Never cruised…would Regent Mediterranean be for us?

[LvnCruisin]

The first cruise I ever took was a Regent med cruise from Monte Carlo to Rome. We flew into France (spent a day there) and then took the train to the ship. Thouroughly enjoyed the cruise then a week in Rome. Could not have been a better experience for someone who had never been to Europe. It was enough to wet my appetite to go back and explore more later. The only cruise I have been on that I didn't enjoy was a river cruise. So honestly it is different strokes for different folks. Follow your heart on what you would like to get out of Europe, for an opener of course.

[pappy1022]

We did a Mediterranean cruise a few years ago on Oceania from Rome to Spain. It was port intensive and we very much enjoyed the beauty and sites of that region. It gave us a good general understanding of the region as it was our first ever trip to Europe. I thought it was a great introduction to the area. We did all private tours and I will say the exceptional tours we took were the difference between a very good cruise and an excellent cruise. The interaction with the guides and their knowledge of that region enhanced our understanding and enjoyment. I will say that port intensive cruises can be exhausting and you should plan some time some to just chill out. In our case, we took at cab at one port and went to the beach and just relaxed for the day. I have a Regent cruise booked for the British Isles and this is the first time I’ve cruised with Regent since excursions were included (not free as advertised) in the price of the cruise. We have taken a hybrid approach to shore excursions for this port intensive cruise. We have a mix of large and small group tours with Regent where we felt a small group tour would be most beneficial. We use shipboard credits to pay for the small group tours. We also have a couple of private tours booked in ports where we felt we wanted to see more than any individual Regent tour would offer. In our case, we have 6 people (3 couples) so private tours become a bit more cost effective when each couple only has to pay 1/3 of the tour cost. You may want to consider some private tours in ports that are of most interest to you. I am curious as to the quality of the Regent tours. There seems to be a mixed bag as far as reviews. I have no doubt that the onboard ship experience will be great, just a little uneasy about the “included” shore excursions.

[slidebite]

Regent "included" tours vary wildly. They are using independent port tour operators so they have the gamut. Everything from catching a bus to the destination and exploring on your own, to an 8 hour guided tour with food and drinks.

 

We had some fantastic included tours last cruise, Split, Catania and Avignon in particular were standouts that come to mind. II had paid for those in another scenario I would have been very happy with the experience and exceptionally knowledgeable and friendly guides. Don't be put off just because they're the "included" tours.

[RetiredandTravel]

I think its important to understand that the Regent "free" excursions are large (30-60 people) group tours, they aren't semi-private or private.

 

So IMO Regents responsibility is :

 

1) That the bus is clean and works correctly (motor/AC/bathrooms etc)

2) The driver is nice and gets you to to your location and back to the ship in a timely and safe manner.

3) The tour guide speaks decent English and is knowledgeable, engaged.& friendly.  They should also keep the group organized and on time.

In most situations Regent isn't responsible for large crowds and the quality of excursion site you selected to see.  In our experience on most "free" excursions Regent has delivered a good group tour product.

 

Private tours are of course better but I don't feel that some ports have enough of interest to warrant the extra money.  Slidebite is correct that in many of these "smaller ports" you can just treat the excursion as a ride and explore on your own  If having a dedicated private tour is of paramount importance spend the extra $400 - $1000 per port.  Personally I would do some home work on each port and use the private tours (Rome??) where necessary.  

 

Example we were on a Regent "free" in Kyoto.  The Golden Pavilion was so crowded we lost the tour guide and had to do it on our own.  We laughed because 30 yards away was like 20 guides holding signs.  IMO this doesn't mean Regent did a poor job, they did everything I mentioned, but we should have gotten a private tour for a better experience.

 

One important point is if you set up your own private tour independent of Regent and they don't get you back to the ship on time the ship is probably leaving.  Regent tours they wait, or so I am told.  Never been late.

 

Another very important note is that the enrichment speaker quality is a major factor in the excursion experience.  We had a woman speaker from the Smithsonian on one cruise who was phenomenal, every port we had a great knowledge of the history before we got on the bus.  Made a huge difference.  We also had one that IMO was horrendous of virtually no value.

 

 

I'd also recommend doing some home work on your own before hand.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[RachelG]

I have never been on a Regent free excursion that had 60 people.  And I have been on a whole lot.  Usually 20-30 people, but often less, even the “free” ones. We have been on some where we were just in a small group of 8-10.

[slidebite]

My experiences have been similar, but I've only been on a dozen-ish. No where near 60 for sure. Probably 10-15 or so would be average, although I suspect that can vary somewhat depending on the port/itinerary.

