Regent vs Oceania aka Luxury vs Premium Plus

[1982CruzStart]

Interesting handle, I would have thought you were an Aussie or Kiwi with that name.

 

We are doing the opposite to you, trying Regent instead of Celebrity. The suite restaurant , Luminae , is really excellent IMHO. It is like dining in an intimate bistro every night, you find it difficult to actually give up a night to go to the specialties. If you think the buffet on Celebrity is a zoo you should see the one on Carnival (long story). Reading the Edge blurb makes me think that Celebrity may be making a push into this market segment.

 

I find the drinks to be excellent on the premium package but the wines can be a little ho hum. I am expecting better wines on our upcoming cruise, especially as it is a Wine immersion cruise. Will be disappointed if the cocktails are sub standard as I will only have a few and don't want to waste my time with an inferior drink. I do find that cocktails can be better if you use better quality ingredients. Grey Goose instead of Smirnoff, Patron instead of Jose Cuervo, Havana Club instead of Bacardi, Tanqueray10 instead of Gordons etc.

 

I am a little concerned that we might find the ship a little quiet as there are still 150 empty cabins on our cruise (Voyager) and we are expecting an older crowd. Regardless I am sure we will have an excellent time.

 

We have done a couple of Celebrity cruises in suite class and agree with you that Luminae is lovely. I think you will thoroughly enjoy sailing with Regent. After many years of sailing on HAL we did a couple of Regent ones and fell in love with the product, then did the Celebrity ones and are now back looking forward to our next Regent one this fall/winter.

Look forward to hearing what you think of Regent compared to Celebrity.

[1982CruzStart]

Winters Gate - thanks for your honest and straight forward review. Am looking forward to reading the rest.

[PinkMEB]

Our first Regent cruise has ended and I will try to make my review of the trip and a comparison to Oceania Riviera, so hold on here we go!(English is not my first language so please have some lenience for gramatic errors and misspellings)

 

 

The Ship:

I found the ship to be in great shape and no big signs of wear and tear, the layout of the ship was very nice and I really liked the atrium witch gave a nice airy feeling to the ship.

We hade a midship suite and the broad center corridor felt great, one did not have to be pressed against the wall when someone passed, this was not at all as the cramped corridors at Oceania witch have one narrow corridor on each side of the ship. Was was it luxury? Yes for me it gave a luxury feeling walking the corridor!

All the bar lounges had nice layouts and where in good shape, the Compass Rose looked really lovely with a nice modern look but we also like the more classic style in GDR on O.

The pool deck was nice and with plenty of loungers however we did miss the Balinesean beds they have at the pool deck on O, the pool itself was of nice size but the whirlpools was much smaller then on O. We do spend a lot of time at the pool deck and on O it can be a little bit crowded especially after lunch but that did not happen here, maybe people just take advantage of the included excursions and stay longer in port.

 

 

Suite:

Compared to a Penthouse on O the Veranda suite on Voyager is a little bit smaller but the layout is very nice, the bathroom are about the same size and I think the lighter marble is much nicer then the dark they have on O, both me and my wife liked the walk in closet and it had a much better layout on Voyager then on O. One thing thats have been worrying my wife before the cruise was the bed, she just love the beds on O witch she thinks are just about the best..... Well not anymore now she has a new favorite bed, the kingsize bed on Voyager where just outstanding.

The balcony are definitely smaller on Voyager then on O but on the other hand the table was bigger so it was possible to have a nice veranda breakfast, I have nerver understood why the large Penthouse balconies on O have at table that are don't even large enough for two cups of coffee!

 

 

Service:

We think the service on O are very good but overall I think that it was even better on the Voyager, the feeling was that there where a higher crew to guest ratio, and that they where a bit more attentive in most places especially the wine service witch on O sometimes can be a challenge.

When it comes to our room stewardess Leah and Suraij I can only say that they where the best we ever had on any cruise, they made an excellent job taking care of our suite and any requests we had it was instantly taken care of, just fabulous!

Roomservice also made an excellent job and was always on time and the food was hot.

In a Penthouse on O we do have a butler so did we miss him? Actually not much, we mainly use him for roomservice so his just a well dressed roomservice guy. It´s nice that he brings canapés but they also ruin your appetite so it might be better without. And our great stewardess and the nice roomservice combined was like a butler to us!

The poolservice was a little bit so so on the Voyager and i think that they have somethings to learn from Oceania, On O there is usually 2 guys who just manages the pool deck, towels, loungers and to keep the pool deck look nice, on the Voyager it seemed like the ones who served the drinks also managed the pool deck, this did not work out that well and several times towels where missing and the over all impression was not as good as on O!

