Live on Voyager; First timer on Regent!

[Tarwood3]

Hi all! Yesterday was embarkation day in Miami for our 10 day Western Caribbean cruise, stopping at Costa Maya, Harvest Caye Belize, Roatan Honduras, San Tomas Guatemala, Cozumel, Grand Cayman , Key West back to Miami in that order.  We have sailed on Silversea many times, Seabourn, Paul Gauguin, Azamara, many Celebrity, Holland America and Royal Caribbean.  When we have been on some of our Silversea cruises, Regent always seem to pop up as being a favorable alternative to Silversea so we thought we would see what all the fuss is about!  

Today is a sea day and unfortunately its cloudy with scattered showers but that just means more time for reading, movies, wandering about the ship.  I wanted to try the beginners Bridge class since that always seems to be popular but we missed the early 930 meet up.  So , perhaps I will see what Bridge is all about later in the cruise if a beginners class is offered again.  We do have a Virtuoso organized galley tour at 430p today, which I always love.  

Since we just boarded yesterday afternoon, I dont have a lot to write about but so far our first impressions are positive.  Check in was a bit slow, long queue, but that was just bad timing I guess.  We live in Sarasota and drove ourselves to Miami port.  We just happen to arrive when the 2 big bus loads of hotel transfer folks arrived, otherwise I dont think check in would have been quite so time consuming.  But for the number of people, they seem well organized and processed fast.  The lady behind us in line was very miffed that the porter expected a tip to take her luggage...she thought it was an abomination??? IDK...its America, its what we do here, tip! Maybe Regent frowns on this , I dont know? But no big deal to us.  We toured the ship yesterday and seems quite nice.  I know it had a refurbishment a couple years ago, but it certainly couldn’t have been a complete refurbishment as some areas still seem quite dated...like corridor walls, Chartreuse restaurant, our bathroom cabinetry, the cabinet below the tv...but its all good.  We are a little spoiled because we just got off the brand new Celebrity Edge on its maiden voyage last month  and its spectacular.  In November we just did Silver Muse which is new to Silversea and again gorgeous.  I’m sure the Regent Explorer is stunning as well.  The Voyager reminds me of the Silversea ships that haven’t been refurbished .  Nice, a little older elegance, but in need of some modernizing.  It certainly doesnt affect our enjoyment of the cruise.  

The cabin seems comparable to Silversea in size and amenities .  I think in its next refurbishment, they need to do something about the cabinets below the tv...kind of a waste.  No drawer space, no storage space.  Not even any stacked cubby holes on either side of tv. So I would stay storage is a bit lacking compared to other  ships we have been on.  

We did dinner last night at Compass Rose.  Food was very good, nothing to complain about thats for sure.  Yesterday for lunch and today for breakfast we did LaVeranda buffet.  Food is just fine.  I think it’s really lacking in variety compared to Silversea and Seabourn.  Ithink tomorrow we will go to Compass Rose for breakfast...I’m not a fan of buffets anyway.  

We did do the show last night.  I liked that it was a variety show;meaning they had all the entertainers from all the venues perform.  It was a great way to see what Regent has to offer in the differnet parts of the ship.  I hadn’t seen this done before and quite liked it.  

We stopped in the shops and just like every other cruise line, retail shops are VERY lacking in men’s clothes and interests...very minimal.  All about the ladies... 

Well thats it for now.  Enjoying our veranda and these comfy chairs ...cloudy but enjoying the sights of Cuba ....

Even though its early in the cruise, it seems to me that Silversea and Regent are more alike than different.  I think that must be why we have heard so many favorable reviews from our Silversea friends.  Time will tell how we feel...but already we are quite comfortable and enjoying the ride!

[Tarwood3]

Oh, 2 more quick things....

