Norwegian Haven vs Reagent Seven Seas

[Bkrock]

We recently cruised on Norwegian for the first time in the haven on the getaway and thoroughly enjoyed it. While we enjoyed our cruise, the kids club did none of the activities they had listed on the two occasions we were successful in getting our 9 year old daughter into. Now for the ask- we are considering an Alaskan cruise (my wife and I have already been on one before and enjoyed it) but we’re not sure if darling daughter will enjoy it as much so we are looking at our options and considering Reagent Seven Seas instead. Have any of you been on both the NCL haven and the Reagent? Thoughts/ opinions on comparison of dining/ atmosphere/ and kid’s club or on-board activities? Thanks in advance!

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

We have sailed in the Haven numerous times, but only once on Regent's.  We actually are more likely to now sail Regent's since the Haven prices have gotten so crazy (at least for overseas, where Regent's provides business class air).  That being said, we have enjoyed both experiences, but I would be hesitant to take a younger child.  We are taking our son and DIL next year for our son's degree celebration.  Had he been graduating HS, I don't think this would have been the right cruise for him.

Thoughts:

     Dining......award goes to Regent (lobster in main dining room)

     Atmosphere.....award goes to Regent, but be aware that this is a MUCH older/mature crowd.  Things were much more sedate (what we wanted).

    On-board activites....Regents will be bocce ball, shuffle board, bean bag toss, mini-golf, bridge classes, and cooking classes (for a fee), along with a great library, the spa and casino.  NCL will have much more active activities, like rock climbing walls, arcades, water slides, and still have many of the same ones as Regents (although I haven't seen bridge or a cooking class).  I would think a younger person would find many more things to do on NCL, but that may depend upon their personality.

     Kids clubs....is there even such a thing on Regent's?  Granted, we were on a TA, so only remember seeing MAYBE 2 kids (under 21).

     Shows....award to NCL, lots of variety available.

 

Bottom line from our observations....it would be a very unusual child that would be happy on Regent's.  I think the variety of things to do on NCL would keep them more occupied.  YRMV  😉

[FlGoodShips]

2 hours ago, Bkrock said:

We recently cruised on Norwegian for the first time in the haven on the getaway and thoroughly enjoyed it. While we enjoyed our cruise, the kids club did none of the activities they had listed on the two occasions we were successful in getting our 9 year old daughter into. Now for the ask- we are considering an Alaskan cruise (my wife and I have already been on one before and enjoyed it) but we’re not sure if darling daughter will enjoy it as much so we are looking at our options and considering Reagent Seven Seas instead. Have any of you been on both the NCL haven and the Reagent? Thoughts/ opinions on comparison of dining/ atmosphere/ and kid’s club or on-board activities? Thanks in advance!

A nine year old on Regent...No.  Not much to do for children. NCL would be much better choice. And hopefully Splash Academy will reopen fully. 

Again, NCL better for families with children.

[LisaDee]

2 hours ago, Bkrock said:

While we enjoyed our cruise, the kids club did none of the activities they had listed on the two occasions we were successful in getting our 9 year old daughter into.

 

This must have been due to the covid hampered staffing impact or covid protocols.  This was not our experience in pre-covid times when our kiddos were younger.  If you’re booking Alaska I assume it’s next summer 2023?    I would hope that the kids club is back to normal by then but either way I agree with the above posters that NCL is still a better choice for kids than Regent.  There is more for them to do outside the kids club than they would have on Regent.  Also look into Royal Caribbean, they are great for kids.

[Cobber25]

On one of my two Regent cruises I recall there being a single child on board. This is not a line for families with children. Now that I think about it, a young newlywed couple attracted quite a bit of attention, also. They received many, many congrats because we all recognized them each time we saw them around the ship. 😄

[complawyer]

ive posted before that ncl has priced me out of the market on the new prima.  regent is way,way, way out of my price range, and even when i book a haven suite, comparing one to the other is like apples to oranges. i would expect more  on the regent based on costs/price alone.

[FlGoodShips]

For the sake of the 9 year old, go with NCL.

So much more for her to do. Have fun. Hopefully Splash Academy will be fully open. She will love it.

[cruiseny4life]

I went through a similar struggle to your family when trying to convince my husband to book a cruise. I went back and forth between NCL, Regent, and RCL. RCL was easy to scrap as it didn't have a Haven area (it appears the newer ships may be getting these), but still sounds like Coastal Kitchen is meh.

 

The decision between Regent and NCL was hard. I'm going to take this more from an adult perspective, than a child perspective, as 1) we don't have kids, but 2) more importantly, the cruise needs to be for the adults as well. 

 

- Most important for us (maybe not so much for you), NCL allows us to wear shorts, t-shirts, and flippie floppies in the dining areas. Regent does not. Yes, NCL has exceptions, but not many. 

- Regent attracts an older crowd (so I'm told). We would prefer to have people around our age onboard - no dig at the older crowd. I love many of you here, and definitely enjoy hanging out with older people IRL.

- We do want to sail with friends in the future, and Regent's prices would decrease the number of our friends that could afford traveling with us. 

- The thermal suite is not available on all ships in Regent's fleet. This is a really important detail for us.

- Regent doesn't have enough east coast departures for us. We'd prefer not to fly (I fly too much for work). We also don't care to see the world on a ship. For those trips, we take land-based trips so we can really explore the region we're in. 

- We (as adults) want the fun activities, such as waterslides, mini golf, go-karts, and laser tag. Regent doesn't offer those, at all. 

 

*For you, and your child, there are only "select sailings" that offer the Club Mariner program, so that would decrease your selection of cruises.*

 

Obviously, this post only compares NCL's Haven with Regent, as any other comparison would be impossible between the two products. We've also chosen to only sail in the Haven, though frequent visitors to Cruise Critic have seen me wonder about just getting a balcony stateroom at some time. 

 

I know we haven't sailed on Regent, so can't directly compare the experience, but hopefully listing why we did not choose Regent will be helpful for you.