Dolebludger

Yes, I think the ducks were and are sort of a children's game. Regent doesn’t attract many children, though children are welcome onboard. And to my observation, the kind of children who do cruise on Regent are interested in things other than rubber ducks

What source or site to you use to learn about these deals?.

Yes, but on Regent you can put dirty laundry in the bag. It will be picked up that evening and returned the next afternoon nicely folded. There are self service laundry’s on board, but we don’t like to use them on a lux cruise. We just take clothing with us that doesn’t require any special care in the washing. Regent isn’t as “dressy” a cruise line as some think.

Actually, the removal of butlers I SS wouldn’t be much of a problem IF the room stewards were assigned more duties and IF they were assigned fewer suites. We cruise Regent in suites without a butler, and the room steward takes over the duties with a lower workload that will allow it. No problem there. But in the Retreat (and on the rest of an X suite I assume) the steward only makes up the suite twice a day. Anything else is pretty much DIY.

An unanswered question: does the survey come by email or by Postal Service? (Obviously we haven’t received it.) If by Postal Service, we’d answer the best we can and include our printed message stating that we rate all of the inclusions #1. All are very important to us. As a side note, almost all our cruises for the past two decades+ have been on Regent (fka Radisson). But we did take two in the Celebrity Retreat, pre-pandemic (suites, ship-within-a-ship). Not totally all inclusive, but many things were included. With the inclusions and price then, they were a pretty good deal. But in the recent past, Celebrity has eliminated or reduced many of the inclusions and raised the fares to equal (sometimes exceed) Regent’s fares. And Celebrity is catching Hades over this. Their “regulars” are leaving in droves. Sure hope Regent doesn’t take that road!

For us, the included laundry perk for all guests is one of the most attractive perks. It allows us to pack lighter and have less baggage to haul around airports. Our experience with the laundry has been excellent. But we do avoid taking clothing items that require special handling.

Yes, the matter of Retreat amenities at the embarkation port is determined by the port’s available facilities, not the cruise line. Some ports are badly in need of improvement and some are fairly good. But I haven’t encountered one that was adequate for the large ships these days.

Correction on my post #15 above. The Silversea Silver Whisper begins a series of cruise in Polynesia in 2026 — not 2025. We were on this ship a good number of years ago on a European itinerary, which included cruising up the Thames River to London, under the Tower Bridge. It is possibly the best ship on which we have cruised — and we’ve been on a bunch. It is a bit larger than the Paul Gauguin and the Windstar Star Breeze, but if it is capable of cruising up that river, it will do well in the shallow water in Polynesia. I looked this up on the Silversea site, and it is certainly not an inexpensive cruise! But if I start saving right now, we may be able to take the 7 night cruise in 2+ years! And just another note. I suspect that the reason Celebrity doesn’t do a Polynesia island only cruise is that its ships are all too large (with too deep a draft) to get to many of these islands. When we visited some on the Regent Mariner (750 passengers) the ship couldn’t get to many of them. Too large.

We have been to the Society Islands via cruise round trip Tahiti several times. Mostly on the Paul Gauguin (PG) and once on the Regent Mariner as part of a larger itinerary. But that itinerary is only offered by Regent every few years. The only two cruise lines that I’ve found that do regular, Polynesia only, 7 to 14 night cruises are Paul Gauguin and Windstar. Both use small motor ships with about 300 passengers. I know the PG is very nice. I have never cruised Windstar, but am considering it because, even with the all inclusive option, it costs less, and the state rooms are larger. When cruising these islands, it is best to be on a small ship. The water is shallow, so they have better access. In 2025, Silversea is beginning cruises of these islands with a ship in this size range. Our experience with that line on other itineraries has been excellent. It might be worth the wait.

IMHO, all cruise lines misuse the word “suite”. All of them call accommodations by this name, even though they really are just one room. Even the 950 sq. ft. room we had in NCL Haven for a music cruise shouldn’t have been called a “suite”. It was just one huge room.

Yes, it is like people I know who think Mercedes automobiles are “too expensive” but change their mind after a visit to their Ford dealer!

It is difficult to answer, as “suites” on Regent, like those on X, differ by ship. For example, on the Regent Mariner, you have to go all the way to a penthouse suite to get the size of most SS. But on the Regent Splendor, you only need upgrade a little to equal a SS in size. And for our E. Caribbean cruise on the Splendor, we upgraded a bit more than that and still came in at less cost than a fairly comparable X cruise in a SS. I say “fairly” because Regent includes excursions, use of mini-fridge and wine and spirits in suite, no cost room service, tips, WiFi, and more included wine and spirits, air — and laundry. The price differential will obviously depend on itinerary and timing. Regent probably won’t always be at less cost. But with the additional inclusions, we would actually pay a bit more for Regent than Retreat, and we’ve been on both.

