Connectivity on Regent

[JMARINER]

6 hours ago, stines said:

I spoke with the GM on Voyager two weeks ago.  He was sitting behind his desk in the office and I walked in and asked him what was going on with the HORRENDOUS internet speeds (so many passengers were openly complaining about it around the ship).  He looked at me with a straight face and said: “What issue, is there an issue?”.  I am not making that up, I swear!  I explained that due to responsibilities at home, I will not be able to sail on Regent again until the performance issues are addressed.  He apologized for my frustrations and that was the end of a polite conversation. 

Who was it you spoke to?

 

J

[Marylebone37]

27 minutes ago, JMARINER said:

Who was it you spoke to?

 

J

I do not want to call him out by name here.  Some sleuthing around will provide the answer, though.  The responsibility lies with Miami management (and lack of funding) and probably at least a bit with the third party contractor they rely upon for onboard IT. The IT manager was a nice fellow but basically was telling folks he’s doing the best he can with what he has to work with... which is obviously a mess of an IT infrastructure.

[Jonoro7]

Have a read of post 125 here:

An attempt yo quantify what a "good service" would be and what the costs, to Regent, would be.

The "error" has been giving internet access away to allcomers.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

4 hours ago, Jonoro7 said:

Have a read of post 125 here:

An attempt yo quantify what a "good service" would be and what the costs, to Regent, would be.

The "error" has been giving internet access away to allcomers.

 

I so agree! "Back in the day" you had to have status to get free internet, and having earned that perk it was then given away to all.

[UUNetBill]

5 hours ago, Jonoro7 said:

The "error" has been giving internet access away to allcomers.

I don’t know that I agree with that completely...the error was allowing all users internet access before they had adequate capacity installed.
 

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I so agree! "Back in the day" you had to have status to get free internet, and having earned that perk it was then given away to all.

Wendy, I’d agree with that...in 2005.  But today, having reliable connectivity is a requirement for us poor schmucks still in the workforce who need to touch base while out of the office.  Hell, Regent would almost be better off just shutting off the internet and advertise it as “FREE Solitude!  Unplug for FREE!  Allow us to remove that pesky internet stress from your life with the FREE Regent Unplugged Experience!”

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, UUNetBill said:

I don’t know that I agree with that completely...the error was allowing all users internet access before they had adequate capacity installed.
 

Wendy, I’d agree with that...in 2005.  But today, having reliable connectivity is a requirement for us poor schmucks still in the workforce who need to touch base while out of the office.  Hell, Regent would almost be better off just shutting off the internet and advertise it as “FREE Solitude!  Unplug for FREE!  Allow us to remove that pesky internet stress from your life with the FREE Regent Unplugged Experience!”

 

You're right about the solitude.  I used to go to French Polynesia for a couple of weeks and completely unplug--I would tell the office that I was unreachable, they were dismayed, but it worked.  It was a wonderful way to de-stress.  But when you're at sea for a month or more, even retired people have to get things done, and be able to contact family, and pay bills.

 

But the poor schmucks still in the workforce could *pay* for their connectivity (and if they're lucky, charge it back to their companies).  This has the effect of making people careful about how their usage.  But on Regent those days are gone.

[UUNetBill]

58 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

But the poor schmucks still in the workforce could *pay* for their connectivity (and if they're lucky, charge it back to their companies).  This has the effect of making people careful about how their usage.  But on Regent those days are gone.

Well, true, BUT...

 

It’s 2019.  The technology exists.  WiFi is pretty much ubiquitous.  There’s absolutely no reason to get free WiFi in Starbucks but not on Regent.

 

If the technology wasn’t available I’d understand. But it is.  Regent needs to step up.

[gnomie1]

22 hours ago, bizinsider said:

Ha - he is not one to give up the ghost on anything, so that is no surprise. Very nice guy, but also little outward empathy. Glad to see there is so much chatter on this. I can't believe Regent doesn't monitor these pages and would hope that there is some official response - because they do so much well and responding would be the RIGHT thing to do. 

