Not up to standard--our Voyager cruise, Nov. 16-Dec. 6/'19

[UUNetBill]

38 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

Problems happen, no big deal--but when you have a known problem you fix it.

Agreed.

[ON cruiser]

Just responding to UUNet Bill; if it had been one or two meals over the 20 day cruise which were a tad off, with all else up to standard, I would not have raised the issue. Unfortunately, it was more often than that. As I stated in my full review, there were some very good servers--unfortunately, they stood out (meaning that level of expected smooth competence was noticeable in comparison to others), and we could not always be seated in their section (as we did not always know what part of the Compass Rose they were working in). 

 

 

[UUNetBill]

Just now, ON cruiser said:

Just responding to UUNet Bill; if it had been one or two meals over the 20 day cruise which were a tad off, with all else up to standard, I would not have raised the issue. Unfortunately, it was more often than that. As I stated in my full review, there were some very good servers--unfortunately, they stood out (meaning that level of expected smooth competence was noticeable in comparison to others), and we could not always be seated in their section (as we did not always know what part of the Compass Rose they were working in). 

 

 

Yep, that’s a problem.  Future reference, though, you can ask to be seated in a specific server’s section - we’ve done that before when we’ve found servers we like especially well.

[gnomie1]

I have friends that were on the same cruise and I just finished reading their travel blog - they were also disappointed in the lack of service and believe that Regent is gearing all their energy on the launch of the new ship at the expense of the other ships. This is not an isolated report, there have now been a number of reviews/reports of passengers who believe that Regent is dropping the ball and not delivering as advertised.

 

Obviously Regent has selected all of their best employees for their new ship, leaving the other ships short handed and reliant on new hires. I believe that this particular cruise was not sold out, there were empty cabins. Knowing that there would be many new hires, Regent should have held back some cabins (yes, at the expense of revenue) and made sure there were enough trained employees on board to ensure that ALL passengers had the experience they had paid for.

 

Just my two cents

[Hambagahle]

We used to eat in an Indian restaurant in White Plains when we lived in NY.  (Good food!)   One evening a new waiter appeared.   He wore a name tag.  On it it said "I am new - I am trying..."    Well, you can read that two ways.  But he really did try.   I thought that the name tag was a great idea.   and he and the management welcomed feed back.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Hambagahle

[ronrick1943]

On 12/27/2019 at 12:26 PM, gnomie1 said:

I have friends that were on the same cruise and I just finished reading their travel blog - they were also disappointed in the lack of service and believe that Regent is gearing all their energy on the launch of the new ship at the expense of the other ships. This is not an isolated report, there have now been a number of reviews/reports of passengers who believe that Regent is dropping the ball and not delivering as advertised.

 

Obviously Regent has selected all of their best employees for their new ship, leaving the other ships short handed and reliant on new hires. I believe that this particular cruise was not sold out, there were empty cabins. Knowing that there would be many new hires, Regent should have held back some cabins (yes, at the expense of revenue) and made sure there were enough trained employees on board to ensure that ALL passengers had the experience they had paid for.

 

Just my two cents

 

Stated like it should be, 100% agree.........

[taxare]

We will be on Voyager in a couple of weeks. We look forward to our cruise and will report back on our observations.

I do recall when we on our British Isles cruise in September (right before Deep Freeze embarked) there were a fair number of very experienced crew that told us that they were leaving to go on their break between contracts and after their leave were going onto the Splendor to get it ready for launch. I agree that if the level of service is diminished on the other ships, that is a problem. I am sorry that ON Cruiser felt that the number of service misses were significant. Everyone has their own tolerance based on expectations (which for Regent should be high). Last year we were on a highly rated and regarded river cruise. This was our second trip with them (the first trip was awesome). The lack of communication, the inability of the management/crew to address/fix significant issues led us to decide (despite a very generous future cruise credit offer) to not travel on them again. In our seven cruises with Regent we have not had anything close to that situation, but we have indeed had some issues, but management fixed them right away once they were notified. 

[ccruzer123]

interesting conversation about new crew.  We were on the Explorer cruise from Barcelona to Miami this last November - December.  When we reached Lisbon a lot of the more experienced servers got off the ship and new ones got on, service really changed.  Some of those leaving the ship told us that they were going on holiday for a month or so then were being reassigned to the Splendor.  

 

It was somewhat fun to watch the new servers the first few days (some first-time on a cruise ship), they were totally lost.  But over the course of 14 days we watched them improve (some quicker than others) and become efficient.  Although there were a few that were just overwhelmed by the whole thing and had to be moved elsewhere, felt sorry for them but smart move. 

