We have cruised on Regent multiple times and have enjoyed every prior cruise. We have cruised with our TA and met many wonderful posters from this and other boards. We are big Regent fans but noticed considerable decline in this sailing experience.
We felt let down in terms of service and the quality of provisioning on this trip. Perhaps some of the problems can be attributed to this being the first cruise after a drydock and they were simply not as ready as they should have been. However, I have sailed on Voyager after a drydock and had a wonderful experience. Something was definitely not right on this cruise as evidenced by the senior HQ staff that came onboard a few days after we sailed.
My sense is that the slippage in service, quality of meals, poor provisioning, low morale onboard of both passengers and staff makes me wonder if there are bigger issues brewing behind the scenes. I hope not because as a past cruiser I am a big fan but as someone who has to work hard to save money to go on trips like this I also want to get what is promised - at a minimum they should deliver on at least meeting my expectations based on my previous cruises on Regent. We also paid a premium as it was priced higher being a "holiday" cruise. Truly, after you make final payment, you have very little recourse - you lose the time spent on the cruise and you lose your money. You come home unhappy and disappointed.