HongKongAlan

So we do both Regent and Crystal. Also a lot of Oceania.

 

The Crystal staterooms are very very small compared to Regent generally speaking. We do get a Penthouse Suite with Verandah and we can make long cruises in it. However, my husband is extremely tall and needs the space.

 

Explorer has glamour! Crystal has understated elegance.

 

Crystal only has two specialty restaurants and you are limited at this time as to how often you can use them (one time each). You can go more, but you must pay. Their Silk Road is absolutely to die for, but it is Japanese, not fusion.

 

Crystal has over the top entertainment and lectures. No other cruise line does it better, at this time.

 

The food in the Main Dining Room is top quality. Not, for the most part, mass produced. Service is excellent.

 

That being said, we are spending a month on Explorer. Would be uncomfortable for a month on Crystal because of space and lack of restaurants.

 

This is an unbiased opinion. I am not a cheerleader for any cruise line.

Thanks caroldoll for the thoughts. The limitation around only using a speciality restaurant once without having to pay extra absolutely kills crystal fit me. That's so not luxury. That's mass market. A shame.

With Silk Road I would so rather a restaurant that was authentically "something" rather than the bland "pan" experience that is pacific rim. Give me a great Japanese or Chinese or Indonesian restaurant any day rather than something that is good at none of them.

Great to hear crystal has good enrichment as I really felt that was so lacking on Regent which really suprised and disappointed me.

Best

Alan

I was hoping that you would do a review of your cruise so thank you! I agree with much of what you said (but I do like Chartreuse - especially for lunch). So good to read that overall you had a good experience.

 

When you sail with Crystal, please remember us on the Regent board and do a comparison review between Crystal and Regent. Thanks:D

Thanks TC for your great help in the lead up. I totally get why you love Explorer and I think as time plays out we will be likely to return to her for our next cruise. I'm looking at crystal but I've found a nice itinerary on Explorer later this year that is tempting. Prices have been requested. Crystal seems preferable on food but the rooms are not as appetising. Decisions...decisions. I'm a cruise convert either way to my surprise. My partner is incredulous as to how much we loved th experience.

Now I have thoughts on WiFi and the rear staircase if we dare open that for conversation?

Best

Alan

Thank you for taking time to write your review. It's always interesting to read the thoughts of a first-timer, whether it's a first time on a specific cruise line or new to cruising itself. I haven't yet cruised with Regent so I enjoy reading all perspectives - balanced ones at least - from Regent old timers and those new to Regent.

 

I started cruising around the same age as you, also on a luxury cruise line. I was immediately hooked by the same thing that you wrote :" The real and powerful magic for me of the cruise experience is arriving at a new location e.g. day without the aggravation of airports etc. A revelation. For me, that alone is probably enough to make me return to cruising. ". Yes!

 

Can you tell me a little more about why you weren't so keen on Chartreuse?

Hi Isklaar, apologies there are a few typos in my post now I reread it.

So to Chartreuse, its a nice looking if slightly twee restaurant. The service was good both times we went. My issue was with the food. To be clear its not that it was bad in anyway rather it just didn't live up to elaborate descriptions and the quality of the ingredients and therefore perhaps our expectations. I had a Bresse chicken dish which was just bland and my partner had a monk fish that was again largely tasteless. The starters were again just ok. Overall, it was just ok which isn't really the point of a speciality restaurant in my view.

I wanted to give some thoughts on the Explorer from someone who while relatively well travelled was literally a first time cruiser when they boarded the Explorer. For content we cruised from Rome to Lisbon, April 2017 (11 nights).

As a first time cruiser I was undoubtedly anxious whether the experience would be right for us (mid 40s couple).

First impressions of the boarding process and the ship were overwhelmingly positive. While the design of the ship is absolutely not how I would choose to decorate my own home its hard to deny its memorable, spectacular and luxurious. We had a midship concierge suite and its hard to imagine you would want more except perhaps on a longer journey. The detailing and the thought that has gone into the suites and the public areas of the ship is really very impressive. My only criticism of the cabins are the often identified need for a nightlight in the bathroom and for me, a more comfortable sofa. For me the cabin and the overall aesthetic of the ship was very much the 'floating five star hotel' I was after.

