41-day honeymoon for 26 year olds? Regent for us?

[Sea22]

Currently booked on celebrity reflection for holy land and transatlantic of total 27 days in aqua class then Sky suite. 
considering switching to regent. Same cost according to regent website. 

so we’re looking into a 12 holy land cruise followed by a 29 Med & TA on Seven Seas Mariner in veranda. Total 41 days. 

Quick things about us.. both 26, love quality food & entertainment, variety is preferred, liked the game and theatre shows on princess, don’t need active nightlife or high intensity activities or excursions ex: zip lining. Also were Shy so not big socializers. We’re very easy going and on occasion like to dress up. 

 

A few questions on regent.. Is there a lot of motion on the smaller ships? Does regent have a lot to do especially on sea days? Any late night food options? What makes regent unique ? Do you think regent is for us? 
The longer cruise is tempting but I’m overthinking And I love being over informed & knowing what to expect. This would be my first international trip. 
 

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, Sea22 said:

Currently booked on celebrity reflection for holy land and transatlantic of total 27 days in aqua class then Sky suite. 
considering switching to regent. Same cost according to regent website. 

so we’re looking into a 12 holy land cruise followed by a 29 Med & TA on Seven Seas Mariner in veranda. Total 41 days.
 

 

So it's 27 days on Celebrity or 41 days on Regent for the same price?  Does that include airfare, transfers, all specialty restaurants and excursions in every port with Celebrity's price?

 

If food is important to you, I can't see how Celebrity can hold candle to Regent.  Did you check out the sample menus for the Mariner?

https://www.rssc.com/experience/cuisine/chartreuse Then switch to the other on board restaurant tabs.

Edited April 10, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[mj_holiday]

As a person who can get motion sick watching a movie, the motion on the smaller ships hasn’t been a problem for me. 

[PhD-iva]

I’m new to Regent, but have sailed on her sister-line Oceania. This might be obvious, but make sure you’re aware of the older demographics of Regent’s pax. All are very friendly I’m told, but generally a more sedate bunch. 
Oceania’s evening entertainment didn’t include the big production shows like Celebrity or Princess. Perhaps someone better informed than me can share details on Regent’s evening entertainment options. 
I left the big ships and won’t go back! Celebrity’s food was meh at best. Oceania’s food was excellent, always, as I’m sure Regent’s will be.

Congratulations!

[FengShui@Sea]

I have done over 70 cruises and many of them on Celebrity.  We were avid suite dwellers on Celebrity before trying our first Regent cruise, and now we go with Regent.  However we are in our senior years (67 and 76) so definitely not looking for much excitement.  

 

I will just give you some random thoughts, in no particular order.

 

If you were going to relegated to Celebrity’s main dining room I definitely say go with Regent.  But since you are dining in Blu with Aqua and Luminae with your Sky suite, you will be happy enough with those venues.  

 

The big plus with Regent is the free shore excursions.

 

41 days would be too long for me to spend in a balcony cabin.    I would recommend dropping the 12 Holy Land and just do the 29 night Med and TA on Regent in a higher category (larger) cabin.  For location on the Mariner you will want to stay away from cabins that are more to the aft as you can get some vibration.

 

I think the free specialty dining on Regent is a bit of a misnomer.  We were on a 10 night cruise and after our one complimentary visit to each of the three specialty restaurants we were never able to get back into any of them.  We were in a Concierge cabin, which may have had something to do with it.  I understand that if you are in a Penthouse or above your butler may be able to get you additional reservations.

 

Regent tends to be a pretty subdued atmosphere.  I don’t think you will find many other passengers (but lots of staff) in your age category.  However, you also won’t find all the drunks at the Sunset Bar and around the pool that Celebrity tends to attract.  If you are comfortable around older, but friendly, folks Regent will be okay.

 

We loved Michael’s Club on Celebrity (which would be like a mini Regent experience service wise).  However if the Reflection has the new ‘Retreat Lounge’ instead of Michael’s I’m not sure what that will be like.

 

Congratulations on you upcoming wedding!

