Voyager - European Opus - Sept 30 to Oct 14

[islandhalls]

I read Cruise Critic often, but post rarely; but here our some thought about our recent cruise.

 

The staff is wonderful and we recognized, or were recognized by, many from both our last Voyager and last Mariner cruises. The ship seems well managed and the staff happy, except that most of them seemed happy because their contracts were ending soon. They all seem to be so hard working for their families at home.

 

We seemed to have a significant staff change during this 14-night cruise, which was a bit disruptive; they even changed Executives Chefs during the cruise. But the food was overall very good, especially when the local fish was highlighted in Compass Rose. We enjoyed the many special BBQ events on the pool deck since the weather was overall pretty nice.

 

We haven’t been on the Voyager in about a year and a half, and the public areas that were renovated look very nice. Our suite’s furniture and bathroom cabinets were a bit knocked up, but the size of the basic rooms on this ship are so nice.

 

I don’t miss Park West, but thinking about artwork, I thought it was funny that the artwork in the hallway where our suite was located has framed Vogue magazine covers and the one outside of our door was a black and white picture of John Wayne with “The Stars of”, that’s it, kind of odd, maybe it was always there.

 

I do wish all excursions have passionate guides that spoke good English, short drives with no traffic, a destination that was worth a the time of the bus drive, considerate (and continent) other passengers, and no more than maybe 20 other passengers. While a couple of our tours met the criteria this trip, several of our excursions have left us very weary of bus tours. The quality of half of our guides was not very good. Two in France were very disappointing. In both cases we were taken to charming towns, at St-Malo; the Dinan excursion, the guide’s English was very hard to understand and she just seemed so rushed as she dragged us around the town. It was hard to enjoy the experience. At another, out of Lorient; Pont-Aven, the guide hadn’t been there in a couple of years, and used a map from the tourist office to show us around. And don’t get me started about the endless toilet stops, we were in Pont-Aven for one hour, and even though we had just left the ship 30 minutes prior, the first 20 minutes were waiting for people to use the toilet. Then there are the passengers that almost push you over racing to the bus to get their seats. I guess touring with 30 or 40 other passengers isn’t for us anymore, normally we sign up for some interesting “Regent’s Choice” tours, but there were none that interested us this trip.

 

The internet did not seem as good as our last cruise on the Mariner, where it was smoking fast in our suite. It was better in the Observation Lounge, where we like to watch the sea go by, and sometimes even when we’re not at sea. Also, it did not stop working after an hour, so I really needed to remember to logoff!

 

Small world time … 700 passengers and there are two people from our small church on board; the couple we normally sit one pew ahead. (We all miss that there is no longer a catholic priest on board, as there was under Radisson, but that was long ago.) They were on the previous segment (and have stayed on for the next segment) and remarked that there have been no interesting enrichment lectures, just port talks. Not much on the daily agenda that interests them. We are rather content to float and read our books, but they’re right; in the past on “spotlight cruises”, we have heard some interesting talks. More on them later!

 

My DH and I have decided that we like cruises with more sea days, so I think that what we’ll be looking at for our next Regent cruise.

 

P.S. Thank you, whoever suggest bringing small magnets! We loved using them to place papers above the desk area, like invitations, Daily Passages, etc. We even had our maps on the walls of our suite! Loved it! They are now a permanent part of our “cruise kit” along with a Bluetooth speaker for music and a European surge protector / power strip / USB hub! :)

 

(P.S. Just heard from our friends by email: Regent chartered this segment to BMW and 400 of them are on board. Horrible! They have basically taken over the ship. No cruise etiquette. Children on board sitting on bar stools eating the bar snacks with their dirty hands that are served to passengers and taking over the pool. Seasoned Regent passengers giving Regent an earful! Basically all of us would not have booked this segment if we knew it had been chartered. :mad: What a shock!

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for taking the time to do this review. I am also shocked that a group of 400 would be on the Voyager with regular guests. Even if there had not been children, the people that are generally on charters are not remotely like Regent passengers. Most people on charters have "won" the cruise based on sales or ??? and could care less about the ship, the crew or other passengers. Words seldom escape me but, at the moment, I am speechless.

