Back from Grandeur Athens to Istanbul 30th May 2024

[Pack Leader]

Beautiful ship

Great Staff

Great cabin

Great theatre shows - cast were all fantastic 

Cruise director David Nevin very good

We enjoyed the food. Pacific Rim was favourite.

 

 

Waiters do not always know the included wines - hardly saw the Sommelier 

Guest entertainers poor

Good excursions, well organised, great tour guides for the most part 

On board musical acts average

Missing an outside bar for sailaways, al la Celebrity Sunset Bar

Misses an Infinity pool

Food at times hit and miss, many anecdotal comments made to us. Overall very good however.

There is sound transference between cabins, minor but noticeable

The ship has a minor constant vibration - quite surprising on a new ship and mentioned by others too

Why is the service so much better in the speciality restaurants?

Chartreuse - just don’t get it. Many other passengers said they did not enjoy Chartreuse 

 

These are all minor issues and overall we loved the cruise and the ship, but there is room for improvement on board and in the next ship design. Have only been on Voyager before, last year, so look forward to trying Splendor and Explorer

 

We were in a superior suite- same as Concierge, having been upgraded. Our H level veranda would have had no walk in wardrobe, unlike Voyager. Why do newer ships have to have smaller cabins!?

 

I suggest they sell the Faberge egg and replace it with a Scotch Egg and install an infinity pool and sunset bar! Complete waste of money - never saw it paid much attention (although I am a born cynic)

 

Happy to answer any questions 

[Bruce61]

48 minutes ago, Pack Leader said:

Missing an outside bar for sailaways, al la Celebrity Sunset Bar

 

Isn't there a pool deck bar?

[GOARMY]

Pack Leader:  

 

Grandeur and Splendor offer H-level veranda Suites to attract guests traveling solo.  A smart business decision. This is another demographic reality.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

  

[Portolan]

4 hours ago, Bruce61 said:

Isn't there a pool deck bar?

It does according to the deck plans in the same location as Explorer and Splendor.  Perhaps the OP meant that there wasn't a sail-away deck party (which we've only encountered in bad weather).  Also, the Pool Bar on the other ships close early, but always stayed open through the sail-away...unless it was an evening departure (>6:30 or so)?  (In rereading the OP, I think they were referring to an outside stern bar).

[oceanviewer21]

We also missed the sail away on deck party. The Sunday Brunch with caviar in the Compass Rose (equivalent to the beach barbecues ) and the great party in the reception stair area on the last night. We had all these on the Splendor when we sailed on it 2022

[oceanviewer21]

The infinity pool was removed from the Splendor and the Grandeur because the vibration was causing the tiles to drop off.

Why was the pool emptied on the last day without any notification? Something that has never happend since we were on the QE2 when it happened in every port,

[DaveFr]

1 hour ago, oceanviewer21 said:

We also missed the sail away on deck party. The Sunday Brunch with caviar in the Compass Rose (equivalent to the beach barbecues ) and the great party in the reception stair area on the last night. We had all these on the Splendor when we sailed on it 2022

The Sunday brunch in Compass Rose is only held when a Sunday falls on a sea day. I believe your cruise was in port on Sundays. As to the other events you list, while events on each Regent cruise are similar they are not necessarily identical.

 

Dave

[papaflamingo]

15 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

Why is the service so much better in the speciality restaurants?

Likely because they're both smaller, have a more limited menu, and definitely more "paced" service because they aren't trying to turn over tables like Compass Rose.  Also it could be that since the restaurants are "specialty," they put the top servers in there, but just a guess.  

I agree, the service was better in the specialty restaurants when we were on board in Jan. also.

[CJANDH]

18 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

Why do newer ships have to have smaller cabins!?

Maybe because they can then increase the number of staterooms! Just a thought. 😁

[irishwitchy]

Did any excursions, stand out?  

[Pack Leader]

39 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

Maybe because they can then increase the number of staterooms! Just a thought. 😁

Oh i know!

[Pack Leader]

12 minutes ago, irishwitchy said:

Did any excursions, stand out?  

Kotor was a unique place, very beautiful and the tour was great too. The guide in Kusadasi was very funny. They were all interesting tours with experienced guides. We had been to many of the stops previously so this time we chose tours that took us to other areas, rather than the main attractions of an island or a town.

[Pack Leader]

13 hours ago, Portolan said:

It does according to the deck plans in the same location as Explorer and Splendor.  Perhaps the OP meant that there wasn't a sail-away deck party (which we've only encountered in bad weather).  Also, the Pool Bar on the other ships close early, but always stayed open through the sail-away...unless it was an evening departure (>6:30 or so)?  (In rereading the OP, I think they were referring to an outside stern bar).

