Regent / Voyager - First Timer with a negative experience. Is this the norm?

[OskiBear]

Relatively experienced cruiser here and we are currently on Voyager (Buenos Aires to Santiago) with an extraordinarily disappointing voyage. I’m not usually one to complain about little things and I tend to roll with things, but some less than optimal things have so far combined to make this journey one that is leaving a very bad taste and impression of Regent. So far:

 

1.     Embarkation – I had read about the issue with the terminal in Buenos Aires in advance so expected a bit of a “shuffle.” However, we were given a specific time to arrive at the alternate terminal at which point we were instructed to simply sit and wait an hour for a bus to shuttle us to the original terminal. It seemed a very poorly managed process with everyone waiting for a long time without really much coordination.

2.     Skipping Ports – we arrived at Stanley, Falkland Islands and the captain informed us it was too windy to disembark, so we sailed away. We then turned around to disembark a passenger with a medical issue before sailing away. We later found out other ships had arrived Stanley with no issues. On our second of three scheduled days cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula, the Captain announced that we were hightailing it out of there because of anticipated winds in the Drake Passage, cutting that part of the journey short by one day. Prior to arriving Ushuaia, the Captain informed us he would be skipping Punta Arenas because of weather – this was announced three days in advance of even arriving at the port. Currently, everyone is aware that Holland America Oosterdam (that we saw in port in Ushuaia yesterday) is currently docked in Punta Arenas while we are skipping the port.

3.     Captain – not sure how much of the port skipping attributable to the captain’s or Regent’s decision, but the whole situation has been very poorly handled. The captain is very cavalier in his announcements. There have been no apologies for the deviations from schedule and he’s just been generally flippant and dismissive of the diminished experience of the paying passengers. I overheard a passenger inquiring and he because defensive and borderline hostile.

4.     Overall, the ship is old and tired. During the first night of rougher seas, our cabin not only creaked, but sounded as if it was going to explode.

5.     Food has been okay and service, while slow, has been very pleasant and staff have all been wonderful.

6.  Internet - this has been abysmal. There's a router outside our cabin but no service unless I sit on the floor at the. The signal doesn't extend to the rest of the cabin. It's really slow in general and has actually constantly gone down ("satellite" problem). We just did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in November and the internet was fine the entire journey across the Atlantic. Why is it so bad on Voyager? 

 

So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

Edited February 13 by OskiBear

[A Tucson Guy]

55 minutes ago, OskiBear said:

Relatively experienced cruiser here and we are currently on Voyager (Buenos Aires to Santiago) with an extraordinarily disappointing voyage. I’m not usually one to complain about little things and I tend to roll with things, but some less than optimal things have so far combined to make this journey one that is leaving a very bad taste and impression of Regent. So far:

 

1.     Embarkation – I had read about the issue with the terminal in Buenos Aires in advance so expected a bit of a “shuffle.” However, we were given a specific time to arrive at the alternate terminal at which point we were instructed to simply sit and wait an hour for a bus to shuttle us to the original terminal. It seemed a very poorly managed process with everyone waiting for a long time without really much coordination.

2.     Skipping Ports – we arrived at Stanley, Falkland Islands and the captain informed us it was too windy to disembark, so we sailed away. We then turned around to disembark a passenger with a medical issue before sailing away. We later found out other ships had arrived Stanley with no issues. On our second of three scheduled days cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula, the Captain announced that we were hightailing it out of there because of anticipated winds in the Drake Passage, cutting that part of the journey short by one day. Prior to arriving Ushuaia, the Captain informed us he would be skipping Punta Arenas because of weather – this was announced three days in advance of even arriving at the port. Currently, everyone is aware that Holland America Oosterdam (that we saw in port in Ushuaia yesterday) is currently docked in Punta Arenas while we are skipping the port.

3.     Captain – not sure how much of the port skipping attributable to the captain’s or Regent’s decision, but the whole situation has been very poorly handled. The captain is very cavalier in his announcements. There have been no apologies for the deviations from schedule and he’s just been generally flippant and dismissive of the diminished experience of the paying passengers. I overheard a passenger inquiring and he because defensive and borderline hostile.

