Grandeur live 12/14 - 12/21

[dabear]

We had an outstanding meal in Pacific Rim, especially the miso glazed black cod. We also had an excellent meal in Prime 7 and Compass Rose. Sete Mara was good. Chartreuse was disappointing & a large number of pax had the same comments.I recognize that food is subjective, but when a lot of pax have the same comment, things need to be improved. 

[carolina cruisin]

Find it interesting that some are not satisfied with pool Grill.  That has always been the go-to spot when coming back from excursions.  Things may have changed but I recall that orders were taken at one end of the buffet line and brought to your table.  Was never an issue.  Will be aboard Explorer in a few weeks so will see if any of this has changed.

[bitob]

20 hours ago, dabear said:

We had an outstanding meal in Pacific Rim, especially the miso glazed black cod. We also had an excellent meal in Prime 7 and Compass Rose. Sete Mara was good. Chartreuse was disappointing & a large number of pax had the same comments.I recognize that food is subjective, but when a lot of pax have the same comment, things need to be improved. 

Chartreuse is a disaster imo. It is doctored classic French food. They add unnecessary ingredients. Why screw around with fabulous French food?  

[bitob]

19 hours ago, carolina cruisin said:

Find it interesting that some are not satisfied with pool Grill.  That has always been the go-to spot when coming back from excursions.  Things may have changed but I recall that orders were taken at one end of the buffet line and brought to your table.  Was never an issue.  Will be aboard Explorer in a few weeks so will see if any of this has changed.

Same on grandeur

[Bruce61]

Interestingly, On Explorer in September I had two fantastic meals in Chartruse for lunch and one dinner, including a really good duck dish and a torchon style fois gras that I really enjoyed.  Some did not like the modern flair, but that is what made it a bit different.  Sure, the onion soup was a different style, but it tasted good.    The only "problem" and it is a first world problem, is inexpensive French wine like they serve is not that great, but they found a nice California Pinot Noir that was good and they went next door to Prime 7 to get a decent California Cabernet instead of the Bordeax blend they were pouring.

[lorimay]

We had a nice lunch in Chartreuse today. The food is very fussy, but I could still find things I liked. I had the modern salad nicoise, which is no really salad nicoise but still good and the grilled octopus. Very delicious. We have our dinner there tomorrow night. 
 

Tonighr we ate in Pacific Rim. Although it’s not as good as Red Gingerbon Oceania, it was still delicious. I can’t cook Asian food at home so maybe that’s why I like it so much. Food was great but service was a little off. We had an 8pm reservation and service was slow. We closed the place down. 

 

We were at a sharing table with another couple, also Regent newbies, who are having a very disappointing cruise. They are in one of the big suites and are having issues with the plumbing in their bathroom and other suite issues. They said they had high expectations that just weren’t met, especially for the money they spent on their suite. 
 

We did the art tour on the Regent app this afternoon. It was interesting but not much information on the art pieces and more on the artists. There is some very nice art on this ship. 
 

it’s a sea day tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s almost over. 
 

 

[the_dylaness]

6 hours ago, lorimay said:

, also Regent newbies, who are having a very disappointing cruise. They are in one of the big suites and are having issues with the plumbing in their bathroom and other suite issues. They said they had high expectations that just weren’t met, especially for the money they spent on their suite.
 

 

Having recently been following the Mariner thread, I'm curious if you'd share more about what plumbing and other suite problems they are experiencing?

[lorimay]

Some of their issues were of expectations, and some of them were physical issues with the suite. They said the control is backwards in their shower - the switch to go from rain shower head to wand is backwards, and also you push out to turn on and push in to turn off. I didn't really understand it, but they were told it needed to be fixed. The door between their bedroom and sitting area wouldn't stay closed. It was temporarily repaired with duct tape by the engineers. Some of the cushions for their balcony were missing - after a couple of inquiries, they were told they simply didn't make the ship and would be coming later. They were disappointed that yesterday they were told the crew would be cleaning the balcony and they weren't to use it all day.

 

As for expectations, they were younger, pretty active people and they were pretty bored. I don't think they did much research before booking the cruise. They just felt that for the very large amount of money they had spent on the cruise, the food and service was not as good as they expected. I encouraged them to make a complaint, because we had a couple of bad experiences the first couple of days and the staff worked hard to make those up to us. But I don't think they will be on Regent again.

 

 

[rcandkc]

9 minutes ago, lorimay said:

Some of their issues were of expectations, and some of them were physical issues with the suite. They said the control is backwards in their shower - the switch to go from rain shower head to wand is backwards, and also you push out to turn on and push in to turn off. I didn't really understand it, but they were told it needed to be fixed. The door between their bedroom and sitting area wouldn't stay closed. It was temporarily repaired with duct tape by the engineers. Some of the cushions for their balcony were missing - after a couple of inquiries, they were told they simply didn't make the ship and would be coming later. They were disappointed that yesterday they were told the crew would be cleaning the balcony and they weren't to use it all day.