Service in general was good to excellent. Food again was good to excellent. The quality of the food was impressive. My least favourite destination was Chartreuse by significant margin. As I had anticipated the food on board was best when kept relatively simple e.g. Prime 7 and failed only when it overreached which was certainly my experience of Chartreuse. From a design of Pacific Rim was my favourite restaurant but the food for me was far too Western and the flavours lacked punch or were just wrong by design e.g. the sushi dish. My concern prior to the cruise was that the food would be a bit like an endless wedding dinner at a nice hotel, pleasant, just warm but but never good. By and large that concern was proven wrong. What I would do next time is a book a really good restaurant in most of the ports (which I did a few times on this trip) to provide a change from the shipboard options.

Now to some areas of entertainment, I had really looked forward to the performances in the theatre. With the exception of the magician and the large production show I found it pretty average and frankly lazy in approach. Definitely a shame as its a great theatre with the equipment and the resources to do great shows every night. Again hugely looked forward to the Smithsonian lectures as part of the on-board experience. The lecturer was terrific but there just weren't enough of them. I had perhaps naively thought there would be a lecture at least once a day. Missed opportunity for me. It would have been great if there were some "introduction to" courses e.g. bridge for those like me who want to learn but never have time except when on holiday.

So if I look at the whole Explorer experience as a first time cruiser, did it meet my expectations? In summary yes it did. In some areas e.g. the cabin it well exceeded my hopes. In areas such as entertainment, a missed opportunity. The real and powerful magic for me of the cruise experience is arriving at a new location e.g. day without the aggravation of airports etc. A revelation. For me, that alone is probably enough to make me return to cruising.

Would I return to the Explorer, yes but I will look at the ships/lines. I'm not sure any aspect of my experience on the Explorer gave me sufficient 'wow' to say that I would only ever sail or the Explorer or Regent as much as I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Please don't hear this as criticism I guess I just don't have any points of comparison.

Would I return to Regent is an interesting question as the benefits in the loyalty program are insufficient to make me feel like I really must return to Regent in order to achieve status points. Again seems to me to be a missed opportunity for Regent. I would be tempted to try one of the other luxury lines next time e.g., Crystal.

My genuine thanks to everyone who patiently answered my first time cruiser questions in the lead up to our holiday.

Happy to answer questions or comments.

Apologies, not necessarily hugely Regent specific but embarking next week on Explorer and prone to sea sickness. Any recommendations?

I would likely agree with you ....... if I cooked at home. I probably cook 2-3 meals per year so doing it on vacation is a treat. We go to markets in every country that we can - it is like visiting a museum to us -- lots of things that we have never seen before -- we find it fascinating.

TC I have to ask, you must cook more than a few times a year?

Thanks for the post

I was on deck 12 yesterday when a black helicopter landed above the Regent Suite and unloaded 20 barrels of bandwidth and two cases of Hendricks gin. So we're all good now.

 

Internet speed and connectivity are different issues. It's 10 am on board Explorer, so most passengers are up and checking their mail and so on. The download speed is 38.46 mbps and upload speed 0.61 mbps.

 

http://www.speedtest.net/

 

Retest was a little lower but still, these are decent speeds. Not as good as home, but very good for at sea.

 

On the iCafe page, which you should have bookmarked, it will tell you if the network has speed (latency) problems, or if you are not connected.

 

I have had zero issues with speed, and occasional issues with connectivity, but they tend to resolve themselves in a few minutes. Sometimes those issues are resolved with a reboot. Of course, I am not online all day long. I don't even own a smart phone.

 

If you are a gmail user, and are having problems at sea, I recommend that you use the basic HTML version instead of the standard version:

 

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/15049?hl=en

 

If you are uploading files, images or whatever, and can do that with an FTP program, then I recommend that you do that.

 

Avoid anything with a continuous feed. If you are a heavy Facebook or Twitter user and just cannot put those down, then maybe therapy is an option. In general, the problem with technology is that every time the hardware gets better, those darn software developers exploit it and create things that need more space and speed. Blame it on the Bossa Coder

Great post and could not agree more. Blame it on the Bossa coder, chortle.

Best

Alan

Hi TC

Do you know if John will be on explorer for the Rome to Lisbon cruise later this month?

