Barcelona to Dubai on the Voyager: A Review

[maryogreen]

A Little Background

Seven years ago, my husband and I took our first Regent cruise on the Voyager...and really disliked it. To be fair, it was a 7-day Mediterranean itinerary with no sea days; admittedly not the best way to get to know a cruise line. Regent was owned by a private equity firm at that time as well, and we found the service – with the exception of our cabin attendant – unfriendly, the dining venues slow and the included excursions just okay. We returned to our beloved Crystal line and never looked back.

 

That is, until 2017, when we booked a voyage to Antarctica on Seabourn. Crystal ships were too large to offer Antarctica landings, so we nervously decided to experience another cruise line. And it was fabulous. So fabulous, in fact, that we sailed another Seabourn ship to Australia and New Zealand the following year.

 

Enter the Middle East. Or Egypt and the Middle East, as my travel dream priorities have always thought of it. As we began to look into the realities of this itinerary, Regent and Oceania seemed to be the only cruise lines that were consistently sailing to Egyptian ports. We had even cancelled a booking on a Crystal Middle East cruise because it seemed imminent that the Egypt ports would be cancelled (which they were). Regent's itinerary was just what we were looking for, and as we began reading the Regent CC Boards, we noticed something: People seemed happy.

 

We booked the October 26 - November 16 cruise, crossed our fingers and made our plans. We would spend two nights in Barcelona before the cruise began and fly to Cairo a day after disembarking in Dubai to see my major bucket list dream, Giza and the Great Pyramid. ( @Gilly I'm sorry  I never had a chance to answer your question...We did continue on – to Cairo!)  @1982CruzStart and @flossie009 did a great job with their live blogs on this voyage. (We were hoping to meet you at that very well-attended Meet and Mingle!) 

 

Here are my thoughts, post-cruise:

 

The Cabin

 

 

We were in Cabin 938, a Concierge D. The room was spacious and beautifully updated from our first Voyager cruise. Thanks to @boblerm and these CC Boards, we knew that drawer space had been removed when the new desks were installed. We used Bob's suggestion of moving the glassware to the little shelves next to the mini fridge, giving us two nice-sized shelves for folded clothing. We each also traveled with packing cubes – a fantastic addition to our travel organization arsenal – placing cubes of like items (socks, etc) on shelves for easy access. The walk-in closet was a lovely and welcome addition for a three-week cruise.

 

The bathroom was well organized and roomy, although it definitely looked a bit dated. The little metal soap dish fell off its track in the shower on an almost daily basis, and it was impossible to balance our travel shampoo bottles on it. Some of the tiles looked quite worn, but our cabin attendants kept them incredibly clean. The bathroom was certainly far from a deal-breaker, but it was a noticeable contrast to the cabin.

 

The Food and Restaurants

I can't say enough wonderful things about the food, the service and the atmosphere of the restaurants. We had a couple of meals that were just okay, but a good 95 percent were absolutely outstanding. We divided our dinners between Compass Rose and Sette Mari, with one dinner each at Prime 7 and Chartreuse. We celebrated our 40th anniversary at Prime 7, and the wait staff went out of their way to serenade us and serve a special dessert. Sette Mari was great for a more casual meal; we ordered off the menu and sometimes added items from the self-serve bar. In Compass Rose we opted for shared tables and met people the first two nights who became friends throughout the cruise and hopefully beyond. I realize that hitting if off with strangers is truly a matter of luck, but it was wonderful to take a chance and have luck present itself at our table!

We ate all of our breakfasts at La Veranda. The first morning Herb asked the delightful maître d' Simone if they had steel cut oatmeal. Not only did the have it, but he had steel cut oatmeal prepared for us every morning – even making sure it was prepared with Herb's requested water rather than milk and without salt – and brought to our table almost as soon as we appeared in the restaurant. We also ate lunches in La Veranda or at the Pool Grill (a nice selection, but not as extensive as on Seabourn and Crystal) and opted for lunch on excursions and when off the ship to experience local foods.

We had room service a couple of evenings, which was always brought on time and with the hot food still hot. (My plans for watching the very, very long Lawrence of Arabia over dinner the night before Wadi Rum didn't quite work out as planned, but we eventually finished it before the cruise ended!)

 

The Ship

The ship was in immaculate condition, with crew members constantly painting, dusting, polishing and vacuuming, especially in the early morning hours. We loved the Coffee Connection, sometimes grabbing a table and often bringing a coffee and snack to our cabin. It's a very crowded spot on sea days! We also used the jogging/walking track on the top deck on sea days and enjoyed spending time in the bright and welcoming public spaces. We found the Voyager to be a nice size...not too large, and not too small.