 

 

Beverage:

The included wines where ok, some not so good but we found a red and a few withes that was very drinkable, the house Champagne Jacquart is nice and we had quit a few of them:D.

When it comes to cocktails I think Regent have room for some improvement, as a matter of fact a lot of improvement. This was the biggest disappointment to us, there where only a few bartenders onboard who could make a decent cocktail and only one who made good ones, the drinks in the poolbar was most of the time not good at all, sloppy made without any finess at all, it came to the point that we could not order drinks from the pool waiters, you just had to go to the bar yourself to supervise the bartender making it, they also either had no clue what Champagne is or they just wanted to pour something cheaper. After a few days I stop order "Champagne" and just order Jacquart but the message just did not go thru anyway, I don't know how many times I had to tell them to change bottle as they try to pour you some sparkling wine.

Another example is the Bloody Marys, they did just pour like 2/3 of vodka a splash of mix and boom there was your drink, no tabasco, no worcestershiresås, no selleri or no olive. If I order a drink att 10.00 am I don't want to get drunk from one singel drink which just taste vodka with a little tomato juice!

Making cocktails is just like cooking food you just have to have some sense to mix the the right amount of ingredients to make it taste good ,and I´m sorry to say that on the Voyager the most of the bartenders lacked that skill and it was a major disappointment for us and did not feel luxury at all I´m afraid. Oceanias drinks may be a little weak sometimes but the overall quality is far superior to the ones on Voyager.

 

 

To be continued......

 

I don’t cruise on the Voyager until Feb but I can tell you the bartenders on the Explorer can make a delicious Mexican Butterfly.

Edited July 24, 2018 by PinkMEB
Correct spelling.

[liptastic]

Jaquart was the house Champagne pour on Explorer this spring. The usual Moutadon was available but the Jaquart seemed to be most popular. Jean.

[Winters Gate]

I forgot to mention the coffee, on O the regular coffee are just not drinkable so I was surprised to discover that the coffee on the Voyager was not that bad at all.

 

I also agree that drinks gets better with premium brands of spirits and I usually order the brand I like, but in this case it was not the quality of the spirits that fall short it was the quality of the bartenders.

I will give another example, I have a favorite pre dinner drink, it´s a very simple drink of one part gin and one part Dubonnet over ice with a slice of lemon, I have had hundreds of it and knows exactly how it should taste. We where in the Observation Lounge and as I had discovered the problem they had to mix drinks I made very clear to the waiter one part Hendricks Gin and one part Dubonnet, the drink comes out and it is gin with a splash of Dubonnet, I mean how can you fail to mix a so simple drink like that with very clear instructions, it´s a mystery!

It´s not that I have a problem drinking strong spirits, I often have rom or whiskey straight up and I´m Swedish we grow up on vodka:D.

 

The rest of the review is hopefully coming tomorrow!

[tulok]

We also just got off of the Voyager and agree with everything you have stated.

My experience with the pool service was awful. We usually had to go to the bar just to get a drink. My husband always ordered a martini made with Titos and a couple of times it was not Titos. I found one bartender that could make a great Sangri on the entire ship. At the pool bar the bartender tried to make one with fruit juice and apple juice in red wine.

The Voyager Lounge with the Trio was the best part of the cruise and it had the best bartender.

[Travelcat2]

I understand why some people find the pours on Regent heavy. It is typical in many parts of the U.S. and is what we are used to and is expected. If Regent started using shot glasses to measure like Oceania does, it would be an issue unless passengers learned to order double shots (as we have to do on Oceania). Having said that, a good bartender can do a 3 to 1 pour by sight - no shot glass required. I do understand that drink pours in most parts of the world can be skimpy and if you ask the bartender for a small pour, they are suppose to do it. If the drink is too strong, either return it or ask for the drink to be put in a larger glass and add more mix. They will get the point!

 

I'm surprised to hear that some people prefer Jacquart over Montadon. This has not been the case on our cruises. Because I don't want to mix alcohol, I drink champagne drinks before dinner since that is in the same family as the wine that we'll have later. The champagne that is poured has been Montadon (and if it were not, I'd ask for it ...... Jacquart is not to my taste).

[RachelG]

Thank you for your report, Winters Gate. I agree with you on all points!

[John182]

Jacquart bought Montaudon from Moet Hennessy a few years ago. Maybe they have decided to push Jacquart to their big customers including Regent ?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Dismayed to hear about the bartenders on Voyager, since I remember many great ones fondly. Haven't been on board for a while so I guess that's changed. I wonder if they're having trouble keeping staff with the slew of new cruise ships being christened lately.

