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We are happily settled in on this lovely ship. She’s a beauty. I love the decor in most of the common spaces. There’s a few decor choices I’d argue against (I’m looking at you, carpet and chandelier in the atrium area), but by and large the interior is quite nice. I particularly like the restaurants and the art work around the ship.

 

Our cabin (E—concierge) is quite nice. Plenty of drawer space and room to move around. Seating is not particularly comfortable, but will do. Nice layout of beds facing the window. Large balcony, though it’s rather chilly here so I don’t know how much we’ll be able to use it. We do have a problem with our balcony door. The wind whistles through it at night, and there is a terrible draft from it. Not clear that they’ll be able to fix. They’ve offered to move us, but given that we’re onboard for the next cruise too, we’d wind up having to change rooms again for that—and probably back to this one. So we likely will just have to live with it.

 

The bathroom is very nice, with a double sink and lots of drawer space. The marble in the shower and on the floor is stained yellow already. Interestingly, we saw the same type of staining in our pre-cruise hotel bathroom in Rome. Not sure what’s causing it. It’s not a problem; more a curiosity that it has happened so early in the ship’s life.

 

Will post more below.

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Our first port was yesterday—Livorno. Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold. Nevertheless, I took a full-day excursion to Florence. It was nicely designed: a guided walking tour in the morning, with 4 hours of free time afterward. In other weather, this would have been perfect. The guide was quite informative and interesting, and used radio units, so that we could all hear her easily. However, we were all huddled under umbrellas and shivering.

 

We were then given a meeting point and a map and sent on our respective ways. Unfortunately, being Monday, the museums were closed (something that I hadn’t realized until there), so no refuge there. After a terrific lunch at a trattoria, I simply wandered the city, taking in the atmosphere. I love cities like Florence that are so accessible—I felt completely free to get lost, and so walked around some residential and business areas to get a flavor for daily life there. At this point, it had stopped raining, but the temperature dropped even more, making it bitterly cold. Nevertheless, it was a lovely day in Florence.

 

If yesterday is any example, the excursion operation on this ship is extremely well-organized and efficient. They do not over-pack the tours, which is nice. And the people at Destinations Services could not be more helpful and pleasant.

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Today we are in Portofino. The day started out beautifully, but some unexpected bad weather has set in, and so tender operations have been halted, other than that which is necessary to get the people who left on early excursions back onto the ship. Mine was a later excursion, so I guess I won’t be going ashore. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to “settle” for looking at the spectacular view that is the shoreline.

 

So, on to other subjects. The food and dining spaces. Our first night’s dinner was in Pacific Rim. Wonderful! I am a big fan of Crystal’s Silk Road, and I have to say that Pacific Rim stands up nicely to Silk Road. I had the tuna tartare appetizer and the miso black cod. Both were perfect. Service was impeccable, with the all-female wait staff addressing us by name and being charming and attentive.

 

Last night we dined in Compass Rose. The room is beautiful, but there is at least one design issue. Ambient lighting comes from the chandeliers, but the room relies on recessed lights to provide enough light to read the menu. However, those recessed lights also work as a spotlight on one person at the table. It’s a bit odd, and the person in that seat found it a bit too warm.

 

I love the new menu structure there. I ordered an appetizer from the constant menu—the beef carpaccio—and an entree from the daily menu—scallops. The carpaccio was a miss. Not just because it was poorly flavored, but because two of the four people at our table who ordered it received meat that looked like it had spoiled. They were sent back and replaced.

 

The scallops were delicious, as was the grand Mariner soufflé for dessert. Service was excellent. The wine was a decent South African Sauvignon blanc.

 

This morning we had breakfast in La Veranda. I love how the buffet is laid out, and the quality of the food seems good. The regular coffee is vile (common for most cruise ships), but a good cup can be had by ordering Cafe Americano.

 

(By the way, I am the poster formerly known as wishIwerecruisin’. However, the apostrophe was causing technical problems with my login, so my handle has been changed).

Edited by wishIweretravelling
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Enjoying your reports. We did the TA on the Explorer about this time last year. We had a wonderful time, although the weather could've been a little better.....but that's what you get on a late TA. We too, loved our cabin (also a concierge). No issues with a whistling door, but we did have serious noise from one of the tenders. After complaining to reception, it was finally fixed.

Please continue to post....have a wonderful cruise!

Linda and John

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thanks so much Jean, We will be joining you next week and are really enjoying your reports. What cabin are you in? See you soon, Sharon and Bob

 

Sharon and Bob,

 

We are in 609, an E suite, above two tenders. We do hear and feel it when they were lowered earlier. Not a huge issue but will tag this in Bill’s suite review sticky on return home.

