snuggarelli

J, we are on the Serenity now, and while the wi-fi speed is pretty decent when it is up, it has been maddeningly cutting out... frequently. It will come back after about 5-10 minutes, then a little while later, the same. Not sure if this is typical, or just a quirk.

Bob

Bob - This is one of the biggest factors we were comparing the two cruise lines. We'd like to be able to say good night every night to our youngest kids as well as check in with our pets. If Crystal has the same problems as Regent in terms of internet, it may be an equalizer rather than a major positive for us in the direction of Crystal.:(

Size of stateroom is important to us, just like TravelCat. You know, once you're used to something, you kind of want to keep going with it! :) I'm hoping that the Diamond class, being a smaller ship, will have bigger cabins that match Regent better in sq footage and fares.

Thank you DaveFR for the official info.

Maybe Mickey asked for a raise!

If I were him, I would too wripro!

Btw: didn’t I say that the Dress Code would have to start changing with the new generations? And everyone was like “No, you so crazy! Baby boomers rule! GenXers and Millennials drool!” And now this news comes out! Ha-ha!!! Who’s sitting pretty now?? This is just the tip of the iceberg! Just the tip of the iceberg! No pun intended. :D

I like Eleanor. And why? Because she goes against the grain.

You know what? My daughter works at an Assisted Living Facility. They take showers once a week. These ladies can be young as 70.

Quit beating a dead horse please.

Snuggarelli,

You asked for feedback from those who have sailed both lines. We have sailed both lines and enjoy both. We concur with the previous posters who actually post from their own personal experiences.

Another interesting difference between Regent and Crystal can be seen on their respective cruise critic boards. On the Regent board you often hear from those who cannot resist telling others what suite they are in, how to dress, whether to tip, how often they dine with officers, their free cruises, etc. It is quite different on the Crystal board. In reality, onboard both cruise lines we have encountered extremely courteous passengers and superb service.

Please do not judge Regent or Crystal based upon opinions from experts who have never sailed with them. Some things just cannot be put into words. They have to be experienced.

Best of luck to you. You cannot go wrong with either one.

Thanks Uncle D! We are going on a Regent cruise to the Med in 2019 which we’re pretty excited about (sans the kids- woohoo!). 2020 - last night we realized it’ll be our 25th anniversary. So maybe we’ll try the Caribbean (since it’s in December). Since it sounds like many of you have tried both Crystal and Regent, you guys have me thinking; maybe we’ll do the Caribbean on Crystal that year. 2021 is up in the air. Maybe a land trip to visit my family in Japan since everyone’s been talking about the cruise to Japan!

Speaking of cost-analysis, did you know that just adding the cruise cost for a similar suite and adding a business class flight for a Disney Cruise is actually slightly more expensive than Regent? That doesn’t even include the drinks, excursions, etc. That’s how over the top the prices have become on DCL. Ugh.

As far as cost comparison is concerned, it is very difficult to do an accurate comparison, in order to do so, you would need to compare cruises in the same part of the world, at the same time of year of the same length with the same number of days in port, and then factor what is and is not included.

Several months ago, (clearly having way too much time on my hands), I actually did that, I located 2 Mediterranean cruises that met that criteria. I subtracted the air credit from the Regent fare and added $100 per person per day for excursions to the Crystal fare. I don't have access to the data right now as I am traveling, in fact, I am in Rome, boarding, by coincidence, the Crystal Serenity tomorrow. But this is what I remember :

 

For the least expensive room, comparing the lowest category of Veranda suite on Regent to the least expensive Veranda suite on Crystal, Crystal was quite a bit less expensive. But as has been pointed out, the room is much smaller. On the other hand, other than the Explorer, the larger room on Regent has less storage space than the smaller one on Crystal. (don't get me started on that! [emoji19])

On the higher end, comparing the largest suite on Crystal to a comparably sized one on Regent, Crystal was far higher in price.

In the middle, a penthouse (not n

penthouse suite) on Crystal compared to a Veranda suite on Regent, which is a similar size, the same deck, the costs were quite similar.

I will not get into the "which is better" discussion, clearly everyone will have their own opinion. To me, they are both great.

 

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Thank you! This is what I was thinking about doing too: doing a side-by-side comparison of similar itinerary/dates, suites, minus airfare (take the air credit), figure out how to minus our excursions, and whatever everyone here on the board said was included/not included.

