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Splendor February 2023: An Extremely Detailed First Timer's Review!

Tortola

My sister and I wanted to visit Istanbul on the newer RSS Splendor, so we were very happy that we made it to the Turkish ports of Istanbul and Izmir, which were the reasons for booking this itinerary. 

It was my sister's 1st cruise, and she loves cruising now!

I have sailed Regent, Oceania, and WindStar with husband and loved all voyages, but this was a girl's getaway. 

Pre-cruise, we arrived/deviated 2 days early, having booked at Grand Bretagne Hotel, the Star of Athens, IMO, and enjoyed  a lovely Full Day tour with WarmPenguin Tours. Since it was my first post-covid cruise, I was very happy with Regent's Online check-in, which made boarding in Athens/Piraeus so easy.

The Splendor is beautiful, but ship's artwork is so disappointing compared to other ships. I had booked a midship Splendor Suite, with bath and half, separate beds. I did due diligence, researching, and so inquired, should I switch since that suite' s comments mentioned pool deck noise overhead. Regent Rep informed my TA it was not the case.

Our Suite was beautiful, definitely smaller version of the 360º preview. The bed was not separated, per request, and staff seemed confused over it, but they separated bed while we were at dinner. Yes, there was a noise issue since it is under the Pool Bar. The bath was supplied with Guerlain, Acqua di Palma, and L'Occitane products.

Unlike other cruises, where we became fast friends with our butlers, even though we never used their services, our young butler lacked proactive skills (training?). We did not do canapés or caviar service, but we did use laundry service since it was much hotter than we anticipated. Breakfast in suite was luxury we enjoyed, but menu was limited.

Crew/Staff: Lovely and friendly, working so hard in several venues, whether restaurants, pool deck or bars. Such interesting conversations with international crew.

Food: Such a change in a few years or is it differences in ships?  The food was so not on same scale as previous cruises. Compass Rose coffee and Coffee Connection coffee was so bitter, we couldn't drink it. We switched to lattes.

The one time we went to Compass Rose for breakfast, we left early....the coffee undrinkable, all the melons and fruit unripe. The Avocado Toast was not toasted.

Room service shock: In Splendor Suite, we could not order from specialty restaurants (a Regent change from previous cruises or was my Butler more accommodating?). After a long tour, we did Room Service order while we watched a film. Instead of "hamburger", we were sent Ham and Cheese sandwiches! (but, we got our burger after calling again). 

Restaurants are indeed beautiful, but no dishes to brag on this cruise. My favorite dishes were not quite up to other ships'. My sister enjoyed her Korean lamb chops in Pacific Rim the most. I enjoyed the Sette Mari Carbonara the most. Of course, the best food is off the ship, eating locally!

Entertainment in Theatre was not up to Regent or Oceania standards. The best music and best cocktails were found in the Meridien Lounge, a delightful time. No one was in Casino, but we played Slots a short while.

Itinerary and Ports: 

1st Port Tour was trip from Kevala, Greece to ancient Phillipi ruins, which was quite interesting, and the view to the mountain range beyond was incredible. 

2nd and 3rd So glad Istanbul was 2 days, as it was our 1st time there, and it is amazing, bustling cosmopolitan city. The new Istanbul Galaport, full of shops, and cafes was easy to navigate, but it is a 15-20  minute walk to ship. We had arranged private KSG (Lale and Kagan Kosagan) tours both days, to take advantage of our time. The trams are jammed, and you must be careful on exit to street because you are in center of traffic. Taxis are plentiful. First day was Old City, where the Mosques are inspiring and beautiful. Take a scarf to cover head, and be prepared to remove shoes at each Mosque. We enjoyed Topkapi Palace grounds and Harem, learning Ottoman history. Second day, on Golden Horn, after Suleymaniye Mosque, we walked down to experience the Grand Bazaar, and all its' bustle, known for jewelry and Turkish products. Next, on to the Spice (or Egyptian) Market, full of wonderful, exotic aromas, (so easy to capture great photos here). We had wonderful experience sampling different Turkish Delights and Teas at the Bosphorus store. We lunched at wonderful 'Hamdi' restaurant with delightful guide, Lale, before returning to ship. From ship, you can experience Istanbul's amazing light show at night!

4th Izmir, 3rd largest Turkish city, very attractive with new and modern high rises, our gateway to ancient Ephesus!

We had Private Guide/ driver, and we really enjoyed the beautiful mountain countryside during our drive to Ephesus.

My sister's favorite tour (my 3rd time and I still am awed by its history), and I was extremely happy to see another 2 stories  of Terrace houses were uncovered, with absolutely stunning mosaics and murals! Wonderful Lunch with our Guides in Selchuk, enjoying our time with them, learning so much. Pointed out the Stork nests to my sister. Wow!

