Splendor February 2023: An Extremely Detailed First Timer's Review!

[Dr. Cocktail]

18 minutes ago, fizzy said:

Hopefully with farm fresh creamery butter....like the local diner has.

Farm fresh, artisanal butter from an Eastern Facing pasture supervised by Nuns

[forgap]

Never noticed the music in the dining room and we are lifetime subscribers to our symphony orchestra.  That being said, the playlists for all the bars are dreadful.  Light pop or very loud pop.  Difficult to hold a conversation.  There is absolutely no reason for the pianist in the observation lounge not to include ONE classical piece.  Or, how about having different musical genre in each lounge so all tastes are accommodated…..classical, jazz, pop.  

[JerryAM]

My wife and I were on Splendor in January and found the food to be very good to excellent. We usually eat around 8 pm and would be able to see the evening entertainment, although not in a prime seat. As to Sette Mari, we ate at 630 pm as on our prior Explorer cruise we learned that arriving at 8 or so left much to be desired as to the buffet items (similar to the OP’s experience). Overall the Splendor cruise was much better as to food than our prior Explorer experience (as well as our recent cruise on Oceania’s Riviera). I was extremely pleased with the ice cream and milk shakes at the pool grill — no issues with teaching them how to make a proper black and white shake. 
 

Jerry

[wcsdkqh]

After a handful of Regent cruises, I cannot recall ever hearing background music in the various restaurants. Perhaps the noise level obscured the music, or the loud rock concerts in my earlier years has affected my hearing 😊

[rcandkc]

I never even noticed music in the restaurants.  I also was ok with “no“ music. 😜

[carolina cruisin]

5 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

I never even noticed music in the restaurants.  I also was ok with “no“ music. 😜

I'm glad that others also missed the music in the various dining venues.  I was beginning to think that perhaps I always dined while the band was on break.

[Jchisley]

Very interesting review thank you . We will be on Grandeur for our first ever cruise next February . I’m still not 100% sure cruising is for me but got to try it once !  

[AtA]

First let me say we too did a 14 day to the southern Caribbean in Feb on Splendor. Beautiful ship! Fabulous cabins. We last cruised on Regent back in 2010 before the new ships. We switched to Crystal in 2014 but now with the changes decided to give all the other lines a try. We will not do SS again and we might do SB if it's a warm weather cruise.

 

I have to agree with pretty much your whole review although sitting out at the pool is not something we care about since we live in FL and can sit at our pool any day. But your other critiques were spot on.

 

Especially the food in Setti Mari. My veal was so tough, it couldn't even be cut with a steak knife. And the tomato sauce reminded me of tomato soup. It lacked any texture or taste. As for the antipasto bar, we were seated up in front and no one even told us there was an antipasto bar. And when they delivered my too tough to eat veal, I asked where the vegetables were. Their comment? They could go get some from Compass Rose but it might take a while.  And yes, the Biscotti came out of a bag. I asked the F and B manager and he confirmed they didn't make them on the ship. Why?

 

As for the food in Pacific Rim? I found the same as you. Our first time was  very good. Our second time not so good. The other specialties were excellent. However agree about the grill. Ok but definitely not 6 star. 

 

Compass Rose food was hit or miss. However, I will say, the desserts onboard were the best of any ship I've been on. (Not a good thing for the waistline when desserts are fabulous but the food is hit or miss.) 

 

And on our second time in Prime 7, they had run out of prime ribs and the fish of the day. This was before 8 PM!

 

We made the shows and they were excellent. 

 

Tours were ok with one excellent tour. Busses were completely filled with some people on the small busses needing to sit up front where the seats were only inches off the ground and the guest needing to sit with their feet straight out in front of them. Before Regent went all inclusive with tours, busses were never completely filled but only half filled. This is a bad cost cutting measure. More like being herded like cattle like on the larger ships.

 

As mentioned staff was excellent. Would we book again? We just did. However we realize their tours are not always great and the food is hit or miss. But in this case the itinerary is what we want and Regent's deal is too good to pass up. Plus the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. 🙂

[flossie009]

5 hours ago, AtA said:

Before Regent went all inclusive with tours, busses were never completely filled but only half filled.

