zak477

For us frequent Regent cruisers, remember when laundry service was a free perk only with Platinum members and above?  We were so happy to become Platinum members but at the same time Regent changed its marketing and made free laundry service available to all. So no long a frequent traveler perk. And they never replaced the perk with something new.  If they are combining all three companies, will our Oceania tier still be per cruise or converted to # of nights?

We never have and never will sail NCL, no big ships at all. 

On 5/22/2024 at 2:13 PM, Wise Consumer said:

REGENT Horrific Management!!
 

We paid for Seven Seas Suite 802 on the brand new Regent Grandeur's two week transatlantic NYC-BCN voyage. Our suite was effectively uninhabitable! The veranda door had an air leak so loud it sounded like a whistling train. Their idea of fixing it was to duct tape the door shut. Thus, no more use of the veranda. Several curtains/shades kept falling off and had to be repaired several times through out the cruise. Closet and bathroom doors would not stay closed or latched during the night and would make noise as they opened and closed, until we got rubber door stops to keep them open. Worst of all, the walls of the bedroom made such loud banging and creaking noises that it sounded like someone was hammering inside the walls. All four Seven Seas Suites are at the front of the ship on the slope of the bow leading to the bridge. We spoke to others in the same suites and they also were experiencing these issues. While we were on a "crossing," the seas were never "rough" by any means, at best moderate 6' swells. Every time the bow hit a swell, the banging of the hull against the wave carried straight into the suite. Coupled with the banging and creaking of the wood walls, it made it impossible to sleep. Regent staff on board provided us with a concierge D cabin to sleep in (a cabin valued more than $10,000 less than what we paid). So, every night we had to pack a bag and move from one cabin to the next, then reverse the process the following morning. If we forgot anything, we'd have to wake up in the middle of the night, get dressed, and return to the other cabin to get it. That said, my compliments to the onboard crew (executive concierge and general manager) for being understanding and equally appalled as to what we were experiencing. Several days later, the executive concierge reported to us onboard that Regent was offering us a $2,500 credit towards a future cruise while we were on board, which we felt was an insult as to what we had to endure for the two weeks. Apparently, the executive concierge felt the same, because she said "Please don't shoot the messenger." Other than that, the executive concierge and general manager said we had to deal with Regent corporate upon our return, which we did. Needless to say, we heard back from NCL/Regent today with an increased offer of a $5000 credit towards a future cruise to be used within the next year based on availability! Again, what an insult for all the inconvenience we experience on board their "brand new luxury ship." I know Regent has made a name for itself and has no problems filling their ships, but I'll tell you two things. We are a "younger" couple in our 50's and 60's who are the next generation of cruisers and should be the focus of filling their ships. We have met many wonderful people on board Regent, many having hundreds and hundreds of nights on Regent and one thing they ALL agreed on and shared with us is that Regent is not what it once was. They observed that management (not onboard customer service) has gone down hill as of late and appears to be continuing on a down hill slide. Regent is not by any means the only high end cruise game in town and for us, sadly, we will never use Regent again. I think the saddest and most infuriating thing is that it is obvious that Regent demands and trains its employees to be excellent and of the highest standard (and they are), but when it comes to corporate management, the standard is completely different. 

 

I too am confused with your details. So you had 2 suites, one for the day one for the night?  If your suite was so uninhabitable, why didn't you just get moved completely?  All cruise ships have a great system for moving. Our last cruise on the Navigator, there was a flood in our entire corridor, 10 cabins flooded during the night. Housekeeping had wetvacs working in the corridor and a team was already available to move us. We were told only take items out of the safe and go to breakfast, we were handed new card keys and one hr. later, after breakfast we went to our  new suite, everything was perfectly in place too.  A supervisor took pictures even of the items on the bathroom shelves. The GM gave us $200 SBC to use immediately and $1000 each for a FCC for our inconvenience.  

I will agree with you that the Miami office is beyond horrific. Their so called "Customer Service" is anything but. Inexperienced, rude, condescending & oh so unprofessional. Even my TA has given up trying to work with them. 

