Interesting comments on Regent Board

[dafne]

A frequent passenger of Silversea cruises who is now on a Regent cruise and has just posted a review - is making comparisions of why she thinks Silversea is better in some areas.

The Regent board members are not happy about this. They don't like anything negative about Regent Cruises.

 

Why do you think this is?

 

So, it just seems that SilverSea board members are a lot more critical - whereas Regent board members only tell the good.

[dougburns]

Dafne; I don't agree with you at all. Folks on the Regent board are very objective for the most part. Debbie's post are from her prspective and she has some very valid points relative to her particular cruise experience. Some of her complaints stem from a lack of familiarity with the line; this being her first Regent cruise. Both lines are excellent lines, but both do have their ups and downs. I've seen quite a few posts here that have indicated slipping service on Silversea from time to time. We have 13 cruises and over 200 nights on all of the Regent ships and we've very seldom experienced the things that have bothered Debbie. We've switched over to Silversea only because of the smoking policy change with Regent. I know that one thing that's going to bother me about Silversea is their early boarding policy. We've always been able to board Regent ships @ noon to 1300 and go to the Pool Deck for lunch, even though we've not been able to go to our stateroom until @ 1430. The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO. Lynn and I are pretty formal in our approach to things and we don't mind paying for first class accommodations and service. We hope our Silversea experience will be as good as what we experienced on Regent.

[dafne]

Have you taken your SilverSea cruise yet?

 

It would be interesting to hear your comparisons.

 

Thanks.

[Goofyisme]

Been on both. I prefer Regent, wife prefers Silverseas. Can't go wrong with either one just depends on your particular likes and dislikes.

[LaPaloma]

Dafne; I don't agree with you at all. Folks on the Regent board are very objective for the most part. Debbie's post are from her prspective and she has some very valid points relative to her particular cruise experience. Some of her complaints stem from a lack of familiarity with the line; this being her first Regent cruise. Both lines are excellent lines, but both do have their ups and downs. I've seen quite a few posts here that have indicated slipping service on Silversea from time to time. We have 13 cruises and over 200 nights on all of the Regent ships and we've very seldom experienced the things that have bothered Debbie. We've switched over to Silversea only because of the smoking policy change with Regent. I know that one thing that's going to bother me about Silversea is their early boarding policy. We've always been able to board Regent ships @ noon to 1300 and go to the Pool Deck for lunch, even though we've not been able to go to our stateroom until @ 1430. The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO. Lynn and I are pretty formal in our approach to things and we don't mind paying for first class accommodations and service. We hope our Silversea experience will be as good as what we experienced on Regent.

Hello from Tucson--we like the early embarkation deal a lot--to be able to board about 10:30 is great--it saves a lot of problems the day you arrive--no late checkouts at hotels etc! On our next cruise we will fly to LA the morning we depart--then right to the ship--nice lunch on board, get reacquainted with the ship--then off and sailing. I think its well worth $100! Don

[crusinbanjo]

Been on both. I prefer Regent, wife prefers Silverseas. Can't go wrong with either one just depends on your particular likes and dislikes.

Just the oposite for me. I prefer SS, I think the whole experience is better, (not by much, but better non the less). The wife prefers Regent. They both have their good and bad parts, so it is always a trade off.

[Goofyisme]

Just the oposite for me. I prefer SS, I think the whole experience is better, (not by much, but better non the less). The wife prefers Regent. They both have their good and bad parts, so it is always a trade off.

 

At least the nice thing is you have a good excuse to go on either one so you always have an enjoyable experience

[Gail C]

>>>The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO.<<<

 

Dougburns, on our Silversea cruise, we opted to pay the $200. for early boarding. We tried to do an apples & apples comparison. Should we have gone to a upscale restaurant for lunch that day and had cocktails, a several course lunch with wine, tip and tax gets you right up there real close to $200. Now if you went to a deli and had a sandwich and a beer, well that's different. Plus it felt good being on board, luggage in the cabin (even though we weren't until 2P) and all's right with the world.

