Is Regent for us?

[welshfamily]

We are a family of 2 parents, 2 adult children. We are somewhat experienced cruisers Celebrity, Azamara,  a toe dipping experiment into Princess just after Covid.Choose the Owners suite for space in case of isolation but found food service etc lacking.  We have enjoyed several cruises on Oceania. Although we are not heavy drinkers we always have a drinks package for convenience. We like good food with the ability to leave items off certain dishes if necessary ( do not like truffles particularly in sauce). We like walking tours but not panoramic  coach tours however we are happy to wander about certain places ourselves. We are not bothered about large shows if fact we quite enjoy cabaret. We have to travel in high season as in education.  
 
Would Regent be a good fit for  us ?
Could someone explain the difference between balcony and concierge when deviating. 

To be honest We have been looking at Regent for a while however the Television series been  shown here in the Uk is cringe worthy and quite put us off.  Is Regent very Stateroom class conscious? 
 

[Gilly]

I'd say Regent is the least class-conscious travel experience of all!  Once on board, everyone receives the same stellar service as everyone else and we've always found the whole Regent experience to be extraordinarily comfortable and very much to our liking.

The TV series is really cringe worthy, I agree, and a few moments reading messages here will confirm that we're not the only ones to find it so!  

Differences between suites are best explained in the descriptions online and in threads here (I think there have been some good conversations about that recently) I am not the best person to explain all of that 😉

Above all, we enjoy the relaxed atmosphere that comes with the "all inclusive" convenience.  We love to dine with whom we like, when and where we like and *love* that within days of boarding, Regent staff not only recognise us but also remember preferences (eg truffles) and frequently pre-empt our wishes without our even having to ask.  We find our fellow travellers to be interesting and good company (much like ourselves 🤣 ) 

For us, choosing Regent for the first time was a great decision, though as many observe, it is hard (in our case impossible) to sail with anyone else.  

[kjbacon]

Regent is unpretentious and yet has service fit for royalty. I am doing a live thread right now that might be of help to you, if you love food!

[papaflamingo]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

Would Regent be a good fit for  us ?
Could someone explain the difference between balcony and concierge when deviating. 

To be honest We have been looking at Regent for a while however the Television series been  shown here in the Uk is cringe worthy and quite put us off.  Is Regent very Stateroom class conscious? 
 

I think it sounds like you'd like Regent.  I compare Regent to being in a Suite on Celebrity with access to Luminaire for meals, but better.  Just keep in mind that the shows are fine, but not the big production quality you'd find on Royal Caribbean for example. 

As for a Concierge vs. Deluxe Veranda, the Concierge cabins are generally in a bit more desirable location, they have a one night hotel stay before the cruise, offer early excursion and specialty dining  booking, and give you  4 logins per cabin on the ship's wifi.  As for deviation, if you're talking about flight deviation, you generally give up your airport to hotel transportation, but if use the included one night stay you'll still get transportation from the hotel to the port.  A lot of people still choose to arrange their own transportation to the port so they can arrive at their leisure.

The Concierge cabins are exactly like the category below them.  On Mariner, Voyager, and Navigator there is no difference between the Verandah cabins and the Concierge Cabin.  Only the perks. On the new ships, Explorer and Splendor, the Concierge cabin is exactly like the Superior Suite Cabins which are a bit bigger than the Deluxe Verandahs.   

I haven't seen the show about Splendor, but from what's been written, it doesn't sound like a great representation of the cruise line.  There is zero class consciousness except the Regent Suite that get all sorts of perks.  Other than that, seems everyone is treated equally and the vibe is casual and relaxed. 

 

[RetiredandTravel]

2 hours ago, welshfamily said:

We are a family of 2 parents, 2 adult children. We are somewhat experienced cruisers Celebrity, Azamara,  a toe dipping experiment into Princess just after Covid.Choose the Owners suite for space in case of isolation but found food service etc lacking.  We have enjoyed several cruises on Oceania. Although we are not heavy drinkers we always have a drinks package for convenience. We like good food with the ability to leave items off certain dishes if necessary ( do not like truffles particularly in sauce). We like walking tours but not panoramic  coach tours however we are happy to wander about certain places ourselves. We are not bothered about large shows if fact we quite enjoy cabaret. We have to travel in high season as in education.  
 
Would Regent be a good fit for  us ?
Could someone explain the difference between balcony and concierge when deviating. 

