grumpy posters

[esimon]

I know people are people but it seems there are very few actual inconvienient problems posted on these boards. Most are tiny nit picky people -

My steak was 10 degrees to cool

The sour cream wasn't white enough

the larger cabin wasn't large enough

 

etc etc etc

 

 

When I search these threads I am looking for real problems with Regent -

anybody no of any????

[Wendy The Wanderer]

esimon, folks who have been cruising for a while on Regent have expectations.

 

I don't consider lukewarm food nitpicking at all--Regent has always tried to sell itself as having wonderful cuisine, and you should be able to expect to have your food arrive hot. And if some food item is mediocre, we will complain about it, why not?

 

As for cabin size, most people here travel in standard cabins, and they are nicely large both on Navigator and Voyager (can't speak for Mariner, since their standard cabins are somewhat smaller.) I don't think most people who post here complain about that.

[cruiseluv]

Esimon,

 

This website is called Cruise "Critic". So, critiquing and opining is what's all about. As you have pointed out, Regent cruises are expensive so, people are totally justified in expecting basic things as a hot dish.

 

It seems to me you're intent in picking a fight with some of the posters on this board. Not sure why.

[KirkNC]

Well what's important varies from person to person and since this is cruise critic, let them rant if they want. If the topic is to picky, skip it.

[Travelcat2]

As Wendy correctly stated, many people on the Regent boards have sailed on Regent repeatedly. Try to imagine the restaurant you go to for holidays, birthdays, etc. It may be a bit upscale -- but, the food and service is excellent. On one occasion you visit the restaurant and find the prices higher and maybe (not sure) there is less staff and therefore the service is a little slow. The next time you visit the prices are higher and you feel there may be fewer menu choices and your steak isn't quite as juicy as it was last time. In the United States (and probably many other countries), these type of changes have become a way of life and are necessary for companies to make a profit. Still, it is disappointing to the customers.

 

Is anything really wrong with Regent? In my opinion, absolutely not! The changes and cut-backs, perceived or otherwise, have occurred on all cruise lines (including luxury ones). The Mariner and Voyager are in pristine condition which is a big plus. A close friend of mine went on a cruise that ended last week on another major luxury cruise line. Her toilet was out on at least three different occasions. Either a door or window was not working properly and water appeared in the middle of her suite twice. She was in an Owner's Suite! Now her complaints were real and certainly not nit picky. Fortunately, this is not happening on Regent.

 

"Regulars" on the Regent board compare their last cruise to the previous ones and delineate what is different. This means more to repeat cruisers than it does to those new to Regent. Most cruisers new to Regent love it and become spoiled forever. There are always a few that do not care for it. Most of the time we never know the real reason. I look forward to your review after your first Regent cruise:)

 

In terms of grouchy posters. . . . . there are also a lot of reasons for that. . . . the best thing to do is ignore it. Again, it happens on boards where people post their feelings and some people do not feel they are entitled to them. No big deal!

[ChatKat in Ca.]

And for some of us, we've been on this board for a long time - close to 10 years. So all the repitition of the same old same old gets old. And we get grumpy. Give us a new problem or question to solve.

[esimon]

As Wendy correctly stated, many people on the Regent boards have sailed on Regent repeatedly. Try to imagine the restaurant you go to for holidays, birthdays, etc. It may be a bit upscale -- but, the food and service is excellent. On one occasion you visit the restaurant and find the prices higher and maybe (not sure) there is less staff and therefore the service is a little slow. The next time you visit the prices are higher and you feel there may be fewer menu choices and your steak isn't quite as juicy as it was last time. In the United States (and probably many other countries), these type of changes have become a way of life and are necessary for companies to make a profit. Still, it is disappointing to the customers.

 

Is anything really wrong with Regent? In my opinion, absolutely not! The changes and cut-backs, perceived or otherwise, have occurred on all cruise lines (including luxury ones). The Mariner and Voyager are in pristine condition which is a big plus. A close friend of mine went on a cruise that ended last week on another major luxury cruise line. Her toilet was out on at least three different occasions. Either a door or window was not working properly and water appeared in the middle of her suite twice. She was in an Owner's Suite! Now her complaints were real and certainly not nit picky. Fortunately, this is not happening on Regent.

