pappy1022

It would be nice if Regent would have explained their decisions vs people having to speculate.

We flew from Austin to Copenhagen via London. The return trip was a direct London to Austin flight. I did pay the deviation fee and a small fee for traveling from a non gateway city but it was worth it.

I didn’t find PG to be more expensive than Regent. I looked at a similar 10 day Regent cruise for February and it started at $18K/person all inclusive or $8K/person for all inclusive on ship (no air, no transport). My booking on PG for the 10 day cruise was a total of $11K for 2 of us. So apples to apples PG is less expensive and I get to go when the weather is nicer. After all, this is an outdoor experience for the most part. I will admit that Regent’s cabins are much larger and nicer but for this cruise in particular, I am fine with what PG has to offer. Airfare to Tahiti is very expensive and that is reflected in Regent’s all inclusive price. Air is not included on PG. I intend to use air miles to “pay” for the airfare.

Check out this topic on this Regent board. Regent Flights - with and without deviation

Do yourself a favor and pay the small deviation fee and have the choice of multiple flight itineraries. Do your homework beforehand and pick 2 or 3 options that work best for you and then see if Regent can accommodate your wished. Work through your TA to get a deviation, otherwise you will be at the mercy of whatever Regent chooses for you. Not the best choice in my opinion.

There is a lot of negative criticism circulating on other cruise line discussion boards about Paul Gauguin (PG) cruises. Much of that criticism is pointed at the parent company Ponant especially for how they handled things during COVID. Reportedly they refused to give refunds when cruises were cancelled during the epidemic. Quality concerns have also been brought up. For those of you who have been on PG recently (2023-2034), what have your experiences been? I cruised with Regent, self proclaimed best cruise line in the world, and I admit it was very good but it wasn’t up to the pre COVID standards for service and food. I have a PG Tahiti cruise booked for 2025 and all the criticism made me think about whether I would be better going with Windstar.

Nan, there are 2 definite seasons in the French Polynesia(FP), the wet season and the dry season. I would never choose the wet season. Regent doesn’t go to the FP in the dry season so as others have said your choices are basically 2, Windstar and Paul Gauguin(PG). I am booked on PG for June 2025. I don’t expect them to be as luxurious as Regent but I do expect a great cruise based on all the positive reviews I have read. I am going there for the outdoor activities and the beauty is supposedly second to none. I don’t think PG is more expensive than Regent. PG also engulfs you in the culture of the area because that region is all they do. PG is a small ship and it can get into shallow lagoons of which there are many. If it’s the ship you are more concerned about then yes, cabins are more luxurious on Regent and of course Regent has all the fancy art work and restaurant entry monuments but I don’t care, especially for the French Polynesia. If you go for the natural beauty and for water activities then I think PG is more than sufficient. The food is supposed to be great on PG. The key for me was the time of the year and Regent didn’t offer any options. The dry season also has a lot less humidity although it can rain at any moment but not like what the recent Regent cruisers experienced.

Based on reading multiple cruise line boards, it seems to me that all cruise lines have taken a step backwards when in comes to consistent service and quality, post COVID. Regent is no different in my experience (albeit limited). I can’t say that I had a 5/6 star experience but it was a solid 4. I have a different cruise line booked for my next adventure. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Regent. I suspect Regent is still the cream of the crop. They do provide a very good overall experience but it doesn’t quite matchup with their advertising.

First off, Go Sabres and Bills. I can’t comment on commissions but as far as on board credits, you should see what Regent is offering for that particular cruise. You can just look that up on the web site or ask your TA. The TA credit can vary by the specific cruise and cabin class. Don’t be shy to ask for more from your TA than what they offer. They have some wiggle room. On our last 12 day cruise, we had a combined $1,300 in credits, with a portion of that being refundable. Non refundable credits have to be used onboard. Use them or lose them. Refundable credits can be used onboard or taken as a cash credit at the end of the cruise. Be sure to ask your TA to differentiate the two.We used onboard credits for SPA services and for small group tours that Regent offers. Some have used credits for specialty wines, shopping onboard, etc. Since you’ve been on several cruises, hopefully you have a TA you know and can trust. I think it’s important to have a TA who has a long and healthy relationship with Regent. It makes a big difference. Good luck and enjoy Regent.

And I have had the same exact meal on Regent multiple times and once it was outstanding and once it was poor, so there are even more variables to consider. Same restaurant and exact same meal. That was Prime 7. I also had the same meal (steak & lobster) in CR on the same cruise and it was better than Prime 7. I will say again, Regent has work to do on delivering consistent high quality food and service. It can be hit or miss.