4.     Overall, the ship is old and tired. During the first night of rougher seas, our cabin not only creaked, but sounded as if it was going to explode.

5.     Food has been okay and service, while slow, has been very pleasant and staff have all been wonderful.

6.  Internet - this has been abysmal. There's a router outside our cabin but no service unless I sit on the floor at the. The signal doesn't extend to the rest of the cabin. It's really slow in general and has actually constantly gone down ("satellite" problem). We just did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in November and the internet was fine the entire journey across the Atlantic. Why is it so bad on Voyager? 

 

So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

You might want to stick with the newer Regent ships as they are vastly improved.

[ToxM]

Voyager appears to be very creaky, never ben in such a creaky cabin!

 

I didn’t mind the decor on Voyager, it’s older, but I didn’t have an issue with it. 

 

Service was an issue, as was food on our Cape Town to Rio. 

 

We made missed Luderitz and St Helena on our crossing - we did make it to Walvis Bay…. Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. 

 

I wasn’t impressed with Regent (first timer on the line also), we had a series of unfortunate incidents that have made us question if we want to cruise again. 

[UUNetBill]

It's been a while since we cruised on Voyager, but we've never had a 'bad' experience on her.  A few little misses here and there, but that's cruising, I guess.

 

As to the missed ports, there are so many factors in those decisions I can't say whether it's the captain, corporate policy, or something else, but I can say that we've had a few missed ports in our travels and it's always disappointing.  But less disappointing than running aground or damaging the ship or getting stuck in a port.  I know one time we had multiple tugs trying to get us to the dock and the winds were just too powerful - these ships are heavy, yes, but the slab sides are like giant sails.  If your azipods or thrusters can't handle it, you have no choice but to skip the port.

 

Food can be hit or miss, usually pretty darn good but on occasion it can come out cold or otherwise unacceptable.  In that case we always let someone in management know and it's usually corrected quickly.

 

I got no defense for the internet - Regent is lagging (no pun intended) way behind in this regard.  I've heard that they're rolling out Starlink across the fleet but they're having some growing pains with it.

 

We used to cruise once or twice a year pre-pandemic but we've only been able to get out once since then so I don't know if it's an industry-wide issue, or Regent fleet-wide, or just Voyager.  I hope it's not just Voyager as we're heading out to sail on her soon.  🙂

 

Sorry you had a less than stellar voyage - our experiences with Regent over the past 15 years have been way more positive than negative (obviously - we keep coming back) but we'll definitely be keeping an eye out for any issues on our upcoming cruise...

[Lonedaddy]

2 hours ago, OskiBear said:

So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

Based on my last two cruise this is tending to be the new trend.  I thought Voyager was a tired ship as well.  I did like explorer and splendor better.  But the new Regent attitude, decisions and service have left a very bad impression on me.  

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, Lonedaddy said:

Based on my last two cruise this is tending to be the new trend.  I thought Voyager was a tired ship as well.  I did like explorer and splendor better.  But the new Regent attitude, decisions and service have left a very bad impression on me.  

Lonedaddy, the service is self-explanatory, but could you expound a bit on the attitude and decisions?  Was the attitude more crew or corporate or what?  We've only been back on one short cruise since the pandemic shutdown so not sure what to expect next week...

[Pcardad]

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

Relatively experienced cruiser here and we are currently on Voyager (Buenos Aires to Santiago) with an extraordinarily disappointing voyage. I’m not usually one to complain about little things and I tend to roll with things, but some less than optimal things have so far combined to make this journey one that is leaving a very bad taste and impression of Regent. So far:

 

1.     Embarkation – I had read about the issue with the terminal in Buenos Aires in advance so expected a bit of a “shuffle.” However, we were given a specific time to arrive at the alternate terminal at which point we were instructed to simply sit and wait an hour for a bus to shuttle us to the original terminal. It seemed a very poorly managed process with everyone waiting for a long time without really much coordination.

