The "I won't pretend this is live" Splendor Venice to Athens Thread

[loriva]

Hello and greetings from Kotor, Montenegro!

 

A few random comments from our first three days on this cruise (and before):

 

     --Not sure why, but apparently Marco Polo airport is famous for lost luggage.  Ours was actually outside our aircraft on our connection in FRA (thank you AirTags) but did not get loaded onto the plane by Lufthansa.  Showed up on the next flight, but was not delivered to our hotel until the next day.  Regent's contracted ground staff was no help to any of the pax in this situation (we bought air through Regent).  Luckily we flew in two days in advance of the cruise and it made it to us to board the ship.

    --Do own transfers.  Since we flew in early, we did not have Regent transfers included.  Booked a private water taxi from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to cruise port.  The Regent transfer did not leave the hotel until 1330 hours and were not onboard until about 1500 hours.  We left the hotel at noon and were onboard a little after 1300 hours--plenty of time for a nice first lunch in La Veranda.

     --The hotel Regent uses, the Hilton Molino Stucky, is very nice.  Need water shuttle to Venice proper, but not a huge problem.  And such a nice view if you have a canal-side room.

 

More later and will try to answer questions,

 

[kjbacon]

Happy to follow along with you, Lori!
 

I couldn’t agree with you more about getting your own transfers. We only did Regent’s once and that was enough. One of the few things that they do not do well.

 

Cheers 🍷

[jhenry1]

Is Regent sailing out of Venice port again? 

[2012_Alaska_bound]

We join in Athens on October 30. Are you staying onboard for the next segment?

[cwn]

Glad to see a cruise blog again. Thank you. Please continue your reports as time allows.

9 hours ago, loriva said:

Hello and greetings from Kotor, Montenegro!

 

A few random comments from our first three days on this cruise (and before):

 

     --Not sure why, but apparently Marco Polo airport is famous for lost luggage.  Ours was actually outside our aircraft on our connection in FRA (thank you AirTags) but did not get loaded onto the plane by Lufthansa.  Showed up on the next flight, but was not delivered to our hotel until the next day.  Regent's contracted ground staff was no help to any of the pax in this situation (we bought air through Regent).  Luckily we flew in two days in advance of the cruise and it made it to us to board the ship.

    --Do own transfers.  Since we flew in early, we did not have Regent transfers included.  Booked a private water taxi from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to cruise port.  The Regent transfer did not leave the hotel until 1330 hours and were not onboard until about 1500 hours.  We left the hotel at noon and were onboard a little after 1300 hours--plenty of time for a nice first lunch in La Veranda.

     --The hotel Regent uses, the Hilton Molino Stucky, is very nice.  Need water shuttle to Venice proper, but not a huge problem.  And such a nice view if you have a canal-side room.

 

More later and will try to answer questions,

 

 

[loriva]

18 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

Is Regent sailing out of Venice port again? 

 

They are sailing out of Fusina.  But everyone boards at Marittima Cruise Terminal--buildings 107/108 for our cruise, which is about a 5- to 10-minute walk from where the water taxi drops off.  So take a water taxi there, give your luggage to the porters at dockside (they will have sheets with your suite and name), walk to the terminal building, do check-in, do security, then board a bus for the trip to Fusina to board the ship.  Again, it took about an hour from our arrival at Marittima to that first glass of Champagne!

[loriva]

One final note on boarding.  Two days before sailing transit workers in Venice announced a strke for the same day as embarkation.  (It did not impact private services, such as water taxis, but did impact operations of the public water buses and at the airport.)  Not sure if this affected any passengers arriving from outside of Europe--and another reason to always fly in at least a day before cruise departure.  We did talk to a couple from Europe affected, however.  Regent notified them of the strike--and cancellation of their same-day flight--two days before the cruise (18 October).  Regent rebooked them on a flight arriving a day earlier as well as a night at the Sonesta hotel (which they reported as fine).  Then transfered them to the ship.  So a good news story of service by Regent operations.

[loriva]

Our sole sea-day on this itinerary, so will try to catch up a bit.

 

Some random notes on Splendor.

 

     --We have had good to excellent service so far.  That said, lots of new and newly promoted personnel onboard.  All due to moves to start up Grandeur next month.  (We saw the ship in Ancona--will post a photo later.)  The head waiter in Compass Rose, Jorge, left two days' ago to repeat his work of standing up service on the new ship.  Sommeliers and butlers have also already left.  Remaining crew are trying and working hard.

