Third time's a Splendor, a "live-ish" report for January 21-February 8, 2023 cruise

[CruiserFromMaine]

I’ve been delinquent in sharing my final thoughts on our wonderful Splendor cruise (Jan. 21 to Feb. 8, really a back-to-back cruise).

 

We loved it! It was our first Regent cruise after trying several luxury cruise lines such as Crystal, Seabourn and Silversea. 

 

The crew were superb, somehow they knew our name wherever we went, and knew that we were staying on for a second voyage. The entertainment was very good and better than expected for a smaller ship. In particular, we really enjoyed listening to Gino in the Observation Lounge. The productions shows were very good, although largely repeated on the second cruise. The guest comedian on the first cruise was excellent.

 

The food ranged from good to excellent, with very good to excellent being the norm. One beef dish was warm but not hot and a couple things just weren’t to my liking, but they were also a little outside the box for me, too. 

 

We were in Suite 871 (a concierge suite), which was an ideal location; three decks up to the pool deck/La veranda/Observation Lounge and three to four decks down for the theater or Compass Rose.

 

Our suite itself was very nice, with lots of outlets by the very comfortable bed. I liked how the bed faced the window. The sitting area was quite comfortable. The balcony was large with two chairs, a lounger and a table; the downside was that the furniture and floor often seemed salty from the spray. The bathroom was a nice size with a double vanity, a tub and separate shower. We never used the tub. The TV was nice, and we appreciated having the menus available on the TV. 

 

One thing we missed that we’ve had on other cruises is a nice app that would show menus and the daily activities without having to carry around the daily Passages or taking a photo of it.

 

We enjoyed the infinity pool area as a relaxing place as opposed to the pool deck, which could get quite busy. We did try the hot tubs a couple times and the temperature was nice and hot. 

 

The included excursions were OK, but frankly we didn’t go on a Caribbean cruise to deeply explore the ports, most of which we’ve been to several times. The ship was the primary destination. 

 

And the ship itself is gorgeous. The public areas have a very nice color palette and are well-designed and laid out.

 

Unfortunately, my wife needed to visit the medical center. The doctor was efficient and provided the necessary prescription for a burn suffered in an excursion involving a cooking class. There was no charge and when the doctor saw her the next day by chance around the ship, he asked how she was. 

 

Some people have experienced difficulty completing the post-cruise survey. My wife completed it on board and I asked for an email link, which I got a couple days after I got home.

 

One negative experience on the cruise was the pre-cruise assigned hotel in Miami, the AKA Brickell. It is still under construction and not up to Regent standards. The hotel shuttle to the ship was disorganized and behind schedule, and there were long lines at check in at the cruise terminal.

 

One thing we learned, too, was that the passenger mix on seven night cruises is much different than on longer cruises. Our first segment was an eleven night cruise, the second was seven nights. It’s a noisier crowd on a shorter cruise, with some groups on board. I will say, though, that the “exuberance” decreased after the first day or so. But it’s something to keep in mind.

 

We enjoyed this cruise so much we booked another on the Grandeur for next March. If you haven’ttried Regent, you definitely should; and if you haven’t tried the Splendor, you definitely should! 
 

 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@CruiserFromMaine FWIW, we are on the Navigator in May, Miami to Montreal.  When we booked the hotel was the Brickell.  But we were notified about a week ago that the hotel has been switched to the Mandarin Oriental.  Regent apparently heard and heeded the dissatisfaction regarding the Brickell.  I’m sorry this happened too late for you.  It’s disappointing to start a luxury cruise with a less than luxury hotel.  Many thanks for your review!

 

Joanie

[Gpilon]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@CruiserFromMaine FWIW, we are on the Navigator in May, Miami to Montreal.  When we booked the hotel was the Brickell.  But we were notified about a week ago that the hotel has been switched to the Mandarin Oriental.  Regent apparently heard and heeded the dissatisfaction regarding the Brickell.  I’m sorry this happened too late for you.  It’s disappointing to start a luxury cruise with a less than luxury hotel.  Many thanks for your review!

 

Joanie

Will you be spending any time in Montreal?

 

[cAPS lOCK oN]

20 hours ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

 The shuttle to the ship was disorganized and behind schedule, and there were long lines at check in at the cruise terminal.

 

Do you know what time the shuttle made it to the terminal? We're boarding Splendor on March 1 and we can arrive any time we want. But we'd like to miss the Regent bus if we could.

 

We're also the only ship in port that day which is nice.

 

[-Lew-]

15 minutes ago, cAPS lOCK oN said:

 

Do you know what time the shuttle made it to the terminal? We're boarding Splendor on March 1 and we can arrive any time we want. But we'd like to miss the Regent bus if we could.

 

We're also the only ship in port that day which is nice.

 

We did not use the Regent shuttle when we embarked on January 21st at Terminal J.  Our arrival was at 12:30pm and we waited for 45 minutes to get to the checkin desk.