[Winters Gate]

Surprised to learn that they were pouring Jacquart.

 

The only thing that surprised me with the pouring of Jacquart was that when you ordered it in the pool bar they did pour you something else!

 

Travelcat2- I can agree that it might be custom in some parts of the world with strong pours, however if you read my example in post #55 again you will see that it was not the issue in that case, the bartender just couldn´t follow a simple instruction from a guest, that has nothing to do with strong pours, or did he think he know better then me how I wanted my drink done? No for me it´s down to two things, either ignorance or he just don´t have the skill to free pour a 50/50 drink, I don't actually know which is worst especially after 12 year on Regent!

 

I think you all get the message, in my point of view the drinks on this cruise was far below luxury standard. I will from now on not do any more comments about the drinks in this thread as I don't want the thread to go in a negative way, however all of you others feel free to continue comment about the drinks, good or bad all comments are welcome!

 

My review about the rest of the cruise(read food:D) has become a little bit heavier then I thought so it will come tomorrow!

Edited July 25, 2018 by Winters Gate

[golfgirls]

Sorry that there are unsatisfactory reports about bartending, particularly on the Voyager. We were delighted to find Joseph ‘at your service’ had been promoted from server to assistant bartender on our Singapore to Sydney cruise last year. He held court at the pool bar from opening to the time that people wanted to leave. Not only was he entertaining, I can attest that he pours the best martinis, margaritas, g&ts and glasses of wine that you could ever hope for. We had a similar experience in all of the other bars, though I don’t recall other names. So my experience would be quite the contrary to others, but agree that my martini is a different mix than someone else’s.

 

I think all of the bartenders try to please. Yes some are more social than others but like most things in life, it what you make of the experience.

 

We are also looking at some alternatives to Regent. Have done Oceania but really didn’t think it compared. Will be interested to hear from others, as always.

 

 

Pat and Marg

[Got2Cruise]

My disappointment in the cocktails was that they were all standard cruise fare. Maybe you could have a top shelf liquor but the choice of cocktails nothing luxury. On a luxury cruise I was expecting hand crafted cocktails and many varieties of that.

[cotto22]

We are returning to Regent (Mariner Vancouver to San Francisco) in September after being on Silversea several times and most recently a TA on Oceania. We were very happy with our experience on Oceania especially regarding the food and bar areas. The cocktails in the Martini bar were perfection, and my husband is somewhat hard to please.

[forgap]

My disappointment in the cocktails was that they were all standard cruise fare. Maybe you could have a top shelf liquor but the choice of cocktails nothing luxury. On a luxury cruise I was expecting hand crafted cocktails and many varieties of that.

 

This is a real pet peeve and relatively easy to fix. The main culprit is packaged sour mix rather than fresh ingredients. I also don’t think the bar staff are trained bartenders just as the “sommeliers” don’t really have any credentials to call themselves by this title. I could be wrong so feel free to throw some evidence my way!

[Travelcat2]

Agree about the training of bartenders and sommeliers but some of them have risen in the ranks to high positions (Frank Galzy and Daniela for instance).

 

In terms of luxury lines making "hand crafted cocktails", IMO, it would take being on a much smaller ship than Regent. When there are 100+ passengers in a lounge, it would be difficult if not impossible to make hand crafted cocktails - even with three bartenders. OTOH, when the bars have very few customers, most bartenders are happy to try out new drinks - make hand crafted drinks, etc.

 

Since we are minimally social beings, we enjoy sitting at the bar - getting to know the bartenders - watching them make drinks, etc. I have not had an issue with bartenders making a drink other than what is standard. For instance, I generally have a Kir Royale every night before dinner but ask for it with only a splash of Creme de Cassis - it works almost every time.

[forgap]

FYI, Daniella I’d a certified sommelier. I don’t know about Frank, but he’s French which is certification enough!

[Travelcat2]

FYI, Daniella I’d a certified sommelier. I don’t know about Frank, but he’s French which is certification enough!

 

Did not know that about Daniela. Just know that she and Franck worked their way up the ranks at Regent.

[MalbecWine]

Other luxury lines including premium lines have master Sommeliers and highly trained bar keepers that can concoct anything. Surprised that Regent does not have this in their training program. I agree about pool service as at times it was not attentive. YMMV

[Travelcat2]

Other luxury lines including premium lines have master Sommeliers and highly trained bar keepers that can concoct anything. Surprised that Regent does not have this in their training program. I agree about pool service as at times it was not attentive. YMMV

 

Specifically what luxury cruise lines are you referring to? And, have you had difficulty getting the drinks that you want on Regent?

