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Semi-Novice cruiser booking multi-generational Voyager trip this fall. Advice?


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Hi! I've lurked on the forums here from time to time and really like the community here. Hoping to eventually contribute a little bit but could use some advise before we make a horrible and costly decision!I have given read to a good chunk of the threads here that seem appropriate, but I certainly could have missed some.

 

We have cruised RSSC once before - spring 2008 US East Coast/Bermuda on Mariner. We went with my inlaws and had 2 Penthouse "C" cabins. It was a great cruise and we still talk about it to this day. Very few, if any, bad experiences, which is making us want to book a luxury line again, and Regent specifically. The "inclusion" of (of course not free - you're paying for it) business class airfare and excursions appeals to us too.

 

So, my wife, myself and her folks are looking at taking a "bucket list" cruise and are planing it this fall. It may be the last trip we'll take with them as a family as they are starting to get quite senior (we are mid 40s). We have narrowed it down to Voyager 180920 - Monte Carlo to Venice for 12 nights.

 

We are leaning towards a concierge "E" cabin, but haven't ruled out a less expensive f-h cabin either. The Penthouse class, while nice, just doesn't seem worth the difference for us and I don't think butler service would be used at all. The concierge though, that appeals to us for the included pre-departure night/hotel and also priority excursion and dinner reservations. Is this worthwhile? A horrible thought we have is booking this cruise and finding out the few excursions we really want are booked up :(

 

Coincidentally, I emailed our original booking agent at RSSC from 2008 and she was still there. Inquired on the cruise and she mentioned that we can take advantage of the CAD special which knocks off approx $3000/per for us - so I think this is good value... or seems to be at least. There are no other promos by the sounds of it for that cruise booking through her directly. The CAD$ pricing is pretty significant. Would it be worthwhile to talk to an agent? We live in a small city and I strongly doubt any of them have real experience with RSSC - probably more with the mainstream gigantic lines. I'm not against using an agency, but only if the value is there. Otherwise, I have no problem communicating with RSSC directly.

 

We live closest to Calgary (YYC) and the RSSC agent mentioned we can fly from there for an additional fee of $350/per, which would, presumably send us to YVR. We are undecided if that's a good value or not. Is there an advantage to having Regent make all the air bookings for us over finding our own way to the departure gateway airport ourselves?

 

Also, I have a bit of a fear of who Regent may choose for the transcontinental flights. I've heard some horror stories with "Condor" and some other airlines business class not being great, which seem to be a commonly flown carrier from YVR/YYZ to Europe. A nice lay-flat pod is a must without having to do gymnastics to leave it. Does anyone know who they primarily use for Canada/Europe flights? I'm not against paying a fee to find and choose my own flights, but would rather not if it isn't necessary. Lufthansa or Air Canada would probably be my preferences.

 

Also, I've been reading some reviews on Voyager and to be completely honest, some of them scare me a little bit. Several reviews about vibration in rooms being so bad people can't sleep at night, ruckus and banging from public places near rooms causing the same issues. RSSC being silent on any rectification or compensation for the issue. Also lineups and long waits for dining (even compass rose) lasting for 25+ minutes, terrible bordering on corny vaudeville type shows, etc. Are these legit complaints from people that sail with them regularly or just sour grapes or a rarity?

 

I presume the "best" rooms to be would be in the mid of the passenger decks (with cabins above and beside) but those familiar with Voyager, and areas to be sure to avoid? Are there a class of cabin to avoid at almost all costs? Is it best to book reservations for premium restaurants/excursions ASAP? I have looked at the "Seat guru for RSSC" thread.

 

Boy, anything else I am missing here or advice from the cruising gods to help a relative neophyte like myself?

 

Really appreciate the input.

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Hi! I've lurked on the forums here from time to time and really like the community here. Hoping to eventually contribute a little bit but could use some advise before we make a horrible and costly decision!I have given read to a good chunk of the threads here that seem appropriate, but I certainly could have missed some.

 

We have cruised RSSC once before - spring 2008 US East Coast/Bermuda on Mariner. We went with my inlaws and had 2 Penthouse "C" cabins. It was a great cruise and we still talk about it to this day. Very few, if any, bad experiences, which is making us want to book a luxury line again, and Regent specifically. The "inclusion" of (of course not free - you're paying for it) business class airfare and excursions appeals to us too.

 

So, my wife, myself and her folks are looking at taking a "bucket list" cruise and are planing it this fall. It may be the last trip we'll take with them as a family as they are starting to get quite senior (we are mid 40s). We have narrowed it down to Voyager 180920 - Monte Carlo to Venice for 12 nights.