 

Believe a lot of the problem, besides getting to know what they needed to do, was a language problem.  You could tell that some of the new servers were having a hard time understand the guests, thus the many mistakes.  Most guests were understanding of the situation with the new servers but a few did get upset.

[Mask-1234]

Perhaps the poster should try Crystal as they have great training and around the same price as Regent and superb service.

[greenolaker]

We were on the Singapore to Singapore cruise on the Voyager. Now that I am getting over my jet lag I have read the comments and reviews. We have to agree with the comments about the service problems in the restaurants.and with the bar servers. We had extremely slow service in Compass Rose. We also had times that we felt we were invisible in the Horizon Lounge  when servers would offer appetizers to some and skip us. Same with the bar server in the Constellation theater who took my husband’s drink order and then ignored me.  Trying to get a server’s attention to get coffee  at breakfast in the Veranda was a challenge.  We did discover that one side of the restaurant had fewer servers than the other side so tables weren’t cleared and service was lacking. We tried to find avoid sitting on that side.  

 

I also agree with the problems in the cabin. We were in 839. I complained the first day about the cabin being too warm. Nothing was ever done to fix the a/c. Luckily we travel with a small box fan which helped at night when it seemed that the a/c was turned off in the middle of the night. We also found that it was impossible to get cold water from the bathroom sink faucets. 

 

It took many calls to housekeeping to get our refrigerator only stocked with our requested Coke Zero and  to remove the beer and regular coke. We also had to call to get the toilet paper replenished 

 

This was our first Regent cruise. We would not sail on the Voyager again and would consider a new ship that hopefully wouldn’t have the mechanical problems. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by greenolaker

[phillipahain]

Thatis indeed a very sad experience and certainly not the fantastic service we have always enjoyed on Regent 

Rather sounds like a lot of their experienced and very loyal brilliant  staff have gone to other lines i wonder why ?

[Belfast Taxman]

55 minutes ago, phillipahain said:

Thatis indeed a very sad experience and certainly not the fantastic service we have always enjoyed on Regent 

Rather sounds like a lot of their experienced and very loyal brilliant  staff have gone to other lines i wonder why ?

Not to other lines, but to the new Regent ship, Splendor, seems to be the more common thought.

what does concern me more is that, without being an expert in any way, Voyager appears to be having ongoing mechanical issues. This was, if I recall correctly, first reported as serious engine problems by Flossie009 on their Eastern Med cruise (and then Barcelona to Dubai) back in November. Personally I would be concerned at poor or mal-functioning A/C as a bigger issue than occasional slightly less than perfect service.

[Hambagahle]

First - greenolaker said

"Trying to get a server’s attention to get coffee  at breakfast in the Veranda was a challenge.  We did discover that one side of the restaurant had fewer servers than the other side so tables weren’t cleared and service was lacking. We tried to find avoid sitting on that side.  "

That is clearly a management problem.  Why not have an equal number of servers on each side of the restaurant?  Makes no sense to me...

 

Second - re the technical problems - Voyager is due for a dry dock in Marseilles 21 October to 1 November 2020.  Presumably these problems will be addressed then?

[wcsdkqh]

Actually, the Voyager is no longer scheduled for maintenance activities in late October, 2020. According to the schedule, the dry dock has been replaced with a Barcelona -> Barcelona cruise that week.  This gives me great pause to consider cancelling the 30 day Buenos Aires -> Barcelona cruise I currently have booked in March, 2021.  I have little desire to spend that kind of money on a cruise ship that is past due to be refurbished.

[wripro]

The most important thing ofr any product to succeed, especially a luxury product and a cruise line, is consistency. I  don't care that Splendor is a new ship. If I book Regent which markets the same quality for all its ships I expect the same service on the Navigator as on the Splendor.

[flossie009]

9 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

This was, if I recall correctly, first reported as serious engine problems by Flossie009 on their Eastern Med cruise

I sincerely hope that the engine problems that were evident on our cruise, and previous cruises, have been fixed by now.

Maybe someone on board or a Regent representative can confirm.

 

7 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

Actually, the Voyager is no longer scheduled for maintenance activities in late October, 2020. According to the schedule, the dry dock has been replaced with a Barcelona -> Barcelona cruise that week. 

Yes, I understand that the refurbishment previously scheduled for 2020 has been postponed until 2021.