     --CDs also changed for this voyage,  Dru Pavlov is now aboard, assisted by Wyatt plus Tammy as Social Hostess.  The latter is training a new person as well.  So far activities are good--they don't seem to just be "dialing it in" as reported on recent cruises.  We had, for example, a block party on the third night of the cruise--my first.  It seemed to be sparsely attended.  CD said we are about 50-50 experienced and new cruisers, so not sure if people did not know what it was about.  Also shocking, only about a quarter of the Constellation Theater was filled for the Captain's Welcome Party on the second night.

[loriva]

 

The Grandeur in Ancona, Italy, on 21 October.

[loriva]

Some other random notes on Splendor:

     --@pcardad has mentioned the NCLH fleetwide orders to cut back 15 percent on non-fuel costs.  So far things I've noticed since our time last September on Splendor and in 2021 on Explorer.  The lack of any casual venue for dining at night except for room service (unlike options on Oceania).  Prime 7 and Chartreuse only open for lunch on sea day (was this always the case--I'm remembering them open more often, but could be wrong).  Drinks in the Meridian Lounge seem to be a short pour--with lots of ice.  Small cutbacks on portions--the main of scallops had just three pieces.  We had one requested bottle of liquor substituted on boarding--but they found it in Ancona (stocking Grandeur?)

     --The ship is starting to show wear in tiny ways--paint, rust, tears and stains on fabric.  But, as always, the crew is always out cleaning and repairing.

[loriva]

Some port notes:

     --Ancona:  Splendor docked close to the city, so no shuttle needed.  I did the excursion to Urbino, which involved a long bus ride--one of those where you spend as much time getting to the place as there.  Very poor guide--she herself said she had not worked much since the pandemic.  We were the only ship in port, so no competition for guides but maybe because it was a Saturday we had the B team?  Urbino itself is a very pretty small city with a very nice art museum (including works by its hometown boy, Rafael) in a former ducal palace.  Nice market on top of a very steep road on Saturdays.

    --Dubrovnik:  Norwegian Viva in port, so fairly crowded.  Port area has some shops (and the Dubrovnik Beer Company) within walking distance, but Regent provided a shuttle into the Old Town area.  It stopped running, however, more than two hours before the all-aboard time (1800 hours and 2030 hours, respectively.)  For some reason (competition from the Viva?) the tour we signed up for departing at 1130 (we docked at 1100) was shifted back two hours to 1330 hours.  Which meant that by the time we arrived in the Old Town, everything that was open on a Sunday (limited to begin with) was shutting down.  The Dubrovnik Riviera tour involved some nice scenery and a too-long stop at an estate with a stone grain mill and fulling machine.  The tour of the Old Town was very rushed and our free time short.  (Our mistake--for the first time in Dubrovnik, we should have just taken the first shuttle in and the last one out and just done our own thing.)

   --Kotor:  We chose the Classical Performance in Prcanj and Kotor Walking Tour:  Nice ride across the bay on a large motor cruiser, 20-minute concert by three flutists from the musical conservatory in Kotor at the church in Prcanj, then lunch at a dockside restaurant (fish soup, salad, and family-style platters with squid ink risotto, calamari, prawns, fish, and seafood pasta along with local grappa and wine--all good), then return to Kotor and a walking tour around the Old Town plus free time.  We had an excellent guide and thought the tour was well-paced and balanced.  Three ships in port but the other two (Costa Deliziosa and Oceania Nautica) were anchored while we were docked just five-minutes' walk from Old Town.  A charming little area.

     --Corfu:  Visit to Paleokastrita Monastery and Corfu Town.  Very scenic bus ride to a coastal town (cafe and restroom stop--a bit too long) and very small monastery (beautiful icons and a nice little shop).  Then an hour of free time in Corfu town.  Dropped off by the old fortress and shown into town, but no tour as such.  Our trivia partners told us the tour to the fortress was very good.

[knotheadusc]

On 10/23/2023 at 9:34 AM, loriva said:

 

     --The hotel Regent uses, the Hilton Molino Stucky, is very nice.  Need water shuttle to Venice proper, but not a huge problem.  And such a nice view if you have a canal-side room.

 

More later and will try to answer questions,

 

 

I stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky some years ago and had a brilliant experience, mainly because the place was fully booked except for their tower suite.  My husband paid using Hilton Honor points, and they gave us that awesome suite for the night!  It was absolutely fabulous-- had two bathrooms, a dining room, and a bedroom with a gorgeous view of the canal.  Good to know that Regent also uses that hotel! 

