On board Solendor!

[artlee]

At long last we are on board. First time Regent! Embarkation was quick

and easy. We took a car service from Delray Beach and got here way early  11:30. No problem. Eating at la veranda. Definite upgrade from other ships we have been on. The ship is beautiful and the staff is super friendly 

[artlee]

So far masks not needed. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We recently did our first Regent cruise, too.  Will be interested to see what you think in comparison to other cruises.  We were blown away by how much better Regent is than all of our previous cruises.

 

Joanie

[Zqueeze1]

Artlee:  have a wonderful cruise 🚢 and keep us posted on your impressions.  Have a drink for me at the pool bar. 
Z and TB

[irishwitchy]

Like the new name for the ship!  Enjoy! 

[islandchick]

Wow, guess we had a totally different experience. Everyone packed in like sardines trying to check into multiple checkpoints with redundant paperwork checks. It was very warm, no bathrooms, no places for anyone to sit down. We were part of the lucky group who had their Bermuda form finalized by the Bermuda government. We heard other people on the boat were in that situation for over 3 hours trying to get the Bermuda information completed. Even though the Bermuda forms have been sent to the Bermuda government they were not completed by Bermuda in a timely manner. After all that no champagne on arrival to the ship. I will say however that all the staff we have spoken to are extremely friendly and helpful. Ship is beautiful. Lunch was very good at la veranda. Dinner was hit and miss at Seti Marie. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and hassle free because today left me exhausted.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Island,

 

Sorry you had such a rough start! I didn't think lines were so bad. Tent was warm, but really appreciated A/C in the main terminal when we got there. Agree about paperwork. Kept putting it away and getting it back out! When I got my key and the nice lady said I could put the papers away, I said, "Are you SURE?"

 

Dinner at Prime 7 was lovely.

 

Stop by the Pool Bar at 2 and I will "buy" you a drink!

[artlee]

Island Chick, it sounds like you had our experience on Oceania in December. Horror show. I assume our good fortune this time was due to getting there so early. They ask you not to and it was not our intention to arrive so early but in the end it was a blessing. I agree there is redundancy in having to go to the tent to check paperwork/covid info and then head over to check in. Certainly could be handled more efficiently. But I guess due to our early arrival there was never a wait or long line. I think the longest was maybe 5 people. At least unlike Oceania check in we did not need to have another test and wait for those results. I’m sorry it was not the same for you.

[artlee]

Our first meal at La Veranda after check in was very good. Not many people had arrived so we were one of the first there. Prime rib was excellent, veal scallopini good and Boston cream pie was very good too. We  toured the ship waiting for the announcement that cabins were ready which came around 2 I think. The ship is lovely, probably the nicest of any ship we have been on. After having a drink in the Observation Lounge (beautiful lounge) we came back to the cabin to find our luggage delivered. 5 bags!! We are spending a month touring Europe after so this is by far the most luggage we have ever had. We are in a Superior Suite and it’s very nice. Plenty of room for us to not feel crowded. Big closets with tons of storage. The bathroom is very nice but the pictures on line don’t really give you the sense of how narrow it is. That said it is very nice and not really complaining. 

 

Dinner at Compoass Rose was also hit or miss. Service was quite slow, but the Branzino I had and the Salmon my wife had were very good, It is a lovely setting for such a large restaurant. Our waiter did not write the orders given down and unfortunately got a few things wrong. I think better to write the orders down? I hope the service improves.

 

We had planned to go to the show but we were tired and retired t bed quite early. Hopefully today we will be able to stay upo a bit after, lol.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

We went to the show and it was a lot of fun. Lots of songs to sing along with. Regent orchestra,  Kasha and Boogie, David, the performers and a new pair of dancers all performed. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

I love seeing these reports on the Splendor!  Thanks for posting @artlee, @islandchick, @2012_Alaska_bound, we will be on Splendor in November, so I’m enjoying reading about her ahead of time.  Hope you all have a great time!

 

Joanie

[ronrick1943]

Nice that all of you are taking the time to write and post, thanks for taking the time-looking forward to reading more about your trip.

