DeepFreeze63

This week we had reason to ask Regent UK about the "Best Price Guarantee" for one of our future cruises booked whilst on board last year. All suite grades on the cruise in question were reduced in price in the UK at the beginning of this year.

 

Annoyingly, Regent refused to reduce our price to the new figure because our suite grade is now 'waitlisted'. This seems to make a mockery of this "Guarantee".

 

Have others encountered this issue?

Someone please help me understand this.

Was your category of suite "wait-listed" before Regent reduced the price for that category?

Why would Regent reduce the price of a category that already was "wait-listed"?

Our 63 night cruise on Voyager is sadly coming to an end; it has been an absolutely fantastic experience. Voyager may finally pass Mariner as my favorite ship; we will see when I am on Mariner next month. Anatoli is absolutely fantastic as GM; this has been our first cruise with him. Margaret was fantastic as has been Ray; Elda, Sara, and Nicola all wonderful.

 

Best trained crew. Even pool deck ran efficiently with Catalin calling the signals from the pool bar. I had one suggestion that all bar waiters on Deck 11 wear earpieces while Catalin have a microphone so he can instantly veer staff to guests; maybe I will bring some on my next cruise so they can experiment. :cool:

 

Stephane and Rico were both great as F&B. Kseniia is fantastic as Asst F&B and Avinash is a wonderful Head Bartender. All bartenders and assistant bartenders have been fantastic; I just hope Corporate reconsiders their decision not to let Asians be full Bartenders.

 

All restaurants have been running smoothly. Stephane (Chartreuse), Aleksandr (P7) and David are great at running the show. Food wonderful. No complaints at all. Christmas Eve, Christmas, and our Anniversary were all handled so specially; we are thrilled. I really like the dining reservation desk as so many people cancel their specialty reservations so we have had few issues getting in whenever we want.

 

Yes, a couple of hiccups along the way but nothing that takes away from a beautiful experience. As Regent has instituted a best price guarantee for onboard bookings; they couldn't/wouldn't lower price of this sailing (our fourth segment) in USA to fill the ship; therefore, we ended up with a very large Asian contingent (67 from Hong Kong alone) and 33 total nationalities; really changed the dynamic.

 

Bottom line; Great ship; Great management; Great crew.

Marc and Arlene:

Congratulations on your great adventure. What a way to start retirement. Mary sat me down this morning for the "final" edit. About 500 photos left from the thousands taken. This review reminded us of how much enjoyment we got from our Dubai to Singapore leg. We plan to do HK to Shanghai in 2020.

Best for the New Year,

Jim C

It is really a shame. I've seen a person get on a bus for an excursion with a walker -- get the front seat on the bus -- leave the walker on the bus and walk out on their excursion. Of course, this happens all the time on airlines. Perhaps people should have a card indicating that they have mobility issues. We should't need something like that but people seem to want to get away with things nowadays.

Amen, Amen.

IMO this is simply good marketing - adding benefits rather than dropping prices. And the cost of providing the benefit is less than the perceived value to the customer.

Point of Interest: On recent 21 night cruise, DW kept track of our savings (versus ship's prices) from "free" laundry and pressing. It amounted to about $675 - we used the services a lot!

We have been enjoying every minute of our cruise. The food and service have been excellent. We have not seen one grim crew member

 

One of our favorite dinner spots has been the rear outside balcony of Setti Mare. The weather is balmy, the view of lights twinkling onshore as we sail away adds a lovely touch. It is friendly, informal and delightful. We both had tasty lamb chops with a wonderful Valpolacelli (not at all sure of spelling). To top it off there was a magnificent dark chocolate peanut butter sorbet among the desserts. They have cute little lamps with shades on the table. It feels like a scene from a romantic movie.

 

Jean, we are enjoying the warmth for you and Bill. Thanks for kind thoughts.

 

Rachel, thanks for taking away my guilt over infrequent posting.

 

Wish I Were Traveling and 1982 Cruz Start, thanks for the good wishes.