 

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by FengShui@Sea

[Pcardad]

5 hours ago, Sea22 said:

Currently booked on celebrity reflection for holy land and transatlantic of total 27 days in aqua class then Sky suite. 
considering switching to regent. Same cost according to regent website. 

so we’re looking into a 12 holy land cruise followed by a 29 Med & TA on Seven Seas Mariner in veranda. Total 41 days. 

Quick things about us.. both 26, love quality food & entertainment, variety is preferred, liked the game and theatre shows on princess, don’t need active nightlife or high intensity activities or excursions ex: zip lining. Also were Shy so not big socializers. We’re very easy going and on occasion like to dress up. 

 

A few questions on regent.. Is there a lot of motion on the smaller ships? Does regent have a lot to do especially on sea days? Any late night food options? What makes regent unique ? Do you think regent is for us? 
The longer cruise is tempting but I’m overthinking And I love being over informed & knowing what to expect. This would be my first international trip. 
 

 

As a younger client myself I would offer an opinion without offense to any.

 

You will be roughly 50 years younger than 99% of the passengers on board. You will be mistaken for staff. When the find out you are clients, most (but not all) will think it is wonderful. The food and service are wonderful. Motion is not an issue unless you are in rough water and you shouldn't be. At 11PM the clients go to bed except for about 5 - 10 who drink for a few more hours. There are not usually scheduled activities past 11. Based on my almost 500 nights on Regent, you might find it a bit dull for your tastes. That isn't to say it is not the best cruise line out there - it certainly is - for the target demographic. You might prefer Viking - the average age is much lower and there is a little more to do without it being a spring break drinkfest. Plus no kids allowed.

[wishIweretravelling]

Evening entertainment on Regent tends to be a mix of 45-minute themed variety shows by an in-house troupe and headliners of various specialties (singers, magicians, comedians, acrobats, etc). If you are on for 29 nights, the cruise likely will consist of 2-3 segments. The variety shows repeat in each segment. No big extravaganzas.

 

There also will be music/dancing and maybe some other programming in the lounges. 

 

On sea days, there isn't a frenzy of activities, but there are things like lectures, deck game competitions, yoga classes, etc.

 

You are definitely younger than the usual Regent demographic. Only you can know how comfortable you are with that. I started cruising with Regent (actually, its predecessor, but it's still fundamentally the same line) when I was in my 30s, and didn't feel out of place then.

 

I am a big fan of the food in the main dining room. Between the "always available" menu (don't miss the dover sole, or ordering a combo of the lobster tail and scallops) and the daily changes, I've been on for as long as 3 months and never gotten bored. I've had better luck than the person above with getting extra reservations in the alternative restaurants, but primarily because I always go for table-sharing and am OK with hours outside those usually favored by most. Alas, Mariner does not have my favorite, Pacific Rim, but does have the French restaurant and the steak house. You don't need a reservation for the Italian restaurant--it's a walk-in just like the main dining room, but getting a table there can be more challenging. I'm not a big fan of it, but I know people who consider it their favorite. And there's always the pool grill, for casual evening dining.

 

Room service is the only late night food option.

Edited April 10, 2021 by wishIweretravelling

[wcsdkqh]

41 days, 29 year olds, Nope.

[Pcardad]

8 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

41 days, 29 year olds, Nope.

Nope for what reason?

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

None of us is in a position to make judgements regarding this young couple. 
Let’s allow them the ability to judge. 
Yes, you might be the youngest aboard. 
What is it you are looking for in this cruise?

If you want the best dining experience, great accommodations, and fabulous service... Regent is great. 
If you are looking for a social experience with folks your own age, late night bar, fabulous shows...Regent is not for  you.

The shore excursions are included and most are interesting, especially if you have never had international experience. It will give you a head start in visiting new and interesting places. 
We are older folks and Regent is clearly our choice. We always wanted interesting ports, great food, fabulous service and luxurious accommodations. We were not that interested in making new friends but have, over the years. Some folks we were friendly with were 30 years our Junior. 
Any questions, I will be happy to answer. 
sheila

[Jimmcdaniel]

If you like hanging out with an older crowd you will probably be fine. Listen to @Pcardad. He is well-respected on this board and (from what I can surmise) probably closer to your age. For a longer trip on the Mariner, I would suggest looking at a Penthouse suite. The regular suites on Mariner are the smallest of all Regent suites—still comfortable but maybe a little confining on a long voyage. If you want more trips to the specialty restaurants, I would highly recommend being open to a shared table—it’s a great way to meet folks and we have always been able to get pretty much as many of those reservations as we wanted. Also take advanced the daily trivia game—lots of fun and also a good way to meet folks. 

