January 7th sailing out of Miami for our yearly Caribbean cruise with the Navigator. Our cabin on deck 6 was fine and our cabin attendant was wonderful. Regent has a loyal staff that have worked with them for years and it is always wonderful to have the same familiar faces welcome you, by name.

Food: For several years now Regent has downgraded it's menus and food quality. There are many wonderful dishes but the mediocre meals are now outnumbering the good ones. Sauces and gravies are poured over almost every dish. If you remember to ask for no gravy then you can at least taste the meal. The buffet breakfast is nice but never changes. The omelet station was terrible. They had a trainee there that had no idea how to cook an omelet, unless you wanted it dark brown when finished. Coffee is the worse drink on board. We had this experience last year and Head Office insists on buying coffee that tastes like stale burnt coffee. They have an elaborate coffee maker outside by the pool or in one of the bars that is great but are you supposed to bring your coffee to breakfast? We quickly, along with many others, started drinking tea. Their alternative dining room, Prime 7 is small and intimate. Nice menu and good food. The service is outstanding. The main dining room, Compass Rose can have good or bad service depending on where you sit. Only one maitre d, Jamal, maintained quality service in his area. Otherwise, you may get a long wait, the wrong food, no water refills, no dessert, forgotten courses and/or no complimentary wines with your meal. Not all, but most sommeliers are nothing more then wine serves. Once I got up and got the water jug myself and others around us laughed and asked me if they could have refills too. Same thing with refills of the white wines. Is this luxury travel with mediocre dinner service? At the prices Regent charges, these issues are unacceptable.

Excursions: Watch out for the "free" excursions advertised. Most are lousy, poorly planned and you no longer even get the rest stop with including snacks/beverages. I would prefer to pay more for a quality excursion. Now we only go on our own independent tours and have so much more fun. Again, Head Office is cutting back. Read more