A Good and Bad Trip on the Voyager

[Paint Horse]

I will be posting a complete trip report on Flyertalk rather than here as it is too long for this site. However, I thought the folks on this site might be interested in a few of the details of the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the recent Athens to Dubai trip Mrs. Paint Horse and I took on Voyager.

First the good. The staff on the ship were outstanding for the most part. This is particularly true of the room attendant and the butler we had in cabin 725. Also the itinerary was the best we have been on. All of the stops despite the problems were outstanding. I highly recommend this trip if Regent offers it again.

Now for the problems. The first problem was with the 7th floor dryer being out of order from boarding in Athens. This continued for all 15 days of the trip. This was a huge inconvience since there was an hour delay to use the remaining dryer. It was that or to try to use the dryers on another floor. The washers and dryers on the other floors were just as busy.

The next problem was the room was too hot also from the first day in Athens. We had turned the thermostat in the hall and bedroom down as low as they would go. There was no air coming from the vent in the bedroom until the thermostat was changed after a couple of days. Even then the amount of cool air was never sufficient. We never turned the settings off of maximum cool.

At the first stop in Cairo at a series of religious sites a man was left behind and lost for a while. This held up the group while the tour guide went back to go look for him. The bus driver found him with another group. I know how he and his wife felt because a few days later at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor Mrs. Paint Horse and I were left behind due to our being detained getting away from one of those fellows who wants to explain things to you for a fee. We exited the tomb to find the rest of the group long gone. I finally saw them leaving on the shuttle that takes you from the tombs back to the buses. I assume they would have noticed at some point we were not around, but who knows.

At the stop in Jordan the first excursion was to Wadi Rum. The drive around Wadi Rum was in the back of one the worst pieces of junk small truck I have ever seen. Getting in one of these trucks requires climbing over the tailgate to sit on boards loosely attached to the truck bed. Now recall that most passengers on these ships are somewhat elderly. I am surprised Regent thought this was suitable transportation regardless of how interesting the tour of Wadi Rum is. Mrs. Paint Horse ended up with several bruises from bouncing around in the back of the truck.

Back in Egypt for the third stop at Luxor the bus driver did not know how to get to the hotel where we were to eat lunch. Therefore, we drove all over the city of Luxor looking for the hotel and stopped for directions three times. His being lost of course meant we had little time for lunch at the hotel once he found it.

The drive back to the ship from Luxor was the oddest experience of all the odd experiences in Egypt. On leaving Luxor we were the first bus right after the small security truck that led the way. About halfway across the desert two busses that had been behind us somewhere came flying past our bus. They then proceeded to cut into place between us and the lead truck. Now if you are in a convoy going the same speed to the same place what is the point. These busses travel in a convoy about 60 km an hour about ten feet from each other. After we left a checkpoint about halfway across the desert something flashed by the right side of our bus. The bus in front pulled out suddenly into the opposing lane. We sashayed slightly sideways after sliding along the sand at the edge of the road. After all of this bouncing around everyone formed back up and motored on. Later I was told we were not expected at the last checkpoint. The escort had to be awakened for us to continue the trip. This appeared to irritate him. The result being he decided to proceed at a slower pace than the lead bus driver wanted to go. So the lead driver just ran him off the road and went on. The escort truck was what flashed by our right side as he was traveling down the sand shoulder of the road at that point having been runoff the road by the lead bus. We finally made it back to Safaga without further incident except on hitting the city limit all remaining discipline in the convoy broke down as the drivers began to race to see who could get to the dock’s checkpoint first.

After leaving Safaga the next three sea days were spent in the cabin as we were each ill with various combinations of fever, earache, diarrhea, and Asthma. It is difficult to break a fever in a hot room and even more difficult for a person with Asthma to breathe.
On the first sea day, we heard a loud noise coming from the bathroom. On checking on this we discovered a bubbling substance over flowing onto the floor from the bidet, approximately six inches of bubble substance in the shower, and some of the same thing in the bath tub. The maintenance personnel attempted to fix this several times over several days with some but not complete resolution. The end result of several visits by the plumber was his stating he did not know what the problem was but that it was not sewage, just bubbles. Now I do not care what it was, but something coming from a drain every night is not sanitary.

With no significant improvement in the air conditioning after several days a fan was found that we could use. However, we did not know you could not plug it into a converter plug and we blew the motor up. So, when we reached Muscat, we had to go shopping for a fan to replace the one we broke. The staff did manage to find another fan for us to use which did help.

So all in all this was a good trip but Regent could have done a little better in my view on resolving at least some of these issues.

