ChucktownSteve

In keeping with what some others have posted, I just did a South Caribbean cruise comparison with Celebrity and Regent Seven Seas for a February cruise. Granted they’re one year apart, but Celebrity hasn’t released their 2026 itineraries yet. Regent Seven Seas Grandeur (2023) eight ports for 14 nights, has 746 passengers at capacity with 1.37 passenger/crew ratio. four ports for 11 nights, has 3,260 passengers at capacity, with 2.32 passenger/crew ratio. Grandeur 561-626 sq. ft. Penthouse suite with personalized premium liquors in suite and around ship, daily laundry, Wi-Fi, four specialty restaurants, gratuities and excursions in every port included in price. $743 pp/pn. BTW the everyday menu in the main dining room is far superior to Celebrity’s food offerings. They include Prime steaks, scallops, lobster, shrimp and more besides the daily special menus. Beyond 501 sq. ft. Celebrity Suite. Specialty restaurants, daily laundry, premium liquor package and excursions NOT included. $1,034 pp/pn. Why would someone select a Celebrity suite over a Regent suite based upon this?

Wow thankx. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Regent FP cruise for Feb 2026 until I saw this. I then looked up the weather info. There went that cruise! Two of our Three Regent cruises to Eastern Canada and Alaska were rain nearly daily. Did not make my spousal unit happy. Ergo, note to self...avoid rainy seasons. That's one grief factor I can avoid. 😁

This was posted by excitedofharpenden (Phil) in 2020. However what's available will probably be dependent on where you are sailing and what's available when they provision. I wouldn't expect anything good to be included in the non elevated package. I've attached a downloadable PDF of the current AZ website's beverage packages with included brands ...of course subject to substitution. AZ beverage-packages.pdf

I feel 21 years to get a restaurant reservation is just too long! 🤣

That may be the case in some ports however I have booked directly in foreign ports over the years with cruise excursion tour vendors or their competitors. Sometimes the cruise tour vendors were so booked they couldn't accept additional customers due to lack of resources.

Thankx. I didn't know if AZ uses internal employees or not. Others I have sailed on have used excursion companies on board. However whether employees or not, the only way to generate revenue is to mark up their tour operator cost. Thus always more than booking on your own with the identical tour operator. The difference is profit margins charged.

I don't know if this helps but I used to live in a tourism cruise port on the east coast. It was a well known fact that whatever the tour companies charged, the cruise ships usually doubled their regular rate on the same tours so people could walk off the ship and book the same for much less. I've also observed that some cruise lines use a vendor as their excursion company onboard. Does anyone know if this is the case on Azamara or they are internal employees?

TY Phil and Betsey. In your opinions, have you experienced the Chef's table and is it worth the new $125/pp charge?

Do you know if the restaurants included with an Owner's Suite also include the Chef's table?

Next time the shampoo doesn't lather, dump it out so they have to replace it with a fresh one? Or maybe they will refill it with a watered down version?

Even when I sail out of POM, I park there and have a van service pick me up to drop off at my ship in POM for $15/pp! Better than driving in the Miami traffic.I arrive relaxed.

I've paid about $10-$12 per night (including taxes and fees) depending upon how far out the reservation is paid. Their website and vans are yellow. That's how I know I'm at the correct location. https://www.bookparkngo.com/

I've always used Park N Go just outside the Everglades port gate. Cheaper with a prepaid reservation than just showing up. You pull up to the carport. They unload your luggage and put it on the van going to your ship. They pull up to the porters who take the luggage so you don't need to handle them. Just tip and enter the terminal. On the disembarkation, they pick you up quickly and drop you in front of your parked vehicle in their lot. They even help you with the luggage to the trunk. On one cruise I disembarked early, they picked me up and I was the only one on the van which immediately proceeded to the parking lot. Since that is my favorite port parking, they also have frequent parking that gives me a free day for every 10. I also combine it with their Park N Go at Orlando airport. They give a small bottle of water for each passenger as you exit the lot.

One thing to consider if you use a cash rebate credit card...if you have the Refundable OBC sent to your credit card, you'll lose the cash back on the amount. However if you go to guest relations and get it in cash, you keep the rebate amount charged to the card.

We did three Regent cruises within one year. Started with the Voyager, then Mariner and finished with a 16 day on Splendor in January 2023. I found the food on Regent a much better option than on any of the cruise lines we've sailed previously. While I enjoyed the food on all Regent's ships, I was actually more impressed with Compass Rose as the MDR. I found the key to be which server we had. We were fortunate that we had a hostess on Mariner who took care of us after a disappointing experience. We wound up with one of the best servers we've ever experienced the rest of the cruise. We sailed Oceania once before the pandemic. While the food was better than the other cruise lines we've sailed, it did not compare to Regent's cuisine and choices even in the MDR let alone the specialty restaurants. The daily free laundry returned the same night if out prior to 9am was an incredible bonus. I give the win to Regent presuming the itinerary and price/value evaluation works for you.

As they waddle back to their table?

I've always ignored the hyperbole of cruise line sales. If you save money, it means you initially paid more than you should have anyway. I usually book our cruises when the cruise line first releases the itinerary. The prices are the lowest when the ship is nearly empty! As they fill, the prices rise. Then just before a "sale" the prices increase again (as pointed out earlier) so you're really not saving much if anything. On any "sale" I've checked for repricing a booked cabin, I have NEVER been able to find a lower price than I initially booked at. I don't look at how much off. I look at cost pp/pn to determine whether I want to book or not. That's the bottom line for me along with what's included in that cost.

The restricted sailings aren't anything that interest me. Typical sale to fill less than desirable sailings that have lots of available cabins? Doesn't look like anything special.

Were they both involved in the Chandris culture or only after the contract where Royal Caribbean had to maintain the Chandris' style expired?

🤣🤣🤣🤣

No not everything is free. The delights are not calorie free!

I would prefer hearing the word phenomenal rather than interesting. That’s what people usually use when they don’t want to disclose what they’re really thinking. 🙄

With the ships having such a limited capacity, it makes sense to book as early as possible. Not only do you get your cabin choice, but they keep raising rates dynamically as cabins fill. Since I usually lock in a cabin/suite as soon as an itinerary is released, I have never been able to find a lower price regardless of the "promotions" that follow. I've found that to be the case on not only Azamara but on Celebrity and Regent as well.

And they didn't have to pay the inflated suite pricing. lol

Did they have to wait as long for their food as the other passengers did?