 

As for expectations, they were younger, pretty active people and they were pretty bored. I don't think they did much research before booking the cruise. They just felt that for the very large amount of money they had spent on the cruise, the food and service was not as good as they expected. I encouraged them to make a complaint, because we had a couple of bad experiences the first couple of days and the staff worked hard to make those up to us. But I don't think they will be on Regent again.

 

 

I don’t understand the cleaning of balcony and can’t use all day.  I don’t think I would agree to that on my last day of cruise. 

[bitob]

Nonsense. They come in to clean balcony Takes 10 minutes. Then it’s yours to use 
 

what’s wrong with these people ?

 

 

I’ve been on since Barcelona and I’m staying on until Los Angeles. I have had a near perfect cruise experience. A few minor issues ( duh it’s a new ship) were rectified immediately.  Judge for yourself. I have 4 more cruises booked on this ship

 

 

[Camillus112]

27 minutes ago, bitob said:

Nonsense. They come in to clean balcony Takes 10 minutes. Then it’s yours to use 
 

 

 

That was my experience.  Minor glitches corrected immediately.  Our disappointment has been the weather…wish I could speak to Nature’s boss to correct it.  Room for improvement in my opinion: live music during daytime in lounges/pool grill, and a few crew members need language training.  I personally liked the performers but not so much the productions.  Overall a very enjoyable cruise.

 

[eroller]

2 hours ago, lorimay said:

 

 

As for expectations, they were younger, pretty active people and they were pretty bored. I don't think they did much research before booking the cruise. They just felt that for the very large amount of money they had spent on the cruise, the food and service was not as good as they expected. I encouraged them to make a complaint, because we had a couple of bad experiences the first couple of days and the staff worked hard to make those up to us. But I don't think they will be on Regent again.

 

 

 

 

I don't think Regent is the right fit for them.  A good travel agent would steer them in the right direction.  I think The Haven on Norwegian would better suit them.  The still get a luxury experience but all the amenities and action of a large mega-ship. 

[bitob]

Food not as good as expected?

 

I’ve sailed crystal silversea seabourn Paul Gauguin. And celebrity in the suite restaurant   15 cruises on Oceania. Born and raised in nyc where good food is religion. Cooking school in Tuscany. Months in Provence and Tuscany where the best food in The world can be found. I’ve eaten in per se, French laundry and Paul bocuse restaurants. I have a pretty high standard for food. 

 

with the exception of chartreuse the food on this ship has been outstanding in every venue for a ship. Compass rose tops any main dining room on any ship. My only complaint is that room service menu too limited. 
 

food is subjective and that’s my subjective opinion 

Edited December 20, 2023 by bitob

[lorimay]

For the balcony cleaning, apparently they were told they couldn’t use the balcony all day. I’m just telling you what they told us. 
 

As for the food, I don’t know what their standards are. For us, our food has been excellent. We had lukewarm food in CR the first night and at the pool grill- where, by the way, they now have signs that say “order here” at the ends of the buffet. On our first day, I saw the hostess’ ordering tablet there and asked if I should order and she told me to sit down and they would come to me. So excuse my confusion as to where to order there. I stand by my “they can’t get their act together” comment from before based on our experience.

 

Other than the food temperature, I have absolutely no complaints about the quality or preparation of the food. I don’t see much difference from Oceania, and they also have outstanding food. However CR beats Oceania’s dining room by a mile. Food is very subjective. My standard is that I am an excellent and experienced home cook and I expect better food than I can cook. Almost every dish used better ingredients and was better prepared than I could ever dream of cooking. 
 

The one area I would downgrade them on is desserts. They are usually plated beautifully but not imaginative or out of the ordinary. Nothing bad but nothing special. 

[bitob]

19 hours ago, lorimay said:

For the balcony cleaning, apparently they were told they couldn’t use the balcony all day. I’m just telling you what they told us. 
 

As for the food, I don’t know what their standards are. For us, our food has been excellent. We had lukewarm food in CR the first night and at the pool grill- where, by the way, they now have signs that say “order here” at the ends of the buffet. On our first day, I saw the hostess’ ordering tablet there and asked if I should order and she told me to sit down and they would come to me. So excuse my confusion as to where to order there. I stand by my “they can’t get their act together” comment from before based on our experience.

 

Other than the food temperature, I have absolutely no complaints about the quality or preparation of the food. I don’t see much difference from Oceania, and they also have outstanding food. However CR beats Oceania’s dining room by a mile. Food is very subjective. My standard is that I am an excellent and experienced home cook and I expect better food than I can cook. Almost every dish used better ingredients and was better prepared than I could ever dream of cooking. 
 

The one area I would downgrade them on is desserts. They are usually plated beautifully but not imaginative or out of the ordinary. Nothing bad but nothing special. 

Agree about desserts. But I am glad.  Fewer desserts I like means less weight gain. lol 

 

the best desserts imo are at afternoon tea but we rarely go. If I have tea and sweets at 4 pm then no dinner. Plus it conflicts with trivia. I have my priorities 

 

Oceania dining room to be avoided at all costs 😁

Edited December 20, 2023 by bitob

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, lorimay said:

For the balcony cleaning, apparently they were told they couldn’t use the balcony all day.