 

This can happen with any cruise line - especially when you are dealing with countries that might have a.....more laid back attitude.

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

2.     Skipping Ports – we arrived at Stanley, Falkland Islands and the captain informed us it was too windy to disembark, so we sailed away. We then turned around to disembark a passenger with a medical issue before sailing away. We later found out other ships had arrived Stanley with no issues. On our second of three scheduled days cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula, the Captain announced that we were hightailing it out of there because of anticipated winds in the Drake Passage, cutting that part of the journey short by one day. Prior to arriving Ushuaia, the Captain informed us he would be skipping Punta Arenas because of weather – this was announced three days in advance of even arriving at the port. Currently, everyone is aware that Holland America Oosterdam (that we saw in port in Ushuaia yesterday) is currently docked in Punta Arenas while we are skipping the port.

 

Common with every cruise line. You are lucky you left early as Drake is no joke. I've been across it in a much smaller ship in very bad conditions and most of the (older) guests were in bed for a day as they could not walk.

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

3.     Captain – not sure how much of the port skipping attributable to the captain’s or Regent’s decision, but the whole situation has been very poorly handled. The captain is very cavalier in his announcements. There have been no apologies for the deviations from schedule and he’s just been generally flippant and dismissive of the diminished experience of the paying passengers. I overheard a passenger inquiring and he because defensive and borderline hostile.

 

His job is your safety - I would not presume to 2nd guess him or comment on his "attitude'. Usually the GM or the CD will make an announcement regarding these things.

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

4.     Overall, the ship is old and tired. During the first night of rougher seas, our cabin not only creaked, but sounded as if it was going to explode.

 

All ships make noise in rough seas. I was in a crew member's cabin a couple of years ago and she had about 100 pieces of paper wedged into the ceiling tiles to keep them from creaking.

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

5.     Food has been okay and service, while slow, has been very pleasant and staff have all been wonderful.

 

Best staff in the industry!

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

6.  Internet - this has been abysmal. There's a router outside our cabin but no service unless I sit on the floor at the. The signal doesn't extend to the rest of the cabin. It's really slow in general and has actually constantly gone down ("satellite" problem). We just did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in November and the internet was fine the entire journey across the Atlantic. Why is it so bad on Voyager? 

 

You were in Antarctica and probably had bad/limited LOS with the satellites used for internet.

 

3 hours ago, OskiBear said:

 

So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

 

Can't help you here - in 450 nights, I've never had a bad cruise, just a few things that annoyed me and were immediately rectified by the staff. 

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Lonedaddy, the service is self-explanatory, but could you expound a bit on the attitude and decisions?  Was the attitude more crew or corporate or what?  We've only been back on one short cruise since the pandemic shutdown so not sure what to expect next week...

I've done 6 since COVID and I can see a slight difference in the experience of the crew. Many did not return to the ships after COVID as they cannot be expected to go 2 years without pay. Add in 2 new ships that need staffing and you have some crew who are relatively green. This will sort itself out. 

[Lonedaddy]

3 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Lonedaddy, the service is self-explanatory, but could you expound a bit on the attitude and decisions?  Was the attitude more crew or corporate or what?  We've only been back on one short cruise since the pandemic shutdown so not sure what to expect next week...

I was on the NZ cruise in January with all the biofouling issues and the decisions made onboard and the attitude the officers had was not pleasant.  The Israel cancellation and how that was handled by regent air and post cruise customer service was horrible.  Again, the officers were not very apologetic and somewhat condescending.  I get stuff happens whether it is Regents' fault or other but the handling of it and the post cruise CS was horrible.  Whereas our first cruise post covid on splendor was great the officers and staff were friendly and apologetic to the missed ports Ullapool due to winds and Belfast due to a holiday (which regent should have been aware of ahead of time and we found out upon boarding.    I'm one to usually make the best of the situation but they made it hard to especially the corporate so called post cruise customer service.  

