pappy1022

As far as getting additional reservations while on the cruise, yes you can but it’s likely that most available times will be later in the evening. At least that has been our experience recently. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Looks awesome. I am cruising there next year. Looks like you have having great weather. It’s supposed to be the rainy season.

There’s an idea for Regent to cut cost …….. oops too late. 😀

I agree 100% that the difference between very good and excellent on Regent has been the inconsistency of service and food. I do believe that training and proper management oversight is the key to improving things back to excellent. I also believe that in time, Regent will do that as long as they listen to their customers, focus on continuous improvement and make sure that their necessary cost cutting is not geared toward customer facing initiatives.

Gilly, are you going on Regent or another cruise line? We will be going next year but chose PG.

Their website says they are still closed. I am heading to the French Polynesia in June 2025 on Paul Gauguin. I looked at Regent but they have limited cruises to the FP and they didn’t fit my schedule so I opted for PG who sails there year round. I am interested in your experiences especially for your shore excursion comments. Have fun.

The issues you encountered is unacceptable for a luxury cruise line let a lone bargain basement cruise line.

As fare as tenders and doing your own thing, you will have to wait for a tender until all of the passengers using Regent tours are tendered. If you are planning private tours make sure the tour provider is flexible as to the start time. You really don’t know for sure what time you will make landfall.

It’s fine to discuss each of your likes and dislikes and what you would change on this discussion board. Regent is going to change things with or without our input, so please fill out the survey so maybe we have a chance at influencing what they change. I can do without the included shore excursions if we can get a credit for not using that service. It’s a money maker for Regent so I doubt they will change that. Onboard service and dining experiences need to be improved and be more consistent but that takes more people, better training and time for the new people to perfect the Regent way. I do like the included airfare and the option to do your own thing but the air credit isn’t anywhere near the cost of making your own arrangements.

I got the survey and I filled it out. I feel strongly about certain things that Regent does or doesn’t do well and how important those things are to me. Regent is at the mercy of their suppliers such as airlines, hotels and tour guides but they have some level of responsibility to work with those suppliers (or change suppliers) to deliver the best product possible. I didn’t have a problem prioritizing what was most important to me. For others, the priorities will differ. I hope Regent’s intentions are well placed for these surveys and that they will listen to the feedback. No doubt that they are looking to cut cost because the interest payments on the COVID loans are literally an anchor for their business.

My experience with Regent tours is that they will range from poor to good but they will never be as good as a private tour. You just never know until you go on the tour what you will get because there is no feedback or rating process for these tours. Sometimes you will get comments on this chat board but not very often. Private guides are more expensive but if you can get 1 or 2 more couples to join in then it becomes reasonable. I wish, and I said this on my Regent survey I just received, that Regent would provide a credit for ship tours not taken. I think many people, myself included, feel as if we should take the Regent tours because we have paid for them. A majority of the time I do take the Regent tour but I sprinkle them in with private tours in places that I really feel I want a more immersive experience.

Gone. Cost cutting measure.

I still am booked with PG. I am interested in the pros and cons that you experienced and any thoughts you have on the shore excursions through PG or private. I haven’t given up yet, just hearing more and more about PG negatives. When did you last travel on PG?

Can you expand on the reasons why you wouldn’t choose PG? Thank you.

I have cruised multiple times with Regent, Oceania and Crystal and have enjoyed all of them. I usually choose one of these 3 based on which itinerary is best for me. I am more about the adventure and the journey than the ship itself. I know what I am getting with those 3 cruise lines. I don’t let the little things bother me because no cruise line is perfect. I have never been to the French Polynesia and my logic was that it would be better to go with a cruise line that made that region “home”. I also believe that the smaller ships, such as Paul Gauguin and Windstar, would provide a better cultural experience. The last item that made me lean toward these 2 cruise lines was that I wanted to travel in the May/June timeframe. That last item eliminated a number of mid sized cruise lines that I am accustomed to using. I have a cruise booked with Paul Gauguin for 2025. I am not sure how the Windstar Star Breeze is going to shake out. I am looking forward to reviews on this ship.

Is it time to start looking elsewhere for a French Polynesia cruise?

We do the same because there are some things that the Sapphire credit card won’t cover such as evacuation or medical care. But, we saved thousands of dollars on travel insurance by leveraging our credit card coverage. Fortunately, we never had to use it.

It’s hard for some folks to accept any criticism of Regent.

