Live from Voyager

[count florida]

Despite what some may say, we think Regent quality has been declining for the past two years, even as the cost of cruising with them has about doubled. And we are (or rather, were) loyal Regent partisans, with (now) over 200 nights in RSSC ships. For example, here is what we wrote (to accompany the pre-disembarkation questionnaire) in our comments about embarkation on Regent's Mariner in Osaka, Japan on Sep 26, 2007:

 

“Embarkation in Osaka was the worst experience of that genre we’ve ever experienced on any cruise ship, on any line. Upon arrival at the port, we were directed away from the correct entrance by someone who looked ‘official’, but wasn’t, apparently. When we did get to the unloading area, we were the second taxi in that area. We took a little time to settle with the driver and unload our luggage, at which point the cab that was there when we pulled in had left and others had arrived. There was no queue for cars, luggage or people. Apparently only one porter was working at that time (about 1:20 PM), directed by a man with a clipboard and an officious manner. He explained we should stay with our luggage until the porter took charge of it to take it to be scanned, then after hanging around a bit went off to tell later arrivals the same thing. I noticed that other arriving guests tipped him, a thing quite unusual in Japan, and that he directed that one available porter to their luggage before ours. This happened at least three times, and in two of those instances, I saw the arriving guests tip this man. It became evident that the only way to get the one porter who was moving luggage from the arrival area to the scanners was to bribe the port agent’s coordinator with a tip! This in Japan!? Finally, after five or six minutes waiting there, we took our carry-on bags and proceeded up the gangway where the Assistant Cruise Director met us. When I complained to him about what I had observed, he smiled and said we were here now, to “have a nice day”! Nothing more! No welcome after the security procedures at the head of the gangway, nor when we got into the Constellation Theater, where we waited in line for eight or ten minutes before being processed. No offer to help with our bags either. Only after processing was complete were we offered a glass of champagne but again, no offer of help with the bags. We were going to try and drop our carry-on luggage in our suite before going up to the Veranda to have lunch, but that wasn’t possible so we brought it with us. When we got to Deck 8, all was well, we knew where our suite was and our stewardess came by promptly, introduced herself and very efficiently noted our requests and filled almost all of them immediately – impressively so. As noted elsewhere, Anne is a real gem! Embarkation is when you set the tone for a cruise; this cruise’s embarkation mini-fiasco seemed to set the negative tone we’ve experienced this trip.”

 

EDITING TO ADD:

In response to the comment that the Mariner had been a bit shabby a couple of years ago, it has been fully refurburished and is now like new, with only one discernable negative: the VCR, which had a highly visible clock that also acted as a night light (Mariner, unlike Voyager, doesn't have one) had been replaced by a DVD player, which has no clock and only a dim light which doesn't help at night. Otherwise, it very nice again!

[DebbieH103]

I already promised a proper review. I did the same on my two SS ones. I kept a blog and then wrote a proper detailed review by category.

 

Not only did I meet with the hotel director on my FEW issues, but he was interested enough to listen for 25 minutes AND he sought me out the last night with his card and said to write him, AND he meant it. I can also tell he addressed what concerns he could, and he won me over.

 

I agree with the poster that I don't want to have to deal with the Service/Privacy tags, but I agree with the other poster that this is a solution.

 

Neviboy, it is RSSC that uses the glass at the pool and SS that uses the plastic. This was an observation, not a complaint.

 

As far as I know, my negative observations boil down to: Mediocre embarkation for those with independent arrangements (but special for those with Regent ones), no direction to specific tables in the daytime at La Veranda (corrected after pointing this out), need to keep the stewardess out with a tag, and salt at Signatures (which I also found at local French restaurants) and the fact that a bigger ship is less personal than a small ship. This is widely known by travelers and the hospitality industry itself. Other notes is the welcome party was not until the 3rd night of the cruise on a 7 day, and the departure was 2 days later, 2 nights before the end. There were no sail away parties, but they worked hard to serve fresh and exciting local cuisines at surprise events on several occasions. The good and the exceptional far outway these items.Next, I will try to figure out where I left off in this thing.

 

Meanwhile, I will be back on Silver Whisper in a few weeks and on Navigator before year end, so I will have thoughts on those.