[pappy1022]

Best staff in the industry? Maybe but that is subjective but it’s your opinion and you cruise a lot more than me, so it could be true. I love Regent and they will always be in the mix for me when I evaluate my options. But something has changed and the service and food just aren’t what they used to be. I think COVID certainly has affected staffing and other services related to the overall Regent Cruise experience. I can understand why some people who haven’t cruised with Regent a lot, expect perfection, or at least near perfection, because that is what Regent advertises and they aren’t inexpensive. I can see both sides to this debate.

[Sunprince]

OskiBear, sorry to read of your less then satisfactory experience on the Voyager.  This might not be a helpful comment, but here it goes…you paid a high price to sail Regent in Antarctica on a non-expedition ship that cannot do “landings” on the continent.  For that itinerary, it’s best to do a true expedition ship, offered by Seabourn or other cruise lines specializing in Antarctic expeditions.  They have far better trained expedition crews and  captains, and know the waters much better.  This does not excuse poor service or standards on the Voyager, but for the same price, there are some much better luxury options, with a much better expedition experience.  

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, Sunprince said:

OskiBear, sorry to read of your less then satisfactory experience on the Voyager.  This might not be a helpful comment, but here it goes…you paid a high price to sail Regent in Antarctica on a non-expedition ship that cannot do “landings” on the continent.  For that itinerary, it’s best to do a true expedition ship, offered by Seabourn or other cruise lines specializing in Antarctic expeditions.  They have far better trained expedition crews and  captains, and know the waters much better.  This does not excuse poor service or standards on the Voyager, but for the same price, there are some much better luxury options, with a much better expedition experience.  

Silversea has a pretty killer offering in the 17 day range...and Polar Class rated hulls.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Endeavour

[1982CruzStart]

We did this itinerary on Voyager last year.  All but 1 of our Regent cruises have been on Voyager.  I have to say that this cruise on Voyager was our worst cruise with Regent. A number of factors contributed to that experience with the exception being the great crew.  However the 3 days sailing in Antartica made the whole thing worthwhile and wouldn't have missed it for the world.  We are continuing to sail on Regent for now as we've had many great experiences. We decided that going forward we will only sail on the newer ships. 

 

I am so sorry that you missed a day there and other ports.  It sucks when you had such great hopes,  they are dashed and to add insult to injury you suffer the preceived indifference of the people responsible to provide the experience regardless if the circumstances were beyond their control. 

[irishwitchy]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:57 PM, Lonedaddy said:

I was on the NZ cruise in January with all the biofouling issues and the decisions made onboard and the attitude the officers had was not pleasant.  The Israel cancellation and how that was handled by regent air and post cruise customer service was horrible.  Again, the officers were not very apologetic and somewhat condescending.  I get stuff happens whether it is Regents' fault or other but the handling of it and the post cruise CS was horrible.  Whereas our first cruise post covid on splendor was great the officers and staff were friendly and apologetic to the missed ports Ullapool due to winds and Belfast due to a holiday (which regent should have been aware of ahead of time and we found out upon boarding.    I'm one to usually make the best of the situation but they made it hard to especially the corporate so called post cruise customer service.  

I was also on this cruise and hence I really don’t trust Regent, the Captain    hid that whole cruise.  I do have another cruise booked with them in August on Voyager.   It was picked because it started in Turkey and was rather cheap because of the credits I had and it has no sea days.   I’m ok with missing ports because of weather, the rooms and common areas may need a refresh and the internet I’m aware will be spotty.   As long as the service and food is good, I’m fine.  
 

If however,  I find out that two weeks before they change everything again, I will go back to just land trips.   I plan those myself and don’t have the level of problems that the cruise industry has right now.  

[SWFLAOK]

On 2/13/2024 at 5:17 PM, Sunprince said:

OskiBear, sorry to read of your less then satisfactory experience on the Voyager.  This might not be a helpful comment, but here it goes…you paid a high price to sail Regent in Antarctica on a non-expedition ship that cannot do “landings” on the continent.  For that itinerary, it’s best to do a true expedition ship, offered by Seabourn or other cruise lines specializing in Antarctic expeditions.  They have far better trained expedition crews and  captains, and know the waters much better.  This does not excuse poor service or standards on the Voyager, but for the same price, there are some much better luxury options, with a much better expedition experience.  