Staff: really great so far.  Super nice and helpful.  Very warm like Silversea and Seabourn.  We are in a deluxe veranda, (#816)... there are 2 people who service the suite...I guess one isn’t a butler..2 suite attendants maybe? IDK how that works on here? But nonetheless, I really like them.  The butler thing has never been important to us. We could take it or leave it.  We are pretty low maintenance, so we have found that a room attendant seems to do everything a butler would do...actually they seem to work harder and do more in our honest opinion. Regardless of what we have, they both seem top notch in our books. 

I did want to mention that I really liked the menu in Compass Rose.  It seemed to have more variety than SS or SB.  I liked that one page has the “always available” items and the other side of the menu has the chefs specials.  It reminds me of the Holland America cruise we did around Australia last year.  

 

[UUNetBill]

Tarwood - I'll be interested to read more of you observations having just left the Voyager yesterday after the 10-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary.  I'll be posting my thoughts on a thread I started to possibly post live from on board, but frankly I was having too much fun to log on every day.  Mea culpa!!

 

I hope your cruise is as enjoyable as ours was - this was Regent cruise number 9 for us if I'm counting correctly, and my wife and I both agreed that it was one of our best.  The ship was in excellent shape and the crew was happy and very efficient.  The few minor issues we'd noted on previous cruises were all but gone on this one.

 

Now log off of CC and go enjoy your cruise!  

[Tarwood3]

Thanks UUNetBill....I will do my best to do some updates here and there on our experience.  The cruise director announced last night that Regent was able to secure licensing from the NFL to broadcast the playoffs on Sunday! They are going to show it in the Constellation Theatre as well on the tv in the cabins.  He said they are going to do a huge “tailgate spread of food” in the Theatre...that sounds pretty cool and something different! 

[UUNetBill]

Excellent!  They also had a feed for the Clemson-Alabama Championship Game but only played it on the TV channels - I'd have been happy to see it fed into the Theater or one of the lounges so we could have had a viewing party...but hey, it was good just to be able to watch the game.

[RJ2002]

Tarwood3, thanks for starting this thread. We are also onboard the Voyager, our second Regent cruise. Our first sailing was on the Mariner about a year ago. 

 

Our embarkation at about 1pm was very quick, so I guess we missed the rush. 

 

Agree with Bill. In our opinion, the Voyager is in fine shape. We are in a PH-A and it is in great condition and very comfortable. We decided to accept an up-sell about a week prior to the cruise, from our DV-F. However, glimpsing into the open doors of those suites this morning, I think in retrospect we’d have been just as happy in a DV. I will say that the comments about vibration issues on the ship seem to be accurate. It has been previously suggested here to avoid booking suites aft of the launderettes, and IMO that is good advice. 

 

Service has been excellent.   The food so far (La Veranda for lunch and breakfast, Compass Rose for dinner) has been good, but not quite as good as what we experienced on the Mariner, or on Oceania’s Nautica - on which we just sailed a couple of months ago.  But hey, it’s early in the cruise and we are looking forward to everything ahead. 🙂

 

Onboard this sailing:

 

Captain: Felice Patruno

GM: Davor Josipovic 

CD: Andy Heath (wife Tammy is Social Hostess)

Exec Chef: Dino Schwager

Large contingent of singers/dancers - 12 in total 

 

Enjoyed the first enrichment lecture by Dr Anthony Aveni this morning. 

 

Won one game at bingo this morning... whoo-hoo!  😀

 

 

[RachelG]

Tarwood, glad you are off to a good start.  I agree that Regent and Silversea are more alike than they are different, which is fine by me.

 

ironically, chartreuse is actually fairly new.  It used to be Signatures, but was redecorated and designed maybe 3 years ago, so not at all old.

 

the cabinets under the tv are also fairly new, and controversial as there used to be drawers there that were way more functional and where I had my husband store his foldable clothing.  The open cabinets are really useless.

[boblerm]

Tarwood3, thank you for posting your observations and thoughts about your cruise, I look forward to hearing more.  We are sort of "mirror images" of you, we are frequent Regent cruisers taking our first Silversea cruise (on the Spirit) next month.  