[pnsnkr]

3 hours ago, artlee said:

Island Chick, it sounds like you had our experience on Oceania in December. Horror show. I assume our good fortune this time was due to getting there so early. They ask you not to and it was not our intention to arrive so early but in the end it was a blessing. I agree there is redundancy in having to go to the tent to check paperwork/covid info and then head over to check in. Certainly could be handled more efficiently. But I guess due to our early arrival there was never a wait or long line. I think the longest was maybe 5 people. At least unlike Oceania check in we did not need to have another test and wait for those results. I’m sorry it was not the same for you.

 

Yep, big part of the problem was in opting for the Regent hotel package - AKA Brickell - that was definitely not worth the upcharge by itself, and on top of that, we were all packed into multiple bus loads and dropped off at the terminal at around the same time; nevermind having an assigned check-in time of 11:30a by Regent as this wasn't honored by the ground staff in assigning us a time slot that would have got us to make our time window. 

 

The whole process was nowhere near 6-star luxury, more like 2.5 stars at most.  The Bermuda TA was a whole nother cluster that didn't help anyone have a pleasant start to the voyage.

 

Next time, we are making our own hotel arrangements.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by pnsnkr

[NCCruzQueen]

4 hours ago, artlee said:

 

Dinner at Compoass Rose was also hit or miss. Service was quite slow, but the Branzino I had and the Salmon my wife had were very good, It is a lovely setting for such a large restaurant. Our waiter did not write the orders given down and unfortunately got a few things wrong. I think better to write the orders down? I hope the service improves.

 

 

@artlee Interesting that the waiter didn't write down your dinner choices.  I am just off the Navigator and the waiters took our orders down on a tablet in all the dining rooms.

[artlee]

This morning we went to Compose Rose for breakfast. Once again I would say hit or miss. The staff was very friendly but way to slow. We ordered coffee and it took probably 10 minutes to get.   They forgot the juice and then must have remembered another 10 minutes later. The food arrived 35 minutes after we ordered. Food was good, not great. Think we might give the Rose a rest for a couple days. We are thinking of trying Sette Mari tonight.

 

In our suite I don’t think I mentioned our balcony is very nice and quite roomy. I do wish they had ottomans for the chairs but I managed to nap out there without one.

 

We went to bed early last night but prior to that I never saw much action in the casino. Anybody see much later in the evening.

 

I hate to say it but based on others experience I wonder if the best solution is to arrive very early for boarding. I hate to say that as they ask you not to, but if they can’t handle it what is the solution. Agree, for a 6* line this is a terrible way to start your cruising experience. I am sure it will get better, but why start out this way?

 

BTW, on our lunch yesterday a bartender came around selling a special for a champagne tasting event. $432 for each  person trying the tasting. Welcome to your upscale cruise line, lol. We’re not in that position in life so we passed. I pushed the budget to book this cruise so definitely not doing this. I’m sure it was great though. 

 

We are comparing this cruise with Oceania for our next adventure. So we are measuring everything. Obviously each thing is a personal thing and what I think is better others may feel the opposite. It’s early but so far I like both lines.

 

I have taken more pictures with my camera but not sure if this old guy can figure out how to transfer them from my camera here. I’ll take look later. I hope things are improving for Islandchick and pnsnkr. 

[RetiredandTravel]

1 hour ago, NCCruzQueen said:

 

@artlee Interesting that the waiter didn't write down your dinner choices.  I am just off the Navigator and the waiters took our orders down on a tablet in all the dining rooms.

 

Yes.  I thought the orders have been electronic for a while now, they were on the Mariner in 2019.  Maybe something down?

 

 Islandchick very sorry to hear about your Setti Mari experience, hopefully it was just an off night and Artlee has a better time tonight.

 

I've never seen any upselling of the wine/champagne, very strange.

 

 

[artlee]

Nice library but I am missing those nice overstuffed chairs and ottomans from Oceania. I did fall asleep a couple times in them. Common theme?

