caribdvr

23 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

Interesting post as we have often considered Regent as we usually sail with Oceania and select based on itinerary. FYI, Oceania's fares (Simply More program) now include a specified $ value of credit for you to select any Oceania Excursion (varies depending upon length of cruise) and wine, beer and champagne is included at lunch and dinner. Gratuities are often provided by TAs.  Unless you like your cocktails or drinks at any time of the day, Oceania is close to these Regent amenities.  That said, stateroom size can be smaller on Oceania; then again, depends upon what stateroom you select.  As far as Excursions, the included Regent excursions have not always been appealing to us (many panoramic bus tours) and we would have to pay for the not included ones or, as we do often opt for an independent tour.  Number of passengers varies:  four R class smaller ships have 670 passengers, the two O class ships have 1250 passengers and the Vista (new Allura class) has 1200 passengers. On our recent Japan cruise Oceania provided a complimentary 3 day hotel + tours in Tokyo; we stayed at the same Hilton hotel and had the same tours as a Regent cruise so no difference in this particular included land program. Will continue to look at Regent itineraries and compare costs. Luckily there are choices for everyone.

Comparisons are not easy!  With the Exotic Tokyo special, the regent trip is about the same as Oceania and Viking.  Not entirely apples and apples, because Oceania is longest at 18 days and the others are 14 and 15 days.  But then you get the 3 days on land on Regent.  Regent may be the best value, but what it really has is the best sail dates, which is what made the final decision.

Thanks for everyone helping me understand!

Great we will book Regent!  The Feb/March timing is enough better than Oceania's Jan/Feb, but still too early for cherry blossoms.

Crossing my fingers that not all excursions will be booked already.  And forgap, I agree, and have already done the land tour of Japan; I know the cruise will not be as good for getting to see the country.  But I don't have to pack and unpack and schlep my stuff around. 🙂

Thanks everyone!

Thanks so much for everyone responding!  This has helped so much!  It is always difficult to read between the lines on reviews and like one poster said, some will never be satisfied.  It has been enough to make us change our minds and we will be booking on Regent.  The sailing dates are better than Oceania and the itinerary is better than Viking.  A very helpful tidbit is the comment about the smaller groups--which makes sense but would not have occurred to me so thanks for saving us some money there.

I entirely understand that some excursions won't be great....but I appreciate hearing that they won't be awful.  

7 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

@caribdvr

So you do understand, the PH3 was the top of the Up to 4 Level Upgrade Sale and the PH1 and 2 were Full Price and not available. All the Sales are availability driven and a butts in seats game.  We love the PH’s, 1,2, and 3.  My dream sale would be when that Upgrade Sale hits, how do I get an Oceania Suite because that is a Big Jump 💰. Just dreaming and we do enjoy O. 
Mauibabes

I do now!  Thanks

it was perplexing before. 

2 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

Only $700 delta between A-1 and PH-3, in my household, that is called a NO BRAINER.  Happy Wife, Happy Life ❤️😇👍 For a room 50% larger, a Walk In Closet, exceptional service, a chance to interact with some very special Butler’s and all the benefits, and early Specialty dinner reservations, that Oceania 800 number is on Speed Dial. 

Again, my house and our short story. I was on the phone to our Financial Guy and an offer from O popped into my In Box. Of course I can multi task 😇, and opened it. I immediately laughed because it was from O offering to upgrade us from a PH to an Owners Suite for our cruise on Regatta in Alaska. I hung up on the financial guy, called to my wife about this great joke we just got from Oceania. For only $2000 per person we could move up to an Owners Suite. Her reply, Why aren’t you on the phone calling Oceania!  I got my marching orders 😇👍

Moral of the story, your DW, Partner, Significant Other or whomever will appreciate you even more with that magnanimous upgrade action. JMHO. 

Enjoy,

Mauibabes

haha agreed, which is why I posted the question, which basically meant, what's wrong with the PH3 if it's only $700 more and the PH2 is an additional $2000?  But I'm hearing, basically nothing.  Once again, thanks to all

1 hour ago, ORV said:

The question is were you going to book an A1? I personally would just get a regular balcony, or at the least a lower level A. That's a little over $1000 a day for that room. What is the itinerary? 

The whole purpose of looking at a PH instead of the concierge is the extra space.  It is the Iconic Asian Capitals

Thank you. 
 

I believe you have answered the mystery for me. A1 is $8.3k, A1 $8.8, PH3 $9.5 but PH 2 is $11.7. I could not figure out why there was such a big jump. I guess the sale is doing that. All of the PH3 are “guaranteed” and perhaps that makes a difference.  

I am looking at an 18day Japan trip on the Regent Explorer (actually the Seven Seas Explorer) and the reviews on this site are fairly bleak.  I'd always thought that Regent was a very good line, but these reviews have me concerned.  There seems to be a lot of people in this section so I wanted to ask if you think that complainers are the only ones who posted there or what's going on.  There seems to be a big reduction in service post COVID but it also seems that many are just disappointed that it costs so much.  

I usually sail on Viking, which I enjoy, but their itinerary and sail date is not as good.  The other consideration is Oceania and I'd be happy to get a comparison.

The complaints I'm seeing are, in order of importance to me:

• excursions--I'm going for the ports.  If they don't do a good job with the excursions, this is a Big Deal.  I'm fine with booking some independently (any suggestions?) but I'd like to be able to do some of the included excursions--this is the hardest thing for me to overlook
• food is horrible and often cold (horrible is not okay, but less than fantastic is okay as long as much of it is very good)
• internet very bad  
• entertainment (how bad can it be?  this is a cruise)
• transfers/flights, etc, don't bother me bc I will make my own travel arrangements

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

We are considering a PH entirely for the extra space (we are friends, not a couple, and the cruise is 18 days).  However, the PH3 is much less than the PH2.  Is being in the front of the Riveria that much worse (where all the PH3s are)?  We will def stay with the concierge level rather than spending an additional $2k for a PH2.

So many great reports that I won't go into detail. But Rome in Limo did a great job for us. We had Vinny in Rome and he was great. Having a private driver was so much better than walking all over the hot city following a paddle with a number on it. Brayden, our Vatican guide, was extremely knowledgeable. It made a huge difference in the enjoyment of the visit.

But Carmine, in Naples, was particularly superb. We knew that he did this every day, but somehow he gave us the feeling that he was so enjoying sharing his city and his coastline with us. He is so dynamic and so proud of his country--the only time his eyes were brighter with pride was when he talked of his daughter. The lunch at Fattoria la Tagliata was the best of our trip. This place is also a B&B, so if anyone is looking for a private B&B up on the hillside away from everything, it would be a fantastic choice. This day was not only the highlight of the trip, but also a memory of a lifetime.