[crusinbanjo]

>>>The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO.<<<

 

Dougburns, on our Silversea cruise, we opted to pay the $200. for early boarding. We tried to do an apples & apples comparison. Should we have gone to a upscale restaurant for lunch that day and had cocktails, a several course lunch with wine, tip and tax gets you right up there real close to $200. Now if you went to a deli and had a sandwich and a beer, well that's different. Plus it felt good being on board, luggage in the cabin (even though we weren't until 2P) and all's right with the world.

 

That is an excellent idea, might just as well enjoy whatever port city you are in for as long as you can. We frequently leave our bags with the hotel we are staying for any precruise time. (Just another good reason for a precruise stay). If that can't work out, we just drag our bags along, or on one ocaission we hired a taxi for the day and took a impromptu tour of the city, arriving at the ship when embarkation is a no brainer.

[gillianrose]

The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO.

 

NS, S! ;)

[gillianrose]

>>>The Silversea policy of charging $100/per to do that is a rip off IMHO.<<<

 

Dougburns, on our Silversea cruise, we opted to pay the $200. for early boarding. We tried to do an apples & apples comparison. Should we have gone to a upscale restaurant for lunch that day and had cocktails, a several course lunch with wine, tip and tax gets you right up there real close to $200.

 

Comparing apples to apples on CruiseCritic means comparing cruise line policy to cruise line policy, don't you think? What other cruise line charges for early boarding?

[Gail C]

Guess I didn't make my point clear enough. I am comparing a lunch on board to a comparable lunch on land, ergo apples to apples.

 

My only cruise, so far, on Regent was Auk/Lax where we stood out in the wind and rain way too long. I'd gladly paid $200 to have it otherwise.

 

I guess for the added convenience of early boarding and a delightful lunch I figure, heck I'm in this far, what's another $200.

 

You are right, I don't know of another line that charges. But also know I won't be standing in wind and rain, freezing.

[dougburns]

I think you are all missing my point. With Regent we could always board early at no additional charge. Why a comparable line like Silversea charges for that I'll never know. Folks here seem a lot more touchy than do the Regent board folks, so don't criticize them for defending their line of choice as so many of you did earlier.

[DebbieH103]

I posted here yesterday, and my comments don't seem to be here, or I don't see them, but I will post now.

 

My comments are not from a lack of experience. I don't think arriving at the regular time and expecting to not have to carry your own bag or having to ask for champagne or find your own cabin is a lack of experience. Nor is just experiencing lack of service. ALL of my concerns were addressed onboard except the embarkation. However, I bet those that boarded on November 3 had a nice one. The HD was stellar, and I KNOW he cared.

 

I do appreciate that Regent allows early embarkation, but from my observation, that was mainly used to facilitate their own land program, and those people were treated well, while those of us that boarded at the regular time (albeit 4 minutes early by the time I got to the theatre) were considered almost last minute "oh yeah" people.

 

I am not a big fan of the $200 charge on SS, but we have done it both times in Puerto Rico because we have seen Old San Juan enough times. We got our $200 worth. However, in Dubai we are not doing it, as our hotel is very pricey and our flight gets in at 8 pm the night before, so we want to enjoy the hotel.

[DebbieH103]

I also have posted my full "huge" review on the Regent member trip report area at CC. It contains a comparison section, and there is a comparisons thread going on Regent.

 

What I did like better about Seven Seas Voyager than Whisper or Wind is they still have the production shows on that ship and they have great specialty dining that was easy to get into (you can reserve online 28 days in advance), no extra cost, and of at least as good of quality as the main dining room (though I found some items too salty at the Cordon Bleu restaurant). Another thing, I liked that the deck parties were at lunch vs. dinner on SS.

 

I also liked the full couch in the cabin vs. the loveseat type.

 

What I liked better on SS was that the service was more polished, embarkation was better, buffet staff waits on you and buffets are more extensive. Something about SS just seems more upscale to me, but I can't explain it or describe it. They still have the European flair. The smallness makes everything personal. I also like that they had juice and more mixer type things in the fridge automatically.

 

You can check those comments if you are inclined.