 

Ann

Ann, Shel:

Thanks for posting. Mary and I are taking our DD and her DH on their first cruise (other than Disney) in February on the Explorer. Intend to follow your lead and have first night dinner in Pacific Rim (but no sake for me) and definitely dinner on aft deck in Sette Mari.

Best wishes for 2018 and hope our paths cross again.

Jim C

Thank you for posting. Your review was very informative.

 

We will be at some of the same ports this spring. You specifically mentioned two that will be new to us......

 

"Langkawi, Malaysia was the most pleasant surprise – a real treat."

That is great to hear as we know nothing about this port. Did you do a ships tour, if so which one? What did you enjoy about the stop?

"Phuket is a world-class destination BUT the port is on the other side of the island from the great beaches and resorts. “Spectacular Phang Nga Bay” was underwhelming to us and over-run by tourists. No nice scenery along the long,crowded (38 passengers) way. It didn’t help that Regent served us lunch in aderelict “Resort”. If you want to see Phang Nga Bay, I recommend a small, fast,private boat sailing directly from the port, with lunch in a real resort."

 

We are actually signed up for the tour you did, as we wanted to see the Bay after hearing so much about the area. Are there small (safe looking) boats for hire right at the dock area? Do you know the name of a resort that allows non guest to drop in for lunch by any chance?

 

Thanks again for taking time to post a review.

In Langkawi, we took the Regent "Langkawi Overview". We liked this excursion's 4 venues ; all were interesting but the "Prime Minister Gallery" was really great, like a U.S. Presidential Library with hundreds of gifts that he received from world dignitaries beautifully displayed. The "rubber plantation" was a grove of rubber trees where an actual woman worked showed us how to milk the trees. Langkawi is relatively new to tourism (they'll tell you about the "curse") but getting it down pat. The excursion "Langkawi Highlights" suffered the cancelation of the cable car after those on the excursion were in the queque up!

Don't know specifics but saw many 6-8 passenger crafts of same design in Phang Nga Bay near James Bond island. I'd try Trip Advisor and I seem to remember a post on CC where a poster was seeking a few partners for such a trip - I should have done something like that. Panyee Village (an island), where the Regent tour stops but doesn't eat, looked nice and safe. Besides, I expect that you could see the Bay and return to the ship for a late lunch.

Wejust got back from a magnificent 21 night cruise on the Voyager from Dubai toSingapore. Our 10th Regent cruise was our BEST! From ship, fellowcruisers, food, crew, entertainment, tours, ports, pre- and post cruise hotelseverything was nearly perfect.

Pre-cruise: We went to Dubai afew days early and stayed (on our own) whereRegent put us (Penthousecabin level) up at the J W Marriott Marquis. A superb, luxurious hotel welllocated. Had a very enjoyable time in Dubai and the weather in mid-November wasgreat. Regent provided a nice room, an enjoyable breakfast, and drove us nextmorning to ship. Checking in was quick as I remembered to bring our Regentpaperwork.

Ship: Voyager looked beautiful, even a year after re-fit. We reconnectedwith Captain Green but most of the other Staff were new to us. The GeneralManager was Anatoly Makaev. He was very attentive (seemed to be everywhere) andmade sure everything on-board ran smoothly. We had dinner with him anddiscussed his native Bulgaria. The cruise director was Margaret Lynn whom DWand I voted the “Best Cruise Director in any Pay Grade”! Base upon this cruise’sexperience, DW and I now rate the Voyager above the Explorer – mainly due tothe Horizon lounge and the very-friendly theater on the Voyager.

Cabin: Our forward B cabin (I’m keeping its specific location a secretuntil I book my next Voyager cruise) was very convenient, and immaculately wellcared for. Not much creaking and no vibration. Plenty of storage space.Everything worked and was clean and tidy. The Cabin did need some extraadapters for use of U. S. appliances.