[gnomie1]

Obviously the ship was not selling well so Regent decided to allow a "partial charter" at the expense of other passengers. In my previous employment I came across this all the time - you name it, they were offering it to our company at a significant discount (there are agencies that specialize in this and it seems that either cruise or resort vacations are at the top of the list) in the belief that once people were able to experience it, they would enjoy it so much that they would pay full price the next time around for the same experience. The problem is, as TC pointed out, it can prove to be quite disruptive to the other passengers who are not part "of the in group" I have been part of these charter groups - usually awarded to employees who represent the top 3% of sales and it depends who is traveling - if it is just employees, I can imagine the behavior may get out of hand, esp with the availability of unlimited alcohol. However, if corporate is present, one would think the employees would think twice about their behavior.

 

This is yet another sign that Regent is changing, and not for the better.

 

My one question about the comment is how many children are actually on board - it is the middle of October which is school time for the majority of children. I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but I know in the US pulling kids out of school "for holiday" is highly frowned upon. Where I live, both in the public and private schools, kids who are absent during the regular school year for "holiday" are not allowed to participate in sports or achieve honors for the term.

 

gnomie :)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sounds pretty awful. We were on a small Radisson ship once (the PG) with a large corporate group, and they really made life miserable for the rest of the pax. We still had a good time, we were in paradise after all, but it was bad, and we vowed to avoid such a thing in future. Although how you avoid this kind of thing, I don't know.

[findacruise]

My one question about the comment is how many children are actually on board - it is the middle of October which is school time for the majority of children. I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but I know in the US pulling kids out of school "for holiday" is highly frowned upon. Where I live, both in the public and private schools, kids who are absent during the regular school year for "holiday" are not allowed to participate in sports or achieve honors for the term.

 

gnomie :)

 

There are so many different school schedules now, it's hard to tell. Our school system is now on a "balanced calendar" and kids are on there 2nd week of fall break. We also have schools that go year round and have 3 week breaks between sessions.

[Pepc]

Excerpted from the FAQs on Regent's website:

 

Do you offer group travel benefits?

 

Nothing beats traveling the world with a group of like-minded companions, sharing discoveries and enjoying great memories for years to come. Contact your travel professional for more information on booking a group.

[Travelcat2]

There are so many different school schedules now, it's hard to tell. Our school system is now on a "balanced calendar" and kids are on there 2nd week of fall break. We also have schools that go year round and have 3 week breaks between sessions.

 

Since BMW is based in Germany, I suspect that the majority of the passengers were from Europe.

[DeepFreeze63]

The logistics of arranging trips for 400 (200 pairs) is daunting even for a company as big as BMW so Regent would have known about this many months ago. Why didn't at least the TAs, if not Regent, alert their other clients.? I'm about to call my TA, who is a Regent special provider or such, and express my "dismay".

[Travelcat2]

Not sure how Regent handles groups in terms of keeping them secret, however both Silversea and Seabourn customers have been blindsided by groups on their ships repeatedly. If passengers know that a large group will be on board they may not book the cruise (highly likely IMO). Rather than run that risk, the cruise lines simply do not tell customers. There was a website that I found a couple of years ago that listed "groups" and the dates and ships they were cruising on. Perhaps we should look for that.

 

 

P.S. Did 5 minutes of preliminary research and found some groups that will be on Oceania - not Regent. Not able to tell the group size. One is coming up 11/1 on the Insignia ("Jersey Week" group) and another is 1/24/2015 on the Riviera (Oxley Group). Will do more research after I get my nails done:-)

Edited October 20, 2014 by Travelcat2

[DeepFreeze63]

The issue for us is the size of the group. We had a 40 person group from Belgium on a recent Regent cruise. They kept mainly to themselves, as I would have done, and that size group out of 700 passengers didn't effect our enjoyment one bit. But more than half the ship! Outrageous for Regent not to notify the other passengers!

I checked my upcoming cruises with my TA and asked him to monitor any of my bookings and alert us at least up to final booking.

[TedC]

I have a BMW joke but I'm afraid I can't reveal the punch line on CC. I'll give you what I can and perhaps you can figure out the punch line.

