I found a drink glass from Regency at a garage sale last month, I had to get it.

Sailed on the Regent Star back in May of '93. She was the ex "Holland America" Statendam, I hope that's the right spelling. Anyway it was a cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and it was quite memorable and fun.

Out of 23 cruises, that was the only time we were ever invited to dine with the Captain and go to a special cocktail party. Some of the other highlights that we will never see again was, skeet shooting off the stern, midnight buffet and a tour of the engine room while under way.

The entertainment was funky but still fun. I've got a thing for old ships with some history so being on the Regent Star was a little like sailing in the 50's. I know she is scrapped now but I'll always have fond memories of her.

We sailed out of Tampa on the Regency Rainbow. It was our first cruise together. After 15 cruises, on ships 3-4 times as large - it's still probably our favorite cruise. I remember the first time we saw the ship, we thought it was HUGE! Oh...the memories!

We sailed on the SUN in 1989 on its Alaska itinery. We boarded in Haines in a torrential downpour, and almost every day was heavy rain. We spent a fair amount of time in Glacier Bay as the captain pivoted the ship slowly around in a 360 arc. I remember the air was so cold it sucked the breath out of you. The ship had a very large movie theatre and that was the entertainment as this was pre-TV sets in the cabins. Our cabin had a very powerful air discharge duct that blew cold air on us at night. We got sick for a couple of days, and finally asked to have some cardboard taped across it to slow down the air. I kept all the memories and have a binder of the company brochures, cabin newspapers and even a plastic bag with the Regency logo.

This thread sure died. I found a regency cruise lines drink glass at a yard sale this last fall. I had to buy it.

Regent Sun

Regent Sun Welcome

Regent Sun Photo

Anyone remember Regency? We sailed them on our honeymoon in 1989 out of Tampa.

Yes - we cruised the Regent Sea in the early 90's. There was something special about those small ships but this ship was experiencing wear & tear and if I remember correctly it stopped sailing soon after our cruise -

We cruised 3 times on Regency out of Tampa. Sea, Star and Rainbow. Loved the little Rainbow and we were booked on her for a 5 day cruise out of Tampa again when Regency went bankrupt. Cruise all paid for and ready to go in 3 weeks. HAL stepped in and gave us a 7 day cruise with no extra charges.

We cruised 3 times on Regency out of Tampa. Sea, Star and Rainbow. Loved the little Rainbow and we were booked on her for a 5 day cruise out of Tampa again when Regency went bankrupt. Cruise all paid for and ready to go in 3 weeks. HAL stepped in and gave us a 7 day cruise with no extra charges.

How great that HAL did that for you - that was sad - isn't funny to think how small those ships were. We went on a couple different ones that size - there WAS something special about them :) But 7 nights vs 5 was a huge treat. Did you sail on HAL again after that? It's the one major line we have never sailed. Doubt we will, ya never know.

Singles cruise on the Regent Rainbow early 90s to Cozumel and Cancun. I still laugh about the antics on the cruise....boys had a contest to see how much fruit they could collect in 30 seconds. Then, they asked the girls to volunteer..but we had to collect the fruit in our bikinis! still remember the MCs face when I brought out a large pineapple... never laughed so hard!!!

Husband and I have cruised NCL, the Dolphin cruiseline ocean Breeze and Sea breeze) then they went out of business...

then the ocean breeze as Priemier Cruiseline..which later sank in 2016!

We have cruised NCL (loved this and cruised NCL until they introduced the haven)  Princess (loved the food) carnival (our teen loved this line) and Royal Carribean (just this past year).

Interesting report:

The Rise and Fall of Regency Cruises

https://crociereuk.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-regency-cruises/

Very good article above.  The original plan was a good one.  We had a great cruise on Regent Sea in 1988 before the changes took hold.  We sailed from Montego Bay in Jamaica and had a wonderful cruise.  The food and service onboard were fantastic...very high quality.  The Regent Sea was originally the Swedish liner Gripsholm and she was beautiful...big cabins, natural woods and loads of storage for long cruises...fresh flowers everywhere.   Regent Sea was a very comfortable ship. Then the Lelakis Group took over and everything went down hill.  Such a sad ending for what was one of the best cruise experiences.