Crew: The crew is one of the main reasons we keep on cruising withRegent. We got lots of hugs from many crew members we have cruised with before.It’s terrific to find out what's been going on in their lives. Too manywonderful ones to mention here by name but did in our ship reviews. We saw ourBEST Crew’s Capers Show EVER!

Food and Drink: We thought the food (coffee being a notableexception) was good to superb in every restaurant venue. Had a delicious Americanoin the Coffee Connection most days. We enjoyed the variety in CR, so much wecould have gladly eaten there every night. Cold soups on Pool Deck were myfavorite unique food (not something that I get at home from DW, a superb cook).I got schooled in Gin & Tonic by the bartender in the Observation Lounge.

Ports/Tours: We loved almost all the ports andexcursions; Phuket was a disappointment (more later). Yangon, Burma for 3 dayswas the STAR port. Much nice to write about there but the Novitiation Ceremony (sponsoredby Regent) where 5 somewhat poor young boys officially became Buddhists washeart-tugging. Of course, we on this excursion got thousands of great photos.Langkawi, Malaysia was the most pleasant surprise – a real treat.

Phuketis a world-class destination BUT the port is on the other side of the islandfrom the great beaches and resorts. “Spectacular Phang Nga Bay” wasunderwhelming to us and over-run by tourists. No nice scenery along the long,crowded (38 passengers) way. It didn’t help that Regent served us lunch in aderelict “Resort”. If you want to see Phang Nga Bay, I recommend a small, fast,private boat sailing directly from the port, with lunch in a real resort.Regent needs to do more QA on its contractors.

We hadNo tender ports and very little rain during our excursions.

Entertainment:In our opinions, theRegent on-board entertainment varied from mostly spectacular (the Lecturer andthe female vocalist) to awful (the comic). I think that this area has improvedafter NCL ownership. The song/dance troop was a happy, well-managed, cohesivegroup of “kids” from U.S and U.K. with lots of talent and energy. We were over-the-moonabout Margaret Lynn, the CD. John Freedman, the Lecturer, was a WOW – the bestthat we have heard on our 10 cruises and beyond! A “guest” performance by RaySolaire at the Seven Seas Society event was a real treat.

Post-Cruise Excursion: We opted for the 3 night “Chiang Mai –Singapore” because we had been to Angkor Wat. It was terrific but not withoutglitches. After final payment, Regent changed the published itinerary flightsfrom non-stop Singapore to Chiang Mai and return to ones with changes inBangkok. This and an inept Regent contractor guide led to many glitches and a lossof about a day less than the expected 3 days of sight-seeing. NonethelessChiang Mai is a world-class tourist destination that we thoroughly enjoyed. Regent put us up at theShangri-La Hotel (a marvelous venue that is very convenient to the NightMarkets); provided a very competent local guide and took us to 3 excitingvenues plus a nice dinner with regional dancing. Having worked the National Zoofor about 13 years, I can report that the Elephant Camp experience was the BEST“meet and greet” animal experience that I could imagine. Upon our return toSingapore, Regent put us up for a night at the Grand Hyatt on Scott road – a hotelthat I would readily recommend to anyone. We stayed in Singapore at the Hyattfor 2 more nights and loved Singapore and were amazed at the beautifulChristmas decorations.

Summary: Heartily recommend this itinerary inNovember as weather is hot and humid but tolerable and the things to see in theports are breath-taking.

Wondering about the variety of things people use their butler for. Besides, of course, the unpacking, canapes, room service and reservations.

I've "inherited" Butlers when I've chosen up-scale cabins (not our usual choice). We prefer to have canapes and drinks in the Observation Lounge before dinner but while dressing after long excursions it was nice to nibble on pre-selected bites while sipping wine from bottles that I didn't have to struggle to open. Our Butler was very affable and readily available, for example,to: get us an electrical adapter on loan; expedite first night pressing of a few things that got crumpled during travel; secure a last minute reservation in Prime 7;and, get DW's blouse pressed on the last night just before dinner (all our other clothes had been packed).

In short, I wouldn't specifically pay to have a Butler but since it was "included" I enjoyed the resource.