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Paint Horse, thanks for taking the time to share your Voyager cruise experiences and glad you enjoyed the itinerary. Suggest, if you did not use cruise comment card on board to do so, you (or better if u use one, have your TA) write a letter to Regent first complementing the outstanding staff, esp your cabin attendant & butler; then expressing the frustrating challenges you experienced with your deck's faulty dryer (highlighting the extra time spent doing your laundry) your suite's poor condition (i.e., AC, seepeage in drains) and with some of your excursion's questionable transportation resources.

How did you like the dining?

[gfranzen]

Well, another review where I am left wondering if the reviewer is the core problem. It's really hard from this review t factor cause between ship. excursion and personal health issues.

[Paint Horse]

Originally Posted by gfranzen

Well, another review where I am left wondering if the reviewer is the core problem. It's really hard from this review t factor cause between ship. excursion and personal health issues.

It seemed pretty clear to me where the problems occurred. Just what confused you?

[cruiseluv]

"With no significant improvement in the air conditioning after several days a fan was found that we could use. However, we did not know you could not plug it into a converter plug and we blew the motor up. So, when we reached Muscat, we had to go shopping for a fan to replace the one we broke. The staff did manage to find another fan for us to use which did help."

A fan in a supposedly luxury cruise???? And you even had to go out, shopping for one??? Frankly, I am speechless. Did they consider changing you to another cabin?

[Paint Horse]

Originally Posted by ColonelWes

Paint Horse, thanks for taking the time to share your Voyager cruise experiences and glad you enjoyed the itinerary. Suggest, if you did not use cruise comment card on board to do so, you (or better if u use one, have your TA) write a letter to Regent first complementing the outstanding staff, esp your cabin attendant & butler; then expressing the frustrating challenges you experienced with your deck's faulty dryer (highlighting the extra time spent doing your laundry) your suite's poor condition (i.e., AC, seepeage in drains) and with some of your excursion's questionable transportation resources.

How did you like the dining?

We always use the comment card. In this case we included a lengthy letter detailing the good and the bad on the trip. We have yet to hear anything from Regent.

As to dining I think this relates back to each person's preferences so much that it is difficult to say anything definitive. In my case I really do not care for cruise ship food in general. I do most of the cooking in my house. I have never eaten anything on board a ship from NCL to Holland to Regent to Crystal that I would cook at home. Of course that may be influenced by the fact that the basic rule of cooking in Texas is - If you can eat, you can fry it. With that said Mrs Paint Horse and I thought Prime 7 was outstanding. For some reason it was much better than the Prime 7 on Mariner back in June.

On the topic of dining with the recent change to the dress code I am considering starting a similar effort to change the menu to say Tex-Mex on one night, then chicken fried steak, followed by nice basic German food, a switch to something oriental, then back to some nice fried seafood of some sort, till we finish with BBQ.

[Paint Horse]

We bought a fan as we broke the first one they gave us. The fan was more for my wife's Asthma than the temperature of the cabin. The cabin temperature was tolerable, but by no means cool.

There was no offer of a cabin change. But neither did we press for this as they worked on each problem several times. They just never managed to fix anything completely.

[Travelcat2]

We were in suite 725 last month. The temperature in the suite did seem a bit warm at night but nothing that caused us any concern or discomfort. In terms of having to use a fan on a luxury ship. . . . . air conditioning is not something that can be fixed in the middle of the sea. We had fans in our rooms at a couple of luxury hotels in the past. Did a Regent manager actually ask you to go out and purchase a fan? The suite itself was in fine condition and did not have any problems. Perhaps these issues developed in the last couple of weeks.

It is clear from the review on the other site that the OP may have had a better experience if Regent air and transfers were used.

It is difficult to determine if you actually enjoyed your cruise. Hopefully you did.

[Paint Horse]

No one asked us to replace the fan. We are of the view that if you cause a problem you fix the problem. As we broke the fan it was our responsibility to replace it.

The cruise was great. A little weird at times, but great.

[Hambagahle]

Originally Posted by Paint Horse

On the topic of dining with the recent change to the dress code I am considering starting a similar effort to change the menu to say Tex-Mex on one night, then chicken fried steak, followed by nice basic German food, a switch to something oriental, then back to some nice fried seafood of some sort, till we finish with BBQ.

This sounds horrific to me! I can't imagine a menu which was all Tex Mex then all chicken fried steak (whatever that is? I have never heard of it before!) etc. What is wrong with the wonderful food that you get in Signatures and the Compass Rose? really tasty dishes, in nice small portions so you can easily have a three or four course meal...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I think Painthorse was kidding about that part.

