First timer Regent cruise review - Extensive review plus photolog

[daetchief]

My levity aside; thank you for a great review.  I will be taking a cruise with our best Best Friends on Splendor in 58 days [So whose counting???] and we hope to have them come away with the same levels of joy and satisfaction.  You describe what my wife and I first experienced 10 years ago on Mariner, then on Explorer, then on Voyager...  You see a pattern?  

Some think that Regent can do no wrong.  Others look for the imperfections.  If I ever feel something wrong is worth or beneficial in mentioning, I am amused by the speed and assiduity by which the issue is corrected.  Once I had to ask the Compass Rose captain for ground pepper on a dinner salad.  After that, no waitstaff ever approached our table without a pepper grinder in hand.  "Some pepper on your corn flakes?  Sir?"😄  

[eroller]

4 hours ago, RachelG said:

It is always nice to read a review from someone new to the line, and I am happy Regent met or exceeded most expectations.  I totally agree about the internet and the post cruise survey.

 

 

Regent certainly impressed, that is for sure. 

[eroller]

1 hour ago, daetchief said:

My levity aside; thank you for a great review.  I will be taking a cruise with our best Best Friends on Splendor in 58 days [So whose counting???] and we hope to have them come away with the same levels of joy and satisfaction.  You describe what my wife and I first experienced 10 years ago on Mariner, then on Explorer, then on Voyager...  You see a pattern?  

Some think that Regent can do no wrong.  Others look for the imperfections.  If I ever feel something wrong is worth or beneficial in mentioning, I am amused by the speed and assiduity by which the issue is corrected.  Once I had to ask the Compass Rose captain for ground pepper on a dinner salad.  After that, no waitstaff ever approached our table without a pepper grinder in hand.  "Some pepper on your corn flakes?  Sir?"😄  

 

I think balance is always important.  I'm no cheerleader but I'm also not looking for things to gripe about.  My suggestions are simply to improve the product from my perspective, and thankfully there was nothing even remotely serious enough to diminish the experience.  

 

I love your ground pepper story.  That is a sign of a great service, when staff actually learn and remember your preferences.  

 

One thing that really blew me away on my first Disney cruise was being called by name the very first night in the dining room.  How did they know?  Come to find out the wait staff actually look at names and pictures of the guests seated at their tables beforehand.  Talk about being impressed ... and this is on a mega-ship carrying thousands of passengers.     

[irishwitchy]

Wonderful review - loved your point of view and experience with cruise - blows me away.  Agree with more sush/Sashimi needed in Pacific Rim.  

[wcsdkqh]

9 hours ago, eroller said:

 

I think balance is always important.  I'm no cheerleader but I'm also not looking for things to gripe about.  My suggestions are simply to improve the product from my perspective, and thankfully there was nothing even remotely serious enough to diminish the experience.  

 

I love your ground pepper story.  That is a sign of a great service, when staff actually learn and remember your preferences.  

 

One thing that really blew me away on my first Disney cruise was being called by name the very first night in the dining room.  How did they know?  Come to find out the wait staff actually look at names and pictures of the guests seated at their tables beforehand.  Talk about being impressed ... and this is on a mega-ship carrying thousands of passengers.     

Not that big a deal if you have assigned seating.

[RJ2002]

I always like to read reviews from someone's first cruise on Regent.  Brings back great memories of our first Regent cruise.  It is easy to get 'hooked' on Regent.

 

The way Regent handles the post cruise survey is a pet peeve of mine as well.

[MarcyLondon]

Thank you so much for the really impressive review. Especially of interest to me as we will be taking our first Regent cruise(Splendor) around Spain in October & hopefully Explorer to Japan  Oct 2023. Our 3rd attempt! Your review has made me even more excited. 
 

