Eno-Bob

I’ll have to concede that I was overly generous with the $15 - $20 price range.  I thought that a some of the house wines, like the Sterling Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, were priced in that range, but after a checking, they are more in the $10 range.   I do agree with shuguley on the house Pinot Noir wines – never had one that we liked.   There are only a few Pinot Noirs on the Premium Wine List, so the choices are limited.   While there are some very nice wines on the Premium Wine List, they are big production wines – a lot of cases produced and consistent availability. 

 

Travelcat2 posted the pages from the Connoisseur Wine List back in February and you can find her photos and list here when you scroll down the page --  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2635631-live-from-explorer-feb-17-march-9/page/3/

They also have Coke Zero on-board and, while it's not something they usually stock in the room refrigerators, they will do so if you request it.

Regent doesn’t publish a house wine list and they say that the wines change to often for a list to stay accurate.  If you ask the Head Sommelier when you are on board, they may give you a printout of the current wines available. 

 

We are also wine lovers and enjoy a combination of the ship’s house wines and wines from the Connoisseur’s Wine List.  The house wines are usually good, probably average around $15 - $20 retail price points.  You can definitely find some enjoyable wines in that group.  Things to remember:  You can ask for a tasting pour of any of the wines to decide if you like it.  While the evening menus have recommended wines for the evening, and they will bring those around to pour, you can ask for any of the house wines in any of the restaurants at any time.  If you find a favorite Cabernet just ask for that wine when the Sommelier or server comes to your table.   The ships Sommeliers will also hold one or two tastings of a few of the house wines being offered during the voyage.

 

The Connoisseur’s Wine List is good, and the good news is that the wine prices are about the “average” retail price you’ll find on Wine Searcher.  So, you’re getting a fine wine, decanted, Riedel glassware and sommelier service for about retail price.  We almost always order a bottle off the list in the specialty restaurants.  Also remember that at Penthouse level there is a discount on your wine purchases – it won’t show up on the evening’s bill, but they take it off all purchases at the end.

 

You can also bring your own wines on board – there is no “corkage” costs.  When we embark  from the US we usually bring a number of wines with us for the voyage.  We also will purchase wines along the way if there is an opportunity and enjoy them on board.  We haven’t tried it yet, but we have been told that you can ship wines to the ship for your cruise. 

 

Hope that helps  --

 

Bob

13 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Being retired military, we were taught to plan everything then throw it out the minute action starts. Therefore, here is a layout of our cruise plans:

 

Zqueeze1 – I am very impressed – and my DW thinks I’m obsessive-compulsive!  After 25 years active duty and another 20 as DoD Contractor I thought I could put together a good OPlan – not by half.  Guess I spent too many of my last years writing requirements documents.  With your kind permission I would like to copy your wonderful OPlan.  If I may ask, what do you cover under the Plan of Attack?

19 minutes ago, markdgriffin said:

I fully agree with your assessment of the complimentary wine.  Prior to the cruise, I fully intended to pay for upgraded wines during certain dinners yet never did due to the suitability of what was being served. 

Mark – Agree that some of the complimentary wines are quite good, but the ship also stocks some top wines on their “Connoisseur Wine List”.  One of the great things about the Connoisseur wine list is that the prices charged are comparable to the average retail price for those wines.  You are not paying the 100% to 200% markup that you would pay at restaurants of similar quality.  You get the full top restaurant Sommelier service and a great wine at a very good price.  We find it fun to splurge for special dinners and it’s a easy (and fast) way to use up those SBC dollars!

Bill, certainly possible – I knew a Bill or two myself.  We’ve been here since 1989, I retired in 1992 and spent the next 20+ years supporting HQ AFSPC MILSATCOM programs.  My wife Pattie was an AF Civilian also in comm – mostly at HQ AFSPC but also a few years in the Mountain. 

Don’t know exactly what is going to be “updated” on the Explorer on this dry-dock – however, we are on the first cruise after the dry-dock.  We were aware we would be on that first cruise during our last cruise in January and asked one of the Explorer Officers – maybe the GM – what was being updated.  He didn’t provide specifics, but he said that this was their “end of warranty” dry-dock and that all “fixes” that the manufacturer was responsible for would be addressed during this period.  A lot of that could be below decks and not visible to passengers. 

Bill – Agree with you 100% on this, feel the same way. 

 

There have been Veteran’s get-togethers announced on two of our last three Regent cruises.  However, they were not really organized and never materialized.  One was announced to meet at Coffee Connection but when I went arrived at Coffee Connection it was full as usual but there was no announcement or gathering point for Vets.  Maybe there were others there too, but nothing occurred.  On our last cruise they published a Vets get-together for noon at the Prime 7 bar.  Admittedly I was a couple of minutes late, but there was no one else there. 

 

A few years ago, on a Crystal Cruise, we had a great unplanned dinner get-together at Prego.  Three couples just happened to be seated close along one wall and the tables were close enough to talk.  It turned out one gentleman was a WW II Army Vet, the next was a Korean War Marine Vet and I got to cover Vietnam and Desert Storm as an Air Force Vet.  There was just a great feeling in meeting those great gentlemen and trading some service stories.