 

RJ2002, looking forward to hear of your observations as well.

 

I wish you all a wonderful cruise!

Bob

[Tarwood3]

18 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

Tarwood3, thanks for starting this thread. We are also onboard the Voyager, our second Regent cruise. Our first sailing was on the Mariner about a year ago. 

 

Our embarkation at about 1pm was very quick, so I guess we missed the rush. 

 

Agree with Bill. In our opinion, the Voyager is in fine shape. We are in a PH-A and it is in great condition and very comfortable. We decided to accept an up-sell about a week prior to the cruise, from our DV-F. However, glimpsing into the open doors of those suites this morning, I think in retrospect we’d have been just as happy in a DV. I will say that the comments about vibration issues on the ship seem to be accurate. It has been previously suggested here to avoid booking suites aft of the launderettes, and IMO that is good advice. 

 

Service has been excellent.   The food so far (La Veranda for lunch and breakfast, Compass Rose for dinner) has been good, but not quite as good as what we experienced on the Mariner, or on Oceania’s Nautica - on which we just sailed a couple of months ago.  But hey, it’s early in the cruise and we are looking forward to everything ahead. 🙂

 

Onboard this sailing:

 

Captain: Felice Patruno

GM: Davor Josipovic 

CD: Andy Heath (wife Tammy is Social Hostess)

Exec Chef: Dino Schwager

Large contingent of singers/dancers - 12 in total 

 

Enjoyed the first enrichment lecture by Dr Anthony Aveni this morning. 

 

Won one game at bingo this morning... whoo-hoo!  😀

 

 

Ah! Nice to see another fellow cruiser on here! 

[Tarwood3]

17 hours ago, RachelG said:

Tarwood, glad you are off to a good start.  I agree that Regent and Silversea are more alike than they are different, which is fine by me.

 

ironically, chartreuse is actually fairly new.  It used to be Signatures, but was redecorated and designed maybe 3 years ago, so not at all old.

 

the cabinets under the tv are also fairly new, and controversial as there used to be drawers there that were way more functional and where I had my husband store his foldable clothing.  The open cabinets are really useless.

Interesting about Chartreuse.  It looked so plain upon embarkation.  Perhaps it looks better in the evening when lighted and tables set? We will see in a couple days when we eat there! 

[Tarwood3]

The rest of our sea day turned out pretty good after I did my original post.  We did lunch at the pool grill and the sun decided to come out so we grabbed a couple loungers by the pool.  They were comfy and we liked the towels covering the chairs... After a couple hours in the sun, we went in and changed clothes and did the galley tour...man, the smell of the bread and pastries baking were heaven.  Always amazes me that they can produce so many meals from such a small space.  6p was the Captains Welcome which we did then to the Voyager lounge for a martini and listened to the guitar and singer duo..their name escapes me.  Off to Compass Rose for dinner where I decided to step out of my comfott zone and try the Executive Chef degustation menu.  I’m not a big eater, so 6 courses for me is usually too much but they were smaller portions so it worked well and wow was it delicious!! Siberian Caviar Profiteroles, Tart Tatin, Oxtail Consommé, Kir Royale Sorbet, Duck ( cant remember how it was prepared) and ended with a Tanzanian Chocolate Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream.  Really excellent menu! We did the show afterwards...called “ Dancin Fool”...it was good.  NIce to see 12 performers, not like the usual 6 on Silversea...

well, we just docked here in Costa Maya, a bit late due to sea conditions here at the port.  Took some time to make our way to the pier.  ATV and beach today....all good so far ..and might I mention, I really like the beds..comfy! 

[Tarwood3]

15 hours ago, boblerm said:

Tarwood3, thank you for posting your observations and thoughts about your cruise, I look forward to hearing more.  We are sort of "mirror images" of you, we are frequent Regent cruisers taking our first Silversea cruise (on the Spirit) next month.  

 

RJ2002, looking forward to hear of your observations as well.