My family started cruising back in the 1950’s when I was under 10. Not a big choice of cruise lines  here in Europe. We sailed on Greek lines & P & O back then. Our cabins were below sea levels I think. I know it was very rough in The Bay of Biscay. There were always fancy dress evening near the end of the cruises. They were great fun & very popular. It seems a very very long time ago now

[lastchamp64]

Thank you for a well written review and the link with all your pictures. I have a 10 night cruise on the Splendor coming up in March, 2023 and will also be my first time with RSSC. In fact this will be my first time cruising with a luxury cruise line. My first cruise was with Carnival in 1989 (cut me some slack, I was only 25 LOL). In the past few years we have found cruising more our taste and have now cruised with Disney twice (Big WDW fans) and Celebrity once. 

 

Again, thanks for this review. You have me even more excited about our upcoming trip in March with Regent!

Edited July 19, 2022 by lastchamp64

[eroller]

3 hours ago, lastchamp64 said:

Thank you for a well written review and the link with all your pictures. I have a 10 night cruise on the Splendor coming up in March, 2023 and will also be my first time with RSSC. In fact this will be my first time cruising with a luxury cruise line. My first cruise was with Carnival in 1989 (cut me some slack, I was only 25 LOL). In the past few years we have found cruising more our taste and have now cruised with Disney twice (Big WDW fans) and Celebrity once. 

 

Again, thanks for this review. You have me even more excited about our upcoming trip in March with Regent!

 

 

You are in for a treat!  You will notice a big difference with the luxury lines even compared to premium and ultra-premium lines.  One thing that is not different are the ship names.  Navigator; Voyager; Mariner; Explorer, Splendor, Grandeur.  I mean Royal Caribbean has the exact same ship names.  Someone needs to be more original!

 

Hey Carnival is nothing to be ashamed of.  I'm Platinum status on them and used to sail them a lot in my younger days.  Now I've pretty much outgrown them. 

 

We are also huge Disney fans.  In fact I got married on the DISNEY DREAM.  Disney of course did an amazing job. 

 

Enjoy the Splendor!  She looks amazing. 

 

 

[eroller]

3 hours ago, MarcyLondon said:

Thank you so much for the really impressive review. Especially of interest to me as we will be taking our first Regent cruise(Splendor) around Spain in October & hopefully Explorer to Japan  Oct 2023. Our 3rd attempt! Your review has made me even more excited. 
 

My family started cruising back in the 1950’s when I was under 10. Not a big choice of cruise lines  here in Europe. We sailed on Greek lines & P & O back then. Our cabins were below sea levels I think. I know it was very rough in The Bay of Biscay. There were always fancy dress evening near the end of the cruises. They were great fun & very popular. It seems a very very long time ago now

 

 

Great cruising history there!  When I was a kid I sailed on lines like Cunard, Italian Line, Sitmar, Home Lines, Royal Viking, Chandris, and Holland America.  My grandmother especially loved the OCEANIC with Homes Lines and I feel lucky I sailed on that great ship a few times. 

 

Sailing on Regent reminded me a bit of how cruising used to be.  Smaller.  More service oriented.  Quality over quantity.  I'm glad we have so many choices. 

 

I hope you enjoy your first Regent sailing. 

[califsealion]

8 hours ago, eroller said:

 

Great cruising history there!  When I was a kid I sailed on lines like Cunard, Italian Line, Sitmar, Home Lines, Royal Viking, Chandris, and Holland America. 

 

I did a few cruises on Royal Viking as a child, I love those ships!

[Techno123]

16 hours ago, MarcyLondon said:

Thank you so much for the really impressive review. Especially of interest to me as we will be taking our first Regent cruise(Splendor) around Spain in October & hopefully Explorer to Japan  Oct 2023. Our 3rd attempt! Your review has made me even more excited. 

We must be hopping onboard Explorer after you at the end of October as we are doing a B2B Japan to HK then HK round trip. The good thing about doing the B2B was 3 nights in Tokyo pre cruise and 3 nights in HK post cruise being included in the price. Probably the most money I have ever spent on a holiday so I hope it is going to be worth it 😂😂  Will need to search the boards to make sure we make the most of the land segments.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Techno123

[RetiredandTravel]

7 hours ago, Techno123 said:

We must be hopping onboard Explorer after you at the end of October as we are doing a B2B Japan to HK then HK round trip. The good thing about doing the B2B was 3 nights in Tokyo pre cruise and 3 nights in HK post cruise being included in the price. Probably the most money I have ever spent on a holiday so I hope it is going to be worth it 😂😂  Will need to search the boards to make sure we make the most of the land segments.

