Why Regent and other luxury lines are a good value

[Travelcat2]

I agree that many people can have the experience of Minn. cruisers. The time a person decides to dine also makes a difference. Whether the passenger crew ratio is 1:1 or 2:1. . . if 75% of the passengers appear at a restaurant at the same time -- even if seated within 5 minutes, food service will take a bit longer and may not be as smooth. My experiences on main-stream cruises (long time ago) did not have problems with service, long lines or food quality.

 

In terms of value -- it seems to come down to what is important to the individual. Would you be willing to pay $2,000 for unlimited alcohol? How about for alcohol and having the crew paid higher than other cruise lines so tipping is not required? Is being in a small cabin okay? Does it bother you that you'll be in port with 2900 other people? Will you laugh or be insulted when you walk by a wet bathing suit contest? Perhaps being on a small ship -- few dining options (Navigator for instance) -- tiny elevators (Silversea). . . . Balconies -- do you care?

 

Fortunately, it is now easy to find out minute details of every cruise ship -- down to the ages and backgrounds of the passengers that tend to sail on each line. The amount of information out there (internet, magazines, newspapers) can be overwhelming. There are passenger photographs of everything. . . the only thing you can't taste is the food. We have to depend upon reviews that may have been what that passenger experienced but is not necessarily true today.

 

One good value these days (mentioned previously on this thread) are transatlantic cruises. The Navigator is currently on it's transatlantic sailing -- only about 60% full - mostly repeat customers (I have the exact numbers -- just don't like doing math:-) The Navigator has had some problems lately -- electricity and food stand out in my mind. This cruise has a new chef that is doing an amazing job. . . . no reports of any type of problem (unless you count the weather). IMO, the Navigator is a beautiful ship -- will probably sail her again in the future. . . So, last question for now. . . Navigator or HAL? And, please, why....

[Iamboatman]

It really depends on the HAL ship involved. I cruised on the Maasdam - admittedly before her makeover - and there was much that I just didn't like. I have been on the Noordam and was, frankly, blown away by what a huge difference there was...and she is the model from which many improvements on the newer ships were taken and improved upon.

 

That said, I would be hard-pressed to justify the $8,000 difference in the original comparison. If the difference was $4,000 on a 10+ day cruise to similar ports I would be leaning heavily to Regent. By the time you add in drinks and tips the value of the smaller ships, better overall food, more intimate feel, etc. I think the value and overall experience makes Regent look pretty good.

[Suziefloozie]

We sailed on Celebrity Constallation 2 years ago and had a fantastic time. Lovely food, great service, spacious suite. Met very friendly fellow cruisers and overall had an enjoyable holiday which made us want to cruise again.

 

Last year we sailed HAL's Noordam - totally opposite from our X experience. Everything was blamed on it being the Christmas sailing but the X sailing was the same sailing the year previous.

 

We paid more to HAL and expected to have the same service we got on X but we did not get it. Although, the Noordam is a beautiful ship some of her crew and the food, let her down, badly. (They also had a belly flop competition that a lot of HAL regulars weren't fond of, but no wet swimsuit comp that I saw LOL)

 

We have booked Regent Voyager, together with friends we made on the X cruise, as we liked the itinerary but also as we feel that, being a smaller ship, she will be more intimate with good service and hopefully lovely food and wine.

[JunPOA]

Luxury v. Premium v. Mass Market

Not that anyone asked but reading these threads as well aggregating posts from other forums-the nature of the questions are so similar.

Forgive me if any industry and or preferrably consumer advocay stakeholder has already created a:

"Consumer Checklist, Quality & Performance Ratings for Comapring & Selecting a Cruiseline/Cruise Ship-Questions to Ask"

In my industry (health) both the public & private sector have developed consumer checklists with generic/universal quality measures/performance ratings (outcome, process, etc) of various provider settings (hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis facilites etc)which serves as tool to support consumers making informed decisions as they choose a provider.

This tool would need to contain both context as well as performance ratings. Everything in one tool-so that at a glance a consumer can view either/ or both composites for the line/ship or drill-down to individual measures of performance. The CDC Green Report (Vessel Inspection program) would be an example of just one domain for incidence of infectious and or food borne illnesses, Norwalk etc. . The tool nees to go beyond consumer self-reported (subjective) satisfaction with their cruise expereince (consumer satisfaction) - which is just one domain in and of itself.

Does anyone know if such a universal tool exists within the cruise industry?