5th Bodrum, Turkey cancelled due to high winds, high waves, so that day was a sea day. But, why not another island? Too hard for logistics, I suppose? Fun for sister to see pool rocking because of waves that day! 

6th Mykonos, Greece We were tendered straight to Old City, and our time in port was shortened by 2 hours due to expected weather. We easily explored Old City, windmills, and shops ourselves. We skipped ship tour, preferring to savor our waterfront cafe's, Rouvera, food and wine offerings while we made room for local cat to join our seat. Mykonos does not compare to Santorini's vistas IMO, but travel to any Greek island is magical, right?

7th Athens Easy departure, to a 'Forced Hotel' for us since flights were full on disembarkation day. Unfortunately, the there is not much to see around the InterContinental, so we had leisurely lunch at local cafe, and went to bed early since we had to be in Lobby at 2.30 am for airport drive! Traveling is an adventure!

We had a fun voyage, lovely sister time, being pampered throughout. My sister will join me any time on another Regent cruise but we might choose a different ship in the future, to return to Regent's typically detail-oriented perfection.

Istanbul highlight of Cruise

Rarotonga

We chose cruise because of destinations we hadn’t been to, 3 of which were cancelled or changed. We emailed our disappointment but the company didn’t even have the courtesy to reply!!

Why on a luxurious ship are there no automatic doors in public places? Other ships have them so it can’t be due to weather conditions. It’s a hygiene issue 

Biggest niggle is the designated smoking area on deck 5 starboard! WHY PUT SMOKING AREA UNDER CABIN BALCONIES??? Spent 2 afternoons on balcony inhaling smokers’ smoke…. Disgusting and most unpleasant …. Put them on open top decks!!!

Entertainment pretty average/ American comedian pretty unfunny for Brits / singers shriek and nothing much to do on a sea day apart from silly games …. no destination speakers or other intelligent stuff apart from 1 speaker who was absolutely excellent! More like that please when we return next year! 

Finally…. no chocolates on bed with turn down service….. penny pinching?

Otherwise excellent!

Excellent apart from a few niggles

We chose Iceland as we had not been there before . It sounded great but in reality the places we visited were dull . The waterfalls were lovely but we did not have the opportunity to visit any volcanoes or geysers . Reykjavík was only visited on the morning before our flight home . No visit to the Blue Lagoon . The ship was beautiful . Food very disappointing . We had the best meals in SETI Mari . The speciality restaurants were dire . Poor quality , cold food . I have a gluten intolerance and they were all hopeless . In Pacific Rim I had pre ordered my food only to be told when sitting down that none of it was gluten free . Why didn’t they call me ? We were told it was Michelin Star standard , definitely not . Staff werelovely but many were ill with Covid and Norovirus both of which I came home with as did my travelling companions ! Shows were cancelled and the service was poor and slow because many of the staff were ill ! A very disappointing experience and we would not go on Regent again . Very expensive and not value for money .Oceania is different class to this and half the price ! 

The shore excursions were poor . Many of them full and we were left with the rubbish ones . We had extra day at sea because of the weather and no extra activities were laid on . One of the worst cruises we have ever been on

Poor cruise to Iceland 

Chose this cruise as wanting to do Iceland and everyday is a different port.

However, once money paid, a sea day was miraculously introduced, with no explanation why one port was no longer part of the trip. one and a half day in Runavik with not much to do, so not sure why and the next port was cancelled due to bad weather (had we not stay in Runavik for 1.5 days we would have avoided the bad weather and not missed the port).

Docking was far out in the middle of nowhere - assume due to cheap port fees. There were no other ships (usually there are a few). Anyway, I am sure Regent would cite operational reason and get away with it.

Misleading when advertised as luxury six star, and unlimited excursions and speciality restaurants.

Were not able to secure a number of excursions that we would have wanted to do (paid or unpaid), so in the end took ANY that was available and even then there were none for a few days. For the other days, it involved asking (begging) the obnoxious destination staff to be put on standby. It was truly a case of 'your excursions in their hands'!

Quite a few people were in same boat - and many were Regent veterans and were not pleased at all. 

For the odd excursions that we managed to get on, the management of the ticket and loading people onto the coaches were unorganised. Guides were ok but not firm enough so many times people wandered off and were late for the coach. This caused a delay to return to the boat and one time we got back, washed our hands, then arrived at the Veranda at 2:00 and were told sorry we are closed at 2;00 pm - great service!