We have only ever sailed with Regent since tours were included, and mostly the transport has not been filled to capacity.

It may depend on location & the local availability of buses rather than cost cutting.

 

[Dr. Cocktail]

7 hours ago, Jchisley said:

Very interesting review thank you . We will be on Grandeur for our first ever cruise next February . I’m still not 100% sure cruising is for me but got to try it once !  

You HAVE to try a cruise - it's required by law if you're on these boards!  You can then use it as a template to see what you do or don't like!

[Dr. Cocktail]

7 hours ago, AtA said:

 

 

 

 

But in this case the itinerary is what we want and Regent's deal is too good to pass up. Plus the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. 🙂

I have many friends/patients always calling/emailing me for cruising advice ....

 

I always say that the itinerary trumps nearly EVERYTHING!

 

I'm not saying "no" to Regent in the future ... it's staying on my "preferred providers" list. I'm just saying "not just right now".  As my cruising is going to be just for R and R for the next little while,  Explora may be a better fit based on their marketing.

[Jchisley]

7 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

You HAVE to try a cruise - it's required by law if you're on these boards!  You can then use it as a template to see what you do or don't like!

Yes indeed and we are booked on Grandeur 2024 - an expensive error if we don’t like it but I guess we won’t go hungry whether or not the food is top notch and if I eat a little less I might not need to go on a diet when I get home 😂

[AtA]

5 hours ago, Jchisley said:

Yes indeed and we are booked on Grandeur 2024 - an expensive error if we don’t like it but I guess we won’t go hungry whether or not the food is top notch and if I eat a little less I might not need to go on a diet when I get home 😂

The problem was, the desserts were excellent!

[AtA]

14 hours ago, flossie009 said:

We have only ever sailed with Regent since tours were included, and mostly the transport has not been filled to capacity.

It may depend on location & the local availability of buses rather than cost cutting.

 

Well I did 2 cruises on Regent after they started including tours (one to SE Asia and one to Alaska) and this one in Feb. In every one the busses were filled.

 

This one was the worst however with the bus not having AC in the back and as mentioned some folks having to sit really on the ground with their feet sticking out. Oh and 6 of the seats were on the wheel wells. I forgot that. So if you sat in those seats, your knees were up at your mouth. 

 

Back before being all inclusive, they would not have put people in those seats upfront or over the wheel wells. They would have ordered extra busses. (We actually were the only ship docked that day so they couldn't use the excuse of not enough tour busses because of too many ships.) In fact I remember how they prided themselves in being different than all other cruise lines in that they kept the capacity on all busses and tours small. No more!

Edited March 13, 2023 by AtA

[forgap]

The excursion desk has always been the weak link on Regent cruises.  There also seems to be little knowledge about the excursions offered, a dismissive attitude when there are legitimate complaints, a cumbersome and maddening assignment protocol in the theater with no willingness to revisit the long waits to be called, and, finally, little accountability when things go very wrong.  I don’t think they have an idea about on-going refinement and improvement.  

[PaulMCO]

We were on Splendor in Nov/Dec and concur with many of your points.

We were also in a F1 Superior suit and had same issue with veranda slider.  Had to muscle it.

 

Sette Mari was a horrible experience on 2 of 3 seatings.  Took forever to get food if you do a 7:30 to 8:00 seating.  When dessert time came everything was picked through and gone. Food there was meh.

 

Compass Rose was indeed the best MDR/GDR of any cruise we have at seal including Crystal.  Always on point and the most varied menu.

 

The excursions and the process have a distinct Oceania feel.  Not very satisfying.

 

We had no issues with our cabin it it looked fresh and not worn. 

 

So will you sail RSSC again???  We booked two more after our Splendor sailing.

[gwesq]

15 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

 

 As my cruising is going to be just for R and R for the next little while,  Explora may be a better fit based on their marketing.