 

 

"What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?"

 

THINK about it!

[gnomie1]

I have a BMW joke but I'm afraid I can't reveal the punch line on CC. I'll give you what I can and perhaps you can figure out the punch line.

 

 

"What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?"

 

THINK about it!

 

 

I already knew the answer but if you don't and can't figure it out - just google it!!

 

gnomie :)

[gnomie1]

Not sure how Regent handles groups in terms of keeping them secret, however both Silversea and Seabourn customers have been blindsided by groups on their ships repeatedly.

 

 

I have no idea why TC thought it necessary to IMMEDIATELY come to the defense of Regent by stating the above - the above implies that somehow Regent is above participating in these type of ventures whereas Silversea and Seabourn do it all the time. More often than not, these large groups get significant discounts and the cruise companies participate when they have difficulties filling the cabins - depending on the organization, these discounts may or may not be passed on to the passenger.

 

Also, since it is an outside organization doing ALL of the work - this is very easy for Regent and you would be surprised how quickly this can all come together - in as little as two months. I have a friend who is one of the top producers for her company, always achieving in the top 2% of sales each year. I have been fortunate to be her travel companion on a few of her "prizes" some of which she learned about as little as six weeks before departure - the motto is "always a have a valid passport that is not going to expire in six month or less".

 

I suspect that what may have happened - as soon as Regent realized this cruise was not selling well, instead of offering discounts to the general public and appearing that too many cruises are going "on sale", or offering a large number of cabins to a specific agency overseas, they offered the cabins to one of the agencies that specializes in corporate promotion travel and BMW took the bite.

 

gnomie :)

[findacruise]

We unluckily happened on to a large group of "rewarded" company personnel on a previous Oceania cruise only to find venues closed unexpectedly when we went to have a drink. Nothing posted in Currents, the daily ships "paper"and nothing posted anywhere on ship. Had to stand outside to wait for friends we were meeting. No apology from Cd, just said we can't come in and telling us where we could go for a drink, which, of course was very crowded with everyone else that couldn't get in! Also found limited specialty reservations limited by this large group taking over all reservations a number of evenings in various venues. Not exactly what we wanted.

 

But we survived and thankfully, they got off the ship a couple of stops early and the ship was then much less crowed for the rest of the cruise! It was another car dealer.

[Travelcat2]

I have no idea why TC thought it necessary to IMMEDIATELY come to the defense of Regent by stating the above - the above implies that somehow Regent is above participating in these type of ventures whereas Silversea and Seabourn do it all the time. More often than not, these large groups get significant discounts and the cruise companies participate when they have difficulties filling the cabins - depending on the organization, these discounts may or may not be passed on to the passenger.

 

gnomie :)

 

Apparently, even when I criticize Regent, some people are going to think I am defending them. This is why is it is better to just give our own opinions instead of trying to decipher someone else's. Regent is likely doing the same thing as Seabourn and Silversea. Perhaps disagreeing with what you think I said rather than attacking me would be better for all of us on the Regent board.

 

IMO, this was booked quite some time ago. The likelihood of finding a luxury cruise ship with 200 suites available at the last minute is fairly slim. In doing research this morning, I learned that this is commonly done on mainstream cruise lines where it is much easier to accommodate large groups. Silversea and Seabourn are good candidates for companies taking over the entire ship as their ships are smaller (Seabourn still has ships that hold only 210 guests). When the entire ship is chartered at least it doesn't interfere with the rest of the guests on the ship (except that the company has to cancel the cruise).

[RachelG]

An incentive group of 400--I would be having a fit too!

[pingpong1]

TC - I agree with you (I think :p), along with the views expressed by the rest of the posters. On our Voyager cruise in Oct '13, the ship was filled with Korean and Chinese folks who were affiliated with Mary Kay cosmetics. Several hundred of them... (at least it certainly seemed to be that number with all the "running around", loud talking and laughter, and heavy drinking that was going on among them - the group might not have been as large as it "seemed" at the time).