 

See you soon.

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Have a great cruise, but if I was in the room with the doors making noise that would have to be resolved. I won't sleep otherwise. At this point that problem in all the rooms should have been resolved by now. Also, bad meat before served at the beginning of the cruise? That seems very odd, let's hope that doesn't happen again.

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Sharon and Bob,

 

We are in 609, an E suite, above two tenders. We do hear and feel it when they were lowered earlier. Not a huge issue but will tag this in Bill’s suite review sticky on return home.

 

See you soon.

I was going to say that we were in 611 and 612 on our last cruise and no one had any problems with tender noise...but then I remembered that we didn't have any tender ports. That might make a difference. ;p

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Hi

Will be joining you in Lisbon to Miami. Last year we were in a similar suite. We had the whistling door also. Try really slamming it shut before locking. It worked for us. I thought they corrected that problem.

See you soon!

Sheila

 

Sheila - wasn't there some "fix" where you close the handle a certain way (half way?) and it stops the whistling? It was discussed at length on the Regent board. If anyone wants more detail they can probably just do a search.

 

If I remember, last year was unseasonably warm on the crossing. but also recall the seas being quite choppy (it didn't help that we were on deck 12 forward).

 

Hope that you have a great time on your cruise and that you'll be posting from the ship.

Jackie

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We do have a problem with our balcony door. The wind whistles through it at night, and there is a terrible draft from it. Not clear that they’ll be able to fix. They’ve offered to move us, but given that we’re onboard for the next cruise too, we’d wind up having to change rooms again for that—and probably back to this one. So we likely will just have to live with it.

I am a little surprised that the balcony door issue keep occurring. It appears serious enough to take the luxury out of the suite that some people are assigned. If I had been a frequent Regent cruiser I might have more understanding of the issue but if someone was on their first luxury cruise it would be a real bummer. This would be true especially when the Explorer is said to be the most luxurious ship afloat.

 

But then again, this is where the CC board allows experienced cruisers to share the good and the bad in a honest way to allow a prospective cruiser to make the best informed decision. I am hoping the balcony door issue is resolved soon otherwise like the vibration issues on some ships it would be something to consider seriously before booking the ship.

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I am a little surprised that the balcony door issue keep occurring. It appears serious enough to take the luxury out of the suite that some people are assigned. If I had been a frequent Regent cruiser I might have more understanding of the issue but if someone was on their first luxury cruise it would be a real bummer. This would be true especially when the Explorer is said to be the most luxurious ship afloat.

 

But then again, this is where the CC board allows experienced cruisers to share the good and the bad in a honest way to allow a prospective cruiser to make the best informed decision. I am hoping the balcony door issue is resolved soon otherwise like the vibration issues on some ships it would be something to consider seriously before booking the ship.

 

I definitely would not let this issue dissuade me from sailing on the Explorer. Bill has been doing a great job of listing suite numbers on all the ship that have been rated by CC members which should make it easier to make a suite decision.

 

In terms of Explorer, last November we were in suite 1200 (Grand Suite). The master bedroom glass doors had quite a whistle -- we had them taped up. There was also an issue with the pocket door to the master bathroom. It was being held in place by a piece of wood that I kept hitting with my big toe. Despite the whistling, my sore toe and the fact that my DH caught pneumonia, it was a great cruise. While I would not stay in that suite again, we did not have whistling from our regular suite, concierge suite or master suite.

 

In terms of the Voyager vibration (my second favorite ship), as long as you don't book an aft suite, you will not feel the vibration (except perhaps in the aft lounge or La Veranda). In the case of the Voyager, she was allegedly damaged shortly after she was built and the vibration is not fixable.

 

For better or worse, despite how many engineers are involved in a ships design, you really don't know how a ship is going to react until you are at sea.* In the case of the Explorer, the whistling doors did not become an issue until the transatlantic cruise. There has been work done to fix the doors. Perhaps some of them will need to wait until it is refurbished.

 

While some could find this a big deal, keep in mind that this is not something that only affects Regent ships -- I know of an Oceania ship that has quite a vibration but she is a very popular ship.

 

IMO, one value of CC is being able to read about the good and the not so good about each ship. No ship is perfect but I have yet to find a reason not to sail on a Regent ship (even the Navigator which is not my favorite).

 

*A bit of trivia - when my DH worked with spacecraft, even they were not perfect. They had to go through vibration testing before they were launched to see how they will react in space. Unfortunately, ships are a bit too big to put into a vibration testing machine.

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Sheila - wasn't there some "fix" where you close the handle a certain way (half way?) and it stops the whistling? It was discussed at length on the Regent board. If anyone wants more detail they can probably just do a search.