[Gcto]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

 

As a younger client myself I would offer an opinion without offense to any.

 

You will be roughly 50 years younger than 99% of the passengers on board. You will be mistaken for staff. When the find out you are clients, most (but not all) will think it is wonderful. The food and service are wonderful. Motion is not an issue unless you are in rough water and you shouldn't be. At 11PM the clients go to bed except for about 5 - 10 who drink for a few more hours. There are not usually scheduled activities past 11. Based on my almost 500 nights on Regent, you might find it a bit dull for your tastes. That isn't to say it is not the best cruise line out there - it certainly is - for the target demographic. You might prefer Viking - the average age is much lower and there is a little more to do without it being a spring break drinkfest. Plus no kids allowed.

I have to disagree a bit here... While Regent targets the older clientele, 99% are not over 75...that's a big stretch. :-), but for some young ones it might feel this way 😀.

It also depends on the itinerary, cruises in the Caribbean are a bit younger than let's say cruises in the Baltic.  On a few past cruises, we had our daughter join us (21) and she found plenty of younger people on board. Some Honeymooners, the entertainment staff etc, all socialized. No, she was never mistaken for staff. At one part of the trip, even the lead entertainer hung out with the younger crowd (21-35) as he was tired of the other passengers constantly coming by and "reminiscing" with him. (long story).

So my take on this is: You will have a great trip, great food, no worries about what to do (if you don't need a big night life), no bar tabs to sign, no nothing. And as (imho) Honeymoon is for the two of you, why worry about the rest. 

 

[Pcardad]

Sorry, I just feel there are options that will better meet their needs than Regent. I would not be comfortable booking them unless they told me they would prefer to spend time with people who are 2 generations older than themselves. No negatives implied here (they don't call it the greatest generation for no reason)...just that a 26 year old couple on their 41 day honeymoon might prefer something that is geared a little bit more towards their stated wishes than a 6 star line geared towards the 55+ (is that better?) age group. Just sharing my personal experiences - I am closer to their ages than I am to the average client and I am not the binge-drinking all-night party type either.

[mrstanley]

You must book a Penthouse Suite !

 

[vitacura]

My new bride and I spent our honeymoon on Regent when we were 22 and loved every minute of it. (I first sailed on the Mariner as a teen while it was her first ever cruise.)

 

Of course we prefer to be with people older than ourselves and aren't the partying type. We are shy as well, so we really liked the fact that we could get a table for two and arrive to Compass Rose when we wanted to. No long lines on Regent, many activities on sea days and a laid back atmosphere. We always receive great service and have made friends with many members of the crew that we keep in touch with regularly.

 

We have never felt out of place, (Even now that we are in our thirties) and my wife is hooked. Regent is definitely not for everyone, but I always encourage anyone to try them if they think it would be a good fit. Congrats on the upcoming wedding!

Edited April 10, 2021 by vitacura

[johng75370]

Our son and his fiancée (28/26) chose a 10 day Regent Caribbean sailing in December for their honeymoon and are greatly looking forward to it; on a port-intensive itinerary it’s easy to have your own adventure together during the day and then return back to the affable/congenial shipmates for the evening.  Our daughter did a 21 day Mediterranean cruise for her honeymoon on another line but with a similar demographic, and they both were super-happy with their choice.  

 

Sea22, you and your fiancée probably already have a solid sense of how you’d feel interacting with an older crowd; on the other merits, hard to see you going wrong with choosing Regent.  

Edited April 10, 2021 by johng75370

[Wendy The Wanderer]

6 hours ago, FengShui@Sea said:

For location on the Mariner you will want to stay away from cabins that are more to the aft as you can get some vibration.

FengShui, there is no known vibration on Mariner as far as I know.  It's the most stable of the three older ships.

 

I must say I would not recommend such a long Regent cruise for honeymooner's in their 20's.  But I don't know you, so I could be wrong.   There are, no doubt, late night haunts for dancing and music. And maybe you don't need anything else but each other!