Same story with speciality restaurants - only allowed three bookings (one per restaurants) prior to embarkation. Were told on board we could ask for standby and usually accommodated which we did but guess what, we got NONE. So unlimited is a marketing scam. That said, only the Pacific Rim was worth the bother, Both the french and Prime 7 restaurants served food that were not edible. We rarely left food but had to; lobster was rock hard and tasteless, snow crab also tasteless. Soup was way too salty and not authentic, also served luke warm. Had to ask for bread (on other cruises we would get a basket of bread). It's fine to reduce waste this way but waiters are so busy running around (the 1.36 ratio staff and passenger is another scam based on my observation. 

There were many many more dishes, although nicely presented, seemed to have been cooked by an apprentice and I am not exaggerating at all.

The best place to eat was the Compass Rose. Did not try the Sett Mari as they served more or less the same dishes as the Compass Rose. Really lack of imagination considering they seem to have access to many nice ingredients (such as lobster, crab etc).

Unlimited drinks seem to be good value, based on observation as I don't really drink much, half a glass of wine per meal would suffice. My partner does drink more than me but he might as well not bother, as the poor sommelier had to run from one end of the restaurant to the other.

In all the bars service was slow, so if you did drink a lot, there'd be a long wait.

One time my partner asked for a glass of Rose pre-lunch at a bar and was told they had none. 

I asked for a slice of lemon for my tea and was told in the Veranda they had none. 

On Oceania they had the smoothie bar and it was very well done. On Regent, you get a small watered down cup of juice and I had a feeling they did not want to do this either, instead preferring you to drink the carton juice. 

We mainly dined in the Veranda for breakfast and lunch. Nice presentation but choices limited. For instance I love soup but there was only one type, one day was potato soup which I find heavy and never wanted to eat that, there was no other choices. Roast was always pork so if you did not eat port, you are stuffed.

However there were salmon and big prawns. Unfortunately the prawns were tasteless (assume frozen and defrosted).

One plus point is the fruits at breakfast but other cruises have the same any way.

The spa was very nice as would be on most cruises. I had two treatments and for one of them (feet treatment) I was asked if I would minded to have my legs scrubbed to which I said yes (I often go for spa treatments in town and this is part of the treatment); but here  I was promptly told that would be 19 dollars extra (plus 20% tip). Was also offered warming boots also as extra on top of the 220 price tagged (265 including tips).

The INFINITY pool was situated behind the spa and I was determined to use it, as once again it was portrayed to be a heavenly experience. Ha!  It was a third of my swimming pool (in the south of france), so hardly infinity. Another misleading point, I think Regent should have a reward for being able to mislead so well.

There were many other issues but I can't be bothered now. Just wanting you all to consider before booking Regent.

Of note, I have done over 30 cruises with various companies including Oceania. I have found Oceania to be far superior than Regent on almost every count.

Misleading information

We chose this cruise line and ship as we had done two other regent cruises before and liked them very much. We want to be loyal and also know what we are getting for our money. Unfortunately we got surprises that underwhelmed us rather than brought us joy and delight. 

we were in a very expensive suite a Splendour Suite, the bed was fabulous, great bathroom and lounge room with desk table and dining table. it was deck 11 so very easy to get outside and to the pool.

ill list the areas of disappointment for what They call the " perfection cruising" they call themselves 6 star believe me it isn't.

1. the free champagne isn't a known French brand, why? the value and quality of it is probably about $35 usd to $42 USD a bottle considering they buy in bulk

2. barely any fresh herbs of good salads were ever served. only sliced tomatoes and bowls of cucumber to build your own?

so have that but also have interesting salads. healthy ones with spinach, quinoa, chives, parsley. i had a meeting with the European F & F manager after i got fed up especially after one lunch when to sliced tomatoes were basically white. They were an inferior quality and not even up to a supermarket standard let alone a top fruit shop. i told him it was totally unacceptable to serve such produce on a ship like this. thye should be having the very best of the best flown to each port. i never saw tomatoes that bad again to their credit.

3. La veranda the breakfast buffet was always so busy we could never get a table let alone a window table at breakfast.

4. So we tried Compass Rose, that was a disaster it took 55 minutes to get an orange juice as it had to come for the pool area then the entire breakfast took over one hour, lucky it was a sea day. we never went back.

5. the music OMG the music was SO BAD. the signature 5 piece Orchestra was very good but there was this lame pianist in the observation lounge who didnt sing and had such a limited repertoire that he didn't even play Tony bennet after he died and he'd never heard of Charles Aznavour.

then there was this Philippino duet who were the worst! the singer hit off key notes in every song. after two tries i gave up it was torture trying to listen to them, anyway they used an ipad synthesiser, just awful. so basically the cruise had no good music.