 

"Regulars" on the Regent board compare their last cruise to the previous ones and delineate what is different. This means more to repeat cruisers than it does to those new to Regent. Most cruisers new to Regent love it and become spoiled forever. There are always a few that do not care for it. Most of the time we never know the real reason. I look forward to your review after your first Regent cruise:)

 

In terms of grouchy posters. . . . . there are also a lot of reasons for that. . . . the best thing to do is ignore it. Again, it happens on boards where people post their feelings and some people do not feel they are entitled to them. No big deal!

 

Those big problems -- toilet etc aren't grumpy to me at all... that's what I as a new Regent travel am looking for -- thanks --

[nana541]

I know people are people but it seems there are very few actual inconvienient problems posted on these boards. Most are tiny nit picky people -

My steak was 10 degrees to cool

The sour cream wasn't white enough

the larger cabin wasn't large enough

 

etc etc etc

 

 

When I search these threads I am looking for real problems with Regent -

anybody no of any????

 

Good Grief!!!

[alexandra cruiser]

bringing up,,,on Dec.16 sailing,,you can check below for thread,I complained about 3 hrs.waiting at terminal for embarkation,,with no food,info,etc.Those that did respond criticized my posting style AND saying Regent wasn t responsible for "port problem". But this was NOT the "luxury" experience I expected and MANY passengers around me we also ANGRY.I just ignored the personal comments,but felt they were rude and should have been erased. Ex.for that snafu,really enjoyed the Mariner and MAY consider going again.Do you think thats "PICKY"???:confused:

[esimon]

bringing up,,,on dec.16 sailing,,you can check below for thread,i complained about 3 hrs.waiting at terminal for embarkation,,with no food,info,etc.those that did respond criticized my posting style and saying regent wasn t responsible for "port problem". But this was not the "luxury" experience i expected and many passengers around me we also angry.i just ignored the personal comments,but felt they were rude and should have been erased. Ex.for that snafu,really enjoyed the mariner and may consider going again.do you think thats "picky"???:confused:

 

 

nope

[Avondale]

eismon------You're quite right. And, as an example, all we have to do is look at the responses to your comments.

[esimon]

eismon------You're quite right. And, as an example, all we have to do is look at the responses to your comments.

 

 

Thank you Avondale -- that's what I was thinking but didn't want to upset all the happy people

[Travelcat2]

bringing up,,,on Dec.16 sailing,,you can check below for thread,I complained about 3 hrs.waiting at terminal for embarkation,,with no food,info,etc.Those that did respond criticized my posting style AND saying Regent wasn t responsible for "port problem". But this was NOT the "luxury" experience I expected and MANY passengers around me we also ANGRY.I just ignored the personal comments,but felt they were rude and should have been erased. Ex.for that snafu,really enjoyed the Mariner and MAY consider going again.Do you think thats "PICKY"???:confused:

 

I was one of the people who responded to your post regarding the port problem (hope it wasn't a grumpy response). I would be quite angry in that situation (actually, we have had horrible experiences at FLL). I disagreed with you about receiving compensation from Regent but definitely did not thnk you were being picky.

 

Chatkat's post above was a bit surprising to me. While I've only been on the board around 6 years or so, I expect the same questions over and over as new people book on Regent. How does someone come up with a "new" question or problem to solve?

 

Think that I get grumpy in response to other people grumpiness. esimon, there are some threads where posters are joking with each other. Hope one of those threads pops up soon:)

[newlondon]

TC2, I agree that people who pay Regent prices should have expectations; but, let's not make them unreasonable. I agree about food temperature, however, having to raise your hand-god forbid- in order to get some more wine seems overblown to me. Esimon had the same reaction to Mighty Quinn's review of the Mariner I did "let's be reasonable". People for some reason are getting grumpy just because they think their opinion is the right one. My take is we're lucky to be able to enjoy these cruises and so what if it isn't 6* service it sure beats Carnival:D

[esimon]

Amen

[SuzCruise]

I understand that it may seem like there is a bunch of complaining on the RSSC board. But I hope that won't deter you from giving RSSC a try. I don't know when your cruise, or the cruise you are thinking of booking is, or how long you have been cruising this board. In my experience, having been using CC for over 10 years, the boards "tone" can change as the frequent users change. By the way, I think the boards are for newbies with newbie questions, and if I have been around too long to be able to kindly answer their questions, I need to move on. None of us have to respond to any particular post and can always just ignore it if that would be best. In my opinion and the opinion of all of the friends I have made through CC, this board is to be used to research a cruise you are thinking of booking or about to take. And then many of us "pay back" by trying to log on a few times after we return to answer questions of anyone looking for information from someone just off their ship. So every few months you have a new group of posters on the boards and those of us just off vacation go back to real life and a whole new batch of lucky folks start planning their next adventure. All of this to say, if you don't like the tone of the folks that are posting at the moment, don't let that make you think all RSSC cruisers are that way. We all know that CC represents a tiny percentage of cruisers. And at any given time, the folks on a cruise line's board represent a tiny fraction of the CC users who cruise that line.

