Would you still cruise with Regent if you didn't take full advantage of excursions?

[phillipahain]

2 hours ago, caviargal said:

 

I did a (very) recent comparison of this using Celebrity (concierge verandah) and Seabourn (least expensive stateroom).  Seabourn was less and included more, even after adding all that I wanted 

The devil is in the details. 

Well not long got off Seabourn and no intention of repeating   ...Regent wins hands down compared to that 

[Kwaj girl]

8 minutes ago, phillipahain said:

Well not long got off Seabourn and no intention of repeating   ...Regent wins hands down compared to that 

 

Curious about your Seabourn experiences.  We, too, prefer Regent but would like to hear your comparison.

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Curious about your Seabourn experiences.  We, too, prefer Regent but would like to hear your comparison.

Agreed! 😃 

 

[caviargal]

23 minutes ago, phillipahain said:

Well not long got off Seabourn and no intention of repeating   ...Regent wins hands down compared to that 

On Regent tomorrow and Seabourn next month.  It will be interesting to compare.

[phillipahain]

18 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Curious about your Seabourn experiences.  We, too, prefer Regent but would like to hear your comparison.

I could say a fiasco from start to finish ..for starters it took TA kicking up hell of a fuss with president 24 hrs before due to fly to get transfer pick up arranged 

Originally put on a so called Business Flight they had us fly to Toronto from Gatwick 3 hrs from us ... to arrive after tourist only connecting flight to Calgary had already  left and then another 4 hrs in Calgary for tourist  flight to Vancouver 

When we live just 25 mins from Heathrow and direct flights to Vancouver ...sorted that with threat to  cancel .

 

Overnight in Marriot Vancouver ...all hot breakfast items ..stone cold 

Gala Dinner in Chihuly Glass Museum in Seattle was the very best perfectly cooked meal and beautifully tender Fillet Steak  of entire 65 days !!!! 

Once on board for 10days they were offering non existant tours for previosly scrubbed cruise 

Staterooms relatively comparable to Regent Mariner and Voyager expect for poxy little TV on Seabourn 

 

Breakfast selection in Colonade fairly comparable to Regent but not same ambience 

 

Lunch varied and often meat selections were tough and poor quality 

 

Dinner there were times when our very senoir waiter would not even order let alone serve what we selected and gave up ordering fillet steak etc as all were tough 

 

Selected all tours to use up OBC 

Hey presto just 10 days before end of cruise with tours we so wanted to do ...All 6 were  cancelled with just 36 hours notice at 9pm at night and nothing whatevervto replace them ...emails to HQ ignored 

 

Entertainment varied but all performances by John Barron, fabulous Eva and her husband were utterly flawless ....but SB theatre is certainly lacking quite a bit 

Zero Brandy / Cognac available for 10 days before uploaded in Auckland 

No one told us friends could come onboard hence we laughed when at lunch in our Auckland friends house they offered us Brandy 

 

Disembarkation to Hotel in Sydney for a truly beautiful lunch such a shame onboard food did not equal it 

 

Incredibly sad that a 65 day  Grand Pacific Cruise was pretty disapointing from so many angles and finally when we got responses to emails to HQ they were completely dismissive 

 

There are just many things that simply do not compare to Regent from tablecloths at lunch to the basic quality of meat and food selection to a real theatre and a very very different attitude from Destination services desk never mind a TV big enough to watch a film .

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:28 PM, phillipahain said:

Well not long got off Seabourn and no intention of repeating   ...Regent wins hands down compared to that 

I am a regular Seabourn sailor and have been since 1996.

Regent is probably the only luxury line that I have not tried yet although I have known John Barron for many years and he is now back working for Seabourn.

I have been invited to visit Splendor in April and am looking forward to seeing what she has to offer.

[ysolde]

A few more thoughts on having a mobility impairment and cruising these days.  When we were booking our first Regent cruise (at this point, we have booked three), one of the things I asked the good and knowledgeable folks on this board whether we would be able to find excursions that are accessible.  At the time (this was awhile ago), I was told that Regent always provides accessible excursions, and that  Should book with confidence.