I would also highly recommend using a TA who is experienced with Regent. As far as travel insurance, I would look at options other than Regent because they are more expensive and if you get in a dispute with Regent, who do you thing the insurance company will tend to side with. Your TA may be able to recommend a travel insurance company but it is easy to do on your own. Check your credit card included travel insurance benefits. For us, we were able to get $20,000 in travel insurance included for just having a Chase Visa Sapphire card. Look for an independent insurance company that offers plans from multiple providers.

That’s unacceptable.

I think Jorge was outstanding as well on our recent Splendor cruise. He was always cheerful and energetic. We also had 2-3 servers who were outstanding as well but they all disappeared toward the latter part of the cruise. We suspect the “not to be mentioned by name respiratory illness” was the cause. Destination services was Regent’s Achilles heel as far as service is concerned. The food for the most part was very good but there were too many misses on quality and preparedness to call it a 5 star experience. Those issues were resolved quickly by sending back the meals but it’s not great to wait for a meal while the other 5 people with you have theirs. Bar service was slow at the pool deck and after the shows. I felt that there weren’t enough servers to take care of the number of people in the venues. The weather was cool on our cruise so there weren’t any issues with chair hogs. Entertainment overall was good. The piano player was just OK. Our concierge cabin was great, that was 5 stars. Shore excursions ranged from great to poor with most being good. We did one private tour (6 people) and it was outstanding. It really highlighted the difference between private tours and ship arranged tours. But you have to do your homework to find a great tour guide. Flights arranged via the Regent deviation process, hotel accommodations, transport, and the ship itself were very good. Overall I would give it 4 stars and yes, despite the things that could have gone better, I will cruise with Regent again. At the end of the day, we all have different expectations, different experiences and different priorities as far as what’s most important to us. I think Regent does try hard to correct things when you tell them about miscues but I also think there are some systemic issues that they need to correct via staffing, training and better oversight. The world has changed post COVID and we see it every day all around us. Maybe it’s going to take some more time for things to improve in the travel and service industries but maybe this is the new norm.

Yes I did. The 11 day cruise.

Well said Bruce. I think the entire cruise industry is going through a lot of changes post COVID, with staffing issues, country or local specific rule changes, customer service, partner issues (eg. guides, airlines, and others). I also think that the financial pressures all cruise lines have because of the huge debt they incurred to keep their businesses alive during the COVID shutdown have made their executives focus more on financials than other aspects of their product. While I accept that Regent and other cruise lines have significant challenges, it shouldn’t be viewed as an excuse but should be viewed as an opportunity to improve and to differentiate themselves vs the industry. That starts with better customer service and better communication as well as being upfront and truthful about issues and not hide behind the usual explanation, “operational issues”. We all know that “stuff” happens from time to time, no one is perfect. What’s important is how one responds to that “stuff”, by being open and honest and taking care of their customers to hopefully make them life long customers. I always consider Regent when I am planning a cruise and most times I choose them. I understand that I am paying a premium for the 5 star experience. My last cruise in September was very good but there were too many hiccups to justify a 5 star experience. Some minor, a couple of them major. I will still consider Regent for future cruises but I admit that I will also look harder at other options. In fact, I chose a different cruise line for an upcoming French Polynesia cruise.

I understand that and legally they can do whatever they want and we are at their mercy to decide how to change an itinerary and whether they offer any sort of compensation. Morally and long term customer allegiance is a different story. I understand the port or 2 missed because of weather or safety concerns. What people are talking about are pre cruise decisions to dramatically change the itinerary. At minimum, cruise lines should tell us about these changes and tell us why these changes are being made. To hide behind their legal rights and then tell us it’s an “operational issue” is not good customer service in my opinion. BTW, this isn’t just a Crystal issue. Regent is having the same issues and I’m sure other cruise lines are doing the same. Something is going on in the industry as a whole as to why so many significant itinerary changes are happening well before the cruise happens. Seems like cruise lines are stepping on each other for port access, etc. I don’t know because the cruise lines won’t tell us the truth.

That is the better process, just 1 person making the reservations for all. Since there were 6 of us traveling (3 couples), we decided to split up the dining reservation process when it opened up. We each had 1 restaurant to make a reservation for all 6 of us and the system couldn’t handle it. We did receive emails saying all reservations were confirmed but when we went back into the reservation it didn’t show that we had reservations for all of us. Our TA called the next morning and Regent confirmed that the reservations were messed up and had to cancel whatever we had out there and start from scratch. We didn’t get the dates and times we originally wanted but found options to our satisfaction. Regent told our TA that the system couldn’t handle multiple people doing concurrent reservations for the same people even though each of us was making reservations for a different restaurant. This shouldn’t be a problem for modern databases and well designed applications. Lesson learned and just passing it along that only 1 person should make all the reservations for the entire group. That process works fine.