 

Those of us that frequent RSSC really do love it, or we wouldn't keep coming back. Sometimes it is just easiest to point out the differences in one voyage to the next by pointing out what was better this time and what was worse. And on many opinion boards you will hear more negatives than positives just because that is the nature of "critiquing" things.

 

In my years of experience using CC, the RSSC board does seem a bit stagnant at the moment, with very few posters posting and many posts by the same few people. That is a bit of a one off, again, just in my experience, and I hope is just a reflection of the busy time of year or even the economy (that we all blame everything else on anyway:). I know many people on these boards have some posters they are not crazy about. And many people just avoid reading the posts of those they find too negative or too antagonistic or too something or another. I suggest you do the same. Silencing the voice you don't want to hear really will give you a different perspective.

 

When using any opinion based board you have be aware of the fact that these are the opinions of total strangers. They might not have the same experiences, age, education, likes and dislikes, income or even speak the same language as you. You can look to see if a poster has reviewed something you have experience with and if their opinion matched up with yours as a way of overcoming this. I also look at the statistics of how often a poster posts. If someone has been a member for a few years and has been posting on average once a day or more, I don't bother reading their posts. Just my personal opinion. I don't feel that someone who is that tied to this board can provide vacation advice for someone with a busy life. That might not matter to you, but if it would, consider disregarding those posters as well to help alleviate your current frustration.

 

I hope you will consider RSSC and if you do, I look forward to reading your cruise review when you return!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

... however, having to raise your hand-god forbid- in order to get some more wine seems overblown to me.

 

I disagree with this one. That's one of the first "ah ha" moments we had on our first RSSC cruise on the Paul Gauguin--the waiters were attentive to us, and the wine glasses got filled when we didn't even notice, after showing us the wines on offer and getting our approval of them. The job of the sommelier and the waiters is to look after us in the dining. I know they're a bit understaffed, I don't usually blame the staff themselves, I blame Regent, but there it is. Our expectations are for excellent service, period.

[newlondon]

Wendy, Glad to disagree. A difference in expectations. In my own home I wait to be asked to refill a glass be it family or guest. I, therefore, expect no difference at a restaurant be it Daniel, The French Laundry, Le Bernadin or Compass Rose all of which I have patronized.

Bill

[LindaM]

Wendy, Glad to disagree. A difference in expectations. In my own home I wait to be asked to refill a glass be it family or guest. I, therefore, expect no difference at a restaurant be it Daniel, The French Laundry, Le Bernadin or Compass Rose all of which I have patronized.

 

Bill

 

I "respectfully" disagree. During my 60 years of frequenting restaurants/cruise dining rooms, most times I am asked if I would like another glass of wine. Entertaining, I always ask my guests if they would like another glass. I don't think they should have to ask, but that is my opinion. That is how I was taught.

 

What will annoy me on our upcoming cruise is; if upon being seated, I have to flag down the wine steward. This could be totally wrong, but I would take it as a sign that Regent is trying to limit the included alcohol---by not making it too easy.

[Travelcat2]

My grumpy post of the day: SuzCruise, What post were you responding to? A few of us on this thread post more than once a day. There is no problem if you choose not to read the posts of people who are not as busy as you are. However, recommending this as a general rule for everyone is a bit strange. There are people on the board that are busy AND post more than twice a day and others who just enjoy reading and posting on the boards. Multi-tasking is being done by most adults and certainly kids in school (texting, studying, watching television, etc. all at the same time).

 

I am finding the Regent board quite active at the moment -- lots of newbies asking questions -- planning for their first Regent cruise. The regulars who stay around to answer the questions are people who want to help and have current knowledge of the ships. It's great that esimon has questioned the fact that some of us get grumpy from time to time on the board. It is a wake-up call to all of us.

