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We are talking mainly about waiters, bartenders and cabin stewards and from what I have seen over the years there is upward mobility within those groups. I see many of those faces year after year and they do move up the ladder. Tips are included on Regent and they state such. The crew fund provides things for every crew member. The comment card benefits the lone crew member as does a tip. By all means do what you are comfortable doing, just remember a lot of people are helping the person you are tipping make your cruise wonderful.

+1 besides the comment card praise leads to a chance for improved position and pay raise which are permanent vs a one time cash in hand tip.

This thread proves that the Navigator, a small ship experience, is not for everybody…..not as much entertainment, not as many choices in dinning, no teaching kitchen and the list goes on. The 480 passenger Navigator offers a difference experience, small town intimate, whereas the 750 passenger Explorer/Splendor has a big ship glam. The small ship is not everyone’s cup of tea as proved on this thread. On a 2 week voyage which was part of a longer 94 day Grand Voyage, one hated their experience and one thought it was just a 4* experience as compared a 5* experience on the Voyager. Where as three on the Navigator for from 40 to 94 days of the same Grand Voyage were pleased with their Regent experience and felt it was up to the Regent standards. This is the same discussion we have had for years. As far as supply chain problems are concerned, whether they are due to Covid or not, they are real in my part of the country. HEB can’t get their shelves stocked with the same goods from one week to the next. We have been building a house, took one year from order date to getting the refrig, months to get the windows and just recently there was a delay in pouring the driveway because of a concert shortage. It must be a nightmare getting food and supplies in bulk in the various supply ports. Also glad to hear about staff some of my favorites also. Hope they are still dithers at Christmas.

Set up my account page if haven’t. Go to booked cruises tab and enter information required. Go to excursions, click customize tab. That will take you to the page where you can book your tours for that cruise by port. Select port and choose your tour. Put in your cart and then buy it. Even if it is free go though the purchase step. Sounds a little crazy but just follow the steps for each port. I was doing it last night and having a problem with my computer. I find that buying the tours 1 or 2 at a time just over come glitches. Not sure this will help you, but maybe it will get you started.

Glad to know you felt that the Navigator was on par with service. The Navigator has always had a love/hate relationship with Regent cruisers. We love the slower paced less over the top atmosphere on the Navigator.

We will be able to make a similar comparison in Dec as we will spend 17 days on the Slpendor and then transfer to the Navigator for two weeks over the Holidays. But at this point we are so eager to be back on a cruise, I will be happy just sitting on my balcony and being waited on.

I hope those of you who had poor service …food, bar or cabin took it up at the time with head staff. That is only way they know of problems and know what to correct. Complaining on CC weeks after the fact doesn’t help much. Thanks for your input mrlevin. Sounds more like the Navigator we k ow and love. We will be spending the Holidays on her.

On the Navigator the only choice is CR or Prime 7 really. Never had a butler, but have just told my TA I wanted a B-day or Anniversary celebration on a certain day. You can request a special meal 24 ahead of time, but other than that there is nothing more than a cake and a song by waiters in any of the restaurants. With a butler I have hear they sometimes do something special to/in the suite..balloons etc. Lots of B-day celebrations in the CR on the Navigator when we have sailed her..

We have been there twice , one visit was an over night. Loved the sand dunes…did a private 4 wheel-drive trip to them. Also found the safari into the Nat Park very interesting.

According to the Regent statement passengers with just the YF waiver may just have to stay in the ship.

Looks like the same letter we have received from Regent when we were in Nambia on a WC and in SA on a Grand Voyage. We needed a YF shot. Regent is covering themselves. Foreign port authorities are unpredictable to say the least. If port authorities want the shot they can refuse to let you go ashore if you don’t have proof. They can/May accept the waiver but there is no guarantee. If you don’t get the shot you may not be able to get off the ship that day. If you don’t have the shot, don’t want to get it, can’t get it, at least get a waiver they are easy to get. If you don’t have the paperwork that the officer wants that day you can’t get off. Remember this is Africa not the US or UK.

We do too. I hate the packed buses from the hotel dumping the Regent passengers at the port at the same time…. The credit usually comes close to covering the transportation and hotel cost and we travel at our on pace by ourselves. Check in is a breeze because we miss the crowds.

There are a number of tipping threads on this forum. Do a search. Regent advertises gratuities included. Many Regent cruises believe what Regent says and act accordingly. Others tip on the side usually at the end and discretely. Do not let someone else influence you. You will get the same great Regent service whether you tip or not. But do recognize the people who give you good service on the comment cards mid cruise. The crew will thank you.