 

Sadly, things have changed in the post-Covid world.  The default in excursions seems to be that they are not offered to passengers who use wheelchairs or who have mobility impairments.  This is true not only with Regent's excursions, but with NCL's, as well as other cruise lines.  In the past, they would ask whether you could climb onto the bus with the assistance of your traveling companion, etc.  Now, they simply will not allow you to consider excursions if you are a wheelchair user of have a mobility impairment.  I''m not sure what has happened, but it is turning cruising, which used to be a great and relaxing way to travel for those of us with mobility impairments, into a bit of a mixed bag.  I hope the cruise lines start to work on this issue with their excursion partners.

[cwn]

I really didn’t find that on our recent cruises. It may have been that we were doing cruises in Caribbean in Dec, but in most ports there was at least one tour open to people using a wheelchair as long as they had their own assistant to help. The only problem in the islands was they use many “coastal” buses(small with no under bus storage area) due to road conditions. That has always been the case in many island/less developed ports all over the world.
I walk slowly with the aid of canes and my husband has to help me with steps  in buses and vans. We avoid tours with much walking and stairs but there were a choice of tours that worked for me. The only real problem, we’ were in several ports that had very long docks with no assistance ( golf carts / pedicabs to get to the buses. However that isn’t Regents fault really.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Yes… it is Regents fault…. They should supply golf carts etc for those who cannot make a long walk on the pier. I cannot take my electric scooter to a bus that won’t take it with us.

Regent…help us with excursions. 
sheila

 

[cwn]

11 minutes ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

Yes… it is Regents fault…. They should supply golf carts etc for those who cannot make a long walk on the pier. I cannot take my electric scooter to a bus that won’t take it with us.

Regent…help us with excursions. 
sheila

 

I understand it is problem as we also stayed on the ship at several ports in Dec because the buses were not the kind that could take a rolling walker or wheelchair and there was no transportation on the dock.…. Regent has always told me if there were long pier walks with no assistance or if the tour companies were using coastal buses with no storage. As far as I can tell, Regent has to do with what each port provides…. Buses, golf carts, pedicabs. I am not sure but those things are under the port or the tour companies control not Regents, just like the port security. Regent can’t provide something that is not available.  

 In Cozumel we made it to the little shopping area and had to use an elevator in the terminal, fine and dandy going ashore. But coming back after lunch and a little shopping we went to the elevator only to find it was then out of order!  Fortunately two shop keepers came my aid and almost carried me down the steps. Should I blame Regent, not really, I chose to trust an old elevator in Mexico.m!

Much of the world is not as handicap accessible as the US is now. But we still enjoy cruising, even we don’t get off the ship.

[texasatty]

Yes, we would. We already do a mix of Regent excursions, both included and extra cost along with private tours. On occasion, we just head into the port and do our own thing. 

[texasatty]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:14 AM, Kwaj girl said:

 

That could be a huge liability issue if someone got injured since the cruise line would be providing the bikes.  Unlike shore excursions where the tour company would have liability if you were injured on a tour. 

Many river cruises do provide bicycles. Liability issues abound in this industry but waivers can handle most problems. 

[rallydave]

8 minutes ago, texasatty said:

Many river cruises do provide bicycles. Liability issues abound in this industry but waivers can handle most problems. 

Waivers in injury cases are usually not worth the paper they are printed on. 

[texasatty]

As to waivers, I disagree (except in cases of gross negligence) but that’s a discussion for another forum 😃

Edited April 19, 2023 by texasatty

[pappy1022]

Back to the original question. I would definitely look at other cruise lines if the “free” (we pay for them) excursions turn out to be poor adventures. I realize there my be a dud or 2 but we shall see. Keeping an open mind. Will report back after my cruise.

[phillipahain]

Having done in last 6 months Seabourn and Silver Sea simply because of itinery we can honestly say its going to take very very serious issues on Regent to get us sailing with any other company at all in the future

 

Seabourn was a nightmare start to finish and tours cancelled at short notice and neither food or service made up for the deficiencies just added to it although the entertainment was very good 

 

SilverSea the food and service was good , tours were so so but at least the guides we had spoke English many did not but the entertainment was plumb awful 

 

We have never ever had cause to complain or grumble on Regent they always go the extra mile and not yet had a bad tour .

[asnaleah]

We would choose Regent if $ were no object, but for us, the included excursions make sense for a port intensive cruise. We are booked on Grandeur next May (Greece, Israel  and Turkey) but then we’re scheduled to try Oceania for a Panama Canal cruise.