FengShui@Sea

Ask your butler as early as possible for the dates you want.  They can sometimes preform miracles! 

14 minutes ago, Borna said:

Hmm.  thanks for your response.  That's only a 4 star hotel.  I thought only 5 star hotels are used.

Sadly we definitely noticed a downgrade with Regent (including running low on food items) on our April Splendor TA.  I hope it is just a post Covid thing and will eventually return to normal, as I am sure they were hard hit financially. 

We were put in the AKA Brickell in Miami in April which was a downgrade from the Four Seasons the previous time.  Others on our sailing were put in the Miami East Hotel. 

We were on the Splendor in April and she was definitely dining with the social travellers; although the odd evening she would excuse herself.

6 hours ago, seaknots said:

so regent had work of 5 booking & 5 cancellation with no fee & 5 cabins blocked

No, my travel agent had the work.  Regent significantly changed one of the itineraries making it unacceptable.  Over a two year period my two nieces each scheduled their weddings which conflicted with bookings.  My golden retriever developed cancer.  Life happens. 

The suites for every cruise we have taken, or have currently booked, with Regent were priced at $2,000 or more a night, so cry me a river.  It is the cost of doing business, but they and my agent are well compensated in the fares we pay. 

Yes, that is exactly what it means.  However, at least Regent let’s you apply the $100 ‘admin’ fee to any other reservation as long as it is before final payment.  I have a cruise in October that I have applied five different admin fees to, so that is a total of $1,000 as the $100 fee is charged per person.

21 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

My best friends just completed a cruise on the Splendor. Told me it was Fabulous!!!

 

How nice for your friends.  However, their opinion does not negate our experience.

ChucktownSteve ~ I am sure I speak for many newer Regent cruisers, as we are, when I say we sincerely appreciate the time you have taken to give some insight into your experiences and observations on the Navigator.

Our first cruise on Regent was on the Explorer in January 2020 (pre-Covid) and it was nothing short of spectacular.  In contrast, we completed our second Regent cruise last month ~ a 21 night cruise transatlantic on the Splendor ~ which sadly was substandard in many areas.   Some of our experiences on the Splendor were similar to yours (generally poor food quality and preparation, as well as inconsistent service in Compass Rose, etc.).  However, we were trying to allow for post-Covid hick-ups in our judgement, but it really seemed worlds apart from our first Regent cruise.   I also found that in discussing our experiences/problems with the Splendor on Cruise Critic some of the die hard Regent fans just didn't want to know.  

7 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 Since you're the long time expert here, would you please find the link to UUNetBill's guru thread post on Suite 834 that could have warned me? I couldn't find it before or again just now. 

Here is the link:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2393020-regent-seven-seas-suiteguru-quick-reviews-ratings-of-regent-seven-seas-suites/

Thank you for your observations and information about the Navigator, greatly appreciated.

2 hours ago, seaknots said:

they are as your own recent experiences prove 🙄

 

Touchee! 😅

2 hours ago, Gilly said:

The situation regarding the health requirements of individual countries and the associated paperwork is ever changing and having experienced the need to complete additional forms at last minute ourselves (whilst travelling independently and not on a cruise ship), I understand the stress that arises from such things.  However, I am firmly of the belief that it's far better to have a form completed to the best of my ability ready and accessible to whoever requests to see it than to be tripped up and have my travel plans upset because of some small condition I failed to fulfil.  I do not believe for one minute that "they take great pleasure in having their passengers jump through hoops" @FengShui@Sea, but advise according to the best information available at the time and given the number of people involved, wisely err on the side of caution.  

Incidentally, the forms we were advised to complete on the night before we travelled (by an email from the Spanish immigration service) were never requested either.  C'est la vie right now.

Perhaps your statement "The situation regarding the health requirements of individual countries and the associated paperwork is ever changing" may have been accurate a year ago.  However, today with vaccination and testing requirements well under control most countries have relaxed their entry requirements and they are not "ever changing". 

Speaking from personal experience of less than one month ago Regent should well have known that we didn't require a Health form for Spain.  However, I only found out when trying to complete my form onboard the Splendor 48 hours prior to our arrival in Spain.  If Regent did know and didn't bother to let the passengers know - shame on them.  If Regent didn't know - they should have - so shame on them.  