 

We are leaning towards a concierge "E" cabin, but haven't ruled out a less expensive f-h cabin either. The Penthouse class, while nice, just doesn't seem worth the difference for us and I don't think butler service would be used at all. The concierge though, that appeals to us for the included pre-departure night/hotel and also priority excursion and dinner reservations. Is this worthwhile? A horrible thought we have is booking this cruise and finding out the few excursions we really want are booked up :(

 

Coincidentally, I emailed our original booking agent at RSSC from 2008 and she was still there. Inquired on the cruise and she mentioned that we can take advantage of the CAD special which knocks off approx $3000/per for us - so I think this is good value... or seems to be at least. There are no other promos by the sounds of it for that cruise booking through her directly. The CAD$ pricing is pretty significant. Would it be worthwhile to talk to an agent? We live in a small city and I strongly doubt any of them have real experience with RSSC - probably more with the mainstream gigantic lines. I'm not against using an agency, but only if the value is there. Otherwise, I have no problem communicating with RSSC directly.

 

We live closest to Calgary (YYC) and the RSSC agent mentioned we can fly from there for an additional fee of $350/per, which would, presumably send us to YVR. We are undecided if that's a good value or not. Is there an advantage to having Regent make all the air bookings for us over finding our own way to the departure gateway airport ourselves?

 

Also, I have a bit of a fear of who Regent may choose for the transcontinental flights. I've heard some horror stories with "Condor" and some other airlines business class not being great, which seem to be a commonly flown carrier from YVR/YYZ to Europe. A nice lay-flat pod is a must without having to do gymnastics to leave it. Does anyone know who they primarily use for Canada/Europe flights? I'm not against paying a fee to find and choose my own flights, but would rather not if it isn't necessary. Lufthansa or Air Canada would probably be my preferences.

 

Also, I've been reading some reviews on Voyager and to be completely honest, some of them scare me a little bit. Several reviews about vibration in rooms being so bad people can't sleep at night, ruckus and banging from public places near rooms causing the same issues. RSSC being silent on any rectification or compensation for the issue. Also lineups and long waits for dining (even compass rose) lasting for 25+ minutes, terrible bordering on corny vaudeville type shows, etc. Are these legit complaints from people that sail with them regularly or just sour grapes or a rarity?

 

I presume the "best" rooms to be would be in the mid of the passenger decks (with cabins above and beside) but those familiar with Voyager, and areas to be sure to avoid? Are there a class of cabin to avoid at almost all costs? Is it best to book reservations for premium restaurants/excursions ASAP? I have looked at the "Seat guru for RSSC" thread.

 

Boy, anything else I am missing here or advice from the cruising gods to help a relative neophyte like myself?

 

Really appreciate the input.

 

We have done 7 Voyager cruises and loved them; we have another booked for Med in October. Last December, we had Cabin E723 and loved it. Concierge cabins are great for your itinerary if you are using Regent Air and only interested in going a day early and departing on disembarkation.

Get a TA familiar with Regent (you can get a rebate as well as the "parity' deal) and they can help with air and excursions as time is fleeting! Best advice ACT soon!. If you need more help, Email me @ clarkjamesr@aol.com.

PS: we are quite 'Senior" like your folks; our "kids" are mid-50s.

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Thanks very much for the reply Deepfreeze. I live in a small city(<100K people) and I'm not optimistic of finding an agent locally that has RSSC experience. Is it really a big benefit to deal with an agent over RSSC directly? Honest question? I did deal with them directly for our 2008 cruise and they were able to upgrade us to the C suite which was nice, but they seem either unable (or unwilling) to do more since we're taking advantage for the CAN$ deal.

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Absolutely having a TA is light years ahead of booking directly with Regent. Most likely a TA will give your service three ways, pre, during and post cruise. Plus, u will get thousands (yes thousands) more dollars (they will rebate some of their commission to get your business) vs Regent giving only a ship board credit. A versatile Regent TA will not only give you a rebate they will also giv you a ship board credit.

 

And please don’t think you need a bricks and mortar TA near where u live. Our TA is over 2500 miles away and they provide exceptional service.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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I agree with all who have said use a travel agent--one who knows luxury cruising and who works a lot with Regent. I live in North Carolina, and use one in Texas--many hundreds of miles away--so proximity is not an issue.

 

You've asked a lot of other good questions. Note that it's been years since I've been on Voyager (well before the refurbishment), but I have sailed on all four Regent ships, for a total of 195 nights on Regent. My responses below to some of your questions are in red:

 

We are leaning towards a concierge "E" cabin, but haven't ruled out a less expensive f-h cabin either. The Penthouse class, while nice, just doesn't seem worth the difference for us and I don't think butler service would be used at all. I've only used a Penthouse once, and did not find it worthwhile. As you note, the only benefit is the butler. And the main functions of the butler that I could find were to (1) make reservations for you, (2) bring canapes in early evening, and (3) bring you breakfast. With respect to reservations, it's just as easy to call as to tell him what you want. Re canapes, it just added to the danger of over-eating. And, re breakfast, room service does just as well.

