Jump to content

Reports from Alaska


sassyw
 Share

Recommended Posts

We are cruising from Vancouver to Alaska on the last trip of the summer (Sept 12) and would like to hear from some that are cruising before us. Excursions, food, lecturers, entertainment, etc.

Thanks:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may not get any responses from posters that have been to Alaska on the Mariner this year but many of us have sailed there in the past (September 2017 for us). Rather than going through a very long explanation about Regent, below are links that should be able to answer at least some of your questions:

 

This link shows a couple of special entertainers as well as the lecturer - Terry Breen who most Regent customers think is the best lecturer anywhere. https://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR180912/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-3

 

Excursions can be accessed by this link https://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR180912/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-3 . Note: You have to select each port individually to see them.

 

This link should bring you to the restaurants. One of them has a sample menu. NOTE: This link did not go to the right place. If you go back to the excursion link you will see two "tabs" - one for excursions and the other for "Onboard Activities". If you click on the Onboard Activities tab you will see dining as well as a couple of other subjects

 

Last, this link https://www.rssc.com/frequently-asked-questions should answer most of your other questions.

 

If you have additional questions, just ask!

If you have questions after reading the website, post them here and we'll be happy to respond.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suggest you do a search on this board. You will find a wealth of information, including my blog from our regent Alaska cruise 2 years ago. Also go over to the Oceania board and look at my blog from this past week to Alaska. Food and excursions on Regent and Oceania are basically identical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suggest you do a search on this board. You will find a wealth of information, including my blog from our regent Alaska cruise 2 years ago. Also go over to the Oceania board and look at my blog from this past week to Alaska. Food and excursions on Regent and Oceania are basically identical.

 

This scares me. We sailed on Oceania three years ago. Did not like the food. We expected Regent to be better. Has Oceania "upped" their food or are we going to be disappointed in the Regent food?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This scares me. We sailed on Oceania three years ago. Did not like the food. We expected Regent to be better. Has Oceania "upped" their food or are we going to be disappointed in the Regent food?

 

"We expected (past tense - and you haven't even been on the ship yet) Regent to be better" (and now we're scared!). Unfortunately, it sounds (at least to me) like you may well have already decided that you're not going to like it much. If that's the case, it's too bad that you're already having misgivings about your cruise decision, before you've even boarded the ship.

 

Exactly "how" would the food have to "be" in order for you to "like it"?

 

"...Are we going to be disappointed in the Regent food?" Just how, in any imaginable or realistic way, would it be possible for the rest of us to have any chance of answering a question like that for you? We have no idea of what you like or don't like - when it comes to food.

 

Based upon your own pre-cruise "going in" doubts (regarding the food and the already-anticipated possibility that you're not going to "like it").....the answer, as to whether you will "like" the food, is already "perhaps not". Each person's "bar" (level of satisfaction) is set at a different height. Goodness - I'm sounding like a "cheerleader"! :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are sailing on the July 25th Alaskan cruise.

 

 

Is there a way to see who the lecturer will be on our sail date? I did not see it in the links above.

 

 

In regards to excursions, has anyone done the Klondike Gold Dredgeand Gold Panning in Skagway? We have It scheduled for an 8:30 start time. Is the Regent organized tour worth it, or can you show up at that specific location and dothe tour on your own? Just looking at timing since there are so many other things in the area that we would love to do also. We’ll be going on the dog-sledding excursion that day too!

 

I'm sure I'll have a lot of other questions to add. I'll also check out Rachel's blog. Hoping someone will start blogging on these upcoming trips!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suggest you do a search on this board. You will find a wealth of information, including my blog from our regent Alaska cruise 2 years ago. Also go over to the Oceania board and look at my blog from this past week to Alaska. Food and excursions on Regent and Oceania are basically identical.

 

Can you please add a link to your blog? I do not see where it would be under your profile... thanks :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are sailing on the July 25th Alaskan cruise.

 

 

Is there a way to see who the lecturer will be on our sail date? I did not see it in the links above.

 

!

