ChucktownSteve

sunprince, I understand many people prefer the Navigator. I’m fine with that. this is ourfirst Regent cruise. Yes people mentioned the vibrations however until this particular cruise, how could I know how much it would impact our experience? I’ve usually experienced vibrations at stern cabins on other ships. We are midship and relatively high. I didn’t expect it to be the whole ship. Guess it’s my fault for booking this cruise. I promise you I won’t have this problem again. Btw I’ve only been reading Regent’s board for a little more than a year. Searching on CC boards isn’t necessarily the easiest way to find things. Why didn’t you warn me this past year? You knew long ago. 😁

We're center ship deck 8. Several times a day we hear what I suspect are stabilizers being extended or retracted. Very noisy and vibrates even this high. I received a bottle of veuve clicquot champagne after I commented to a guest services staff about Compass Rose's problems the first night. Too bad I can't drink wine or Champagne. lol Guess I'll offer it to my cabin stewardess. With all the ship vibrations, I hope it hasn't shaken the bottle too much. 🤣 If we book Regent after the current set of itineraries, it definitely won't be on Navigator.

I forgot to mention embarkation in Miami was horrendous. It took us almost two hours of standing on line before getting cleared to board the ship. it would have taken us longer however during a conversation with a regular standing in front of us I mentioned that I hoped it wouldn’t be much longer since my glucose level was close to reaching my low limit alert. He knew one of the senior staff who working the line and was letting people with walking, medical or standing difficulty use the priority lane. He shared my situation with the senior staff member who invited me to use the priority lane. That was my first experience on how friendly and helpful the other cruisers are to each other. I never would have asked the advantage for myself. I know the check in people work for the port and not Regent. They were under staffed and not well trained. I heard from others it was their worst Regent embarkation. It certainly was mine for any other cruise line too. Our first night we came back to the cabin about 9:00pm, noticed our Concierge suite had not been turned down or the towels we used to shower had not been replaced. Shortly after we got undressed for bed, the cabin Steward rang our doorbell. Not a good impression. Needless to say I declined service because we didn’t want to get dressed again for that. The cruise before ours was 25% capacity. Our cruise is full capacity. I believe some staff may have had difficulty adjusting to the much higher workload and hadn’t gained their rhythm yet. We haven’t had a problem since because we communicate now with the refresh or privacy door hanger. I hope you don’t take my comments as complaining. I’m trying to share my observations as a first time Regent cruiser.

We're on our way to Bermuda tomorrow for three days before heading further north and colder weather. The best part of this cruise is so many other passengers who are extremely friendly and inviting into conversations. I've never experienced that as much on any other cruise line although Azamara was somewhat similar in nature. The entertainment is wonderful. Cruise Director Ray surprised me with how good he is and can really sing! The excursions so far have been well organized. The crew attitude is very friendly. Even the senior staff are engaging. We're beginning day four and the food has been hit or miss...especially in Compass Rose. Twice I had a waiter that didn't pay much attention to the tables because he was too preoccupied with slips of paper and doing busy work. I noticed several other servers telling him how or what to do. We never got coffee even after ordering it three times. So finally last night I asked another server if the first guy was on his first contract. I discovered it wasn't but he was just promoted to server. There appears to be a lot of new crew in positions learning how to do their job to the apparent Regent caliber. In speaking with the F&B Manager he shared that there are a lot of new crew and they're having some challenges in receiving items due to supply chain difficulty. Several regular Regent cruisers say this cruise is not the standards they've been used to and many of them have complained. The Compass Rose galley, IMO, is the weakest of the venues in their execution. So I don't feel as bad that it's not just my expectations that haven't been reached yet. However they are improving. The F&B Manager did admit they've received a lot of complaints. I like the menus and diversity but nothing that outstanding except Prime 7. We were able to get an extra available slot the first sea evening. Service was impeccable. Food was hot, cooked properly to temperature and very tasty. Yesterday my DW asked me what was so special on this cruise we hadn't received on some of our other cruises to justify the added cost. I couldn't answer her question yet. I do like the overall caliber of the cruise but waiting to see the wow. It's not a bad cruise but just hasn't lived up to what you experienced Regent loyalists have been accustomed to. Our best cruise of all time still is the Azamara Baltics cruise pre pandemic. We covid tested yesterday as required by Bermuda before docking. It was handled very efficiently. I did find out seven people tested positive although none of them showed any symptoms. That was admitted to me by a senior staff member when I inquired. The Navigator being the smallest and oldest Regent vessel is not the smoothest sailing. There are a lot of vibrations throughout the ship when were booking it or docking. These are my initial observations. I'm sure they will be improving. Our next Regent cruises are in September to Alaska and then the Panama Canal in January. The ships will each increase in size. Thus I should gain a good comparison before determining my final Regent opinion. Here's hoping it just gets better and better.

