live from sven seas voyager!!!

[seabourndt]

after getting off the voyager monday after a generallty good trip,had to wait till they started disembarkation at 0900 rather than 0800 which they said it was. easy getting luggage and getin through customs much easier than by air. fort lauderdale looks totallky diffeent to last time 99. then princess was on the one vdock by planewt hollywood. what happened to it or is that a different dock.after callinfg greyhound and told theres only 2 buses a day to key west found there are a lot more.

wel enjoyed myself but don't think i'll do regent again,sorry

dave

[JPR]

Crystal is definitely one of the top large ship cruise lines, and everything is a matter of taste. But note that Regent Seven Seas beat Crystal and Silversea as the top Large Ship Cruise Line in this years' Conde Nast Traveler magazine survey of readers. (Crystal's ships are much bigger than Regent's, which is a key reason we prefer Regent. Silversea and Regent have quite comparable ships; to echo the prior posters, Silversea is anything but a mass-market line.)

 

So it appears that your views are in the minority, Suite Travels. Having just spent 11 nights on the Voyager, I can also say that your experience with the food in the Compass Rose and the service in La Veranda is inconsistent with my experience. One can have negative experiences on any cruise line; as I wrote above, the best test is to complain about the problems to the appropriate person and see what happens next. In my experience, Regent's ships always step up to the plate when there is a problem. (In contrast, we had a suite with a bad smell and a quite rude and unresponsive concierge in summer 2005 on the Silver Shadow, and nothing at all was done about it, either before or after the cruise.)

[Travelcat2]

It seems that Suite Travels is posting negative comments about Regent on both the Regent and Crystal sites. This is too bad as most people go to these sites to have their questions answered prior to booking or embarking on a cruise. Perhaps Suite Travels is a travel agent who is trying to sway Regent customers away from Regent and onto Crystal (which is a totally different experience than Regent, Silversea or Seabourn).

Having been on the Voyager 3 months ago, I can state very strongly that the positives on the Voyager far outweigh any minor negatives. The food on the ship is wonderful -- the service exemplary. I understand that the Voyager is currently in dry dock where she will get some new carpeting, bedding and furniture -- the is the only area where she was a bit lacking.

Hopefully, members of Cruisecritic.com will post information that is helpful to others and will post them in the correct place. I envy those of you with upcoming trips on Voyager (although we'll have our first trip on the Navigator in 4 months and 7 days):D

[Suite Travels]

TravelCat2, No I am not a T.A. You are right C.C. is a place for people to come to for answers to their questions. The sites are also here for people to read feedback the good and the bad. Occasionally as with any cruise line you will hear comments that may not be what you want to hear or believe. Occasionally on the Crystal board someone does not have good experience and some of the members say "Sorry your cruise was not what you expected etc." Or someone will give the poster a name of someone to contact to correct a problem.

 

There were no glaring problems with our cruise that would prompt me to write Mr. Conroy. The cruise was just not up to our expectations and we ALL have different levels now don't we.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes we do all have different expectations, so I'm glad that Crystal is your cup of tea, if Regent is not. (Although using the word "level" sounds a titch like you are trying to imply that your expectations are "superior" to those who choose Regent--if I am mistaken, please accept my apologies.)

 

I sail Regent because I like the small ship experience, the large staterooms, the open dining. I also love the wonderful service, and the great food. I know from lots of posters that the food on Crystal is fabulous, and the service great, but I would not sail on a larger ship--Voyager is pushing it for me, and I next sail on Navigator, smaller still. Nor would I accept set dining, we enjoy meeting new people every night. The Paul Gauguin remains my favourite ship, I have been on the 7-day cruise 4 times. So, to each his own.

[cburger100]

Hello everyone! I've been on every Regent ship except Voyager, and loved all of their ships, especially the Gaughin. Really miss the Diamond! We are sailing on the Voyager December 11th. I am a little hesitant since we have been sailing mainly smaller ships like Seabourn and SeaDream. So happy to be on 200 passenger or less yachts!

I will let you know our opinions!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Cburger, I hope you like Voyager. We liked her quite alot last summer, although I too prefer the smaller ships. So we're trying Navigator, leaving the same date and placed as you. Have a great cruise!

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for making the points I was attempting to make regarding the comments from Suite Travels. :)

 

I recently have been checking out messages on the Crystal threads to learn more about them since they were rated #1 for so many years. Like Wendy the Wanderer, we prefer the Regent style of cruising -- however, I would feel it was inappropriate to go into a Crystal site and tell everyone (in multiple messages) how much better Regent is. All of this is about preferences -- these are both top rated cruise lines.

 

A couple of months ago there was a thread "Regent vs. Crystal" -- perhaps Suite Travels would do better starting a new thread where people who have experiences on both types of cruises could state their opinions.

 

From my perspective, even if you prefer another style of cruising, I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying the Voyager. Just my opinion.

[Suite Travels]

We did enjoy the Voyager but we had a few cruise lines to compare. I will get off my soap box after this post. We have been on most of them, from mass market to the six star lines and we are all lucky to be cruising. So let's leave it at that.

 

We are not anti-Regent by any means. The line just IMHO does not shine like Crystal and from another guest on-board the Voyager certainly not Seabourn. I cannot speak for Seabourn has we have not sailed them.

 

Regent has a product that now is comparable with all the top lines in price structure. That said, the quality of service should be consistent with the other lines sine they are competing for our $$$$. If Caviar is unlimited on Seabourn and Crystal so should Regent. Open dining is not an issue with us and having the same waiter every night, they know what we want is a plus for us. Perhaps not for many of you. Unlimited booze is not an issue and that is the only beverage you have to pay for on Crystal. We hear that Sea dream is wonderful, but a bit too small for us.

 

If you have not tried another line then you have know right to criticize.

 

Just a quick aside. Embarkation in FCO was standing in line with a glass of bubbly with carry on bag's was a bit awkward. The check-in is very slow and we had nobody escort us or help us with our bag s's to our suite. We found our own way. Why not check everyone in at the pier and be done with that procedure and be greeted and assisted.