 

Terry Breen is the lecturer - information is on the Regent website

 

HotRoot - Although I respect Rachel's opinion, the food on Oceania and Regent are not identical. Yes - they both have steak restaurants, an Italian restaurant and a French restaurant but that is where the similarity ends. The most important thing to remember is that food is very subjective. Some people prefer Oceania's food and others prefer Regent's. For us, we prefer Jacques on Oceania over Chartreuse on Regent and find the steak and Italian restaurants different but are both very good (after all, a steak is a steak and it depends upon how it is prepared and served). OTOH, we love the food in Compass Rose but do not care for the food in Oceania's MDR and find the food in the Terrace Cafe on Oceania to be poor (despite how good it look on the buffet).

 

Excursions are provided by the same company for both cruise lines and they are the same. However, the cost is much higher on Oceania when compared to Regent Choice excursions (we did an identical excursion on Oceania and Regent - we paid $300 for the two of us on Regent and $1,000 on Oceania).

.

Edited by Travelcat2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terry Breen is the lecturer - information is on the Regent website

.

 

Thanks, I just read it wrong. I wasn't sure if the same lecturer was on every sail date -still navigating the site :) Also checking out the "search" feature on this board. I usually pull it up using my phone and that does not have a search feature (at least I didn't see one).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terry Breen is the lecturer - information is on the Regent website

 

HotRoot - Although I respect Rachel's opinion, the food on Oceania and Regent are not identical. Yes - they both have steak restaurants, an Italian restaurant and a French restaurant but that is where the similarity ends. The most important thing to remember is that food is very subjective. Some people prefer Oceania's food and others prefer Regent's. For us, we prefer Jacques on Oceania over Chartreuse on Regent and find the steak and Italian restaurants different but are both very good (after all, a steak is a steak and it depends upon how it is prepared and served). OTOH, we love the food in Compass Rose but do not care for the food in Oceania's MDR and find the food in the Terrace Cafe on Oceania to be poor (despite how good it look on the buffet).

 

Excursions are provided by the same company for both cruise lines and they are the same. However, the cost is much higher on Oceania when compared to Regent Choice excursions (we did an identical excursion on Oceania and Regent - we paid $300 for the two of us on Regent and $1,000 on Oceania).

.

 

Actually the food really is almost identical now. I really noticed it this recent cruise, having been on regent just a couple of months ago.. We had the same miso glazed sea bass, same mushroom soup (the one they used to serve in Signatures). I do very much prefer la Veranda over Terrace because of the better larger self serve salad bar on Regent, but the GDR food on Oceania has improved considerably from a year and a half ago and the menu items are mostly things I have seen on Regent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually the food really is almost identical now. I really noticed it this recent cruise, having been on regent just a couple of months ago.. We had the same miso glazed sea bass, same mushroom soup (the one they used to serve in Signatures). I do very much prefer la Veranda over Terrace because of the better larger self serve salad bar on Regent, but the GDR food on Oceania has improved considerably from a year and a half ago and the menu items are mostly things I have seen on Regent.

 

Thank you for the update on Oceania's food. My DH wants to go on Oceania again but it is difficult to sail on Oceania without dining in the Terrace Cafe and that is a "no go" for me. Due to the food issues on Oceania, we actually booked a cruise on another premium cruise line (a level lower than Oceania) for a 7 night west coast cruise. It will be interesting to make a comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The new menu in GDR at lunch is excellent, and way more pleasant to eat there than the terrace, which I share your dislike for. Dinner menus in GDR and CR now are very similar, many of the same good dishes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"We expected (past tense - and you haven't even been on the ship yet) Regent to be better" (and now we're scared!). Unfortunately, it sounds (at least to me) like you may well have already decided that you're not going to like it much. If that's the case, it's too bad that you're already having misgivings about your cruise decision, before you've even boarded the ship.

 

Exactly "how" would the food have to "be" in order for you to "like it"?

 

"...Are we going to be disappointed in the Regent food?" Just how, in any imaginable or realistic way, would it be possible for the rest of us to have any chance of answering a question like that for you? We have no idea of what you like or don't like - when it comes to food.