Don't hold your breath - the official responses from Regent are few and far between, unlike other travel blogs which have official representation that monitor and answer questions on an almost daily basis - this is a decision that comes from the C-suite, if Regent was interested in what their passengers are discussing and concerned about, they would allocate the resources to provide official responses.

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Well, true, BUT...

It’s 2019.  The technology exists.  WiFi is pretty much ubiquitous.  There’s absolutely no reason to get free WiFi in Starbucks but not on Regent..

Not really the same - satellite internet to a moving ship versus traditional broadband to a fixed location store on land - very different technical scenarios and costs

 

I agree that Regent need to fix it - as other cruises lines have or are at least further down the track with it. Providing access as part of the standard offer as part of the fare is not that unusual on a luxury line

 

Crystal do it for 2 devices per passenger and have done so for a couple of years now. Seabourn don’t provide it to everyone and charge around US$400 per single connection on a longer cruise. But I don’t think Regent can continue to claim to provide it and then consistently not deliver - the reputational damage it is doing can’t be good

[flossie009]

10 hours ago, Jonoro7 said:

Have a read of post 125 here:

An attempt yo quantify what a "good service" would be and what the costs, to Regent, would be.

The "error" has been giving internet access away to allcomers.

 

Thanks @Jonoro7. Your previous post was very informative.

It was also useful to be reminded of that previous thread. Unfortunately, some 18 months later, the internet service on Regent ships has not improved despite various promises along the way of improvements being implemented 🤨

[UUNetBill]

17 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

Not really the same - satellite internet to a moving ship versus traditional broadband to a fixed location store on land - very different technical scenarios and costs

Understood.  I wasn’t referring to the technical aspect of it as much as the expectation of it.  While it is quite a bit more challenging to provide reliable internet at sea, my point is that other lines appear to have it figured out - Regent needs to do it as well.

 

In this day and age, it’s an expectation - and to not have an advertised benefit provided, well, it’s discouraging.  But I’ll shut up now...the internet horse is long dead...time to stop beating it.

[Stickman1990]

2 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

In this day and age, it’s an expectation - and to not have an advertised benefit provided, well, it’s discouraging.  But I’ll shut up now...the internet horse is long dead...time to stop beating it.

You’re right - it’s a realistic expectation - especially when advertised as such. I’m not sailing Regent til 2021 so at least I have time on my side to allow them to get it fixed...

 

If I was a current Regent customer though I’d be making sure they know it’s impacting their customers and asking them what they’re doing about it - as you say it’s not a challenge unique to Regent and many other lines have it sorted 

[UUNetBill]

1 minute ago, Stickman1990 said:

You’re right - it’s a realistic expectation - especially when advertised as such. I’m not sailing Regent til 2021 so at least I have time on my side to allow them to get it fixed...

 

If I was a current Regent customer though I’d be making sure they know it’s impacting their customers and asking them what they’re doing about it - as you say it’s not a challenge unique to Regent and many other lines have it sorted 

Well, we’re on board in January - it’s supposed to be sorted by then.  We’ll see.

 

If it’s not any better I’ll be sure to let them know.  But me letting them know the internet issues are going to cause me to sail another line might not be much of a threat if I already have two more cruises booked.   😂

[captjohn]

Seams other cruise lines can do it!

 

https://britsonaship.com/2019/07/27/medallionnet-the-best-wi-fi-at-sea-is-on-the-way/

[SusieQft]

8 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Well, we’re on board in January - it’s supposed to be sorted by then.  We’ll see.

 

If it’s not any better I’ll be sure to let them know.  But me letting them know the internet issues are going to cause me to sail another line might not be much of a threat if I already have two more cruises booked.   😂

Actually, it could be a valid threat to tell them you are not making any new Regent bookings until after this is fixed, and meanwhile you are going to try one or more of the other luxury lines.  They still risk losing your ongoing business, even if you don't cancel your current bookings.  It could be a personal deadline for them to get their act together, but only if you felt that strongly about this one issue, of course.  