 

[moogwan]

Hello artlee and others on this cruise. If you have a moment, could you stop by the Meridien Lounge and tell Viktoriia and Nemanja that Susan and Paul say hello? Thank you in advance!

[cwn]

4 hours ago, pnsnkr said:

 

Yep, big part of the problem was in opting for the Regent hotel package - AKA Brickell - that was definitely not worth the upcharge by itself, and on top of that, we were all packed into multiple bus loads and dropped off at the terminal at around the same time; nevermind having an assigned check-in time…………..Next time, we are making our own hotel arrangements.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

Yes.  I thought the orders have been electronic for a while now, they were on the Mariner in 2019.  Maybe something down?……….I've never seen any upselling of the wine/champagne, very strange.

 

 

The only provided Regent transfer that has gone smoothly for us is the one for the WC. We were checked in the night before at the hotel and we’re transported starting about 10:30 in 12 passenger mini buses at 15 min intervals. Went from bus to security to the ship to the suite.
Regular night before hotel and transfer have been big buses, lines, confusion and hurry up and wait. You pre assigned check in time is voided by using the  hotel transfer. We still use the free hotel night but do our own transfer with our luggage in a hire car or taxi. Worth the cost of the taxi 10 times over to us.( and a drop in the bucket for the extra cost compared to the cost of the cruise, and a whole lot smoother ) On the ship things usually go very smoothly. Regent staff is well trained. But on land Regent is dependent on many different providers the move 100s of people. Lots of room for problems!

The waitstaff on the Navigator was using tablets to take orders in 2018…. They were new then. 
We have been invited to partake in special wine etc tasting,  usually a lunch affair before with a cost.

Edited April 6, 2022 by cwn

[RetiredandTravel]

Our experience is Regent farms out the staff for pre/post cruise logistics.  In Tokyo we had a lovely group of young people running the show that IMO had no idea what they were doing.  Chaos.  We did get to the ship with no problems.

 

There are always invitations for wine events ($$$), I've never seen employees going around to tables soliciting people.  Seems cheesy.  That was my impression here maybe not the case.

 

 

[cwn]

Thanks to all of you taking time to on report on the Splendor. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by cwn

[cwn]

3 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Our experience is Regent farms out the staff for pre/post cruise logistics.  In Tokyo we had a lovely group of young people running the show that IMO had no idea what they were doing.  Chaos.  We did get to the ship with no problems.

 

There are always invitations for wine events ($$$), I've never seen employees going around to tables soliciting people.  Seems cheesy.  That was my impression here maybe not the case.

 

 

We have been offered a invitation at times at dinner when talking  to the wine steward about a wine choice at dinner. I don’t consider that selling …. Like they push wine packages and tasting nightly on the mass market ships.

[RetiredandTravel]

3 hours ago, artlee said:

 

 

BTW, on our lunch yesterday a bartender came around selling a special for a champagne tasting event. $432 for each  person trying the tasting. Welcome to your upscale cruise line, lol. We’re not in that position in life so we passed. I pushed the budget to book this cruise so definitely not doing this. I’m sure it was great though. 

 

 

 

This is why I left the comment. Maybe I have the wrong impression.

Edited April 6, 2022 by RetiredandTravel

[cwn]

3 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

This is why I left the comment. Maybe I have the wrong impression.

Or maybe this a new to the Regent style waiter that does not  know the ropes yet. Let’s hope!

[islandchick]

Today has been lazy for us. They did have a wine tasting scheduled for 10:45 am but it was a bit too early for us. Had lunch at the Caribbean buffet which was just ok and underwhelming. Went to the coffee connection and had very friendly waitress who made a very nice mocha and cappuccino. Hubby played in the poker tournament and had fun. Engineer came by the suite to hook up our travel dvd player to the TV which was very appreciated. Our butler Zahid is amazing, providing everything we could need or want and will be bringing us dinner from Compass Rose tonight on our balcony. Our room steward has kept our room spotless. The crew could not be better. So far food is a little too hit or miss, hoping that improves.