Live from the Explorer, from new Regent Cruisers…

[Brownie54]

Terrific news!

We applaud you for how you handled this situation and thanks for giving us such informed reports. Now get out there and have some fun!😀

[cerise638]

Love your positivity. Hope to meet you both on a future cruise.  I am so envious that you can have an Explorer pool grill burger.  The best ever burgers we have ever had full stop

[spindrift]

We all tested negative today. Woo hoo

and folks, thank you for your quarantine novel. You have a fabulous attitude, and let many learn from you.   And I loved one of the posters comments “make lemoncello out of lemons.”  Gotta appreciate his mind. It is in the right place  — better than lemonade   😁

[Cef123]

SO Happy for you both.  😄😄👍👍.

I’ve been following your posts and keeping fingers crossed.

Enjoy the Explorer with your new found freedom. We are planning to be sailing on her in the Mediterranean in May. So looking forward to it and (again) keeping our fingers crossed that all things Covid will have calmed down by then.

Thank You for keeping us updated and wishing you all the best for future Regent sailings. Hope to meet you in person someday. 😄

[NCCruzQueen]

@gcorgain so happy you and your partner have been released.  Enjoy your time on Explorer!!

[Fredrik]

Enjoy the rest of your cruise! We can’t wait to board Explorer in June over Midsummers. Take care.

[gcorgain]

Good morning. I’m writing this from the Observation lounge as we sail in to Ensenada.

 

Yesterday was fantastic. When we got out of quarantine we went up to the Tex Mex buffet at the Pool Grill for lunch. We had just grabbed a plate when our Compass Rose waiter came over very excited to see us. Soon it seemed the entire staff was greeting us like long lost family. After some walking around and a drink at the Pool Bar we went back to the room for a bit before dinner. We walked in and the GM called to welcome us back. We also got a call from restaurant reservations asking if we wanted any specialty reservations. A prime time last night at Pacific Rim and tonight at Chartreuse!

 

We started the evening at the Explorer lounge with the wonderful duo. Someone soon came over and asked if we were Greg and Aaron from Cruise Critic and we soon had 10 new friends. Next was dinner. Pacific Rim was wonderful. I even have food photos…

[gcorgain]

The service and food at Pacific Rim was amazing. Best specialty restaurant we have been to at sea. We started with the Crab Roll, Duck Spring Rolls, and Beef Tataki Rolls. For mains we had the Miso Cod and Fragrant Duck. We were looking over the desert menu when the manager came over and asked if she could bring us something. The “something” was a sampler which again was excellent.

 

After dinner we went to the show, a guest performer who was good, not great. Then finished the evening at the Explorer lounge. What a great night!

[CruisetheCs]

I'm so glad you are enjoying your cruise after having that quarantine experience that must have felt like it would never end ( at least, that is how it would have felt to me).  Happy days are here again 🛳️  Enjoy!

[vegasdriven]

Just one more voice to say what a great addition you are to the Regent CC family. 
Such a class act!

[travelwell]

I am so glad to read of your freedom from covid captivity after you informative travelog. We were all cheering for you. You fit right in with the Regent family and we hope to meet you at some point.

[Onkel_Ken]

gcorgain,

 

This has been one of the most uplifting threads that I have read since COVID showed its ugly head. I have read many seriously depressing accounts of quarantine on different cruise lines. I am very pleased to learn that Regent has showed it premium service by minimizing the grief for those stuck in this unfortunate situation.

 

Your updates has brought great comfort to many that were on the fence of cancelling or going ahead with their cruise.

 

Thank you so much for such excellent updates during this trying time. As you can tell, many of us have had that fear of being positive not so much of being sick but of being confined. I am sure that most of us are double vaccinated and boosted but still are able unfortunately to get a breakthrough infection with Omicron variant or one of the other variants.

 

I can simply say WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

[NCCruzQueen]

6 hours ago, gcorgain said:

 

Miso Glazed Black Cod - the best meal at sea!