 

Who knows how you would like another luxury line until you try it?  It is easily possible to fall in love with any one of them, and then it is only human nature to go with the familiar instead of risking the unknown.  They encourage this with their loyalty programs.  Each of the luxury lines has a loyal group of passengers who have not tried the others, which is one reason I have my first Regent cruise booked for next year.  I love sailing on Crystal, but without trying Regent how do I know I wouldn't love Regent just as much?  Although I do like having a reasonably functional internet connection, so the comments on this thread and elsewhere suggest that item currently would not stack up in Regent's favor.  We even booked a concierge cabin, largely to get the four online connections.  Hopefully by October 2020, that will actually mean something.

Edited November 27, 2019 by SusieQft

[Travelcat2]

15 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Well, true, BUT...

 

It’s 2019.  The technology exists.  WiFi is pretty much ubiquitous.  There’s absolutely no reason to get free WiFi in Starbucks but not on Regent.

 

If the technology wasn’t available I’d understand. But it is.  Regent needs to step up.

 

Hi “poor smuck” that is still working (still laughing about that comment).  Just wanted to say that connectivity issues on Explorer are currently be worked on.  It will get worse before it gets better since they have to work on it when passengers are onboard.  So far, it has gone from not being able to log in all to being able to log in while all passengers are onboard (sea day) and have decent connectivity from inside of our suite and very good connectivity when we are on deck 5 in the seating areas.  

[mikenbob]

This is simply a matter of the willingness (or lack thereof) to pay for the infrastructure. Delta Airlines (among others) is in the beta phase of offering free internet access on all of their flights to all passengers regardless of class of travel.  Their planes carry a passenger count in many cases similar to a Regent ship. These planes fly all around the globe at speeds fair greater than a cruise ship. Their connectivity relies on satellites. The difference is that the airlines have realized that connectivity is important to world travelers and are investing accordingly. While I appreciate the concept of “disconnecting” while on vacation, this is less of a reality for many of passengers (including us).  FYI, we have traveled on Paul Gauguin many times and have always negotiated free internet as connectivity was a mandatory for a variety of reasons. This problem is 100% solvable by Regent, period. They have made a financial decision that it is simply not worth the investment at this time. My suspicion is that once they realize that they are losing passengers to their competitors, they will find the funds. We continue to travel on Regent because we adore the line. That said, the poor internet situation is giving us reason to consider other options.

[Sirlancelot]

On 11/11/2019 at 6:39 PM, Focused1 said:

Totally agree with you. There is absolutely no excuse for such consistently slow internet on the entire fleet. I have been on several of the luxury cruise ships lines (Silversea, Seabourn) in the last two years plus a premium line (Viking). All of them had internet far superior to Regent with great connectivity (even in the middle of the Tasman Sea) on ships where everyone had free internet. Regent needs to invest in the equipment needed to provide decent and consistent service. And Regent loyalists should stop making excuses for slow service. If other cruise ships can provide acceptable and reliable service for their passengers,  why can’t Regent?

Azamara has a similar sized ship and no problems with their internet this year. So it is Regent being cheap. This may keep us tire-kickers from that 25 or so day South America 2021 Mariner or Navigator Miami round trip we are considering. Thank you everyone for your posts. I just cannot be out of touch with ailing family members that long so I appreciate everyone posting as it really is going to make or break this very expensive consideration! 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 12/2/2019 at 2:26 PM, Sirlancelot said:

Azamara has a similar sized ship and no problems with their internet this year. So it is Regent being cheap. This may keep us tire-kickers from that 25 or so day South America 2021 Mariner or Navigator Miami round trip we are considering. Thank you everyone for your posts. I just cannot be out of touch with ailing family members that long so I appreciate everyone posting as it really is going to make or break this very expensive consideration! 

 

Of course, you pay for most internet on Azamara, right?  At least we did several years ago (got a couple of hundred free minutes that went in a flash.)

 

I really do sincerely hope they fix these problems before 2021!

[Sirlancelot]

That is right you pay. Maybe that is the difference!!

[carlylecat]

I don't understand why anyone cares if passengers pay separately for access to the internet service or not - Don't people pay an upcharge for a streaming service that does not stream already???