[DaveFr]

Originally Posted by Paint Horse

As to dining I think this relates back to each person's preferences so much that it is difficult to say anything definitive. In my case I really do not care for cruise ship food in general. I do most of the cooking in my house. I have never eaten anything on board a ship from NCL to Holland to Regent to Crystal that I would cook at home. Of course that may be influenced by the fact that the basic rule of cooking in Texas is - If you can eat, you can fry it. With that said Mrs Paint Horse and I thought Prime 7 was outstanding. For some reason it was much better than the Prime 7 on Mariner back in June.

On the topic of dining with the recent change to the dress code I am considering starting a similar effort to change the menu to say Tex-Mex on one night, then chicken fried steak, followed by nice basic German food, a switch to something oriental, then back to some nice fried seafood of some sort, till we finish with BBQ.

Originally Posted by Hambagahle

This sounds horrific to me! I can't imagine a menu which was all Tex Mex then all chicken fried steak (whatever that is? I have never heard of it before!) etc. What is wrong with the wonderful food that you get in Signatures and the Compass Rose? really tasty dishes, in nice small portions so you can easily have a three or four course meal...

Hambagahle,

I think (and hope ) that Paint Horse is pulling our collective legs with his menu suggestions. He appears to be a basic meat and potatoes kind of diner so I can see why he would prefer the cuisine in Prime 7 over the cuisine in Signatures and Compass Rose.

BTW, Chicken Fried Steak is somewhat similar to Wiener Schnitzel.

Dave

[Paint Horse]

Y'all come visit me in Texas. I will soon win you over to my menu ideas. I forgot to add a nice bowl of red to the menu list. Just like the one I just finished for lunch. There is nothing better on a cold day like today.

[sundial]

Here in New Mexico we like our Mex without the Tex, but I don't expect to see it on a cruise ship menu! They wouldn't make it right anyway. Paint Horse I'm glad you had a good cruise overall although it sounds like there was room for improvement. That was a terrific looking itinerary.

[RachelG]

The dryer broke the first day of the Venice Istanbul cruise--I put my clothes in and came back in about 30 minutes. Clothes were still wet. I reported it. I saw several of the maintainence guys trying to get it to work, but they were unsuccessful, and it was removed later that day.
I guess it was not able to be fixed and bet they had to order a new one.

[litigator]

My wife and I were on this cruise as well as the prior cruise from Istanbul to Athens. I was on the Wadi Rum tour and the other 2 tours described by the reviewer. Although factually the descriptions were fairly accurate I believe the ship is not responsible for the vehicles or security problems in Egypt. All the tours were great except for the heat and amount of time it took to get from the ship to the sights. You can not lose sight of the fact that you are visiting a third world country when you go to Egypt. The only legitimate complaint is that the ships air conditioning did not seem to be working properly throughout the ship with a few exceptions. Except for the air conditioning problem these cruises were two of the best we have ever taken. The service, food, public areas and rooms were more than we expected. We met great people and would be happy to travel on the Voyager in the future.
Dan

[Paint Horse]

I do not agree on the excursions which were purchased at great expensive from Regent. It is therefore incumbent upon them to examine the arrangements in detail before any passenger utilizes them. I assume Regent did this way before the actual cruise as part of the planning for the cruise. If they had never seen either the locations or the equipment to which they sent us I would be appalled. For example, Regent hired and paid each of the maniac bus drivers we used going back and forth from Safaga to Luxor. Therefore they are responsible for their actions. If I wanted to take chances in third world countries or any country, I would not utilize the ship sponsored excursions. This is the very reason I do so.

[Paint Horse]

Originally Posted by sundial

Here in New Mexico we like our Mex without the Tex, but I don't expect to see it on a cruise ship menu! They wouldn't make it right anyway. Paint Horse I'm glad you had a good cruise overall although it sounds like there was room for improvement. That was a terrific looking itinerary.

I also like New Mexico Mex as well as California Mex.

Why not? This certainly is very tasty and interesting food. Certainly as much as anything I have ever been served on a ship. Just because something is unusual in relation to what you normally eat or contains ingredients the name of which you have never heard of does not make that dish in anyway superior to any other dish in the world. Lastly, of course they could make good Mex of any sort. All you need is a suitable recipe.

[RachelG]

My son actually lived in Cairo for a while. What you describe sounds totally normal for Egypt. He says all Egyptian drivers are maniacs and preferred to walk whenever possible.

[wripro]

There is no such thing as staying in a lane while driving in Egypt. I finally came up with a viable solution while sitting in the back seat of the car of my guide and driver. I closed my eyes and prayed. It seemed to work.