Help...coffee on voyager

Sunday afternoon we got a lovely phone call from the food and beverage director, Donald. When the phone rang while on a cruise ship, I first was oh no, something bad back home. Not the case😊. He called to talk to us about the coffee situation. We had not mentioned this to anyone on board! We found this call to be very impressive. He gave my husband some tips about getting coffee from the barista and maybe getting it from a restaurant instead of the machines. What impressed us is he took the time to reach out to us.

Have to get ready for the day. It is chilly and windy in northern Scotland.

So did we recently on the Marina. But the Barrista told us that the coffee beans were the same throughout the ship., and he agreed that it was their quality that was the problem.

Sunday afternoon we got a lovely phone call from the food and beverage director, Donald. When the phone rang while on a cruise ship, I first was oh no, something bad back home. Not the case. He called to talk to us about the coffee situation. We had not mentioned this to anyone on board! We found this call to be very impressive. He gave my husband some tips about getting coffee from the barista and maybe getting it from a restaurant instead of the machines. What impressed us is he took the time to reach out to us.

Have to get ready for the day. It is chilly and windy in northern Scotland.

Thank you for sharing your story. We find Donald to be one of the best F&B Directors!

Aloha All,

I looked back at photos from my main Galley tour on Voyager in 2012, and when I look at the espresso set-up in the galley, I can see no way that they can make "quality" espresso drinks with the equipment I saw in place there.

The best one can hope for out of that set up is commercial/industrial quality espresso, not anything close to what one would find in a nice cafe. Again, as I said earlier, it is not unusual for even very fine hotels and restaurants to have poor espresso drinks and coffee.

I live about a mile from a St. Regis property, and I can tell you that they do not offer quality coffee and espresso in the restaurants; as a matter of fact, a large number of both the Regis staff and guests visit our shop for their daily dose.

Aloha from Hanalei,

Mark

Regrettably Mark is right as we also find that many (even most) hotels serve poor coffee and even some coffee shops do so as well. We can remember tahat at one time Regent served excellent coffee. This was soon after they took over from Radisson and before the cost accountants got to work.

Regrettably Mark is right as we also find that many (even most) hotels serve poor coffee and even some coffee shops do so as well. We can remember tahat at one time Regent served excellent coffee. This was soon after they took over from Radisson and before the cost accountants got to work.

You got that right....

Yes - things were different under Radisson ownership -- some good -- some not so good. Unfortunately they were losing money and could not keep up the ships. They undoubtedly would not have been able to survive - particularly during the economy up and down swings in the past few years. We would drive ourselves crazy if we kept looking back at how we think things were in the past (although I do miss the late 60's).

In terms of coffee, my favorite suggestion was bringing your own French coffee on board. Alternatively, trying double or triple Americanos is not a bad idea. I'm going to pay more attention to the coffee on our next cruise (Oct. 3rd) and do some experimenting. May also speak with the G.M. and ask what kind of feedback he gets. It is an interesting subject.

Just what I need to do. Paying over a thousand a day per person and I need bring my own coffe. Next, I'll be told, to get a descent bottle of wine I should bring that along too. The costs keep going up and the quality down.:(

oh my, I've been reading complaints about coffee on Regent/Radisson for so many years (see my join date). Wish this subject would just go away, but sure it won't. I don't have an answer, except to say it is all personal to what we drink at home or day to day in Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or whatever coffee shop you love..

BUT, if Regent is holding back on the best beans ever, bring them forth!

For me, I enjoy those machines for capuccino, and when I want a jolt in one way or another, I go to the coffee bar for a Kahlua coffee and they deliver to me at my computer station on the Mariner, usually ;-)

Just what I need to do. Paying over a thousand a day per person and I need bring my own coffe. Next, I'll be told, to get a descent bottle of wine I should bring that along too. The costs keep going up and the quality down.:(

Actually, there are a few people that do bring their own wine on board. If you like really top quality wines you either pay Regent for them or bring your own. As jhp mentioned, people have been complaining about coffee forever. IMO, coffee would have to be a very big priority in my life in order to bring my own but I can see where it is worth it for some people.

The espresso and coffee on Oceania are quite good. The Riviera and Marina have nearly twice he number of passengers as Voyager and Mariner. So it is doable, particularly given the premium prices that Regent charges.

By the way, the consensus among the espresso and coffee lovers We know is that Nespresso blows away Keurig...

We are on board right. My husband can't find any decent coffee. Tried pool grill and coffee connection. He finds both bad. On the Navigator he found good coffee in the Navigator lounge across from the library. Can anyone help?

Just got off the Voyager and I agree about the coffee. I choked down half a cup each morning so I wouldn't have caffein withdrawals. Tried cappuccino and adding hot water to the coffee but nothing worked. Just not tasty beans is all I can figure.

There is always the option of bringing a lightweight plastic Melitta or similar coffee filter with paper filters and your favorite ground beans. Just order extremely hot water and make your own coffee, in your room or at the restaurant. If enough people do this perhaps Regent will get the idea and upgrade the quality of their coffee!

By the way, we bring tea filters and a ziplock of our favorite Peet's Lion Mountain Keemun tea and make our own tea onboard.

There is always the option of bringing a lightweight plastic Melitta or similar coffee filter with paper filters and your favorite ground beans. Just order extremely hot water and make your own coffee, in your room or at the restaurant. If enough people do this perhaps Regent will get the idea and upgrade the quality of their coffee!

