pappy1022

“The lobster in Prime 7 was not good, but it was good in Compass Rose, weird”. That was exactly my experience on Splendor in September 2023. I didn’t expect that. We ate twice in Prime 7 and both times the lobster wasn’t good. It was overcooked and rubbery.

As far as the cyclones in the French Polynesia, it is the rainy and stormy season in that area of the world, so it is always a risk. I wish Regent would cruise their between May and September but they so I will be on the Paul Gauguin in June.

Yep, it’s not the evil passengers throwing “stuff” done the toilet. There is a systemic problem with the system itself.

For me, it’s PG. I struggled through the same decision but booked on PG mostly because I know what I am getting. I have friends that have recently been on PG and absolutely loved it. As others have said, we need to see what Windstar brings to the region with their “stretched” ship. I would guess that they are going to have to bring on new staff for the larger ship and from recent experience on other luxury cruise lines it takes a while to get new crew up to the quality and personalization of experienced staff. It was a close call for me but I have confidence that either choice will be a good one.

As always, everyone’s experience differs so each person needs to draw their own conclusions and how they choose to respond. This isn’t a one off report as several have reported it, so I choose to accept that it is an issue. Having said that it wouldn’t stop me from cruising with Regent although my next couple of trips are with other cruise lines because of the itineraries they offer and the timing of those itineraries.

On our British Isles Splendor cruise in September 2023 we made every port with several being tenders. I’ve heard of ports being missed, including Regent, for reasons other than weather, but those normally are categorized as the mysterious “operational issues” reason. When you hear that reason being used, it’s my sense that they don’t want to tell you the specific real reason.

Supply and demand will dictate price pretty much for everything. If you read any of my posts on these Regent boards, you will know that I look at Regent with a critical eye. I give them credit for what they do well and point out where they fail to meet expectations and/or just did a an unacceptable job. The initial cost can cause sticker shock. But, when you look at what’s included, especially the business class air overseas, it starts to make more sense. If you want to make your own air and hotel accommodations they will give you a credit. Sometimes those credits are reasonable and sometimes they seem low depending on the specific route. The point is, as others have said, it’s specific to an itinerary and the timing of when you book the cruise. My suggestion, is that you look at cruises you would be interested in, find a good TA, and then evaluate your options and costs as to whether you take the included services like air, hotel and transfers or if the credits make more sense for your individual situation. That’s something that should be done no matter what cruise line you choose. Good luck to you.

Tropical Cyclone Osai is the second cyclone in a week passing the Cook Islands, while there is an orange alert for parts of French Polynesia due to cyclone Nat.

It is the rain and stormy season so unfortunately it’s not uncommon for this type of weather.

My experience was the same with Destination Services this past September. No acceptance that they messed up and when I sat down with the manager of that team, I quickly understood why the team acted as they did. The manager wouldn’t accept any responsibility, couldn’t even utter the words “I’m Sorry” and felt like she was putting the blame on me. As they say, one bad apple spoils the bunch.

It’s always someone else’s fault. There is obviously a problem unless there is a conspiracy amongst passengers across multiple cruises to make Regent look bad.

I would agree that the lobster was not of good quality on multiple venues during our September Splendor cruise. Our only acceptable lobster was once in Compass Rose. You would have thought that we would have learned from experience and not kept going back to it but we always thought it must get better. Although hope is not a plan.

Been on Regent 4 times and also cruised on Crystal and Oceania multiple times. Next cruise is on Paul Gauguin. I choose based on itinerary. My assumption, and it is an assumption, is based on the fact that the difference between what I could get on my own for the exact air itinerary that Regent provided vs what the credit they were offering was almost 3X. I wouldn’t think that Regent gets that much of a discount.

I agree with you and Papa. A lot has changed in the service industry both on land, sea and air since COVID. I think some people expect perfection from Regent, after all that’s what they are advertising. A blip here or there has to be expected but there are some alarming issues such as the toilet situation on one of the ships and the noise issue between cabins on the newest ship. On our cruise in September 2023 there were some staff that just didn’t have the service attitude that I expect on Regent. Granted this was only a handful of people but it was alarming to experience.

Maybe so Papa but I don’t believe it based on my limited experience.

I noticed the same issues in September 2023. I also enjoyed my cruise but it left me wondering why these hiccups and missteps were happening so often. Did Regent slip a bit from a service perspective or did my expectations change from the last time (pre COVID) I sailed with them? Some things have definitely changed and not for the better.

I suspect that Regent’s credit for a person arranging their own airfare isn’t the amount they pay for that specific business class seat. On my last cruise to the British Isles the difference between what I would pay for a round trip business class seat and what Regent was offering as a credit was huge. Regent’s credit wasn’t even enough to purchase a premium coach class fare.

Combining trip insurance coverage from your credit card plus a 3rd party insurance broker can dramatically decrease the total cost. For example, we booked at $30,000 cruise for the 2 of us. Our credit card gave us $10,000 each of trip cancellation coverage for out of pocket cost. Leaving us $10,000 to insure through an insurance broker. So we insured the $5,000 each which was a lot less expensive than insuring $15,000 each and we also received all of the medical, hospital and evacuation coverage as part of the independent insurance coverage. We saved almost $1,000 by doing this combined coverage. It is a common practice and is legitimate and provides great coverage.

Sorry to hear about the rain. It is the rainy season in the French Polynesia so I guess it should be expected. I enjoyed reading your daily posts. Thank you for taking me along on your cruise. I am going on a FP cruise in June 2025 on the Paul Gauguin. I would have considered Regent but they don’t cruise in that part of the world during the “dry” season.

If you had a reservation for 4, it would show the other people on this reservation. I once had an email showing a confirmation for 6 people but the website didn’t jive with what the email said. I would definitely call them to confirm what you have.

Well I guess they chose to put the money on these things vs insulation. 😁

Unfortunately you have to buy a subscription to The NY Times to read this article.

As far as getting additional reservations while on the cruise, yes you can but it’s likely that most available times will be later in the evening. At least that has been our experience recently. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Looks awesome. I am cruising there next year. Looks like you have having great weather. It’s supposed to be the rainy season.

There’s an idea for Regent to cut cost …….. oops too late. 😀