 

I wish you all a wonderful cruise!

Bob

We have been on the Spirit twice.  Teh last time was the last sailing before dry dock.  I have heard from a friend that its fantastic.  Its very similar to the Silver Muse now which we just did in November in Vietnam andloved it!! FYI...beds are very very firm.  Ask for a foam topper from your butler as soon as your arrive unless you like firm mattresses.  

[Hambagahle]

Tarwood3 - have a wonderful cruise.  We did the same itinerary on Oceania's Riviera some years ago and it was one of the most interesting cruises we have done...

 

To clear up one thing - the men who take your bags at embarkation and sling them into those "bins" are not Regent employees.  They are contract dockside workers.  Which is why they expect tips.  Were they Regent staff there would be no tipping of course.   We are Swiss and hate tipping (here service is included in prices) but we always have $10 handy to slip to the baggage handlers and think of it as an insurance policy that we will, in the end, get our bags!!  Cost of doing business...

 

Looking forward enormously to your taking us along on your cruise!

Edited January 19, 2019 by Hambagahle

[boblerm]

8 hours ago, Tarwood3 said:

 Ask for a foam topper from your butler as soon as your arrive unless you like firm mattresses.  

DW does NOT like firm mattresses, and thanks you for the tip.

Bob

[Travelcat2]

On 1/18/2019 at 10:24 AM, RJ2002 said:

 

 

Service has been excellent.   The food so far (La Veranda for lunch and breakfast, Compass Rose for dinner) has been good, but not quite as good as what we experienced on the Mariner, or on Oceania’s Nautica - on which we just sailed a couple of months ago.  But hey, it’s early in the cruise and we are looking forward to everything ahead. 🙂

 

Won one game at bingo this morning... whoo-hoo!  😀

 

 

 

Congratulations on winning one game of bingo - you are the first person that recall that won anything at bingo!

 

As you know, food is subjective and our opinion of the food on Oceania is quite a bit different.  We will not dine in the Terrace Cafe (equivalent to La Veranda) due to the food quality (it looks beautiful but we did not find that quality to be there).  We also avoid the MDR.  We do love the food in the specialty restaurants - especially Jacques (which I do not believe is on Nautica).  

 

And speaking of differences, we sailed on the Spirit before it was stretched and did not care for the ship at all (not even a restroom in the very small observation lounge).  Of course, this may all be different now.  Despite not liking the ship, we enjoyed the food and service so we went on to sail on the Whisper and Shadow and loved both ships.  In our opinion, their lunch buffet is a bit better than Regent (likely because there is so much sushi/sashimi which I love).  We found the food in Compass Rose to be better than their equivalent MDR.  Service was excellent.

 

Our suite was quite strange (Silver Suite).  There were three doors that went into the closet.  The first night I found myself accidentally walking into the closet instead of the bathroom.  Still wonder about that closet.  I did not care for the fact that the desk had no drawers but the suite was generally quite nice (liked the separate toilet/sink area with a door between that part of the bathroom and the part with the shower/bath, etc.)

 

Silversea's wine tastings on transatlantic/transpacific cruises is the best we have seen anywhere.

[ronrick1943]

Tarwood3, thanks for taking the time, really enjoying your post.  Have a fun, enjoyable cruise and I look forward to more of y9our post.

 

[Lucid Butterfly]

I will be going on the Regent in September 2020 and wanted to know what your thoughts are? Do you find 700 passengers not too overwhelming? I also like the idea of this meet up on the ship especially I will be going solo. Most of my friends have been or they just do not want to do any travelling in 2020. Would like to hear from you.

[UUNetBill]

57 minutes ago, Lucid Butterfly said:

I will be going on the Regent in September 2020 and wanted to know what your thoughts are? Do you find 700 passengers not too overwhelming? I also like the idea of this meet up on the ship especially I will be going solo. Most of my friends have been or they just do not want to do any travelling in 2020. Would like to hear from you.