What i mean is that the pool bar on the pool deck is to one side of the ship with glass walls to the outside. Other ships have a bar at the back of the ship, giving 180 degree views and no full height glass walls so you enjoy great views on sail aways. I have had this on Celebrity Silhouette and Infinity and it is always enjoyable. They chose not to include this type of open air bar on these ships. Shame

[Portolan]

None of the Regent ships have what describe.  Mariner and Voyager have lounges at the back with chairs and loungers where the inside bar staff will serve if you make it clear where you are.

[Pies4u]

When was the infinity pool removed from Splendor?

 

According to all the Regent info I can see, (brochure, website etc), it is still there. We are due to be on Splendor in March 2025 and I’m fully expecting to see, and use, the infinity pool.

[RELS]

22 minutes ago, Pies4u said:

When was the infinity pool removed from Splendor?

 

 

The infinity pool is still on Splendor. They didn't put it onto Grandeur because of the tile issue mentioned by @oceanviewer21 above.

 

If there are too many tiles missing, they empty the infinity pool to repair it (needs to be dry).  Also, the pool is only filled to the infinity rim in port, to minimize sloshing when moving.

[Pies4u]

Cheers - I thought that sounded odd tbh.

[PaulaJK]

I think I recall a large pool bar on Mariner…no?

[Portolan]

All the Regent ships have pool bars.  But, as the OP lamented, they all face inward to the pool area and not outward.  All but Mariner's are on the port side at the forward end of the pool deck.  Mariner's is midship at the forward end of the pool deck.

Edited June 14 by Portolan

[DavidTheWonderer]

On 6/12/2024 at 4:02 PM, Pack Leader said:

... Why do newer ships have to have smaller cabins!? ...

A couple of people have suggested that it is to increase the number of cabins.  Although Regent certainly wants to have lots of passengers on their ships, I don't think this is the major reason.
For example, Voyager has the largest size basic cabin (33.1 m2 = 356 ft2) in the fleet.
Mariner, which has almost exactly the same number of passengers, has much smaller cabins (basic is 28 m2 = 301 ft2).
The difference is that Mariner has much more space devoted to public areas than Voyager.
Different people will prefer different trade offs of cabin size vs. public areas.
Apparently Regent has decided to tilt in favor of public areas.  Both Splendor and Grandeur basic cabins are 28.5 m2 = 307 ft2.  But these two ships have even more space devoted to public areas than Mariner.
Incidentally, Voyager is newer than Mariner (2003 vs. 2000).
Personally I prefer Splendor, Mariner, and presumably Grandeur over Voyager and Navigator, but your mileage may vary.

[lesliew]

Did you fly out same day in Istanbul?  How was your airport transfer? 

We have a flight departing at 1:30 on arrival day so not super tight but want to be as early as possible + least amount of hassle.   We are doing our own transportation (meaning it's not included) so wondering if we should use the Regent Transfer or book our own.

Edited June 14 by lesliew
update

[RachelG]

1 hour ago, lesliew said:

Did you fly out same day in Istanbul?  How was your airport transfer? 

We have a flight departing at 1:30 on arrival day so not super tight but want to be as early as possible + least amount of hassle.   We are doing our own transportation (meaning it's not included) so wondering if we should use the Regent Transfer or book our own.

Super easy to get a taxi at the port and not expensive.  We did book a transfer on our own once in Istanbul.  The driver never showed up.  We waited and waited, tried to call him.  Finally it was getting too close to flight time for comfort, so we grabbed a taxi and the driver drove like a crazy person, but got us there in time

[Pack Leader]

2 hours ago, lesliew said:

Did you fly out same day in Istanbul?  How was your airport transfer? 

We have a flight departing at 1:30 on arrival day so not super tight but want to be as early as possible + least amount of hassle.   We are doing our own transportation (meaning it's not included) so wondering if we should use the Regent Transfer or book our own.

When you come off the ship there is a queue of yellow taxis. This is in the underground level that you come out at and is the opposite side to the coaches you face when you come out into the underground area. We took one to the airport and taxi $50 which is a bargain. It is actually better to pay in dollars as they quoted the same in Euros. Our flight was 13.10 and we were off the ship at 08.30

Edited June 14 by Pack Leader

[Hambagahle]

You were able to pay the taxi driver in either EUR or USD?  He didn't require Lira ?  Interesting since we have to take a taxi to our hotel and always have EUR with us but no USD.  I was planning to get some lira here from the bank but if I don't need it for the taxi I can go to an ATM in Istanbul where the rate will be better.

[GMIAC]

On 6/14/2024 at 3:29 PM, Pack Leader said:

When you come off the ship there is a queue of yellow taxis. This is in the underground level that you come out at and is the opposite side to the coaches you face when you come out into the underground area. We took one to the airport and taxi $50 which is a bargain. It is actually better to pay in dollars as they quoted the same in Euros. Our flight was 13.10 and we were off the ship at 08.30

Do they not use tap-to-pay handhelds for payment? You can usually choose your preferred currency.