To be honest We have been looking at Regent for a while however the Television series been  shown here in the Uk is cringe worthy and quite put us off.  Is Regent very Stateroom class conscious? 
 

 

If you are new to Regent one of the biggest benefits of the Concierge Suite (and higher) is it gives you priority for excursions & specialty restaurant reservations.  This is quite important, so if you can swing it go with Concierge over basic Veranda.  Our experience is that a vast majority of Regent cruisers and very nice and friendly.  We have met a few that seem to think they are further up the food chain because they have cruised many nights on Regent.  I would guess that's true on any cruise line.  Easily ignored.

 

The demographic is on the older side.  I'd guess 80% above 60 and 90% above 50.  I doubt many would treat someone younger differently but its important to know.

 

We have had good experiences with Regent included excursions but they are on a bus with 30-60 other passengers and a tour guide.  In most cases the bus takes you to the destination and you walk around with the group and tour guide.

 

There is a wide variety of food choices and they will cater to your requests.

 

enjoy.

[pappy1022]

Our very first cruise ever was to Alaska with our 2 college aged boys. That was years ago and I chose Regent because of the itinerary and it was competitively priced vs the other higher end choices at that time. They didn’t include airfare, excursions or any hotel accommodations but when on the ship it was all inclusive. Years later, we did a Mediterranean cruise with the 2 boys and the wife of 1 of the boys on Oceania. We chose Oceania because of the itinerary and the price point at the time. We immensely enjoyed both cruises but Regent food and accommodations were a notch or 2 up from Oceania. Both cruise were port intensive and we did all private tours that were very active, for example a helicopter flight to a glacier in Alaska, and the entire family thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Basically most days were eating breakfast going on an excursion, eating dinner maybe taking in a show and going to bed. We did full day excursions in each of the ports and as much fun and as amazing each day was we were tired and we went to bed fairly early. There have been other cruises that just my wife and I were on that probably wouldn’t be as entertaining to adult children. I say all this to emphasize that picking the right itinerary, something that your adult kids would enjoy, is key to your experience. IMO, Regent will provide the best service, food and upscale experience but for me, the destination is the primary factor when choosing a specific cruise. If Regent has a great itinerary, they would be my first choice. Today’s Regent includes airfare and excursions in each port and on the surface, the price can feel crazy. I’ve done the math and when you add it up it is competitive in the luxury cruise choices. I haven’t experienced the quality of these included tours yet but at least for the British Isles, it seems like there is a lot of bus time looking at things as you drive by. I like more active tours so we have scheduled a couple of private tours where we can decide what the itinerary will be. You don’t have to take the Regent tours but you don’t get any money back if you don’t. That would be my biggest concern with selecting Regent for your situation. I would look at the Regent tours for the itinerary you were interested in and see if there is enough to keep everyone excited. Friends of ours did a Regent tour to Alaska a few years ago and the shore excursions seemed pretty good. I think Alaska would be a great cruise for a family if you haven’t been there before. Bottom line for me, choose the region, the itinerary and schedule that is most interesting to your family and then look at what cruise line best fits that criteria. Regent is a fine choice for families with adult children. You will not be disappointed and although there are probably a few passengers that act privileged and are stuffy they are easy to avoid and 99% of the passengers are wonderful.

[slidebite]

3 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

If you are new to Regent one of the biggest benefits of the Concierge Suite (and higher) is it gives you priority for excursions & specialty restaurant reservations.  This is quite important, so if you can swing it go with Concierge over basic Veranda. 

 

Meh. As someone that's done both I feel a need to disagree here. The biggest difference/benefit of concierge IMHO is the pre-hotel and transfers which can be nice and seamless way to get from the airport onto the ship the next day. Once on board, the difference in experience is negligible and not worth the premium if the cabins are similar (of course, many of the premium suites are not). But, YMMV if that's important to you. But I'm not one that wants a butler so if that's important to you, than maybe it is worthwhile.

 

We've done 2 generational cruises, my wife and I and her parents. Both were tons of fun and I agree 100% the "class" consciousness thing really doesn't exist.  We also "tried" a Princess after our last Regent cruise just to see if we could get into a more mass market line, and it was a fail. The crowds, food, onboard experience is just night and day. Not that Princess is *bad* - it's not - but hunting for an open table at the buffet or rushing to get to the theatre to get a seat just wears thin. Also the nickel and diming/up-selling they try to do, while not in your face, happens a lot. Eating dinner and having them try to sell you a drink of Limoncello every 30 minutes became tiresome.