5. the shows were ok some better than others, but just mediocre cruise shows nothing so great

6. the  free tours which we agonised over selecting months before we embarked ranged from ridiculous to ok to once or twice actually good. one tour guide just dumped up and left before the time to meet, so we joined another group. then one guide had noting to show us in Helsinki so she made a large group tour the intestines of the public library. yep i got  to see empty cubicles where students study. probably not so much her fault as Helsinki is a woeful city with noting to see at all. another guide couldn't read a map and didn't bring his glasses and when i sort of gave up hoping to find any direction from him he yelled and bused me, there were other guests who were witnesses and they were shocked and said id don't nothing rude or wrong.

7 FOOD: almost ALL FOOD WAS OVERSALTED. the chefs for the most part are Indian. for some reason everything was so salty, very disappointing. i don't eat prawns of lobster but I'm Australian and let me tell you I now what good prawns should look like, i simply do not understand how other people didn't complain, they were tiny and looked like they had been bulk frozen and defrosted.

8 laundry, as we were travelling for 3 months having our laundry done was a huge benefit. for the most part it was done well and very nicely except for the last day

ill never forget what this butler did to our dressy clothes. they packed them into tiny packages smaller than a shoebox. ok fine if its Tshirts and casual tops but they did it to both of our jackets that had shoulder pads and to my silk and chiffon dresses. which i had devised a brilliant way of travelling with, in my dust bag and folded the ends of the dresses under all the clothing so it didn't crease i could go straight out to dinner immediately. they almost ruined our jackets permanently  if i hadn't seen what they had done before packing. the butler was a waste of money. he answered fast but he was in demand and took time to deliver food or drinks. eventually I had a system with him and a regular order at the same time for our OJ and coffee.

A sterile experience devoid of any fun, that has put us off cruising for good

St. John's (Newfoundland)

Myself and friends chose Regent cruise because we were past  Radisson-Regent passengers.  always wanted to go to Baltic but now no St.Petersburg (not Regents fault).  However right before cruise Regent cancelled Gdansk, which was a highlight.  We were never told why but other cruise lines went.

First  major caveat - the wi-fi was  a big  problem with with the premium package -  numerous cut offs during virtual conference calls and hard to access  web.  With a new ship in 2023 this was unacceptable.   

Restaurants were ok but the premium ones were hard to get into.   You get 3 reservations before you leave but we were told by sales person that because we were in a higher class suite the butler could get more - not true.  The butler was good and I believe he tried.  

Excursions - we were told by sales person that on board there would be programs on the history ports etc.  We had one  speaker about Russian politics- not a country on cruise.  I went on  three shore excursions from Regent during cruise - two were so-so, but the Finnish Art tour was the worst shore excursion I ever went on in over  40 years of cruising.  Guide spoke  little English, there was little to see and little information as well as a lost meeting place with bus.   if you are compelled to go with Regent use Tours by Locals or Viator - both good experiences.

Second major caveat - any problem is not addressed.  in example after the Finland tour  I spoke with 3 people during cruise - each one said they would report it and someone would contact me.  Never happened.  When I got back  I called the sales rep - same thing.  I then wrote Regent.  Almost a month later I got an email from Regent thanking me fir reporting the issues and advising me that they would contact the appropriate person.  This was so different from old Radisson-Regent where they tried to address issues and or dissatisfaction asap.  To be continually told an issue  would be reported and you would be contacted with no follow up is not what customers at this price point expect,

On the good side - boarding and disembarking were handled very well.  I got sick and medical staff was excellent (but very expensive).

Where did this cruise line go?

Ketchikan

Introduction

There were many wonder experiences on the trip, including arrangements for renewal vows for our guests during the cruise by the captain of the ship, but we were disappointed in the overall value due to the misleading advertising of “luxury perfected” by Regent.  I booked my hotels and flights independent of the cruise line on all of our previous cruise experiences with other providers.  On this occasion, we chose to utilize Regent Seven Seas to achieve the full “luxury perfected” experience and paid the cruise line directly to oversee the trip.  At the early stages of the process, we were informed by our Regent Seven Seas we needed to address any questions or concerns through our travel agent Island Travel.   

Details

Our first significant issue appeared with securing business class flights which were advertised as “included” with our booking.  When we asked to secure non-stop business class flights from Miami, we were told those would be “custom” and needed to deposit a $175 fee per person to access the Regent flight services.  American Airlines was the only commercial carrier which had non-stop flights to BCN and LHR and we wanted to ensure we held flights on our preferred dates early in the process.  Then there was the additional charge of $3,000 extra each. 

When inquiring about additional nights in London, Regent could not accommodate reservations in London for more than 2 nights, thereby limiting our post-cruise experience.  No alternative hotel accommodates were offered.  The hotel in Barcelona was a Leading Hotel of the world, but the rooms we were assigned were more like a three stars hotel, nothing like the lobby or the best suite we had booked while on the cruise. 