 

Our Fellow Passengers

I'm not sure if it was solely the itinerary, but we haven't sailed with such an enthusiastic group since our voyage to Antarctica. Everyone we spoke with said the itinerary was their reason for choosing the cruise, and interestingly, people were very specific about why they chose it: The Holy Land, Petra, Dubai, Luxor, the Suez Canal.

 

People were also friendly, eager to meet others and more sociable than we've found on other cruises. The block party – which we'd also experienced on Seabourn – was a great way to get to know the people who lived nearby. We felt especially lucky that our next-door neighbors became good friends throughout the cruise.

 

The Crew and Staff

Wow. Everyone was just superb. Service was friendly and top-notch in every venue, from our cabin to the dining rooms. The most outstanding service was apparent in the specialty restaurants; Compass Rose seemed to be where servers were getting their starts, and they sometimes seeming nervous and "rote" in their interactions. We really got to know the La Veranda staff – especially Dar Le and John – and looked forward to our meals there. I also thought it was a nice touch that Regent assigned two attendants – male and female – to each cabin. Our attendants Elvy and Giovanni were wonderful. They divided the work and seemed less harried than crew we've encountered on other cruises.

 

The officers were very visible throughout the cruise. Captain Felice Petruno was a delight, peppering his daily announcements with quotations and thoughts for the day. He was extremely approachable when we'd see him about the ship. It seemed that he set a happy tone that was evident in the other officers and crew.

 

The Internet

This was the only negative of the trip. A separate thread was started here a while ago by @flossie009 to address this issue. I never expect the internet on cruise ships to be as wonderful as it is on land, but I do expect it to work. I also don't expect it to work very well in the cabin, but I do expect to find some good spots in the public spaces. We had the best luck on Deck 6, next to the game tables and across from the library. The erratic internet was a constant source of frustration – especially for people like my husband who needed to get some work done on sea days – and a never-ending topic among passengers.

 

The Excursions

When it comes to tour guides, I truly believe that most cruises – whether tours are inclusive or not – have three distinct experiences: One fabulous, over-the-top guide, one really awful guide and the rest who do a fine job. This cruise was no exception. Our guide Merv on the Luxor overnight excursion was as wonderful and commanding as if she had been our private guide. Our guide in Petra and Wadi Rum seemed to be the least involved of the guides in our caravan, offering as little information as he possibly could. The others on both the included, Regent Choice and Regent Small Group excursions were excellent.

 

The excursions themselves were terrific – thoughtfully planned, well paced, and when included, with great restaurant selections. This was an itinerary where I wanted to soak in as much as I possibly could, and I really felt fulfilled with everything we experienced. Even on some of the longer journeys we never felt that it was too much for one day. One of my favorite excursions was the day that began with a walk through Petra and ended with a a ride across Wadi Rum in the back of an open-air truck, followed by dinner and music under Bedouin tents and a moonlit sky.

 

We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful overnight excursion to Luxor. Regent delivered on everything that was promised. We had lovely accommodations at the Hilton, including a room with a Nile view. (Photo below taken from our balcony at sunset.) We toured the three fabulous special access tombs that required an additional fee and met King Tut in all his mummified glory. We experienced everything on the tour itinerary, including a surprise sail across the Nile in the very early morning of our trip to the Valley of the Kings. And we had Merv (or Mervat, as she was officially called), our fantastic guide who watched over us like a mother hen and offered more insight into Egyptian life that I thought was possible in two short days.

 

Enrichment

Regent's enrichment speaker, Middle East expert Hassan Eltaher, was a huge bonus on this trip. Hassan gave lectures on every sea day – sometimes two topics per day – that focused on an upcoming port and was always available around the ship to chat or answer questions. The special treat was his commentary while we transited the Suez Canal. (Photo above.) Hassan was so excited to share his knowledge about the canal that he started talking the Observation Lounge at 5 a.m. (rumor was that he had been there since 3:30) when the ship left Port Said and didn't finish until later that day when we arrived at the end of the canal in the town of Suez.

 

Bottom Line

Herb and I are thrilled that we gave Regent another try. Regent, Crystal and Seabourn all have their plusses and minuses and all have their "this is better on this line" and "but I like this better on that line" comparisons. The truth is that they are all really great.

