Step into luxury?

[tinkr2]

I have been looking at Regent because I enjoy the idea of everything included and the prospect of better food. That being said, we are mainstream cruisers. We are diamond on Royal and seldom do suites. We also never eat in the MDR on any ship and always dine at specialty restaurants. We generally purchase a drink package. We have done The Haven on NCL and enjoyed the better service but was not overly impressed. We did Azamara years ago but never returned. 

We do not do ship excursions but plan our own . We enjoy very active trips. We hike volcanos and dive and kayak and such. I have looked at the excursions and they seem to all be very mild tours. We are not young ,56, but still pretty active.

If we book our own activities, are we missing the value of Regent? Or am I misconstruing the free excursions? Im looking at Tokyo to Vancouver. 

And as as a side note, it did my heart good to see a dress code argument that was not about why it should be ok to dine in a tank top and and shorts with a baseball hat on, which is the normal argument on mainstream boards.😄

[Hambagahle]

We have cruised on Regent - starting when it was Radisson - and also on Oceania.  You may well find, given what you say above, that Oceania is a better "deal" for you. On O. excursions are not included, you have to buy a package for wines/beers or spirits, tips are not included and their specialty restaurants are superb and no additional charge.  Both IMO are excellent cruise lines.  I would give the nudge to Oceania for food but I haven't cruised on Regent for a few years now.  We are booked on the Spendour in 2020 and I shall be interested to compare.

[papaflamingo]

We did our first Regent Cruise in Nov.  We are also Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean, fairly active, like to do our own "thing" in port, always dress according to the suggested dress code, and are also happy that no one argues for tank tops and soccer shorts on formal night.  

So... we went "all in."  Our first Regent cruise was 44 nights, Honolulu to Sydney!!!!   So I can speak from similar experience.  We absolutely LOVED Regent!!!  We've booked a 29 night cruise for 2020 and are looking for something this year.  We are going back to Royal Caribbean in March, but we've booked Grand Suites on Allure with friends who've never cruised.  I don't think I want to do less than a GS after being so pampered on Regent.  

Anyway, I loved no crowds anywhere...even on tender days.  Of course that could change ship to ship, but we never really waited long for a tender.  I think we had a few days where we had to wait for the next tender, but no big deal.  

I loved deciding to go to dinner when we wanted, and having a choice of Sette Mari, the Pool Grill, or Compass Rose (their MDR).  We would get ready at our leisure, go to a bar for a before dinner drink, walk up to the receptionist at Compass Rose, who knew us by name on sight, and either share a table or just have dinner for two.  We only waited one time for a table, and that was the last night when everyone showed up about the same time, we wanted a table for 2, and the wait was in the lounge having a drink and they came and got us when the table was ready.  We loved Prime 7 and Chartreuse, but dining in Compass Rose was like dining in a specialty restaurant on any other cruise line. 

The food was, IMHO, wonderful.  I assumed that being on the ship 44 nights that I'd get tired of the menus and put something together from the "every day" side of the menu.  I didn't.  I had a couple of appetizers from the every day side, but the daily offerings were just too good to pass up.  And in my opinion, the food was higher quality than Royal Caribbean.  And seemed to have  much less sodium.  I will say the spicy things weren't all that spicy, but you could ask to have the spice increased.  It was more "made to order" than pre cooked.  

As for the excursions.. we did one in every port.  Yeah...they're ships excursions.  But we enjoyed the snorkeling excursions very much.  In Fiji we did an excursion to a private island for a day of snorkeling, kayaking, and just enjoying the beach.  It was truly fantastic.  And there were some misses. I did get tired of the big bus excursions, but they were included so we could opt out if we wanted.  On my next cruise I will look very closely at the excursions and may do more on my own. But really unless you hire a private car, you are generally in a group anyway.  So, are you missing the value if you book your own?  Sure.  Certainly part of your cost of the cruise is the included excursions.  But for me, I'm fine with that.  In hindsight, there are a few excursions we would have skipped, but never the less we still enjoyed them.  I have to say that I loved having the option.  I could book an included excursion and know that I'd have something to do in each port.  Then I could research each port and decide if I wanted to go independently. 

So.. bottom line.  I am a "loyal to Royal" person.  But I've been spoiled.  Regent is what I always dreamed cruising would be like.  Luxury in it's finest.  Everything included.  No crowds (or rarely), wonderful cabins and service, a beautiful ship, and the ability to do what you want when you want to do it.  I will still do Royal Caribbean with our friends, but for an itinerary based cruise, I want to do it on Regent (or one of the other luxury brands), and I want to do long cruises.  

 

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by papaflamingo

[Got2Cruise]

There are other luxury lines that do not include excursions. If that is a deal breaker do a line by line comparison. One thing Regent offers is free business class air fare.  For flying to Asia, this is a huge benefit. But if you have points or can find a great deal on your own it might not be important. 

[ronrick1943]

We don't drink or go on many of the excursion.  However we do enjoy Regent, the service has been outstanding for us-we don't demand a lot but Regent does go out of there way for you.  Depending on the ship you don't have many Specialty Restaurants so that maybe a problem.  Now that said, we at first didn't think the value was good for us---but we found we enjoy cruising and the ship more than touring.  I wish they would give a credit for touring, drinks--but we get the value that is good for us, a great cruise.  Now dressing for dining dinner is just right for us, dressy casual.  And the shows aren't great, but we only go to the ones we'd enjoy-some are really good-others so-so.  

[poss]

Just to add that Regent now includes among the excursions some small group excursions.   Maybe a good balance between the included ones and the Regent Choice excursions?   The small group is a small up-charge; the Regent Choice can be hundreds of dollars extra.  