[MalbecWine]

Silversea Seabourn,Crystal and as others have mentioned the mixologist on Regent at least on the Voyager have not been on the Explorer yet were rather clumsy and slow around the pool. We had to go and get our own drinks and a simple Bloody Mary took forever to make. We do realize when they are busy it may take some time but when it was not it still took forever and nobody came by to ask us for a refill or a topper.

[Winters Gate]

Ok let´s go on to food!

 

 

Food:

For most of us this is one of the most important topic on a cruise and for us as well. We are foodis or maybe even more then that, I have been working as a chef, souschef and executive chef in hotels and restaurants in Sweden, Swizerland, Austria and Denmark and my wife has been in the restaurant business for many years so we both are well aware what quality food is.

As we all know food is subjective, but that said it´s only subjective in matter of taste, one like more salt the other one less, some like spicy and some people not, however it´s not subjective if a dish is well prepared or not, also the quality of the meat, fish, seafood is not subjective.

 

Travelcat2 is right we, as Oceania cruisers think there food on O are good and sometimes really good. But the best food at see? I was not convinced about that, there best must be better then good to really good out there I thought.

So how does the food on Regent compare, I had mixed feelings before the trip. The menus I checked out online before the cruise sounded really good, my taste of food so to say.(One should maybe know that this cruise was supposed to be on Seabourn but we turned that down because the menus online did not impress us at all) But I had also read a lot of mixed reviews about the food on Regent some that was not good at all!

 

Pool Grill:

We only ate here once, we both had a burger and it was thick, juicy and well prepared, I think the layout of the pool grill is better on Voyager then on O and the salad buffé looked a bit more extensive and it also seemed a little bit less chaotic in the afternoon then on O, however we both did miss the Surf and Turf sandwich they have on on O. The ice cream was about the same quality on both lines, very good!

I will say that the Poolgrill is a tie between Voyager and Riviera!

 

La Veranda:

We are not buffé people so we only had lunch here twice, embarkation day and one day when CR was closed.

The restaurant on Voyager and O are close to two copies of each other, my impression is that the range of dishes where a bit more limited on Voyager but on the other hand I think the food was of better quality and better prepared at the Veranda and for me quality always wins over quantity.

I was a bit surprised to se the small deck for dining al Fresco at the Voyager there is much more space at the Riviera

I think that Voyager wins this one slightly over Riviera!

 

Sette Mari:

As I said we like the food on O but if it´s one restaurant we like less then it´s their Italian restaurant Toscana, the menu feels a bit dated and the food is most of the time blend and full of starch.

Before the cruise we said to each other that we might have to try Sette Mari once anyway. After a day or two we met a couple who said we just have to go it´s just so good so we went.....

And wow this was really something else then Toscana on O, the whole experience was totally different, the small bites of parmesan, meatballs, olives etc. was very nice, and the system with ordering pasta and main course and have the appetizer and dessert from the buffe worked out very well.

And the most important thing of all the food was very, very good! Well prepared dishes with a nice balance of flavor in each one of them.

And the menu was also changing from time to time and the service was excellent.

We ended up eating here three times during our cruise.

Voyager vs Riviera, Voyager wins on KO:D

 

Chartreuse:

The french restaurant Jacques on O is our favorite and would be hard to beat for Regent.

Chartreuse was nice as well, the food was good and tasty but not up to Jacques standard, we had excellent service here as well but it was not Jacques, the ambiance was not the same and I think the menu at Chartreuse was a little bit limited compared to O.

Riviera takes this one home!

 

Prime 7:

We like Polo on O very much, we don´t have that much Steakhouses in Sweden but we do love a good steak and a juicy lobster.

I think that the menu was a little superior in Prime 7 compared to Polo, it was nice to be able to order Seafood on ice(that´s the way we eat it most of the time in Sweden) and also to use king crab legs to make a Surf and Turf was a nice surprise as well. The Popcorn Sundae was a really decadent end to a lovely meal as well

Both service and food was in my opinion slightly better in Prime 7 then in Polo, but we have eaten a lot in Polo and the menu is maybe some how not surprising any more, it might have been the new experience who just give us the feeling it was better.

Prime 7 vs Polo is a slight win for Prime 7!

 

Compass Rose:

 

Breakfast: The breakfast menu in CR was not that extensive as on O, for example no fresh berries, no egg Benedict and so on. You do get the berries if you ask and they where nice but then you have to know that and everybody might not know it, I did not ask for egg Benedict so I don't know if you can get that as well. Anyway the food and service was good but not as good as on Os breakfast GDR.

O wins this one.

 

Lunch:

We eat a lot of lunches i the GDR on O and we like it very much, the service and quietness makes the experience so much different from dinner time.