I was thinking the same thing. We have been on Voyager a number of times, but I would not take that South American cruise on it. It's not the right ship for it.

We did have a problem with the Captain of Voyager a few years ago in Southeast Asia, who would not allow us to tender to shore when numerous large tenders were brought out to us for tendering in to Ko Samui. We had previously tendered into ports in the Marquesas and Cook Islands from the Paul Gauguin on much smaller tenders, in much rougher seas. Instead, we sat for 6 hours, rocking and rolling, enduring seasickness, until it was time to sail to our next port. This was the Captain's decision, and he never communicated well on the entire cruise, nor did he interact with the passengers.  I don't know if it's still the same Captain or not.

[rcandkc]

2 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

I was thinking the same thing. We have been on Voyager a number of times, but I would not take that South American cruise on it. It's not the right ship for it.

We did have a problem with the Captain of Voyager a few years ago in Southeast Asia, who would not allow us to tender to shore when numerous large tenders were brought out to us for tendering in to Ko Samui. We had previously tendered into ports in the Marquesas and Cook Islands from the Paul Gauguin on much smaller tenders, in much rougher seas. Instead, we sat for 6 hours, rocking and rolling, enduring seasickness, until it was time to sail to our next port. This was the Captain's decision, and he never communicated well on the entire cruise, nor did he interact with the passengers.  I don't know if it's still the same Captain or not.

 Captains rotate around so no way of knowing. 

[drkitkat123]

keep in mind, and this is obviously no excuse, that the Captain may not be employed by Regent. The captain and "boating" crew may be supplied by the ship's owner when the ship is leased and this crew is very different from the "hotel" crew who is employed by Regent 

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

The captain and "boating" crew may be supplied by the ship's owner when the ship is leased

I was not aware that any of Regent’s ships are leased.

 

2 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

the "hotel" crew who is employed by Regent 

I understood that all hotel staff on Regent ships are employed by Apollo 

 

Edited February 15 by flossie009

[forgap]

17 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

We did this itinerary on Voyager last year.  All but 1 of our Regent cruises have been on Voyager.  I have to say that this cruise on Voyager was our worst cruise with Regent.

I’m curious about this.  We were also on this cruise and, although it was not my favorite cruise ever, it was not terrible at all.   We managed to see the Falklands, the scientific team was fantastic, and many of the excursions were interesting.  I think the negative for me was the lack of special events like the dance parties, the block party, and deck bbq.  The cruise director was Andy Heath.  I asked him about this and there was a big problem scheduling the band. (???) Some of the ports were a bit of a snore, but that is true on many cruises.  

 

 

[PhD-iva]

On 2/13/2024 at 2:47 PM, OskiBear said:

Relatively experienced cruiser here and we are currently on Voyager (Buenos Aires to Santiago) with an extraordinarily disappointing voyage. I’m not usually one to complain about little things and I tend to roll with things, but some less than optimal things have so far combined to make this journey one that is leaving a very bad taste and impression of Regent. So far:

 

1.     Embarkation – I had read about the issue with the terminal in Buenos Aires in advance so expected a bit of a “shuffle.” However, we were given a specific time to arrive at the alternate terminal at which point we were instructed to simply sit and wait an hour for a bus to shuttle us to the original terminal. It seemed a very poorly managed process with everyone waiting for a long time without really much coordination.

2.     Skipping Ports – we arrived at Stanley, Falkland Islands and the captain informed us it was too windy to disembark, so we sailed away. We then turned around to disembark a passenger with a medical issue before sailing away. We later found out other ships had arrived Stanley with no issues. On our second of three scheduled days cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula, the Captain announced that we were hightailing it out of there because of anticipated winds in the Drake Passage, cutting that part of the journey short by one day. Prior to arriving Ushuaia, the Captain informed us he would be skipping Punta Arenas because of weather – this was announced three days in advance of even arriving at the port. Currently, everyone is aware that Holland America Oosterdam (that we saw in port in Ushuaia yesterday) is currently docked in Punta Arenas while we are skipping the port.

