Carnival to Regant... Crazy I know

[brittmama]

My husband and myself work a lot. We just got into cruising a few years ago. We had no idea about the different types of cruises that we could go on. I know it sounds very naive, but we are. At this point we need all the advise we can get. We have not been going threw a travel agent and I wish we would have been. Booking online just seems so much more convenient.

 

We have only cruised with Carnival. We just wanted to test the water so to speak. We have met some very amazing people on board and it has been fun, but something has been lacking.

 

When it comes to cruising we are "fish out of water" We want the best, but we seem to book ... well... Carnival. Does anyone have anything even close to what we have been doing?

 

After looking at what Regant offers I feel like a fool... Just saying.

Edited March 8, 2014 by brittmama
more to add

[tourguide97]

Welcome to the Regent board. You will receive many replies, both pro and con. I have cruised with Regent since 2009 and will begin my fifth cruise next week.

I want to stress that you book through a travel agent who has knowledge about premimum cruises.

 

Others will offer more suggestions. good luck.

 

tourguide

[Henk123]

We have also started with Carnival after that Holland America Line.

We discovered that "small vessels" with luxury is our goal.

Last year it was Regent. NOTE: Watch out this can be addictive (with us it is :D). We are going this year again and are looking already for next year.

It seems expensive (of course it is a lot of money), but if you compare all (add up in terms of cost) with the same level with other companies, it is not so expensive.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Henk123

[pingpong1]

Brittmama - Welcome to this board. As "Tourguide97" said, You'll most likely be getting many replies and many suggestions to your questions. Aside from some river cruses in Europe (down the Rhine, Danube, etc.) Regent has been our only ocean cruising experience. We'll be leaving on our 3rd Regent cruise in 3 months.

 

Many/most of the people on this board have gone on many more cruises (both Regent and other lines) than we have. I will just say that we've been very happy with our experience with Regent. It will seem like a lot of money, as you start looking into the different itineraries available......and it is, there's no denying that!

 

The people who predominantly cruise on Regent tend to be older, are mostly retired (or are nearing retirement), and are definitely not having to use their "grocery money" to purchase these cruises. The Regent ships are smaller than most "mass-market" cruise lines (such as Carnival). Younger children are not unwelcomed on Regent (at least not by most of the passengers onboard) but they don't make up a large population of the passengers, and more of them might be travelling with their grandparents rather than parents. The focus of amenities and activities onboard Regent is not directed to children or families travelling with young children, as is more the case with other lines.

 

Regent's business model is directed towards providing a "luxury cruising" experience, personal service, larger-than-normal staterooms, fine dining, and "elegant surroundings". Some of those goals are "subjective" (like what might define "luxury") and other parameters are more objectively measurable (like the size/square-footage of offered staterooms). Regent prides itself on being "all-inclusive". In other words, the price has "built in" most/all the little touches and additional items that you'd wind up paying (or choosing to pay) extra for on other cruise lines - airfares, pre-cruise hotel, excursions, higher-end meals, no tipping (outside of the basic fare), 24/7 pre-paid alcohol and other drinks, etc. With the "all-inclusive" nature of Regent price model, you can easily end up on the last day of the cruise and leave the ship without having to pay anything "extra" (or above and beyond) what you originally paid for the cruise.

 

Most of the negative comments you may read on this board are what I would call "complaints on the margin".....i.e., was the champagne cold enough, were the breadsticks crispy enough, were the tour buses too crowded, was the steak and lobster tender enough, did the butler smile enough.....etc. Regent has a high proportion of returning customers (but so does Carnival :rolleyes:). It's probably fair to stay that Regent is a cruise line that many/most passengers "move up to", After they've first tried another company first. They usually find that extra level of service and "luxury" at Regent and stick with it from then on out.

 

Finally, many/most Regent customers use the services of a TA (travel agent) to book their cruises and provide personal services for them. The TA services as an intermediary between the customer and Regent. The general saying on this board is "once you tried Regent....you never go back".

 

Best Regards.

[Travelcat2]

I agree with what previous posters have said and have a few things to add. Have you thought about moving up to a premium cruise line like Celebrity? We have friends who sail on Celebrity and adore it. You can purchase the alcohol package and have the all-inclusive feel of Regent. Another option is Regent's sister cruise line, Oceania.

 

One reason I suggest Celebrity first is because changing from Carnival to Regent (or even Oceania) could be culture shock. There is so much to do on the larger ships and much less to do on a 700-1100 passenger ship. Regent ships are quiet (the best word I could think of). The music is subdued, there are very few announcements on the PA (which can be a good thing). On a sea day, the choice of things to do may be Trivia, a destination lecture, bridge, a wine tasting or a shuffleboard competition. Lastly, after 11:00 p.m., the ship can be very quiet (note: there tends to be more activity late on night on shorter cruises and cruises that are not port intensive).