[kjbacon]

Sounds like you guys are having a very good time! We will be on the Grandeur soon so it will be interesting to see how many of the splendor staff move in that direction. Is the war in Israel having any impact on your cruise? 

[loriva]

We are hemmed in by two large ships in Kusadasi today--an Ambassador cruise line ship on our portside and a Celesyal ship on starboard.  It's almost like rafting on a river cruise!

 

On 10/25/2023 at 4:49 AM, kjbacon said:

Sounds like you guys are having a very good time! We will be on the Grandeur soon so it will be interesting to see how many of the splendor staff move in that direction. Is the war in Israel having any impact on your cruise? 

 

The only impact we've seen--expected to see--might be the ship load today.  From my pre-cruise research, I expected only one ship in port with us.  The Ambassador ship MIGHT be rescheduled from a port in Israel.  We have not seen any impact in how we are greeted on-shore so far.  Of course, the news continues to be depressing.  We'll try to spread some kindness.

[loriva]

On 10/25/2023 at 2:22 AM, loriva said:

Some other random notes on Splendor:

     --@pcardad has mentioned the NCLH fleetwide orders to cut back 15 percent on non-fuel costs.  So far things I've noticed since our time last September on Splendor and in 2021 on Explorer.  The lack of any casual venue for dining at night except for room service (unlike options on Oceania).  Prime 7 and Chartreuse only open for lunch on sea day (was this always the case--I'm remembering them open more often, but could be wrong).  Drinks in the Meridian Lounge seem to be a short pour--with lots of ice.  Small cutbacks on portions--the main of scallops had just three pieces.  We had one requested bottle of liquor substituted on boarding--but they found it in Ancona (stocking Grandeur?)

     --The ship is starting to show wear in tiny ways--paint, rust, tears and stains on fabric.  But, as always, the crew is always out cleaning and repairing.

 

Other small changes:

     --The Coffee Connection now closes at 1700 hours -- no more aperitifs and canapes in the early evening.

     --No folder with stationery or postcards of the ship in the cabin.  That had partially gone away post-COVID but is now completely gone.  You can still ask for both at Reception and they will still mail out the postcards.

[loriva]

Some notes on our ports since the last report:

     --Rhodes:  We did the 7-hour Lindos and Rhodes Old City.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable--daughter of two archeologists and an archeologist herself and had lived in the palace in the Old City in the dorms for archeologists.  But just too much information.  The tour also spent too much time in the palace--which is a reconstruction done for Mussolini--and did not leave enough time for the other museum.  But the Acropolis in Lindros was fantastic, with the donkeys and some fresh-squeezed orange juice at the little cafe on top.

    --Bodrum:  Turns out this was Splendor's first call in this port.  We did the highlights tour--a photo stop at the amplitheater, walking tour of St. Peter's (built by the same Knight of St. John as in Rhodes), and then some free time in the Old Town there.  The tour was four hours and the guide set just the right pace.

     --Kusadasi:  After the long bus rides in Rhodes, we turned in our tour tickets for the 7-hour tour to three villages.  Will take a walk around the town by the port and maybe get lunch.  Making it into a quasi-sea day as we near the end of our cruise.

  

[loriva]

Here are the final notes for this cruise that ended in Athens on 30 October.

 

--Kusadasi -- As noted, we turned in our shorex tickets for this port (which we had visited twice before) and opted for a quasi-sea day.  We did get off the ship and walked over to the old fortress on Pigeon Island.  Then down into and around the old town.  Stopped and had a leisurely lunch of meze, kebab, and an Efes beer.  Then back to the ship.  Easy, peaceful, and quiet (well, except for all the merchants trying to get you to buy something--but a simple "no" suffices to end the spiel).

--Syros -- Did the "Highlights of Syros" tour.  It was as described in the Regent materials but omitted that you will be circumnavigating the entire island--without a restroom stop nor a restroom on the bus.  Also, another tour where the very good guide (an archaeologist) was sabotaged by lack of headsets.  We ended up breaking away from the tour due to frustration of not being able to hear her unless you were less than five feet away.  And, it was a Sunday so most stores closed.  The churches we saw and the small museum were very nice, however.  Stopped at one of the cafes along the harbor for a local beer and boarded the ship to pack up, do our cruise surveys, hit our final trivia of the cruise, and cash in those Regent Rewards points.