A week before the flight for our cruise, American Airlines called us directly to inform us we had been downgraded to coach even though we paid extra through Regent and had reserved 6 months in advance for the business class seats.  The change had appeared on the American Airlines website with the reservation confirmation as coach class seats.  American was informed the change was unacceptable, but made them without consideration.  We immediately informed our travel agent, who spoke to Regent.  We were informed Regent had no record of the change and were not making any effort to remedy the situation.  In order to secure our non-stop business class seats from MIA to BCN we had to travel a day earlier than originally planned.  The change forced us to make a hotel reservation for the additional night prior to the cruise at an extra cost, along with dinner and entertainment costs. 

Once upon the SS Splendor, the Regent ship staff seemed to blame any problems on the vendors, subcontractors or corporate and ship staff had no abilities to remedy.  That should not be our problem, that should be Regents and not the responsibility for the customer to fight with your subcontractors (airlines, hotels, excursion tours, transfers, travel agents) because we are paying Regent for the “luxury perfected” service which they were supposedly offering and providing.  

Some of my observations with the Regent Seven Seas include: 

1)	Changes in port itinerary and excursions changed without much prior notice; 

2)	We could not make any spa reservations online in advance;

3)	The coffee maker and the half refrigerator were not working in room our two bedroom suite;

4)	The meals in the premium restaurants were typically cold; 

5)	There were limited pre-destination lectures or the lectures were ad-hoc about the region; 

6)	There were no headsets on excursions making it difficult to hear and understand the tour guides, many of which had very thick accents.  Sometimes the speakers on the bus did not even work correctly.  Most coaches did not have toilet, tour guides and drivers paid little attention to the needs of the participants, especially getting on/off the bus or while on the tours, forcing me to assist other passengers.  Some excursions even had additional charges to gain admission or access to sights on the tours.   Several of the excursions had us lunching what seemed like a youth hostel with a bum half-dressed greeting us as we went inside for our meal. 

7)	The gym machines are nice, but only one working recumbent bike and dumbbell Weights only up to 50 pounds;

8)	The second Sunday brunch experience was very nice.  The displays and caviar breakfast on the 20th was also quite nice; 

9)	The afternoon tea had good sweets, but the tea choices were offered in average envelopes found in most grocery stores and not “luxury” tea bag.  While the savory choices were quite mediocre.  The music and entertainment seemed to work well for the experience;

10)	Our cooking class booked months in advance was cancelled the day before event; 

Conclusion and Summary

I have traveled on the Oceania cruise line on several other occasions, and did not see any significant upgrade in the quality of service with food, entertainment, excursions, amenities, experiences or the like on Regent’s Seven Seas SS Splendor ship.  We have always tried to book the better suites on any cruise line including Viking, Silver Seas, Azamara, and Celebrity, giving us a range of comparisons.  

Even though our trip was memorable and enjoyable overall, it was primarily due to the shared experiences with the people due to our own efforts with other travelers and staff while on the journey.   At this time, I would not recommend Regent to others over other providers due to the numerous issues.  

At the very least, I would hope Regent would revise their advertising to reflect a more honest representation of their services to the guest experience and services.  The additional unexpected costs incurred and frustration experienced with this vacation were a significant disappointment.   At this time, I would not choose or recommend a Regent cruise again.

Poor Customer Service and Value, but Nice Itinerary with Good People

Wellington

We were on Splendor, Miami to Lisbon March 28 and it was our second time cruising on this terrific ship. I plan on making this as thorough a review as possible, but also an abbreviated one. 

Pre night cruise hotel. As our flights from Savannah to Atlanta (then on to Miami) got so delayed we could not fly into Miami the day before embarkation….can’t comment on the Intercontinental, but am pretty sure it was quite a bit better than the AKA Brickell we were put up at on last March’s Splendor cruise. 

Embarkation - Regent met us at the airport embarkation day as we flew in from Atlanta that morning. For the most part, stress free and easy. Not so easy was the security company at the pier who seemed very “lost”. No fault of Regent. 

Suite - We were able to get into our Grand Suite at noon and it was ready to welcome us. Beautiful suite and our butler and cabin attendants were sensational the entire cruise. 

Itinerary - We wanted to do a TA and knew we could have some rough seas. After our Bermuda port of call, the Azores was cancelled very early by the captain due to weather and he took the ship on a more Southern sailing. Seas were fairly rough the entire cruise. Again, no fault of Regent but we would not do another ocean crossing knowing what could be “possible conditions”.  Suffice to say money spent pre cruise on motion sickness items was well spent. 

