Grandeur July 22

[papaflamingo]

22 hours ago, -Lew- said:

Is the shortage of qualified staff so dire that Regent has to resort to hiring non-English speaking staff?  What are they thinking?

Yes,,, most likely the shortage of qualified staff is so dire that they DO have to hire crew with limited English skills.  "What are they thinking?"  They likely have no other choice.  Covid changed the dynamics of the world. The cruise industry shut down for 2 years. People (who didn't die) retired or found other jobs.  Add to that, the number of new ships released without retiring older ships.  So most cruise lines EXPANDED.  Regent ADDED Grandeur with the need for an additional 500 crew.  Royal Caribbean added Icon of the Seas with an additional 2700 crew!  And there's all the other lines too.  So... Regent can only hire whom they can hire.  IMHO they've done a pretty good job trying to keep the service at Regent level considering how many new crew members they've had to find.

[GMIAC]

6 hours ago, Gpilon said:

We ate Al fresco at Sette Mari last night and had a very enjoyable meal. Again, “inconsistency” rears its ugly head. 

Wait. You had a GOOD meal, and you're complaining that things are inconsistent? 

[Gpilon]

Just now, GMIAC said:

Wait. You had a GOOD meal, and you're complaining that things are inconsistent? 

Misunderstanding. My mention of inconsistent applies to where was this food and service last time at Sette Mari, which both bordered on bad. Hit and miss should not be an option for Regent, given their advertising. 

[GMIAC]

1 minute ago, Gpilon said:

Misunderstanding. My mention of inconsistent applies to where was this food and service last time at Sette Mari, which both bordered on bad. Hit and miss should not be an option for Regent, given their advertising. 

I did misunderstand. I've found I'm a lot happier when I let glitches pass; we're all in the same boat, so to speak, after all. I figure I'm still on a gorgeous ship with people I love. Different strokes, I guess. 

[Gpilon]

Disembarked Grandeur Wednesday and in Rome now. Very easy disembarkation process…..15 minutes and in our Blacklane ride. The cruise for the most part was very good. Hiccups were fairly bad and after being off the ship 2 days, we are both saying that for sure we would cruise Regent again, but this particular cruise had something “missing” from past Regent cruises that is difficult to articulate. Our suite, 1012, was very nice but we noticed bureaus in the bedroom seemed to be of cheaper materials and did not quite fit like our GS’s on Splendor did. As well, reading lights over bed badly thought out…..to turn on or off, you needed to get out of bed to reach them. 

 

Final thoughts on Grandeur cruise…..very good but not what we have experienced on Splendor twice in a GS. Off to Ireland and golf trip in a few weeks but Regent is in our future plans.

[GOARMY]

Gpilon et al:  

 

Carefully reviewed your, and other Posts on this Thread as we will experience our first time(s) aboard Grandeur in January, followed up by another segment later in 2025.  Then, back to Splendor.  

 

This after exiting Splendor last month after experiencing uniformly positive B/t/Bs. Contrasts/comparisons between the two ships will certainly get our attention; but will keep everything in perspective, as GMIAC noted.    

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[CardowMD]

What time did you disembark in Rome? Will be on Navigator later in year, was considering pick up around 9am. Trying to avoid rush hour traffic into the city.

[dkatzenbach]

We were on this cruise as well. We had a wonderful cruise.  Except for one undercooked steak in Prime 7 (which was immediately rectified), we thought was the food was consistently outstanding in all dining venues.  Except for some spotty service at the pool deck, service was terrific across the board.  Culinary Arts Kitchen was wonderful.  Excursions were generally excellent, including the free ones.  The only real negative was the spa - our massages were very good, but they are very salesy/upselling, which is a little off-putting.  But we had a great trip and would not hesitate to book again (this was our second Regent Cruise)

 

Disembarkation in Civitavecchia was super easy.  We did not go through customs or passport control (I asked Reception about this beforehand for planning, and they acted like they had no idea), so we just got off the ship, picked up our luggage in a tent right outside the ship on the pier and went to meet our car service.  I think we walked off the ship at 8:45am and were in our car by 9:15 (only because that was when I arranged for the car - we could have been in the car by 9 had I known how easy it would be).

