Steve Q

Voyager left Cádiz yesterday sailing to Barcelona. Had to return shortly after sailing due to mechanical issues. As of one hour ago, it was still docked in Cádiz.

I honestly have no idea. At times, it would work fairly well. At other times, it did not work at all. Fortunately, we have TMobile as our cell carrier. At each port, we had pretty good service at no charge. I was able to download some podcasts to listen to while using the gym. Other than the WiFi, our cruise was excellent. I had concerns about Voyager, but found those concerns unfounded.

We were just on the 18 day Transatlantic cruise. We had a Concierge cabin and had four devices connected. Honestly, the WiFi was not very good. At times, it barely worked at all. That said, if you are only looking to send emails, it might work for you. It is possible, however, that the internet will work better this summer in Europe.

We are also currently sailing on Voyager. A few observations, in no particular order: We are really enjoying Voyager. Prior to sailing, we had heard some very negative comments on FB about the condition of the ship. Generally, the ship seems to be in good condition. The one exception was that our room cooling system was not operating properly. We have since been relocated to another suite. Voyager is sailing at 100 passengers less than capacity. Not sure what the occupancy levels have been on its most recent itineraries. Service has been very good. As always, the Regent goes out of their way to be helpful. Meals have also been very good. I have Celiac, so I need to eat gluten free. Again, the staff has been very accommodating. Weather has been very warm. If you are looking for a warm weather itinerary, this seems to be perfect.

We are also onboard. Embarkation was not the best. It just seemed chaotic. Took us well over two hours from the time we departed the hotel until we finally boarded. Otherwise, it was a wonderful day. Dinner at Compass Rose was very good. There are several crew members that we remember from our last two cruises. It’s great to see them.

We also leave tomorrow. Flying from Dallas to Atlanta and then nonstop to Rio. We will be spending one night at the JW Marriott before boarding. Looking forward to the voyage.

There were only ladders during our April 2023 cruise.

Remember that Brazil will be requiring an E Visa by next year. They just waived the requirement for the next 90 days. Trust me, the process of obtaining the Visa was very frustrating. I would make that requirement a part of your consideration when considering this trip.

Has anyone tried using the GenVisa service Viking has recommended?

We are also waiting for our flights for our March 19 sailing on Voyager. We were also going to use Visa Central. Doesn’t sound promising. Viking is recommending Genvisa.com. I will follow their board to see if they are having any luck.

We are booked in March from Rio to Lisbon. We have several stops in Brazilian ports. To date, we have not been notified by Regent that a special Visa was required. Have all of you been notified of this requirement?

Joanie, So glad you are sailing again. We met on Navigator this past May. It was wonderful meeting you and your husband. We sailed on Marina a few years ago. While we enjoyed the ship, it would not be our first choice. While we enjoyed the specialty restaurants, especially Red Ginger, we thought the MDR was very disappointing. It is a significant step down from Compass Rose. There is really no comparison. We also have found the entertainment to be far superior on Regent. Again, there was no comparison. We will be interested in hearing your review of both the MDR and the entertainment. Joanie, our next cruise will be aboard Voyager in March from Rio to Lisbon. Enjoy your cruise.

We have sailed on both Explorer and Navigator. Explorer was our first Regent cruise and the ship was gorgeous. We sailed on Navigator for 15 nights this past May. Honestly, we would not sail on her again. Others obviously disagree but that is our opinion. The ship is not at all like Explorer. There are very few common areas and the ship felt quite crowded in inclement weather. At times Navigator had a pronounced vibration that was quite noticeable. We usually went to the Observation Lounge when departing from ports. Literally both the bottles behind the bar and our table shook and rattled. Again, that is just our opinion and we certainly respect the opinions of those that love her. We are sailing on Voyager this upcoming March, so we certainly have not abandoned Regent.

We have be assigned the JW Marriott for our March 2024 cruise from Rio to Lisbon.

We are booked on the Rio to Lisbon cruise in March 2024. This will be our third Regent cruise. With our travel agent, we spent 35 minutes on the phone yesterday with a Regent Air service representative trying to arrange our flights. There were no available one stop flights from DFW without an additional cost of several thousand dollars (she even quoted us an additional $4,000 for just the DFW-RIO flight on one particular flight). The only flight available without an additional fee departed from DFW to Miami to Lima to Rio. The Lima leg would also have been in coach. We were shocked as Lima is on the West coast of the continent! Lima is almost 3,000 miles from Rio! While we paid our $75, we were very surprised and disappointed. We have decided to just wait until 70 days from our cruise date to have them assign our flights. It is difficult to believe that they could be any worse than what they were offering.

We are booked from Rio to Lisbon in March 2024. Regent has us booked at the JW Marriott for the night before the cruise. It looks great on the Marriott website and the reviews seem positive.

Could you tell us what hotel was used in Barcelona. Viking has given us a cost for the two night extension, but it does not identify the hotel. I realize the hotel used in the future might be different but it would help us know what type hotel they utilize. thanks

Honestly, there is no way that I would bring young children on the Navigator. I’m not sure what they would do all day. We were on the same sailing with GeorgiaPeach this past May for 15 nights. Navigator has very limited indoor space and the outdoor pool area is unusable in inclement weather. I will say that our entire family of ten (including grandchildren ages 7,8,10,11) just returned from a family cruise on a Royal Caribbean mega ship. Yes, the ship was huge and always busy. That said, our grandkids had a fantastic time. There was so much to do for them. In addition, there was a Kid’s Club that provided care for the kids free of charge in two hour intervals. While my wife and I would never sail RC on our own, it was a great family experience. Lastly, we were surprised by the dining room service. I know this may sound crazy, but our servers on RC surpassed those on our Navigator cruise where dinner was routinely long and often disjointed experience.

Regent notified us earlier this week that there will a 4 hour Montreal city tour available for those with flights departing after 4:00PM. That was a great addition for us as our plane to DFW just not leave until 4:30.

Georgia Peach, so wonderful to meet you! This is Denise, traveling with Steve Q. We agree with many of your impressions and observations. For us, still a wonderful cruise with some hiccups, Navigator is definitely a different ship than Explorer, but has its charms. For example, the theatre is the best—intimate and no poles! We have had some wonderful service, from particular waiters, sommeliers, etc., still something is a little lacking. We can’t quite place our finger on it. Still 9 days to go, so more impressions to come!

Interesting. We are on Navigator now and have just docked in Freeport. They did arrange some last minute excursions. I do not think that the Escape was originally scheduled to be with us in Great Stirrup Key. Not sure what happened.

We will also be sailing with you. We were looking forward to a beach day at Great Stirrup Key. Hopefully, there will be some sort of beach excursion in Freeport. Not sure yet as Regent hasn’t announced any excursions. I must say that we have been on many cruises, but none that have had changes like this. Last year, on our Transatlantic crossing, they substituted Nassau for Hamilton. Regent did, however, explain that it was because of bad weather. There has been no explanation provided this time for any of the changes. We booked this cruise while on our last Explorer cruise. We are very excited and looking forward to a great experience.

We will also be sailing on this cruise. Honestly, I have never sailed on any cruise that has had this many changes. Altering the schedule to arrive in Hamilton at 6:00PM is the biggest disappointment for us as we depart the next morning by 5:00AM. We will still have a great cruise, but I have to agree that Regent really has come up short here. There have been at least 6-7 changes to either the ports or arrival times. No explanation has been provided for any of the changes.