[RetiredandTravel]

1 hour ago, RachelG said:

I have never been on a Regent free excursion that had 60 people.  And I have been on a whole lot.  Usually 20-30 people, but often less, even the “free” ones. We have been on some where we were just in a small group of 8-10.

 

 

We have actually every bus on our Japan tour was completely full with probably 50-60 people.  Four people across 12-15 rows you do the math.  I'm glad you agree with my lower range.

Edited February 18, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[irishwitchy]

Just came back from New Zealand and Australia and there were no small group tours offered.  I don’t think Regent was the problem,  the countries are trying to staff up.  Hence we had multi buses and 60 plus people on many tours.  Keep in mind,  there wasn’t 60 people trying to find follow someone in town, more like everyone we are at the wineries, so let’s all eat and drink.  Or everyone please get on the big boat.  

[Gilly]

4 hours ago, irishwitchy said:

Just came back from New Zealand and Australia and there were no small group tours offered.

I realise the last few years have proved challenging for tourism and that operators are only just getting things back on track.  However, one of our main disappointments about our Australian tours on a couple of Regent cruises some time ago was that the offerings were almost completely "tourist experiences", such as jumping crocs in Darwin, cuddling koalas and visits to places like Kuranda.  Yes, there were snorkelling trips and a rainforest walk, but we hoped that in the intervening years more has been made of "the real Australia" - the fabulous gardens, glimpses of what life is/was like in those beautiful Queenslander homes or further in the Outback, wine, food and farming...yes, @irishwitchy more special interest, smaller groups would hit the spot perfectly.  We have a cruise booked in that part of the world in a couple of years time and are keeping our fingers crossed!!

[pappy1022]

7 hours ago, irishwitchy said:

Just came back from New Zealand and Australia and there were no small group tours offered.  I don’t think Regent was the problem,  the countries are trying to staff up.  Hence we had multi buses and 60 plus people on many tours.  Keep in mind,  there wasn’t 60 people trying to find follow someone in town, more like everyone we are at the wineries, so let’s all eat and drink.  Or everyone please get on the big boat.  

Doesn’t sound like much fun to me, sorry to differ. I want to see the natural beauty and experience and understand the history and culture of a country that I visit. Just the logistic of herding 60 people on and off a bus would be exhausting and not much fun. I hope that is not our experience on our next Regent cruise because that would change my view of the value provided by Regent.

[RetiredandTravel]

37 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Doesn’t sound like much fun to me, sorry to differ. I want to see the natural beauty and experience and understand the history and culture of a country that I visit. Just the logistic of herding 60 people on and off a bus would be exhausting and not much fun. I hope that is not our experience on our next Regent cruise because that would change my view of the value provided by Regent.

 

 

Our cruise was in 2019 and the ship was 100% full.  In most cases the full buses didn't bother us, we would just explore on our own if necessary.  Again the enrichment speaker is very important.  Rachel is correct in that all the buses aren't going to be full in many cases some may have as few as 10 people.  

 

Everyone  has their own interests in the process. .Sounds like you are looking for smaller type tours with constant interaction with the guide.  I'm not sure you can be assured of that in the "free" excursions.

 

Another caution is smaller ports with a high interest level and few interesting locations to visit like Hiroshima.  Everyone is interested in Hiroshima and there is really only one main point of interest, the museum and the park .  Regent should do a better job staging the excursions IMO in these situations.  

In our case not only was the museum crowded with school kids but a large percentage of the Regent ship descended on it in a short period of time.  Several rooms in the museum were packed like sardines, Grand Central subway, the "Lex" line at 5PM.  We were eight - ten rows deep in most rooms so the experience was greatly diluted.  Our tour guide was great and did a great job outside the museum but there was nothing she could do inside.  You may want to check here for other peoples experiences on the ports you visit and try to use private (semi private) guides that leave before the crowd in these situations.

Edited February 19, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[pappy1022]

We have several small group tours scheduled and a couple of private tours in ports where we felt it was an advantage to have more time on a tour than the 3-4 hours that Regent tours seem to be. The private tour company we chose allows cancellation up to the time of the tour start time in the event we can’t dock or tender. You are right, some of the smaller ports have very limited tour options and some don’t offer any small group tours. We also chose Regent tours that were not just sitting on a bus looking out the window. We shall see. As many of the Regent tours are short in duration, we do intend to do things on our own as well.

[Gray Lady]

I have enjoyed reading everyone’s insights into the tours on Regent cruises. We have decided to take a 10 day cruise next year from Barcelona to Rome on the Splendor. We plan to add pre and post-cruise days to see Rome and Barcelona. Since we have never been on a cruise before, the included excursions will be fine for us. We want to see the highlights of each place. Ignorance is bliss in this case because we have never been on cruise excursions. The only time we have used excursions to see places, they have been buses. Knowing how much everything will cost in advance is a plus for us along with not having to make arrangements in places we are unfamiliar with. This is a bucket list trip, so please keep giving your thoughts and insights into all things Regent and the Western Mediterranean. Everything is appreciated!

