Regent is the perfect blending of casual sophistication, lots of options, and the largest cabins in its class. The 700 Guest Mariner and Voyager have hit the sweet spot of available space and amenities to match. The Navigator, at 490 guests, is ideal for those seeking a more intimate experience.
Regent now includes a complimentary luxury pre-cruise hotel stay before each cruise. Guests have the option of taking an on-board credit if they choose to pass on the hotel night. Regent also includes so-called “two-for-one inclusive pricing”, free economy air, included shore excursions, drinks, and gratuities. This makes Regent the current leader in terms of inclusions but consumers are always advised to utilize our recommended costing formula to evaluate true value versus marketing hype.
Drinks are included, along with wines. Gratuities are not expected and all of the ships linens have been upgraded. Regent may offer the perfect blend of “not too much formality”, “ships large enough to offer amenities yet small enough to be called intimate”, and dining choices that create pre-meal excitement.
The line’s Mariner and Voyager offer the industry’s perfect blend of size(700 guests) and amenities, all-balcony cabins of 300 sq. ft.+. These are, hands down, the most comfortable and spacious lower-category categories in the luxury market.
When considering Regent for families, it is important to note that the Mariner does not have connecting rooms.
- Mariner & Voyager are well equipped with self service laundrettes. Navigator only has two. If planning to do laundry onboard, bring fabric sheets, no fabric softner provided. All laundry services are at no cost to guests. Navigator ‘s two lowest categories (G&H) are window suites. Ocean view window -6.5 feet wide does not open. Cabins that end in the number ’7″ are for triple occupancy. Regent is a member of the “Guild of English Butlers” a company created for the recruitment & training of butlers around the world. The ship’s butlers (for categories B & higher) provide everything from in-suite bar set up, afternoon canapés, packing, unpacking, laundry pressing (for a fee) or any special requests. Internet use is one of the few services for which there is an additional charge. Passengers can, for a $6.50 daily charge have a copy of their favorite newspaper transmitted electronically delivered to their cabin. Regent is one of the few luxury cruise lines that genuinely welcomes children & offers a dedicated children’s program during kids school breaks in summer months. All drinks are included, and guest can request from their steward bottles of wine or liquor(Grey Goose) etc. to their cabin. The only time there is a charge for liquor is if they request a high end scotch, or an expensive wine/champagne. Room service is 24 hours & many guests enjoy memorable dinners in-suite on their balcony. One of the four restaurants, Signatures, is actually operated by Cordon Bleu. Prime 7 is the highly-regarded steakhouse and there are no extra charges for reservations at either of these venues, although guests booked in the lower categories may be disappointed at their inability to book more than one or two nights in the specialty restaurants.
We think it is important to point out that several industry evaluation sources place either Seabourn, Crystal, or Silverseas above Regent in their rankings. In previous years, we felt that Regent could not be said to outrank these worthy competitors. In our latest ratings, however, we feel that Regent has one-upped it’s Five Star competitors with the industry’s best accommodations, food that is approachable and keeps getting better, and pricing that is, at this time, the most inclusive in the industry. Not one of their competitors is offering the combination of Free Airfare, Gratuities, All Alcoholic Beverages, and Complimentary Shore Excursions. Suite guests receive additional amenities that often include a pre-night hotel and complimentary Business Class air. Regent soars to the head of the pack with its consumer-driven amenities that simply make it a superior value for luxury that is less formal but every bit as personal as its competitors.
Regent is the best choice for those seeking a ship with full amenities. and the luxury sector’s best cabins. Couple that with the warmth of its crew, the stability of 50,000 ton vessels, and the amenities that a 700 guest ship can provide, and we must conclude that Regent ought to be among the lines first considered for the majority of upscale cruisers seeking informality coupled with elegance. (Note that the Navigator is a smaller vessel and carries just 490 guests. It is still considered an extremely low density ship. Given its size, we think that the Navigator should not be booked for longer sailings with potentially rough seas.
