All, fyi

By Gene Sloan


Friday, December 28, 2007
Is Regent worth the price? A hotelier's take
Anyone thinking of trading up to luxury line Regent Seven Seas Cruises should read hotelier David Brudney's story posted today at:

http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=2655

The veteran hotel industry consultant raised the ire of the cruise industry in July with a highly critical review of his first cruise, which was on a mass market ship in Alaska. But after trying luxury line Regent Seven Seas earlier this month with his wife, Karen, he's changed his tune.

Regent, he says, was everything the mass-market ship wasn't -- and more than worth the price

Thanks, Wes. Glad to be sticking with Regent.

Very interesting, Wes! At least Gene and his wife know what we all know now!

An article to copy & give to anyone who asks the question: "Why would you want to sail on such a small ship?"

Thanks Wes - great article! ;)

Thanks so much for posting that, Wes!

We are loyal Regent customers and love the line, but I did feel a bit skeptical in reading this review. First of all, of course it was worth the price to this reviewer as the cruise was gratis to him. Second of all, I have sailed with Regent on six cruises and have never been offered an upgrade. It is intersting to me that Regent offers a free cruise to this reviewer and his wife in return for a review at the end and then upgrades them mid-cruise. Part of evaluating a cruise is paying for it. You ask yourself at some point "was this cruise worth what I paid"? For us, the answer has always been a resounding yes. To be honest, I feel that we on this board are more able to answer this question than the reviewer who received better treatment and led future cruisers to believe a cabin upgrade might be at hand. Just my $ .02.

Getting an upgrade on Regent means going to a Penthouse from a regular suite. Going from Deck 5 to a higher deck is not an upgrade, in my opinion, since all suites are alike. In rough seas I would prefer a lower deck. I think that on Silverseas an upgrade would be to a mid-ship suite.
Thank you for the article and a new web site for getting hotel quotes, perhaps !!!!

Interesting point Nancy. We have many nights on Regent and the only time we've been offered an upgrade was on LAMB to the HS. It was deeply discounted but not gratis. I was told that those with most nights are the first to be offered upgrades. Hmmmmm ??

Editing: I forgot that we did get an upgrade to a penthouse w/ butler on the Voyager once when we had booked a "guarantee". The room was nice but didn't need the butler and it was on deck 9 (too high IMO).

We were given an upgrade on our first cruise - we booked an H and they were oversold and we were given a D instead. But that is really no upgrade as Neville says.

My mother and I received an upgrade from the lowest level to a Penthouse on a 4-day Voyager cruise two years ago. Though I never quite saw the point of the butler, Mom sure got a kick out of having one. I don't recall being asked to pay extra for the upgrade, though it's possible they asked for some small amount.

We were upgraded on our first cruise with RSSC, from a guarantee PH to an Horizon Suite on deck 8. It was our 25th wedding anniversary so was extra special. We booked really late as the cruise we were going to do was cancelled so don't know if that had anything to do with it.

I wonder too about his review, given his trip was gratis. But he did bring out a lot of Regent's great qualities.

On the other hand.... what does he mean no fresh squeezed OJ at the breakfast buffet? It is always there with a tray of glasses, and usually is offered by the waiters when you first sit down. We have cruised 125 nights on Regent and I have never had a morning without fresh OJ. Makes me wonder about his throughness.

Also, having had the discussion on PANDA regarding the numerous announcements in the cabins.... I cannot imagine the captain making an announcement in the middle of the night into the cabins to tell you that everything is ok during rough seas. Waking everyone else up to tell them everything is ok?? If I were asleep and they did that in the middle of the night I would be livid. For him to expect that, when his wife was sound asleep (as was probably more than half of the other passengers) is simply selfish in my opinion. For heavens sake you are at sea!

I too am very skeptical of his review, first of all getting a free cruise is a bit of an incentive , the whole staff knows why you are there so everyone has the heads up for all the little extras for someone like this. Since I was on the Dec 7th cruise, I have no clue what he is talking about regarding announcements in the staterooms during the couple of rough sea nights:
I am a very light sleeper and do not remember and neither does Carla. Maybe he dreamed it or something.

Frank

Frank --

The travel writer's complaint was there were NO announcements reassuring everything was OK. I agree with Arlene, I certainly wouldn't care to hear them unless there was some sort of serious damage and he was just reassuring everyone that the vessel itself was in no danger.

Frank I believe he was saying he wanted to have those announcements, not that they did have them. :) I agree that I'd be furious if I was awoken to reassure me. Like Arlene said, he's on a ship. It's supposed to rock.

