Some questions on Regent Alaska cruise

We are considering a cruise with Regent (Mariner) to Alaska in June 2018. This would be our first time and Regent seemed perfect for us: luxury, peace and calm, excellent staff and service, no crowds, fine dining and all inclusive, even the excursions. However, we did some research and we found quite some negative reviews on specific issues which are really important to us. I hope you can share your (recent) experience with us on these issues.

First of all, June is high season in Alaska and apparently many families come to Alaska for a cruise. Does this mean that there are many families with children on the ship? We’re not from the US, so we have no idea…. Regent doesn’t seem to be very child friendly, but some say this is different in summer, especially on Alaska cruises… We absolutely don’t hate children, but screaming and running around in restaurants and throwing toys at other people is just not what we are looking for J Maybe the end of August or September is a better time?

Another issue are the excursions. For us, this is a major advantage of Regent. They are unlimited and included. However, we now know that included is not the same as free and besides that, we’ve read that there are waitinglists for the most popular excursions and activities. For us this cruise will probably be a once in a lifetime experience, so we would be very disappointed if we can’t go on the excursions we want. Would this be different in shoulder season?

Thanks for your thoughts and advice!

We have been on regent twice in Alaska during the shoulder season. We had absolutely no problem with children. If there were any it was so few that I don’t remember. You should sign up for excursions when they first open.

We went to Alaska on Regent in August of 2011 and found few children on our cruise. We were docked next to a Disney ship in one port and a huge Royal Caribbean ship as well. That's where the families with children are, so I wouldn't be concerned.

We liked the excursions very much, especially Skagway and Sitka and Hubbard Glacier. We never had a problem getting the excursions we wanted, but we did make our requests as soon as it was possible, same goes for the restaurants that require a reservation. We hated Anchorage and should have done an optional land tour up to Denali. That was the only drawback.

Our first ocean cruise is to Alaska this May/June on Mariner. From our research it seems like whether or not kids are a problem depends mostly on whether they have well-mannered parents.

We reserved a Concierge suite so we could reserve our excursions early. The longer you wait to pull the trigger the more likely you are to find yourself on the waitlist.

We chose Regent for our first ocean cruise after our first river cruise with Scenic River Cruises. We liked the all-inclusive format and casual nature of the Scenic product, and Regent looks like the best ocean luxury experience compatible with our style.

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Dido1972, welcome to CC and the Regent board!

May and anytime after mid-August are good times to sail to Alaska. Although Regent has a children's program during the summer, in June, July and early August there can be up to 100 children on the ship (which was the case of the cruise before ours last August).

If you book a Concierge suite or above, you can book excursions 240 days prior to sailing and get first choice of everything. If you book a lower category, you can book 180 days prior to sailing, If you book late and end up on a waiting list, the lists generally clear. Also, while many excursions are included, Regent Choice excursions have a price so you should take that into consideration as well.

Don't want to overwhelm you with too much information.

The Regent program to entertain kids is apparently pretty good, and any Regent pax I've seen in the past with children make sure they are well-behaved.

And...most kids are still in school here in North America at least in early June, so I doubt that the ship would be overrun.

We went to Alaskan in May 2017. This was our first Regent cruise. As soon as excursions came live on line we booked them. We got on all the ones we wanted to do. We were in the basic cabins but had no problem. Very few children on board then. Weather was fantastic. As you say it is a holiday of a lifetime so planning is important. Enjoy.

Our June cruise to Alaska on the Navigator was extremely marred by the number of unruly children onboard. Toyota had reserved cabins for their best salespeople and their families and almost one third of the passengers were kids: climbing on the stairways, on the slot machines, on the railings, using hands in the buffet, screaming in the pools and hot tubs, running around in the restaurants, commandeering the elevators while the parents were oblivious or no where to be seen. Most of the staff were quite upset with the state of things as well, but being trained well, said nothing. We received future credit for our complete displeasures. Having raised 5 children, I would never have allowed such rampant disregard for common courtesy. I would recommend sailing at another time or checking beforehand regarding the number of kids onboard. Regent is not for children!