Interesting how we all take different messages from marketing (I guess that's why there are focus groups).  I have just the opposite view of Explora - while I did at first think of it as a luxurious, relaxing ship, once I looked at the excursions & read more about how they describe all their various ports, it seemed to me it is more like a luxurious, fairly large, Expedition ship.  Seems to be geared towards vigorous activities, which not all that much for the sedentary cruiser.  It feels as though they are gearing towards the 30's - 40's high-end cruisers.  We shall see, once the reports start coming in.  

[Pcardad]

23 minutes ago, gwesq said:

Interesting how we all take different messages from marketing (I guess that's why there are focus groups).  I have just the opposite view of Explora - while I did at first think of it as a luxurious, relaxing ship, once I looked at the excursions & read more about how they describe all their various ports, it seemed to me it is more like a luxurious, fairly large, Expedition ship.  Seems to be geared towards vigorous activities, which not all that much for the sedentary cruiser.  It feels as though they are gearing towards the 30's - 40's high-end cruisers.  We shall see, once the reports start coming in.  

I liked the look of it as well but I am also younger than the OP.

 

[Dr. Cocktail]

6 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

 

 

So will you sail RSSC again???  We booked two more after our Splendor sailing.

Not anytime soon but three booked on Explora!

[Dr. Cocktail]

4 hours ago, gwesq said:

  It feels as though they are gearing towards the 30's - 40's high-end cruisers.  We shall see, once the reports start coming in.  

 

4 hours ago, Pcardad said:

I liked the look of it as well but I am also younger than the OP.

 

I read that Explora is targeting "the working wealthy, age 50 to 65".

 

At age 59 (for a wee bitty longer!), I'm not straying from their target.

 

Based on their videos, they really just look a new generational version/vision of luxury. I don't view them as being expedition at all!  Their numerous bars, lounges, cabanas and pools look perfectly designed for doing nothing!

 

 

 

 

I will be reporting back in due course!

[Camillus112]

Discussing Explora with my daughter, who just turned 50.  Theatre for shows?  Not needed.    Bars with different vibes?  Yes, please!  Piano bar?  What's that! 🤣.

[mrstanley]

We been cruising with Regent since 2001 and have well over 200 nights and have been on all the ships multiple times.

 

We have seen a decline in the food and the complimentary wines. Service is still great!

Decline in the entertainment.

 

[AtA]

5 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

 

Based on their videos, they really just look a new generational version/vision of luxury. I don't view them as being expedition at all!  Their numerous bars, lounges, cabanas and pools look perfectly designed for doing nothing!

 

 

I will be reporting back in due course!

And that's the problem for us. We don't want to do nothing. We don't need multiple pools. As I mentioned we have a perfectly good pool in our backyard. And while we enjoy relaxing, reading, doing some needlework, we also enjoy good entertainment and lectures. 

[AtA]

4 hours ago, mrstanley said:

We been cruising with Regent since 2001 and have well over 200 nights and have been on all the ships multiple times.

 

We have seen a decline in the food and the complimentary wines. Service is still great!

Decline in the entertainment.

 

Interesting because as I mentioned the last time we sailed before our Splendor cruise was in 2010. We found the entertainment much better. Agree about the food.

[Dr. Cocktail]

8 hours ago, AtA said:

And that's the problem for us. We don't want to do nothing. We don't need multiple pools. As I mentioned we have a perfectly good pool in our backyard. And while we enjoy relaxing, reading, doing some needlework, we also enjoy good entertainment and lectures. 

I also like good entertainment - too bad I wasn't able to see it on Regent!  I'm not one for lectures in the Caribbean - depends on the itinerary.  I'm curious to see how Explora pulls it off. I know that they have a strategic partnership with Steinway to provide 4 (!) pianos per ship and rotate through a roster of artists.  

 

Your comments on shore tours generally aligns with mine -  I didn't mind a short minbus ride to go snorkelling and my included excursions were fine for the Caribbean. But - for the last 20 years, we have always done private tours on our travels. Generally not hard to arrange and it provides an entirely different level of information and comfort.