jeb_bud

We’ll be on the June 12 cruise with a 15 year-old. It would amaze me if he is the only kid on the cruise. There have been kids on most of our six Regent cruises and the only behavior issue I have seen was a parent who berated a server for not serving wine to his teenage son.

I think it’s a matter of perspective. On Mariner and Grandeur with Starlink we got around 2 Mbps pretty consistently. Compared to the frequent 0 Mbps speeds on Explorer and Splendor I thought that was just fine. On those older ships I usually had to turn on cellular data and use my phone as a hotspot to do anything on the internet.

It’s good to hear that Mariner service levels are back on track.

@pappy1022From this post I infer that you have done two Regent cruises, one pre and one post pandemic. Am I getting that right?

If you’ve made your final payment you might be locked into the pre-cruise hotel. I haven’t tested the thesis but I’ve always assumed that after final payment changes we’re not allowed. One way to verify if you have the hotel booked is to go to your account at rssc.com, click “manage this booking” then “show my itinerary”. Under port and day choose Pre and if a hotel stay is displayed then you’re in like Flynn.

We were in Concierge 772. We heard our neighbors on both sides. Not really a problem for us, but it was notable that on our five previous Regent cruises we never heard any of our neighbors. What brought it to the front of our minds was that the people on the sofa side apparently had a health issue and coughed a lot. None of that stopped us from booking another Grandeur cruise next year.

Oops! Sorry about that @BaltiGator I skimmed right over the word “Navigator” in your post.

We were in a Concierge on Deck 8, starboard, toward the aft elevators. I had read about the recent flushing problems so we were very conscientious about what went into the toilet. Fortunately for us it paid off. We have one more cruise booked on Mariner in September of 2025 so just before the dry dock. We like the ship and I expect whatever issues caused some service issues in October to be resolved well before we arrive.

They’re re-routing the world cruise to sail around Africa. So there will be passengers.

If this is Mariner it’s because when they restructured the world cruise it added 16 days and ends in New York.

I understood that. I was simply speaking of my own experience.

On Grandeur last month WiFi was a fairly consistent 1-3 Mbps download, same as Mariner in October. I was usually able to make and receive phone calls via ATT WiFi (good news on a cruise? Not sure.). Compared to the routine 0 - not many Mbps on our last two Explorer and Splendor cruises and marginally better on Voyager I would call Starlink a rousing success.

What suite were you in?

We prefer 7:00 as well. Our last cruise to get a 2-top we had to reserve 6:30. One of life’s trade offs.

I think you have two good points there. I have not experienced a general decline in service but I have seen indications of cannibalism of top performers to staff Grandeur. We have taken four Regent cruises post-Covid. Splendor in July 2022 and Voyager in May 2023 both had excellent service. Then we got on Mariner in October 2023 and experienced a number of service shortfalls. Our toilets always flushed at least. We cruised on Grandeur in January 2024. Service was excellent, even including Destination Services. We saw a number of staff onboard for whom we had fond memories from earlier cruises. It seemed clear to us that they skimmed the cream to staff Grandeur. We’ll be on Explorer in June, hopefully after they’ve trained up the staff to normal Regent standards. Someone mentioned that Makers Mark is not available onboard. I saw that too but I also saw Bulleit which I considered an upgrade.

Rachel, do you remember the name of the magician onboard?

I think you’re probably correct in the aggregate but not in specific personal results. Regent calculates their air credit for everyone and charges that. You live in Georgia, I live in Oregon. If we are both on a cruise embarking in Southampton using Regent air we will both have a $2,500(or thereabouts) air credit. I am pretty sure your flight would cost Regent less than mine but they would average around $2,500. I can never match Regent’s credit to Europe, and I can usually beat Regent’s credit to Australia, which is a shorter trip for me.

Until you actually select something, nothing changes. Checking yes or no on sharing only changes the available times displayed, I do that all the time as I decide whether to share or not. Your reservation will only be affected if you select a new time.

Have you tried clicking “yes” and comparing the available times? If different times are shown that would indicate that the times shown above are in fact two-tops.

We were on Mariner last October. Our toilet flushed every time. I don’t recall any aroma issues. Not everyone was so lucky. We saw crew working on clearing drains and some wet vacs and drying fans. We’re booked on Mariner again next year just before the dry dock.

I didn’t notice a tip line on Grandeur last month. I guess what I really mean is I don’t remember seeing one. Once I get onboard I become blind to such things.

Regarding your final question, when you check in at the Regent desk, they will give you a choice of bus departures. You may get one that matches the time you selected when you did the online check in but maybe not. It really doesn’t matter to Regent, but if it matters to you then a taxi is probably your best bet. Bear in mind that unless you’re in a top suite your room won’t be available until around 2:30. Earlier boarding means a longer wait for you room, if that matters to you.

You can drop the air any time before final payment. For my money the preferred time to make a decision is at the 210 day mark when you can deviate and find out the true cost of the decision.

If you go to the Grand Barbecue maybe you can answer a question for me. On the LA to Miami cruise we had the barbecue, which was muy bueno. The corn on the cob was very tender and sweet but the first bite was a surprise as the corn was refrigerator cold. It was so cold it had to be on purpose. if you have the corn on the cob I’m curious if that’s the recipe and it’s always chilled.

There’s a Rombauer on the extra charge list on Grandeur. We thought it could use more oak but the other people at our table at the wine tasting lunch thought it was too oaky. Go figure.