nights someone decided to go for a colour change to green - not a good idea!!

The 'new' menu has also been introduced which increases the nightly choices available

We have witnessed what has been reported elsewhere; that couples seeking a table for two are sent away to wait when the restaurant is half empty, with lots of tables for four available. This issue does not affect us as we like to share, but Regent really need to review this policy as it is annoying many.

 

Chartreuse :

The new name for Signatures. Like the new uniforms for the wait-staff, the general decor and the porcelain. We loved a few of the dishes, but in our opinion the menu and recipes for individual dishes is inferior to Signatures. For those on longer cruises, it does not appear that the menu ever changes in Chartreuse as it did occasionally in Signatures.

They still keep good cheeses which are served from the trolley.............but ritz crackers and ryvita crispbread hardly constitutes 'fine dining'; Signatures used to serve fig bread with the cheese

 

Prime 7 : No change to name, layout or decor. Menu remains the same but gone are the mini-burgers that used to be served as an amuse-bouche.............replaced by tomato soup in a shot glass. Also the chocolates have been replaced by fudge pieces in various flavours

 

La Veranda : Buffet serving area revamped and improved; new serving stations; chairs re-upholstered

 

Pool Grill & Pool Bar : No change

[WesW]

Thanks so much Flossie for sharing your impressions/

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[flossie009]

Corridors and stairs have all been re-carpeted.

Rest rooms on all decks completely refurbished

 

Voyager Lounge : Refurbished with comfortable, but heavy, seating and dark colours throughout. Some of the drinks tables are somewhat bizarre (appear to be missing a top). Another odd feature is a set of flashing 'following' lights over the dance-floor which appear to be modelled on the dimples on the sides of the Daleks from Doctor Who (apologies to non UK readers)...............definitely some style over function with the lighting design

 

Observation Lounge and Horizon Lounge : No changes. They still have both Afternoon Tea and Trivia in Horizon on port days, but move Trivia to the Observation Lounge on sea days

 

Pool deck : New sun-beds/loungers...............be careful, those nice looking composite wood arms get very hot in the sun !! No double loungers have been introduced (as available on the other ships)

 

Theatre : The theatre has not been refurbished

[flossie009]

Can only really make detailed comments on the suite we are occupying - a Penthouse A

 

Bed is as comfortable as always

 

New headboard, bedside lights and very effective reading lights. New L-shaped make-up station and desk.

 

Sofa and chairs have not been refurbished

 

Fridge is now on opposite side of room to storage of drinking glasses! :rolleyes:

 

Very little storage in the room but plenty in the walk-in closet; because the drawers in the room have disappeared, an extra chest of drawers has been added in the closet.....................its positioning means half of the lower hanging rail is now unusable! :rolleyes:

 

New curtains throughout. Unfortunately the curtains that can be used to divide the bed from the sitting area have not been supplied with tie-backs; this means they are constantly in the way when moving to/from the bed; also the television cannot be viewed from half the bed as the curtains are in the way even when fully pulled back

 

A definite lack of coat hooks and shelves in the room

 

Cannot understand why they did not replace the safes during refurbishment; these are getting very old; some of the buttons on ours do not work

 

No changes in the bathroom

[Travelcat2]

Thanks for interesting comnents. How is the service and what are your thoughts on DR's new menu?

[flossie009]

Musicians:

Regent Signature Orchestra is now called the Regent Showband; possibly because it is now depleted to 5 members

Tritones Duo (keyboard and singer) are very good and play in various locations at various times

Pianist plays in the Observation Lounge

 

Production Shows:

We have enjoyed the new shows and the energy of the Regent Production Cast. There are significant differences between the new RPC Company and the previous JAR company and shows:

JAR:

International cast; two lead singers (one male, one female); a speciality act (gymnast/aerialist); a pair of ballroom dancers; plus professionally trained dancers, some of whom could also sing; live music; a mix of stage sets and video wall

RPC:

All American cast of twelve; four lead singers (two male, two female); eight dancers, some of whom also sing; taped music; no stage sets, just the video wall and a few props

 

Visiting entertainers:

In our opinion the number and quality of visiting entertainers appears to have improved over the last couple of years

 

Lecturers:

This is an area where there has been a significant decline. There used to be two to three lecturers on each cruise covering a variety of topics. On our last two cruises there has been only one lecturer on each. The adoption of Smithsonian does not appear to have helped with the quality of either topics or lecturers. Fortunately on this cruise we have a good lecturer covering interesting topics relevant to our destinations

[flossie009]

The cruise (Dubai to Singapore) is excellent............both on-board and on-shore in the fascinating ports. Officers and crew are efficient and friendly

Some sixty guests were also on the previous cruise (Barcelona to Dubai) and some are going on from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. Apparently the next leg, Singapore to Sydney is significantly over-sold so some will no doubt be offered good incentives to change their plans

Thus far, weather has been good (hot) and seas have been ultra-smooth. However some guests we have met have complained of vibration - mainly resulting in rattling ceiling planks in their cabins; very annoying

 

Regent Excursions have been very enjoyable.

