Regent Voyager vs. Celebrity Century

[DavidJ]

Dear Caviargal,

 

You have added some nice insight to this thread. I have just read about the cruise I believe you were scheduled to be on the Voyager leaving on the 12th. I am very sorry for you. It is very late notice to have that cruise cancelled on you. I can only imasgine your disappointment.

 

On my last cruise on the Century, it was to be my Dad's 90th birthday celebration. Three days before departure, he had to cancel due to urgent oral surgery that could only be scheduled the day of departure. He is recovering well now, however he has been VERY depressed with having missed his cruise with three of his children.

 

Today, I started the process of filing with the travel insurance for his missed cruise. Lots and lots of requested paperwork. Yuk!

 

I wish you luck with making other arrangements. I love the Voyager and hope that Regent will make it up to you.

 

Regards, Pierce

[DavidJ]

Sorry, it tried to post twice

[caviargal]

Dear Caviargal,

 

You have added some nice insight to this thread. I have just read about the cruise I believe you were scheduled to be on the Voyager leaving on the 12th. I am very sorry for you. It is very late notice to have that cruise cancelled on you. I can only imasgine your disappointment.

 

On my last cruise on the Century, it was to be my Dad's 90th birthday celebration. Three days before departure, he had to cancel due to urgent oral surgery that could only be scheduled the day of departure. He is recovering well now, however he has been VERY depressed with having missed his cruise with three of his children.

 

Today, I started the process of filing with the travel insurance for his missed cruise. Lots and lots of requested paperwork. Yuk!

 

I wish you luck with making other arrangements. I love the Voyager and hope that Regent will make it up to you.

 

Regards, Pierce

 

Pierce,

 

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, our honeymoon cruise is cancelled and I am looking at options, which are very limited at this time. Not sure where we will end up at this point in time.

 

I have another cruise booked on Regen for next year and will wait and see how things go. If not, ten days in Italy will not be a difficult consolation prize as I have my air confirmed.

[trinidad]

I have been on Celebrity, HAL and RSSC and will always choose RSSC when possible. The major reason is assigned dinner seating. We do not like to be told when and with whom we will dine. On RSSC, we have met many delightful people by asking the wait staff to place us with someone. Somehow, on RSSC, they pick very compatible companions. This has not been the case on other lines. The all-inclusive cost, no tipping policy and spacious cabins, on most ships with balconies, are also major factors.

Regarding inebriated passengers- on a recent RSSC cruise, a man imbibed too much several times and behaved badly. He had several "chats" with the Captain and was later banned from future cruises with RSSC. I cannot see RSSC permitting rowdy behavior.

[KILLERFEET]

Very nice review. I too have sailed with both lines. The value and extra service you receive on an upper-end suite( Royal and Penthouse) on Celebrity is evident from the moment your lugguage arrives shortly after you! No comparison on the level of personal service, Celebrity has achieved a very nice standard. The beauty, comfort of the royal and penthouse suite(s) are hard to beat on Celebrity. Caliber of passenger and often commanality of interests, Regent hands down.

Celebrity in the upper two suites is fun and very reasonable!

 

But! we sail on Voyager this month. What can I say.

[jhp]

Then you are on the holiday cruise on the Voyager? How fun!

[Baltic Express]

The beauty, comfort of the royal and penthouse suite(s) are hard to beat on Celebrity.

 

I must respectfully totally disagree with this statement!!

 

Was in the Penthouse suite on Galaxy in November 2005 and was extremely disappointed with the quality. First, not one piece of any of the electronic stereo or drop down tv screen worked and despite several attempts by maintenance they never worked throughout the cruise. The bed was a joke. It was two cots pushed together to make a king. And when I say cot I am not joking. We asked for a mattress and they returned with an egg crate topper. It was horrible and both of our backs ached the entire cruise and neither of us ever got a good nights sleep. We complained the first three days and they ended up replying with they had done the best they could do and apologized saying they knew the beds were bad but that there was absolutely nothing better on board. The balcony was extremely small for a penthouse suite with dingy plastic furniture and no room for even a table to eat at. No sun on the balcony as there was the large overhang from the cafeteria above. The one bright spot in our suite was the full size refrigerator/freezer combo in the pantry. We loved having this in our suite.

 

Our other major problem with Celebrity is the food - I don't care what anybody says - it does not come even close to what is available on Regent. I loved the buffet setup on Regent where you simply took your plate to a table already completely set up with table cloth, all silverware and glasses etc.. The buffet on Celebrity was like going to a very low class cafeteria in my opinion - difficult to find an empty table and once you did it was likely covered with dirty dishes. Not once on Celebrity did any of the waiters ever offer to go and get me water, juice or coffee - they did offer to carry my tray which seems to be the best thing they are known for. The dining room on Galaxy, while being nice in appearance, still served the banquet/convention style food that had been sitting under heat lamps for in excess of an hour prior to being served. I realize they were serving three to five times as many people as on Regent and that is also why I don't understand how so many people rave about Celebrity food - perhaps if they experienced Regent they would sing a different song. Don't even let me get started with respect to the other lack of maintenance issues with Galaxy - that is a whole different issue which is lacking fleet wide in Celebrity.