I don't know -just a thought.:)

OK-I know I'm a GEEK

[Iamboatman]

What a great idea:D ...and what a disaster trying to put it together without a budget or support by the industry.:eek:

 

One difference in the cruise industry is that most of it is really "perception" from the sales side. One line pushes its agents to "Sell Dreams" and therein lies the rub. No cruise line would want to diminish one poster's here's belief that Royal Caribbean provides a solid luxury experience...nor would the poster's travel agent (though he/she might try to suggest a more upscale line). Regent doesn't want to be compared to Seabourn. Likewise Seabourn doesn't want its present ships compared to Regent's...though I am sure it is looking forward to comparing its new ships!

 

So, by quantifying what is an experiential phenomenon one could very quickly undercut the very essence of what is attempting to be quantified. (Environmental issues aren't quite so emotion-based for most.;) ).

 

Probably the closest anyone has come close to such a quantification is The Berlitz Guide by Doug Ward. He does have a fairly complete rating system (which he keeps the specifics of confidential). But what you do see is that even by looking at ratings by subject (food, service, etc.) a ship that has great hardware can be rated near a ship with OK hardware and great service. So besides eliminating the romance one also can make it it very confusing.

 

Just my thoughts.

[JunPOA]

What a great idea:D ...and what a disaster trying to put it together without a budget or support by the industry.:eek:

Eric - Now why did you have to go bring up the small detail of budget-a thorn in my side.:D

For folks (like us) albeit we "may" be in the minority-once one dismiss the "luxuries" of a line being alcohol/wine, liquor inclusive, in your cabin etc. etc., then discounting casinos, bars, nightly "shows & entertainment"-then folks like us can start doing some comps of apples to apples (its not we're borig or anything - its just not our thing-we enjoy the ports & high adventure/activity in port).

Sort of like a survey template-if alcohol, casinos, shows are NOT important - skip to next domain - like cabin, or customer service ("did the crew/wait staff address you by name?") for example.

 

So Eric - did I hear you say you were volunteering to write a grant to get finding for such a consumer tool?:D

[Iamboatman]

Like I need a fourth job.:eek:

 

How 'bout I write about 'em, sell 'em and go on 'em and leave the grant proposals to ,ummm, say, ummm, YOU!:D

[mikemel49]

Re the person who posted saying Regent would not refund or credit after the father passed away, this happened to us just last October (07), when my husband's father fell ill and we were in Athens, just 3 hours from boarding the ship.

We raced back to Australia and luckily made it back in time before he died.

Regent would not refund anything and frankly, I can understand that - they could not re-sell the cabin in a few hours! But because his illness was not a pre-condition and came on suddenly, and because he was under 80, our travel insurance paid for the cancelled cruise and some other flights in full. I must say I had not read the fine print about the "under 80" clause, so we were "lucky" there (weird word to use, but what else?).

Were you insured?

[Dolebludger]

And not only don't cruise without travel insurance, but also shop for a policy that fits your situation. For example, I don't think the last policy I bought had any age limits on a parent who may die. Good for me, as my Dad is 94, but he is doing better than most people 20 years younger so there was no problem!

 

Like all insurance policies, travel insurance policies have different provisions, inclusions, and exclusions. So shop carefully, and best with the help of a good TA.

[Iamboatman]

I think the post was supposed to be in another thread. But to bring it into this one, I agree that when the dollars being expended on a luxury cruise are what they are, travel insurance (the correct one without all the silly and expensive extras) can be an excellent value.

[Iamboatman]

Conde Nast Traveler just posted an interesting article...which the author new travel agents would disagree with...asserting that mainstream cruise lines are not the best value for Americans to see Europe. Here is the link: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/perrinpost/2008/04/cruises-are-not.html .

 

What was interesting is that he excluded the small ships of Seabourn, SeaDream and Windstar because they dock closer into, and stay later at, the ports.

 

I am not going to bother critiquing the article other than to note that sitting in one place in some unidentified place in Spain is a far cry from the cost of staying in Rome, Venice, Istanbul, etc. to start with. To me it is a false premise. But the distinction and discussion I think are relevant to our little thread.

