pierrem

We are currently on the Voyager are are extremely disappointed with the food. As someone who has spent time in the food service industry, I estimate that the F&B budget has been reduced between 12-18% from just two years ago - I haven't put pencil to paper, but just doing rough calculations in my head.

 

We have been on board for more than three weeks, and in that period of time I have only had two meals that I really enjoyed. The quality of the food has diminished, as has the selection. I will write more about our experiences at a later time. We had far better meals eating in the specialty restaurants on Celebrity.

 

It is quite interesting to hear others on board comment regarding food - for passengers in which this is their first or second Regent cruise, it depends where else they have cruised - many passengers claim that the food on Oceania is far superior, as it is on other luxury lines.

 

Tonight my dinner was served to me and the entree, potato and veggies were all cold - not the first time. Still trying to get a soft boiled egg and breakfast - either the egg is completely raw or hard boiled.

 

We have been so disappointed in a number of aspects and have not booked a future cruise, which is quite unusual - in fact, almost each time I walk past the cruise consultant's office, it is empty. Some of the passengers have started to refer to Regent as an upscale Norwegian, not a luxury cruise line - but more about that later.

 

gnomie :)

Hi gnomie,

Sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the Voyager food - it just goes to show that as often quoted on CC, "food is subjective". Ours has been great and I have posted so on the Voyager thread. Perhaps we have been in different restaurants on different nights.

We must also be passing the cruise consultant's office at different times. I have always seen it full - he seems to be doing a roaring trade.

I have also only heard favorable comments from Regent newbies on board.

The internet has been much faster since the Maldives and has become usable without suffering severe frustration.

We had 2 sea days after the Maldives, followed by 2 different ports in the Seychelles - the main island Male and it's capital of Victoria and then a much smaller island - La Digue. Not surprisingly, most of the excursions include beach visits, some with snorkelling and others with about an hour to just splash around in the warm water. Whilst we were there, the Seychelles election was being held on the Saturday and the Sunday was a public holiday, so very few places were open. However, it was interesting to see the differences between the Maldives and the Seychelles. Both derive their income principally from tourism but the average income in the Seychelles is over twice that in the Maldives and this really showed.

We lost our Captain, Gianmario Sanguineti in the Sechelles - not thrown overboard, just going home on holidays. He has been replaced by Captain Daniel Green from Sweden.

The food and service aboard continue to be excellent. We now have 2 more sea days before our first port on the African mainland - Mombasa. As usual, there are lots of sea day activities including 2 lecturers. Philip Hurst is presenting the Smithsonian Enrichment Lectures - lots of historical information on our ports of call and their countries. Capt. Richard Hayman is delivering the Destination Enrichment Lectures. Philip is excellent and Richard is also very good. I have never seen the enrichment lectures so well attended.

Jackie,

Thanks for your explanation of the visa problem.

Shame about your frustrations with Destination Services. Their counterparts on the Voyager are doing better so far. We have had a couple of fairly lame excursions but some very good ones as well. The work by Destination Services has been efficient. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

"Z" - you are amazing ...... thank you so very much for posting the pictures. That will save me hours of sitting at the computer and getting nowhere!

 

I just learned that the Nautica was in Richard's Bay today and could not get out (and we could not get in). Weather can do strange things. Not certain what port they missed.

 

There is a controversy going on with Mozambique tomorrow. Will explain later. There are many of us that will not get off of the ship there (for various reasons). While we are more than anxious to get off of the ship, we will stay onboard in Mozambique. Really looking forward to our overnight in Durban. This is where we will go out and find a place for the best "bunny chow" (not what it sounds like). It is definitely worth under $5 to have curry in a cut-out piece of white bread! The second day we have an 8 hour excursion (will take pictures if it is interesting).

 

We are looking forward to East London for two reasons: 1) We will visit Oceania's Nautica that will be docked with us and; 2) We will visit an authentic village (that may make up for what we missed today).

 

The people onboard are really delightful. We met many CC'ers at the event and a lot of guests that were in the safari camps.

 

At the end of this cruise, the Captain, Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director and Executive Chef (plus others that I am not aware of) will depart the ship. IMO, this is important information to share because there are changes on every voyage. This why our experience onboard may not be the same as someone else's.

 

Speaking of experiences, I am a bit surprised that there are no reports from the Voyager. They are doing an itinerary very similar to what we did (India, etc.). This is one cruise that I am thrilled that we did but would not do again. Very hot - very tiring.....great food.

 

As I told someone that I met at the Meet and Greet, today I feel like a cat...... sleeping many hours..... waking up to eat and sleeping again. What a wonderful life!

Hi TC2,

Could you please expand on the Mozambique visa problems. We are currently on the Voyager and will be arriving there in not too long. It would be helpful to know what we can expect.

As long as you only take Regent excursions in St Petersburg, you will not need a visa. You only need one if you are arranging private tours.

All restaurants are "smart casual" on all nights.

Enjoy your cruise - I'm sure you will.

Thanks Jill. I have just registered on your roll call.

I've just checked our Dubai to Cape Town November 2015 cruise and the price has decreased dramatically.

There is availability showing on all but the cheapest suites and some higher priced suites.

We have just sent an email to our TA and hope we can pay the new fare.

We've only paid the deposit, so have our fingers crossed!

We are also on this cruise and after reading your post, alerted our TA to the drastically reduced price on the Regent Australian site. She immediately contacted Regent who responded with the great news that we would be granted the new price. I hope that you got your reduction as well.

I'll buy you a drink on the cruise.