MiamiCruiser52

These are my considered throughts about Regent:

Four of us were on a pre-Christmas Splendor cruise in the Carribbean. Overall, my expectations were not met (e.g., cheap included wines that I could by at Target for $15 and which I would never order at a restaurant; spotty food quality and service at the pool grill; very bland excursions).  There were a number of pluses:  Chartreuse in particular, which was spectacular.  Compass Rose was surprisingly good.  Service was generally very good throughout the ship, with exceptions.

The same group of four are booked on the Bali-Bangkolk cruise in 2023 in Penthouse suites.  This will be a very expensive trip for us, particuarly since we built a lengthy vacaton around the cruise beforehand and afterward.  Already Hong Kong has been cancelled from the itinerary and now Bangkok is the featured ending port.  My wife and I would not have booked the cruise without Hong Kong but now we are stuck (cancelling the entire cruise was not a viable option given our pre- and post-cruise travel plans). The Bangkok hotel in the post-cruise land program is a Sheraton convention hotel that sells for $100 per night.  The included tours in Bangkok look like souvenir shopping.  Cambodia was also substituted in for a day stop, but the "excursions" are all a half-a-day at a beach.  The beach!  Really???  I'm 63 and don't need to sunbathe.  The itinerary change also created signficant disruptions in our intra-Asia flights.  (I did write to Regent twice through its portal to express my dismay.  Neither email was answered.  I then forwarded my emails to my travel agent who passed them on to someone in Regent sales.  Regent's response to the TA -- but not to me -- was "Sorry, there is nothing we can do."  Of course, that is not true.  Regent could have done something to amerliorate the changes, but it eleced not to and did not even bother to reply to me.) 

I'm trying to keep an open mind for what should have been a phenomenal cruise and vacation of a lifetime, but, based on my experience on Splendor and the way Regent has handled the Asia itinerary changes, I am girding myself.  That is not the mindset I want going into this vacation......    

Thanks.  I hope so.  It make the cruise all the more festive.

We are booked on this pre-Christmas cruise.  Does anyone know if the ship will be adorned in Christmas decorations?

@Sheila:  Of course no one could've predicted exactly how the pandemic would progress or or come to an end.  But Regent knew that it would end eventually (or else they'd be bankrupt).  Regent had lots of time to plan what-ifs til the cows came home.  Instead, they announce in a splashy way three weeks ago that "we are back" and then, last week, without even emailing their passengers or fully informing the TAs of the repercussion's of their actions, cancel all Asia cruises (not to mention my Caribbean sailing that you and I are apparently on but which no longer shows up in my portal as a reserved cruise.)    The press release of the itinerary changes does not clearly specify that, oh, by the way, any passengers going to Asia have had their cruises canceled.  The affected passengers have no priority to rebook.  Instead, they celebrate the "repositioning" of their ships.  Others passengers cruising to other destinations have also been impacted in different ways and many are still completely in the dark that their vacations have been "cancelled."  

You clearly are a much nicer and forgiving person than me.  But I believe, even more today than a few days ago, that Regent has completely botched it and they owe their clients a lot more than an "I'm sorry."  (a 15% price reduction on the Caribbean cruise for cutting a day out is a minor start, but let's be serious, it's not an earth shattering accommodation.) 

11 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We are on the December 7 now 8th Splendor cruise. It will be 9 days instead of 10. The port eliminated is Dominica. There is a fair discount for the elimination of the one day. The changed cruise will appear on their web site after Wednesday. 
I got all this information from my TA… when I confirmed with Regent, it was correct. 
Stuff happens…. Regent is really trying to put all this together….let’s have some patience. 
First world problems……

sheila

Sheila:  Regent has had 14 months to put all this together.  IMHO, they botched it badly in the last week.

As I noted above,  our December 10-day Caribbean cruise on Splendor is now gone from Regent web portal, i.e., the rez is not available to access.  I received no email from Regent but did get a heads-up form my TA.  Still I have no current booking, even on the reduced 9 day sailing. 

As for the 16-day cruise in Asia in March 2022 on Explorer, my booking number is still on the Regent portal but is a dead link, i.e., it does not show any information.  As we all know, the Asia cruise is no longer available.  To make matter worse, affected cruisers are not offered priority on the substitute cruise departing roughly on the same date out of Miami (a transatlantic crossing).

Does anyone think these are appropriate business practices????

This past week, Regent cancelled our December 10-day cruise on Splendor (booking gone from web portal) and our 16-day cruise in Asia in March 2022 on Explorer (booking number still on portal but is not accessible).  The Asia cruise is no longer available.  If not for our travel agent, we would have not known.  I think Regent's practices are appalling.

Since I have booked Explorer, I am pleasantly surprised that the two reviews favored the Explorer Penthouse cabin.   Thanks for your input.

I have booked a Penthouse B suite on the Explorer for an Asia cruise in March 2022 and was comparing Explorer vs. Splendor.  Is the cabin configuration of a Penthouse suite on Explorer different from the configuration of the Penthouse suite on Splendor?  The images on the website certainly appear different.

DaETChief:  Very helpful. Thanks. Obviously, if I can get a price break on an upgrade, that is preferable.  I was surmising that empty  premium cabins near the cruise date might be available for upgrade at a reduced price, but maybe I'm just being naively hopeful.

I have booked two cruises -- one in a Superior Suite for a short Caribbean cruise in December 202 and Penthouse Suite for a longer Asia cruise in March 2022. 

1.  What options do I have to upgrade both cabins as I get closer to sailing?

2.  What is the best time to seek an upgrade?

3.  Do I try to upgrade through my travel agent or attempt to contact Regent directly?

Thanks much for your advice.

I know there is free valet laundry service on Regent ships now.  But are the launderettes on Explorer and Splendor still available for passenger use or have they been closed?