[AtA]

We being fairly newbies to cruising, still board a ship wide-eyed in awe of the experience, and every vacation we take is heaven for us. We research ships and itineraries, read reviews and realize an experience may have been different if another had cruised the same, and book a cruise on many different factors. The CC threads were new to us, and we have learned alot form reading and joining in often on discussions on subjects of interest. I guess I always thought the higher priced suites, although a nice experience to enjoy, paid the premium of the cruise for others in the smaller cabins, and a higher level of service is expected. I'm sure. We have been pleased with the service received on our past cruises, and can't imagine it better (although I'm sure it can be...) We have had balconies our last 2 cruises (enjoy them so much), and our 1st cruise was an inside cabin years ago (booked as a group cruise with no input from us at that time). Reading this thread has been enlightening in some ways for me. I hadn't really thought of some cruiselines as being 'mass market' lines, although they are the lines most advertised, IMO, to the general public anyway. When planning a cruise, I have looked into these 'luxury' lines, and they do have a luxury pricetag, which has deterred me thus far in our final choice of booking a cruise. I have always wondered why, and now realize it must be because they are adult oriented, for the most part, and secondly I'm sure the same cruisers frequent these ships repeatedly and have a comraderie of sorts as well. Being new empty nesters, we miss the kids, but not that much, usually, and when on a cruise the solitude of peace and quiet is appealing, and expected or ...hoped for at the very least. We may someday look further into booking a cruise that is a reach budgetwise on these 'luxury liners'.

 

If you are a new empty nester, you must be around my age. :) I have made friends on cruises with folks of all ages and all walks of life. I've met house painters, lawyers, doctors, teachers, firemen, artists, authors, etc. All want a more relaxed atmosphere without any nickel and diming. On each cruise we've met and enjoyed the company of lots of folks we would have never had the opportunity to meet otherwise, and some have become our friends.

 

The luxury pricetag is steep, but you do get alot for your money. It's all inclusive, and in general the rooms are bigger than on the mass lines. Because of it being all inclusive, you save on drinks, specialty restaurants, etc.

[AtA]

Regent is looking at 1,000+

where did you hear that because last I heard was 750-800 for a new build.

[Iamboatman]

According to Mark Conroy they are working with a 406 cabin layout with triples and, possibly, family cabins. I figure if 25% are triple or larger it brings the number to about 1,000 berths.

 

TC2 has intimated that the new build may not be going forward and that the money is being put into renovating the three existing ships. I don't know that source, or if I read her correctly, but if true the above may be irrelevant. (Personally, I think the renovations are unrelated, though I do not know if Apollo's unexpected financial situation will delay any new ship beyond the expected 2012 appearance.)

[Travelcat2]

According to Mark Conroy they are working with a 406 cabin layout with triples and, possibly, family cabins. I figure if 25% are triple or larger it brings the number to about 1,000 berths.

 

TC2 has intimated that the new build may not be going forward and that the money is being put into renovating the three existing ships. I don't know that source, or if I read her correctly, but if true the above may be irrelevant. (Personally, I think the renovations are unrelated, though I do not know if Apollo's unexpected financial situation will delay any new ship beyond the expected 2012 appearance.)

 

Excuse me -- not arguing -- just correcting something that is being taken out of context. On another thread, about another topic, I responded with the fact that, due to the economy, it may not be a bad idea to postpone a new ship. This was my "thought" relating to what was being said elsewhere.:confused:

[AtA]

We sailed on Celebrity Constallation 2 years ago and had a fantastic time. Lovely food, great service, spacious suite. Met very friendly fellow cruisers and overall had an enjoyable holiday which made us want to cruise again.

 

Last year we sailed HAL's Noordam - totally opposite from our X experience. Everything was blamed on it being the Christmas sailing but the X sailing was the same sailing the year previous.

 

We paid more to HAL and expected to have the same service we got on X but we did not get it. Although, the Noordam is a beautiful ship some of her crew and the food, let her down, badly. (They also had a belly flop competition that a lot of HAL regulars weren't fond of, but no wet swimsuit comp that I saw LOL)

 

We have booked Regent Voyager, together with friends we made on the X cruise, as we liked the itinerary but also as we feel that, being a smaller ship, she will be more intimate with good service and hopefully lovely food and wine.

I did the New Years cruise the year before on Voyager and according to my S.O. it was the best cruise he ever took. That was my 3rd cruise at the time (his 10th or 12th) and I have to agree. I'm told the xmas cruise is also fabulous.

[Sir Cruisealot]

I just found this thread and am interested because we have booked our first "luxury line" cruise for this November on RSSC Navigator travelling down the Eastern coast of Africa. We went with RSSC because of the ininerary. You can't find many ships sailing this area, and that was our first priority...Africa.

