Crystal cruiser considering Regent Grandeur cruise

[LNugent]

Hello all. I am a frequent Crystal cruiser however I am looking at a cruise on the Grandeur for the itinerary and time of year I want to travel. I am asking for thoughts and comparisons and what to expect on Grandeur. Are included excursions good?In 50s and active so would want some active excursions. Typical age of Regent cruiser?  Night time venues with music?  Thanks. 

[Emdee]

We also cruise Regent for itinerary and Crystal for relaxation. 
We started cruising Regent in our 50s about 20 years ago, and always found people of all ages. 
Haven’t been on the Grandeur ….booked next year in April but will be on the Splendor and b2b mariner this year. 
The newer ships have more dining venues which are nice. The Spa on Explorer was excellent and my daughter enjoys the evening venues and bars. 
Excursions are hit and miss. 

 

Edited July 11 by Emdee

[KenzSailing]

 

Crystal was our cruise line before, well, you know.  After looking hard at alternatives we settled on giving Regent a try and boy are we glad we did.  We were on a holiday cruise last December on Grandeur, booked another Grandeur cruise while on board.  Spectacular new ship, had a great time.  (Keep in mind we haven't been on New Crystal, so any comparison I make is to the prior product.)

 

Service: very similar to Crystal.  We found the crew to be very solicitous and accommodating.

 

Food(it's subjective and this topic is a minefield) 

That said, the MDRs are pretty equivalent. Regent has a more expansive menu. 

Italian: again, if you liked Prego you'll be happy with Sette Mari.  

Pan-Asian: Umi Uma is of course a Nobu thing.  Pacific Rim is more pan Asian in its menu, with much less focus on sushi and sashimi. PR actually fit our taste buds better, but I know the Umi Uma diehards(and they are legion) would disagree.

Steak: Regent has a steakhouse, Crystal doesn't(but I am aware of the coming Beefbar.)

French: again, Regent does this, Crystal doesn't.  We liked Chartreuse very much.

 

Entertainment: Mainstage shows roughly equivalent.  Well done productions, solid guest artists.  Both companies know their clientele and are not trying to reinvent the wheel(ie, neither is Virgin.)  Where I think Regent does have an advantage is in having more venues for artists to perform.  For example, after the mainstage show, we loved going to the Meridian Lounge where the house show band would do a solo set after their mainstage gig.  Crystal has always had an excellent show band, but no space to showcase them alone, which always struck us as a pity. Regent has a late night piano player in the Observation Lounge.  On our cruise he was Geno DeLuca, who is as good as anyone we heard in the Avenue Saloon(and we are Avenue devotees.)  The OL isn't an intimate space like the Avenue, OTOH, you can always get a seat. Also, I believe Regent typically has a late night duo going, but never got to their show. One thing: on our cruise the first night mainstage was a sampler of the various house artists.  Really helped us figure out our preferred evening flight pattern.  

 

Excursions: we were in the Caribbean, never got off the boat.

 

In the end, there's only one way to find out.  Like I said, we've already booked another cruise on Regent.

 

 

[Emdee]

One comment on the Beef….it has really gone downhill on Regent.

The included laundry is awfully convenient. 
 

I would definitely put the food on NC above Regent though the latter has more variety. We love both Pacific Rim and Umi Uma.

 

The butlers on NC are a delight. We cruise in the F so no butler on Regent. 

[LNugent]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Crystal was our cruise line before, well, you know.  After looking hard at alternatives we settled on giving Regent a try and boy are we glad we did.  We were on a holiday cruise last December on Grandeur, booked another Grandeur cruise while on board.  Spectacular new ship, had a great time.  (Keep in mind we haven't been on New Crystal, so any comparison I make is to the prior product.)

 

Service: very similar to Crystal.  We found the crew to be very solicitous and accommodating.

 

Food(it's subjective and this topic is a minefield) 

That said, the MDRs are pretty equivalent. Regent has a more expansive menu. 

Italian: again, if you liked Prego you'll be happy with Sette Mari.  