On 5/25/2024 at 8:10 AM, papaflamingo said:

Best advice ever. And after a major overhaul too.  We are the same way.  

Having said that, we did Grandeur in Jan. and had a wonderful cruise.  No issues with the F-2 Suite, although we could hear our neighbors on one side only, and only when we were on the sofa and probably they were too.  So no issue at all for us.  Other than that everything was great.  

I know there are issues with door leaks on every ship.  The gaskets aren't effective for a variety of reasons or the doors don't seat correctly.  On a new ship it's likely the latter and likely needs a major adjustment.  If all the suites in a specific category have an identical problem then it is a design problem from the shipyard and likely beyond the capabilities of the crew at sea. 

We were on the Grandeur in January in F1. Suite was wonderful, well appointed. But we too had an issue with our neighbors on one side of us. TV very loud, they yelled at each other and this was from day 1.  The Cruise Director didn't have the "Get to Know your Neighbors" party till the 4th afternoon. We finally met the couple, they were in the 80s and both had hearing aids, the old types.  Sometimes, it is not a Regent problem. 

On 5/6/2024 at 7:46 PM, CardowMD said:

Where are you staying in Istanbul? I have a Navigator cruise booked in early November, staying at Intercontinental and will look for feedback on my choice.

hope they clean everything out so you have a safe journey!

We sailed on the Navigator last year out of Istanbul and they booked us at the Intercontinental. We love Istanbul and arrived 2 days earlier. Nice hotel, breakfast buffet was very nice, coffee great. We had one dinner at their roof top restaurant. Nice views. Food good. Pricey as all hotel dining are. The hotel is not in the center of town. But taxis can be called from the concierge. We walked several blocks to a large square and found the "hop on, hop off bus". Enjoyed the bus traveling through the city (we try to do this in every city we go to). 

Our concierge recommended a restaurant about 5 minutes by taxi and the restaurant called a taxi to return us to the hotel. The restaurant was truly Turkish and wonderful and 1/3 the price of the hotel dining room. 

If you booked this hotel through Regent, the tour rep at the hotel is not too good at giving instructions. On the last evening there is a free wine & tapas event in the breakfast room for Regent guests. We found out by accident at the concierge when requesting a taxi. 

44 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

Interesting.  I would like to hear about one of the success stories from that.  This could be quite an expensive proposition for a tour company to make that type of a guarantee.

There are many reputable private tour companies/agencies. One example is Viator. Look them up they are all over the world. Great tours, we use them often. And yes, they guarantee.

Even today, the story is repeated on many news outlets, mostly cut/paste jobs. The word "issue" was repeated over and over as the excuse for not showing up on time. 

We have been on many cruise and when on the ship sponsored land tours via buses we always get one person at a tour stop that does not return to the bus on time.  We wait, the guide starts looking for them, he/she calls the tour office, they might call the ship. Then the inconsiderate person shows up. Many times they have been booed by us waiting. Now it is one thing to inconvenience 30 people but to do this to over 2300 is totally irresponsible. These Campbells sound like entitled people that probably went shopping for that special item and the heck with others. 

So sad to hear more and more complaints about Regard Miami Head-office. I read the attached letter sent and the relatively new President didn’t even have the time or courtesy to sign her name!

We were on that horrific repositioning cruise to Dubai last Nov. and were treated so shabbily with port cancellations (almost all ports) but got the RSSC mantra “read your contract”. They said it was for our safety but sailed us through the Red Sea!!

Head-office did nothing and our TA was treated the same. Oh they gave us 25% FCC but only for the base cruise cost. Although we are platinum and almost at the next level, we cancelled 2 booked cruises for this year but decides one final cruise using their FCC & the $200 they hold back when you cancel for the cheapest cruise & picked Jan. 2025 Navigator cruise. With the FCC and cancellation money this 10 day trip will cost us $920. Regent is no longer luxury service minded. The new management leaders don’t seem to care.

We will never give them another penny and are trying other companies, Scenic, Seabourn and Queen Anne are now booked.

