Christmas and New years on Regent

[vino123]

Hi

We are very excited to be taking our first Regent cruise this Christmas on the Navigator.

Can anyone tell me what special things they do for Christmas and New Years eve?

 

Many thanks

[Sharle]

There is a New Years eve party. Don't know about Christmas proper. Was on just before and just after. Very decorated.

[tripperva]

Regent does a great job with music, decorations and festivity. But as always, you can do as much or as little as you choose.

[travlr21]

On the Voyager for Christmas 2017, the CD Ray did a carol service on Christmas Eve. If I recall, a few readings and singing with some of the production crew. We are not religious, but thought it very nice, though not well attended. There was also a Christmas themed show one evening that Ray put together. Unfortunately, we were not on over New Year's. The ship was tastefully decorated, not over the top. Enjoy your cruise.

[Caroldoll]

We were on Explorer over Christmas one year and were not blown away.  

[ronrick1943]

We haven't cruised on Christmas or New Years (always wanted too), but reading all the older post it sounds pretty good.  You should look up some of the older post and reviews that talk about this.

[vino123]

Thanks for the replies so far. 

We are not over the top Christmas people so I'm not too worried as long as we have good food and festive decor.

Hopefully they will put on a good party for new years eve.

[flossie009]

We have not experienced a Holiday Cruise on Navigator but have thoroughly enjoyed Christmas & New Year celebrations on other ships in the Regent fleet.

• good food  ✅
• festive decor  ✅
• good party for New Year's Eve  ✅

Hope you have a fabulous and festive time on Navigator in French Polynesia  😎

[Travelcat2]

Although we love the New Year’s party on Regent ships, be prepared for a lot of large families and children (with no children’s club onboard at that time of the year).  Just want people to know this in advance so that there are no surprises.  

 

Must say that French Polynesia is a wonderful place to celebrate anything.  Enjoy everyone moment!

[Kwaj girl]

TC2-  "large families and children" not always the case.  Probably depends on the itinerary.  A couple of years ago we were on the Navigator from Cape Town to Miami over Christmas/New Years.  There was just one well-behaved 9-yr-old girl on board.  Was fun when Santa showed up with a gift for her.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Kwaj girl