 

Hi Techno123 we were on Tokyo to Tokyo (including Korea)with a free pre cruise package back in 2019.  I put some info in the following thread, if I can help please let me know.  Japan is very cool.

 

 

[Techno123]

4 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

Hi Techno123 we were on Tokyo to Tokyo (including Korea)with a free pre cruise package back in 2019.  I put some info in the following thread, if I can help please let me know.  

Thank you so much - will have a good look. Had hoped to go this year but Japan were understandably being very cautious so 🤞🏻🤞🏻next year there will hopefully be more of a degree of normality for our trip. Never mind, going on the Navigator to the Caribbean before Christmas this year so I am sure we will still have fun 😁😁

[Nunagoras]

Many thanks @eroller for the wonderful review! It gives me a clear idea of what a true luxury, 6 star cruising experience wold to be like, and of what particularly Regent is about.

 

As per shore excursions I understand your point with which I fully agree, but, at least here in Europe shore excursions will come from same providers on the whole industry, once those are the providers authorized by port authorities to run on their ports. Hit or miss? All of them will be, included or paid apart on your basic fare. Understand they should have a product distinction between mass market and otherwise, but sadly they most likely don't. Have lived myself some 50 years on the way forward for Lisbon's main cruise terminal, I watch the buses running for the port everyday a cruise ship is in town. Same buses with same guides no matter if it is for an MSC or Regent ship.

[eroller]

3 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Many thanks @eroller for the wonderful review! It gives me a clear idea of what a true luxury, 6 star cruising experience wold to be like, and of what particularly Regent is about.

 

As per shore excursions I understand your point with which I fully agree, but, at least here in Europe shore excursions will come from same providers on the whole industry, once those are the providers authorized by port authorities to run on their ports. Hit or miss? All of them will be, included or paid apart on your basic fare. Understand they should have a product distinction between mass market and otherwise, but sadly they most likely don't. Have lived myself some 50 years on the way forward for Lisbon's main cruise terminal, I watch the buses running for the port everyday a cruise ship is in town. Same buses with same guides no matter if it is for an MSC or Regent ship.

 

Thank you for explaining that.  Interesting.  

[wishIweretravelling]

3 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Many thanks @eroller for the wonderful review! It gives me a clear idea of what a true luxury, 6 star cruising experience wold to be like, and of what particularly Regent is about.

 

As per shore excursions I understand your point with which I fully agree, but, at least here in Europe shore excursions will come from same providers on the whole industry, once those are the providers authorized by port authorities to run on their ports. Hit or miss? All of them will be, included or paid apart on your basic fare. Understand they should have a product distinction between mass market and otherwise, but sadly they most likely don't. Have lived myself some 50 years on the way forward for Lisbon's main cruise terminal, I watch the buses running for the port everyday a cruise ship is in town. Same buses with same guides no matter if it is for an MSC or Regent ship.

The differentiation from mass market comes down to fewer people on the excursion. Most of the time. I’ve noticed the excursions are more crowded on Regent since the re-start. I’m told it’s because of problems with tour operators getting sufficient qualified and trained staff.

[Nunagoras]

38 minutes ago, wishIweretravelling said:

The differentiation from mass market comes down to fewer people on the excursion. Most of the time. I’ve noticed the excursions are more crowded on Regent since the re-start. I’m told it’s because of problems with tour operators getting sufficient qualified and trained staff.

Thanks! But they'll to be the same excursions. "Free" excursions on a luxury line will likely to follow the same line the basic "city tours" on the mega ships will do on the same buses. Maybe 15-20 individuals instead of 25-30+... But by the most part, same excursion with no differentiation. Living near the port and having some contacts whom run as guides here give an idea of some "secrets" one usually doesn't usually care about!... Me thinks that for a true luxury line there should be a larger benefit than less people inside the bus, like @eroller has stated, but sadly there isn't. Post Covid issues, well; those are elsewhere, sadly. Time will make for the adjustment. Have a nice day!...