Another example is that we were told by Regent that Bermuda required all of us to register on Bermuda's government website and pay a fee of $40 each for a travel visa.  Since my husband and I didn't intend to go ashore I called Regent and was told that it was only required if you planned to go ashore.  When I explained that their email said it was required to be allowed to board our ship (first stop was Bermuda) she consulted a supervisor and then said that was an error and a corrected email would be sent out by Regent.  Guess what - no corrected email was receive and who knows if it was actually required by Bermuda - we completed the form and paid the fee, but didn't go ashore.  

All I know is with the multiple tasks involved in preparation for travel I have better things to do than follow inaccurate information provide by the cruise line.

We just returned from Europe and the Heath forms were no longer required in Spain, Italy or Croatia.  Unfortunately, Regent didn't do us the courtesy of advising us on any of the changes.  They seem to take great pleasure in having their passengers jump through hoops.  Not impressed with many of their missteps, and have canceled two Regent cruises since returning home. 

I found the mirror quite adequate for drying my hair, but there was no place to store the hair dryer so I had to keep it in the drawer on the other side of the bed.  There is an electric plug just outside of the bathroom (opposite side of the bed to the makeup mirror) but an extension would still be needed.

PH has a fabulous large, lighted, magnifying (reversible to regular side) mirror on the make-up table next to the bed.

Yes, it is usually $300 from my experience.

3 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

Laundry & pressing is included for all guests.

"Some people" were obviously mistaken

 

flossie009 - thank goodness that you are able to set the record straight.  The poor poster must have been delusional.  🙄

17 minutes ago, shuguley said:

Has Regent reopened the do-it-yourself laundry rooms?

Yes.  Some people on our transatlantic said that they were no longer offering free laundry because of that.  We had free laundry but maybe because we were in a penthouse?

15 minutes ago, jhenry1 said:

I have read on a couple of sites that some forms are asking for your vaccine QR code.

I looked on our forms and nowhere is there a QR code.

We live in Texas and wondering if this code is for certain states?

Has anyone been ask for a QR vaccine code? Where do you get this code and do you really need it?

  Our experience has been that when you register to enter certain areas (such as European Union), and have uploaded your proof of vaccination they then send you a confirmation that contains a QRT code.  AND when going ashore you must bring proof of vaccination with you, in addition to government issued ID and your cruise key card.  We disembarked the Splendor yesterday after a 21 day cruise from Miami to (almost) Venice.  Never once were we asked to show proof of vaccination or that particular country’s QRT coded document.   🤷‍♀️

We had it on the first Sunday (sea day) and it was from 10:30 am until 1:00 pm. The second Sunday they offered champagne and caviar.

We are on the Splendor right now and I heard that there are cases of Covid on board.  They keep making announcements reminding us about wearing face masks.  

Travelling to/from Central America (Panama) I would never EVER trust our comfort to the whims of Regent.  Particularly seeing the recent down graded ‘included’ hotels they are using in Miami.  Take the air credit, and travel in comfort!

We received the same email from Regent regarding our April 5, 2022 transatlantic sailing on the Splendor (Miami to Barcelona).   Quite frankly between this nonsense and hotels with their “in these unprecedented time there will be no housekeeping”…  WTH?  We have a cruise booked on the Mariner for October 3rd that will surely be cancelled if they keep up with this BS!  I am quite happy to spend our dollars elsewhere!

WesW ~ that is extremely good service!  My experience has been that the biggest rebates/onboard credits were offered by large online travel agencies.  I noticed that one in particular would reduce the OBC percentage if I asked for any assistance post booking.  Clearly they didn’t want to hear from me once booked, and eventually told me to take my business elsewhere.  I admit I have had to cancel a number of bookings over the years due to work, weddings, dog sitting issues, etc.  But when booking I provide the agent with the ship, sail date, cabin category & cabin number; so there is very little service needed from them.

Thankfully I now have a US agency that I use exclusively, who provides excellent service, as well as insurance (which is a bonus for Canadian seniors), and also gives a decent OBC.

Not all of the $30,000 would be ‘commissionable fare’.   A portion of that fare is for meals and other expenses the cruise line encounters, so no commission is paid to the TA for those expenses.  Therefore a rebate would normally be a percentage of the commission the TA receives.  The standard commission paid out to agencies is 15%.  Those poor souls really work for their money!