[DebbieH103]

Count Florida's embarkation seemed quite similar, and I agree the first 30 minutes and the last 30 are important to the tone. My last 30 minutes was really nice, as was the entire cruise except my first impression and what it took for that to wear off.

[DebbieH103]

The last morning, I enjoyed my cabin until 8:30, though the stewardess burst in at 7:20 when I was in my pjs and begged to do the bed. I told her to come back at 8:30. She was rather whiney and irritating. Others had wonderful stewardesses. I am guessing mine was new.

 

I saw a lovely sunset this morning from my balcony.

 

I had breakfast at La Veranda after giving up my suite, and the reception kept my hand carry bag for me. I dined with Glenda. We had good service, and I even got boiled eggs.

 

We debarked at 9:45, as black could go whenever they wanted up until 9:45. I never touched my bag, it was carried down the gangplank and delivered to my driver.

 

I had a pleasant drive to La Perouse. ChatKat and her husband and friends were in the lobby. I was placed in room 101. I had booked a sea view balcony. I was right next to the pool area. The room was quaint, as were the patios, but the floors above were more private with wall separators between the balconies. My patio level balcony had wrought iron separators, and all of us that came out for the sunset and a cocktail were not having privacy. It was all the same category.

 

Lunch with ChatKat and her group was fun, and they introduced me to the market area and told me how it works.

 

That area is in the old town next to the hotel. There are tons of restaurants there serving mussels, oysters, lobster, shrimp and also pizza, pasta and other things.

 

The market had fruits and flowers. I bought some dried strawberries and macadamia nuts.

 

They had to go but I strolled thru the old town, I walked around in the market and bought some macadamia nuts and some dried strawberries. I enjoyed seeing all the flowers, fruits, vegetables, and all that shellfish! I knew where I was dining that night.

 

Next, I walked along the promenade and ran into Glenda when I saw her sitting on a tourist train waiting for it to leave so I hopped on. We went all along the highlights around and were taken up the hill for nice views.

 

I started walking and walked along the promenade up from the beach. I went down on the rock beach some also. The weather was spectacular. Lots of people were just lying on towels down on the beach either looking out or reading, and a few were in the water.

 

I was in room 101 at La Perouse. The sunset view from my terrace was great.

 

For dinner, I went back to the market. At night, they turn on warmers outside and add more tables. I ordered grilled lobster and cold crab. I also had white wine. I had enough for two or more people.

 

Before dinner, I spent an hour in the hot tub up on the solarium at La Perouse. The view was nice up there.

 

I had breakfast at 6:30 yesterday (they put it out early for me), and my ride helped me with my bags and helped me get through the line and speak to everyone at the airport. I can't say enough good things about Travel Bound.

 

Heathrow was tough. We arrived 80 minutes late, and I did make my flight to Chicago, even with 100 minute trip between gates. They said it was 75 minutes (using the combo of walking and the bus!), but I stopped for sinus meds and once took a short wrong turn.

 

I enjoyed the video on demand from Heathrow to Chicago. That flight was so long. Do take advantage of ordering your own menu online here and maximizing your seat selection. They have a lot of customization allowed on their website.

 

The flight from Chicago to Houston was sold out, and I was in the next to the back row. We arrived quite early to Houston, and my husband was not quite there yet, but I sure was glad to see him. The 24 hour trip had me exhausted, along with the jetlag, but I only slept 3 1/2 hours anyway.

 

I hope to update my pics today after a proper rest. At some point, I will write my proper review

[lena1279]

It was very interesting to read your reviews here. My husband and I were also on this cruise and we enjoyed it very much. It was our first time on Regent and for us this was the smallest ship we ever sailed on and I really loved it - it had everything you need and was very compact and never felt like there were more then 100 people on board.

 

For us, the embarkation was wonderful and we got on board much earlier - we were handed champagne and the whole thing took no more then 10 minutes. Then we walked around the ship, had lunch and headed to our cabin. When we got to our floor, our stewardess met us – she knew our names!, showed us to our cabin, and told us about it. She was wonderful – she really went out of her way to meet our needs. She took into account how long we slept and when we got ready for dinner and hardly ever rang our doorbell unless we didn't keep to our usual schedule (we hardly used those signs). The cabins were very nice – we actually had a cabin all the way in the back on deck 7 and the only time I ever felt any kind of vibration was when we were docking and I felt that throughout the entire ship – we didn’t feel a difference when the ship was going faster.