Restaurants - We ate at Prime 7 5 nights and all were terrific. Great food, service and connoisseur wine list was quite good, and we found it to be “reasonable”. Pacific Rim…..very mediocre with nice food but service was very rushed. An Asian restaurant has only one Saki available?? I am a hot Sake drinker so this was a major disappointment (cruise last March on Splendor….zero Saki..??) Chartreuse - not being fish eaters and although french from Montreal originally, we do not like heavy sauces with butter. Just the smell while walking towards the restaurant we found off putting. That is on us and we did not dine there once. Sette Mari….Very good food and service and we ate there 2 nights. Hard to screw up pasta but their’s was quite good. We very much enjoy the ambiance of this place and we’re lucky to get tables by the windows both nights. Compass Rose…..beautiful space and great service. Food was quite good for dinners and the 2 breakfasts we had there. Pool buffet……love the peel and eat shrimp and burgers quite good. Very good pizzas. Room service…..unfortunately, I came down with a pretty good cold so we decided to have room service 2 nights. Our butler did a terrific job of getting food to us promptly, but even with that, food was mostly “cool” and average, at best. La Veranda….good but no “wow” factor.  

Bars - a real hit here. Pool bar staff were so nice and accommodating as were bar staff in Meridian and Splendor lounges. Terrific cocktail choices and Observation Lounge was a pre-dinner hit. We found all venues had excellent music and the CD, Jude, was a gem and very engaged with all passengers. 

Staff - extremely friendly and helpful anywhere on the ship. 

Post cruise - We decided to spend a couple extra days in Lisbon and our TA suggested staying at Bairro Alto Hotel. Superb and would highly recommend it. Lisbon is one of our favorite cities and exploring it again was terrific. 

We love the Regent brand and are now looking at Grandeur cruises.

Great cruise

The Regent Seven Seas Splendor is splendid! The ship is an absolute beauty. The decor is fantastic and whoever chose the combination of styles and fabrics should be commended. Everything about the Splendor is first-rate and I believe that is the goal, which is why I'm going to be somewhat nit-picky. My only area of complaint is in food service, which is a bit uneven. The food itself was always very good, but the timeliness of the service was lacking on occasion. For example, we had lunch at Prime 7, and two couples came in five minutes after we did and received their meals of ribs and burgers and we had yet to get our soup. I realize in the post-Covid cruising world much of the staff is new and have yet to find their footing and at times they seemed to be understaffed at bartender. This is why I would give it 4.7 instead of 5.

CABIN: We were in #8** Concierge level and we loved it. The decor was outstanding, the bathroom marble with a bathtub and separate shower: Complete with rain shower! There was a walk-in closet with plenty of space, free laundry service, and a guest laundry just down the hall. They knew it was my wife's birthday and decorated our cabin with a banner and balloons. The cabin staff was great and were never too far away when you needed them.

SPA: Excellent. We had a two-thousand dollar shipboard credit and we used it all at the Spa.

RESTAURANTS: All great! The Sunday Brunch at Compass Rose was fantastic!

ENRICHMENT/ENTERTAINMENT: With six consecutive sea days the lectures have to be interesting. The trick is making your Spa appointments in between lectures and meals. There also have a very good library.

PASSENGERS: I estimate the average age to be about 75, a lot of retirees, and a very friendly, educated crowd.

EMBARKATION: A computer problem made it slow, but once it was solved, it went smoothly complete with welcome champagne and lunch. Our suitcases arrived promptly and there were no other issues.

DISEMBARKING: A bit odd. They really rushed us off the ship, I don't know if it had to do with local regulations, but they wanted everyone off by 9:00 AM. Having said that, it was very smooth with no issues.

FLIGHT HOME: This is what separates Regent. We arrived in Lisbon but we wanted to spend time in the region and leave from Barcelona. Regent arranged our flight home from Barcelona. The flight is included in the fare and it was business class on American with the use of the VIP lounge in the airport. 

CONCLUSION: The Seven Seas Splendor is a beautiful ship and the service is excellent. The food is terrific and the experience is luxurious all around. It is not for younger people who want more excitement. It's expensive, but you get a lot for your money. I will cruising with Regent in the future.

SHOULD BE 4.7

Back to cruising! 

After four long years the time had come to return.

First, a little about myself as it can help frame a review. I started cruising when I was 25 (and was practically dragged on board by my best friend!)  and was instantly addicted. My partner and I are both in our late 50’s (in my case, unfortunately only for another few days!) and we have recently  tended to cruise on/in  “ships within a ship”.  These have included The Haven, The Retreat and the Yacht Club. Our previous smaller, luxury ship sailings  were a mixed bag  for us. 