In 2012, Regent announced that it was changing the theme of its veranda restaurant to a casual Italian no-reservation required option called Setti Mare. The new restaurant is located on all three Regent ships and features appetizers and house-made pastas at a buffet or table-side, followed by entrees ordered off the menu. Guests who wish to go ashore in the evening will find Setti Mari to be a satisfying experience without the need for guests to allow more than an hour for their dinner. The majority of guests will want to linger, and the new Italian concept will make that possible with an expansive selection of comfortable yet refined Italian cuisine. The Veranda had previously been a rather difficult to describe “Mediterranean Restaurant.” Sette Mare has been a major success. Guests are able to select from a wide selection of premium Italian wines.”
“Want the truth. I would choose Regent again just for the bathrooms.”
“The best-kept secret for dining is the “almost always available” Terrace restaurant on the upper deck with its floor to ceiling windows, mini-buffet followed by a Mediterranean sit-down menu. We found the guests aboard our three Regent Cruises to be younger then the crowd on Crystal and bit hipper. Since we’re in our forties, this made a difference.”
“There was less staff-guest interaction on our recent Voyager sailing then we expected. The staff made very little effort to learn the guest’s names. At least that was true of the officers. The Indonesian’s in the dining area and around the pool were much friendlier.”
“I really liked the Concierge Desk. We were able to rent a car out of Sorrento and we drove along the coast, stopping at the Hotel San Pietro for a great lunch. One night we were exhausted and we asked to see the dinner menu. That night, as cruised off the coast, we were served dinner in our cabin with the sliding glass doors open and a clear view of the sea. It just doesn’t;t get any better or more romantic then that.
“Our recent Regent Cruise in the Med featured a former Concorde Pilot and one of the nation’s top sleep experts. I was fascinated by virtually everything these two gentleman had to say. Someone at Regent is doing a good job lining up guest lecturers. We don’t feel that positive about the evening entertainment. We would have preferred more lectures, feature films, or concert videos then the sorry attempt at singing and dancing. Cole Porter is so yesterday.”
“There is an elegance to Seabourn that we just didn’t feel on Regent. We were also disappointed that Regent staff made very selective choices in addressing guests by name. It seems not to be their normal policy. If Seabourn is the Ritz Carlton, Regent came off as more of a Hyatt.”
s more casual atmosphere, particularly as compared with what we experienced on Silverseas. The impression we had was that the Regent guests put up with dressing up once or twice during the cruise while the Silverseas crowd couldn’t wait to get in”
“There are some problems with the propulsion system on the Mariner. These have not been fixed and the ship is not capable of going full speed. Our sailing was able to do all ports on schedule but there was one afternoon off the Alaskan coast when we hit a bit of rough water and one wondered if the fact that one of the pods was messed up had anything to do with it. We had a wonderful cruise and will sail with Regent again. We won’t hesitate to sail the Mariner. But we wish we had been told prior to boarding.”
“There seems to be some confusion about the way Regent handles shore excursions. We just got off an absolutely wonderful cruise with them but we had arrived in a dither because our agent and Regent’s web site reported that all shore excursions were sold out – at least the ones that were complimentary. This caused more than a little anxiety but when we boarded the tour desk said that all but three of the tours were “wide open.”. It turns out, we learned later, that Regent’s shipboard computers “don’t talk” with the computers in their corporate headquarters. At this point, we would advise, that you not believe anything told you in advance about availability. Once on board, everything worked out beautifully.” ” Having sailed several of the Top-Rated lines, including Seabourn and Silverseas, we would rank Regent just below Seabourn and Silverseas because of the lack of European style and formality in the dining room. The lack of formal dress rules on Regent adds to a lack of true sophistication that we feel should be part of the traditional luxury cruise experience. We do not expect a “relationship” with our waiters or cabin stewards. We think that ratings ought to be based on class and civility. You will find a somewhat more refined group aboard Seabourn and Silverseas We were, quite frankly, rather shocked that Regent has no formal nights at all on any sailing, anywhere in the world, of fewer than sixteen days.” “We found the deck, dining room, and bar staff on the Mariner to be generally excellent. But the same cannot be said for the somewhat arrogant Front Desk. They should all be locked inside a Ritz Carlton for a month or two in the hopes that some of it might rub off.”