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Our June cruise to Alaska on the Navigator was extremely marred by the number of unruly children onboard. Toyota had reserved cabins for their best salespeople and their families and almost one third of the passengers were kids: climbing on the stairways, on the slot machines, on the railings, using hands in the buffet, screaming in the pools and hot tubs, running around in the restaurants, commandeering the elevators while the parents were oblivious or no where to be seen. Most of the staff were quite upset with the state of things as well, but being trained well, said nothing. We received future credit for our complete displeasures. Having raised 5 children, I would never have allowed such rampant disregard for common courtesy. I would recommend sailing at another time or checking beforehand regarding the number of kids onboard. Regent is not for children!

 

 

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Thank you SO MUCH for your post!!!!! I know people that claim that the children were well behaved on Regent cruises and then talk to the person and learn that they were little monsters. Obviously some people are afraid to post the truth on Cruise Critic lest they be blasted and accused of hating children, etc. It is also obvious that I do not have that fear. IMO, parents book Regent for themselves with little or no regard for their children or other passengers. I have read (on CC) of people celebrating significant anniversaries on Regent in Alaska and having it ruined by children lying on the floor twirling at 11:00 p.m. making it impossible to dance.

Since Regent does have programs for children and some parents cannot control their children, I recommend against sailing Regent while school is not in session - whether it be in the summer, school breaks or Christmas!!!!!

P.S. Note: There are some parents that use Regent as a learning experience and who watch their children to insure that they do not interrupt the vacation of others. I admire these parents and wish that they were not in the minority.

We did Alaska the end of August and if there was a child on the trip - we didn’t see them! I would highly recommend a few days out to Denali also. If Kantishna Lodge is available and you enjoy hiking, we highly recommend it! It is rustic and basic, but we really enjoyed it.

If I had to guess, the prices quoted on that website do not include airfare.

I've experienced a cruise where a significant fraction of the ship was booked for high-performing sales people as a corporate reward. They didn't bring any of their kids, but the "grown-ups" were ill behaved, loud, boorish, and just generally awful. So it is not necessarily the children.

I notice on the Regent USA website under promotions that Regent is advertising special $999 rates for children or grandchildren. You can take a look to see if the sailing you are interested in is listed. Also in the Northeast USA school traditionally begins the day after Labor Day, which is the first Monday in September.

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We're doing Regent for first time to Alaska in May. We chose longer voyage that starts in San Fran and ends in Vancouver so no long flight to Alaska. Main reason to choosing May is not about kids, although that would be a bother, but the ports will be less crowded in the shoulder season. I have been told that when you get 3, 4 or 5 ships in port on same day can be extremely crowded. Hoping for good weather a less crowds.

I notice on the Regent USA website under promotions that Regent is advertising special $999 rates for children or grandchildren. You can take a look to see if the sailing you are interested in is listed. Also in the Northeast USA school traditionally begins the day after Labor Day, which is the first Monday in September.

 

 

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Where we live, schools go back around August 20th.

Love2Cruise1016, you bring up a good point. Alaska is overrun with tourists during the high season in Alaska. May has been our favorite month to visit since the weather is harsher is September. Also, in May, people have just returned to their summer homes in Alaska and are so happy to see visitors. In September, stores are beginning to close and some guides (college students) have gone home already. Definitely a different vibe.

Dido: As you can see (and as you no doubt expected), answers to some of your queries have a lot of variation.

The thing that we all agree on is that it's important to try to get your excursion choices in on the earliest possible date. Really keep your eye on when that's possible, as it does make a difference. At the same time, even on the rare occasions when we've not immediately been able to lock in our first choice, it's been available once we got on board, or sometimes day-of (usually well before that). If it does happen that you miss getting your first choice in advance, it's important to go to Destination Services desk soon as you can, though it can be fairly busy. I don't want you to get the impression that everything is hurry, hurry, as it most definitely is not: For the most part, things are wonderfully relaxed on Regent, but if specific excursions are wanted (also pertains to specialty restaurant reservations), making those requests asap is a good idea.