I didn't mind that he was comped. For the most part we all get the same service so I don't see the difference. (well not the room upgrades)

Thank you for Clarifying that point, I read his review, so I should of caught that. The Voyager rocked a bit, but it was nothing like when we were on our honeymoon in 2003, after all the voyager is a few years old now and you will hear a few creeks on her from time to time. In my opinion for a cruise ship of her size Voyager handles the seas excellent in my opinion.
I totally agree with Arlene: Its a SHIP and supposed to Rock.

Frank

I too am skeptical, or rather disappointed. IMO, ‘fansynancy’ has it right, as does FDV72. The bit about the announcements was unclear in the review, but I certainly hope they never resort to that UNLESS there is something you need to do – tie yourself into the bed, move elsewhere, etc.

The idea this is an independent, fair review is a farce, a mockery to those of us who’ve sailed many times with Radisson and Regent. And although we’ve sailed more than 200 days with RSSC, we’ve never been offered an upgrade except as part of a general promotion, which we declined. Neviboy is right on the money; a higher deck is not an upgrade, unless you like to bounce around more. We would love an upgrade to a penthouse on the Mariner, as long as it had a shower – can’t deal with the tubs on that tub! :app: The regular suites on Voyager and Navigator are more than enough, even for long voyages.

When all is said and done, Regent is probably still the best, but it just doesn’t seem as good as it did when it was Radisson. Too inflexible, not as customer-friendly, and much more expensive. Ah well, it was great while it lasted! And not bad now, with great hope for positive changes from the new ownership with the existing management team.

I didn't mind that he was comped. For the most part we all get the same service so I don't see the difference. (well not the room upgrades)

Arlene, I am probably one of the great exceptions to that rule.
My first cruise on Radisson was during the inaguaral season of the Voyager, I had had major problems after I booked...cancelling cruise, moving my date, downcrading cabin with no monetary recompense.
I then called Operations and 2 days later I was upgraded to a Penthouse suite. I cannot tell you how I was treated. It was as if I actually were a queen....dinner with the Captain, the cruise director, the lecturer, Sandra, social hostess, etc. I never had a dinner without a senior cruise member...everyone knew my name from the day I arrived. Operations had told the HD to make sure I was well taken care of, and boy, was I.
I know that is the exception, but it does happen to people much less important than a columnist.
To say the least, it was the createst of my 19 cruises, and will never happen again.
Lynn

We're one of the exceptions to the "no upgrades" rule also. However, I think we paid in non-monetary ways for our upgrade.

For our honeymoon on the PG in 2002, we booked the lowest level cabin (we stretched to be able to afford that). We had planned 3 days pre-cruise at le meridien also. We booked it all through our travel agent and had the cruise line arrange our air, hotel, trasfers, and everything. Getting there was a disaster. It's too long to type out, but let's just say the first night of our honeymoon was not spent in a suite at our hotel in Tahiti, but in the LAX airport hilton. We had to *fight* the airlines to get us there the next day (this took hours, multiple calls to our travel agent, and off-site management of air tahiti). Our travel agent was so upset with the way we were treated (again, long story, but RSSC was at fault for the problems that led to our being stuck in LA) she emailed a high up at RSSC (may have been the president?) and, well, let him know what she thought of how we were treated after all the money we gave them. He wrote back and said "they'll be taken care of once they get on the ship."

Well, after our 2 (not 3) days in tahiti, we went to board the ship, got in line for our deck, and when the RSSC woman pulled our card, she said "you have received a very nice upgrade!" She went somewhere else, and came back with room cards for us on deck 7 - the balcony suites.

So, RSSC caused a problem, and acknowledged it (after our travel agent told them to!) and tried to make up for it. Only problem - we were then spoiled. Instead of being used to a porthole room (that was our first cruise), we had a balcony. Now we just can't imagine cruising without one - bad to start out with high expectations!

So, I wouldn't recommend this method, but we got a "free" upgrade also!

:)
Liz

Upgrades - we had one for Lamb I did not think it was INEXPENSIVE by any means - we paid for the upgrade!!!!! discounted, yes, but still $$$$$$$$$

No upgrades here after 228 days!! :( :mad:

His remarks about the rough seas and announcements didn't confuse me, but I couldn't understand his problem. I had to wonder why he didn't call reception if he was worried about the conditions in the middle of the night - he wouldn't have an announcement in a hotel room would he?

We were only offered an upgrade once in our many days of cruising and it became clear to us later that they were trying to accommodate passengers who wanted adjoining suites - we didn't accept the offer because we needed a cabin with a shower (not available in the upgrade). Oh well, we always live in hope! :)