Selecting Stateroom Category

[flyboyswife]

My mom is gold status and wants to take my husband, daughter and I on a cruise (lucky, lucky us!).  She’s asked for my help with the booking and I’m trying to be a good steward (though I’ve never cruised this line before).

 

With that in mind, she is adamant that Regent handle air and hotel the night before sailing. She called Regent today (she doesn’t have a TA) and reserved a “Category E - Concierge Suite.”  I’m trying to determine whether this seems appropriate…should we be considering a higher category? Lower? Are we a nominal amount away from some phenomenal perks (butler?) or is her gold status getting us what she “needs” (air/hotel) and we’re getting a great deal?

 

I’m struggling to understand the difference between the room categories since they all seem better than anything I’ve experienced  (we’ve only cruised the lower brow cruise lines!);  I welcome your guidance!  TIA!

[flossie009]

On which ship are you intending to sail?

[Techno123]

If you go onto the RSSC website it gives you pictures, 360 tours, deck plans and suite perks for each ship (perks are the same but suites are different depending on the newer or older ships). Concierge gets you the overnight hotel and you can book speciality restaurants and excursions earlier than those in 'lower' category suites.
 

Worth checking out the suite and ship on the sticky at the top of this board as some suites in the same category are better than others ie suites aft (rear of) on Navigator have vibration issues and you can make sure you are close to (or far away from depending on your preference) things like dining rooms, theatre, not under the pool deck etc. or midships if mal de mer is a problem.

 

the other thing to check is the ambassador referral programme - so if your mom refers you, you both get a discount on the cost of the cruise.

[flyboyswife]

3 hours ago, flossie009 said:

On which ship are you intending to sail?

Voyager in April- TA to Barcelona 

[flyboyswife]

2 hours ago, Techno123 said:

If you go onto the RSSC website it gives you pictures, 360 tours, deck plans and suite perks for each ship (perks are the same but suites are different depending on the newer or older ships). Concierge gets you the overnight hotel and you can book speciality restaurants and excursions earlier than those in 'lower' category suites.
 

Worth checking out the suite and ship on the sticky at the top of this board as some suites in the same category are better than others ie suites aft (rear of) on Navigator have vibration issues and you can make sure you are close to (or far away from depending on your preference) things like dining rooms, theatre, not under the pool deck etc. or midships if mal de mer is a problem.

 

the other thing to check is the ambassador referral programme - so if your mom refers you, you both get a discount on the cost of the cruise.

Thank you; I’m finding their website absolutely overwhelming and really not the helpful for this particular piece. Understand about the concierge level - but doesn’t her gold status do the same? I’ll keep looking and I’ll definitely inquire about the referral program. Thanks again!

[mj_holiday]

On the RSSC home page scroll to the bottom for Seven Seas Society.  There is a list of perks for the various level. I've copied.

Exclusive Seven Seas Society® savings on select voyages

Access to online personal profile

Seven Seas Society® cocktail reception on board

Single guests earn double loyalty nights*

Priority online dining reservations in Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim

Priority online shore excursion reservations

FREE one-hour phone time per suite

Commemorative pin

Society Pages Newsletter

$100 Shipboard Credit (per suite)

FREE unlimited WiFi with four log-ins, for up to four devices

FREE two hours of additional phone time (three hours total)

Priority disembarkation at voyage completion in select ports

Choice of newspaper service from papers around the world

Exclusive activities onboard or ashore on every voyage

 

If you Mom is close enough to Platinum that this cruise would get her to Platinum, she is eligible for those perks as soon as she gets on board (at least it use to be that way).

 

Also on RSSC home page go to Menu (upper left) ->Our Ships and select Voyager. Here you will find a description of the various suites and each has a link to Amenities which will explain what you get with each level of suite.

[Techno123]

2 hours ago, flyboyswife said:

Thank you; I’m finding their website absolutely overwhelming and really not the helpful for this particular piece. Understand about the concierge level - but doesn’t her gold status do the same? I’ll keep looking and I’ll definitely inquire about the referral program. Thanks again!