 

Since shuttles can be delayed...throwing off your careful planning...I would suggest arriving as early as possible or mid afternoon.  Your suite will not be available until about 2:30pm, so early arrival will result in cooling your heels until that time.

 

There were six ships in port when we embarked.  That number had no effect on our travel to the terminal.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, cAPS lOCK oN said:

Do you know what time the shuttle made it to the terminal? We're boarding Splendor on March 1 and we can arrive any time we want. But we'd like to miss the Regent bus if we could.

Our boarding time was 11:30, and the first bus passengers were just pouring in when they called the "regular" cabins.  So probably around 12:00 or so.  Buses kept coming for a while after that.  We drove, but still had to wait around for about 30 minutes. In line, I complained that one of us couldn't stand for very long, and they whisked us into the expedited disabled line.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

6 hours ago, Gpilon said:

Will you be spending any time in Montreal?

 

I wish we were!  But I take care of our twin grands, who are 7, and they are getting out of school for the summer so we have to come straight back home.

[Gpilon]

14 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

I wish we were!  But I take care of our twin grands, who are 7, and they are getting out of school for the summer so we have to come straight back home.

Too bad, but understandable. Terrific city and great time of the year to visit. Stay well.

[CruiserFromMaine]

@GeorgiaPeach51 I’m glad you got moved, hopefully our comments to Regent helped them see the light. I’m glad you liked the thread! I enjoyed yours from a couple months ago. 
 

@cAPS lOCK oN we were supposed to be on the 11:30 shuttle but it left about 12:20. Then a long wait at the terminal. We got on about 1:10. I’d just take an Uber or Lyft the next time. 

[Gpilon]

1 hour ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

@GeorgiaPeach51 I’m glad you got moved, hopefully our comments to Regent helped them see the light. I’m glad you liked the thread! I enjoyed yours from a couple months ago. 
 

@cAPS lOCK oN we were supposed to be on the 11:30 shuttle but it left about 12:20. Then a long wait at the terminal. We got on about 1:10. I’d just take an Uber or Lyft the next time. 

Cruiser…..my Bride has been going to Moody Beach every year since she was born with family from Montreal….so that is…..she doesn’t want me to give up the number of years! Always a fun family vacation there.

[ronrick1943]

Thank you, enjoyed reading your post.  Very good with nice photos.

[corinna121]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:46 PM, CruiserFromMaine said:

On the Splendor. 

 

After lunch in La Veranda yesterday we took the trolley tour of Willemstad. There was a long taxi ride over the big bridge (Queen Julianna Bridge) to the trolley ride start, which was really only a short walk over the floating bridge.  

 

We were docked right in the harbor, very convenient. The picture is of the Splendor from the floating bridge, which needed to open to let us in and out. 

 

The narrated ride was about 90 minutes in an open air trolley. It was OK but not great. After the trolley ride, we walked over the floating bridge to the ship. 

 

We grabbed some savory snacks from Coffee Connection and went back to our room to have them with done champagne. There were no other food options. Before dinner we stopped in to heat Gino at the Observation Lounge, then off to Pacific Rim for a wonderful dinner. I had the Miso Cod with the duck confit spring rolls as a starter—excellent! 

 

In lieu of a show in the theater there was dancing on the pool deck since we were in port late. What a fun party. CD David, the entertainers and the orchestra sang and played nonstop for almost 90 minutes. Many folks were there and most danced at least some of the time. We never stopped! It was such fun and a great workout too! 

 

The orchestra regrouped in the Meridian Lounge with hardly a break for more music. My initial hesitation about the orchestra is now gone—they are extremely talented plus they work their <instruments> off!

 

Quiet morning in Aruba with no excursion. We ventured into town then returned for lunch in Prime 7. It was very good if a little leisurely but we had nowhere else to be. I had the shrimp and grits starter and the fisherman’s platter. 

 

We talked with the executive concierge about our mid-cruise survey. He’d obviously read our concerns about the AKA Brickell and the construction around the elevators. He said others had complained too, and also on previous cruises. He will forward our concerns to corporate. We’ll see what happened next. The hotel was supposed to be finished by now, and Regent books rooms a couple months out so I understand how Regent got caught short, but it was still a rough start to our vacation. 

 

Now sitting by the infinity pool enjoying the quiet afternoon. 

 

The water view is from our veranda this morning in Aruba. 

I have been going to South Beach Miami since 1990 because that is when my brother moved down there. It is such an amazing place to visit. However, their 5 star standards are severely impaired. I know the Brickell and it is quite well known, supposedly upscale, but only by Miami standards which are very low for hotels. The exception would be the Setai Miami Beach, which I think is quite exceptional.and also the Fontainebleau Miami Beach which doesn't have the prime location that Setai offers. I wish that Regent would change to one of these premium hotel choices but perhaps their booking person doesn't realize that Miami 5 star standards differ greatly compared to other cities.