 

We have been on 40-some cruises, running the gamut from a Russian icebreaker to Windstar. I believe there is something for everybody in all of these different types of cruises. The icebreaker was to the Arctic and was a GRAND expedition. The Windstar cruise was to Tahiti...THE BEST way to see the Polynesian Islands, IMO.

 

I have no doubt we will never be able to consume enough alcohol to offset the price per day of the luxury ship... :) I am however certain this new "luxury" experience will be truly a memorable one. It will be extremely pleasant to not have to worry about trying to "smuggle" it on, for a change.

 

I think there is a time and place for all kinds of travel experiences and that the variety makes for interesting travels.

[Travelcat2]

Just smiled -- I see this thread popped back up.

 

Sir Cruisealot -- you'll have an amazing time on the Navigator. It's a lovely ship. . . and, yes, you'll no doubt enjoy having those cocktails. Hope you'll post a review when you return:)

[Sir Cruisealot]

Yes Travelcat...I just noticed after I posted that the thread had "died" a week ago. I spent around 2 hours reading it this afternoon...glad I brought it back to life....hopefully.

 

No doubt our Africa trip will be exciting...and fun. Still looking for an active thread for that particular cruise. There was one I found six months ago...but it died out.

 

I am looking forward to my "decadently luxurious" African cruise. This one is a 20-day leg of a WC. We will be joined by our English cruise friends whom we met 10 years ago on a Clipper Ship in Singapore. Variety is the spice of life. There should be no ONE type of cruising...IMO. We fly in to Mumbai (Bombay) India to embark...that should be interesting.!!

Cathe

Prescott, AZ

[Iamboatman]

Well, speaking of "good values", Silversea has just announced an across the board fare increase for its entire 2009 season commencing with bookings made on or after May 12, 2008.

 

WOW...Not good.

[Sir Cruisealot]

Boatman: You are a TA. What do you think of my comments? I am just curious as to what you think. I believe there is a time and a place for all kinds of travel/experiences. :)

Cathe

[Iamboatman]

I totally agree that there shouldn't be only one type of cruising...or vacation for that matter.

 

I think seeing Africa (other than possibly parts of North Africa) are better done on land with a good bit of time invested in each stop along the way. And I think cruising French Polynesia is better than staying on one island (a combination is best IMO)...and doing it with too much formality would take away from the experience.

 

And then there are times that having options as to whether the ship or the ports, or the service or the toys, etc. are the focus of one's vacation. Star Clipper is much different than Regent and, in some instances, it just might be a more unique and enjoyable vacation.

 

Things like this is why we also have chocolate and vanilla...and then 31 flavors...and the Ben & Jerry's...and now...

[Sir Cruisealot]

I also agree with you about seeing Africa on land safaris. We did that 20 years ago and it was "magical". It is truly the best way to see the animals in their preserves. We are however getting older and now require the ease of cruising in our travels. We will have a memorable time all the same I am sure.

 

Cathe

[goldenrod]

Well my original posting is confirmed. We just got back from our seventeen day trans Pacific cruise on RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas and yes we had a good time because we were with some great Cruise Critic people:D But as far as the food and amenities it fell far short. We had a choise of 8 movies on TV and even though many people asked the cruise director to put on some new one's since we had 8 sea days it never happened instead we got a video of Matt Sole the director explaining how expensive the royalty fees were they even payed the same movies we had on the TV in the theater on sea days not one new movie in 17 days and 3 of the were kids movies and we had very few kids on board. Then when we asked our head waiter for some caviar we finally got some on the last day of the cruise, it was some cheap stuff but our head waiter hung over the table like a vulture waiting for his tip envelopes. The quality and choise were the worst we have ever had on RCCL the steaks were always tough and the shrimp were small and water logged. there were many Asian's on the cruise so RCCL turned the card room into a high roller room, rumor has it that some guy hit them up with a half million dollar loss buy the end of the cruise it was being converted back to a card room:cool: . So I stress again because this ship does not offer anything better even if I were willing to pay extra for a prime steak or real Maine lobster or good Caviar you just can't get it, yes it was much cheaper than Seven Seas but if you can afford the better things in life it's well worth the difference after all were not here for a long time so why not have a good time.:D

[Betsy's Mom]

I have enjoyed this thread and really happy to see the OP posting a follow up! I have always believed that you get what you pay for.

Thanks again, B.