 

By the way, we bring tea filters and a ziplock of our favorite Peet's Lion Mountain Keemun tea and make our own tea onboard.

You could certainly do that, as long as you do not take your own coffee maker into the suite. Good idea.

Why should we who pay $700-1000 day even have to think about bringing our own supplies on board?

Surely someone can make Regent aware of this coffee issue. I feel confident if they are aware of this widespread dissatisfaction they will up the quality of the beans they use.

Surely someone can make Regent aware of this coffee issue. I feel confident if they are aware of this widespread dissatisfaction they will up the quality of the beans they use.

You can't believe for how many years many of us have been complaining both on the ships as well as via emails.

As you can tell, it doesn't seem to matter.

If the complaints about the coffee on Regent was as widespread as people on this thread think it is, there would probably be a change. Sometimes we forget that the people on Cruise Critic are the minority. Yes, sometimes we are representative of the majority but certainly not always. I have not counted the number of people that have complained about the coffee but I would estimate that the number represents a small percentage of Regent customers (but a large percentage of the estimated 5% of Regent customers posting on Cruise Critic).

The bottom line (IMO), is that Regent would not be booking full cruises as often as they are if coffee were a major factor in the decision to book a cruise. I wonder if coffee is as important to people in the U.S. as tea is to people living in the U.K. My guess is that tea would win out and Regent's teabags are laughable to many Brits (my DH uses 4 teabags in order to make his tea strong enough to be drinkable). I suspect that Regent targets their food//coffee/tea to the majority of passengers -- not a small segment of passengers. IMO, if the coffee on Regent doesn't suit your tastes, bring your own. It doesn't matter if you pay $10,000 or $50,000 for your cruise....... if coffee means a lot to you, do what you need to do in order to make yourself happy.

If the complaints about the coffee on Regent was as widespread as people on this thread think it is, there would probably be a change. Sometimes we forget that the people on Cruise Critic are the minority. Yes, sometimes we are representative of the majority but certainly not always. I have not counted the number of people that have complained about the coffee but I would estimate that the number represents a small percentage of Regent customers (but a large percentage of the estimated 5% of Regent customers posting on Cruise Critic).

 

And yet, over the years, haven't you given credit to those same 5% for helping make changes to a few existing policies by simply posting on the board?

And yet, over the years, haven't you given credit to those same 5% for helping make changes to a few existing policies by simply posting on the board?

There were two times when I gave credit to CC for helping to make changes on Regent. The first was when Mark Conroy created a poll on Cruise Critic to determine whether or not the Dress Code should be changed.

The second had to do with the implementation of the Concierge Program. Cruise Critic members were part of the many Regent customers that had comments to make about the proposed plan. As a result of both CC and other customer comments, the Concierge Program was implemented but with changes that I assume was brought about by many Regent customers - not only posters on CC.

Where I see that Cruise Critic helps the most is when passengers onboard a ship post about a problem onboard. When the General Manager reads about it (many do read CC), he is able to make changes immediately.

Hope this clarifies my previous comments.

O Dear Travekcat. You are behind the times. We Brits now drink more coffee than tea. However, I drink both and the tea on Regent is fine and we have a choice of types. Sadly not with the coffee. There is also a good range of complementary wines. It' the coffee that's the problem.

Sadly complaining onboard is too late as the larder is already full of poor quality coffee beans. If they had nespresso machines onboard we'd be able to bring our own pods unless the corkage is too high!

We agree that a simple cup of coffee in Regent is pretty crummy but certainly not a deal breaker. I most certainly do not think we should have to pack our own supplies or fuss with bits of shots of this and that to enjoy that room service wake up tray. I have never noticed this ongoing discussion on the Oceania board where people seem to be so enthralled with all food related topics. I would assume they provision with a better grade of coffee bean and I wonder why? If that is the case, it would seem like an easy fix. They must share some purveyors.

O Dear Travekcat. You are behind the times. We Brits now drink more coffee than tea. However, I drink both and the tea on Regent is fine and we have a choice of types. Sadly not with the coffee. There is also a good range of complementary wines. It' the coffee that's the problem.

Sadly complaining onboard is too late as the larder is already full of poor quality coffee beans. If they had nespresso machines onboard we'd be able to bring our own pods unless the corkage is too high!

It sounds like I am behind the times. When did Brits switch to teabags? Must admit that my DH has lived in the U.S. a very long time. After I had tea properly prepared on Silversea, I went home and purchased the necessary items to brew our own tea. The only teabags I enjoy are made by TWG and are horribly expensive.

fizzy: I plan on learning more about the coffee - both on Regent and Oceania when I am onboard the Mariner in 5 weeks. It would really surprise me if Oceania's coffee was a higher quality than Regent's.

Having sailed often on Regent and once (about to be twice) on Oceania I have to say that the coffee on Oceania is infinitely better than the coffee on Regent. We have a Nespresso machine here at home (over 50% of Swiss households do apparently...) and we love our good coffee for breakfast and after lunch. Oceania's "normal" - "American" coffee was drinkable. Regent's was not - not even under Radisson management. What I took to doing on Regent was to make a mug full of espresso from the machine on the Pool Deck and take it into breakfast at la Veranda. That was passable. Not good though.

I agree that everyone has different tastes in coffee - drip/filter/espresso and so on. But why does Regent's coffee have to taste like what the Swiss Germans call "Geschirrwasser" - dish water??

Maybe Regent and Oceania should swap Food and Beverage Managers, then we might get decent coffee on Regent.