Well the CR was open everyday on our WC cruise before Covid. Others may like a buffet but we don’t specially now with Covid we avoid them. We always prefer a sit down served lunch and not room service. That was why we liked Regent better than Seabourn in the past. I know the other Regent ships are using the other restaurants instead of CR for lunch now…..why not the Navigator? Pre Covid Prime Dr 7 was also used as over flow.

In that case is prime 7 open every day. Last time we were in the Navigator they served a sit down lunch in the CR everyday. We do not like the buffet nor eating outside in the humid Caribbean. According to reports the other ships have the speciality dinning rooms open for lunch in alternate days for sit down meals.

Look it up on trip advisor or a site like Booking dot com. Should have more pictures and visitor comments.

I was beginning to think I was dreaming after these last two threads. We have had a number of glowing reports recently from the various ships. At least according to what I have been reading. We will find out in Dec with more than month on two different ships.

Sorry you didn’t enjoy your cruise. But your complaints are well reported on. We spent 70 odd days doing a grand voyage in the Mariner, Circle SA, as our first Regent cruise. We are signed up for. WC on the same ship. We really like the ship, size wise and the fact it has lounges forward and aft. Granted it is an older ship in the Regent fleet but we like the standard suites and public space. We are Platinum so have done several Regent cruises and have aways found the service, experience and food very good to excellent from ship to ship. As to your complaints, someone earlier complained about no fresh fish on an Alaskan cruise. The chef has bought fresh local fish on board for a special deck buffet on our various cruises. But the food served in the CR and Prime is pre-stocked. I imagine this is for safety and quality control. Food taste after all are very subjective. It is widely reported that some baths have an old style tub shower combo best avoided if you can. Your TA should have advised you especially since the ship wasn’t full. Though some don’t mind that set up, I would not take a tub combo bath on the Mariner. Internet on all ships is terrible compared to home internet. This a constant complaint of most cruisers. Regent is not exception. We love Alaska and have sailed to Alaska 6 times and driven our RV twice’ during the months of June, July, Aug and Sept. Agree the time for a good chance of sunny days is June and July. It is wet in Aug and Sept every year. But as you say it is a great place to visit. If you are going to spend the time and money on a Regent cruise or any cruise for that matter you should check out the destination and the reports from other cruisers on your ship choice and destination.

Well the visual of the path down is even worse! I hate cable cars and avoid them. 😬But I willing rode the cable car down after I saw the narrow steep path crowded with the donkeys and people. Ride the cable car!

You pay when you book, you can use any OBC that you have credited to your account.

Yes in the past visas were included on WC along medical and some other things. They use a service that we go through for the big deal ones.

That is basically what my DH does at the dinner table at the beginning of the cruise waiting for our meal. Had not thought to do it in the lounge. We usually get cocktails but that sounds like fun. We were told the same thing about the included wines. And on the world cruise one of the ones we really enjoyed was running low so they sent some bottles to the suite. Sometimes they do run out a wine and can’t get more especially on the longer 2-4 month cruises.

This is the best way to find some free wines to your taste. At that event they will help you to find ones to your taste and it is fun. We have never had a problem at dinner, DH taste the one they bring and OKs it or ask for a different one giving them a general type he likes. I go to the tasting as I am a bit picky and find one I like usually a red. I ask for that every night. After a night or two in the CR , it is always waiting for me. Of course if I find I like what DH is having that night I have some of that one too. Point is there is not only one free red and white on offer each night….that is just the red and white they have chosen to feature that night. Tell steward what you like and they will find something on the included list that should suit you.

Wendy, This issue is driving me crazy when I think about it, but it doesn’t come into play for us until we board the Splendor on the 3rd Dec.so we are just wait to see the pre cruise information for our cruise. I take it to mean if we want Regent to help cover the the cruise loss if we test positive on the mandatory preboarding test, we need proof that we didn’t leave home with Covid, we didn’t get sick until after the 48 hour preboarding count down started.. If we wait and only test at the pier and are positive We will get no consideration for our cruise loss from Regent because we can’t prove we were healthy when we left home for the trip. For shorter trips like this we don’t by insurance. For us we will drive from TX. We will allow 4 days. At this point we will test before we leave home and then within the 48 period and hopefully be negative. At this point our Walgreens is providing test that have fast results and we can use an on line test while traveling. This can all change in 3 months and we have at home tests as a back up to see where we stand. But I will be glad when they drop the test requirement. We are around people daily and almost nobody wears a mask here anymore.

But it seems that Starlink has less coverage at this point at least, so how can that be better for long voyages?