Looking forward to your reports

Egret, we have had some service issues in Sette Mare in the evening as well. If you haven't been there before and don't know how the system works, it is confusing. The waiters should pay more attention to this. Since we have been there many times, if a waiter is not there in a timely fashion to take our orders, we just go up to the buffet and get started with the appetizer course. This usually gets things rolling.

Hi Rachel, soon to embark for first time. How does the ordering system work in Sette Mare?

Really wish that I could tell you but it is a site where you book cruises so it is against CC guidelines to share that information.

 

However, if you pretend to book on Regent's website, you can get a good idea of availability. It is just easier on the other site.

Ahhh, understand entirely TC. Hadn't thought that question through. We embark I think as you disembark in April so very much looking forward to the reports of your forthcoming voyage.

That sailing looks pretty full so you will likely be in the level that you booked (Concierge) which is one of our favorite suites on the Explorer.

Hi TC, which site do you use to check availability?

Thanks for posting the tea pics, Rich. You are making me hungry!

 

As far as the horrible smog and pollution in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China in general, it really is ghastly. And the population seems to be in total denial. The pollution is probably the main reason I would not be in any hurry to return to this part of the world. They really do need to take drastic measures to fix this. I can't imagine all the pulmonary problems doctors there must be seeing.

Can only speak for my adopted home town but sadly the population here is all too aware of the damage and consequence of pollution. Many of us have pollution monitoring apps on our phones and adjust behaviour when it's particularly bad. We have homes full of air purifiers that would do a hospital proud. Most pollution for us rolls in from the mainland no matter what we do. I think it's a key reason for people wanting to leave this region as the health consequences can be, as you point out, pretty ghastly.

Great posts, thanks so much. On behalf of the locals, my apologies for the pollution today which has been ghastly. Safe trip home to you all.

Happy to advise on any Hong Kong questions you have. As Gilly says it's a good city to navigate by yourself. Let me know where you are docking as it makes a difference and can recommend some restaurants if required.

Not the distract from the thread, but likely to be travelling just with aircraft cabin sized carry on bags. Can we just bring them on board and park them with the nautical version of concierge or must they be 'checked in' dockside?

Please don't go to Mandalay as you will probably be disappointed or at least we were. It's a dusty town with little to recommend it and what there is, is reconstructed. Bagan is very special and definitely the one to choose.

Perfect reply TC, thanks for putting my mind to rest. I am a bit perplexed by some of the very negative reviews of late. I'm going to do a blog on the Explorer during our April cruise very much from the prospective of people who have never cruised before. Hope it will be of interest.

Any one have comments on the following excerpt from a recent review of the Explorer? The 'jog' sounds worrying.

"The main problem for us and a number of other passengers we spoke to was just how she failed to provide the level of comfort required of a luxury ship when sailing. Even in calm waters at the stern of the ship where most restaurants are, she 'jogs' from side to side, like a car with an out of balance wheel, then when seas become a little more challenging (but no more than a Force 2-3) our suite would groan and creak like an old Spanish Galleon! The ride was on occasion akin to that of a car ferry crossing the Irish Sea, with lots of slapping and banging going on. Fortunately after 4 or 5 days the seas became like a mill-pond, so the majority of the problems subsided but the 'jog' persisted."

Hongkongalan: buried in the FAQ section, it states "Casual wear, including shorts and jeans, is not appropriate after 6:00 pm, with the exception of the final evening of the cruise.*"Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

Thanks Missy, got to say I would totally have missed that and I do my research pretty thoroughly. I wonder if the compliance issue is in part people just not knowing the rules till it's too late? I'm going to buy some cotton trousers for the trip given this thread, but glad I know now not once I'm on board.

Out of interest, when do guests get told the dress code by Regent? Our first ever cruise is a few months away and I've not had any communication from Regent. Unless I'd read these posts I wouldn't have known about the dress code and may only have packed jeans out if ignorance more than anything else. I'm with I think the majority, if you have a dress code enforce it but also give people warning of the rules way in advance

Thanks all, brunch wins, massages rescheduled till 3.00 pm.

This seems a real highlight. We have a Sunday sea day on our April cruise, appreciate advice as to the brunch start and end time. I've booked an extraordinarily expensive masssage for partner and myself at 11 am same day which in retrospect may be right in the middle of brunch and we do love brunch.

A respectfully, albeit ignorant question from a first time cruiser in April on explorer. Interesting this a focus. Does the cruise director make such a big difference?