 

I think it is great that you are thinking of sailing on Regent. Although it may not be right for you now, it certainly could be in the future.:)

[rarin2go]

....We want the best, but we seem to book ... well... Carnival. ....

 

We have no experience of any cruise line other than Regent so can offer no comparative opinions but perhaps it might help to highlight why we keep on cruising with them. The main reason is that we come home relaxed and refreshed: this is the result of 3 factors - space, service and value.

 

The Regent ships are over-sized and over-staffed, by most cruise lines' standards, for the number of passengers. This means that there are very rarely any queues (lines) for the facilities and you can always find somewhere comfortable to relax. It also means that the standard cabins (suites) are far larger than you would find in a mainstream lines' ships - plus verandas are standard. The staff/passenger ratio means a normally very high standard of service both in terms of dining, bars and suite upkeep.

 

Of course, Regent is expensive compared to most other cruise lines but if you do the math using comparable suite sizes (+ balcony) and allowing for drinks, tips, excursions, you may well find that it is not that much more expensive! Friends of ours, regular cruisers with mainstream lines, have recently done just that and decided to try Regent. The big draw for them was finding it was within their budget and knowing that they could walk off the ship at the end of the cruise without having to pay any 'extras'.

 

You will find criticisms of Regent on these boards and, of course, it isn't absolutely 100% perfect but what is?

[1982CruzStart]

We tried our first Regent cruise about 3 years ago moving from HAL. I am almost a 4 star Mariner on HAL. We have been on 2 and have our 3rd booked for November this year. We have done a couple of mainstream cruises in between because of itinerary and each time it reminded me why i want to sail with Regent.

 

I fell in love with the suite the moment i walked in. The size and layout is great compared to anything else we have sailed in. I love walking on-board and being handed a glass of champagne and finding a bottle of champagne on ice in our suite.

 

We have never had anything but great service from on-board staff (except Destination Services but no big deal we just avoid dealing with them).

 

On our first cruise we had a bill for about $100 for internet when we walked off. We were so happy with that. The last one was nothing and that was after sending out all our laundry which was offset by shipboard credits.

 

I will reiterate what others have said. Get a knowledgeable TA that is an expert in luxury cruising. You can get rebates and shipboard credits. A lesson we learned from CC after our first cruise. Crunch the numbers on the cruise you are considering and you will find that Regent is not more expensive and the experience is much better.

 

Our fellow passengers have all been wonderful, something i was concerned about on our first cruise with Regent. Thought we might feel like fish out of water going from HAL to Regent. No so.

 

Do i think Regent is perfect - no way but the overall experience makes up for any small deficiencies or issues we have encountered.

[JMARINER]

When it comes to cruising we are "fish out of water" We want the best, but we seem to book ... well... Carnival. Does anyone have anything even close to what we have been doing?

 

After looking at what Regent offers I feel like a fool... Just saying.

 

I did my first cruise on Carnival. I have taken my kids and grand kids on them many times (10) as well as Princess (15), HAL (3), and others, over the last few decades.

 

So, at the end of my the first day on my first Regent (Radisson) I went to sleep feeling like I was being chauffeured in the back of a Mercedes limo, rather than driving a Chevy truck. My next Regent cruise will be # 32 with them, it that is any indication of my opinion.

 

You have the time, you have the money. Just do it!!!

 

And get an Agent who is very knowable with "Luxury Cruise" in general and Regent in particular. Contrary to what you might think they will save you a lot of money, time and greatly add to your experience. IMO the #800 Regent agents knnow nothing more than to get your credit card number.

 

Email below if you have questions.

 

J

31/425

[Snackdaddy]

Hello Brittmama,

 

We understand how you feel. We have cruised with Royal Caribbean for a number of years and tried Regent this past December. Are we glad we did. We loved it in every sense of the word. Did we experience a culture shock? Yes, but in a very good way. The Regent Experience was wonderful and even though our fellow "travelers" were very well-traveled and professionally accomplished, we found them to be extremely down to earth.

 

The on-board culture is very relaxing and the food, in our opinion, was very good. As Travelcat2 mentioned the ship is very quiet. We found that many retire early for the evening so the evening's activities are very low key. There are no pool-side belly flop and sexy legs contests nor are there any annoying marketing announcements throughout the day.

 

I agree with JMARINER who said, "You have the time, you have the money. Just do it!!!"

 

BTW, we liked Regent so much we booked the December 9-23, 2015 Cape Town to Rio cruise. "Just do it!!!"

[Travelcat2]

Just to clarify......... I'm not saying that someone who has sailed on Carnival would automatically not like Regent. I do feel it is important, however, to explain how many activities, restaurants, pools, lounges, etc. are available on Carnival and how few there are on Regent. Carnival has a shopping mall while Regent has one or two tiny shops (depending upon the ship). I could easily spout the wonders of Regent -- but understand that it is not for everyone. Actually, it would not have been to our liking 20 years ago....... but was 10 years ago (once we got Club Med, etc. out of our system:-)