 

We have always based our travels on the itinerary we're looking for. With cruises, I pour over excursion details and compare ports on similar itineraries to make sure I've covered everything on my list of must-sees. It's a method that has served us well, and we now have another cruise line to add to our list of favorites 🙂

 

For anyone who is interested, I have just posted my first blog from the trip and will have photos and stories from every port in the coming weeks.

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/beautiful-barcelona-the-land-of-gaudi-a-day-at-park-guell/

 

 

Mary

Travel Blog: https://www.themodernpostcard.com

 

[rcandkc]

What a great report!  Thank you for the details and pictures. 

[maryogreen]

rcandkc, You're very welcome! Thanks for the kind words.

[Mudhen]

OMG! The timing of your report arrived just a few hours after we cleared the wait list for the Nov. Explorer Barcelona to Dubai cruise!!!! How wonderful!

I will now begin to read your blog and soak up any and all info about the wonderful and exciting part of the world.

Thank you so much!!!

J&L

[maryogreen]

Mudhen, How exciting!! I'm happy to hear that you cleared the wait list so far in advance. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions I might be able to help with. It's a fabulous itinerary, and I know you'll have a wonderful time!

[LynnRuns]

I spy a Northwestern connection!

 

Sounds like a memorable trip. Your photos are lovely.

[maryogreen]

LynnRuns, Haha – you spy correctly! Our son is a Northwestern grad. Memorable is a perfect word for this trip. Glad you enjoyed the photos!

[forgap]

I’m not sure which I like better.....live blog or this kind of review with wonderful pictures!   Brava!

[English Voyager]

Thank you for posting the photos which bring back memories of our Middle East cruise with Silversea back in 2003,

 

We had two nights in Cairo, which included excursions to the , now old, Museum, and a Nile river cruise, and two nights in Luxor which included two visits to the historic site, one during the morning, and the other at night for a Son et Lumiere show.

 

Unfortunately we missed the visit to Petra due to ill health.

[Hambagahle]

Mary - thank you for this comprehensive review and wonderful photos...  we haven't been on Regent for a few years now - we moved over to Oceania!  But we are booked on the Splendor for the 14 March San Diego/Miami cruise and we can't wait...all the more so after reading what you just said.

[boblerm]

Mary,

What a wonderful report, I am so pleased that you gave Regent another try and that it met your expectations.  And a fabulous start to your blog, your narrative and photos are great as always.

Bob

[UUNetBill]

I hope it’s not too noticeable but be prepared for a few bumps in the road during the ramp-up for Splendor.  There will be crew moves, new people, crazy training requirements - all while maintaining service in the other ships.

 

I seem to recall there were some minor issues when Explorer entered the fleet; I’m guessing there will be some with Splendor.  But hopefully they’ll be minor and quickly remedied.

 

The sad thing is we won’t be on Splendor until 2021 at the earliest.  I envy those of you who will be on board sooner.  Enjoy that gorgeous new ship!!

[maryogreen]

forgap, Thanks so much for the kind feedback! So glad you enjoyed the review!

 

English Voyager, It sounds like you had a wonderful time in Egypt. I'm happy this virtual tour bought back some memories 🙂 The cruise lines had not returned to Cairo when we booked, so we toured on our own with a private guide post-cruise. Interestingly, we had a great tour of the old museum, although some of the pieces have already been moved to their new home in Giza. The new museum is set to open next year. It looks spectacular from the exterior and is within walking distance of the pyramids.

 

Hambagahle, I'm glad to know my report sparked some excitement for your upcoming cruise on Regent. I'm including a link to a blog post I wrote on places to visit near the port of our beautiful San Diego. It should be a great place to begin your cruise!

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/port-san-diego-five-favorite-excursions/

 

boblerm, You are so generous with your thoughtful comments, as always. Thank you! And thanks again for including the tip on turning the glassware cabinet into "drawer" space in your last Voyager report. I can't begin to express how helpful that was and how it avoided the frustration of discovering upon arrival that storage space had been removed.

[bizinsider]

I wanted to add to Mary's thoughts about the trip. (I'm her traveling companion AKA husband.) 

 

Before we did this trip, two topics of discussion had me bracing for the worst: The coffee and the bread. 