There is a gap in the Voyager Mediterranean schedule from April 13 to April 26, 2021 which may be the new slot.

Edited December 31, 2019 by flossie009

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I have no problem being on a ship that hasn't been refurb'ed for a while--I have found that the maintenance standards remain high.  In fact, our 2021 WC will end with Mariner being refurb'ed, so there you go.  Would I prefer to be on afterwards?  Probably, but I have no qualms

 

As for staff focus being on Splendour--we were on Voyager just prior to Oceania Riviera being launched, and future staff were being trained on Voyager.  But they were being backed up properly, in some cases shadowing other staff, and it worked very well.  Hope they haven't got these people spread too thin.  But then again, I feel that part of the staffing problem is a global one, across the industry, since so many huge new ships are coming on line so the cruise lines have to compete for staff.  This is good for the cruise staff of course, but hard on us I guess, at times.

[rcandkc]

There should be equally good staff on all Regent ships...period.  They should not pull all the “best” for one ship. 

[blondietoo]

We were on the same cruise.....only complaint for us is that we do not care for the food in Chartreuse. Food, service, entertainment,staff,crew were very very good. We have booked another. Were we lucky.??...not sure but were very happy with everything but Chartreuse.

[Camillus112]

31 minutes ago, blondietoo said:

We were on the same cruise.....only complaint for us is that we do not care for the food in Chartreuse. Food, service, entertainment,staff,crew were very very good. We have booked another. Were we lucky.??...not sure but were very happy with everything but Chartreuse.

 

We will enjoy our first Regent cruise next month and are very fond of French food.  I am concerned with remarks about Chartreuse (not only yours, but others in other threads), and wonder if there are specific reasons the food might not be enjoyable.  We have booked our first night in Chartreuse and would not like to risk a first impression on the overall cruise.  Please let us know details, if ok with you.  Thanks!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I'm also curious about Chartreuse, since I'm not sure, but I think the last time we were on Mariner it was still Signatures (2017).  But as a general comment, don't let one dining hit or miss set the tone for the entire cruise.

[papaflamingo]

On 12/31/2019 at 3:45 PM, Camillus112 said:

 

We will enjoy our first Regent cruise next month and are very fond of French food.  I am concerned with remarks about Chartreuse (not only yours, but others in other threads), and wonder if there are specific reasons the food might not be enjoyable.  We have booked our first night in Chartreuse and would not like to risk a first impression on the overall cruise.  Please let us know details, if ok with you.  Thanks!

I've only done one Regent cruise, on Mariner last year.  It was 44 nights and we ate in Chartreuse 3 times. We liked it, but French food is rich and filling so we limited our number of times there.  But food is remarkably subjective. What I liked may not be to your liking. But for me, I liked the food very much, especially the escargot.  It  is done in Burgundy (I think), and for me, it was delicious.  I enjoyed all the dishes I had.  My wife liked her dinners,  but not as much as I did (like I said, food is subjective).  

I'm not a French foodie by any means.  But don't go in with a negative expectation.  Remember it's a cruise ship and not a 5 star restaurant in Paris and I suspect you'll enjoy it.  I've found that cruising is all about managing expectations.  Keep them realistic and it's a wonderful experience.  I certainly wouldn't let any single meal taint my impression of an overall cruise. 

Edited January 2, 2020 by papaflamingo

[Camillus112]

Thank you, papaflamingo, for your feedback.  We absolutely love escargots!

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, Camillus112 said:

We absolutely love escargots!

Escargots prepared in the traditional manner are on the "always available" menu in Compass Rose. We prefer these to the way they are prepared in Chartreuse.

 

However there are many other starters we do like in Chartreuse . For me the smoked salmon or foie gras terrine; David favours the steak tartare or cheese soufflé.

If you make it through to dessert then the crispy apple tart and floating island are not to be missed. If you like french cheeses they have an excellent variety on the cheese trolley.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

 But don't go in with a negative expectation.  Remember it's a cruise ship and not a 5 star restaurant in Paris and I suspect you'll enjoy it.  I've found that cruising is all about managing expectations.  Keep them realistic and it's a wonderful experience.  I certainly wouldn't let any single meal taint my impression of an overall cruise. 

 

Papa, that is so very true.  A lot of folks come to the luxury lines with unreal expectations about the dining, I find.  And yes, you can find better food in a nice bistro in Paris or elsewhere in France, let alone a Michelin star place, than you will routinely find on any luxury cruise.