 

I understand that Regent pushes back on setting up “functions” for different groups.  The old adage that if you do it for one you have to do it for all.  I do think however, that if they set up a mix and mingle for vets, like they do for Cruise Critic, people would turn out and there would be a good chance to meet and get to know other Vets on the cruise.  In truth, I would prefer that to a $100 SBC.

 

Bob

We stayed in the Seven Seas Suite 802 on our last cruise which was a trans-Atlantic from Cape Town to Rio.  While there are some issues to be aware of, but we enjoyed it and would do it again.  The forward bedroom and bathroom wall is slanted and the bedroom TV hangs off of that wall, we managed to hit our heads on it a couple of times.  Because of the suite’s position in front, and directly under the bridge, you must keep the bedroom and bathroom curtains down and the veranda door curtains closed after dark.  That wasn’t a problem for us, and you could go out on the veranda after dark if you kept lights off.

 

The main issue that’s talked about is that at the front of the ship the veranda is very windy, and if there are strong winds, the cabin crew won’t even set up the veranda (they tie everything down and store all of the cushions in the evenings.  However, we used the veranda most days – there is a couch and a lounge chair and if you’re laying down, you are somewhat protected from the winds.  We enjoyed the veranda and liked being able to look out from the front of the ship, but I know others have not.  You can also get noise from the anchor being lowered and raised, but we’re early risers and it never bothered us.  We also did not feel the ships motion any more than in other mid-ship suites we have stayed in.  I’ll caveat that with the fact that we had a very smooth crossing and never had any heavy seas. 

 

 

There is some ambiguity in the use of “may enjoy”, they may mean that only some of the distinctive suites will receive those amenities, or they may mean that it’s your choice on enjoying those amenities.  The wording in the Seven Seas Society – Regent Insider is less ambiguous – “Dining Reservations - Savor the exclusive comfort of having preferred dining reservations at Prime 7, Chartreuse and Pacific Rim when booking a Concierge Suite or higher. Reservations are easily made on board or online prior to your cruise. And, when staying in a Distinctive Suite or Regent Suite, you are guaranteed a reservation every night.”  In this instance there does not seem to be a distinction between the “level” of distinctive suite. 

 

Sharle indicated above that there may have been changes to the amenities offered with the distinctive suites.  I don’t recall seeing anything announced.  Maybe someone from Regent could clarify? 

 

Travelcat2 – I not as sure as you that Regent keeps all parts of their website up to date.  If you look at the Splendor suites you can still see they are using a picture of the same suite for both the Splendor Suite and the Seven Seas Suite.  

 

 

Appears this was posted twice - don't know how to delete the second one. 

We received a Seven Seas Society – Regent Insider e-mail today that announced: “The results are in!  Your top 3 favorite suite amenities”  The top 3 are listed as:  Butler Service, Minibar, and Dining Reservations.  I’m not sure that those would be our “top 3”, however, one item under there description of dining reservations caught our eye.  “And, when staying in a Distinctive Suite or Regent Suite, you are guaranteed a reservation every night.”

 

 

Just under the Dining Reservations info box there is a link to “Learn more about our suites” and clicking on that link takes you to the Regent website to a page labeled “Suites” which categorizes suites as – Regent Suite, Distinctive Suites, and Spacious Suites.  Again, in describing the “Distinctive Suites” they describe exclusive amenities to include, “guaranteed reservations each night at the specialty restaurant of your choice”.  Clicking on “Learn More”, they list the “Distinctive Suites” as including all of the named suites – Master, Grand, Ship (Explorer, Mariner, etc), and Seven Seas Suites. 

 

We were aware the Master and Grand suites had the guaranteed reservations for the specialty restaurants, but it now appears that they have added the Ship and Seven Seas suites for that amenity.  However, if you go back and look at the suite amenities for the individual ships, we looked at the amenities for the Explorer Suite, it does not include the guaranteed reservations – the Master and Grand Suite do include that amenity. 

 

It’s certainly confusing.  We were in a Seven Seas Suite on the Explorer in January and it did not include the guaranteed reservations at that time.

 

Has anyone else heard about this change?  Has anyone who is currently or has recently sailed in one of the “Distinctive Suites”, taken advantage of this new amenity?

Found a great Forbes article about Regent wine service and the Head Sommelier on the Explorer, Georgiana Constantin.  We did a back-to-back on the Explorer last year over the holidays where we first met Georgiana.  We met her our first night on-board, she was the Sommelier in Prime 7, and she was great.  During that cruise she was promoted to Head Sommelier for the second cruise and did a superb job from day one.  If you’ve had the chance to meet and talk to Georgiana, you’ll be able to hear her “speaking” as you read the article.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/debbikickham/2019/05/19/all-inclusive-on-regent-seven-seas-explorer-is-a-premium-experience/#5d65630b49ab

Received the same notification for our April 1, 2020 Splendor cruise - Jewels of the Tropics.  Not a big deal for us, but do believe that there must be more to it then a couple of guest complaints.  