 

Based upon your own pre-cruise "going in" doubts (regarding the food and the already-anticipated possibility that you're not going to "like it").....the answer, as to whether you will "like" the food, is already "perhaps not". Each person's "bar" (level of satisfaction) is set at a different height. Goodness - I'm sounding like a "cheerleader"! :o[/quote

 

Sailed on Regent 5 years ago. Liked the food. Sailed on Oceania 3 years ago and did not like the food. Disappointed to have someone say today the food is identical. Has Oceania moved up to Regent standards or has Regent moved down to Oceania standards? Been reading on this Regent board for the last 6 months and everybody is raving about the food. Now somebody says it is like Oceania. Food does not make a cruise for us. Just prefer to know what to expect before we board. We were hoping for the good food we had 5 years ago..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HotRoot, in the opinion of many, the food on Regent is better than five years ago. I would have to sail on Oceania again before I could make another comparison and that is not going to happen any time soon. Food is very important to us which is why we sail on Regent. Oceania has better upper category suites (that we love) but you can't eat the suite so we stick with Regent (except for a couple of short west coast cruises when we don't care about the food and are only doing it for fun).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, you can now eat in the suite from any restaurant on Oceania in the upper category suites. We didn’t do it, but it was an option last week.

 

I think the food on Oceania is definitely better than on our First cruise with them 4 years ago, and I think the food on regent continues to improve. I am absolutely happy with both. Given choices, I would avoid Terrace on Oceania except for breakfast, but it is still good, just not my favorite. I would never eat dinner there. The GDR on Oceania, which I thought was really mediocre on our first Oceania cruise, has steadily improved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion the MDR on Regent is much much better than on Oceania.

 

I felt that the specialties were not near as good as Oceania.

 

Contrary to Jackie, I love The Terrace on Oceania. We seldom eat there at night, but they have unlimited lobster tails which I love, so I don't mind doing that. Also one night they have a spectacular Asian buffet which I would die for.

 

I do NOT like the MDR on Oceania. Would rather skip eating! LOL

 

The specialties on Oceania are just perfect for me. Because of our accommodations we have unlimited specialties on Oceania. Regent didn't offer that benefit, but it didn't matter as Compass Rose was so perfect (thankfully)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, we like the food on Regent---yes a few meals needed help but over all very good. Haven't been on Oceania for sometime, but we've booked a Cuba cruise on Oceania this December---Before I enjoyed the Terrace Grill at night----I hope it's good because after a few days we enjoy a more causal type dinner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to Alaska... ;-)

 

For those who have taken an Alaskan Cruise with Regent:

 

-What was your favorite thing about your trip?

-What was the least favorite thing about your trip?

-What was your favorite excursion you took?

-What is a "must do" thing to do on this trip?

-What is a "don't bother" thing on this trip?

 

 

edited to add:

-What item do you wish you had packed?

-What item do you wish you left home?

-What item is a must have to bring?

(sorry, in packing mode now :) )

 

We can read everything that Regent publishes on it's website, but it is great to hear from people that have actually experienced it! Feel free to add to this list.

Edited by SweetMemories
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to Alaska info:

 

This was purely lagniappe - but the morning we were to arrive in Ketchikan, I was getting ready and happened to glance out the balcony. Right next to us was a seaplane base and seaplanes were landing right alongside the ship! Always keep your eyes open for interesting things to see.

 

On excursions, there will be one or two ports that have enough port time to booked two excursions. The tool will let you know if the cruises are too close together time wise.

 

Packing - take an easy to carry sweatshirt or jacket in your day bag.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dinner menus in GDR and CR now are very similar, many of the same good dishes.

Rachel, I was on the O Marina in May 2017, and the menu choices in Marina's MDR was not in the same universe as the choices in CR. Has it changed since then? Does O's MDR offer an always available selection anything resembling CRs?

Thanks,

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sailed on Regent 5 years ago. Liked the food. Sailed on Oceania 3 years ago and did not like the food. Disappointed to have someone say today the food is identical. Has Oceania moved up to Regent standards or has Regent moved down to Oceania standards? Been reading on this Regent board for the last 6 months and everybody is raving about the food. Now somebody says it is like Oceania. Food does not make a cruise for us. Just prefer to know what to expect before we board. We were hoping for the good food we had 5 years ago..

If you liked the food on Regent 5 years ago, I would be amazed if you won't like it now. Of course, food enjoyment is very subjective , but for me, the food in Compass Rose is a major step up from what it has been in the past. What was good then is, IMHO, now superb.

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope this gets back on track. Also interested in the original questions, the restaurant/food discussion has taken this thread in another direction.

As the OP mentioned, we can read the website, but the actual trip reports are more interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...