I'm wondering if many cruisers have used Regent Insurance. We've always gone through Steve (TripInsuranceStore). But I'm 74 and my husband is 87, and insurance is now extremely costly. Since Regent does not factor in age of passenger, it'd be significantly less expensive for us to go that route.

 

So: I'm interested to get feedback on this. (I know that Regent-bought insurance has less extensive coverage, but just wondering how others up-in-age handle this.)

 

Thanks.

We used Regent for our first 3 cruises with them; about 4 years ago on a long TA, DW had a bad fall on board the Mariner. Regent insurance paid the $5200 medical bill to the penny. We have been shopping around since we reached our 70s but I will give Regent a look again.

It is a "fools errand" to bet on the weather in Alaska! It can be anything and everything in a week's period.

The Alaskan views are magical; you want to be on deck (or your verandah) as much as possible. Yes, layers and don't forget to provide for fingers and ears for if (when) it gets cold and/or windy. Bring a wool knit cap and real wool gloves - exercise wear could be insufficient.

Just received email notification from Regent that Havana, Cuba will replace Grand Cayman on our 6 December 2018 Voyager cruise. Also, I noticed that the price per person increased $600 per person in our category G suite as a result. Good thing we already booked at the lower price.

Regent website is back up and has a Regent Press release about the 7 or 8 cruises that will visit Havana.

I am still determined on an Alaskan cruise and in fact I will also be doing the Rocky Mountaineer prior to the cruise although I cannot book that for a few months. Did you book the train journey through Regent? Now I am, looking at Holland America and Norwegian.

We will be on the Mariner in May 2019 from Tokyo to Vancouver. It will be our 13th Regent cruise and 4th on the Mariner. Also, we have cruised on Celebrity from Seward to Vancouver and we have traveled extensively by land in Alaska - including the train from Anchorage to Denali. Here are some of our opinions and observations.

Alaska is a marvelous place! Weather during a short visit is totally unpredictable. The most important selection criteria (after your budget) should be the itinerary and what you want (must) see. As someone above posted, this requires a bit of research. I and others on Cruise Critic would be happy to respond to specific questions. For me, Denali is a "must" and the train is a nice option (to driving on the other side of the road).

We found the Celebrity ship much to large (about 2000 passengers) for a port-intensive 7 day cruise in Alaska. I'd look at much smaller ships; you want to get close as possible to the glaciers and also get on/off the ship easily. Where cruise ships go are popular tourist destinations for children and their parents from June through August - there will be a lot of young cruisers even on Regent no Alaskan cruise will be "stuffy".

Mariner in June 2019 will have been totally refurbished (due in Spring 2018). She handles rough waters very well. I don't see any advantage for a Concierge level cabin ( based upon U.S. pricing); the H,G,F,E, and D are all the same size. We try for mid-ship G cabins with shower (NO tub for us). The Mariner would be a terrific respite after a hectic day touring ashore. Yes, the cabin attendant will stock the cabin with wine and liquor as well as beer and soft drinks.

I'd book a pre-cruise tip to Denali through the ship you choose. It allows you to meet fellow cruisers early and assures that given any mishaps that you won't miss the ship's departure. I reviewed the Mariner's pre-cruise to Denali - pricey but a spot-on terrific itinerary for a short visit.

Enjoy my favorite part of the world.

Jim C.

Okay, not sure if this has been done before, or lately, but I though it would be fun to post a (hopefully) non-contentious thread that helps some Regent veterans think back on some of their happy cruises. Please pick your favorite Regent ship (or Radisson for those of you who go back that far) and give us a little information on what made it your favorite.

Explorer after 2 cruises (37 nights) due to fabulous F 1 cabins, spaciousness of public areas, Pacific Rim, artwork (really) and despite awful theater design.

second son - I have never wanted to do a TA (trans Atlantic) not to be confused with TA (travel agent). Not sure I can be stuck on a boat or ship for four/five days. What made you decide to go for it?