 

If you're really not that social, and it is your honeymoon after all, then it might be wonderfully romantic.  BUT, and a big but, compare the size of the suites--the Mariner standard balconies are not huge.  If you really want to spend most of your time staring out of your balcony window while you're lolling around in your robe, then go for a penthouse.  Then you don't have to care what anybody else is doing.  And you can get room service whenever you like.

[flossie009]

9 hours ago, FengShui@Sea said:

For location on the Mariner you will want to stay away from cabins that are more to the aft as you can get some vibration.

Mariner is a very stable ship with no vibration (Navigator is the ship that suffers vibration at the stern)

We love the layout of Mariner. The basic suites (D to H) are OK but, as others have said, the Penthouse suites (C to A) are very spacious.

 

9 hours ago, FengShui@Sea said:

We were on a 10 night cruise and after our one complimentary visit to each of the three specialty restaurants we were never able to get back into any of them.

Mariner only has two speciality restaurants.

It is normally not a problem to secure additional reservations especially if you are flexible on dates/times. Always easier to secure more reservations on a longer cruise; but the menu in Compass Rose is so extensive that it matters little anyway.

 

 

Best wishes for your wedding and enjoy planning your honeymoon.

[FengShui@Sea]

Speaking from personal experience, even the much newer Explorer ship had aft vibration issues, so I would never pin my hopes that the Mariner wouldn’t, especially if looking at at 41 night cruise.

 

Also, speaking from personal experience we were completely flexible with dates, times, and willing to share tables, and yet we still were not able to obtain additional reservations at any of the specialty restaurant venues.

 

For what it is worth I seem to be the only one replying that has had extensive experience with cruising on Celebrity ships, for comparison sake.

[wcsdkqh]

6 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Nope for what reason?

For the exact reasons you enumerated above.

[Pcardad]

I would suggest The Haven on one of the NCL ships or a suite on Viking for them based on the info we have.

[mrlevin]

Mariner, and Explorer, have vibration when you have following seas.  On the Mariner it is due to the pods; no idea why it happened on Explorer but it was quite noticeable on our transatlantic.  I have spend months in a Mariner basic cabin and never felt claustrophobic.  In fact, I have paid for Cat H on almost all cruises though sailed in D, E, F, or G at times.

 

I would rather sail more and sail in Cat H than sail less in penthouse.  

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

I would suggest The Haven on one of the NCL ships or a suite on Viking for them based on the info we have.

Disagree about Haven for them...if you want pampering and luxury...do it right! Maybe Viking..

Edited April 11, 2021 by Bellaggio Cruisers

[ronrick1943]

They may also want to check out Sea Dreams, putting a few cruises together.  A lot moire to do for that age group and they really have a a few nice suites or you can put 2 cabins together to make a suite (they take the bed out of one and add the items to make it a two room suite.  We've cruised them years ago and really enjoyed the ship.  Lot's of fun and very nicely done (no butler).

[Nicole&Pete]

On 4/10/2021 at 10:08 AM, Sea22 said:

Currently booked on celebrity reflection for holy land and transatlantic of total 27 days in aqua class then Sky suite. 
considering switching to regent. Same cost according to regent website. 

so we’re looking into a 12 holy land cruise followed by a 29 Med & TA on Seven Seas Mariner in veranda. Total 41 days. 

Quick things about us.. both 26, love quality food & entertainment, variety is preferred, liked the game and theatre shows on princess, don’t need active nightlife or high intensity activities or excursions ex: zip lining. Also were Shy so not big socializers. We’re very easy going and on occasion like to dress up. 

 

A few questions on regent.. Is there a lot of motion on the smaller ships? Does regent have a lot to do especially on sea days? Any late night food options? What makes regent unique ? Do you think regent is for us? 
The longer cruise is tempting but I’m overthinking And I love being over informed & knowing what to expect. This would be my first international trip. 
 

Hello there,

 

I just saw you post this morning and thought I would let you know that me and my husband did a mediterranean cruise on the Reflection for our honeymoon!! We were 28 and 29 at the time (we are now 34 and 35 - how time flies!) and loved it! We sailed Rome to Rome in July, we didn't go as far south as Israel but as far south as Turkey and the greek Isles.