The concierge though, that appeals to us for the included pre-departure night/hotel and also priority excursion and dinner reservations. Is this worthwhile? A horrible thought we have is booking this cruise and finding out the few excursions we really want are booked up :(

 

For the pre-departure hotel, compare the extra price to what you would pay to book your own hotel. You may or may not find it worth the price. Keep in mind that, if you book your own hotel, you will lose the transfer to the ship as well. That may or may not be worth it--you can get an idea of what a taxi would cost by checking on the Ports of Call forum here, or on Trip Advisor. You would still have the transfer from the ship to the airport at the end if you are using Regent air (and if you don't add days on at the end of the cruise as well).

Re the priority booking benefit, it appears that you are now about 165 days out from sailing. Excursions have already been available for booking for everyone for a couple of weeks now. So there's no real benefit there. So some of your preferred excursions may already be sold out. If that is the case, just call Regent and ask to be put on the wait list for those excursions. You can do this even if you booked a different excursion just to have one in your pocket. FWIW, I've never not gotten an excursion I was wait-listed for.

Coincidentally, I emailed our original booking agent at RSSC from 2008 and she was still there. Inquired on the cruise and she mentioned that we can take advantage of the CAD special which knocks off approx $3000/per for us - so I think this is good value... or seems to be at least. There are no other promos by the sounds of it for that cruise booking through her directly. The CAD$ pricing is pretty significant. Would it be worthwhile to talk to an agent? That special is likely available through a TA as well. You just need to ask.

 

We live closest to Calgary (YYC) and the RSSC agent mentioned we can fly from there for an additional fee of $350/per, which would, presumably send us to YVR. We are undecided if that's a good value or not. Is there an advantage to having Regent make all the air bookings for us over finding our own way to the departure gateway airport ourselves?

According to the RSSC website, there is a US$2,900 credit if you do your own air. I'm not sure what the Canadian credit would be, but whatever it is, add on the $350 non-gateway surcharge. Compare this to what you would have to pay for the flight yourself. If you want business class, it likely is a good deal to take their air. Do note that air segments within North America may not be business class--it's only guaranteed for the intercontinental portion. But, fwiw, every time I've taken Regent air, they've given me first class on the domestic portion.

 

Also, I have a bit of a fear of who Regent may choose for the transcontinental flights. I've heard some horror stories with "Condor" and some other airlines business class not being great, which seem to be a commonly flown carrier from YVR/YYZ to Europe. A nice lay-flat pod is a must without having to do gymnastics to leave it. Does anyone know who they primarily use for Canada/Europe flights? I'm not against paying a fee to find and choose my own flights, but would rather not if it isn't necessary. Lufthansa or Air Canada would probably be my preferences. Since you're already within the booking range, you can always see what they produce, and then pay for a deviation if you don't like it. I've never had Regent put me on a discount airline, but I have had them give me some weird routings.

 

Also, I've been reading some reviews on Voyager and to be completely honest, some of them scare me a little bit. Several reviews about vibration in rooms being so bad people can't sleep at night, ruckus and banging from public places near rooms causing the same issues. I understand that the vibrations, to the extent they still exist, are in the aft cabins. In the two times I was on Voyager, I was midship or forward. There was no vibration there. I never felt any in the aft public spaces, fwiw. To avoid noise problems, avoid cabins under the pool deck or below or above live music venues.

Also lineups and long waits for dining (even compass rose) lasting for 25+ minutes, terrible bordering on corny vaudeville type shows, etc. Are these legit complaints from people that sail with them regularly or just sour grapes or a rarity? In all the years I've sailed Regent, I think I've had to wait for a table maybe twice. And that was when I was part of the mob that hit the main dining room all at once after an event like the captain's reception or Krew Kapers (the crew talent show). One caveat: we always like to share a table. There may be more of a wait if you want a table for two.

 

I presume the "best" rooms to be would be in the mid of the passenger decks (with cabins above and beside) but those familiar with Voyager, and areas to be sure to avoid? Are there a class of cabin to avoid at almost all costs?

Mid ship is generally best for stability. Avoid directly under the pool, or over or under live music venues. I actually like cabins that share the deck with public venues, as that makes for an easy stroll to coffee or cocktails, but Voyager really doesn't have this except in its priciest cabins.

