Hi everyone: I have previously submitted reviews of our experiences on Crystal, Oceania, Seabourn, and Silverseas. This time we decided to try Regent Seven Seas. We had heard they are the best in terms of overall luxury. At the outset let me say two things: 1. We had a great time on each of these cruise lines. We were fortunate not to have experienced any disasters like lost luggage, getting sick, horrible service, horrible rooms, cancelled cruises, etc. Furthermore, the staff on each of these cruise lines was fantastic. 2. As I'll shortly discuss, my new favorite is Regent. (It used to be Oceania.) But this is subjective. I have spoken to others aboard this same Regent cruise that I am on, and a few prefer Oceania; a few prefer Silverseas, and a few preferred Crystal. Sorry! I know that doesn't help But as a chef on this cruise said: at this point, the differences are small. As he said, on Seabourn there is more free caviar, but on Regent, there is more free lobster tail. You get the picture, I hope. Now, on to the review: I have always stressed the food as the main topic I discuss, and the criterion I use to judge among all these top cruise lines. Your priorities may be different. While Silverseas did offer a choice of pillows that Regent did not, the food on Silverseas was my least favorite among these cruise lines. I had felt that the "expensive stuff"--like lobster, tuna, steaks, etc., was missing on Silverseas. For the amount we paid for the cruise, this was inexcusable. While the food on Crystal and Seabourn was better than on Silverseas, I had liked the food on Oceania the best. I think that I will now have to go with Regent as being best in the food department, but it really is too close to call. It may just be that I enjoyed the choices (menu items) on the 10 day Regent cruise more than those on the Oceania 10 day cruise. Regent recently added lobster tail as a daily choice on their dinner menu. Oceania also offers this. While Oceania also offers sushi and sashimi nightly, I felt it was always "sitting" in it's water as it defrosted, and was not that enticing. The sushi and sashimi on Regent is not served every night, but when it is, it is of a higher caliber. Regent also serves seared tuna pieces quite often, and they are definitely "sushi" caliber. Somehow I enjoyed dinners more on Regent than Oceania despite the fact that Regent does not offer lamb, aged steaks, pork steaks and tuna steaks every night as does Oceania. I felt the nightly menus on Regent were better. They offer more choices and more side dishes. The steakhouse, "7", on board the Regent Voyager is excellent as are the specialty restaurants on the other cruise lines as well. The steaks are aged and appear to be cooked in the same super hot oven that real steakhouses use to get that "crust." However, many guests were not thrilled with the other specialty restaurant on the Voyager, Charteuse. Tea time, however, definitely goes to Oceania. The pastries at Tea time on Regent are simply not as good as those on Oceania. However, Regent has a better selection of cookies than does Oceania. Most days for lunch, the grill is open on Regent, and you can choose from swordfish steaks, tuna steaks, salmon and tuna burgers, pork chops, lamb chops and steaks. This does come close to making up for the fact that these items are not served nightly on Regent as they are on Oceania. Aside from the grill, I think Regent had more lunch choices than did Oceania, but as I said: it's almost a toss up. Breakfasts are all similar: plentiful with the same options. I didn't find much difference. The ships' layouts are quite similar between this Regent and the Oceania ships we have been on. (Sorry, I forget their names, but they should be in my previous reviews.) The room on Regent is larger than on Oceania. And I think I am comparing like cabins. Regent has a separate sitting room with a couch, separated by a curtain, as did Seabourn. The Oceania cabin did not have this. Also, the shower on Oceania is comically small. On Regent, it is bigger and you get a full size bath tub as well. There is much more closet and shelf space on our Regent room than there was in our Oceania room. Service on all these high end cruise lines is the same as far as I can tell. The gyms were also similar. Same for pool and hot tubs, sauna and steam room. Internet is a disappointment on Regent as it was on all the other cruise lines. But, it seemed to at least work in terms of being able to check emails, etc. I seem to remember Silverseas internet being very bad, and Oceania's not much better. Excursions and alcohol, and everything is included in Regent. On Oceania, you have to purchase a beverage package and excursions are not included. My wife found the wine "pours" much more generous on Regent. and, since she bought the wine package on Oceania, this surprised us, since in essence each pour is free--so why wouldn't they pour a more generous amount? Entertainment is similar among the cruise lines whose names I have mentioned. To sum things up: many guests let the destinations dictate which cruise line they took, since they are all so similar, and each shines in a different way. My favorites are Oceania and Regent; my wife loves Seabourn. We were both disappointed in Silverseas. We felt Crystal has declined in recent years. I believe they were sold and this may be why, but they are still a top choice among many other passengers we spoke to. (And, in all fairness, many also like Silverseas.) Thanks for reading, Mike January 2019 Read Less