I believe only your mom will be eligible for the gold perks - as a Regent newbie you will be relying on the category of suite you book though. This is a link to the Explorer suites

https://www.rssc.com/ships/seven_seas_explorer and this is a list of the concierge amenities

• FREE Valet Laundry Service
• FREE 1-Night Pre-Cruise Hotel Package Including:
  - FREE Ground Transfers
  - FREE Breakfast
  - FREE Porterage
• INCLUDED & UNLIMITED WiFi includes up to four logins, four devices, per suite
• FREE 15 Minutes of Ship-to-Shore Phone Time
• L’Occitane® Jasmin & Bergamot Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions
• Welcome Bottle of Champagne with Fresh Fruit Arrangement
• In-Suite Mini-Bar Set-Up and Refill
• 24-Hour Room Service 

• Priority Online Shore Excursions and Dining Reservations

• 10% Discount on Premium Wine and Liquor

• 5% savings on Pre- or Post-Cruise Hotel or Land Programs

• 5% savings on Regent Choice Shore Excursions

• Regent Plush Bathrobes and Slippers

• Binoculars, illy® Espresso Maker and Cashmere Blankets

• Vanity and Hair Dryer

• Interactive Flat-Screen Television With Extensive Media Library, Complimentary Movies-on-Demand 
• Direct Dial Satellite Phone
• Shoe Shine Service
• Complimentary Tote Bag

 

 

[Techno123]

Here's one for the Voyager https://www.rssc.com/ships/seven_seas_voyager and the Penthouse amenities

AMENITIES

FREE Valet Laundry Service

INCLUDED: Roundtrip Business Class Air* on European Voyages

INCLUDED: 1-Night Pre-Cruise Hotel Package Including:
- INCLUDED Transfer Between Hotel and Ship
- INCLUDED Breakfast
- INCLUDED Porterage

INCLUDED: 15 Minutes of Ship-to-Shore Phone Time

Priority Online Shore Excursions and Dining Reservations

10% Discount on Premium Wine and Liquor

L’Occitane® Mer & Mistral Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions

Personal Butler Committed to Fulfilling Your Wishes

European King-Size or Twin Bed Configurations Featuring our Exclusive Suite Slumber Bed®

Interactive Flat-Screen Television With Extensive Media Library, Complimentary Movies-on-Demand 

Mini-Bar Replenished Daily With Soft Drinks, Beer and Bottled Water — All Complimentary

Vanity and Hair Dryer

Regent Bathrobes and Slippers

A Variety of Guerlain® and L'Occitane® Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions

BOSE® SoundLink Mini II Bluetooth Speaker

In-Suite use of Binoculars, illy® Espresso Maker and Cashmere Blanket

24-Hour Room Service With Dinner Served Course-by-Course

Welcome Bottle of Champagne with Fresh Fruit Arrangement

[Techno123]

The Regent air could be different for you as I am accessing from the UK but should give you an idea.

[flyboyswife]

16 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

 

Thank you! I took everyone’s helpful tips and did better on the website today! It seems her gold status doesn’t do much for her if she’s already booking concierge level- AND since she wants Regent to handle air/hotel, we’re limited to that level or above. Let me know if you disagree.

 

As we are new to regent, is there any benefit to her booking both rooms using her gold status? Or do we have to start fresh? If that’s the case, then that’s likely another reason for the concierge level minimum.

 

I suppose I should price out the penthouse difference- if it’s nominal (relatively speaking over 14 nights), maybe the butler is the way to go.  Thank you all! I look forward to learning more on this page in the months ahead!

[jeb_bud]

I think the Gold status benefits go to the occupants of the room and not the booker, so you would still receive “entry level” benefits in your room even if your mom booked it. 
 

You definitely want to make use of the Ambassador program to get some discounts on your fares. 
 

Most of the Penthouse suites on Voyager are larger than the Concierge suites, which might be the biggest selling point for the three of you. We have been on two cruises in Concierge and one in a Penthouse. We found that the value of the butler is dependent on how much “use” you make of his services. The room stewards in a Concierge suite provide almost all of what we got from our butler, but then we didn’t ask for many services beyond what we had on the earlier cruises. 
 

we have only cruises Regent so we can’t compare it to mass market cruising but I suspect the difference between your other cruises and Regent will be bigger than between categories on Regent. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I presume your mother and the rest of you will have two cabins?  As was already said, your mom's Gold status gets her some benefits, but not you, unless you're booked in the same room.  We're Gold and recently booked a Concierge cabin only because that's all there was available, hardly any benefit to us.  If she is adamant about using Regent Air and a hotel the night before, then there is no benefit of her booking concierge class, since a good-old G cabin mid-ship is just the same cabin.  She can then just purchase the pre-cruise hotel night, which will get her the perks she wants--she won't have to pay a deviation fee for flying in early, and she'll get a transfer to the ship.

