swansong

Please don’t....!!!

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The real point of this is that cruise critic is about cruising and not the personal habits or allergies of customers. We all come across issues we don’t like such as smoking, aromas of all sorts etc. but that’s life. Let’s get back to discussing Regent.

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First it was cigarette smoke, now it’s perfume....get a grip...what next...smell of leather!

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Hear hear Travelcat!!

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There’s a deal advertised in the UK today on Voyager...7 nights for 371 GBP per diem including flights in a veranda suite and 542 GBP per diem in a penthouse suite including flights. 29 October in the Med. That’s a 31% discount. There are another 4 voyages with similar discounts.

It makes me wonder whether booking on board is worthwhile as my next cruise I booked on board has reduced to the same price I paid with all the discounts I got ( although not in this promotion).

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Rachel,

Thank you for the time you are giving to tell us all about your cruise. I am intrigued that you mentioned an additional cost streaming package. I hadn’t heard of this can you please explain when you have time.

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Do non smoking towns also ban vehicles with internal combustion engines especially diesels as these cause far more air pollution and health problems to passers by than smokers do?

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I absolutely agree about food consumed on excursions. The only time my wife and I have been ill on board Regent ( and we have many cruises behind us ) was when we were given some local specialities on a tour in Montenegro. It ruined our cruise and although we were not infectious we were quarantined. It turned out several others on the same excursion were similarly affected. Since then we have not eaten anything on tours other than planned meals in known hotels.

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TC2, I quote from the price guaranteed we were given last September:

‘ Best Price Guarantee: Booking onboard always comes with our Best Price Guarantee from the day you book up until the day of sailing. Should there be another applicable public promotion offering a better value through a combination of lower price and amenities on the cruise and category you have selected, you will be able to take advantage of this new promotion plus the added benefit of the applicable onboard savings. Simply have your travel agent call Regent Seven Seas to have the new promotion added to your reservation ( subject to suite availability). Should there be a price reduction after final payment has been paid, the difference will be given to you in the form of a Shipboard Credit, suite upgrade, or a future cruise credit at our discretion.’

I feel that this is somewhat ambiguous as I would read ‘subject to suite availability’ as being applied when the promotion is one where ‘ book suite cat x and get a two suite upgrade to cat y’ type of promotion. If as in this case the price of the suite the OP booked has been advertised at a lower price even if there were none available this constitutes an offer. I’m no lawyer but I wouldn’t let this go without an argument!

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I too watch the pricing in case I need to use the guarantee but have not yet needed to. ( last year the price reduced to a few £ s above what we paid) but am interested in the outcome for yourself.

Under UK consumer law the excuse is not valid in my view as my understanding reading the guarantee we have for this year is if the price advertised by Regent ( not an agent ) drops below what was agreed then they will reduce the price accordingly if before final payment.

If after final payment they will either give OBC or an upgrade.

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I was wondering if anyone had invoked the on board price guarantee for a future cruise either before final payment or after.

I religiously checked the price of the cruise we have just completed after booking and whilst it fluctuated up and down it never got below the price I paid. It got within a whisker though. No doubt some lower prices were given to agents but the guarantee only covers published prices.

I wasn't hoping for a lower price but it was satisfying to know that I got the best deal I could.

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TC that was a great and honest review knowing your passion for Regent.

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We have just returned home and whilst I had intended writing each day I felt that there wasn't enough of note to post so I have left it to the end.

Overall the cruise exceeded our expectations, the food and service with the odd exception, more later, was superb. Absolutely no complaints with any of the restaurants with either food or service.

The Voyager, now updated, is in super shape.

The reception at Rome airport was superb with agents waiting in the baggage hall with porters and others directing us to the departure point.

We checked in on Voyager immediately on arrival and were in our suite by 2:15.

For reasons I shall explain later we spent more time on board than usual and enjoyed the tranquillity when the ship was quiet. We had lunch in Compass Rose several times which is a relaxing experience and a good choice of menu.

The 'management' was very visible especially Captain Green and Davor the GM.

For the first time we were invited to dine with the Captain and he is charming.