Thankx for the two prompt replies. Peace of mind and less stress is the way to go then! I took your advice. The 1315hrs flight is booked. It's a Monday morning so traffic could be problematic if I tried earlier. Just wish we didn't get in at midnight though with a layover in ATL. They cancelled our nonstop. grrrrrr. But at least we'll have the lay down seats for most of the trip. Again appreciate it guys. Let's hope they don't alter this reservation.. It's already been changed twice by them.

To those of you who have disembarked in LA, how long does it take to get to LAX? I don't know which port Regent uses or how far it is from the airport. The airline rebooked us on a flight at 10:25. I don't believe we can make that. They have a flight at 11:35. Is that possible to transfer or do we need to book the 1:15pm? We appreciate your input as quickly as possible please.

The original post did not refer to testing on board. It related to the $40 Bermuda Travel Authorization. The thread then morphed into testing fees where Laura inquired where someone saw the $99 test fee. I was posting regarding the Celebrity $99 charge for a test which may have been conflated by someone to mean while on board. I couldn't find where the fee is charged while on board.

"All fully vaccinated guests requiring a COVID-19 test to return to their home country will be provided the opportunity to receive testing in the cruise port during disembarkation. Proof of return travel scheduled within 24 hours of disembarkation will be required. Details on testing registration will be provided onboard. Testing will be complimentary for guests with cruise reservations booked prior to November 16, 2021. For new bookings made on or after November 16, 2021, testing will be available for a per person fee. The cost for onsite cruise port testing starts at $99 per person. Prices vary by port and test type." https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

Sullyd, If you're referring to my post about picking up the tab, I said on another cruise line next month which is Regent. Azamara did that too on my December Caribbean cruise before arriving at Barbados and again for people who needed the test before disembarking then flying out that day or next. There was no charge for either. Guess Celebrity isn't the luxury line they claim to be?

We'll be on another cruise line next month spending three nights in Bermuda before heading to Canada. IMO, $40 to enter Bermuda for three days amortizes out pretty well. The cruise line is picking up the tab to test us before arriving. The application paperwork is easy to fill out online and upload vaccine & test results. After spending several thousands of $$$$ to cruise, I don't see what the big deal is for another $40pp.

Instead of getting 30 PUP points they should award 300 points so it seems larger. They could then convert 100 PUP points to one Club Point. That way y'all can feel like you're really accumulating towards the next level to get a free bag of laundry. After the webinar viewing I"ll be four away from the next level.

I concur Rallydave. I've been using our TA for over five years. Have had excellent service even when I recently I had to call after just embarking because the Azamara cruise line got the perks/medical requirements wrong. It was on my booking but didn't make it to the ship. The customer relations rep blew me off but getting my TA on the phone and handing it to the CR person solved the problems immediately. So I not only received significant rebates and perks but the service was there as well!

Our TA gives us a 10% rebate. If you're prospecting for a new TA, make sure you ask if they charge a cancellation fee. If they do, move on to one who doesn't. You can make a new TA compete for your business by seeing which one will either give you the most OBC or rebate. Also make sure the OBC is totally refundable and not an undisclosed promotion from the cruise line which is non refundable. If refundable, you can go to guest services on the final day and they'll peel the cash out to you.

This thread is very disheartening. Our very best cruise of all time was on a Baltic Azamara cruise a few years ago. This past December on Quest was ho hum at best. No wow. Lots of things not stocked or had been changed. I had hoped it was due to covid, but apparently that's not the real reason but an excuse. Glad I didn't have a chance to book a hotel or air to Greece intensive next May. We sprung for the top suite category at an obvious premium price. I'm now wondering if I can switch it to a basic cruise in the Caribbean so I don't lose the deposit/penalty. I think I'll take a serious look at other lines to explore the Greek islands. I very much appreciated getting this information now instead of waiting until I had to experience it. TY Ann. It must hurt to see your beloved cruise line sink below your expectations. It appears what I feared would happen to Azamara when I heard of the sale to a hedge fund is happening.

I am so glad to hear such positive comments. We'll also be sailing her May 13. Soooooo looking forward to it. We have the Space Center booked for our Port Canaveral excursion as well. Looking to hear as much as y'all have time to share! TYVM. Steve & Virginia

Is there any word on what they're doing to the aft owners suite on the Onward?