[Gpilon]

2 hours ago, CardowMD said:

What time did you disembark in Rome? Will be on Navigator later in year, was considering pick up around 9am. Trying to avoid rush hour traffic into the city.

We arranged to disembark at 8:15 and had Blacklane pickup scheduled for 9AM. We were called right at 8:15.....no passport control nor immigration to go through and directly into tent area holding our bags. Our Blacklane ride was already there so we were in the van at 8:30. Very easy process and arrived at our Rome hotel before 9:30.

 

[CardowMD]

Thank you for this information. I know I can’t check into hotel until early afternoon, so trying to decide how early to get off the ship. It will be mid-November and I know I will be sad to get off the ship😥

[SummersinSteamboat]

100% agree. Was on this cruise as well. Food was awful. Honestly we are dealing with the language issue so much at home it didn’t seem strange. We were in a penthouse suite 1401. Beautiful suite and balcony. Butler was a great addition. 

[Gpilon]

On 8/9/2024 at 5:07 PM, SummersinSteamboat said:

100% agree. Was on this cruise as well. Food was awful. Honestly we are dealing with the language issue so much at home it didn’t seem strange. We were in a penthouse suite 1401. Beautiful suite and balcony. Butler was a great addition. 

Our issue on that cruise was severe inconsistency. We had 4 dinners in Prime 7….1 was very good….2 were ok and the 4th was simply not good at all. Did you feel any motion on Deck 14? Breast weather so suspect not. Two years ago in 1201 on Splendor, we really felt the motion during the nights, to the point we wanted the same GS but moved down to 1012 on Splendor and had the same suite on Grandeur for this past cruise.

[jeffyd]

We are on the Grandeur right now. Boarded in Civitavecchia on July 31st right after this cruise ended and will disembark in Athens in two days. We’ve been on Explorer and Navigator before. We had a flawless cruise and LOVE the Grandeur. No issues at all in all dining venues including the pool grill and we tried them all several times. Did not run into any language issues. The itinerary for this cruise, while port intensive, was amazing. We’ll be on Navigator again in Oct for 28 days and also looking at a World Cruise. We would not hesitate to sail the Grandeur again. Really enjoyed David Nevin the cruise director. I guess each experience is different. Smooth sailing to all!

[CJANDH]

45 minutes ago, jeffyd said:

Really enjoyed David Nevin the cruise director

Any idea how much longer David will CD on Grandeur?

[panzinic]

On 8/12/2024 at 2:48 PM, jeffyd said:

We are on the Grandeur right now. Boarded in Civitavecchia on July 31st right after this cruise ended and will disembark in Athens in two days. We’ve been on Explorer and Navigator before. We had a flawless cruise and LOVE the Grandeur. No issues at all in all dining venues including the pool grill and we tried them all several times. Did not run into any language issues. The itinerary for this cruise, while port intensive, was amazing. We’ll be on Navigator again in Oct for 28 days and also looking at a World Cruise. We would not hesitate to sail the Grandeur again. Really enjoyed David Nevin the cruise director. I guess each experience is different. Smooth sailing to all!

Could you advise the times of the shows in the theater....and are there 1 or 2 shows nightly? Thank you!

 

[GMIAC]

4 minutes ago, panzinic said:

Could you advise the times of the shows in the theater....and are there 1 or 2 shows nightly? Thank you!

 

9:30pm. One show nightly.

Edited August 14 by GMIAC

[jeffyd]

Sorry CJANDH, I just saw your question and am now off the ship and didn’t have a chance to ask David how long he’d be on as CD. I’m sure if you call Regent they could tell you. But I hope you get him because he was funny, engaging and could also sing pretty well! Here are two pictures of him from the last night in the cruise when he sang all Beatles songs with the Regent singers in the Atrium. In the first picture, he’s the second from the left and in the second picture he’s wearing a Paul McCartney wig. He even pulled off the British accent! Such a fun guy!