We did back to back Caribbean on the Rotterdam. Definitely no formal and rarely even “dressy”!  Sequin flip flops are not formal or classy and with spandex!!

Guys in jeans and even baseball caps in all venues. The only place with some sports jackets and ladies a bit dressy was in Tamarind. 

I will say guys were turned away for wearing shorts at dinner, but the ladies were not.
 

Yes. The IT specialist, onboard, stated that although Regent has been doing updates with the IT systems on the ships, the Grandeur still has bugs to iron out. And as of the sailing we were on, the Miami IT manager had quit so there was no one, as yet, to overseas the updates/corrections/improvements. We sailed Jan 26th and disembarked on Feb. 4th. 

We arrived at the Terminal J at 11:30 a.m. and sat in the waiting area till almost 12:30 when boarding started. They call the high-end suites first. No one looks at the times on your boarding pass. 

On the new Grandeur at the beginning of the month. Absolutely beautiful ship. But there are issues with IT that seem to generate only from Head Office Miami.

The survey: Will not work on IOS devices, iPad or iPhone. The business office IT guy told us this little tidbit but the notices onboard did not, so we (& many others) wasted time trying to access the survey. He told us to use one of the four computers in the business office.  On the last day there was a line to get in !! Several people stated that they did the survey in there at 10:00 p.m. when not busy.

But Regent still has the paper Mid-Cruise Survey to be hand written!!  

IT itself: Regent now has an app being advertised at the terminal to download and use onboard. It is useless, has no info and the IT guy onboard stated that it is useless as Miami is trying to set it up and test!! Their lead IT guy setting up the app, quit. So they are looking for a new one. The app is widely available on so many cruise lines, why is the Miami office so far behind in all its IT issues?

Loved your comment. And we recycle and have a mulch pile in the back of the garden too. 

Just got back from our first Grandeur cruise. F1 category, suite 732. Yes, we heard our neighbors  and also on one side the wake-up phone call at 6:00 a.m.  But the ship is still beautiful, so much marble and alabaster. And artwork. 

Just did a 10 day Grandeur in suite 732. We have also done 732/733 on the Explorer and the Splendor. The F1 category is very nice. Much larger than the Veranda category. And they are the same size at the Concierge suites. These two suites are near the forward elevators too. 

To answer your question:  Our cabin upon arrival was nice. But when getting settled we noticed the bathroom sink with a large crack and piece of porcelain missing. When I took my first shower that evening, the handle bar holding the hand-held shower fell off, the bottom was rusted out. On day 12 we  woke to our cabin completely flooded. The wet vacs outside in the hall woke us up. 9 cabins completely flooded, we all had to be relocated. No problem as so many cabins were empty.

We obviously never starved but the buffet was your best bet as you helped yourself. Setti Mari was fine but Prime and Compass Rose was hit or miss. We returned only 2 meals as they made an issue of the server, then the waiter, then the maitre d, then on the first occasion the chef came out all wanting to know what was wrong. We stopped returning anything and just ate more bread. LOL

Salas served on hot plates, dinner served on cold plates, steak tough as leather, way to much sauce on everything, we asked for sauce on the side and twice never got sauce at all. 

Oh and we never had flowers on any of the tables. It became a joke that the cost was too high, even with the comedian.  

flossie009:  Thanks for your comments. So glad you are enjoying your cruise.  We began in 2008 with Regent and we too have enjoyed many wonderful sailings all over the world.  Sadly, our dissatisfaction came to a boil on our Navigator cruise in November ending Dec. 1st. If you read the roll call comments about this specific cruise you might understand our frustrations.  And, for us, this was originally (from he itinerary) a cruise of a lifetime that we would enjoy during our 50th anniversary. 

Hopefully enjoying the Grandeur in January will help to bring back the Regent wow we so enjoyed in the past. 

Safe and happy sailing.