 

Disembarkation was very smooth.  We had booked a private transfer (George's Taxi) from the ship to our hotel in Athens and selected an 0800 hours departure.  We had departed the ship, picked up our bags, and were meeting the driver by 0815 hours (no Immigration nor Customs to clear).  (As an aside, we loved the NEW Hotel in Athens--a bit quirky in design, but so helpful and accommodating.  And we had a view of the Acropolis from our room!  It is affiliated with Marriott.)   

[loriva]

Overall, this was a very nice cruise for our third experience with Regent.  It was the first, however, where we did not book another cruise.  In part this is simply logistics--we are on Explorer in January 2024 and can book something then if we wish for 2026.  But it also reflects that we have sailed with Regent's little sister Oceania and Viking Ocean between our second and third cruises with Regent.  We liked both of the other lines just fine and not certain the premium paid for Regent is good value.  We cruise primarily for itineraries--a sampler to determine where we'd like to return for a longer stay--so it's nice to have three solid options that fit our needs.

 

Positives on this cruise include our butler Prakash (soon to be on the Grandeur--of course) and great experiences in the Compass Rose (even after losing Jorge to Grandeur--of course), Prime Seven, Pacific Rim, and Sette Mari.  We also found the CD Dru Pavlov very engaged and personable as was his ACD Wyatt (promoted from the Production Cast where we'd met him on Explorer) and the Social Hostesses Tammy and Amelia.  They sprang into action when two of the cast members came down sick on the final night of the cruise and they had to cancel Bohemian Soul, replacing it with a variety show including Amelia as vocalist and the guest performer a classical guitarist.  They also ran fun trivia games--keeping it friendly--and other activities.

 

We were disappointed with Chartreuse this time around; food and wine just didn't seem to be as good as we remembered and the service was uneven (sommelier Alvin was wonderful, however).  We missed having a casual dining option in the evening like the buffets on Oceania and Viking Ocean (where you could get grilled to order seafood, fish, and steaks) and the pizza bar at Waves Grill in the evening on Oceania.  It would be great if Regent had this as an option on days there are long tours or when tours end late as the ship came into port later in the day.  

 

Finally, as others have noted, the Destinations Team seems to be the weakest link on Regent.  Even though we carefully selected shorex to minimize long bus rides they all seemed to have them--and then had dirty windows for the panoramic drives.  Regent also really needs to consider the needs of its demographic--there should be no excursion that does not have a restroom stop on at least an hourly basis (and insist buses have a toilet--or provide a warning before the tour) and they really need to invest in headsets.  The latter was a boon on our Viking Ocean cruise (and the groups seemed to be not much larger, if at all larger, than with Regent.)  With only one exception, we had wonderful guides on our Regent tours--we just had a scrum with everyone trying to get close enough to hear.  We had one guide tell us straight out that Regent had opted not to pay for headsets.  Again, at this price point that should not be happening.

 

Thanks for following along on our "not-so-live" thread and hope this helps others in planning a cruise on Splendor and/or the Med as we have been helped by so many others on CruiseCritic.

 

Take care,

[pingpong1]

2 hours ago, loriva said:

"....Regent also really needs to consider the needs of its demographic--there should be no excursion that does not have a restroom stop on at least an hourly basis (and insist buses have a toilet--or provide a warning before the tour) and they really need to invest in headsets.  We had one guide tell us straight out that Regent had opted not to pay for headsets.  Again, at this price point that should not be happening.

 

Take care,

Loriva - Absolutely correct!  We're not talking about a bus load of 18-year-olds, with stainless steel bladders/bowels!  We are overwhelmingly groups of 60, 70, 80-year-olds!  Regents got to "get realistic and be considerate of their customers' needs" here!

[kjbacon]

@loriva thanks so much for the good, detailed reporting. You are quite right about those bathroom breaks lol we aren’t in our 20’s anymore!

 

Our first experience with Destination Services was on the Explorer in ‘16 or maybe ‘17 and it was outstanding, one of if not the best teams on the ship. That was a one and done as we have had the same negative experiences that most have with DS since.

 

We have also been so fortunate to know Prakesh, an absolute gentleman and I would be thrilled to see him on the Grandeur in January. We also hope that Georgianna will be on board.
 

It sounds like you had a great time and I do understand your thoughts on the price point although we hear you much more on Oceania but not as much on Viking. All good though! If you do book for ‘26, hopefully a leg of the WC will look good to you. 

[pappy1022]

When will Regent acknowledge that Destination Services is the weak link and do something about it? Even multiple Regent Cheerleaders on this site have called out this team. If nothing else rename the team to Destination We Don’t Care.