 

Indian bureaucracy (immigration checks, landing cards etc) has been handled well with much of the required paperwork being pre-completed by the reception staff and orderly calling of guests by tour and deck number to avoid excessive queues

Unfortunately a small group of guests had managed to obtain the wrong Indian Visa. They were therefore unable to go ashore in any of the Indian ports of call (They should actually have been denied boarding for the cruise but nobody checked their Passports in Dubai). For future reference note that an e-Visa is not acceptable for arrival by sea, or for multiple entries, into India

 

Embarkation : This was the worst embarkation we have ever experienced, on any cruiseline. We flew in to Dubai early the day before sailing and spent a very enjoyable day and overnight. We left the hotel for the ship at around midday and then it took us over 2.5 hours before we were on-board; none of the delay was due to traffic or the port authorities............it was simply the slow check-in process

Other guests who arrived early on the morning of the cruise were taken directly to the port and then had to wait around for hours until check-in commenced; for some reason, Regent had failed to organise a hospitality room at a local hotel

Not a good start to a 5/6 star luxury cruise :(

 

Demographics

Total passengers: 654

USA: 333

UK: 99

Canada: 65

Australia: 49

 

SSS Members: 200+ Gold, 36 Platinum, 4 Titanium

 

Internet : Internet speed has been very poor (akin to a bad dial-up service). Connection drops out frequently. Generally OK for our needs but very frustrating most of the time

These jottings have all been composed off-line and then copied into CC to avoid losing everything during transmission

 

Holiday Season : Decorations were put up all around the ship overnight, so everywhere is now looking very festive :D

 

 

That completes our thoughts for now, and must really go and get lunch and drinks............not necessarily in that order

Will try to answer any questions............internet willing :eek:

[Switchgear]

Since the full day excursion in Phuket is full we are wondering if anyone has any options for a private tour to similar areas as covered by the ships tour but smaller numbers??

[flossie009]

Thanks for interesting comnents. How is the service and what are your thoughts on DR's new menu?

 

Service levels are generally good, albeit not quite as friendly and attentive as on our Mariner cruise in October..............that was exceptionally good

Referring back to some recent threads, the staff on the Pool deck have been doing a good job on the sea days this cruise - reasonable drinks service, cool face-cloths and occasional fruit skewers

 

F&B Department needs a new stock-controller; various popular wines have run out; fruit in suites cannot be refreshed as stocks of fresh fruit running low; today they ran out of Kingfisher & Tiger beer.............in this part of the world?!!

 

For information the senior staff on-board are:

Captain: Felice Patruno

General Manager: Nickie Sheils

Cruise Director: Ray Solaire; Asst CD: Elda Pauluzzi; Social Hostess: Nicola Richards (used to be the Travel News 'voice' on BBC local radio in the UK)

F&B Director: Adam Martindale; Restaurant Manager: David dos Santos; Exec Chef: Hamza Mebareki

Exec Concierge: Odul Uzunali

 

 

 

We like the new menu in Compass Rose, but tend to try the daily dishes - only falling back to the 'always available' if nothing else appeals

In some ways there is almost too much on the CR menu and this makes the speciality restaurants, particularly Prime 7, somewhat less 'special'

The printed menu itself could probably do with a re-design................with all the different dishes and combinations it is far too 'busy', which can be off-putting until you get to know it and navigate your way around; we hear that some of those guests whose first language is not English are really struggling to understand what is on offer

[Gilly]

Flossie, thank you for sharing your detailed thoughts and for setting them out in such a logical and easy-to-read format! We were curious to know how Voyager would change during her update having sailed on her in September. Members of the crew were excited by the plans and looked forward to a fresh new look. It sounds as though some changes have worked better than others, though.

 

You are cruising in a favourite part of the world but one where we too have experienced similar F&B shortages when sailing. How disappointing to hear it was not a one-off error. More importantly, though, I hope the situation is soon resolved.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise - I'm not sure where Voyager is right now and will take a look at the website, just so I can be with you in spirit!

[flossie009]

Gilly,

We are presently in the middle of a very calm ocean on the second of 3 days sailing between Ceylon and Burma.................very relaxing :)

 

 

Hope the descriptions of Voyager's refurbishment didn't come across as too negative.

90%+ of the refurb has been designed & executed tastefully and competently. It is just on the odd occasion you wonder "what were they thinking?" or "did anyone consider asking guests or crew what they thought was important?" or "why did they waste money on doing that?"

 

 

We hope Regent seek, and take on board, guest feedback from Navigator, Voyager and Explorer before finalising their plans for the refurbishment of Mariner in 2018

Edited December 14, 2016 by flossie009

[liptastic]

Flossie thanks for your very detailed posts. The new renovations sound good, surprising to hear they did not replace the sofa and chairs in suites tho as they did on Navigator?

Glad to hear you are having a great cruise, cheers and thanks, Jean.

[solysol]

Thank you Flossie for your thoughts on the refurb of the Voyager, we will be joining in Singapore. We are looking forward to being on board. Linda

[poss]

Much appreciate the details and of course the kindness of your taking the time to post. Thanks and enjoy.