Agree, CR has lots of options and we found it to be as good as the specialty restaurants. Service was slow at times but we weren’t in a hurry.

Just to be clear, humidity is lower in the May through October timeframe. Temperatures are slightly lower during this time as well.

The dry season is May-October but rain showers are possible at any time. Humidity is lower as well.

It is the rainy and windy season in that area of the world. There were also 2 cyclones that hit the area. So, it’s not uncommon to have rain and rough seas this time of year. Unfortunately, the larger ships including Regent sail there during the rainy season.

I will let the person who wrote this, answer what they really meant. Maybe you interpreted it correctly. My interpretation, and thus my comment, was that Regent’s response was weak, in the sense that Regent should have known about a big festival or holiday well in advance of the scheduled docking.

I don’t think they accused Regent of lying. They did rightfully ask why Regent didn’t know about the festival or holiday prior to arriving in Belfast. I think that is a responsible question.

Those are pretty good odds that you will see rain and as others have said and just experienced it is the cyclone season. I booked a French Polynesia cruise for 2025 and I chose early June. I am playing the odds that the weather will be better because it is their dry season although an afternoon shower is always possible. If it were me, I wouldn’t go to the French Polynesia between November and April.

Best staff in the industry? Maybe but that is subjective but it’s your opinion and you cruise a lot more than me, so it could be true. I love Regent and they will always be in the mix for me when I evaluate my options. But something has changed and the service and food just aren’t what they used to be. I think COVID certainly has affected staffing and other services related to the overall Regent Cruise experience. I can understand why some people who haven’t cruised with Regent a lot, expect perfection, or at least near perfection, because that is what Regent advertises and they aren’t inexpensive. I can see both sides to this debate.

Sorry I did say cruise and not cruises. I have been on multiple pre covid cruises and only one post covid cruise on Regent. I found that all of the pre covid Regent cruises’ food and service were exemplary. A rare miss here or there but nothing major. Can’t say the same about the September 2023 cruise on Regent. Maybe I got spoiled and it set my expectations from the earlier cruises.

I did go and read the Oceania thread on the same topic. I walked away with the sense that there were more people on the Oceania thread that gave the slight edge on food to Regent and in particular the Compass Rose. It’s hard for me to compare the 2 because things have changed everywhere since COVID and Regent has been the only cruise line that I have cruised with post COVID. Ironically my wife did get COVID on the ship in the waning days of the September 2023 cruise, so I guess we aren’t in the post COVID era yet. The 2023 cruise in Regent restaurants was a mixed bag as far as the food and service. I would say that 50% were excellent, 25% very good and 25% unacceptable and had to be returned and/or the service was poor. My pre COVID cruise on Regent were 90% excellent and 10% very good. At least from my perspective, Regent has changed a bit in the food and service arena. I know I am beating the same message to death on several of my posts but it’s the inconsistency on Regent is what feels different to me. They can be great one day in one venue and then less than stellar the next day.

Sorry, I missed that in your original post.

John, you should ask this same question on the Oceania board. It would be interesting to compare the responses. I wouldn’t hesitate to choose Oceania, Crystal or Regent, although I prefer Regent. The tie breaker would be the itinerary. I prioritize the destination experience when choosing. For example, I am sailing on Paul Gauguin to the French Polynesia because they specialize in that area, offer a better itinerary, they can get into small lagoons that larger ships can’t enter and they sail in the months I want to go. Most of the mainline cruise lines go there during the rainy/stormy season and that is a risk I don’t want to take. I don’t put much value in Regent’s included shore excursions because they are just OK in most cases and I would prefer to arrange my own. I know you didn’t ask about Crystal but before their bankruptcy they were my favorite cruise line.

I have been on O & R a few years ago and I felt the food on O wasn’t as good as Regent. Having been on Splendor in September 2023 it’s my opinion that the food and service has slipped on Regent compared to precovid times. Most of the food was very good but there were times where some entrees were downright poor, especially the lobster. It was the inconsistency that struck me.

So I guess the unruly people who throw things down the toilet only cruise on Mariner. I wonder how Regent is so successful in getting those people to only cruise on Mariner. Obviously I say this tongue in cheek. I realize that people can be the source of some of these issues but it is too rampant to believe that there isn’t a system problem as well.

Sounds like they should have replaced the seals years ago.