I loved my cruise on the Regent Star out of Jamaica in 1990. The ship seemed big at the time, but compared to today’s ships, it was very small. Good memories!

On 6/28/2014 at 8:39 AM, GTVCRUISER said:

Regent Sun Photo

I just looked up the history of this ship and it was interesting.  I thought I recognized it as Home Lines' Doric.  And, it was.  

1 hour ago, AfricaTravellers said:

I loved my cruise on the Regent Star out of Jamaica in 1990. The ship seemed big at the time, but compared to today’s ships, it was very small. Good memories!

I sailed on her when she was HAL's Statendam.  My stateroom was one of those pairs of windows on the deck below the Bridge.

Such beautiful ships.

When I found a good deal on Regency and we decided to book back to back end of the season sailings on the Regent Sea, because it was cheaper than flying in and out of separate ports, we expected cold and rainy weather the entire time so we brought slickers and galoshes-(remember them?). It was the very end of August into September. We have such fond memories of the experience as well as memories of the wild ride.

We had an outside cabin in the very bow of the ship. It had two large portholes.  We were still novice cruisers and not yet seasoned ones. Everything was exciting! 

It was at the time that Hurricane Iniki did so much damage to Hawaii. We remember that the captain had decided to go ahead and go around the Gulf of Alaska and we had terrible seas for about 18 hours. Rumor is that all the other ships had turned back. We thought it was fun sitting looking out our port bow windows as the seas splashed up over the window until we both got sick. No one made it to Dinner that night, breakfast the next morning or lunch. We just hunkered down in our cabin and dealt with the sea sickness.

And it rained almost every day all day the first week. On the first day of the second week the sun came out and it was beautiful weather almost that entire week. 

Our memories of other details seem to have blended in with other Alaska cruises. But the ship was lovely. We enjoyed all the wood everywhere. The food was the best ever and the entertainment was, as others have said, playful and unique. I will have to go find the pics from this to help me remember some other details.

As we hear about ships now, due to Covid, being scrapped, it brought me back to this journey, as well as others, on ships and companies that no longer exist.

On 1/11/2021 at 3:46 PM, Mommymade.59 said:

We thought it was fun sitting looking out our port bow windows as the seas splashed up over the window until we both got sick. No one made it to Dinner that night, breakfast the next morning or lunch. We just hunkered down in our cabin and dealt with the sea sickness.

😃!  You are a good sailor!   

I have a couple of souvenirs from Regency, a deck of playing cards, a Regent Sea postcard and a Regent Star spoon

I took my cruise on my honeymoon in September 1989 on a Regency cruise line ship. The original itinerary was Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Grand Cayman and back to Montego Bay.  A few days before we left, they switched out Cartagena for Limon, Costa Rica due to unrest in Columbia.  Does anyone remember the name of the ship?

thanks!

9 hours ago, ldcgreen said:

I took my cruise on my honeymoon in September 1989 on a Regency cruise line ship. The original itinerary was Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Grand Cayman and back to Montego Bay.  A few days before we left, they switched out Cartagena for Limon, Costa Rica due to unrest in Columbia.  Does anyone remember the name of the ship?

 

thanks!

That was The Regent Sea…she was originally the Swedish ship Gripsholm.  She was one of the most comfortable ships I have ever sailed on.  They had a great product…food and service.  I was lucky enough to have made it to Cartagena Columbia on our cruise.  Cartagena is beautiful.  Sailing into the Panama Canal was another great memory. Thanks for reminding me of that wonderful time on The Regent Sea.

We had all the brochures for the Regency cruises when they were operating, and had high hopes of booking several. They seemed to be exactly the kind of ships we liked.

One time we were flying in to Tampa for a HAL cruise, and as we approached, Mr. S said "Look, there's Regent Sea!"  She was docked, but at some distance from our ship.  We knew we wanted to see her as we left the port.  Late that evening, in the dark, our ship finally set sail.  We jumped up from dinner, ran out to the open deck, and watched as we passed.  I thought she was one of the most beautiful ships I had ever seen; just perfect lines.

Sadly, we never did get to sail on her, or any other Regency ships.  We miss the ships like that.