We have never found any of the Regent ships to feel overwhelming at all, in fact it’s usually the opposite.  On certain itineraries the pool deck/pool grill/La Veranda may sometimes feel a bit snug, but the rest of the ship has a very favorable public space ratio...

 

We sailed on Cunard once on a 2,500-2,800 passenger ship and we didn’t care for that at all.  We find the 490-750 on Regent much more to our liking.

[tripperva]

You're right about the shops having minimal selection. It's hard to use up credit. Especially men's stuff.

[RJ2002]

Many thanks to Tarwood3 for letting me share my Voyager experiences here as well. 

 

Service continues to be excellent from all departments. 

 

Last night was the Block Party, and we had a great time meeting some of our neighbors, as well as the quick hello to the Captain, GM and CD. Really enjoy this feature on Regent. 

 

I may have to retract my earlier comment about the cuisine after two delicious dinners onboard.  Friday night we dined in CR, and very much enjoyed our meal and entrees...  a pan seared grouper and lobster fra diavolo pasta.  Last night, Saturday, we had another fabulous meal, this time in Chartreuse... our first experience since the changeover from Signatures. One of us had cheese soufflé, cream of artichoke soup and the Black Foot chicken breast, and one had the steak tartare, artichoke soup and the roasted veal filet. All very good, and recommended. 

 

Yesterday at our port call in Costa Maya Mexico, we opted for the longer, full day tour to the Mayan ruins at Kohunlich. Thankfully we had a very comfortable coach for our two hour transit to the site. Upon arrival, we spent about 1 1/2 hours touring the site with our excellent guide.  The site itself was impressive and, IMO, worth the time investment. Heading back to the port, we stopped at an outdoor pavilion next to a lagoon where we had a not-so-memorable lunch. At least the setting was nice. 😉

 

Today, Sunday, we’re at the NCL private island of Harvest Caye, Belize.  We’re planning to snorkel. 

 

Almost forgot...  champagne and caviar on offer this morning in LV, as well as one of my favorites... sticky buns!

[Lucid Butterfly]

16 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

We have never found any of the Regent ships to feel overwhelming at all, in fact it’s usually the opposite.  On certain itineraries the pool deck/pool grill/La Veranda may sometimes feel a bit snug, but the rest of the ship has a very favorable public space ratio...

 

We sailed on Cunard once on a 2,500-2,800 passenger ship and we didn’t care for that at all.  We find the 490-750 on Regent much more to our liking.

Thank you for your response. It is always helpful to hear from others about cruising. I am new at this and appreciate everyone's input. 

[Lucid Butterfly]

16 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

We have never found any of the Regent ships to feel overwhelming at all, in fact it’s usually the opposite.  On certain itineraries the pool deck/pool grill/La Veranda may sometimes feel a bit snug, but the rest of the ship has a very favorable public space ratio...

 

We sailed on Cunard once on a 2,500-2,800 passenger ship and we didn’t care for that at all.  We find the 490-750 on Regent much more to our liking.

 

[Lucid Butterfly]

Thanks for your response. I really appreciate your openness and honesty. It's always helpful when I am first time on the Regent to have another person's perspective about the ship. I have had two previous experiences with cruise ships and have to say that smaller ships are the only ones I will be on. 

[Tarwood3]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:28 PM, Lucid Butterfly said:

I will be going on the Regent in September 2020 and wanted to know what your thoughts are? Do you find 700 passengers not too overwhelming? I also like the idea of this meet up on the ship especially I will be going solo. Most of my friends have been or they just do not want to do any travelling in 2020. Would like to hear from you.

Hi there...no, not overwhelmed at all with 700.  It s definitely not crowded.  For us it’s a nice size ship.  We have done the 200-350 passenger ships and they’re just too small for our taste.  They seem to be very low energy, few people socializing at night etc....normally there aren’t very many restaurants, bars etc...they just lack variety and fun for us.  This ship is proportionate in size, so a bit larger and hence everyone is spread out.  There are quite a few solo travelers on here right now.  There;s normally a meet up for them every evening before dinner and many elect to go to dinner together afterward. Even without that group, you will probably meet plenty of people.  Folks strike up conversation everywhere...by the pool, in the corridors, elevator etc.  On excursions you will meet folks and therefore you will see them a lot on board.  