3.     Captain – not sure how much of the port skipping attributable to the captain’s or Regent’s decision, but the whole situation has been very poorly handled. The captain is very cavalier in his announcements. There have been no apologies for the deviations from schedule and he’s just been generally flippant and dismissive of the diminished experience of the paying passengers. I overheard a passenger inquiring and he because defensive and borderline hostile.

4.     Overall, the ship is old and tired. During the first night of rougher seas, our cabin not only creaked, but sounded as if it was going to explode.

5.     Food has been okay and service, while slow, has been very pleasant and staff have all been wonderful.

6.  Internet - this has been abysmal. There's a router outside our cabin but no service unless I sit on the floor at the. The signal doesn't extend to the rest of the cabin. It's really slow in general and has actually constantly gone down ("satellite" problem). We just did a transatlantic crossing on QM2 in November and the internet was fine the entire journey across the Atlantic. Why is it so bad on Voyager? 

 

So, is this par for the course for Regent? Or Voyager? Or this Captain?

I am on this cruise now and I’m having a wonderful cruise. All of my interactions with the captain and officers have been very pleasant and amenable. They have been approachable, however, I’ve not had any difficult topics to discuss with them.

I posted elsewhere that the first two nights the service in Compass Rose was extremely slow. Extremely. Hard to get any notice from servers, and I was sitting at a table with two titanium level passengers. I turned in the mid cruise review the following morning, and was it a coincidence that by dinner time service had been restored to the expected levels. Everyone commented on how the service at Compass Rose was better. Since then Service has been fine, food has been very good. No complaints there. The wine is much better on this cruise than my previous itinerary on Mariner in November 2022.
I don’t find the ship to be old and tired at all. OK, in Horizon lounge, it could be time to refresh the upholstery. But, I’m very satisfied overall. YMMV

Internet has been abysmal, abysmal. Might be a function of where we were sailing. 

One thing to add to your list of issues is the lack of production shows in the theater. A few too many movies. Comedian was good, very funny.

more later

[OskiBear]

Thanks to everyone for the perspectives. 

 

I would say that I definitely didn't come on this cruise with any true expectations or preconceived notions of what the experience would be onboard. Even though Regent bills itself as highly "luxurious," I took that as a lot of marketing bluster and simply hoped to have a decent time. I'm not super-picky about the food (and it's been perfectly acceptable) and will enjoy whatever entertainment is offered. Every crew member I've interacted with (other than the captain) has been unfailingly polite and eager to offer whatever service/assistance is required - often prior to even being asked. 

 

The true disappointment has been skipped ports that were the focal points of this journey. I get that there's bad weather and, not being an expert, can't second guess the captain's decision to not dock. However, the presentation of the situation was what really rankles me. There simply has been no expression of regret/apology for missing a significant aspect of the journey. This just does not sit well with me and, evidently, many of the other passengers. There certainly has been a great deal of chatter about the skipped ports and what recourse (or lack of) there is from Regent. 

 

I'm also pretty surprised by how much my cabin creaks/rattles or whatever you call it. I've made numerous transatlantic crossings on the Queen Mary 2 in winter and in very foul weather - our most recent crossing was in a Beaufort Scale 10 storm. There was some creaking in the cabin, which I can accept. My cabin on the Voyager is significantly more than "creaking" - the walls are literally torquing with the motion of the ship and it is LOUD. It's not really described as "creaking" or "squeaking" - I'm just surprised at this level of noise. I've had to use ear plugs each night to try and sleep to minimize the noise. 

 

Internet is pretty poor - funnily, it really picked up when we were cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula (when I expected it would actually disappear) and then disappeared later on when we sailed out. So, not sure what's going on, but it does drop out for periods of time throughout the day where it's simply non-existent. 