 

I am elite on celebrity so like the line and have never done regent so can't compare unfortunately. My understanding is that regent is a luxury line so as its your honeymoon it may be worth opting for that upmarket experience, but I have no idea what the experience is like for younger people. I also do not travel very well and I like the size of celebrity solstice class ships because there is not much you can feel in terms of movement.

 

We generally enjoy being quite social on a cruise like having a large table on traditional dining at dinner for example, but for our honeymoon we obviously didn't want this. Reflection actually worked really well for this because if you do anytime dining (not usually our preference but we did it for our honeymoon cruise) you will always get a table for just the two of you. The top level of the restaurant is anytime dining and this is mainly tables for 2.

 

In terms of dressing up there are the usual formal nights on celebrity and the other nights are casual but I always wore a nice cocktail/ maxi dress and my husband always a coloured shirt and we did not feel out of place on casual nights. We really like to dress up, but it very much depends on the other people on board as to how dressy the cruise is! Whilst celebrity calls their formal nights evening chic I would say say most people treat this as a formal night.

 

We really enjoyed the balcony cabin we had and we had breakfast on the balcony every morning which was lovely. Because it was our honeymoon we also stayed on the ship a lot of the time while others went off exploring so spent a long time relaxing on the day beds they have in the solarium where there are always drinks and food at the spa cafe and also in the Persian garden, which you will have unlimited access to being in an aqua class balcony. The other thing we did on one sea day was hire an alcove on the top deck which I definitely recommend if you are not sailing at a cold time of year because it was well worth the money and a special treat for our honeymoon. We also really enjoyed the sunset bar at the back in the evenings after dinner, its a very chilled place to relax and have a drink. The liveliest place at night is the martini bar which we also enjoyed but there are some lovely quieter places like the sunset bar on the top deck and the ensemble lounge to enjoy each others company.

 

I have sailed on royal carribean and celebrity mainly and was a little worried that on a celebrity ship there wouldn't be that much to do for us like play mini golf and things like that, but we didn't feel this at all when we there. The following year we tried royal Caribbean to have the exciting things to do on board and I actually would say that the food quality, service and quality of accomodation is vastly more important than these things so our preference is now to stay with celebrity. So if you are after something higher quality and more sophisticated but therefore with less to do, this would be a very good option for you. Again I don't know about regent and what they offer to compare.

 

The reflection is a relatively new ship so everything is clean and well maintained, the balconies are an excellent size and you get a large sofa inside and table and chairs on the balcony, the food was excellent quality and service was very good. We had very good live shows and game shows etc. but on other celebrity cruises we have been on they did not have many production shows. A big drawback of this ship that is worth mentioning is the lack of large entertainment lounge in the evening where they would normally do quizzes and gameshows etc. (they tend to use celebrity central for this instead). I find celebrity to be a very luxurious cruise experience where it feels very well staffed and the service is very high quality, I find the small details really matter and they have all of these covered on celebrity such as bathrobes, chocolates on your pillow, pool butlers, sommeliers that always remember your wine preference, juices/ tea/ coffee available all day in many areas of the ship and great alternative dining like the mast grill and aqua spa cafe in the solarium. 

 

One thing that we were disappointed about however was that whilst they knew it was our honeymoon we received nothing to make it a little bit special such as a free gift or champagne in the room (except for one night when we went to a speciality restaurant). On every celebrity ship since then where it has been our anniversary for example, they have always made a big deal out of it which was nice. So I think it very much depends on who the loyalty ambassador is at the time on each ship and whether they choose to do something special for you.

 

All in all it was a fantastic experience for us, the food and service was first class and I am so pleased we did this cruise for our honeymoon. We have had cruises on royal Caribbean that have been quite disappointing in terms of how maintained the ship is, the quality of the food and service etc. but I have never been disappointed with a celebrity cruise, and this ship was fantastic. I genuinely had no complaints (except for what I mention above). I think with a honeymoon on the reflection you basically can't go wrong. However I have never been on regent so I can't compare or any "luxury" line for that matter. Also if you want lots of exciting energetic things to do on board during the day then they don't have much of this it is more of a sophisticated, relaxed feel I would say.

 

Have fun choosing, if you have any questions I am happy to help

 

Nicole