 

This was also our first time on a more luxury cruise line and I think we expected much better service from your everyday personnel - something more extravagant then on Princess and such. I found the service to be very good, but not that much better as the other cruise lines. The waiters at Compass Rose were not that great – they got my husband’s orders wrong twice – the waiters at all the other restaurants were great though. Also, the waiters on the pool deck weren’t very attentive to the people lounging there – I had to keep calling them over every time I relaxed there to get a drink or whatever else. They really should come up and see if you need anything. On board, they did fill almost all of our requests, which really impressed me, but not until we "complained". For example, my husband wanted some red bull in our state room, but they told us no. We mentioned this on the 1st comment card and the next day it was there! I guess, I thought we would be served and never hear the word “no”, but it was more like you had to ask for it – in short, more reactive than proactive service.

 

But all in all, it was a wonderful cruise and a great experience and I would definitely sail with Regent again.

[simonv]

By the pool area on Silversea, there's a little service flag on the back of the lounge chairs that you can put up if you want anything. The deck stewards are pretty quick in coming over. Do they have it on Regent? I don't remember seeing one on my Radisson cruises.

[DebbieH103]

Yes, some things are what I called, "it is here, but you have to come to it, it does not come to you" and also used the phrase reactive rather than proactive.

 

Your stewardess and embarkation are what I expected.

 

I bet we saw each other. Did you view my pics?

[Iamboatman]

It seems a very common perception of service being "reactive" rather than "proactive", especially for those that have cruised with Silversea and/or Seabourn. It does make a difference.

 

Similarly, its seems quite common that the dining room service is perceived as lacking polish and with too frequent errors and omissions.

 

Inconsistency with stewardesses also seems common.

 

In the 2008 Berlitz ratings the same sort of comments were made. Regent staff was "good to very good", but did not rise to the level one would expect when marketing luxury.

 

I know there are many that are extremely satisfied with Regent and I wish to do nothing to denigrate their feelings, but to many others there is a difference...maybe not enough to ruin a cruise, but enough to cause frustration.

[DebbieH103]

Eric, that exactly captures my feelings on the subject.

 

Regarding my pics, I have them all uploaded now at http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/debbieh103/

 

Hover over a pic to see the caption or click to view a larger image

[lena1279]

Debbie,

 

I did see your pics - you have some gorgeous views there. I believe I saw you around....I tended to always see the same people, which was kind of interesting.

[DebbieH103]

Lena, I updated the pics all the way thru Nice last night.

 

Did you do any of the excursions? I especially liked the overland tour of Corsica. We saw so much. I also liked the Lucca wine tour. Ibiza was so so, and the Chopin tour was really good.

 

I kept seeing the same people, too until the last night, and then I saw tons of people I had not ever seen and hardly any of the ones I had always seen. I met one couple that had not got their bags out at 10:58 because they had gone on a long excursion and then come back and fallen asleep, but they got the staff to come back to them last and did get it handled.

 

Happily, I did not gain any weight due to the miles of walking to see what was what in these ports.

[canadagal]

Debbie,

 

Such wonderful pictures! Thank-you for sharing them. They are giving me the travel itch.

Pat

[NCCruzQueen]

simonv, Regent doesn't have the flags on the chairs like SS. An eye of a waiter can get you what you want most of the time. I did notice the flags on the Wind last year. Nice touch.

[AtA]

Debbie, I enjoyed your pics and your reviews. Question; who was the HD?

[simonv]

It seems a very common perception of service being "reactive" rather than "proactive", especially for those that have cruised with Silversea and/or Seabourn. It does make a difference.

 

Similarly, its seems quite common that the dining room service is perceived as lacking polish and with too frequent errors and omissions.

 

Inconsistency with stewardesses also seems common.

 

In the 2008 Berlitz ratings the same sort of comments were made. Regent staff was "good to very good", but did not rise to the level one would expect when marketing luxury.

 

I know there are many that are extremely satisfied with Regent and I wish to do nothing to denigrate their feelings, but to many others there is a difference...maybe not enough to ruin a cruise, but enough to cause frustration.