 

For you, in your separate cabin, there is an advantage to booking concierge.  There's lists of those perks above I believe.  

 

On the other hand, the PH cabins on Voyager are very nice--not huge, but laid out better than the standard cabins. Plus you get a butler and all the perks that come with Concierge.

[flyboyswife]

2 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

 

we have only cruises Regent so we can’t compare it to mass market cruising but I suspect the difference between your other cruises and Regent will be bigger than between categories on Regent. 

ABSOLUTELY!! We are thrilled to experience cruising the Regent way!  Thank you for your thoughts on the PH butler. My thought was the more personalized service might be nice since we’re traveling with a 16yo & 83yo - both of whom may need a little extra attention. Thanks again!

[flyboyswife]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

She can then just purchase the pre-cruise hotel night, which will get her the perks she wants--she won't have to pay a deviation fee for flying in early, and she'll get a transfer to the ship.

She is pretty adamant, LOL, but I’ll explore this option. I’m not understanding the “deviation fee” issue. Does Regent usually fly passengers in the day of departure? She definitely wants to go down to Miami the day before the ship departs. Thank you!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

33 minutes ago, flyboyswife said:

She is pretty adamant, LOL, but I’ll explore this option. I’m not understanding the “deviation fee” issue. Does Regent usually fly passengers in the day of departure? She definitely wants to go down to Miami the day before the ship departs. Thank you!

Yes, Regent usually flies people in on the day of departure. So unless you're Concierge level (and thus have an included one-night hotel stay), you need to pay the deviation fee to fly in earlier, UNLESS you purchase a pre-cruise hotel stay through Regent.  I myself have almost always paid the deviation fee and booked a lower-level cabin.  That way you can choose your own hotel and decide how much to pay for it.  And then get a cab to the port (which is way better anyways than taking the provided bus.)

Edited October 29, 2022 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Ladys Mom]

If you are in a Concierge suite, or above, Regent automatically books your flight for the day before the sailing.  They include the hotel the night before and breakfast the morning of the sailing.  You pay a deviation fee if you want to fly out of an airport that is not one of their hubs, or you want a specific airline itinerary, or you want to travel even earlier or later.  I hope this helps.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

6 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

You pay a deviation fee if you want to fly out of an airport that is not one of their hubs, or you want a specific airline itinerary, or you want to travel even earlier or later.

Good point!  That's another reason why we often paid deviation fees, so that we could choose our own flights and routes.

[flyboyswife]

Wendy & Lady - thank you both. I truly appreciate the insight. If it were me paying, I’d definitely do my own travel. However, my mom is gifting us this vaca so we will do it her way. I’m quite confident my husband and I may never cruise our old cruise lines again after this trip, so I will keep all of these tips in mind.  Thank you again!

[DeepFreeze63]

Hi:

We're 85 & 82, frequent Regent cruisers who have done 2 Voyager cruisers in the last 4 months and leave in 10 days for 2 more Voyager cruises. In July, we cruised with a 16 year-old grandson and on our December cruise we will bring 2 adult children with us. I assume you will have 2 cabins with 2 in each. Regent will convert a normally king-size bed configuration to two twins if you choose. If 3 of you are in one cabin, the Penthouse-B layout is terrific (with the big sitting chair removed) - it worked wonderfully  with 3 of us in one cabin for 15 nights the 5'10" grandson slept "like a log" in the pull-out sofa.

There are still plenty of available cabins for the April Voyager TA. So, you can still change categories; just do it this year as prices will probably jump again on 1/1/2023.

Your grandmother has made a nice choice in Concierge - it removes a lot of hassle. The Regent hotel is very nice, we stayed there for a Regent cruise in April 2022. I'd be happy to respond to questions now or when I'm back on the Voyager. This CC Forum has lots of good "stuff" for your planning.

[papaflamingo]

17 hours ago, flyboyswife said:

ABSOLUTELY!! We are thrilled to experience cruising the Regent way!  Thank you for your thoughts on the PH butler. My thought was the more personalized service might be nice since we’re traveling with a 16yo & 83yo - both of whom may need a little extra attention. Thanks again!

A quick comment... if you choose to book a Penthouse on Voyager, you may want to get a Penthouse B or A.  The Penthouse C is the exact same as a Concierge. The Penthouse A and B are a different layout and a bit bigger.  In my opinion they are a nicer layout.  As for the Butler, we had one on our first cruise and turned out we really loved having him.  As you said, much more personalized service.  He did everything for us from booking extra dining in a specialty restaurant to bringing canapés in the afternoon.  Any questions or issues he handled.  We didn't have a butler on our second cruise and turned out we missed him quite a bit. If the cost between a Concierge and a Penthouse isn't significant, then you may want to consider it.  