[boblerm]

On 7/26/2024 at 3:10 PM, Gpilon said:

We are now on Grandeur and after 2 Splendor cruises over the past 2 years have noticed a decline in food and service. As with the past 2 Splendor cruises, we are in a GS, 1012, which is gorgeous. We ate our first night at Sette Mari, and honestly, it was bordering on terrible. Pasta Fagioli soup had zero taste to it and my penne bolognese arrived very undercooked. I had it replaced and this time the pasta was cooked, but the bolognese was very greasy. Gave up on dinner and hit Meridian Lounge instead. Second day at Pool Grill, I ordered peel and eat shrimp. Three times various servers brought over sandwiches that were never ordered and after over 30 minutes, gave up on the shrimp/food and went to pool bar. There I ordered a drink (only a few people at bar) and again wanted 20 minutes or so neglected to up to suite and its bar. We ate at Pacific Rim a couple nights ago and it was very underwhelming, to the point we just had appetizers. One thing we’re have definitely noticed on this cruise is the staff. Although very friendly and helpful, it seems that a good number struggle with English and understanding what is being ordered. At this point in our Med cruise, we would rate it as under 4. Very disappointing for a proclaimed 5 star line. 

Just a quick update in this topic, FWIW.  On board Grandeur now, half way through the cruise, and have experienced none of these issues.  Quality of cuisine, service, and entertainment have been as good as can reasonably be expected.

[Gpilon]

5 minutes ago, boblerm said:

Just a quick update in this topic, FWIW.  On board Grandeur now, half way through the cruise, and have experienced none of these issues.  Quality of cuisine, service, and entertainment have been as good as can reasonably be expected.

Good to know improvements have been made. Enjoy your cruise. Check out my "impression", pool bar.....4th seat from left!

 

[Travel Daddy]

That is very disappointing to hear as I sail on her in 19 days.

 

What are the production shows they are putting on on the Grandeur?  I cannot find any listing.

Edited Saturday at 03:34 PM by Travel Daddy
wording

[GMIAC]

2 minutes ago, Travel Daddy said:

That is very disappointing to hear as I sail on her in 19 days.

 

What are the production shows they are putting on on the Grandeur of the Seas?  I cannot find any listing.

Don't read complaints of other passengers. They're all subjective. We've sailed on Grandeur a total of 21 nights on two separate sailings, and she was superlative in every way imaginable. 

 

I don't believe they publish a show schedule. You'll read about the daily show in Passages, the onboard activities newsletter. They'll also talk about upcoming shows throughout the duration of the cruise. 

[jjs217]

4 minutes ago, GMIAC said:

Don't read complaints of other passengers. They're all subjective.

Praise is subjective too!  I would never tell anyone not to read those who only have superlative opinions.

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

Praise is subjective too!  I would never tell anyone not to read those who only have superlative opinions.

I would suggest that any complaint comes with it a follow up comment on what Regent did to address the issue when the guest brought it to their attention. If the guest only complains on the forums and doesn't give Regent a chance to make it right then it is all drama IMO.

[GMIAC]

3 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

Praise is subjective too!  I would never tell anyone not to read those who only have superlative opinions.

To be sure, there were some glitches, and it wasn't perfect. But nothing that's worth immortalizing in a post. 

 

There are those who are easily bothered by things that wouldn't even show up on another's radar. I read all kinds of reports, and decide if the complaints are things that would bother me, or give me a sense that the complainer is making mountains out of molehills. 

[mrlevin]

Four brand new production shows on Grandeur that are currently only on Grandeur.  One is a pirate show, another is ignite the night which is more latin; I have forgotten the other two.  I must caveat that I have stopped going to any production shows that have backup singers on the backing track instead of production cast.