Pan-Asian: Umi Uma is of course a Nobu thing.  Pacific Rim is more pan Asian in its menu, with much less focus on sushi and sashimi. PR actually fit our taste buds better, but I know the Umi Uma diehards(and they are legion) would disagree.

Steak: Regent has a steakhouse, Crystal doesn't(but I am aware of the coming Beefbar.)

French: again, Regent does this, Crystal doesn't.  We liked Chartreuse very much.

 

Entertainment: Mainstage shows roughly equivalent.  Well done productions, solid guest artists.  Both companies know their clientele and are not trying to reinvent the wheel(ie, neither is Virgin.)  Where I think Regent does have an advantage is in having more venues for artists to perform.  For example, after the mainstage show, we loved going to the Meridian Lounge where the house show band would do a solo set after their mainstage gig.  Crystal has always had an excellent show band, but no space to showcase them alone, which always struck us as a pity. Regent has a late night piano player in the Observation Lounge.  On our cruise he was Geno DeLuca, who is as good as anyone we heard in the Avenue Saloon(and we are Avenue devotees.)  The OL isn't an intimate space like the Avenue, OTOH, you can always get a seat. Also, I believe Regent typically has a late night duo going, but never got to their show. One thing: on our cruise the first night mainstage was a sampler of the various house artists.  Really helped us figure out our preferred evening flight pattern.  

 

Excursions: we were in the Caribbean, never got off the boat.

 

In the end, there's only one way to find out.  Like I said, we've already booked another cruise on Regent.

 

 

Very helpful. Thanks!

[Georgia_Peaches]

We are also new to Regent and will be on Grandeur in April.  We had questions about excursions and so this thread was born!  Lots of great tips and info. here.

 

[PaulMCO]

We have done several Regents and 3 more booked.  Just off Crystal.

 

You should be able to find active excursions. I do think Crystals excursions are better planned.  They always have a minder from the staff on each bus.  If you have ever been on Oceania, you will find that Regents is the same level (very glitzy descriptions and less glitzy execution).  The smaller group excursions that you pay extra $$ are better.

 

Cabins -- any of the Regent cabins will beat out a Crystal equivalent.  More room.

 

Food --  I give the edge to Crystal.  But Regent is good. 

 

Ship -- have not been on Grandeur yet, but Splendor is the older sister and it has a great passenger to space ratio with more modern decor than either Serenity or Symphony.

 

In short, if you like Crystal you will likely enjoy Regent.

[Kane]

We were "Crystallized" almost a couple of decades ago when Crystal designated themselves the Six Star cruise line.  They deserved it and were the standard even though I had to pack a Tux, Suit, and Blazer to fulfill the dress requirements.  Cruising has changed dramatically for the better since that time but, unfortunately, Crystal does not seem to have kept up.

 

Visiting the Crystal Cruise Critic Board is pretty much a discussion of remembering what it was like in the old days.  I guess this is fair, since it is now the time of rebirth.

 

My wife just returned from a Crystal "Hen cruise" on the Serenity.  Service was top notch ... it better be, because all the other high end lines deliver the same.  The Gals, however, were disappointed.

 

What it boils down to is that it is difficult to create a silk purse out of a sow's ear.  It's pretty difficult to convert dining from early/late set seating to an open seating system with more and more specialty dining venues.  The Gals felt the old dining layout with raised center section was pretty dated.  Also dated: I don't recall ship photographers and display gallery of passenger photos for sale on any of the modern lines.  It also seemed to them that the shipboard art was simply carried-over from the old days.

 

Crystal's task is now to keep those loyal Crystallites interested while they get their new ships constructed.

[DaisyUK]

We cruise with both Crystal and Regent and have been on both lines a few times since the re-start of Crystal. I agree with most of the comments above. Personally, I would set Umi Uma above Pacific Rim, but enjoy both. I think service is better on Crystal than Regent. I think the suites are better on Regent than Crystal (have only been on Explorer & Splendor, not Grandeur or any of Regent's older ships). I agree that there is perhaps more evening entertainment on Regent, but more activities during the day on Crystal. We found the quality of excursions to be pretty similar in both cases - and neither great! Completely agree with PaulMCO above - if you like Crystal, it's likely you'll enjoy Regent. Both are great lines.