 

Really not trying to be grumpy (the above comment was meant as a joke). Perhaps I see things differently than you do. When I ask a question, I first read the responses of people who have recent experience on a cruise line. For that reason, I appreciate seeing the list of cruises as part of the signature (but that is another subject). Experience is more important to me than how many times they post.

[Arizonasunshine]

TC2, I agree that people who pay Regent prices should have expectations; but, let's not make them unreasonable. I agree about food temperature, however, having to raise your hand-god forbid- in order to get some more wine seems overblown to me. Esimon had the same reaction to Mighty Quinn's review of the Mariner I did "let's be reasonable". People for some reason are getting grumpy just because they think their opinion is the right one. My take is we're lucky to be able to enjoy these cruises and so what if it isn't 6* service it sure beats Carnival:D

 

My question is who do you think has the right opinion. Many people agreed with Mighty Quinn's opinion. I guess that the fact that you did not, makes his and the others agreeing with Mighty Quinn's opinion wrong. I don't think so!

 

I won't argue that it beats Carnival, but for what we pay it should.

[newlondon]

LindaM, I absolutely agree with you that waiting for the first glass is a nonstarter. It's the ones after the first we can look at different expectations. We have cruised Regent and SS and have never had to wait when we sit down.

Another approach we have used is once we have determined our wine of choice for the evening is to ask for a bottle to be placed on the table. Neither company has ever demured and it easily solves the problem.:)

[Travelcat2]

My question is who do you think has the right opinion. Many people agreed with Mighty Quinn's opinion. I guess that the fact that you did not, makes his and the others agreeing with Mighty Quinn's opinion wrong. I don't think so!

 

I won't argue that it beats Carnival, but for what we pay it should.

 

Perhaps you are referring to a different thread because Mighty Quinn has not posted on this one:confused:

 

In terms of which opinion to agree with. . . . agree with whichever one you want. When I go to TripAdvisor (same company as CruiseCritic), I look for a pattern. When there are one or two horrible reviews and mostly positive reviews, I tend to believe the positive ones. Recently we were looking at hotels in Barcelona. Several posters said that the rooms were noisy due to traffic and a nearby bar. Again, I believed that it was noisy but stayed there anyway because I also read that there were rooms that were not noisy (and it wasn't:-)

[Arizonasunshine]

TC2, I agree that people who pay Regent prices should have expectations; but, let's not make them unreasonable. I agree about food temperature, however, having to raise your hand-god forbid- in order to get some more wine seems overblown to me. Esimon had the same reaction to Mighty Quinn's review of the Mariner I did "let's be reasonable". People for some reason are getting grumpy just because they think their opinion is the right one. My take is we're lucky to be able to enjoy these cruises and so what if it isn't 6* service it sure beats Carnival:D

 

This is the posting I was referring to. If you read it you will find that it references a review posted by Mighty Quinn of his first Regent cruise. I found the review fair and balanced and matched closely with my first Regent cruise. Newlondon used the statement "lets be reasonable" implying that Mighty Quinn's assessment was not reasonable. He also stated that people are getting grumpy because they think their opinion is the right one. I consider this board a place to post honest opinions, either good or bad, and the poster should not be attacked because someone else doesn't agree with his or her opinion.

[Travelcat2]

Definitely do not think that posters should be attacked for stating an opinion (or for any other reason). I just went back and read the first three pages of Mighty Quinn's review and did not see where he was attacked so it must have happened later on in the thread. Some people agreed with the review and others didn't -- based on their own experience.

 

I see that you and a another poster on that thread really like Azamara and Oceania. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. I find it helpful to know what a new passenger to Regent has sailed on previously. Usually expectations differ quite a bit for people who have never cruised, cruised mainstream or premium cruise lines or other luxury lines. Priorities are also different. A priority for us is cabin size. In order to sail on Oceania, we would have to upgrade to a level that would make the price the same as if we sailed on Regent (also added in the cost of drinks, excursions and tips).

 

In any case, I wish there was a list of things that new cruisers to Regent should know that was available to everyone. Threads have appeared about this but have since become history. By taking some of the tips from people who have sailed Regent in the past, it could avoid some of the issues that arose on his cruise. Unfortunately, bad weather is not something Regent can fix (but they should have fixed the odor issue much faster).