[flyboyswife]

On 10/30/2022 at 7:41 AM, papaflamingo said:

He did everything for us from booking extra dining in a specialty restaurant to bringing canapés in the afternoon.  Any questions or issues he handled.  

Papa (wow, you’re really helping me, thank you!) - my mom (experienced Regent cruiser) is telling me we have to book our dining and excursions before we board so butler not worth it (her opinion). Has this changed? Or are you limited to what you book in advance and the butler helps with adding things you can’t access in advance?  Any other specifics you used the butler for? I love the idea of packing/unpacking help!

[cwn]

1 hour ago, flyboyswife said:

Papa (wow, you’re really helping me, thank you!) - my mom (experienced Regent cruiser) is telling me we have to book our dining and excursions before we board so butler not worth it (her opinion). Has this changed? Or are you limited to what you book in advance and the butler helps with adding things you can’t access in advance?  Any other specifics you used the butler for? I love the idea of packing/unpacking help!

In  Concierge you will able to book tours and dinning when they first open. Lower suite levels unless you have SS status book later. Everyone is limited to one dinning reservation per restaurant before boarding. Tours have no limit other than because of tour start times.

Once on board anyone can ask for more reservations it they are available, no butler needed…. Which your mom probably already knows. Food can be delivered by calling room service….anything fron a cookie to the course by course meal. really no Buttler needed. All Regent suites are very nice. It looks to be about.$1050pp to go from a D to a bigger suite in a Penthouse B. That’s about $70 a day pp. Only you/your mom knows if it worth the increase In the cruise price. If you were 3 to a room I would say definitely, but a D is very comfortable for 2 and will get you the good benifits.

[papaflamingo]

10 hours ago, flyboyswife said:

Papa (wow, you’re really helping me, thank you!) - my mom (experienced Regent cruiser) is telling me we have to book our dining and excursions before we board so butler not worth it (her opinion). Has this changed? Or are you limited to what you book in advance and the butler helps with adding things you can’t access in advance?  Any other specifics you used the butler for? I love the idea of packing/unpacking help!

CWN is correct.  You will book your dining reservations on line before the cruise, but you get 1 reservation per specialty restaurant per cruise segment.  If you want more you book on the ship.  And CWN is also correct that you can to all this without a butler.  For us, we found our butler to most useful in many other ways. When we had 2 tours in one day he would have lunch waiting for us in our cabin upon return from the first tour so we could eat while changing for the second tour.  Of course we could have simply gone to the pool grill, called room service, etc.  But we had only a short time from a water tour to a land tour so we wanted to shower, etc.  We simply told our butler what we wanted and what time we wanted it and it was there for us,.  We enjoyed the afternoon canapés.  We enjoyed room service dinner and he would present it whenever we wanted it and course by course if we wanted. We often did room service breakfast for our early excursions.  We would simply pre-order with the butler and give him the time and there he was. He made sure we had water, ice, etc. at all times.  He kept us up to date on  all activities. When we cancelled a shore tour we told him and he handled it for us.  Any issues ANY issues we simply called him up and it was handled. No going to Guest Services, calling maintenance, etc.  Simply let the butler know.  

Do we NEED a butler? No.  Did we use him to the fullest?  No. We didn't have him unpack or pack for us (even though he offered).  We didn't use him to shine our shoes (although he will).  My wife wouldn't let him pour my bourbon on the rocks (even though I was more than willing to let him and avoid walking across the cabin to pour bourbon on ice) 🤣.  But on our last cruise we really missed him for all the reasons we DID use him. 

I would not pay thousands just for the butler.  BUT,  on Voyager, if you get a Penthouse B or A, you also get a bit larger room.  IMHO it's a nicer layout than the concierge.  We are doing 70 nights on Voyager in 2025 and I splurged on the Penthouse B for the nicer cabin layout and yeah....we'll like having the butler.  

So as CWN said, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the extra money?   If it's $70 per day for a Penthouse B (bigger cabin) I'd do it.  For a Penthouse C, not so sure.  

But it's sure a nice dilemma.  😎

[flyboyswife]

CWN & Papa, thank you both so much for taking the time to really break this down for me. I truly appreciate your help and you’ve given me a lot to think about and discuss with my family.