Also:   There are usually some fairly active excursions on each itinerary.    I know because I miss being able to book those.  I'm among the folks who find Regent excursions usually very good.   Not 100%, but in the main I've liked them as much as a couple of independent tours we've taken.

And we love, love Regent.   

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Poss, I've never done a Regent Choice that was hundreds of dollars extra, at least I don't remember any.  Perhaps the all-day ones that include a meal?

 

I've been studying possible excursions for our world cruise two years from now, and I'm seeing quite a few very active ones--some might be Choice or Small Group, so might have an upcharge but it will be in general a reasonable charge.  These sound great for you lucky guys in your 50's!

 

That being said, have a look at Seabourn.  They might suit you very nicely.  We did our first last fall and loved it--very similar to Regent without the excursions included or the business air (which latter is a wonderful addition often.)

Edited January 21, 2019 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Travelcat2]

For me, the most meaningful post (beside for the TS) is papaflamingo's because he was new to Regent so recently and has a similar cruising history as the TS.   

 

Hope that you book and love Regent!

 

 

[Silver Sweethearts]

Have you given thought to Silversea's Silver Spirit or Silver Muse?  They may offer what you have in mind.  Instead of a main dining room, for instance, there are eight different dining options.  We just sailed on the Spirit last month and enjoyed it very much.  Do check out their amenities.

[Travelcat2]

In my opinion, the main dining room on Regent ships is unique.  Many Regent customers that used to appreciate dining in specialty restaurants now go to Compass Rose (the MDR). In fact, a few times we have been asked by the Maitre 'd if we would rather dine in a specialty restaurant as they had availability.  

 

When you have a choice of these "every day" entrees,  you can get an idea why this is such a popular dining venue:

 

• Jumbo Shrimp
  Maine Lobster Tail
  King Sea Scallops
  Norwegian Salmon Fillet
  Whole Dover Sole
  Branzino

• SUGGESTED SAUCES

  Garlic-Herb Butter
  Hollandaise Sauce
  Lemon Cream or Mango Peach Salsa 
  Beurre Blanc
  Melted Butter
  Creamy Herb Sauce 

• MEATS

  Black Angus New York Strip Steak
  Black Angus Rib Eye Steak
  Black Angus Filet Mignon
  New Zealand Lamb Chops
  Marcho Farms Veal Medallions
  Half Roast Chicken
  Smithfield Pork Chop

• SUGGESTED SAUCES

  Green Peppercorn
  Béarnaise or Chimichurri 
  Madeira-Truffle
  Mint Sauce or Mint Jelly 
  Demi Glace or Mushroom
  Cranberry Relish or Thai Sweet Chili 
  Hickory Barbecue or Apple Sauce 

•  

Agree with Silver Sweethearts about Silversea, however, it is very formal (the most formal of the luxury cruise lines).  We find it a nuisance to have to pack so many formal/informal clothing as well as dressing up so much on most nights.  Regent's "Elegant Casual" dress code is much more to our liking.  On the other hand, they do not include air or excursions so that may be more suitable.

[WesW]

Tinkr2, hope y’all join Ida and I and book the Explorer for the April 2021, Tokyo to Vancouver voyage.  We are active hikers, snorkel/dive, bike and kayak when offered by Regent’s Destinations. During our recent South Pacific voyage on the Mariner (October/November) we hiked, snorkeled in Hawaii and hiked (very demanding) in French Polynesia.  If you book and choose the three little men Icon designated excursions (very active) you will find that these generally are small groups.  

 

Have briefly reviewed our Tokyo to Vancouver port excursion offerings and there are about a half dozen hike/vigorous walking excursions and one Kayak excursion offered.

 

We had an intimate group of seven (including one of the Mariner Entertainment dancers with us when we hiked the rain forest in Moorea in November (most demanding excursion we have taken in near 400 days at sea).  Have included a few photos from our South Pacific hikes/dive/snorkel excursions below:

[tinkr2]

 

Thanks so much for all your input. Papa flamingo, that’s good to hear that you really enjoyed regent. 

Wes, those pictures are outstanding. I’m ready to hike! 

I will look at the other lines mentioned but Regent has always interested me. My mom does Oceania so I know quite a bit about that one. 

My biggest hard sell is the length of the good cruises. My hubby still runs a pretty busy company. I’ll start working on him now. Last 20 day trip we took  to South Africa , a hurricane plowed through Florida and made quite a mess of our developments. At least this one isn’t in hurricane season. 😏

[papaflamingo]

5 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

 

Thanks so much for all your input. Papa flamingo, that’s good to hear that you really enjoyed regent. 

Wes, those pictures are outstanding. I’m ready to hike! 

I will look at the other lines mentioned but Regent has always interested me. My mom does Oceania so I know quite a bit about that one. 

My biggest hard sell is the length of the good cruises. My hubby still runs a pretty busy company. I’ll start working on him now. Last 20 day trip we took  to South Africa , a hurricane plowed through Florida and made quite a mess of our developments. At least this one isn’t in hurricane season. 😏

Just a quick addition... When we did our 44 night cruise I looked at doing something similar on other lines including RCCL.  The closest was HAL.  We still would have done around 40 nights, it would have meant switching ships with a few days in Sydney between cruises (additional hotel and meal bill), and for a comparable suite, it would have cost at least as much PLUS Gratuities, Shore Excursions, Drinks, Specialty Dining, and Air Fare, bigger ship, more passengers, and would not have hit a number of the Polynesian Islands we visited.   So Regent was really a much better deal for the cruise we did.  As for the other luxury lines, none of them offered the complete itinerary that Regent did, and the price was not significantly different cabin to cabin.

Edited January 23, 2019 by papaflamingo