Navigator-Montreal to Miami-22 Oct- 6 Nov 14

[RachelG]

One time only, several years ago, I filled out a form in advance. But it is just so easy to tell your cabin steward what you want after embarkation. That is what we always do now. Only diet coke and water in the fridge, and 2 bottles of red wine. Easy peeasy.

 

And in all my cruises on regent and silversea, the stuff in the fridge either reverts to the standard mix the day before disembarkation or is not restocked. This is nothing new.

Edited November 15, 2014 by RachelG

[Kwaj girl]

Thank you ALL for your insight regarding beverage brands and pre-ordering (or not). Will get with our Stewardess when we board. Hopefully the Grey Goose and Tanqueray Spec Dry will be available...though it might not last the full 87 days;-)

[purpleally]

One time only, several years ago, I filled out a form in advance. But it is just so easy to tell your cabin steward what you want after embarkation. Same here.

 

And in all my cruises on regent and silversea, the stuff in the fridge either reverts to the standard mix the day before disembarkation or is not restocked. This is nothing new.

That has never happened to us on regent nor seabourn. But I guess i won't be surprised if it happens this time.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you ALL for your insight regarding beverage brands and pre-ordering (or not). Will get with our Stewardess when we board. Hopefully the Grey Goose and Tanqueray Spec Dry will be available...though it might not last the full 87 days;-)

 

It has been our experience that Grey Goose is easy to obtain. We don't know much about Tanqueray Spec Dry as we are not gin drinkers. We have been able to obtain whatever alcohol we want without a problem. However, if Tanqueray Spec Dry is not on their bar list, I would pre-order it through your TA. If you aren't sure whether or not it is on the bar list, I can check as I have their bar list as of last month. Of the top of my head, I do not recall it being on the list.

[gwain6]

Hi,

 

Gin

Beefeater

London Dry

Bombay Sapphire

Gordon’s, London Dry

Tanqueray, Special Dry

 

 

According to the Bar Menu Tangueray Spec is available, so you should not have a problem with getting it in your suite and replaced each time you empty it.

[liptastic]

We were on this cruise and rated it as the friendliest cruise we have done.We had no complaints. Shortly after embarcation our butler and one of the 2 cabin stewards came to meet us, as is usual, to ask if there were any other requests we had. Our pre ordered drinks were in place,one being the Tanquery gin and the fridge was stocked as requested.We dined in all 3 venues with excellent service and food.My husband drinks tea, and requested a tea pot for the cabin,for breakfast and this was supplied. When we had breakfast in Le Verranda he was always given a tea pot with the tea bag he requested in it.

All in all we had a great cruise with no complaints. All the staff were so helpful and nothing seemed to be a problem. We had no brown water issues. The ship does vibrate but in our forward stateroom we had no issues. My wine glass was always kept topped up with very drinkable wines, but I didn't ask to see the included list. If their was a wine they offered at dinner that I did not like I was always offered an alternative that I like.

We had a great cruise, and were very well looked after.

Jean.

[Hambagahle]

We have never had a problem getting Tanqueray which is our preferred gin. Just listed it on the Butler form...

 

And Jackie - I hope you have a fabulous cruise on Riviera AND that you are letting us know as often as possible how it is going! Bon voyage!

Gerry

[Travelcat2]

We were on this cruise and rated it as the friendliest cruise we have done.We had no complaints. Shortly after embarcation our butler and one of the 2 cabin stewards came to meet us, as is usual, to ask if there were any other requests we had. Our pre ordered drinks were in place,one being the Tanquery gin and the fridge was stocked as requested.We dined in all 3 venues with excellent service and food.My husband drinks tea, and requested a tea pot for the cabin,for breakfast and this was supplied. When we had breakfast in Le Verranda he was always given a tea pot with the tea bag he requested in it.

All in all we had a great cruise with no complaints. All the staff were so helpful and nothing seemed to be a problem. We had no brown water issues. The ship does vibrate but in our forward stateroom we had no issues. My wine glass was always kept topped up with very drinkable wines, but I didn't ask to see the included list. If their was a wine they offered at dinner that I did not like I was always offered an alternative that I like.

We had a great cruise, and were very well looked after.

 

Jean.

 

It is always good to hear different opinions - especially when people were on the same cruise. Was this your first Regent cruise?

 

Gerry: Thanks for the well wishes. With the help of "computerworks", I'll be posting from the ship. The subject will be "Food" (Oceania and Regent). Hoping to take a lot of pictures.

[liptastic]

It is always good to hear different opinions - especially when people were on the same cruise. Was this your first Regent cruise?

 

Gerry: Thanks for the well wishes. With the help of "computerworks", I'll be posting from the ship. The subject will be "Food" (Oceania and Regent). Hoping to take a lot of pictures.

 

Hi,

It was our fifth Regent cruise.Th first was Navigator in 2009 and then one on Voyager and two on Mariner. We have liked all 3 ships, and just booked for Mariner again for next June, Venice to Barcelona.

Jean.

[hvsteve1]

Because I am now trying my fourth cruise line, I have been on a number of different forums (fora?) over the years as well as a half dozen different ships. I know that's not as many ships as many of you, but as folks in CC tend to stay with one or two cruise lines, being on that variety of ships over a fairly short period gave me some insight.

 

One thing all my cruises have had in common is, upon my first cruise on a ship, hearing that "things aren't like they used to be". On my Mariner cruise to Alaska in 2005 I heard about cutbacks and changes in the crew. It appeared that, until shortly before my cruise, cabin attendants had been Scandinavian woman They had recently been replaced with the same South Asian crew found on most lines. My attendant was new, spoke little English and had a deer-in-the-headlights look when I tried to ask her for things. The head housekeeper on my floor was a young, blond Scandinavian, apparently one of the last holdovers from the old crew. As I sailed on the Mariner, Voyager and Navigator over a period of a few years, I always heard the crew, the food, the officers, etc. was not like it used to be.

 

I took a few years off to retire and move south, then tried cruising again, this time with Holland America as, during our break, Regent pricing seemed to have gone through the roof. HAL was the same as Regent according to the past cruisers we met and saw on CC...the crew was reduced, service in the MDR was awful, the food wasn't as good, etc.

 

Now we are booked with Celebrity and seeing the same thing on CC. The MDR service has gone down hill, the food isn't as good, there are fewer cabin attendants and so on.

 

The conclusion one can take from everything is this; there was a time in the last century when the cruise industry was on the rise and the service and quality was constantly being improved in order to compete. Then something happened. Maybe it was the economy or the price of fuel oil or an aging market or an overbuilding of ships or constant mergers. The accountants became the most important people in the home office and reducing costs to make the stockholders happy became the norm. The number of employees on ships were reduced, food costs were cut and other methods of keeping the cost down became more important than customer complaints. This is what is happening in the industry and, unless someone starts taking business away from the existing cruise lines with more crew members, better food and killer service, each year's cruise will not be up to last year's.

[Travelcat2]

You summed it up very well. Thank you!

[ridon]

Well stated. No one can dispute your rationale.