It seems from your post your expectations of Regent are low. You are easily entertained and you don’t need the luxury that Regent has given us before Covid. Jason is no longer president and his replacement seems to be missing in action and/or senior management sits back and does nothing.  Read the threads about our Navigator cruise through the war zone last month. Horrible experience for $42,000+ and a compensation of 25% off the basic cruise price only.  The Splendor and Mariner were definitely short staffed.

Regent was always our goto for cruises. We hope the new management gets their act together and soon as we have paid in full for the Grandeur next month.

Got off the Navigator December 1st and now we have been on the Splendor, Explorer and the Mariner since covid.  The quality of the food is mediocre at best. Except Pacific Rim venue, the food is consistently wonderful.  So why can one restaurant get it but the rest do not?

The good chefs probably have never returned and they only have sous chefs !  If them. 

The overall service on all ships is also mediocre at best. It is so obvious that they are understaffed.

If the dining venues were here at home, we would never go back a second time. The dining rooms are a perfect example of poor staffing. The pool areas too. 

Sadly, the work LUXURY in Regents adverts is misleading. What has happened to the cruise line we loved and are just one sailing away from Titanium members?

Everyone has different tastes but I am one of those that truly can not stand these two. In the lounge every night at 6:00 p.m. while the lounge is crowded and everyone is enjoying chatting and meeting people, these two start in and she is just plain screeching into the mike.  We even asked the GM to have the sound techs lower the volume on the speakers but they never did. 

To get a drink at the bar you had to almost scream at the bartender. Conversations were either screaming to be heard or you wanted for her to stop for a minute.  They might be great after dinner at 10:00 pm but not at 6.

I read that it was offered to those that got onboard.

Back in 2017 we were doing a Hong Kong to Beijing cruise on the Voyager. My TA got a call from Regent offering us an upgrade, abc and and our suite would be the same for both segments,  if we would continue on the next segment, Beijing to Bangkok at a cost of $2500 each. Beyond cheap !! And we were upgraded to concierge. Oh and an additional $500 ship board credit. We never got to Xi'an to see the clay warriors or the river cruise we had planned but boy did we enjoy the second segment. As it ended in Bangkok, the Regent post overland was to Angkor Wat.  A wow of a cruise and so many places from our bucket list. 

Sadly, we have not been offered anything since so if offered take it.

Our cruise cost (not pre or post or overland) is $42,300 for the Navigator sailing on Nov. 10th. A lot of money if we cancel and at this writing no comment  about FCC. Every day we hear on the news of escalations, last night alone the riots in Istanbul. 

I just did our on-line check in, as we are still planning to fly early via Regent air to Istanbul on November 5th, to enjoy Istanbul, one of our favorite cities.  Regent got us our desired direct flight from JFK to Istanbul on Turkish air. It was on their list, so no additional costs to us.   We wanted to do this itinerary last year but with so many using their covid FCCs, it was waitlisted early. So as soon as we say the 2023 itinerary we booked.  Sad to see the Holy Land removed and we do not care for the Greek Island additions (been to them all more than once). But we are looking forward to the Luxor overland and Dubai overland tours. 

Sadly the war seems to be escalating but let us hope and pray the conflict is resolved quickly. 

mrlevin, But my only point was that all categories were "waitlisted" a month ago. Now even guarantees are open for purchase. So yes, there are 7 categories that are available to purchase. At this late date, opening are rare.

Oh I do hope we still can enjoy this long awaited cruise. Thanks. 

Papaflamingo & all others too: All valid points. I also agree with all the comments. I agree that cancelled ports can be the norm when sailing. Over the years we have had many cancellations and added sea days.  Yes, I understand my contract with Regent. But this time, I think that maybe, just maybe, the itinerary cancellation is a bit different that a single port cancellation due to high winds &/or rough seas.  As of this writing, I looked up the Navigator on the Regent website and they now post 7 different categories available or guaranteed ! Last month the availability was all waitlisted !  Seems as if many are cancelling even after full payment. 

That is truly disheartening. We are still planning to go of course but not with as much enthusiasm was before.  Let us hope and pray that the region deescalating quickly and not intensify.