 

Well said! My feeling exactly.

[DebbieH103]

HD was Engleberdt. I will get the rest of the name into my final report. I have that info in the sheets I brought home when I get all that sorted out.

[cruiseerf]

Debbie:

 

Have completely enjoyed the candor in your review. My family is over 500 nights on Silversea and we are now trying Regent for our first time on the Voyager Xmas cruise. We know it will be different and expect it to be more casual...more "fun" and hopefully a little younger demographic.

 

Your review helps us to set our expectations and it is good that you have also been on Silversea as you are able to compare and contrast. I feel as if we have come from a similar place and your perspective is excellent.

 

As an FYI....We recently did a three week Med trip in September on the Silver Whisper. It was fantastic...some of the best food we have eaten at sea...many custom orders etc. They also are having crew problems....Silversea (and Regent I believe) pay crew in USD...yet are trying to attract Europeans to work....with the current Euro exchange rates the salaries of the employees has gone down 40% in the last two years. Apparantly salaries have gone up minimally. Therefore on Silversea we had many more Indian's, Phillipino's and Thai's as crew and the Europeans were unhappy.....this appeared to be hard for the European dining room staff as they had difficulties working together (culturally). This was obvious to all and service suffered. Also an interesting tidbit I learned is just because a crew number is listed as "295" does not mean that the crew has to reach that number (cruise lines are highly unregulated). Many cruises will have 20,30 or 40 people less which helps to raise profits....just puts more pressure on existing staff. That is just the "maximum" crew number with every bed full...FYI

 

I will post after the Xmas cruise. We are expecting to love the Voyager...my parents love to dance and we love to sit and watch the world go by.

 

Question: Does the voyager have DVD players in all rooms? I hope so...I need to catch up on my Greys anatomy!

 

Ciao and safe travels.

[DebbieH103]

I was in a category G and had a DVD player, and I think they all had one, and before your cruise, they will have flat screen TVs.

 

We sail on Whisper again on December 1, this time in a medallion suite and then I am going on a shortie on Regent Navigator 5 days after we come back, so I will have even more comparisons.

 

I am writing a proper review but have not got too far. The time change has dragged me down since getting home because I had caught a cold in Merseilles, but I am about over it and about adjusted. I can't imagine the change in Dubai/India vs. here. It has been 10 years since we did the Hong Kong/Singapore and we were a lot younger.

[Iamboatman]

I will be flying to Dubai to speak at a conference on December 1 and am quickly returning on December 5. I will let you know the effects...once the cobwebs clear.:eek:

[Texed]

Thanks Debbie.

[DebbieH103]

Eric, we leave November 29, but I still want to know how you made out since you will beat us home and I have general curiosity anyway.

[Iamboatman]

Will do. Safe trip. (I am off to Amsterdam on Saturday for another quick lecturing trip...just to warm up my jet lag muscles!)

[tennisbunny]

Debbie, we have so appreciated your posts before, during and after your Regent cruise ;)

 

It sounds like it was a great experience overall! I expect that Regent will be wonderful for us as well.

 

I've added binoculars and a power strip to my packing list for December. Is there anything else you would recommend? Were slippers provided?

 

Thank you

[Iamboatman]

Slippers are provided.

[lena1279]

Lena, I updated the pics all the way thru Nice last night.

 

Did you do any of the excursions? I especially liked the overland tour of Corsica. We saw so much. I also liked the Lucca wine tour. Ibiza was so so, and the Chopin tour was really good.

 

I kept seeing the same people, too until the last night, and then I saw tons of people I had not ever seen and hardly any of the ones I had always seen. I met one couple that had not got their bags out at 10:58 because they had gone on a long excursion and then come back and fallen asleep, but they got the staff to come back to them last and did get it handled.

 

Happily, I did not gain any weight due to the miles of walking to see what was what in these ports.

 

We did 2 excursions. We did the bike tour in Lucca and I really enjoyed it - it was a beautiful day and a very nice little town. Then we did the caves excursion in Palma, which was nice b/c we traveled through the entire island and the caves were very nice - you listen to a concert (live classical music), see the sunrise (created by some famous person who does light work), and then take a short boat ride on the underground lake.