 

 

[SireDoime]

On 1/14/2022 at 3:40 PM, gcorgain said:

The one main rule I would suggest is make sure you specify everything you want. So when ordering dinner from the compass rose menu, you must specify if you want bread and butter. Make sure you specify the butter or you will probably just get the bread with no butter. There have been several similar examples (e.g. we have ordered a bottle of Merlot and no wine glasses came, a New York steak had no steak knife). They are happy to send stuff up, but your food might get cold. So we make a list and check it before ordering.

 

That's not 'normal' Regent, very odd 😕. Everything listed is common enough one should not have to ask, especially on a cruise costing five figures. Hopefully 🤷🏿‍♂️, they'll go back to 'normal service' by the end of the year.

[SireDoime]

On 1/14/2022 at 3:40 PM, gcorgain said:

We are very stir crazy and would love to get out of this room. That being said, when I compare the food and treatment we have had, to the media accounts from other lines (yes, that is you Celebrity), the experience just cannot compare. 

 

🤗🌞

[SireDoime]

OK, I'm caught up now. I'm glad to read that you're out and about!

The food photos make me wish my December sailing on Splendor would hurry up! 😅

I'm glad Regent made you as comfortable as possible during your quarantine.

Now you can enjoy the rest of the cruise 🍾🍷🛳️!

And pleased to hear you got to meet fellow cruiser from this board!

 

God bless! 🙇🏿‍♂️

[gwesq]

I have to say that this has been one of the most interesting threads I have ever read on CC, and I've been a member here a very long time.   I started reading this to get a feel for what a Regent cruise is like these days, since we stopped sailing on Regent several years ago, and moved to Crystal.  Now that Crystal is Kaput (at least temporarily), looking at Regent (and Seabourn & Silversea)again.   The treatment you received on Regent, compared to the many other lines I've been reading about, was head & shoulders above the rest.   There was that little bit of "luck" involved, that the quarantine cabins were full (sometimes it's better to be lucky than good), but it sounds like even the quarantine cabin you would have gone to was better than what other lines were doing.

 

Congratulations on maintaining your positivity in the face of a negative. And Thank You for the wonderful documentation.  The start of your Memoir?  

[gcorgain]

Well we are back in Los Angeles and I thought I should wrap things up with my collective thoughts based on our experience, along with my final comparison to Celebrity’s Suite Class. This might get a bit lengthy, so I am going to break into sections. Obviously these are my opinions, and other may vary. I’m very interested in other perspectives.

 

For purposes of comparison, I’ll be comparing to a Sky Suite on Celebrity. These are listed as 300 sq ft + a 79 sq ft Balcony. The Explorer Concierge Cabin is listed at 332 sq ft plus a balcony ranging from 83 sq ft to 132 sq ft. We had one of the larger balconies.

 

CABIN

Due to our quarantine, I felt I got to know our cabin a bit too well on the Explorer. I think both Regent and Celebrity offer good products at this level, with some distinct advantages for each:

 

Regent Advantages:

1.     The bathroom with double sinks and separate shower was a major improvement over Celebrity.
 

2.     The walk-in closet, and much more additional storage throughout the suite.
 

3.     Great balcony with superior furniture and a lounger.
 

4.     Both an indoor and outdoor table appropriate for eating. Given our quarantine, this was particularly useful on this trip, but probably not so important normally.
 

5.     Fairly large range of on demand programming. Again, given the quarantine this was more useful than normal. Celebrity typically has only a few free offerings and a larger pay per view set of programming, even in suites.
 

6.     Complete mini bar inclusion, including full bar delivery with room service. While this was a major plus given our quarantine, we often like to finish the evening with a nightcap on the balcony, and so we consider this offering significant.
 

7.     Free laundry and laundry rooms with irons. I’m not sure that this belongs in cabins, but I’m listing it here. I love this benefit. Celebrity has some limited free laundry in higher suites, and at higher levels of their travel program, but no place to just iron a wrinkled shirt, and they have limits. I love being able to send things out every few days.

Celebrity advantages:

1.     The Celebrity beds are much more comfortable. The Regent beds, despite having great linens, are just too soft. I probably only got two good night’s sleep out of 16, and that is a complaint I’ve never had on a Celebrity ship. I realize that bed comfort is something that is very individual, so there are probably people out there that would feel exactly the opposite.
 

