Is Regent still worth the cost?

[islandchick]

I have travelled on Regent in April of 2022 on Splendor. We thought that it was really great and out of Seabourn, Crystal, and Regent, we thought Regent was the best luxury experience. We are considering taking a Alaska cruise with Regent in 2023 but I am very concerned after reading recent reviews on CC. I would appreciate any constructive comments good or bad regarding the current Regent product from cruisers that have sailed in the last couple of months. We are mostly concerned with service and food quality. Thanks

[Gilly]

We got back from a three week cruise on board Navigator a couple of weeks ago and our whole experience was exactly the Regent we know and love.  

[pammy]

Just returned from Regent Alaska on Mariner.  I've come to the conclusion that it is difficult for Regent to give us the same product in 7 days that they do in longer cruises.  The crew is stressed out having to turn everything over every week.  They don't have time to get to know the passengers and some of the things they do on longer cruises are either squeezed together or just not there.  The food was not what we remembered and we have sailed over 500 nights. The excursions were fine.  We had good weather which always helps. They may be shorthanded like everyone else is in the world.  We are booked on a longer cruise this fall and looking forward to it and are thinking positive thoughts that all the little blips will be worked out.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

@islandchick I was on the Splendor TA with you and agree it was wonderful!

 

Just came back from the 3 week Norway / Scotland cruise with @Gilly on Navigator, and it was wonderful too!

 

My friend Emily just got off her Baltic / Norway cruise on Splendor, and she had nothing but wonderful things to say again.

 

My next Regent cruise will be on Grandeur through Panama Canal in December 2023. Then I have one booked for May 2024, two weeks in Alaska on the Explorer, and one booked August 2024 to Iceland & Greenland on Navigator.

 

So, upshot I I think it is worth it, just wish I could go more often!

 

 

[JandKsVistas]

This is our first Regent Cruise. We have sailed on Silversea, Oceania, Viking Ocean. We haven’t even left port in Vancouver and we already love it!  I know it is a short seven day cruise onSeven Seas Mariner, but just the welcome and the people and the attention to detail have grabbed us. My husband contacted Regent-before the the trip to ask about his preferred drink in the ships bars and when we entered our cabin it was there, with preferred mixes. We may be new converts to Regent!

[SWFLAOK]

The second cruise we ever took was a Regent cruise from Vancouver to Seward in August on Mariner. Our first cruise ever was the previous January from Papeete to the Marquessas and back on the Paul Gauguin. We enjoyed that first cruise much more than our second cruise. In fact, we enjoyed traveling around Alaska in an RV for a week after our first Regent cruise much more than the cruise itself.

However, we have taken 3 Regent cruises since then, Barcelona to Venice, and Singapore to Singapore, with a  back to back Singapore to Sydney, all on Voyager, and we will be on Splendor from London to London and London to Barcelona starting next week. We also have booked a 2024 Bangkok to Abu Dhabi on Navigator. We've done the Paul Gauguin from Papeete to the Cook Islands, and from Papeete to Fiji, and are booked on Fiji to Bali in January. We've done 4 Caribbean cruises, 3 on SeaDream and one on HAL We did a Silver Seas cruise from Barbados to Manaus and back, and are booked on the Silver Dawn world cruise in 2025.

Of all of those cruises, the Alaska cruise was our least favorite. There was nothing wrong with the Regent Mariner, but the ports just didn't do it for us, and I'm sure they're even more crowded now than they  were a few years before Covid. Large ships full of people in small ports with a limited number of things to see and do, and almost nowhere to go on your own, with iffy weather even in August doesn't make for an ideal cruise.

[JandKsVistas]

We have been to Alaska three times on different cruise lines. We love Alaska, the scenery the people, the history, the wildlife. You either love Alaska or you don’t. Not sure a cruise line could change that. I was just answering the question about Regent. 

[islandchick]

Thank you for all the replies, keep them coming. I want to clarify that I am asking for comments on Regent not on Alaska. I have been on Regent and loved it but I am concerned due to recent reviews.  I have been to Alaska many times and love it, there is so much to see and do for me (I love wildlife and nature). 

[parrothd80]

Recently had the pleasure in August of a 12 day North Sea/Baltic Sea cruise on the Splendor. Have to say it was amazing!! Not sure what reviews on other Regent ships have stated, but find it hard to believe it was less than a Five Star cruise. Ours was seamless on the cruise side. We did have air challenges at it seems everyone does of late. Our flight got cancelled at midnight the day before we were to fly to London and we ended up having to fly from Charlotte NC to Denver, then to London. Was a bit of a longer trip than we had expected, but ended up being the only glitch we experienced. I think that some of the issues are just getting things back to normal after two years of no cruising at all. Hope your decision is to stick with Regent!!!

