Connectivity on Regent

[FlyerTalker]

4 hours ago, morneau said:

Unfortunately we canceled our upcoming cruise on Explorer a few days ago after reading troubling reports about the lack of reliable internet connectivity on board.  It seems clear that this is certainly not a new problem, and the thought of being unable to connect to important matters back home while at sea was a deal breaker for us.  We have enjoyed our past trips on Explorer but  we have too many people back home (work, elderly parents) to take such a chance.  I certainly will not book a future cruise unless and until this problem has been solved.

 

Critical question:  Did you advise Regent that your cancellation was due to the poor performance of shipboard connectivity?

 

If you did, that may help to get the message across to their "pocketbook".  If you didn't, it was a missed opportunity and perhaps you can catch up.

 

Until they actually see that they are losing money because of this issue, it is merely some grousing.  "Yeah, yeah....you don't like the connectivity.  But I see you are still booking with us."

 

Reality check for the group here (public responses not necessary)  - How many of you have complaints about the internet onboard?  Now, how many of you have complained?  How many of you have stopped sailing on Regent until this is resolved?  As long as the ratio of the last group to the first remains small, what incentive is there for change from HQ?

[flossie009]

15 hours ago, morneau said:

Unfortunately we canceled our upcoming cruise on Explorer a few days ago after reading troubling reports about the lack of reliable internet connectivity on board.  It seems clear that this is certainly not a new problem, and the thought of being unable to connect to important matters back home while at sea was a deal breaker for us.  We have enjoyed our past trips on Explorer but  we have too many people back home (work, elderly parents) to take such a chance.  I certainly will not book a future cruise unless and until this problem has been solved.

Although internet connectivity is frustrating, it is not a deal breaker for us. But we will continue to raise the issue (in person, on surveys/questionnaires and on social media)

It may be slow and sometimes intermittent but we have always achieved what we want ........... eventually.

If something was very urgent, and we found we could not message or email, we would simply use the ship's phone, which invariably seems to work OK.

 

11 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

How many of you have stopped sailing on Regent until this is resolved? 

This aspect of the Regent experience is extremely poor. However we would not forego our enjoyment of Regent cruises just in order to make a point.

IMO, it is unlikely that internet connectivity would be addressed or solved by "cutting off your nose to spite your face". 

 

16 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

What I find amazing at this point is that Regent hasn’t responded on these boards or that Regent hasn’t issued meaningful clarifications and updates on its website and on its ships.

I agree that Regent should step-up in order to give meaningful information about their plans and a rational explanation as to why the internet service remains so poor on their ships .......... and seemingly getting worse.

Is it perhaps because they are locked in to a bad contract with a poor internet provider? 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

This aspect of the Regent experience is extremely poor. However we would not forego our enjoyment of Regent cruises just in order to make a point.

IMO, it is unlikely that internet connectivity would be addressed or solved by "cutting off your nose to spite your face".

 

Suffice to say that there are other luxury lines, with an experience comparable to Regent, where internet connectivity is FAR better than what you receive from Regent.

 

Thought problem:  If Regent provides poor connectivity, yet they do not receive a business penalty because of it, why should they invest money into this area?

 

Thought problem two:  Substitute "food quality" for "connectivity" in all of these discussions.  Now what do you say?  And would Regent fix that problem if it was causing them to lose business?

 

People have changed to a different cruiseline because of deficiencies in their wines, food, entertainment and the rest.  Why should not connectivity also be a differentiating factor between cruiselines?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

27 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

...

People have changed to a different cruiseline because of deficiencies in their wines, food, entertainment and the rest.  Why should not connectivity also be a differentiating factor between cruiselines?

 

Unfortunately many of us have perks from being frequent cruisers that would be hard to beat.  Other luxury or premium lines do too, but at this point, we don't have that status.  Internet is often metered and expensive on those lines.  Just another aspect of the decision-making process we all go through.

 

As for deficiencies in food and wine, that might be a deal-breaker for me (although I don't expect Michelin* dining on any cruise ship), entertainment certainly would not (although it is for many.)  Diminishing of service certainly would be a deal-breaker for me.

 

So yes, it could be a differentiator, and if so, then Regent loses for sure.  Not enough for me to cancel my world cruise in 2021, but then all I want to do is check my mail, post to FB once in a while, and pay my bills (oh, and running whatsapp).  If it seems they won't be providing even that, I may have to consider cancelling.  I don't mind being "cut off from the world", but I do have to pay that credit card bill every month, etc.

 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

People have changed to a different cruiseline because of deficiencies in their wines, food, entertainment and the rest.  Why should not connectivity also be a differentiating factor between cruiselines?

Because, for us, internet connectivity is not the core value of a cruise. For others it may be

[rallydave]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Unfortunately many of us have perks from being frequent cruisers that would be hard to beat.  Other luxury or premium lines do too, but at this point, we don't have that status.  Internet is often metered and expensive on those lines.  Just another aspect of the decision-making process we all go through.

 

As for deficiencies in food and wine, that might be a deal-breaker for me (although I don't expect Michelin* dining on any cruise ship), entertainment certainly would not (although it is for many.)  Diminishing of service certainly would be a deal-breaker for me.

 

So yes, it could be a differentiator, and if so, then Regent loses for sure.  Not enough for me to cancel my world cruise in 2021, but then all I want to do is check my mail, post to FB once in a while, and pay my bills (oh, and running whatsapp).  If it seems they won't be providing even that, I may have to consider cancelling.  I don't mind being "cut off from the world", but I do have to pay that credit card bill every month, etc.

 

Wendy, regarding paying credit card bills, we did a World Cruise back in 2013 and had no issues with paying credit card bills as we simply set up automatic payments on the date payment is due.  We have continued that and it works well without worry should the internet be down, slow, etc. on the date due which would incur interest from that day until payment is made in full as we do monthly.

 

You can always change the payment up until it is made should there be an anomaly in the amount billed and/or put part of your bill in disputes all from the ship as soon as you see a strange charge.  Should Regent not improve the internet before you sail suggest you try this method before leaving for the cruise and possibly make your payments this way in the future.  It sure relieves me of any worry of mail not arriving or internet being unavailable thus incurring interest which could be significant.

 

Good luck and have a wonderful World Cruise,

[Eager2Travel]

We are on Explorer now and are not having a problem. I am posting from our suite on my IPad .