 

 

We just returned from the Navigator (November 2006 cruise) and had the master suite (I think that is what it is referred to) at the bow of the 10th deck. It was nice but we found the layout a little strange. The guest bath was in a little hallway as you entered the suite between the outside door to the corridor and another door to the suite - very odd and ugly entrance. The living room was beautiful and very comfortable. The bed was excellent and we never had a problem sleeping there. The master bath was also fairly strange. The shower was extremely small - barely enough room to turn around. Within the bathroom was another door that led to a bidet, the toliet and another sink area. We had no idea why they configured like this but suffice it to say I'm sure an interior decorator would configure it with a much bigger shower and not have that extra sink in front of the bidet etc.. The balcony at the side of the ship was fairly small and completely under cover from the wings of the bridge above. The second balcony at the bow area was nice - but was frequently wet from some sort of continual washing of the area above. The furniture on the bow balcony was non existant and needed dire replacement on side balcony.

 

We have also been in the Owner suites on Oceania which we absolutely love except for two items - 1) no shower in the bathroom and you have to climb up and into a large jacuzzi tub to have a shower, and 2) my wife doesn't care for the closet setup which is a long set of doors along one wall - I like it but she would prefer the more conventional walkin closet type. The balcony was perfect and very enjoyable - you just had to watch your head when walking from one side to the other as there was a low beam in a couple of spots.

 

Overall of the three I would select Oceania as being the nicest suite and a basic tie between Oceania and Regent for all other amenities. We will be sailing with both lines again and after experiencing these smaller ships we don't see any need to venture back to Celebrity and deal with their horrible customer service ever again.

[AWED23]

David, did you notice how very nicely Celebrity asked guests to respect the dress codes in the daily actitivy sheet? They said that the dress code existed in order to provide a traditional and elegant cruising experience and asked that all passengers respect the staff and other guest by complying. As you saw on your cruise, that respect was not shown by everyone.:(

 

On all other X cruises IME, this has never been an issue. I never saw shorts, ball caps, tattered jeans in the dining room at dinner. The dress standard was enforced and more, importantly, the passengers expected it and enjoyed the ambiance.

 

On of the reasons we have abandoned most mass market lines (and cruising with a rare exception) is the overall decline in quality of service and the deterioration of dress codes. I have been cruising for over 40 years and am admittedly a traditionalist. I could less about rock climbing walls, ice rinks and bowling alleys. Give me the traditions of being at sea, including an elegant ship and atmosphere and service to match and I am happy.

 

For me, Celebrity and HAL were the standouts amongst the mass market lines. This cruise was different and I am choosing to chalk it up to the shorter duration and lower prices which attract a different type of passenger.

...I can not understand a Matre'd allowing the dress codes not being enforced...Also, where was the Hotel manager??...We have cruised on many different lines over the course of our 50 cruises and the big X is not, nor will ever be, one of them. I have had way too many people I respect give me simular reports....We will do a cruise on Oceana and see how they stack up...Hal's Prinsendam is still our favorite "premium line" ship...different horses/different courses...:D :mad:

[xplrcrzn]

I've actually seen guests barred from the dining room on both Infinity and Summit for being "out of code." Beyond that, what is a cruiseline suppose to do, handcuff the guest? This is the hospitality industry, not a private club and it is unrealistic to expect any cruiseline to take hostile or coercive action against a paying customer. Dress codes on any line are essentially self-enforcing.

[Baltic Express]

Dress codes on any line are essentially self-enforcing.

 

Having recently returned from the Navigator in the Western Caribbean I can say from first hand experience that the dress code on Regent was definitely not enforced.

 

Since it was a Caribbean cruise we asked the Maitre'd and were informed that informal did not really mean jacket and tie and that Country Club Casual was more the norm. I believe most others got the same memo as the dining room was absent of any ties, and had very few jackets. Everyone was dressed rather smartly so the actual desired effect was achieved.

 

I am not an advocate of dressing up on vacation so I was quite pleased by this turn of events. I wouldn't wear jeans or shorts to the dining room and nor did anyone else. I personally think it is ridiculous to expect people on vacation in the caribbean to rush back from a hot beach or any other excursion and dress up in tuxes and evening gowns. Some may like it but the caribbean is just not the appropriate place for it in my opinion.

 

Oceania has got it all going right with their full time Country Club Casual Policy and I hope we will find most cruise lines going in that direction.