Now, as I am about to turn 60, my usual unfiltered comments (that have gotten me into trouble before)  that follow will become increasingly “free” …

 My review will sound SUPER critical but as I’ve stated before, this is Cruise critic, NOT Cruise Sycophant!  I will preface this statement by saying we had a FABULOUS time but noted many shortcomings, some easily fixed and some not. I’m going to jump from topic to topic and maybe occasionally contradict myself.

Now I KNOW I’m going to ruffle some feathers …. I’m placing my critical thoughts among MANY “True Believers” who have sailed many times and have hundreds of nights booked.  I have no allegiance to Regent and hopefully bring an experienced eye after sailing on, well, almost everyone! I have tried to be honest and convey what I experienced - your experiences may well have been different.  The goal is to be helpful for others, like me, who were/are considering Regent.

The Night Before

We booked our flights and hotel independently and took the cash credit as I like to micromanage all that stuff.

We stayed at The Savoy in South Beach for one night before our cruise - it’s a tiny 31 room Art Deco gem with great rooms. The lobby, while nice, is really only one front desk person but the pool, rooms and beach more than make up for it.

We used Uber Comfort for all of our transfers and all the rides were in nice, new cars with great drivers.

The Ship

Our Superior Suite had one of the interesting, forward facing angles  balconies that was great - if you could get outside! The locking mechanism was misaligned with the door frame and it took ALL of our effort to open the door. Numerous trips by maintenance never got the issue resolved.

The furnishings were extremely high quality but I wish that all of the luxury lines would opt for light or “summer” duvets as it got extremely hot.

The cabin was immaculately clean  but strangely showing signs of wear in numerous areas. The faux plastic moldings aren’t particularly durable. I wasn’t a fan of the long, walk-in closet with the lighting not really illuminating the cubbies and shelves.

The decor in the ship  overall was quite luxe if not always to my taste. Great artwork everywhere!  Decks 4 and 5 in particular had a grand, ocean liner feel to them and the overall layout was good. There were many varied and interesting floral bouquets throughout this area.

The “Infinity Pool”  isn’t really one  as while in or in front of it,  you can’t see beyond the cloudy rear wall. 

I noted one particularly  irritating and one MAJOR design flaw based on the many ships that I have sailed on.

The “irritating” was the numerous sets of doors on deck 11 that were not self opening or closing. The doors leading outside at La Veranda self open so why can’t the others?  From the forward elevator lobby to the entrance of La Veranda, one always seems to be opening and holding doors for someone else. Just strange considering the target audience. 

The major is the absolutely too small pool/resort decks on 11 and 12.  Why is there so much chair hogging? Because there  isn’t enough deck space and there aren’t enough chairs!

  “Luxury” isn’t arriving at the pool deck every morning at 7 to get a chair in the shade. The decorative dividers at the sides on Deck 11 creating “mini cabanas”  take up a lot of space. Their removal would facilitate adding more chairs.

Why there isn’t a deck 15 (and 16!)  forward sun deck is mind boggling. Not wanting people over the Regent Suite is a ridiculous answer.  Put in some stairs and a gate, only have it open from 9 until 6 and put in some insulation. Problem solved.


The Alcohol

The cocktail quality overall was SUPERB - like, really the best! The mixology at the Meridian Lounge was beyond inventive and creative.  I think I had one “ bad” cocktail all week and I put that down as my choosing poorly.

I had needlessly  worried about the complimentary wines based on prior reviews and while a daily printed list would have been nice, it wasn’t necessary. It was immediately obvious that the sommeliers have been instructed to offer cheaper wines, but some polite engagement and humor got us great choices.

As an example, I was offered a pinot at our lunch at Chartreuse with him practically pouring before I could answer. I smiled and asked what he had in a white. He started with offering a Sauvignon Blanc, moved onto a riesling and then asked about a California Chardonnay. I asked if a Chablis was available and moments later it was poured! It does put more pressure on you knowing what YOU want but not a biggie.

The pool bar’s main bartender, I Gusti was fabulous but ridiculously overworked. This area was frequently understaffed and resulted in some guests practically vibrating in irritation which I found strangely amusing!

The Entertainment

A bit of a mess …..but not for the reasons you think.

I like to dine late (8 or later)  which was compounded by the fact that the earliest reservations available for the specialties was 8:30 or after. All the lounge entertainment, however,  came to a grinding halt at around 7:30 and was quiet until 9.

So -  if I have a dinner reservation at 8:30, it means no band, Gino (fantastic)  or anyone else for that matter with my pre dinner cocktails. And seeing the show? Impossible as I’m still eating.

This really falls on the CD and head office … stagger the entertainment in the lounges from 6 until 9:30 and offer an early show at 6. Problem solved.

The Dining

Generally excellent to superb with some curious and glaring misses.