[Tarwood3]

 

So here it is day 5 and mid point through cruise.  Its been a couple days since my last update, in part due to the frustrating wifi.  Its just terrible.  

Anyway, I will be a bit brief if thats’ possible...lol 

Our day 3 was in Costa Maya and we did the ATV tour with beach break.  We were taken to the ATVs in beach party bus...good music, fun guests... The actual ATV part was a lot of fun.  There were 28 people in the group but they had us divided into 3 groups based on experience riding ATV.  The trails were great, bumpy, muddy, curvey through the jungle...everything 4 wheelin should be.  They then took us to a beach resort area...the coastline was beautiful...lots of chairs and shade etc .  They had free cocktails but there was a constant stream of locals selling everything from cigars to coconuts.  We had our free drink and took advantage of their free taxi ride back to the port .  The port of Costa Maya was built for cruise ships and its a pretty big area with lots of restaurants, bars, shops, dolphins, aviary , pool, etc...much nicer than the beach place. That evening was the block party.which was a cool idea.  We had never seen that before on a cruise ship.  Great to meet ourneighbors and have wine and appetizers in the hallway.  Dinner was at the Pool Grill...surprisingly it wasnt crowded , actually very few people.  Weather was perfect .  We really enjoyed it....quiet, peaceful and good food. 

Day4: Belize.  So had we known that Harvest Caye private island was so beautiful...we never would have gone on our excursion.  Its definitely worth a whole days’ visit.  So much to do on the island with lots of food and retail offerings.  Instead we were subjected to terrible old school bus for a long drive to a mediocre Mayan ruins .  To echo RJ2000, Kohunlich ruins in Costa Maya is much better...one of the best we have been to.  Nothing compares after that.  Anyway, we also did a spice farm,which was fantastic.  500 acre place that could double for a botanical gardens.  We loved the trolley tour through teh farm...really great place! Unfortunately by time we got back to Harvest Caye, the weather turned bad and was pouring rain,  So we came back to the ship and watched the football games that were broadcast in the Constellation theatre complete with awesome tailgate snacks! It was a fun experience and kudos to REgent for securing the license from NFL to broadcast it.   We did Prime 7 for dinner ...it was very good, although partner’s steak was barely warm...but tasty at least.  So I do have a gripe about how the specialty restaurant thing works.  We made res for 4 for Prime 7 for our friends bday when it was first available to book online.  On first day of cruise, I asked for a table for 2 later in the cruise at PRime 7 again.  I was told I had to wait until day 3 as they wanted to give people a chance to eat their at least once.  I said “ well, they have had months to book online, I dont see why I have to wait until day 3”. She was curt and definitely the last friendly crew we have met on board.  Anyway, we went back day 3 and asked for a table for 2 late in cruise.  Her response.  “ I have tonight at a table for 6”?? Anyway, long story short, she doesnt listen to requests.  She told us no, we can’t do a table for 2.  So we invited our friends again and have a table for 4 later in cruise. .  Clearly they dont have enough tables for 2...I might be in the minority but I dont want to dine with strangers.  Its painful for an introvert like me.  I have never had such an issue with Silversea and specialty restaurants.  I defintley dont l like how Regent handles the specialties.  Ok end of rant....lol.  At mid way through cruise, I still think breakfast and lunch are weak on Regent compared to SS and SB, just not enough variety.  Again, I do prefer the menu on Regent in Compass Rose over SS...more varied.  Tonight we are eating in Sette Mari La Veranda...well, I probably butchered that...but the Italian restaurant .  So we will see how that goes.  I have heard good things about it, so looking forward to it.