[annapolitan369]

Gray Lady

Here is one idea in Rome that you must plan far in advance.  St. Peter's tomb at the Vatican, also known as Scavi.  The tour takes you to the excavations under St Peters and only a few tours of 12 people are allowed each day because of the fragility of the area.  Something that you will find nowhere else and that few people actually see.  

[Gray Lady]

2 hours ago, annapolitan369 said:

Gray Lady

Here is one idea in Rome that you must plan far in advance.  St. Peter's tomb at the Vatican, also known as Scavi.  The tour takes you to the excavations under St Peters and only a few tours of 12 people are allowed each day because of the fragility of the area.  Something that you will find nowhere else and that few people actually see.  

Thank you for the tip. We will definitely look into doing that. Having a year to plan helps with this. Thanks again!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

19 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

We have decided to take a 10 day cruise next year from Barcelona to Rome on the Splendor. We plan to add pre and post-cruise days to see Rome and Barcelona.

How much time do you have for the pre and post-cruise stays?  We did five days in Barcelona and four days in Rome.

[Gray Lady]

5 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

How much time do you have for the pre and post-cruise stays?  We did five days in Barcelona and four days in Rome.

We saw that Regent has a pre-cruise package for 3 nights that includes tours and transfers. As of now there is nothing offered in Rome, but it is early. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

14 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

We saw that Regent has a pre-cruise package for 3 nights that includes tours and transfers. As of now there is nothing offered in Rome, but it is early. 

We've never done one of these, we just made our own plans. Transfers in Barcelona just means a short cab ride. Rome is a bit more complicated but doable. This way you get to choose your hotel.

 

[Gray Lady]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

We've never done one of these, we just made our own plans. Transfers in Barcelona just means a short cab ride. Rome is a bit more complicated but doable. This way you get to choose your hotel.

 

We know nothing about hotels in Europe, having ever been there. As long as it is decent, we will be fine. The hotel offered in Barcelona looked very nice and seems to be well located. I believe Regent wouldn’t offer a hotel that is “questionable”. Having them take care of transfers is also less we have to worry about. After this trip, maybe we will be more seasoned travelers..hopefully! 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

3 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

We know nothing about hotels in Europe, having ever been there. As long as it is decent, we will be fine. The hotel offered in Barcelona looked very nice and seems to be well located. I believe Regent wouldn’t offer a hotel that is “questionable”. Having them take care of transfers is also less we have to worry about. After this trip, maybe we will be more seasoned travelers..hopefully! 

I understand.  No, Regent wouldn't offer anything questionable.  But it might not be the most central location for a nice price.  If you did want to do it on your own, you could ask around here on CC or elsewhere on the net to get recommendations.  But Regent *will* take good care of you.

[ljk76]

Our first European trip was a Med cruise With Regent and it was great! We had a great travel agent who planned our 4 days in Rome, with a well-located hotel, transfers, and some small group tours. I know it was much less expensive than the Regent offering.  We did use their included tours, and for the most part enjoyed them. None of our buses were crowded at all, and we generally broke up into smaller groups when arriving at the attraction.

 

This trip gave us the confidence to do more planning on our own, and our next three European cruises were with Azamara. Those three cruises combined probably cost what the first Regent one did. I love their product as well. 

 

Yes it’s true that an ocean cruise is mainly a small plates tasting menu…but you learn what to order for an entree later. We never would have thought to visit Malta, and we can’t wait to visit again. 

[wcsdkqh]

Highly recommend LivItaly for private Rome tours. We have used them twice, once for a 2 day, and again for a 3 day this past November. A family owned business that is wonderful. They also have a 1 day tour, where they will meet you at the pier and take in all of the popular attractions if you are only in port for a day. Google LivItaly for their website.

[Gray Lady]

9 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

Highly recommend LivItaly for private Rome tours. We have used them twice, once for a 2 day, and again for a 3 day this past November. A family owned business that is wonderful. They also have a 1 day tour, where they will meet you at the pier and take in all of the popular attractions if you are only in port for a day. Google LivItaly for their website.

Thank you for the advice. It looks like they have some great tours! I am getting excited, and we have over a year before we go! At least I have time to research what is a priority for us to see.

[wcsdkqh]

Also wanted to add that they will customize their tours to meet whatever you would like to do

[slidebite]

We used Rome In Limo in 2018 (google to find) and they were spectacular. Very highly recommended as well. The Vatican guide we had was absolutely phenomenal. IIRC she had her Phd in history or some darn thing. Amazing quality guide and driver.