2.     Celebrity has Butlers at the entry level suite class, while Regent reserves these for higher level suites. While not a huge deal for us, we do like the butler service, and as a whole I would say cabin service is therefore slightly better on Celebrity. Regent service is still more than fine.
 

3.     Available aft facing corner Sky Suites with very large balconies. We love an aft view, and while this is easy enough to get in entry level Celebrity Suites you need to go up several levels to get that view on Regent.

 

Conclusion: TIE. If it weren’t for the bed comfort issues I would give this category to Regent, but sleep is important.

[gcorgain]

FOOD

Regent Advantages

1.     Luminae (Celebrity’s suite restaurant) has exceptional service and food quality but a very small (although rotating) menu. Compass Rose delivered similar service and food quality but with massive choice. Also, some Compass Rose dishes were much smaller than others. This allowed for choosing a smaller entrée if you weren’t as hungry.
 

2.     La Veranda was a much more relaxing experience with superior service over Celebrity’s buffet. We ate breakfast most days in La Veranda (outside of quarantine) and enjoyed it, but would rarely choose the buffet on Celebrity.
 

3.     The Pool Grill was night and day better than Celebrity’s substandard offering In this space, and the Specialty Restaurants were wonderful at lunch. Clear advantage for Regent.
 

4.     Specialty Restaurants. We love Murano (French Restaurant) on Celebrity, but without exception we preferred Regent’s specialty restaurants. Pacific Rim was our favorite, and it rivaled good land-based options in both service, décor, and food. Both Chartreuse and Prime 7 were solid as well. And this doesn’t even consider the fact that these restaurants are all included on Regent and extra cost on Celebrity.
 

5.     Coffee Connection/El Baccio. Both of these deliver similar products and service, but it was easier to get a table at Regent’s offering, and there was also the option of outdoor seating. Edge to Regent.
 

6.     Room Service. As everyone here knows we had more room service on this cruise than all our previous cruises combined. Room Service is normally a snack or breakfast option for us, and only occasionally a full lunch or dinner. In this category of suite all courses are served at once, meaning later courses are lukewarm. This isn’t the best meal, and isn’t really the fault of the cruise line. I’d say the breakfast and lunch menus are equivalent for both lines, but Regent gives you Compass Rose at dinner, which really makes the choices wide open. They will also deliver bottles of wine and/or cocktails at no charge.

 

Celebrity Advantages

None

 

Conclusion: While I enjoy most Celebrity cuisine (particularly the suite restaurant), the Regent experience is a significant step up in the food department.

[CruisetheCs]

thanks for the great review and comparisons of Regent and Celebrity.  And thanks for sharing your quarantine experience on Regent as well as the other parts of your cruise.

 

I hope you both are doing okay now that you are back home.

[Onkel_Ken]

Gcorgain,

 

Simply excellent WriteUp!

[gcorgain]

Thanks everyone, and we are fine. Crossing our fingers that our Rams can beat the GOAT tomorrow. I hope to finish the rest of my review tomorrow.

[1982CruzStart]

thanks for your comparison. We have done both Regent and Celebrity suite class and find Regent  superior though we had good experiences on Celebrity. Fortunately for us we don't have the bed issue as i find Regent beds more comfortable than Celebrity beds. I have looked at Celebrity suite offerings but find they are now as expensive if not more expensive than Regent when i add in all the extras you have to pay for. 

Your posts have been a great read and so appreciate your honest comments - good or bad.  I hope your next Regent cruise is wonderful with none of the issues this one gave you. 

[chuckw]

One of the best boards I have ever read.  We agree with your comparison, the biggest drawback to Celebrity suites below royal is no separate shower.  I did feel compelled to do some extra tipping on our recent Celebrity cruise as it seemed the norm, while I only leave to the crew fund on Regent.  Hope to meet you on a future cruise.

[califsealion]

Thank you for posting your review and your updates from quarantine.  I'm glad to hear how well you were treated.