rarin2go

Thanks to you all for your help.

I have checked the Seabourn website and done a search for comparisons on here but still hope you might be able to shed a little light for me on three areas please:

1. Formal nights - as we are on a 15 night cruise I understand there will be two formal nights - is that right? Is there any way to know in advance which nights they will be? And finally does the formal dress code extend beyond the Restaurant into other dining venues?
   
2. Is my usual dark blazer, button-down shirt & tie with grey flannel trousers (sorry but I'm British!) acceptable as formal attire or do I really need to wheel out the old 'soup & fish' (DJ/tuxedo)?
   
3. Does the menu in the Restaurant vary for certain special nights eg Captain's welcome/farewell?
   

Anything else you think might be useful to a first-timer would of course be very welcome too.

Although there is a roll call for the voyage, it is very sparsely populated and we all seem to be Seabourn newbies so thank you for your help.

We are about to book our first Seabourn cruise (July 1st to 15th) after only cruising Regent - does anyone have a referral coupon please?

Spills will be less noticeable... :rolleyes:

Pre-spilt carpeting - brilliant!

It has been a wonderful trip........

And it has been wonderful reading about it and sharing it with you both - thank you!

Thank you so much. I hope they do make noise as the excursions we want leave at 8:45, wish they were later!

You're most welcome. The suite you are considering will be great, I'm sure. And the beds are so comfortable you won't want to get up early!;)

Did the tenders obstruct your views?

Not at all - they are on deck 5 below - they only make a noise as they are being lowered into the water or raised back - only a few minutes anyway.

Got it and thanks. Unfortunately no info on this cabin.

We were in & reviewed 649 which would be identical in terms of layout and is only about 5 suites forward of 658 - you'd still be above the tender locations and have the extended balcony.

Sticky post at top of forum board : click here

For us, it would be a matter of comfort for my husband who has developed a tremor and can no longer stand or sit for long periods. That sounds contradictory. He definitely cannot stand for any length of time but if he is sitting for a while on the type of chair in the terminal his leg (the affected limb) becomes numb, so he gets very uncomfortable. He is very resistant to a walker as he feels he doesn’t need one, as walking is not a problem per se. This has curtailed our travel and we now only book business class when flying because of the early boarding, and would welcome the opportunity to board earlier if we booked a suite on Regent that offered this.

I would think that Regent would make special provision to board you if you brought this to their attention in advance - at least I hope they would! It should not be necessary for you to book a named suite in these circumstances.

As regards the general issue, I agree with all that Bill (if I may so address him) has written. As Brits, we are frequently pressed by cruising friends to try Cunard but we resist on account of the very visible class system (as well as the size of the ships, of course).

We have been to a couple of these. Of course it's a selling exercise but no real pressure and a chance to ask questions and meet other Regent customers to compare notes etc. We wouldn't travel any real distance but if it's fairly local and didn't clash with anything important, we'd go again.:)

Sorry but the article contains a factual error - in-suite minibar drinks are not limited to beer on Regent - you can have spirits, wine etc all you have to do is ask your steward/butler!

This is a no-brainer; Mariner is by far the best ship in the fleet. Cabins big enough and public spaces best of all ships.

Marc

Well said!

.... The Concierge E level has 647 and 649 which appear to be connecting rooms

( might be a problem?) ....

We were in 649 and never even noticed any connection. Apart from the noise from the tender winch which never bothered us & the need to walk to the fore elevators to get access to deck 4 (for Compass Rose access) - great room!

...Pretty good loyalty from a couple who just wanted to do one cruise away from the gaggles of kids on other ships.

Well our first cruise was going to be the one and only HOAL (holiday of a lifetime) but then we got the Regent bug ..... 2018 is just an anomaly, we hope! ;)

Wow, thank you so much for all the responses. Although, we have been on many cruise lines ( Celebrity, Princess, Holland and Royal Caribbean ), we have never been on a small luxury ocean liner. We have decided to take our first cruise with Regent in 2018. We will be going on the Explorer in the fall of 2018. All of your responses certainly helped with the decision.

