We booked this cruise (our 4th with Regent) about 7 weeks out on a H suite guarantee basis having seen a good deal. The following week the price was hiked up by more than double!! All the included BA flights had gone so instead of paying a supplement we accepted the SAS flight half an hour earlier at 07.15 from Heathrow. We checked in on line and printed our luggage labels in the machine in T3 but then we had to join the long queue to drop our bag which took over an hour! Our agent told us we would have breakfast served on the flight but as Regent had booked us on the cheapest SAS Go ticket all that is included is tea or coffee. The Regent rep met us at the baggage belt in Stockholm and as soon as we found our bags they were taken from us and the next time we saw them was in our cabin. The transfer to the ship took about an hour and we were soon on board checking in with our half glass of champagne (not sure why they are so mean on boarding when the rest of the time the glasses are filled?).

This was a fairly slick operation and we were able to have lunch on board. Cabins were ready about 14.30 and we met our steward who looked after our cabin for the voyage. She also organised our two bottles of spirits in the cabin. The cabin was kept spotlessly clean throughout and well stocked with towels etc. The food on board was pretty good as usual with the steaks really tasty in all the various formats and restaurants. We managed dinner one night in Prime 7 which was excellent and two in Signatures which was equally good (these two restaurants don't have a sign outside for some reason so they are difficult to find?) The wine choice wasn't so good on this cruise compared to previous cruises and the sommeliers didn't seem to know what they had in stock. Wines we had found to our taste on our previous cruise on Mariner in Nov 2013 weren't available on this cruise. We did find an acceptable Bordeaux and a Gavi but they weren't anything to write home about. This was probably our biggest disappointment on the cruise. In Compass Rose restaurant they only have one sommelier on each side of the large restaurant. They also have wine waiters who will dish up the standard wine from the menu but if you want something different you need to get hold of the sommelier which can be difficult when it is busy.

The dress code on Regent continues to slide downwards. Our 10 night cruise had no formal nights and whilst every night was supposed to be "elegant casual" we did see jeans and t shirts after 18.00. Signatures and Prime 7 did tend to be a little smarter with most men wearing a jacket but few suits or ties. My suitcase will be considerably lighter next time as I will shed most of the smart clothes. Read more