 

My take: The coffee was better-than-expected. As with any coffee shop, the quality of what you taste depended on the barista. I drink Americanos; Mary, cappuccinos. In general, they were good and better than the automatic machines. But the automatic machines worked great when in a rush. The LavAzza was fine. (Disclosure: At home, here in San Diego, I buy beans at Bird Rock Coffee. For those of you here on a cruise, who don't mind a bit of a walk, treat yourself by trekking up from the ship to their shop on the outskirts of Little Italy...and enjoy watching the planes almost touch down on the roof next door while waiting in line! That's almost better than the coffee! Closer in, Lofty Coffee in Little Italy is a good alternative. There are plenty of others, as well. San Diego has quite a few really good locally owned bespoke roasters.)

 

There was also a thread on the bread. Based on comments I read there, before we boarded I told Mary, "Well, no bread for me this trip." Wrong. The bread was fantastic; I tended to gravitate to the multi-grain rolls and heavily seeded sliced bread. As good as any ship or even on land. Always very fresh.

 

As I posted on the live blog's thread: Our cabin, while midship, was noisier-than-expected from creaks and bangs - mostly vibration related. I figured that maybe nobody ever complained, so I let housekeeping know, and by the end of the cruise most of it was fixed, including a pretty loud nightly rumble from the vicinity of the veranda door. My guess is that there is little the ship's carpenters haven't seen...or fixed. (In other words, if the cabin is noisy, don't assume that the noise can't be minimized - at least midship.)

 

Beyond that, Mary summed it up better than I ever could. 

 

Herb

[flossie009]

@maryogreen,

Thank you for the excellent summary and such a well balanced review of the recent cruise on Voyager.

 

15 hours ago, maryogreen said:

We were hoping to meet you at that very well-attended Meet and Mingle!

I cannot believe that we missed you during the cruise. We were at the M&M and the overnight at the Hilton in Luxor (although I think there were two separate groups).

I even looked for you a couple of times at your favoured internet connection spot on deck 6 after you posted about it, but to no avail.

Maybe our paths will cross in the future.

 

Having seen King Tut's tomb and mummified remains, we hope to visit the Tutankhamun exhibition in London early next year, before the artefacts are returned from their world tour to their rightful place back in Egypt in the new museum at Giza.

[maryogreen]

flossie009, So glad you enjoyed the review! I'm surprised as well that our paths didn't cross – perhaps we will meet on another wonderful cruise. The King Tut exhibition should be terrific. Some of the pieces are still on display at the old museum in Cairo, some have been moved to Giza and the rest are on tour. I saw the Tut exhibition in the U.S. many years ago, and it fueled my desire to visit Egypt and see this incredible part of the ancient world. I had no idea I would one day actually "meet" Tut 🙂 

[ronrick1943]

Mice report, what a great cruise and super photos.  Thanks so much for taking the time.

 

 

[UUNetBill]

Bizinsider - can I assume the Bird Rock Coffee in question is the one on Kettner Blvd?  We live in SC but our daughter lives in Sandy Eggo and she loves coffee.   🙂

 

I’ll have to tell her to check it out next spring when she gets back from Afghanistan.

[Floridiana]

Mary, You are a great writer.  I especially appreciate your report because our 2021 world cruise will have these ports in reverse order. 

[maryogreen]

ronrick1943, You're very welcome! I'm happy to share our experiences on this voyage!

 

Floridiana, Many thanks for the lovely words! Please feel free to email or post here with any questions about ports or excursions for that part of your upcoming world cruise. I'm delighted to offer any insight from our experiences!

[bizinsider]

13 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Bizinsider - can I assume the Bird Rock Coffee in question is the one on Kettner Blvd?  We live in SC but our daughter lives in Sandy Eggo and she loves coffee.

Hi Bill --

 

That's the one. But they have four and I go to all of them, depending on where I am. We live in North County, so I frequent the one in Del Mar. The actual roasting is done at Morena Blvd. But that one on Kettner is SO great for plane watching. Let me know if you're ever out here. We'll grab a coffee, watch planes and talk ships!

[1982CruzStart]

Great review Maryogreen. Thank you. It was a great cruise. 

[maryogreen]

1982CruzStart, Thank you! It truly was a great cruise 🙂

[briar14]

Mary, thank you for the wonderful review and great pictures. We are on Explorer now and have booked 2 segments of the Mariner 2021 World Cruise, Dubai-Barcelona. I look forward to reading your blog for your experiences at some of the same ports we will be going to.

[maryogreen]

briar14, I'm so glad to know you enjoyed the review! I will have detailed information about the ports we visited on the blog. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or are on the fence about which excursions to book. It's a fabulous itinerary!