After 5 Regent cruises, we're trying Scenic in 2018 - only for a change and because it fits better with our diaries - so we hope we'll enjoy it. seemed the nearest equivalent to Regent in the river cruise market.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Explorer! We'll be back on Regent in 2018 we hope.

Explorer is excellent, but Seven Seas Mariner is still our favourite.

Nothing to do with food or amenities; just the general design & layout of Mariner works better for us.

It's a close call but I still favour our first love - the Mariner - too!

P.S. There is no "Business Class" across the U.S. using Regent - mainly because "Business Class" does not exist on many airplanes - only First and Coach.

For flights within Europe, there are usually only Business & Economy classes on a flight.

6) What we learned on the cruise was to sit in one of the small rear dining rooms in Compass Rose. Much less noisy and lower lighting makes these rooms preferable for us.

Couldn't agree more - in the main part of CR the noise level makes conversation difficult - also feels more like a banqueting hall than a restaurant IMO. Only slight downside is that there is a lot of foot traffic as wait staff go back & forth to the kitchens but service is nevertheless excellent!

We were in 649 a few weeks back and yes you definitely hear the tender below being winched in and out but this never bothered us. And we never heard any other noise from above or below and I am a very very light sleeper!

You do need to walk down to the fore elevators to access Deck 4 but no real hardship there.

Can't comment on size of balcony of 647 as we couldn't see it but I would take 649 again in a heartbeat!

We have only seen someone use a cell phone in CR once and recently but it was noticeable because they seemed to need to raise their voice! It is likely to remain an isolated incident (we hope) as the Regent demographic consists mainly of an age/social group where it is still (correctly IMO) regarded as discourteous. I should add that the incident occurred while we were in or just leaving port so that there would have been a shore-based signal.

Our CC meet & mingle on Explorer was also something of a failure - only 2 of the 16 signed-up actually attended. I know that some did not receive their invitations, the timing was probably inconvenient (right after lifeboat drill on embarkation day) but I had not considered the venue chosen as a factor. It was the Meridian Lounge (midships Deck 5) and it was very busy. The meet was in a corner and although it was signposted, I could imagine some people taking one look and thinking 'perhaps not'.

I had welcomed the CC initiative on the basis that it made life easier but,on reflection, I think a meeting arranged by and among the participants in the roll call would be more likely to succeed in numerical terms on the basis that it would by definition be at a mutually convenient time and location.

Be careful what you wish for. While I don't know where in the Northwest you live, we have our hot weather coming - usually after the 4th of July. I would definitely not want to be in some parts of Europe or the U.S. now. Sadly, people are dying from record heat. We are hoping for cold weather on our August 30th Alaskan cruise.

 

Really enjoyed your posts from the Explorer. Did you make any onboard bookings?

 

Thank you - the staff and the ship more than made up for the weather .

We certainly didn't wish for the temperatures we had in Suffolk today - peaking around 95F and high humidity! - but it will all end in storms tomorrow we're told. Central Europe I would not even think of in mid-summer! We'd love to do Alaska but I can't do long haul nowadays.

We didn't book onboard as, although I'm almost sure we'll be back on Regent in 2019, we're waiting for publication of the sailings for May/June and they don't come out till October, I believe.

rarin2go, FloridaGirl1962, sundial,

Thanks for your reports & observations.

Sorry you had such bad weather during much of your cruise but glad you still managed to make the most of it. Look how the weather has changed - today is reported to be the hottest day in the UK for over 40 years! :cool:

 

Thank you. Now we are wearing all those summer clothes we packed for the cruise and brought home unused! :)

.... On our next cruise (in September) I am looking forward to the Explorer brunch as we're lucky enough to have a Sunday sea day. ...

You won't be disappointed, it really is amazing - the only drawback is the need to make so many difficult choices! ;)