 

These were folks who had "won" some sort of contest, or who had surpassed their sales quotas for the year, etc., and had "won" this cruise from Mary Kay. Fortunately, they mostly kept to themselves, ate in their own group, and had their own meetings in their own area/s. But when their presence and schedules intertwined with the rest of us "regular full-fare Regent passengers", it was definitely "uncomfortable".....not waiting their respective turns in buffet lines, pushing and shoving onto elevators, kids dominating all the pool areas, the group talking and laughing loudly in otherwise "quiet areas", and not keeping their children under proper control.

 

The problem with these affinity group charters booked onboard Regent is that by in large, they are made up of folks who either received deep discounts from their organizations in order to be on that cruise, or have "won" the cruise outright - without having to put much/any of their own "skin in the game". How would they have a "bad cruise" under those circumstances? Perhaps if they were "cut off" by the bartender or sent back to their stateroom to change into proper dining attire (both instances happened on my Voyager cruise).

 

The result....you have passengers made up of folks like us who have "done the research", know the value and standards that a Regent experience represents, and have made a conscious decision to shell out the substantial sums of money to be on that selected and much-anticipated Regent cruise. These passengers have a certain (high) expectation of standards to be met and they knowingly agree to conform to those standards of conduct and behavior. They board the ship with a high confidence and rightful expectation that all other passengers on the ship will essentially ALSO observe those same standards (hope that doesn't sound too "snooty" but I'm at a loss of any other way to put it!). Regent is NOT Carnival or Disney.

 

....And then, you begin your cruise and immediately encounter a large charter group made up of "other passengers" who would probably NEVER have otherwise considered (or would never have spent the necessary money) to go on a Regent cruise, may never even have been on a cruise ship before (either 1-Star or 6-Star), and they bring along "the kids", the manners/behaviors, and the customs which might widely vary from what the "regular" Regent customers normally have reason to expect and have normally been conditioned to experience on past Regent cruises.

 

Naturally, the charter group passengers are going to have a "ball" while they enjoy their "prize cruise" (after all, why wouldn't they!), and the regular Regent passengers are going to be totally "put off", mad, disappointed, and are going to feel that they've wasted their money and time on a cruise that has not met their accustomed expectation and anticipation.

 

The "charter group" participants have essentially "hit the lottery". Under normal circumstances, they probably never expected to be on a Regent-type cruise in their lives - and probably won't ever be again. Unfortunately, being on the same cruise, it may leave a decidedly "bad taste" for some of Regent's regular customers (who were on that cruise) and may harbor serious doubts about booking a future Regent cruise. Regent's primary business objective (hard to remember sometimes) is to "fill their boats" and to make a profit.

 

I (sort of) gather from most everyone's comments so far that if you knew well beforehand that a particular itinerary was going to have a large/substantial charter/affinity group on board, who had "won the cruise" as a reward or perk from their employer....most of you probably would NOT book that particular cruise. Right? I don't believe I would after my last experience! Well, Regent knows that, as well! And THAT'S why I don't think they would ever release that information for general knowledge (at least through their own company channels) in advance. I'm not even sure they would give that information to their network of TA's. I think they would rather you book the cruise, pay your money, and then find out the day you step onboard the ship. By that time it's too late for you to change anything. :mad: Regards to all.

[Travelcat2]

pingpong1: I am going to check with my TA to learn if they are aware of groups on Regent cruises. We are usually concerned about short cruises or cruises in the Caribbean since groups tend to go for those. This cruise was two weeks. Before this thread I believed that it would be almost impossible for us to leave Regent. If we paid $30K+ to be on a cruise with a group that took up more than 50% of the ship, we might giving up cruising entirely! I agree 100% with everything you posted!

[islandhalls]

The cruise I was on was two weeks; the cruise with the BMW group is only 7 days.

[Travelcat2]

The cruise I was on was two weeks; the cruise with the BMW group is only 7 days.

 

Could you tell us more about it?

[islandhalls]

No more to tell, the cruise with the large BMW group was a 7 day cruise that ended today.

[newlondon]

TC, My TA is not a luxury cruise specialist. When you talk with yours I would appreciate you asking her/him about the 6/6/15 cruise that was supposed to go to the Baltic and now is the UK. I'm wondering if the change was done to accommodate a large or incentive group.

Thanks so much.