I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s experiences as well (such as the entertainment, the comfort of the suite, etc) because that is something that cannot be quantified in one’s analysis. Thank you everyone. :)

You can do what you wish going ashore, but we hope that passengers will do as FlyerTalker mentions and be kind enough to at least shower and put on fresh clothes before dinner.

Lol. I do shower and always smell pretty. I don’t pigpen it when I’m outside, although I think little kids often do that sort of thing. :D

During the day most people are in shorts, etc. The issue here seems to be after 6;00 p.m. (when the dress code changes).

 

 

 

From what has been posted from Jason O’Keefe more casual clothes (guessing shorts, t-shirts ad jeans) however, if they want to go in the lounge for a drink or to the show, you would need to change

Thanks TravelCat for the info!

So did anyone find out officially what was allowed/not allowed on the pool deck?

I can tell you that leaving the ship in the hot Med sun, we’re planning to be typical tourists in shorts and t-shirts. Is that not allowed?

For those of you who have done both cruise lines, I’d like your feedback. Regent and Crystal both claim to be all-inclusive. I haven’t cruised in many years. What doesn’t Regent include and what doesn’t Crystal include? Besides excursions and flights, does Crystal include everything Regent does?

As a loyal Marriott/SPG member, following this thread. I’ll be in Barcelona myself in June 2019 for the Med Cruise. Looks like there’s a ton of AC hotels, 2 Le Meridiens, a Renaissance, 1 W, and a Cottonwood Autograph collection. I pulled this from the Marriott app (assuming the SPG app will do the same). Price is in Euros. It will show you the category each hotel is in so that you know how much you’ll get back in reward points. If you’re going to Barcelona before me, let us know what you pick and if you liked it. :)

We just ask our TA to get us things like that.

Thanks for the tip! :)

I’ll ask our TA shortly.

Their website is seriously in need of massive revamp. For a luxury line, you’d think they could afford a top-of-the-line web designer or web design company.

I don’t know how many times I’ve requested the 2020-2021 brochure by the request brochure form, by phone, and by email. No, I don’t want to browse the cruises online because the site navigation is so cumbersome.

Other phone calls to customer service has been good, although I’m sure I’m asking basic questions you all already know the answers to.

I do consider the website as the first line of customer service. If information cannot be delivered efficiently and well to the point I feel like I don’t have to do the dreaded call (it should have plenty of information, not just be a teaser), then the website is not functioning the way it should be which is bad customer service.

Just checked out the report and how ratings were established.

Note -“expert” rating.

Only Regent and Viking got 5.0. All the others received 4.+.

Very interesting.

Sheila

Hi Sheila,

I noticed that too. They seemed to weigh the health and average customer reviews pretty heavily. Thanks for pointing that out. I totally forgot about how weirdly they set that up.

Hoping this is okay to post but it is pretty much a fact (heard from many sources) that Crystal gave/gives incentives to their passengers to vote favorably in polls. Don't blast me as I am simply passing on information that is very believable.

 

 

 

Second, Azamara, Oceania and Viking Ocean are not luxury lines - they are one step below Regent, Crystal, Silversea and Seabourn).

 

 

 

In terms of luxury lines, we have only sailed on Regent and Silversea. Silversea is much more formal than Regent but has great food and service. Silversea also charges for at least one of their dining venues (depending upon the ship - sometimes it is more than one). Crystal also charges (sometimes - it is a very strange policy) if you want to dine in a specialty restaurant more than once.

 

 

 

Regent is the only luxury cruise line that includes international business class flights and excursions (I believe that Silversea was including a few excursions for a while - not sure if they are done).

 

 

 

Crystal has the smallest suites overall and their ships are quite old. On the other hand, they reportedly have better entertainment and enrichment programs than other luxury cruise lines.

 

 

 

Hope that this helps.

 

 

 

Marc - Regent is making more money now than it has ever made. The ships are in better condition than since we began sailing with them in 2004. FDR is a very successful, savvy individual that would not be in his position if he was anything less. Pus, it was NCLH's idea to replace their former CEO with Frank Del Rio. Perhaps you just don't like him which is fine but he has little to do with the day to day running of Regent or Oceania anymore - only on the highest level.