DW and I had traveled the world by air/land but on a whim we took a Regent TA. My business partners bet that I would jump overboard after a few days - we loved it! Have now done 10 Regent cruises with 2 other TAs including the 3/17 Explorer TA.

Lots of useful info on Cruise Critic boards but my advice: "if you have ANY trouble on the ship, call it immediately to the attention of the staff; it gets fixed".

We are from the U.S. We had 4 ports in India last month. E-Visas were not an option and as some have said applying for an Indian visa can be complex and confusing. Even though the form has a check box for the 120 months multiple entry visa and you check that box, you may not get a 120 month visa. My wife got a 120 month visa. Mine was only good for 12 months. I met a couple of others on our ship that experienced the same thing. When I asked Visa Central about it, they simply said it is up to the person processing our visa to decide when your visa will expire. One thing for sure, it costs the same whether it is good for 10 years or only 1 year.

DW and I just had a good laugh! We live near Washington D.C. and handled (with ease) our multi-entry Indian Visas directly with the Embassy's agent in downtown D.C. When passports were returned, we found that she had gotten 10 year Visa while mine was for 12 months. We were mystified although I had filled out all the paperwork the same way - she went to the a different agent at the Visa counter.:)

Based on research, on cruises over 16 nights there are two "formal" nights. When does one know what nights are the formal nights? Do anyone actually wear a gown these days? My husband will have a linen sports jacket, but there won't be a tux, that just takes up too much room in a suitcase!

We're off soon on Voyager from Dubai to Singapore; there are 2 "Formal Optional" nights during the 21 nights. We only recently learned when they'll occur - with our cruise paper documents package.

Wife loves to dress up and has "formal" dresses that fold to nothing so, it's a tux for me. Otherwise, I'd wear a good-looking sport coat (I usually bring two). I expect on these 2 nights to see men in: some tuxes/dinner jackets, many sports coats, some long-sleeve shirts, but very few polos.

I find the Regent public venues to be cold (sometimes frigid) so I almost always am wearing a sweater or sport coat to meals, shows and lectures.

Wow, you are a "natural" poster! Enjoying this thread immensely as we are boarding in Dubai. Thanks.

Have a super anniversary celebration.

It seems to me that CC is very useful for several purposes:

 

1. To "meet" people with whom you may soon be cruising' date=' and to re-connect with past cruise mates.

 

2. To obtain information about a cruise line, ship, and/or cabin at a level of detail not available on the line's website or sometimes even through your TA (ranging, for example, from how the muster drill is conducted, to the amount of vibration in a certain cabin, to where to find the hair dryer).

 

3. To gather information to determine whether a particular line, ship, or specific cruise is right for you.

 

We all also use it to grouse about certain things, and to praise other things. And this helps with reason #3--much can come to light through the grousing-and-praising process. It's important to remember that what one person is grousing about may be something that is appealing to someone else, and what merits praise from one person may be a negative or even a deal-breaker to someone else. And, often, the grouse or the praise is about something that is a matter of indifference to some. That all of this information is elicited in the process lets us all make better-informed decisions on where to spend our finite travel funds and time.

 

So, let's all remember that as we comment and discuss, and try to avoid belittling others' perspectives.

 

And, let's also keep in mind how incredibly privileged we are to be able to access such vacations, whether frequently or as once-in-a-lifetime treat.[/quote']

 

Hear, hear! Thank you for your post; it's good to be reminded.

The new "list view" is really poor. I almost gave us on it but wanted to book 2 cruises onboard so stuck with it. Most of the time I am referring to the latest Regent "book" which, interestingly isn't in our suite but we do have it at home.

 

Instead of making the Regent website look like Oceania's, perhaps they could have just fixed the things that needed to be fixed and left what we were happy with alone!

Amen, Amen, Amen!

Regent hasn't fixed the incorrect deck plans; the "Legends" for the deck plans presented are either empty or incomplete; notes are included that apply only to Explorer; .. I give up but there has to be an irrational reason for their new web site.

Received a new Regent brochure today and I'm where are the folks I usually see on Regent? I don't remember seeing all these 30, 40, & 50 GQ types! Where are all the overweight folk like me with no hair? And the late 60's, 70, & 80 year olds did they fall overboard? I feel it's very insulting when they only display pictures of the so called beautiful people. If it weren't for us Regent would be broke in a year! Please be more representative in your material of those of us that are your real passengers!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Have you noticed that the silver-hair gentleman in the Regent ads is also in ****** ads - with a different woman!

My TA , my DH and I do not consider "G" category suites comparable to Deluxe Veranda suites on other Regent ships (I know - the dimensions are the same as Mariner but Mariner has a better closet and bathroom and a bit more room to move around) We consider the "F" and Concierge suites to be more comparable. I just noticed that Regent is calling the "H" suites simple "Veranda" (without any reference to deluxe).

 

When we were on the christening cruise, we toured all suite levels except "H" as it was "unavailable". It would be nice to know why they are keeping this category a secret (perhaps this is because Regent "almost promised" their customers, these were going to be suites for passengers cruising as "singles". In any case, since the "H" suite is 219 sq. ft. and the "G" suite is 253 sq. ft., and tthey show the same picture, I would assume that the suite is laid out the same but is quite a bit smaller.

 

Having said this, your TA should be able to give you more information about this suite.

During our Panama Canal cruise over New Years, Cabin 601 and another H very near it were occupied by the young dancer/singer couple and the two cooking demonstration women, respectively.

Hello

 

We have booked a cruise on the Voyager for September. We are travelling with 2 football (soccer) mad men in our party. My question is - is there anywhere on the ship that shows The English Premiership matches?

 

Thanks

Hi, I'm an American who loves to watch the English Premier League and who travels often on Regent. Answer - NO, Regent television does NOT "show" the matches. The Sky Sports channel gives the running score and some commentary on current status of play - not satisfactory for me.

Hello

We have booked a cruise on the Voyager for September. Just need to check a couple of points about the dress code for gents. Can men wear chino's in the evenings? Also, are polo shirts classed as collared shirts or does it need to be a more formal type shirt?

Thank you

Yes, polo shirts meet the Regent dress code. I usually wear long-sleeve shirts as I find several of the venues too cool for short sleeves. But, I pack 1 or 2 nice light weight sweaters to wear over my polos when I want to.

I've been lurking here for months, soaking up all the great information and tips. I specifically want to thank Travelcat2 and UUNetBill for all the great posts - many of them were very helpful to me.

 

DW and I are not really "cruise people," but we very much enjoyed the Copenhagen to Stockholm cruise on Explorer earlier this month. I have posted a review:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=585043

 

I'm happy to answer any questions from other "newbies" like myself.

 

And I have a question of my own. If we cruise in Europe again, it will likely be a river cruise. I'm interested in both the Rhine and the Danube. Unfortunately, Regent doesn't do rivers.

 

If I want a "Regent level experience" on the Rhine or the Danube, which cruise line should I use?

 

Thanks!

DW and I have done 9 Regent cruises and have 3 more booked. We didn't want any of the Fall 2018 itineraries on Regent, so we went with Crystal River's Mozart on the Danube. We hope their river operation is as good as their ocean operations - but we will see then.

We have never sailed on a small luxury cruise line although

we have done two Scenic river cruises and throughly enjoyed

them and the people we met. Just wondering if we

will fit in with those of you who have traveled extensively

on luxury liners.

Hi: We have done the Nile, Yangtze, Volga, and soon to do the Danube and the Mississippi. We love river-cruising but then we are in our sights-seeing mode. We have done 9 Regent cruises and have loved them all. Ocean cruising can (depending on the itinerary) be much more relaxing. You won't have any trouble "fitting in".

I always recommend "sharing" dinner tables as you can meet fascinating, enjoyable fellow cruisers. The Regent Explorer is a magnificent ship; you'll be spoiled having it as your first ocean cruise!