He also had on board his wife and young baby which was lovely to see.

Some may remember Captain John McNeil. Captain Green invited him on board when we were in Valencia, John lives in Spain and Captain Green was First Officer with him for a period. It was lovely to meet him again as he was captain on our first Regent cruise and it was John's first contract with Regent. That was on Navigator many years ago now.

Departure was as well organized as usual and we were sad to leave. We have booked our first cruise on Explorer so we have something to look forward to in the future.

Now we all have gripes and mine are incidental and in the grand scheme of things didn't affect our experience at all. But we did mention them in passing to management and on our cruise final questionnaire.

As I mentioned earlier our experience on the first night in Horizon lounge was poor. Unfortunately this happened several times again where we had to go to the bar for a drink having waited for too long. Basically it was inattention as there were staff around. One evening having spent an hour or so in the lounge we wanted a final drink, only coke, and were told the bar was closed. We subsequently discovered that if more than three people are in the bar it should remain open. There were many more than three.

We had no such issues in any other location. Far from it the service was exceptional.

The internet was poor. I know another poster on the same cruise stated that they hadn't a problem but we did. I started to speed test at various times of the day and the best I got, only once, was a download of 11.70 Mbps and an upload of 0.24 Mbps. This was at 15:30 on a day the ship was deserted due to excursions.

The average and normal at other times was around 0.6 Mbps download and anything around 0.1 Mbps upload.

As I have always downloaded my favorite newspaper this didn't help. The first day it took 111 minutes against 15 seconds at home. I eventually set up my iPad to download during the night but of course I had to stay connected which didn't help with the general issue. Something should be done about this and I understand all the issues around bandwidth etc. & the signal strength in our suite was high so that wasn't the issue.

The entertainment was the worst we have experienced on Regent. The production shows lack flair and production values. They rely on back projection and not sets which doesn't in our opinion deliver quality. The singers and dancers are ok but can't show themselves off to best advantage especially with the content. Jean Ryan were far far better. I guess that there is some cost cutting here.

Ray Solaire was good, but two shows were one too many. He is old style music hall and whilst a great bloke and cruise director, Regent should be investing in some more modern talent.

We had a British magician, he was terrible. Originally a busker, he ought to return to that.

The best entertainment was undoubtedly Natures Rhythm, they were great and well supported. The Regent orchestra were excellent too. Regent please get your act together with the production shows!

Now on to excursions. I am one of those who would like to see a return to not including them in the price...let's not get into the free stuff please. If they weren't 'free' the quality would have to improve as customers would require refunds.

Our first excursion was so dire with a guide who never stopped talking for a second the whole time, constantly repeating what she had said ten minutes before and with time wasted, in our opinion, to bulk out the tour. After this we cancelled all but one tour. This first tour was in Cannes and we left the guide to do our own thing but it would have been nice to have had lunch there rather than being taken to a perfume shop for 90 minutes. Chanel it wasn't!

This brought up one of the above issues. We went to Avignon where there is plenty to see and we then went to Le Baux where there isn't. So we spent 90 minutes there which could have been better spent in Avignon as it only took 15 minutes to see the whole place at Le Baux and took 45 minutes to get there. This happens so often with the tours.

Just a few points to finish on...

There used to be an order form for newspapers in the suite, this time there wasn't. However they can still be ordered from reception.

We use the in suite phone to call home very day ( we need to for various reasons) and for the first couple of days couldn't get a connection. Finally after speaking with reception they told us that the information re. Dialing codes was incorrect in the suite info book and gave us the correct one. Why not correct the book?

As we are SSS gold these are perks that we appreciate and that is why I mention them.

Also, there was no cruise video this trip, don't know why as it has just dawned on me but we usually get one to remind us. Perhaps they didn't want us reminded of the shows!

Dress code was enforced as one gentleman with ripped jeans was asked to leave Compass Rose. Apparently he was extremely annoyed and we were informed that Regent offered him clothing free from the boutique or for a crew member to loan him something more suitable. They couldn't have done more.

I was asked if there was photo printing availability on board. I was told not.