We are booked on the Regent Splendor for a week in the E. Caribbean starting 03/24/2024 for a price less than a SS cruise at about the same time and comparable itinerary. I know. I checked before booking. And we have experience with both Celebrity Retreat and Regent — on Celebrity before the price increases, and cuts. When we booked those Retreat cruises, they were at much lower fare than Regent. That’s why we booked them. Were they as good as a Regent cruise? Not quite, but they were well worth what we paid then. Now that the Retreat is pricier, it’s a “no brainer” for us. Now, for those who are not paying for Retreat benefits and inclusions, a “main ship” cruise on Celebrity can be much less than a Regent cruise, and would be competitively priced with “main stream” alternatives. But for those who want more than a “main stream” cruise but a lux one instead, Celebrity is priced out of the market.

On the newer Regent ships a Concierge suite is equivalent to a SS. These ships include Explorer, Splendor, and Grandeur. PH is larger and much better than a SS. The Concierge suites don’t have a butler by name, but the steward takes care of everything I’ve seen a butler do in CS and RS. I lack first hand info to comment on Regent’s older ships’ suites at Concierge and Penthouse levels, but expect much the same is true of them.

As mentioned above, Regent has butlers only in Penthouse suites and above. However, of importance, the room stewards on Regent perform all functions butlers do on Celebrity. On Regent, the stewards are not just “room cleaners” like they are on Celebrity. The stewards have fewer assigned suites and more duties on Regent. Frequent Regent cruisers generally feel that the addition of a “butler” in the higher suites adds very little to the experience.

Possibly, HQ is ordering butlers to be more involved with SS, due to all the complaints about their absence.

Have you ever cruised on a smaller quieter ship? For us it was a “never go back to large ships” experience. Indeed, the Retreat (Haven and YC) is an attempt to duplicate the small lux ship experience.

With us, it is more about the high fares, restrictions on included wine and spirits, and no included use of the mini-fridge than the loss of butler — although that is a factor too. Celebrity needs to provide all,the perks and inclusions of lux lines in the Retreat if it wants to charge anything like lux line fares.

If somebody — regardless of title — performed the same services in SS that butlers used to perform, I don’t think any guest would care. But “Retreat Hosts are nothing but room stewards (I other words room cleaners twice a day). They are like hotel maids that clean the room twice per day — if you are lucky. If Celebriy wants to sell something below lux standards, it should charge less for it —not more!

Yeah, the problem is that cruises were sold as having a butler, and all that was delivered was a (renamed and overworked) room steward. Butlers had and have duties beyond the stewards, and where butlers have been removed, nobody is doing those duties. Now that applies to Celebrity. But on our Regent cruise last summer, the room class we booked came with nobody with the title of “butler”. But the room steward came with all the duties butlers had in SS on Celebrity. They had a smaller number of assigned suites, had time to provide those services, and actually performed them. So the problem is not with job ,titles, it is about services that are no longer provided.

I don’t know what level the OP booked, but most is the negative reports have been about the Retreat. It is just not giving the lux experience that is expected for the price. Other levels in the main ship are about what you’d expect from a mass market cruise — lots of extra cost things, limited service, etc. but at the lower cost levels you didn’t pay for those things with the lower fare. So those wanting a basic, no extras mass market cruise may find that Celebrity, in the lower cost accommodations is a good deal. I don’t know, as I’ve never cruised X that way, but at least it’s fares are competitive.

I am with those who won’t say goodbye to Celebrity forever, but will not book it the way things are now. However, I will follow the evolution (or de-evolution) of it. I’ll hold out the hope that X will realize that they just aren’t competitive with other cruise lines at many levels, and will chose to shape up rather than ship out. X reps have stated that they feel land resorts are their competition. That is wrong for too many reasons to post here. Other cruise lines are their competition, and, at some booking levels, X is getting beat badly. What would it take for us to book in the Retreat again? Here’s a list of some factors. All tips included in fare. Included use of mini fridge plus complementary wine in suite. No room service fees. All drinks included without surcharge. Full service to the suite — not just cleaning. At least some included laundry service. And fares at least 15% lower than Silversea, Regent, et al. I have the feeling we won’t be back very soon.

Anything for which I have or will automatically tip, I will not tip more. In the old days (25 years ago) there was no auto tipping, and no extra “packages” that included tip. On the last evening of the cruise, tipping envelopes appeared in our room for our waiter (in the days of fixed seating and time) and our room steward. There was a publicized suggested tip, and we complied with the suggestion or more. But people from other countries did not tip. It is not part of their culture. And some US people skipped out on dinner the last night (when waiters were tipped). So the lines adopted auto tipping — added to your ship’s bill. And in lines that sell drink packages, a tip is added to the price. We prefer to cruise under situations where our tips are included in the fare, or in a package we buy. In this case, we tip nothing more.

IDK, but I don’t because both the cruise and package include add-on tips. I always tip once — never twice.

Yes, and on Regent, many shore excursions are included, but some are at extra charge. Those premium shore excursions are the best way to spend the $1000 room credit.