 

If I remember, last year was unseasonably warm on the crossing. but also recall the seas being quite choppy (it didn't help that we were on deck 12 forward).

 

Hope that you have a great time on your cruise and that you'll be posting from the ship.

Jackie

Hi Jackie

Yes, I think you were right. It had something to do with the door handle. The problem was that the door wasn't locking properly.

Yes, the seas were quite choppy for the three days before we reached Bermuda. We were midship and it really didn't bother us too much. As you know, this is a very special cruise for Herb and me. So we treated ourselves to an Explorer Suite, but still close to midship. Had the offer for the Master suite aft. Decided to stay where we were.

I will try to add to this thread if I have time.

Enjoy your Amazon cruise. Stay cool. We will miss you on the Explorer.

Hugs

Sheila

And for all my buddies joining us or already on the Explorer, can't wait to be with you. YAY! :cool::hearteyes:(y)(yn):ship::champagne-toast:

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Hi Jackie

Yes, I think you were right. It had something to do with the door handle. The problem was that the door wasn't locking properly.

Yes, the seas were quite choppy for the three days before we reached Bermuda. We were midship and it really didn't bother us too much. As you know, this is a very special cruise for Herb and me. So we treated ourselves to an Explorer Suite, but still close to midship. Had the offer for the Master suite aft. Decided to stay where we were.

I will try to add to this thread if I have time.

Enjoy your Amazon cruise. Stay cool. We will miss you on the Explorer.

Hugs

Sheila

And for all my buddies joining us or already on the Explorer, can't wait to be with you. YAY! :cool::hearteyes::champagne-toast:(y)(yn):ship:

 

Sheila - thanks for the well wishes. Part of me misses the Explorer so much that it is difficult to sail on other ships. We just got an offer yesterday to upgrade suites so we'll be happy campers on the Mariner. Although it is on deck 11 forward and we will feel the ocean more, the Mariner is such a stable ship that I'[m not concerned.

 

Please say hi to John Barron for us. We really will miss seeing him (will also miss you and Herb). Have a wonderful cruise on Explorer ("We are Explorer")

 

Hugs,

Jackie

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Kind of think it should have been taken care of by now. If you've cruised 1 time or 50 times it shouldn't matter, you shouldn't have this problem. Rick

I read that you will be sailing on Explorer soon. I am looking forward to your review! I have followed your comments here on the board and hope that your Explorer cruise will be a pleasant experience. Please keep us posted as you cruise on the Explorer. Your opinion will be valued!

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I definitely would not let this issue dissuade me from sailing on the Explorer. Bill has been doing a great job of listing suite numbers on all the ship that have been rated by CC members which should make it easier to make a suite decision.

 

Travelcat2, I have visited Bill's excellent sticky and applaud his efforts to compile information on the benefits/issues of various suites. That along with postings like yours and others will make the decision process much easier than simply looking at Regent's brochures.

 

Before I joined CC I didn't realize how important the input of other cruisers would be. I know that Trip Advisor has been a great benefit to me in assessing restaurants and hotels. I tend to read the "terrible" reviews first and then look at the overall reviews.

 

I find myself watching the various videos on youtube by previous Explorer and Mariner cruisers. In general, most of what I see makes me very envious of those that have sailed on Regent already. Many thanks to you and others on this board for the good advice and honest appraisals of their Regent experiences especially on the Explorer.

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I read that you will be sailing on Explorer soon. I am looking forward to your review! I have followed your comments here on the board and hope that your Explorer cruise will be a pleasant experience. Please keep us posted as you cruise on the Explorer. Your opinion will be valued!

 

Thanks, we're thinking it should be better than good, when we travel we don't look for problems and we know things happen. When you travel you have to know something will happen you, can't except everything to be perfect.

On one cruise not to long ago after dinner entering the suite and had to use the restroom only to find the bathroom about 1 inch under water--you just get it taken care of and move on.....life is to short to let the little things get you upset. Anyway we're going to have a great time---we'll be honest, tell you what was really good or just good or not so good. We hope to make it fun and an enjoyable read for everyone. But please remember what we say is our opinion and what we see at that time during the cruise. We leave Saturday for a few days in Lisbon before the cruise. Rick

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Thanks to the OP for this thread. We will be joining several of the other posters next week for the transatlantic. Really looking forward to being pampered. :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes:

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We had trouble with the balcony door not locking and whistling the 1st day, but found that if you lift the handle up first, then push it down it will lock in place.

Just curious, did anyone from Regent give you advice on the balcony door or did you rely on what you had read here or did you just figure out how to fix it on your own?

 

It would seem that it would be in Regent's best interest to make you aware of the issue when you went to your suite and give advice to mitigate the door whistling.

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