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

TC2-  "large families and children" not always the case.  Probably depends on the itinerary.  A couple of years ago we were on the Navigator from Cape Town to Miami over Christmas/New Years.  There was just one well-behaved 9-yr-old girl on board.  Was fun when Santa showed up with a gift for her.

````````````

From what I have read in the past, this is extremely unusual. Our one Christmas/New Year’s cruise was from Singapore to Sydney.  The20+ children were wonderful during the first few days of the cruise and then became a “gang” that hung out on stairs and other places.  We do not blame the children but rather blame the parents for taking them on a cruise that was mostly designed for adults.

 

OTOH, the Caribbean is a perfect place for families.  Not many Regent regulars sail at this time of the year.

[flossie009]

10 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

be prepared for a lot of large families and children

This has not been our experience on our Regent cruises over the holiday season, so I would agree with @Kwaj girl that this is not always the case.

 

5 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

From what I have read in the past, this is extremely unusual. Our one Christmas/New Year’s cruise was from Singapore to Sydney.  

One of our Christmas/New Year cruises was 2016/2017 on Voyager, ending in Sydney ....... so perhaps your experience was unusual in your unfortunate encounters with so many large families and gangs of children.

 

[fizzy]

6 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

 

OTOH, the Caribbean is a perfect place for families.  Not many Regent regulars sail at this time of the year.

This is absolutely not true......and , what exactly, is a "Regent regular"? The tone is unsettling.

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, fizzy said:

This is absolutely not true......and , what exactly, is a "Regent regular"? The tone is unsettling.

 

It is true in our experience. People like to disagree when I say that Alaska cruises are different and do not have as many “Regent Regulars” (think that you do know the meaning of “regular”).  While not on Regent at the moment, the people on this ship - a ship that holds 900 people - there are 720 people new to the cruise line.  According to “regulars” onboard, this is typical - just as it is with Regent.

 

My comments on this subject are for the TS rather than repeat Regent customers that have experienced full ships, not full ships, lots of families, few families, 100+ kids and only 1 child on the ship.  These are all true experiences and I believe that people new to Regent should be aware of.

 

In terms of making “sweeping generalizations” (as mentioned in someone else’s post), it is a generalization, however, if you research the facts, my comments are quite accurate. Of course I am not talking about entire islands - only the areas where tourists from ships (and many mega ships) hang out.  

 

There are many places with high crime (Barcelona has been mentioned but, in our experience, Rio is much worse).  Warnings can be taken or ignored - it is up to the person reading the post.  

[fizzy]

We don,t find regular Radisson/ Regent passengers to be elitist snobs.

[Travelcat2]

17 minutes ago, fizzy said:

We don,t find regular Radisson/ Regent passengers to be elitist snobs.

 

No one said we/they are.  Not sure what in the world you are referring to!  Holiday/summer cruises are different because the majority of passengers are new to Regent (just as the majority of passengers on Crystal are new to Crystal).  There are also more children on these cruises.  These are just the facts of some (not all) summer/holiday cruises.  

 

I basically post for newbies - to give them a realistic view of Regent.  A few years ago, a couple was celebrating their 50th anniversary on a Regent ship during the summer (Alaska) and the ship was full of children that were dancing and rolling around the dance floor at 11:00 p.m.  The couple was most unhappy as they just wanted to enjoy the music and a few slow dances.  Had they read CC first, they would have either adjusted their expectations or decided to cruise on a different cruise line.

 

[vino123]

Thanks for the comments.

I have to say although this will be our first Regent cruise we have done holiday cruises on other lines and I agree they can be a very different demographic to regular cruises.

We had 3 noisy teenagers in a cabin next door to us on an Azamara Christmas cruise some years back, fortunately we were able to change cabins early on. Last year we did a Christmas and New year again on Azamara and there were not many kids at all. On Celebrity we found there were large extended family groups who by day 3 had started to fall out with each other so I guess its the luck of the draw.

Its sad how just a small number of people can spoil things for others by their inconsiderate behaviour.

[seaknots]

On 9/9/2019 at 5:17 PM, Travelcat2 said:

There are many places with high crime (Barcelona has been mentioned but, in our experience, Rio is much worse).

 

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

I'm linking an article about the 10 most dangerous ports that cruise ships visit.   

Note:  The writer of the article (that was originally written in 2014) stated that the list has not changed since it was originally written.

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2014/04/articles/crime/top-10-most-dangerous-cruise-destinations-in-the-world/

 

 

Brasil not on list so rio ok?

 

 

 

 

 

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, seaknots said:

 

 

Brasil not on list so rio ok?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regent warns passengers about crime when they get off of the ship in port.  They even recommend taking off your wedding rings.  It is the kind of crime where they hurt you - not just pick pocketing as there is in Barcelona.  Guess I need another article to back this up even though visitors to Rio know that crime is an issue, the World Cup Organization knows that crime is an issue as does the Olympic organizers.

 

This article is from last year https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/rio-crime-surges-to-near-30-year-highs/

 

And this was updated this month https://www.numbeo.com/crime/in/Rio-De-Janeiro

 

 OK?

Edited September 10, 2019 by Travelcat2

[golfgirls]

I have posted several times on this board about our affinity for Holiday cruises.  We have done several: Caribbean, Sydney to Singapore, Amazon, Panama, Capetown to Capetown and I am sure a few others.  

 

We thoroughly enjoy the different Holiday festivities onboard.   The ships are decorated with beautiful gingerbread houses and Christmas trees and lots of festive decor.  They are magical.  There are special entertainment events with Holiday themes throughout the cruise.  The dining menus certainly recognize the many different celebrations throughout the season and there are, I am sure, services to be attended for different faiths.   

 

The Entertainment staff do an over the top effort on New Years with a show, singing and dancing in public areas, food, champagne and I am sure anything your heart’s desire.  We really enjoyed the crew partying along with the passengers last year on the Explorer. A wonderful dance party with music, drinks, food and dancing well into the wee hours.  

 

I do do agree that there are more families on Caribbean cruises, so they pose a bit of a different dynamic.  But for your cruise, and ours, there will be a wonderful celebration of the Holidays.  As with anything in life, it will be whatever you put into it!  

[Caroldoll]

On 9/8/2019 at 12:08 AM, vino123 said:

Thanks for the replies so far. 

We are not over the top Christmas people so I'm not too worried as long as we have good food and festive decor.

Hopefully they will put on a good party for new years eve.

You will on both!

[Caroldoll]

On 9/8/2019 at 5:52 PM, Kwaj girl said:

TC2-  "large families and children" not always the case.  Probably depends on the itinerary.  A couple of years ago we were on the Navigator from Cape Town to Miami over Christmas/New Years.  There was just one well-behaved 9-yr-old girl on board.  Was fun when Santa showed up with a gift for her.

No children on board the year we went about  3 years ago this year on The Explorer.

[Caroldoll]

5 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Regent warns passengers about crime when they get off of the ship in port.  They even recommend taking off your wedding rings.  It is the kind of crime where they hurt you - not just pick pocketing as there is in Barcelona.  Guess I need another article to back this up even though visitors to Rio know that crime is an issue, the World Cup Organization knows that crime is an issue as does the Olympic organizers.

 

This article is from last year https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/rio-crime-surges-to-near-30-year-highs/

 

And this was updated this month https://www.numbeo.com/crime/in/Rio-De-Janeiro

 

 OK?

 I will support Travelcat completely on this. When we got off the ship in Rio, they already had it "figured out".  They said they had to have another car for our luggage.  I said "No, we will take the luggage on our lap".  LOL, that put a wrench in their plans.  Beware.  

[JMARINER]

Best New year party  ever was on Mariner in Acapulco in 2005. Ship left dock  at 11:00 pm and moved to middle of Acapulco bay. Then at close to mid- night Captain (Jean Marie Guillou) spun the ship continuously so we could see the fireworks launched from the 8-10 bay-side hotels that encircled the bay. Great Deck Party with everyone in Formals and Tuxes and weather was only about 75ish. For those who remember them; Holly and Marty Gast were the duo on stage.

 

Aside, about Brazil; It is the only place we have ever been physically assaulted in an attempted robbery.  It was in broad daylight on a busy business street.

 

J

[fudgbug]

On 9/9/2019 at 1:19 AM, Travelcat2 said:

````````````

From what I have read in the past, this is extremely unusual. Our one Christmas/New Year’s cruise was from Singapore to Sydney.  The20+ children were wonderful during the first few days of the cruise and then became a “gang” that hung out on stairs and other places.  We do not blame the children but rather blame the parents for taking them on a cruise that was mostly designed for adults.

 

OTOH, the Caribbean is a perfect place for families.  Not many Regent regulars sail at this time of the year.

Not many Regent regulars sail at this time of year especially to the Caribbean!