[ronrick1943]

I agree with most of the comments before me.  Regent doesn’t have an Owners Suite, but if you take one of Regents top suites.  Not only do you get the extra room, it also comes with a lot of extra perks that is wroth the extra cost.  

[welshfamily]

Thank you for all your help.

We though we might give Regent a go.

TA has given us an excellent price for cruise but the included flights are appalling.

At the end of the cruise the ship docks overnight in Trieste. Transfer time to Marco Polo airport is estimated at between 2 and 3 hrs ( by car Apple Maps puts the journey at 1 hr 57 mins). The allocated flight leaves at 8.35 am. Allowing a two hour check in this means we would have to leave the ship around about 3am in the morning. 
We would not be willing to do this.
Cruise starts from Civitavicchia ( approx 1hr from Rome airport) and ends in Trieste. 
Regent are giving an allowance of  £350 for cruise only. Deviation cost $175 which is fine but we then lose all transfers. The quotes for private transfer are hefty mainly due to Trieste. TA is looking for a solution. 
Must admit we are disappointed. 
 

[pappy1022]

Many use the deviation process to book their flights and you can tell Regent through your TA what you want. My experience is that they usually come up with something reasonable and if not on the first try, try and try again. It cost nothing to ask for a deviation. You are only charged if you decide to deviate. Not sure why transfers would be lost if you deviate flights. That’s never happened to us. Good luck.

[Gilly]

We paid deviation fees for our cruise last Autumn  - possibly a very similar itinerary from Rome to Trieste..  We flew home (LHR) from Trieste on Lufthansa, via Frankfurt.  All worked well - a lengthy stopover in Frankfurt turned out to be rather shorter (no time for Weissbier!)  and though the overall time spent travelling from ship to home was probably around the same as if we'd flown from Venice,  we avoided that horrible early start.  We had Regent transfers in both Rome and Trieste by the way.  (You can read about our journey home on my blog here)

(I'm happy to share more details by email if you like....I have a gmail address which begins gill679)

Edited February 14, 2023 by Gilly

[Techno123]

Another Welsh person here 😁 Which UK airport do you want to fly into? It might be possible to change the flight time to a later one (if there is one) without a deviation fee if it is one of Regents preferred airlines. The concierge is great as it will give you a night in Rome (if you are flying further afield they actually give us a free overnight whichever category you are in) plus 4 logins and earlier booking for trips and speciality dining. On the two newer ships the F1 verandas seem to be the best value if you don't want the concierge perks. Taking the Regent air does mean that if you fly in on the day, it is their responsibility to get you to the ship if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

[welshfamily]

Sorry to report no movement from Regent on flights.
We have booked a different cruise, (the one before ) starting now in Lisbon and ending in Rome.

 

We booked concierge ( listening to my fellow Welsh person). This gives us better flights and a night in  Lisbon. 
 

Can anyone tell me when we will find out which hotel we have been allocated?

When can we book excursions and dinning times?

 

Any other tips advice etc gratefully received.

 

Thanks

 

[Techno123]

1 hour ago, welshfamily said:

 

Can anyone tell me when we will find out which hotel we have been allocated?

When can we book excursions and dinning times?

 

Any other tips advice etc gratefully received.

 

Thanks

 

Have you set up your Regent account yet? If not, go to RSSC.com, make an account, add your cruise ref number to your account and if your hotel is allocated it shows on the calendar view of your itinerary. It will also tell you when you can book excursions (if you go to your cruise on the website you can ask for the excursion details to be emailed to you) the speciality restaurants and when to check in. It will also show if you have any cruise credit to use.

[welshfamily]

Thank you.

Yes, set up account. No sign of hotel yet but less the 24 hrs into booking.

We have two booking numbers, TA linked the bookings. I am assuming we will have to book Excursions on two computers at the same time to ensure we all get on the same excursions.
We have been to most of these ports already therefore will not do too many excursions. We like to wander around places  soaking up the sights and tastes of the different countries. Our summer hols tend to be about relaxation hence our decision to try Regent. Good food, a decent drink and some sun are really our only requirements. If we can add in meeting new people all the better.