So that's that for another year, we have booked Explorer for next year so have something to look forward to. Please remember my qualification for the critical stuff, Regent is still our cruise line of choice. The onboard experience is superb and hopefully the back office will register the issues that many mention and raise their game to match that of those on board.

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Second day now in Corsica. The service and food yesterday couldn't be faulted, I couldn't say the same about the internet.

How nice to see the lounge packed out after the show to see Natures Rhythm until 11:30, a great atmosphere.

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The issues are not that important. We had poor service in the Horizon lounge last evening and had to go to the bar to get drinks as no one came to take our order.There were only a few people in at the time so there was no excuse. Hopefully this was a one off. The other is the internet speed but as it was the first day perhaps everyone was on at the same time.

On the positive side, last night was our first experience of the 'new' Compass Rose menu and it really is superb. In the past there have been the odd times when we struggled to find something we liked but that is certainly not going to happen now.

Also the restaurant menus on the tv are much better relative to the previous system where it scrolled through all the menus in succession.

Just on a point that was raised in a previous post it does say on the tv that reservations are not necessary in Compass Rose. If I remember in the past it said reservations were not necessary or accepted which may explain why some pax think that they can make reservations if they wish.( that's different to the bribery issue of course.)

Anyway, it's a lovely day in Livorno today, we are staying on board as we have covered most of the excursions over the years and are likely to have the ship to ourselves!

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We are on board voyager now for 10 days...any question will hopefully be answered. We have some issues already but we are patient!

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Another issue is that under Compass Rose example menus lunch and dinner are crossed.

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Thank you TC.

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Nfcu,

This will be the last time I post on this issue. I find your comments and behavior totally unacceptable. In my view you should be ashamed. We all pay for what Regent offers and what you say about paying for more just does not apply here. It is bribery and by doing this you deprive others of what they have paid for. Have you considered that employees just might be insulted by your behavior? Not all cultures are aligned to yours.

I do hope I do not witness any of this behavior in my next cruise which happens to be next week or I might just get thrown overboard. I don't mean to be insulting but where I come from we say what we think!

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So it appears that Regent is a tipping cruise line after all. As a Brit I cannot comprehend a culture that thinks employees won't do the job they are paid for unless they are bribed. Tipping after the event if good service is given I do understand and practice, however Regent includes gratuities in the price, what bit of that do people not understand!

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To ' ensure promptness' for one person inevitably means less promptness for the rest! In other words it is selfish.....

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What a strange comment...some of us don't wish to sit through umpteen courses with people who may or may not be interesting. However, we wish to share our own company with choosing what we wish from the menu usually only a couple of courses and moving on to enjoy our evening without spending hours in the dining room.......

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To add to the confusion, today the price has dropped to £4544 for the lowest grade suite... so was yesterday's price an error?

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I am a bit bemused by Regent's pricing. We are booked to sail on Voyager on August 29th 2017.

As we booked on board last year with the price guarantee I have been keeping a close eye on prices.

The lowest price has been £4695 for some months.

Now with 5 weeks to go this has increased to £5959.

There is almost universal availability and it strikes me a bit odd that they should increase the price by this much when the ship seems to be not full.

Any ideas on the strategy?

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Going back a few posts, TC you mentioned being able to log into the BA website to choose seating at the time of booking your cruise.

Here in the U.K. whilst the flights are confirmed at the time of booking we can't choose seating until the E ticket is issued after final payment.

A year or two back I wished to choose our seats well in advance for a transatlantic flight ( having been almost bumped off a flight the previous year because we hadn't chosen seats in advance and the flight was overbooked ( you were on the same flight from Lisbon as I remember ) I had to pay the final balance at the time of booking some eight months before departure to be allowed to do this.

BA has significantly upped the charges for reserving seats before the 24 hour checkin period. For our next cruise we have had to pay an extra £86 for the two of us for the flights and £120 for an extra suitcase. This is as bad as a budget airline which it seems to me BA is becoming...no included food just Marks & Spencer sandwiches to buy!

So are US citizens treated differently by BA to U.K. ones in terms of choosing seats in advance?

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