 

I think this has been a poor introduction to Regent. It definitely hasn't encouraged me to give them another try when there are so many other options out there. 

 

All in all, not a disastrous cruise, but certainly doesn't rank high up on the list. 

[Pcardad]

8 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

keep in mind, and this is obviously no excuse, that the Captain may not be employed by Regent. The captain and "boating" crew may be supplied by the ship's owner when the ship is leased and this crew is very different from the "hotel" crew who is employed by Regent 

All senior staff works for Regent. The other 97% work for Apollo Management out of Miami.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, OskiBear said:

Thanks to everyone for the perspectives. 

 

I would say that I definitely didn't come on this cruise with any true expectations or preconceived notions of what the experience would be onboard. Even though Regent bills itself as highly "luxurious," I took that as a lot of marketing bluster and simply hoped to have a decent time. I'm not super-picky about the food (and it's been perfectly acceptable) and will enjoy whatever entertainment is offered. Every crew member I've interacted with (other than the captain) has been unfailingly polite and eager to offer whatever service/assistance is required - often prior to even being asked. 

 

The true disappointment has been skipped ports that were the focal points of this journey. I get that there's bad weather and, not being an expert, can't second guess the captain's decision to not dock. However, the presentation of the situation was what really rankles me. There simply has been no expression of regret/apology for missing a significant aspect of the journey. This just does not sit well with me and, evidently, many of the other passengers. There certainly has been a great deal of chatter about the skipped ports and what recourse (or lack of) there is from Regent. 

 

I'm also pretty surprised by how much my cabin creaks/rattles or whatever you call it. I've made numerous transatlantic crossings on the Queen Mary 2 in winter and in very foul weather - our most recent crossing was in a Beaufort Scale 10 storm. There was some creaking in the cabin, which I can accept. My cabin on the Voyager is significantly more than "creaking" - the walls are literally torquing with the motion of the ship and it is LOUD. It's not really described as "creaking" or "squeaking" - I'm just surprised at this level of noise. I've had to use ear plugs each night to try and sleep to minimize the noise. 

 

Internet is pretty poor - funnily, it really picked up when we were cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula (when I expected it would actually disappear) and then disappeared later on when we sailed out. So, not sure what's going on, but it does drop out for periods of time throughout the day where it's simply non-existent. 

 

I think this has been a poor introduction to Regent. It definitely hasn't encouraged me to give them another try when there are so many other options out there. 

 

All in all, not a disastrous cruise, but certainly doesn't rank high up on the list. 

The GM 2 is a trans-oceanic liner that is almost twice as long and 3x the tonnage. It is built for high speed in trans-oceanic crossings. It would handle seas FAR better than a tiny cruise ship.

https://www.cruisehive.com/ocean-liner-vs-cruise-ship/67194

[mnocket]

1 hour ago, OskiBear said:

Thanks to everyone for the perspectives. 

 

I would say that I definitely didn't come on this cruise with any true expectations or preconceived notions of what the experience would be onboard. Even though Regent bills itself as highly "luxurious," I took that as a lot of marketing bluster and simply hoped to have a decent time. I'm not super-picky about the food (and it's been perfectly acceptable) and will enjoy whatever entertainment is offered. Every crew member I've interacted with (other than the captain) has been unfailingly polite and eager to offer whatever service/assistance is required - often prior to even being asked. 

 

The true disappointment has been skipped ports that were the focal points of this journey. I get that there's bad weather and, not being an expert, can't second guess the captain's decision to not dock. However, the presentation of the situation was what really rankles me. There simply has been no expression of regret/apology for missing a significant aspect of the journey. This just does not sit well with me and, evidently, many of the other passengers. There certainly has been a great deal of chatter about the skipped ports and what recourse (or lack of) there is from Regent. 