As to the kids onboard issue: Our Alaska cruise in mid-May two years ago had very few kids, but I suspect that by end of June, when your cruise begins, there could be a fair number. Another of our Regent Alaska cruises (we love Regent, we love Alaska) was in July and for sure there was a boat load of them (though still very much in the minority). We have never seen anything even approaching the mayhem of what grandmommy describes; nor the screaming, running around in restaurants, throwing toys that you mention. It's not impossible that you'd experience something of the sort, I suppose, but imo it's highly unlikely.

The fact is, though, there maybe a certain amount of youngsters and teenagers on board. But peace and calm (and wonderful excursions and scenery) should be the norm.

We're doing Regent for first time to Alaska in May. We chose longer voyage that starts in San Fran and ends in Vancouver so no long flight to Alaska. Main reason to choosing May is not about kids, although that would be a bother, but the ports will be less crowded in the shoulder season. I have been told that when you get 3, 4 or 5 ships in port on same day can be extremely crowded. Hoping for good weather a less crowds.

My husband and I are on the same cruise. We live in Orange County CA and love to watch the whales swimming off the coast on their way north from their winter feeding grounds in Mexico. I'm looking forward to keeping them company on their trip north to Alaska. This will be our 5th Alaska cruise and I'm sure not the last. Everyone of them has been different and everyone of them has been wonderful.

Looking forward to meeting you in May.

We did Alaska on Mariner in May of 2017 and were glad that we did. I do not remember seeing any children on board. The weather was perfect and we heard that it was cold and rainy two weeks prior to our cruise. In fact the weather in Philadelphia was colder than in Alaska and we had sun every day. We were able to get every excursion that we wanted. Even though our cruise was in May, we still encountered at least two to three larger ships in port, so I can't imagine how many there must be in high season. Checking in at the port in Vancouver was terrible as all cruise passengers must line up to check in. Good luck with your cruise!

Thank you very much for your contributions. We decided to book the cruise in August. We are absolutely delighted! It's a one way cruise, we finish in Seward, so this is a wonderful opportunity to extend our vacation and explore Interior Alaska for a few more days. Our only concern is that we love Alaska so much, that we never want to go anywhere else anymore :-)

By mid August, there should be very few if any kids on board. School starts back in the southern US the 3rd week of August usually.

Oh goodness. My family will be on the July Anchorage to Vancouver cruise. 5 kids - aged 16 months to 15 years. As the mother of the 16 month old, I am already a nervous wreck that other passengers won't be understanding about the occasional "melt-down." This thread makes me even more nervous! We tried talking the grandparents out of Regent, but this was the cruise they wanted. FYI - if you witness a very frazzled mom trying to keep her toddler "well behaved," please be kind. I'm really not looking forward to being stuck in my cabin the whole time if he doesn't adjust to the time-change well.

Dear Textile Chic:

Good luck to you but I'm not sure why you would consider taking a 16 month old on a cruise to Alaska on Regent. When we took this cruise last year, there wasn't one person, on board, that was probably under the age of 40, let alone 16 months. Knowing the towns that you will be visiting and the excursions offered, there wouldn't be anything that would keep children occupied. However, I understand that Regent does have a Children's Program on their summer excursions, so, hopefully, this will engage your children in some fun and productive activities. Kudos to you for being concerned at least about the other passengers and the impact that a child having a "meltdown" may have on them. Some parents could care less. Wishing you and your family a wonderful, stress free trip.

Don't believe that there is a program for children that young. What a shame that you your child isn't being considered in the choice of a cruise line.

In any case, when your child does have a meltdown (as children that age tend to do), just take the child out of the dining venue. It might also help if you dine when the restaurant opens as it is usually less crowded. I cannot imagine any 16 month old being able to sit quietly for the 2 hours that it can take for dinner. I don't envy you.

@ Phillygirl3 - Not our choice. This trip is for his Grandmother's birthday, and it was her choice. I'm excited to see Alaska, but terrified of having other passengers upset that I have a 16 month old on board. Hopefully, he will be his adorable, funny self, and everyone will be happy to see him! Fingers crossed!

Anyone know if the pool is open to kiddos this young? His cousins are hoping he will be allowed to swim with them. Doubtful, but I can't find information anywhere on the topic.

To my knowledge, no cruise line will permit children that are not potty trained in the pool or jacuzzi (for obvious reasons).