 

The issue is if everyone wanted internet service on the cruise it is not available - it would be even worse if they charged people to use the service now because it seems to be unusable - would it be better if people only used the internet for critical items; sure if consumption is cut it is easier to provide service; 

 

But there would be probably be better wine selections on board if people only drank wine from 8 to 10 PM every night - and I want to have wine whenever I want it and people should be able to get internet service whenever they want it as well - and if people want specialty wine they certainly  provide it for an extra cost - no doubt if you could guarantee 1 GB internet speed regardless of congestion on the network I am sure some of use would happily pay for it just as we pay for a nice Bordeaux or Champagne if we so desire.

 

The problem is you can get the fine wine - you cant get the fine internet - and that is a problem 

 

The real problem is in today's market how can this line survive the challenges coming from new carriers like Ritz Carlton and Scenic and new offerings from Sea Dream and others w/out ubiquitous and easy access to internet service - and as I am approaching my first Regent cruise I cant believe there will be no high speed readily available internet aboard   

 

I hope to hear that new networks get implemented when the ship gets to Miami and the next sailings start to improve - other wise I will spend all of my off ship time being connected through internet hot spots - what fun!

Edited December 4, 2019 by carlylecat

[kjbacon]

This really is a concern! From skimming this thread, this is supposed to be resolved by January? We board end of January and connectivity is of huge importance to us. We also just booked another trip for May and literally took the concierge suite instead of the superior suite because we need the multiple device perk. 

[flossie009]

For those concerned about accessing the “on-line” end of cruise survey, this is not affected by any problems of connecting to the internet.

It is my understanding that the survey does not require internet access (via satellite); rather you are simply connecting to the ship’s intranet (local network). This is the reason it cannot be completed after guests leave the ship.

The survey can be done on your own device (laptop, phone or tablet) with Wi-Fi or using a desktop in the computer room/business centre.

 

Comments on internet connectivity during the cruise need to be added to one of the “additional comments” boxes, as there are no specific questions about this service on the survey questionnaire ........................ I wonder why? 🙄

 

[CruisetheCs]

 

The internet connectivity has been an ongoing issue for all the many years I have traveled with Regent.  The internet was poor and sometimes unusable on the Explorer when I was onboard in September/October.  From other posts on CC it appears there are similar problems elsewhere among the fleet.  

Over the years management has promised improvements on different occasions, including at one point, a long-standing claim on the website of “fiber-optic” speeds.  Regent’s website now says that by January 2020 it will be “nearly doubling internet bandwidth” across its fleet.  But in reality what does this mean for guests? For example, if it were to mean potentially doubling internet speeds, we may likely still have pitiful internet service since double many of the measured speeds posted on CC will still be barely useable.  And for all the times when there is actually no reliable connection to the internet on Regent, double nothing is still nothing.  And bandwidth increases won't take care of infrastructure issues onboard which appear to be part of the connectivity problems in some suites or areas of the ships.

 

What I find amazing at this point is that Regent hasn’t responded on these boards or that Regent hasn’t issued meaningful clarifications and updates on its website and on its ships. How any company that touts a “luxury” image can fail to openly address a stream of complaints both onboard and on social media in this day and age is amazing.

 

Regent’s claims and its failures damage its credibility and reputation as a “luxury” cruise experience. It is time to stop treating guests (who pay thousands of dollars for a luxury cruise) like little children, sort of patting us on the head and promising over and over that everything is or will be fine.  

 

IMO, Regent’s management should step up and directly address the long history of promises and failures. Management should issue an apology for the poor service, they should issue clarifications of why they made unrealistic claims (e.g., fiber-optic speeds), they should offer a frank discussion of the past and current problems, and why the problems continue to exist. They should offer detailed information about promised improvements and exactly what it is that they are going to fix, e.g., exactly what speeds/service passengers can expect.  It is time to come clean, address the problem, and knock off the hype.

 

[morneau]

Unfortunately we canceled our upcoming cruise on Explorer a few days ago after reading troubling reports about the lack of reliable internet connectivity on board.  It seems clear that this is certainly not a new problem, and the thought of being unable to connect to important matters back home while at sea was a deal breaker for us.  We have enjoyed our past trips on Explorer but  we have too many people back home (work, elderly parents) to take such a chance.  I certainly will not book a future cruise unless and until this problem has been solved.

Edited December 9, 2019 by morneau