[Eager2Travel]

Our thanks as well for taking the time to post the information as we will be on in April.

 

The information about having to wait for a table for 2 is a little disappointing as we often dine like that. In the past we have been offered a table for four for just us. To me that is as it should be on a luxury cruise when you arrive at the dining room within 15 minutes of it opening.

[Travelcat2]

Our thanks as well for taking the time to post the information as we will be on in April.

 

The information about having to wait for a table for 2 is a little disappointing as we often dine like that. In the past we have been offered a table for four for just us. To me that is as it should be on a luxury cruise when you arrive at the dining room within 15 minutes of it opening.

 

It has been our experience (so far only on the Explorer) that Compass Rose's new menu is so good that many passengers opt to dine there rather than in the specialty restaurants (we turned down an offer to eat at a specialty restaurant which is unusual for us - we much prefer CR). CR was full many times on our recent Explorer cruises despite the fact that there are two new restaurants on board (while the Voyager only has one). IMO, this may be a continuing issue that won't be solved by allowing two people to sit alone at a table for 4 which has been suggested on another thread.

 

flossie009, thank you for your response.

[flossie009]

Our thanks as well for taking the time to post the information as we will be on in April.

 

The information about having to wait for a table for 2 is a little disappointing as we often dine like that. In the past we have been offered a table for four for just us. To me that is as it should be on a luxury cruise when you arrive at the dining room within 15 minutes of it opening.

 

If you arrive within 15 to 30 mins of opening you should have no issues with being seated

 

The night we particularly noted couples being turned away, there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to the Maitre'ds decisions. It was around 7:45pm, it was not a special night (i.e. not a Captain's party), the restaurant was half empty (i.e. many must have been eating in other venues) and there were numerous tables set for 4 available.

It just appeared that the staff were taking the attitude "Those are the rules and we are sticking to them, whatever!"

In our opinion this is not acceptable and the policy needs to be reviewed to give greater flexibility

[Travelcat2]

Ann, I believe that your upcoming cruise is on the Explorer. If you arrive early you will definitely get a table for two without a problem. However, if you arrive between around 7:00 and 8:15 p.m., they will likely not seat two people at a table for four as this was the busiest time in CR during our recent cruise. I wish that I could remember the number of people that can be seated at once on the Explorer in CR - it may be as low as 375 (also not sure how many can be seated on the Voyager or any other ship).

 

IMO, Regent needs to do what it needs to do during this transition period. The new system (assuming that the Voyager servers "might" be taking orders on a tablet by now), takes time to get used to, so, it may be better for passengers, servers and the kitchen in CR not to get overloaded to insure that service will not suffer..

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.

 

flossie009, did you have a M&G on your cruise? Was it well attended?

 

Had to laugh about the statistics that you have posted (which is appreciated). It seems that you have taken a page from Mr. Rumor's book:)

[1982CruzStart]

Thanks very much for your detailed postings.

[flossie009]

 

IMO, Regent needs to do what it needs to do during this transition period. The new system (assuming that the Voyager servers "might" be taking orders on a tablet by now), takes time to get used to, so, it may be better for passengers, servers and the kitchen in CR not to get overloaded to insure that service will not suffer..

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.

 

flossie009, did you have a M&G on your cruise? Was it well attended?

 

Had to laugh about the statistics that you have posted (which is appreciated). It seems that you have taken a page from Mr. Rumor's book:)

 

 

On Voyager, all the wait-staff appear to be using tablets without glitches. In fact SSS night was a very smooth service even though Compass Rose was very busy

 

Most CC members from the roll-call attended the informal M&G in the Observation Lounge on the first day

 

As regards statistics, my numbers for SSS members may be slightly incorrect as Bruce, the Cruise Consultant, seems to alter the numbers each time he quotes them :rolleyes:. What is for sure is there are about 85% returning Regent cruisers on board but only 4 Titanium members

[flossie009]

Correction:

Most CC members from the roll-call attended the informal M&G in the Observation Lounge on the first sea day

[JMARINER]

Sad that Regent still have not fixed the internet on the Voyager. We were on in October. I posted the same as you, that speed were like old time dial up.

 

They (GM Davor) promised it would be back to normal or even better after the most recent dry dock. All he knew was that Corporate was aware of the poor speeds and frequent dropped connection.

 

Seems to me that this is getting it to the realm of false advertising. I realize the limitation of the internet at sea, but the Voyager problem is far beyond that. The ship now has the worst internet of any ship I have ever been on in 15 years including my many prior voyages on the Voyager.

 

Anyone from Regent listen?

 

j

40/595

[Eager2Travel]

HI Flossie

 

I appreciate all the info you have provided. One question I have is what time of day did you have your causal Meet and Greet? Our upcoming cruise has a very small group. We would probably have it the first sea day.

[kaypeg]

Thanks for all this wonderful information Flossie. I have a question about smoking. Have they changed any of the policys? I'm hoping they have limited the smoking areas.