 

I'm also pretty surprised by how much my cabin creaks/rattles or whatever you call it. I've made numerous transatlantic crossings on the Queen Mary 2 in winter and in very foul weather - our most recent crossing was in a Beaufort Scale 10 storm. There was some creaking in the cabin, which I can accept. My cabin on the Voyager is significantly more than "creaking" - the walls are literally torquing with the motion of the ship and it is LOUD. It's not really described as "creaking" or "squeaking" - I'm just surprised at this level of noise. I've had to use ear plugs each night to try and sleep to minimize the noise. 

 

Internet is pretty poor - funnily, it really picked up when we were cruising through the Antarctic Peninsula (when I expected it would actually disappear) and then disappeared later on when we sailed out. So, not sure what's going on, but it does drop out for periods of time throughout the day where it's simply non-existent. 

 

I think this has been a poor introduction to Regent. It definitely hasn't encouraged me to give them another try when there are so many other options out there. 

 

All in all, not a disastrous cruise, but certainly doesn't rank high up on the list. 

I can certainly understand your disappointment with the lack of communication and empathy from the captain regarding the multiple port cancelations - particularly when other ships did make their port calls.  I recently had an experience on another cruise line (Windstar) where the captain handled a similar situation extremely well.  

 

It was a circumnavigation of Iceland in September.  There were 5 ports on the itinerary.  Not too long after we boarded the ship, all passengers were called to the theater for an address by the captain.  He gave a detailed presentation, including Powerpoint slides, showing the weather conditions along our planned route.  He explained the scale of wind speeds.  He suggested we could download the Windy app and track the wind speeds and wave heights ourselves.  He explained the dangers of proceeding into such conditions in the context of his many years of experience - and then announced that we would be staying in port that night, the next day, and not departing until the evening of the day following that. We would be skipping 2 ports and the schedule for the other ports would also be altered - totally impacting every planned excursion.  His apology was sincere.  His explanation was clear and compelling.  Everyone left that theater feeling disappointed, but confident in the captain and trusting his decision.

 

To continue the saga...  when we arrived at the first port days later, we were supposed to dock at the pier.  Instead the captain dropped anchor within view of the port.  After a half hour, the captain came on the PA system and explained that the wind was hovering around 20mph (I may misremember this number) and the direction was such that if he docked and the wind got any stronger the thrusters would not be powerful enough to push us off the dock. Further the wind made it too dangerous to try using tenders.  Hence, we would be skipping that port as well.  10 minutes later he pulled up anchor and left.  We now had missed the first 3 of our 5 ports.  You might expect a passenger uproar, but there was none.  The captain's behavior and communication had built up a trust among the passengers and, while there was certainly disappointment, there was no ill will among the passengers. 

 

I relay this rather lengthy tale of woe to illustrate how a captain's communication can drastically impact a passenger's impression and satisfaction with a cruise - especially when things don't go according to plan.  It seems in OP's case; the captain fell well short of the mark.

Edited February 15 by mnocket

[1982CruzStart]

5 hours ago, forgap said:

I’m curious about this.  We were also on this cruise and, although it was not my favorite cruise ever, it was not terrible at all.   We managed to see the Falklands, the scientific team was fantastic, and many of the excursions were interesting.  I think the negative for me was the lack of special events like the dance parties, the block party, and deck bbq.  The cruise director was Andy Heath.  I asked him about this and there was a big problem scheduling the band. (???) Some of the ports were a bit of a snore, but that is true on many cruises.  

 

 

I didn't say the cruise was terrible, i said it was our worst cruise with Regent.  Your experience and mine were obviously different or at least the things that negatively impact us during a cruise are different.  

As always the staff were wonderful, the food was okay but rarely outstanding so i ended up eating the same food often that was a very good.   The menu was uninteresting for us so ended up mostly ordering from the always menu. Our 1 night in Setti Mari was not good, a venue in the past we had frequented and enjoyed, but avoided the rest of the cruise as it was that bad. 

We enjoyed most of the ports that we took excursions on.   The scientific team was fantastic and i consider them part of the Antarctic experience that made the whole trip worthwhile regardless of the other experiences. 

As i said it hasn't stopped us from cruising with Regent as we have 2 more cruises booked with them.