The top photo is a Seven Seas Suite on Explorer - we stayed in that Suite on our last cruise, or one exactly like it.  I'm certainly hoping that the Splendor Suites follow the layout of the Explorer Suites --

Nice article in Forbes about the suites on the Splendor --

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2019/03/19/first-look-at-the-luxury-suites-aboard-regents-seven-seas-splendor/#231406d14503

39 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

What days are you referring to?  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as far back as I go, which is Radisson in the year 2000, it's been an all-inclusive price for gratuities, as far as I remember. 

 

I was referring to our early cruising days, which were with Crystal and Silver Seas.  We have only been cruising with Regent the past 5 years and we don't know what the Regent policies were before that. 

First, we have never felt any pressure for tips on our Regent cruises.  We usually sit with the same wait staff when we dine in CR during the cruise and have never felt like anyone was looking for a tip.  If one of the head waiters or managers stops by, anytime during the cruise, it’s always to see if we were happy with the meal and service.

 

We have never read the Regent inclusion of “Pre-paid Gratuities” as part of the all-inclusive price, as a “NO tipping” policy.  In the days before “all-inclusive” there were recommendations for a daily “gratuity”, by position.  We never felt that we “must” tip that amount, it depended on the service provided, and if service was above and beyond, then we would tip accordingly.  Likewise, we have always seen the “Pre-paid Gratuities” offered by Regent, and other all-inclusive lines, as the basic recommended amount, like the earlier per-day gratuity.  While we are always aware that the gratuity is included in the fare, if someone on Regent goes above and beyond, and really makes our time on-board extra special, we have no problem with, or hesitation about, providing an additional gratuity.

If memory serves, there are US plugs on both sides of the bed, as well as USB connections, one beneath the table with the makeup mirror, one by the end table next to the couch, and one on the bar. 

Wendy,

 

   We have never had a problem doing banking on-board, however, we have learned that is usually a bit easier if you use an App from the bank or financial institution.  We bank and have credit cards with Chase, USAA, and a local credit union, all of them have an App and it makes it very easy.  We usually do everything off an iPad and have never had to adjust clocks or worry about what time it was at "home".

   It was a pleasure meeting you on our back-to-back cruises from Cape Town.  Hope you have a wonderful new cruise and, if you decide on the Lisbon to Miami in Nov, we will see you then.

 

Bob & Pattie

Just got off after 4 weeks on the Explorer and you must insert your keycard, or something, in the slot to turn on the lights.  However, this does not turn off air conditioning or heat and items that we have had plugged in and charging continued to charge even with the keycard out. 

5 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

On Explorer in Nov we brought our life jackets and put them on during the drill but did not go to our life boat stations.  It is interesting that there seems to be a continuous back and forth on this issue. During the almost 40 years of cruising, how the muster drill has been handled has taken many forms from meeting at the life boat station and putting on our jackets on all the way to meeting in a room and just watching a demonstration.  

 

We did a back-to-back cruise on the Explorer, Cape Town to Cape Town Dec 22 and Cape Town to Rio on Jan 6.  On the first cruise we brought our life jackets and on the second cruise they told us not to bring our life jackets.  We asked and they said that the requirement had changed on Jan 1^st and passengers were no longer required to bring their life jackets.  My initial thought was they had probably lost more passengers to tripping over the life jacket cords then to a ship emergency.  They did demonstrate how to put on the life jacket at the muster drill.  This was our 4^th cruise on the Explorer and we have never been taken from the muster station to the life boats on any of them. 

19 hours ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

My Take-Away: Plan better. Carefully consider several options, especially flying home after dinner on the ship the night before disembarkation. Others did that; why was I not listening?

 

We were fortunate that our TA was aware of the issues involved in staying overnight on the ship in Rio and he suggested we consider leaving the ship the first night rather than spend the following day “waiting” somewhere in Rio.  We left the ship that first evening, called for an Uber ride to the airport, and had no issues or delays heading back to Denver through Miami.  This was our first time entering the US through Miami and we were very surprised and pleased with how quickly we moved through the process and how efficient it was.

We also enjoyed the Cape Town to Rio cruise with DeepFreeze63 and jollyjoyce – it was a wonderful cruise, especially for those of us who really love the sea days.  This was our third TA crossing on the Explorer and it had the calmest seas and the nicest weather we have ever experienced on a TA – Like DeepFreeze63, we spent a lot of time on the veranda just enjoying the ocean. 

We love the Explorer, and it lived up to expectations in every regard – wonderful friendly staff, great food, beautiful cabins and public areas, and plenty of things to do, or not do, during the 8 sea days.  Do agree that the St Helena tour and the Walvis Bay Seals and Dolphin excursions were highlights of the cruise.

I can’t confirm DeepFreeze63’s claim about Explorer being a “ghost ship after 11PM”, we were never able to stay up that late…

One unique Cruise Critic aspect of this cruise is that we had two Mix and Mingle gatherings.  It seems that Regent did not get a complete list of those that had signed up for the M&M and when the golfgirls inquired about what had happened, GM Massimo offered to hold another M&M for those on-board.  Both were great and a big thank you to the golfgirls and Massimo for setting that up.

Now just counting the days until we’re back on the Explorer – 290!