Thanks TravelCat for sharing. I wouldn’t blast you. That’s very interesting about Crystal rigging the results. I’ve been meaning to ask (because I don’t know), what defines a luxury line?

We liked the idea that Regent had larger suites, all verandahs on most ships, king beds, and business class air for international flights.

Thank you for sharing your insight.

Good catch UunetBill!

Thanks a MalbecWine for sharing your insight on this.

Thanks Marq. That’s very interesting!

I noticed considerable comparison shopping of the different luxury cruise lines. So those of you who have been on multiple brands, what do you think of the US News and World Report 2018 rankings for best luxury cruise lines? I know it’s entirely subjective, but I’d like to hear the pros and cons you might have that this report omits.

http:// https://travel.usnews.com/cruises/best-cruise-lines/

If you go to St. Martin, make sure you bring back some guava rum. Can’t find that anywhere else. Great as an alcoholic snow cone which they have you sample. We pretty much liked all the Caribbean ports we’ve been to. I’ve sailed into other ports for work- Mexico, San Diego, Alaska... I’d take the Eastern Caribbean any day.

So, I’m wondering, IYO is the port experience hindered by whether or not it’s an anchorage vs mooring? I think almost all of my past cruises have pulled up to a dock, which IMHO is a lot easier for going back and forth on the ship. But my Regent Cruise has 3 anchorages out of 7 days, and we’re pretty bummed about that. Do you feel it’s a factor?

Sheila that is true for us as well we are late 50’s and early sixties and enjoy both land and sea trips on the higher scale and believe in doing it while you can. Yes, Safaris are great for all ages beit Africa or India. We have been cruising since our late 20’s and we started with Carnival and graduated to premium and then the luxury lines and Crystal was our first thirty years ago and were spoiled on the Harmony and we never looked back. At that time we could never be gone more than two or three weeks as we both worked and had a business to run.

 

What we are seeing indeed is a younger and by that I mean thirty something and forty something cruising luxury lines which really brings a great and different vibe on these lines and it’s nice to be able to keep up with them while our health is excellent and in good shape.

 

It’s also great that people in their very senior years and I mean senior are able to still travel and some of them are all in better shape than the forty somethings.

 

The reality is, us baby boomer will not be around forever and the cruise lines are marketing to a bit younger group who can afford luxury cruising. Many are interested in the yachts and luxury expedition trips which costs far much more money. The wealthy young vacationers are certainly out there and Regent, Seabourn, SS, Crystal are getting their business which is a good thing. Frankly, we are not interested in a floating nursing home and enjoy the company of all ages who have the same energy that we do and we have seen 90 year olds kicking it up on the dance floor and dancing the night away and God Bless them. We hope to be doing that as well.

Well said MalbecWine!

Hey [emoji112] don’t forget about us GenXers!

Honestly, my friends all like to just relax and go to the beach for their vacations (Mexico, Hawaii, Caribbean, Eastern Seaboard, etc). Having a 21 year old at home still 🤦🏻*♀️, and two others who are young, we’ll be rearing children for 36 years! So we’re tired. Vacation can only be a week or two long. So no safaris or exotic land vacations. We take the kids to the beach and pool in Hawaii annually, and we’re trying out this next year a new addition - couple’s vacation on the Voyager so that we can see Europe. So I think if they try to target GenXers with the Baby Boomers with the promise of relaxation and maybe add a few more itineraries that are 7 days, they can start folding in the next set of pax.

BTW: I know I’m not going to any power point lectures. I’d be interested in relaxing crafts, food, wine, microbrewery tasting, etc. So in terms of ship’s activities, I think there’s room for improvement.

Also, I’m wondering, now that I think about it, if the CEO is saying that Regent will always cater to people who are 60-90 years old, IOW retirees, and are not interested in bringing in below that age group (sort of specializing in the later age demographic, like Holland America)?

Gnomie, Pam, Travelcat, and MalbecWine- thanks for your help.

Scorpion- I wish you the best of luck in getting this whole thing sorted out.

(y) This works well and following it with a toast is also good:champagne-toast:.

 

Note: If you look at the smilies and press “See all 36 Smilies” you’ll see the thumbs up and other fun things:D

Thanks for the tip TravelCat! :champagne-toast: