I saw we were hijacking the Voyager to Barcelona thread, so I decided to start a new thread on value versus price. I spoke to a number of cruisers on TAP who were past Crystal cruisers. They were mentally comparing the two lines and loved to verbally tell you how each line compared. Many felt that Regent was now the current winner. However, they felt that the entertainment on Crystal was superior and that there was a different ambiance on Crystal than Regent...similar to what folks have said about the PG versus the Voyager...not better...just different.

Now that Regent's price points are a bit higher and it is all inclusive, it will be interesting to see how the other premium lines now respond competitively to Regent. I have never taken any other premium line other than Regent and have taken 9 cruises with Regent. I have also taken one cruise on HAL (7 years ago)and one cruise on the now defunct Home Lines (27 years ago)

It's hard for us to compare because our only 2 recent cruises have been on the Navigator. We will be on CROSS this summer, but will be going to Europe on the QM2, so maybe then, we will have some basis for comparison. We both feel that we will be thrilled to see the Voyager after the size of the QM2.

Nini

The only other "lux line" we've cruised other than Regent is Silverseas -- the Silver Cloud. It was very much like Regent. The major difference (to us) was the size of the ship at only 290 guests max. Because the Cloud has standard suites similar in size to the Mariner and rather large public areas, she is a larger ship than the Paul Gauguin which has similar guest capacity. So it was more like cruising on a scaled-down version of the Mariner than the PG. Other than this, the service was more "formal", dress on board a bit "dressier", entertainment a bit better, and food not as good as Regent.

Thanks,
Richard

I agree with Richard totally. We were on the Silver Whisper, loved it. They were all inclusive of course, so that swayed our opinion a bit. I do agree it is dressier, not my bag, and the food similar, but not quite as good as voyager/Diamond. PG is an entirely different bag as I have said. We have also done Seabourn, I like Regent much better than Seabourn.

I like the relaxed tropical atmosphere on the Paul Gauguin best. Any move in that direction sounds good to me. At least in the Caribbean, it would help if they ditched the informal nights and went CCC. Other than that, I love the Regent product, when I can afford it.

I've usually heard that the ambience on Crystal is more formal. If true, I'm not interested. It smacks of people who like to pretend they're rich somehow. I'm not into pretension. The only other line I'm considering trying is Oceania.

My only issue with Regent is the entertainment. I wish they had more comediens, magicians, impersonators, Kenny Smiles...Though, now, with airline restrictions, I could do without formal nights and informal nights...the less baggage the better.

Andi, I would go with more comediens if they were good. I think I lasted about 10 minutes on TAP with one that they had. Why I usually sit upstairs. On the one cruise I had on Silversea in Asia, the entertainment was fantastic, we went almost every night to check it out, and usually stayed. Most of the entertainers were from Australia, fantastic! I don't often come away from Regent feeling that way, however, but it won't keep me from remaining loyal to the line. It will be interesting to see what Silversea has on CAMEL as a comparison. Enough entertainment in the lounges after dinner, especially if there are a bunch of lct people to dance, no partners needed!

Last reason we cruise Regent is entertainment - so far our LCT buddies have been the "entertainment" - in best sense of the word -

Well, I'm one of those rare ones who likes the formal/informal nights, it makes the cruise feel special to me. It's my only chance in life to dress-up as my Tucson days are spent in t-shirts and shorts. I'd be sad to see all CCC, although it makes sense for 7-day port intensive cruises.

Luggage restrictions or not, I'm going to find a way to bring my clothes. I'll probably wear them more times in a row. With mix/match Chico's, it's still easy to keep within the weight limit and dress-up.

Olivia, I'm looking forward to those dancing nights with lct'ers. It will be fun to be on a cruise where the lounges are active.

I agree with Olivia & Joanna -- the only entertainment we care about is having some friends around to talk and laugh with. We rarely go to the shows, we prefer the entertainment in the lounges. An occasional good comedian is nice, but I'm fine without them also. And also agree with Donna -- we like the formal nights, for the same reasons she does. The weight restrictions haven't been a problem for us yet.

Donna: Me, too, shorts and T-shirts here - I am stressing over weight lugggage from CPH to Rome - so fewer outfits for Fjords - liking clothes is not pretention - just female addiction - has nothing to do with $$$$ - in our house Tony is clothes horse- most down to earth guy you will ever meet - BUT he loves clothes :D :D

I'm guessing we had about 22 formal nights on the WC.....if I never see another one, it's OK with me! My favorite is CCC....just feel more comfortable but I know some really enjoy the formal nights. The worst was having formal night the next to the last night on the WC when everyone was trying to pack!! Terrible timing.

Marcie, 22 formal nights would certainly fill my "dressy" need for quite some time! I agree, night before last of WC is a bad time for a formal night.

I agree Marcie . .that next to last night Formal is a real pain. At least they've put off the first one until the 3rd night.

Cy and I have our formal stuff and never wear it off the ship and don't mind an occasional "dress-up" but sometime they come too fast.

When you say 22 formal nights out of 111 days, it doesn't sound bad but somehow, I wish there were less.

Peggy

The sistahs love to 'dress up'. We used to wear our Mother's clothes and hi-heels as kids and this gives us the chance to shed the 'slob at home'look. Formal clothes weigh less than casual so I don't mind packing extra. I love to see the men in their tuxedo's! :app:

Joanna - Gary's the clothes horse in this house, too. That said, I've been happily filling my Nordstrom's shopping cart this morning. Let's see if I actually punch the "checkout" button.

As per usual, we'll pack light. Formal wear will be the minimum required to be seated in the dining rooms.

I hate struggling with heavy things .. including luggage .. more than I hate doing interim laundry loads. That's been one surprise with retirement. We both work out or play sports, so as the quantity of exercise increase, the quantity of laundry seems to grow even faster.

Cheers, Anne

When I took my first cruise on the Paul Gauguin, I had almost nothing that even could be considered country club casual, nor did my husband David. Our next cruise after our second PG was the Diamond, which had formal/informals on a 7-day European cruise. Over the years we have collected clothes that we basically only wear on cruises (although David's suit is handy for funerals and the odd wedding :( ). It's now been 7 years since our first PG, and it's time to renew David's CCC gear, it's getting old (his summer shirts he replaces constantly, but his khaki pants are pretty tired.)

Suzie, I was the exact opposite. My mum was a clothes horse, and she was constantly trying to dress me nicely. And I constantly resisted, I just could not get my head around it--I loved dressing up my doll, on the other hand! Oh, and my brother, of all things, is the clothes horse of our generation, go figure!

I'm with Donna and Suzie, Frank and I too like the dressy nights, as we rarely get to dress up anymore. It does make me feel more special. Although, I could see and agree with maybe going all CCC on 7 night cruises.

When we were on Oceania, it was all CCC and I was amazed on the Captains welcome and farewell nights that people really dressed up, men were in suits and women in very nice dresses. We actually were more casual, Frank didn't even take a tie, which is unusual for him.

I like informal and ccc.

If people want to dress up they still can on the Captains night and they will have a lot of company. However, I hate that everyone is required to dress up. It is really the men that have the issue, need at a minimum a dark suit and tie.

I note most of European cruises have gone Informal and CCC and personally I like that trend.

As our first Regent cruise approaches all of the talk about how people dress makes me curious. As we others we don't have many opportunities to wear formal wear in everyday life. Would I be comfortable in wearing my tux for the Captains dinner on the Mariner which lists the evenning as informal?

If nothing else it's a great opportunity to get a nice picture taken of us all dressed up.

Bob

Bob. there are a lot of men who like to wear tuxes on formal night. Others will have dark suits on.
You will be fine and definately not out of place wearing your tux. Captains dinner night should be your #1 choice of the night to wear it. (Usually the 2nd night of the cruise).

Hi Bob. Hope you enjoy your first Regent cruise. While many men wear dark suits and ties on informal nights, I don't recall ever seeing men wear tuxes on informal nights.

There's no rule against wearing a tux but you may be the only man wearing one. Tom.

Excuss me.
I see that I read your post wrong Bob.
Tom is correct.
Sorry.

I didn't count, but Regent's paperwork said their were 19 formal nights on the 2007 World Cruise, not 22.

Yes, the one two nights before FLL was a bit much, but the tux just got stuffed in our bags that went out that night. (It was going to have to be dryleaned anyway.)

We agree with Donna, we don't mind dressing up for formal nights. But I also agree with others that on 7-day cruises (and maybe 10-14 day ones), we could skip the extra luggage.

I prefer CCC and perhaps informal. I worry that when I wear my tux I look too much like Cary Grant. My wife says not to worry, I look more like a penguin. (How's that for loyalty?)

I do love a man in a tux----sooooooo sexy. sooooooooo suave. ;) Keep on wearing them gentlemen

I think (and hope) formal nights are a declining aspect of cruising, but I don't mind informal - sport jacket with or without tie. That allows the women to still flaunt their finery, jewels and [whatever]. It also preserves a two-tier dress code, so those that want to can show off their finery can, and those that don't just throw in a blazer or sport jacket, better yet, wear it on the plane, and then are set for the trip. Others can bring more fancy gear and dress to the nines on occasion nights. And I think that’s whats happening.

As to the main topic here, VALUE, Radisson used to be the line that gave you almost all of the luxury perks at a greatly reduced price. Regent gives you more of the perks (i.e., all-inclusive), lacking I think only the entertainment and a superior enrichment program like you find on, for example, Crystal. In July, for example, Crystal will have James Carville and Mary Matalin commenting on and dissing each other’s choices in the race for the 2008 presidential races. I'm not stating Crystal is better, they still have two seatings at dinner for goodness sake, just pointing out that they, and other up-scale lines, do offer better day and evening programs and activities than either of the RSSCs has or has had. And Radisson/Regent does schedule improved programs on their world cruises, so they can do it when they pay attention. Now that they charge as much or more than the others, you would think they would do better, at least on Grand Voyages and less port-intensive cruises such as crossings.

Good points. I do enjoy the enrichment programs and spotlight cruises very much. The lectures on the PG are always outstanding. The Food & Wine Spotlight we did on Voyager last summer was amazingly good, multiple wine-tastings, olive oil, lectures, great. And the enrichment locale lectures were wonderful too. The chocolate cruise on Navigator was so-so in this respect, although I admit it has turned me into a dark chocolate addict for the first time in my life. Having done just the one Caribbean itinerary, I wonder why they don't do some lectures about these locales--there's certain enough history and culture to be interesting.

I'll take a well-presented lecture series any day over a broadway show.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on everything you stated so well, count florida. I'll take well-presented lectures over the somewhat amateurish broadway shows, too, Wendy.

We would love more enrichment programs. We are extremely fortunate in having Cousteau Society lectures on CROSS; however, it looks as if those lectures will be on the first segment of CROSS, which is the port-intensive segment. It would make far more sense for those lectures to be on the TA portion and I don't understand Regent's rationale in doing this.

While Kenny Smiles can be quite funny and amusing, the only performances we've thoroughly enjoyed have been a Russian violinist and a Turkish pianist. Both were excellent and very accomplished musicians.

Regent does so many things so well. I do hope they improve upon enrichment programs/lectures as well as more polished entertainment.

I like the production shows and I don't think they are amateurish. But, I don't expect Broadway quality. They are simply an entertaining diversion to top of a wonderful meal in Compass Rose or the other dining rooms.

Admittedly, some of the shows are better than others. I enjoy watching the young singers and dancers honing their craft and also getting to know them during the day as they perform other functions around the ship. Some go on to greater heights maybe even becoming that Broadway performer. It's fun to watch their progress. As you can see, I'm looking at this from a slightly different persepctive. If I attended expecting Tony quality performances, I would be disappointed.

Since I haven't sailed on another line, I don't have a means of entertainment comparison. I do agree that some of the "booked" entertainers are sketchy and I usually don't go back for their second performance. There have also been some outstanding ones, but it's too early in the morning for me to recall their names. I need more coffee!

I also agree that the lectures are hit and miss. I've seen some wonderful ones and also some real duds.

Denise, I agree about the music. We had a wonderful music spotlight on Diamond, which included a pair of top-flight classical violinists, and special music performances integrated into the excursions. That was amazing.

I do agree that the entertainment troupe does attempt to put lots of heart and soul into their performances. I never go with the expectations of a Broadway caliber show. We've just found a couple of the regional, more seasoned performances more to our liking.

The shows can be a nice diversion at times. However, more times than not, we personally find them mediocre, at best.

We've also found several lounge performers to our liking, as well.

I concur, Wendy. When performers are integrated into the interary locale, it can be very special.

We find the "broadway shows" to be ok. However, they really shouldn't (and apparently no longer) attempt to do much more serious shows. I thought the "Opera" show on VOF to be quite awful - with attempts to do highlights with extremely difficult arias from an assortment of operas in various styles that even the most accomplished singers won't even dare try to combine into one show.

I also haven't found the "serious" classical performers to be that good (was not on the "spotlight on music" cruises though).

I think they should concentrate on local musicians and otherwise work on the "lighter" entertainment selections.

Donna, I think your post is spot on, and reflects the positive attitude & great time you share (blog) when u cruise, thanks

Wes

This is so true Donna!! One of the things we've really enjoyed on longer cruises is getting to know/dine with the PG singers and dancers... I missed this on '07 WC. The singers and dancers didn't mingle nearly as well as on SA and '05 WC.

I like singing and dancing together, need movement on stage to hold my interest or it's zzzzzzzzzzzz. Played Texas Hold'em most nights on '07 WC so missed most of the shows.

Entertainment - For the most part I just can't seem to get to the shows - on a few occasions Olivia took me to see Kenny Smiles and I thought he was most amusing and entertaining. The other shows I have seen were on the PG and thought them to be entertaining as well. Recently on Silversea I don't think we stepped foot into the theater. I simply don't place a high value on entertainment on a cruise. To me cruising is an efficient and pleasant way to see a lot of territory in a short amount of time. The pleasant aspect, for me, relates to service, food, suites, common areas as well as traveling with LCT and Cruise Critic people. Who needs entertainment when you have a ship full of LCT?

Our first Regent cruise is coming soon so this thread has been really interesting. We've cruised on Silversea, Seabourn and Crystal in the past and found the best service on Seabourn,the best cabins on Silversea and the best entertainment on Crystal. Of the three, we are least likely to return to Crystal because we dislike assigned dinner times and the relatively small cabins.

sassy, I think you will find that many others who have tried the lines you have mentioned say the same thing! You can interchange the comments about cabins between Silversea and Regent's larger three ships, they are almost identical, except for the bathrooms in Mariner, most of which have a rather awkward tub/shower for tall people, rather than tub & separate shower. The points you made about Crystal are exactly the same ones that keep me away from Crystal, as well as the fact it is not all-inclusive at even higher prices than Regent.

Are there separate shower stalls on the Navigator or is it a combo tub/shower? I can't tell from the diagram.

jhp, I just read your post again. Ignore my question above! Thanks for the information. I hope I'll be able to say that Regent excelled in all areas and surpassed the other three lines.