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We fly out of Vancouver, BC and always deviate to insure that we get the flights that we want. Since we can deviate flights 270 days prior to the cruise date, the availability of "contracted" seats on an airline we like is almost guaranteed. Going to Europe, we typically select Lufthansa or British Airways as we do not care for U.S. based airlines. For some reason, sometimes Regent will allow Air Canada and other times not (generally not to Europe).

 

In terms of butlers, we enjoy having a butler. He is a one button phone call away and helps in many ways. On the cruise we returned from about 10 hours ago, our butler was extremely helpful when I was not feeling well for one day. He brought up some special tea (mint tea cooled down to be iced tea ...... recommended by the F&B Director Daniella) and insured that I was not disturbed for several hours. For some reason, when we have stayed in a concierge suite, although our steward/stewardess is wonderful, we do not see them nearly as much as our butler.

 

Agree about the importance of having a TA that is experienced with Regent. Even though we have sailed many mights with Regent, there are still some things that only our TA can figure out for us.

 

Definitely book excursions and dining reservations as soon as they open for reservations. While most waitlists clear, there is o reason to even be on a waitlist if you book early. Also, when it comes to dining reservations, although you can book onboard, it is more difficult to get the night and time that you wish and also may end up sharing a table (which may or may not be an issue for you). When you book your cruise and having your Booking I.D., you can go to the Regent website and put in the details for your booking. Once registered, the website indicate the dates that you can make excursions and dining reservations.

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Thanks very much for the reply Deepfreeze. I live in a small city(<100K people) and I'm not optimistic of finding an agent locally that has RSSC experience. Is it really a big benefit to deal with an agent over RSSC directly? Honest question? I did deal with them directly for our 2008 cruise and they were able to upgrade us to the C suite which was nice, but they seem either unable (or unwilling) to do more since we're taking advantage for the CAN$ deal.

 

There are perks to going through an agent. There are several both in Canada and the U.S. who are very experienced with Regent. Mine gives a cash rebate on each cruise--many do. So this in itself is worthwhile. Often they will know what type of cabin to book--we always did deck 6 G on Voyager--I think this is now concierge, not sure. YOu'll have to do your own research-we can't help you, but look for agents who deal in the luxury sector.

 

We were told in those days to avoid the stern of Voyager because of the vibration, but I always wanted midship anyways for stability.

 

For me, Concierge is not worth it, but then I'm Gold status so I get free internet anyways. I've never found booking excursions or dining to be a problem, no matter what class--we did Mariner last year and were at the very bottom, a GTY H (ended up in F I think), and did not have any issues.

 

You can do the math on the included flights. Find out what the credit for non-use of the air program is, and then do some research and think about what class you want to fly--the strongest reason for us to use Regent Air is the Business flights--almost impossible to get that value privately. It's worth paying the money for a "deviation", so that you can choose the route you want, specifying exact flights in some cases--throw in at least one day extra prior, more if you can afford the time. Once in a while they will want to charge more for specific flight requests, but you can decide before you commit. You can book your own pre-cruise hotel for probably less than the credit you will get for non-use of the hotel--ask how much that is. You would give up transfers but that's no biggy except perhaps in Monte Carlo where you have to transfer to Nice to fly home.

 

Again, I would just see what it would cost to fly yourself to Toronto, and see if their extra charge for Calgary is worth it. Thank goodness for the Canadian specials, eh?

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Boy, thanks for all the great replies folks. I have reached out to a couple of TA's that seem to be advertising as "luxury" TAs, so I'll see what they say.

 

Genuinely appreciate the assistance. It's making me feel a lot better. :)

 

Regarding the flights, business from YYC/YVR to Nice (or back from Venice for that matter) seem to be higher than I would expect (anywhere from $3K on an airline like Condor to $7K+)- I think going through RSSC might make the most economic sense instead of a credit and going it ourselves.

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Silly question, but are there any online booking tools that shows specific cabin availability like the big cruise lines? I assume not.

 

Go to your itinerary and START a PRETEND reservation on "Plan MY Cruise". It will show up to 6 available cabins for each category selected. Hint: select Port and Starboard separately and see up to 12 available cabins.

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Silly question, but are there any online booking tools that shows specific cabin availability like the big cruise lines? I assume not.

There are a few online sites that show cabins available. I have used a specific site for that reason, but I book with my long time TA. If you search around you will likely find one. The one I look at will allow you to see on a deckplan, all the rooms in the category that are available. Hope this helps.

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Well, sounds like we're booking this cruise. Ended up going with a recommended TA that knows Regent but was also able to offer us significant savings. Just need to see if we can get the flight deviations we hope.

 

Thanks for the assistance folks.

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