 

Our experience is that balcony cleaning doesn't take all day.  However, although cleaning an individual balcony might take ten minutes, it will be unusable much longer.

 

We sailed on Viking Sky this fall for eight weeks and balconies were cleaned once each week between 8:00am and noon.  Balcony dividers were opened to give access to crew and allow a hose to be pulled through.  Our balcony was effectively unusable as everything was waterlogged for a few hours along with crew walking back and forth.

[Mudhen]

I’m enjoying this “balcony cleaning “ segment!

 I realize that the crew will do a thorough job of it maybe once a week, but I do my own thing…

I sacrifice one wash cloth to be put aside and every morning I wipe down our teak rail and our table. Simple, takes 5 minutes tops. Clean table to enjoy adult treats on later in the day. Also no salty forearms when by the rail. Sometimes it’s just easier to take things under your own control!!

[lorimay]

We had a wonderful last night dinner in Chartreuse tonight. Much of the food was magnificent, and the plating was spectacular. Top notch service from Aaron. 
 

Unfortunately, we had an 8:30 reservation so we missed the ABBA party in the atrium but we could hear it as we went to bed. 
 

We really enjoyed Krew Kapers. I’ve never seen anything like it on a cruise. So many talented crew members and the whole thing was very heartwarming. 
 

Our trivia team started out strong but didn’t do well the last couple of days. However, we did have enough points to get some fun prizes. 
 

The weather wasn’t great today so it was crowded inside. Spoke to some people coming into trivia from tea. Apparently it was an overflow crowd from Meridian Lounge into Coffee Connection and no seats anywhere. 
 

it was Italian day for lunch in La Veranda. Food was good. I wish there was a little more variety, especially the salad bar ingredients. 
 

I’m going to put my final thoughts together once I get home tomorrow. One thing I will comment on now is that I can clearly hear my neighbor’s conversation and I have earbuds in. Everything else about these suites is near perfection. I heard their phone ringing this morning. I don’t know if this is going to be an easy fix. 

[LouChamp]

17 hours ago, bitob said:

Food not as good as expected?

 

I’ve sailed crystal silversea seabourn Paul Gauguin. And celebrity in the suite restaurant   15 cruises on Oceania. Born and raised in nyc where good food is religion. Cooking school in Tuscany. Months in Provence and Tuscany where the best food in The world can be found. I’ve eaten in per se, French laundry and Paul bocuse restaurants. I have a pretty high standard for food. 

 

with the exception of chartreuse the food on this ship has been outstanding in every venue for a ship. Compass rose tops any main dining room on any ship. My only complaint is that room service menu too limited. 
 

food is subjective and that’s my subjective opinion 

Aloha. We live parallel lives lol and I totally agree with your points.

[the_dylaness]

In light of this info, I have already packed one of those little white noise machines just in case. We travel with earplugs anyway. I am in the running for world's lightest sleeper so this noise issue is concerning to me.

Edited December 21, 2023 by the_dylaness
clarity

[marycruz]

9 hours ago, lorimay said:

We had a wonderful last night dinner in Chartreuse tonight. Much of the food was magnificent, and the plating was spectacular. Top notch service from Aaron. 
 

Unfortunately, we had an 8:30 reservation so we missed the ABBA party in the atrium but we could hear it as we went to bed. 
 

We really enjoyed Krew Kapers. I’ve never seen anything like it on a cruise. So many talented crew members and the whole thing was very heartwarming. 
 

Our trivia team started out strong but didn’t do well the last couple of days. However, we did have enough points to get some fun prizes. 
 

The weather wasn’t great today so it was crowded inside. Spoke to some people coming into trivia from tea. Apparently it was an overflow crowd from Meridian Lounge into Coffee Connection and no seats anywhere. 
 

it was Italian day for lunch in La Veranda. Food was good. I wish there was a little more variety, especially the salad bar ingredients. 
 

I’m going to put my final thoughts together once I get home tomorrow. One thing I will comment on now is that I can clearly hear my neighbor’s conversation and I have earbuds in. Everything else about these suites is near perfection. I heard their phone ringing this morning. I don’t know if this is going to be an easy fix. 

May I ask what deck or section you are on?

[lorimay]

We were on deck 7 just aft of the fire elevators, port side. Other than the noise from neighbors, it was very quiet an a great location. 

[cruiseluv]

13 minutes ago, lorimay said:

We were on deck 7 just aft of the fire elevators, port side. Other than the noise from neighbors, it was very quiet an a great location. 

Would it be a problem for you to give your actual cabin number? I’ll be on deck 7 on Grandeur and  would like to avoid that. I must say that’s very odd, in none of our close to 200 nights aboard Regent ships, in all ships except Grandeur yet), we’ve heard even a whisper coming from our neighboring cabins.

[Avidtravler]

Hello Mike Moore,

We are hoping that you might comment on the sound coming from adjacent cabins directly through the walls. This has never been  problem on Splendor or Explorer.The complaints above are too numerous to  dismiss. Please give us your input on this possibly serious problem.

[briar14]

We were in 780. Only heard voices when sitting on couch. Nothing in other parts of suite.