[mrlevin]

Islandchick, we are on day 94 of a 94 night cruise and I can tell you that Regent is as good as it ever was.  As for cost it is all relative. I hope you are taking advantage of every discount available including onboard booking and SSS and TA discount of 10% or even more.  We also find that booking our own flights help   
 

Regent experience is still fantastic. 
 

marc

[cwbegg]

Totally agree with mrlevin (Marc).  We are also on day 94 of the 94 Arctic Grand Voyage and experienced above and beyond service, food and drink.  All staff is exemplary.  It was impossible to single out a few for the Cruise Review because all went above and beyond.

[cwn]

I was beginning to think I was dreaming after these last two threads. We have had a number of glowing reports recently from the various ships. At least according to what I have been reading.

We will find out in Dec with more than month on two different ships.

Edited September 8, 2022 by cwn

[briar14]

1 hour ago, cwbegg said:

Totally agree with mrlevin (Marc).  We are also on day 94 of the 94 Arctic Grand Voyage and experienced above and beyond service, food and drink.  All staff is exemplary.  It was impossible to single out a few for the Cruise Review because all went above and beyond.

We were on your cruise for one segment (Copenhagen-Amsterdam) and had a great time even after quarantining for Covid. Our 2021-22 holiday cruise on Mariner caused us to question the Regent experience, but Navigator allayed that concern. We have three more cruises reserved. Next one is Lisbon-Cape Town in November.

 

 

 

[islandchick]

I am very glad to hear about all the positive experiences. I can now book without fear. Thank you all very much. 

[2012_Alaska_bound]

@mrlevin sending you a picture via email I took of you and Mrs. Levin during Beatles Night on the Nav.
Hope the rest of your cruise was wonderful. Was sad this morning when I realized you all were disembarking today.

[mrlevin]

On 9/9/2022 at 10:02 AM, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

@mrlevin sending you a picture via email I took of you and Mrs. Levin during Beatles Night on the Nav.
Hope the rest of your cruise was wonderful. Was sad this morning when I realized you all were disembarking today.

Still no email Levinmr at gmail dot com. 

[MiamiCruiser52]

These are my considered throughts about Regent:

 

Four of us were on a pre-Christmas Splendor cruise in the Carribbean. Overall, my expectations were not met (e.g., cheap included wines that I could by at Target for $15 and which I would never order at a restaurant; spotty food quality and service at the pool grill; very bland excursions).  There were a number of pluses:  Chartreuse in particular, which was spectacular.  Compass Rose was surprisingly good.  Service was generally very good throughout the ship, with exceptions.

 

The same group of four are booked on the Bali-Bangkolk cruise in 2023 in Penthouse suites.  This will be a very expensive trip for us, particuarly since we built a lengthy vacaton around the cruise beforehand and afterward.  Already Hong Kong has been cancelled from the itinerary and now Bangkok is the featured ending port.  My wife and I would not have booked the cruise without Hong Kong but now we are stuck (cancelling the entire cruise was not a viable option given our pre- and post-cruise travel plans). The Bangkok hotel in the post-cruise land program is a Sheraton convention hotel that sells for $100 per night.  The included tours in Bangkok look like souvenir shopping.  Cambodia was also substituted in for a day stop, but the "excursions" are all a half-a-day at a beach.  The beach!  Really???  I'm 63 and don't need to sunbathe.  The itinerary change also created signficant disruptions in our intra-Asia flights.  (I did write to Regent twice through its portal to express my dismay.  Neither email was answered.  I then forwarded my emails to my travel agent who passed them on to someone in Regent sales.  Regent's response to the TA -- but not to me -- was "Sorry, there is nothing we can do."  Of course, that is not true.  Regent could have done something to amerliorate the changes, but it eleced not to and did not even bother to reply to me.) 

 

I'm trying to keep an open mind for what should have been a phenomenal cruise and vacation of a lifetime, but, based on my experience on Splendor and the way Regent has handled the Asia itinerary changes, I am girding myself.  That is not the mindset I want going into this vacation......    

[Techno123]

We have some similar concerns re an October 2023 cruise which includes a stopover in HK in between the 2 B2B cruises, a couple of days around Taiwan and a post cruise stay in Hong Kong.

we can't blame Regent for the actions of President Xi, however, the HK element was the key part of the cruise for us and if this can't be offered then I would not want to do the cruise at all.

 

it's still a year away so 🤞🏻

[mrstanley]

I will agree that the wines are cheap.

The included hotels that are part of your cruise fare are not luxury hotels.

Google the prices. Luxury means staying in a Four Seasons Hotel .