I’ll break it into the various venues:

La Veranda

An “old school” ship’s buffet with a surprising lack of high end ingredients. As expected, food from the chafing dishes was lukewarm at best.  I would have thought that action stations with smaller portions laid out would be the way to go.

I enjoyed the eggs brought to my table at breakfast but the rest was “meh”. No berries or exotic fruits.  Cocktail shrimp in a bowl, not shrimp cocktails or jumbo shrimp. The breads, like everywhere else on the ship, lacked variety and taste and I’m somewhat suspicious that they were from frozen dough.

The cheese selection at lunch was shockingly bland - I’d say “Costco '' but my local store has waaaaaaay better choices!

Pacific Rim

Truly a jaw dropping space with its high ceilings and downtown restaurant vibe. But - bland food served only slightly warm. A big disappointment. High end ingredient food-court Asian.

Chartreuse.

Two dinners and one lunch. The first dinner was “off” (food thermal problems again) but the restaurant redeemed itself on subsequent visits. Finally some decent cheese - but brought out on a plate with no choice.

Prime 7

We ordered waaaaaaaay too much and were embarrassed at how much we left. All hot, delicious and satisfying.  I wished the steak were a bit better but I’m really quibbling here!

Compass Rose.

A winner - easily among the best main dining room food experiences we’ve had at sea. I’m not a fan of big, noisy rooms but it just all works.

Pool Grill

Hit or miss depending on your server. The only restaurant where they got orders wrong.

The Lobster Nachos have nothing wrong with them that some lobster couldn’t solve and the burgers are obviously frozen, preformed patties. Simply unacceptable.

The other items available were generally excellent

The ambient music in the restaurants is generally terrible - not dissimilar from what you would hear in a supermarket.  Different playlists in the various areas - let’s say Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennett in the Prime 7 and  French contemporary music in Chartreuse for example would be a vast improvement.

Sette Mari

I’ve saved the worst for last. A train wreck. We arrived at 8 and were told it would be about a half hour wait. We said “no problem” and headed down to the Meridian Lounge. At 8:40, we were just getting out of our seats to head to Compass Rose before it closed when they told us our table was ready. 

We headed upstairs and went directly to the antipasto buffet which was basically picked clean - platters almost empty and some not even there. The food that arrived was fine but the noise level, clanging of dishes and overall ambiance was awful. We left before dessert and witnessed waiters emptying industrial strength biscotti from packages onto plates. We were so upset that we sacrificed a Compass Rose for this mall food court experience

I would have been perfectly fine with an honest answer when we arrived, namely: “we’re so sorry but we really underestimated the number of people tonight and are full for the evening.  You can go to Compass Road or let me phone the other restaurants to see if they can seat you anytime soon”.

Shore Excursions

All Excellent. I did the Jolly Roger snorkeling in Roatan whereas my partner did the horseback riding. An excellent dolphin encounter in Cozumel (I did my research - supposedly the animals are treated well in this one) and a positively spectacular Private Beach Villa at Harvest Caye.

Still - the cattle call in the theater in Roatan was ridiculous. Where’s the “luxury”  in 600 of us sitting and waiting to be called?  I’m a recovering luddite but an app which would tell us it’s time to go would be a far better solution.

The Crew

Almost uniformly superb. Just wonderful. The only less-than-idea/friendly staff stood out in comparison. I have to mention the servers at the pool grill who just weren’t particularly engaged.

Fellow Passengers

Despite all of my criticisms, this is where Regent shone.  Bar none, easily THE nicest and loveliest group of people we have encountered on a ship. I didn’t have to give the stink eye to anyone!

Interesting, varied backgrounds and all ready to chat and have a drink - my kind of people.

I was taken aback when I was chatting with one lady in her late 70’s (?) who asked if I had sailed on Regent before. I told her my cruise history and she was surprised and asked what I thought.

I said I loved it but wished it were a bit better in various ways. She said “true, but where else would I meet someone as lovely and nice as you!”. She made my day!

The Bottom Line 

A fantastic  time on a great “old school” product that really needs some attention to detail. I liked my cabin and appreciated the high end furnishings and finishes. Generally great food and fabulous cocktails. An almost universally excellent crew but noticeable absence of senior officers including the General Manager, F and B director and Captain doing the rounds. It’s not for show - it’s to actually witness on a random basis what’s going on and what people are saying.

An absolutely terrific group of fellow travelers!

Would I return?

At present - no. The lack of shade and jostling for chairs is a real deal breaker for me. The stories are true. It’s really an unwanted stress on vacation. The “rigidity” of timings of meals and entertainment is also not ideal.

Again - an excellent product but just not  for me at this time.

I have high hopes for Explora Journeys and have a few cruises booked. I’m hopeful that their less structured product and truly vast outdoor and covered pool decks may be a better fit.

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