Back from Tokyo to Bangkok on the Explorer: A Review

[maryogreen]

 

This was my husband Herb's and my first cruise with Regent since the pre-pandemic, when we'd sailed on the Voyager from Barcelona to Dubai in November 2019. After that terrific experience, we were excited to return – and especially to sail on the Explorer.

"Vibrant Tokyo" Pre-Cruise

 

We signed up for the complimentary "Vibrant Tokyo" pre-cruise tour, which included transfers, three nights at the Tokyo Hilton Shinjuku, daily breakfasts and half-day excursions. Our expectations weren't too high after reading @rkaratsu's most helpful report here a month earlier, but it seemed that by the time our tour arrived, the organizational wrinkles had been worked out.

 

Thank you to everyone who posted about the pre-cruise! It truly helped us understand that these were not guided tours in the traditional sense and enabled us to make plans beyond the tours. The land program was run by a fabulous director named Theo, who held meetings each morning before we left the hotel and offered extremely helpful tips and insights into life in Japan. Guides provided commentary on the buses as we traveled to various destinations, but once we arrived, we toured on our own.

 

We found the Japanese guides to be absolutely delightful and loved the way they shared stories about their personal lives and lifestyles. One guide was a jazz singer by night, offering to sing at the end of the tour, and another ended our tour by serenading us with the classic Japanese song, Sukiyaki!

 

The Hilton Shinjuku was terrific – a bustling business and tourist hotel in a convenient location. The breakfast buffet offered a large selection of Western and Japanese dishes, and the two hotel restaurants we tried – Chinese and a light meal in the bar – were tasty and convenient. Our favorite meal was at an Indian restaurant called Ashoka located just below the Hilton in the underground passageway. The ATM for securing yen is also located below the hotel. Our room was on the 26th floor and offered a great city view. 

 

 

The Ship

 

It's almost impossible to find issues with the Explorer. Our cabin – Concierge Suite 825 – was the nicest of any ship we've ever experienced. Tremendous thought was clearly put into designing the space, with the most storage imaginable and wonderful flow of the cabin. Extraordinarily comfortable bed, fabulous shower, spacious walk-in closet and really nice-sized verandah. I can't say enough good things!

 

The ship is quite stunning and has a big job living up to its slogan of "the world's most luxurious ship." The only area we found a little disappointing was the Coffee Connection, which felt cramped and always crowded, especially on sea days with a full ship.

 

 

Food, Service & Crew

 

My husband @bizinsider and @Stickman1990 posted live threads here about food and service issues on this cruise, so I won't repeat details of our experiences. Something was clearly "off" when we arrived on board. Food service was slow, some items were not prepared properly or served hot and the crew seemed understaffed, undertrained and stretched beyond their limits. As @minotaur suggested here, perhaps some of the more seasoned crew members were transferred to the newly-launched Grandeur.

 

We spoke up about specific concerns right away, which I think is the key to making things right. And we spoke to the top people in charge. There were lots of grumblings around the ship, and Regent requested feedback a few days in, posting a questionnaire box on the main desk.

 

Food and service improved quickly, and we began to find our favorite crew members, requesting their tables for dinner. Our best meals were in Sette Mari and Chartreuse, where food and service were consistently top-notch. We especially loved Rustine, who left the ship in Vietnam and will be returning on the Mariner for the World Cruise, and Rey, the ever-smiling, greet-you-by-name waiter who made our dinners a delight.

 

 

Excursions

 

We signed on for Regent excursions in every port except Kyoto, where we hired a private guide. I wasn't happy with Regent's limited tour offering there, and because we had only one day, I wanted to see as much as possible. Herb and I avoided the long drive from the Kobe port by taking the bullet train, which got us there in half an hour and added to the fun of the experience. Our guide was fantastic and took us all over the city by taxis, local trains and on foot. A special tank you to @Gilly, whose helpful information here on taking trains in Japan gave us the confidence to give the bullet train a try!

 

We paid extra for two small group tours in Vietnam, which was very much worth the cost, and took complimentary tours everywhere else. Guides were good-to-excellent and tours were well thought-out. The biggest issue in this part of the world is the long distance from Vietnam and Bangkok ports to the cities, resulting in very long bus rides. There were also a few awkwardly timed four- and five-hour tours than ran from late mornings to early afternoons without including any snack or food break. What made it worse is that we were told we weren't permitted to bring any food off the ship in these ports.

 

Tours were quite full, and we were surprised that Regent ran such packed buses. We were most surprised by the tender ride in Nha Trang, where Regent packed three buses into one tender from the port to the pier. In all our years of tender rides, we have never experienced anything that unpleasant.

 

Tour selection was quite varied and seemed geared to both first-time (as we were) and repeat visitors to the ports. I especially loved the off-the-beaten-path experience we had in Taiwan, where we traveled to an old mining town in the countryside to write our wishes on traditional lanterns and launch them into the sky, afterwards hiking around a beautiful waterfall.

 

 

Angkor Wat Post-Cruise

 

If I had to pick a highlight of the trip, it would have to be Angkor Wat. The ancient temples have been on my travel wish list for many years, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to experience this magnificent place. The paid excursion was organized by Regent and included round-trip flights from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia, two nights at the Borei Angkor Resort, one night at the Sheraton Royal Orchid in Bangkok, most meals and two days of touring Angkor Wat. Everyone packed a small bag – there were 18 in our group – and Regent transferred our remaining cruise luggage to the Bangkok hotel for storage until our return.

 

The land program provided a representative who traveled with us from Bangkok and joined all the tours as well as a local guide in Siem Reap named Salon who was one of the best we've ever had. Salon adjusted the schedule each day to maximize our time and avoid the crowds. He provided commentary on our short rides to the site as well as while we were visiting the ruins. And best of all, he loved photography. I don't think I've ever had so many photos taken of Herb and me in a special place like this. Salon knew all the "best spots," and every time he'd reach another location, he'd say, "Now this is the best spot!"

 

 

For anyone who is interested, I've just posted my first blog from the trip and will have photos and stories from every port in the coming days.

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/tokyo-day-1-first-impressions-national-museum-ginza-shibuya-crossing/

 

Mary

themodernpostcard.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by maryogreen

[1982CruzStart]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do such a detailed review of your experiences. 

We were also lucky enough to do the Regent included tour to Angkor Wat and will never forget it. 

[maryogreen]

1 hour ago, 1982CruzStart said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to do such a detailed review of your experiences. 

We were also lucky enough to do the Regent included tour to Angkor Wat and will never forget it. 

@1982CruzStart You're very welcome! It was great to hear that you had an unforgettable Angkor Wat experience as well. Regent did a great job on this, and the destination is one of the greats.

[RachelG]

Thanks for the fair and balanced report.  I thnk the coffee connection turned out to be a lot more popular than they expected.  On Splendor it is larger. 

[maryogreen]

Thanks @RachelG! We heard quite a few comments about the size and more openness of Splendor's Coffee Connection compared with the Explorer's. 

[Redking]

Echoing the thoughts of others in thanking you for this very informative and balanced review.  Very helpful given we've yet to sail with Regent- our first booking isn't until 2026!

[maryogreen]

@Redking, I'm so glad you enjoyed the review. We sometimes book our trips quite far in advance as well...and then suddenly they seem to arrive more quickly than we'd imagined!

[boblerm]

Mary, thank you for posting your cruise review here.

As always, I am eagerly anticipating your wonderful blog entries, always a treat!

[maryogreen]

Thanks so much @boblerm! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and always welcome insights! 😀