We had most of our lunches in CR as we don't like buffé eating so much and the experience was similar one can say, peace an quiet. The food was very good and well prepared and we did try quiet a few of the dishes from the set menu, and some daily specials as well.

For a 10 day cruise the menu was very nice but I think that for a longer cruise I will fell rather limited with the set menu and so few daily specials and we did miss Oceanias Food of the World as we like to share for Appetizer.

As I said the food for lunch in CR was well prepared but with one exception, on our lunch the first day of the cruise I ordered the Quiche and it was not good, way to much cheese which made it stone hard and as you tried to cut it it leaked liquid cream as if they tried to soften it up after they baked it and the so called mixed greens was just some cut rose salad, as this was one of our first meals onboard I did get worried but it turned out that this was the only dish on the hole cruise that was very bad prepared!

Lunch in CR vs Riviera is a draw!

 

Dinner:

I think the food in the GDR nighttime on O is most of the time is good to very good but once in a while they just don´t nail it, so to marketing it as the best food at sea is to stretch it a bit to far I think, and I was right!

The food dinnertime in CR on the Voyager was just one or two step above what you get on O, the menu is just so much nicer, actually you hardly don´t need a specialty restaurant when the CR have a menu like that, and it´s just impressive that they also can remain to keep it at that high level they do. The lobster tail was very good with a nice grill taste, sweet and tender and the steaks where very nice as well.

The daily specials was also of high quality and it was plenty to choose from unlike lunch time!

Desserts where also of very high standard and task, it was a treat to have a different suffé every evening.

CR on Voyager vs GDR on O is a clear win to CR!

 

So what is the overall impression?

I think that when it comes to food Regent is just one or two steps above Oceania(at least on this sailing), to have menus like they have and manage to keep it at that high quality and to be that consistent is very impressive, especially at sea. Of course they can´t compete with high end land based restaurants but they have totally different conditions to work from!

Maybe we where lucky that all good chefs was onboard this sailing, I don't no but as we probably will sail Regent again we will discover if we had a lucky shot!

 

An overall impression of the cruise is still to come for those who still has the desire to read on!

[WesW]

Per and Isabelle/Winters Gate; thank you for sharing a terrifically well balanced comparison post on dining on both R & O. Your post was, using your own words, a "KO."

[Winters Gate]

Per and Isabelle/Winters Gate; thank you for sharing a terrifically well balanced comparison post on dining on both R & O. Your post was, using your own words, a "KO."

 

WesW- How do you know our names, where you on the cruise as well? Did we met you on the cruise? Or have I revealed it in the thread somewhere?:confused:

[Winters Gate]

Overall impression:

 

Is Regent true luxury crusing?

In some ways yes it is, they deliver a very nice product and one do feel pampered most of the time, BUT a chain is not stronger then it´s weakest link and I think they just have to have more consistency through all departments on the ship if they want to be true luxury all the way!

I know that no cruise will ever be perfect, there will always be a dish or a drink that is not well prepared or a crew member who has a bad day or like one lunch in CR when I had to wait quit long for my dessert and when it at last came out it was wrong, things like that will always happen and we all just have to live with that.

No the problem occur when whole departments don't deliver through the whole cruise, in this case the bar service and the maintenance of the pool area.

It´s a shame actually because Regent have the capability to deliver "the perfect cruise" with only a few adjustments, training off staff and have the right people on the right positions, so way don't they take the chance!!

 

I think Oceanias product holds a much higher level of consistency then Regent, however in some parts Regent deliver way above Oceania especially when it comes to food witch for me is very important, I also think that the ambience of the ship was much better on Regent, more people in the bars, late night entertainment in the Voyager lounge that attract quite a funny crowed, I think this is because of the included drinks. Oceania is often pretty dead after showtime witch is a little bit boring.

Prior to the cruise and also a reason way I am writing this comparison is that there has been some statement that it´s not even possible to compare Oceania witch is called "Premium Plus" to "True Luxury" Regent, it´s like comparing appeals and oranges according to some CC members, well I can reveal that thats is not just true it works perfectly find from my point of view and I don't understand the logic behind such a statement.

 

We just met so many nice and funny people to chat and have a nice time with on this cruise, at the pool and in lounges. Early in the cruise we met a lovely couple from Dallas that we chatted with by the pool and in lounges, the last night we all decided to have a farewell dinner in Sette Mari and had such a great time eating and chatting that we hardly noticed that all the other guest left.

 

All in all it was just a great cruise despite some problems, as a matter of fact THIS WAS OUR BEST CRUISE EVER with Oceania close behind!