Chose Regent for its all inclusive and luxury claim. While the accommodations were excellent and the food was good the overall pool grill and veranda restaurant service was less than stellar. No table service. Customer must find a table, obtain a tablet umber, the proceed to cafeteria line and place order for breakfast or lunch. Self service only. Many times no clean tables available outside. 20 minute wait for hot dog or hamburger is unacceptable. Ice tea orders taken but rarely fulfilled. Combined liquor and ice tea orders seemed to confuse staff. Lots of service staff running around but little organization. All inclusive luxury does not include caviar. One dolop rationed at Sunday brunch ONLY. At other times caviar available for a charge of $100 to $175. Preposterous!! Embarkation a bit slow but acceptable. Disembarkation very smooth and fast. Only hiccup came upon embarkation where instructions sent us to wrong dock for boarding. Read Less

We had booked a suite high and forward to limit the effects of the vibrations, i was surprised, not bad at all. The ship is smaller so it took me a while to get adjusted to the ceiling height and general smallness of the ship, it needs refreshing and i heard it was due in the near future. The smaller ship gives you a more intimacy feeling. The stewardess were as usual amazing , always smiling and they have the worst job, cleaning up after us. There was a small decrease in quality of the service especially on the veranda. Maybe a very small decrease in the number of staffs The food was very good with a few hiccups, soufflé's are basically warm cake, good but not a soufflé , the pastry/croissant were not as flaky as in the other ships, the french baguette was amazing, the selection of cheeses was very limited, every day i saw the blue cheese, there is thousand of cheeses in the world , could have been better, the food was very good in general The excursions were fine, the buses 70% of them were uncomfortable if you were unlucky on being the last ones on the small bus, you were stuck over the wheel with your knees in your face. The organization for the excursions , checking in was bad, especially when the others ships have a different system, you come in, checkin, they give you a number then you sit until your number is called, here everybody would line up until they called your excursion number, and you do not want to be the last ones on the bus, so most people are standing to get their buses tickets Tenders , especially the first one was horrid , they picked up on it and got better. We missed the meeting of the waters, the negro river and amazon because the ship was late leaving the port by one hour, got too dark, i blame the captain, he should have been more organized or in the morning announce the event by speaker. Overall, a good trip, what made the difference was the speaker Terry Green, she made this cruise, she was terrific , and reading the river of doubt , which narrates the expedition of Teddy Roosevelt down the amazon was also very helpful. The cruise director Andy is terrific as are all of the crew, always smiling and greeting you. Read Less

This was my first Regent cruise. It was chosen for its itinerary and except for one stop, it was wonderful. PROS: Smaller ship means smaller number of passengers, easier to maneuver on board. Crew was exceptional. Everyone, from tender attendants to officers were pleasant and engaged with the guests. They truly made you feel welcomed and special. The 24 day trip allowed you to form friendships with fellow guests and staff. The all inclusive aspect of Regent is a joy. No worries- all is included! Entertainment was top notch. The Orchestra had such talented musicians, the singer/dancers were broadway-worthy and most of the guest entertainers were entertaining. CONS: Navigator has a lot of vibration. I did get used to it but took a few days. One of the shore stops was awful. Boca De Valeria was purely a staged "village" fill of children begging for attention but 8n reality they want you money. I do understand that tourism is important for these people but I also feel that it was a total waste of a day. Another day in Manous or Santarem would have been much better. There were so many sites to see in those cities and only 1 day each was not enough. Overall, I loved this cruise and the Navigator. Looking forward to another Regent vacation!! Read Less

November 25,2018 to the Amazon Very enjoyable, but would not say that the Amazon is interesting.Just another muddy river with very little of interest. In spite of this, the cruise and ports in the caribbean are OK. Ship nice,very clean and welcoming.. We are not entertainment or late night types so the quality of show is not applicable to us.o us. The only short coming is the PRIME 7 restaurant. It brings down the quality of the ship.. The food is bad and we can assure you that most passengers who tried it did not go again.The food elsewhere on the ship is far better. All areas of the ship were were clean and well kept. Drinks were readily available Pool deck nice, not noisy and service excellent. At all times service was superior. Always with a smile, Quick and professional. Unfortunately we contacted bronchitis, so we missed some of the excursions, but the ones we did go on were fine. Read Less

Nov. 27, 2018 Mariner Papeete to Auckland The following experience optimizes what makes a Regent Cruise so wonderful. It's the exceptional, sincere, and kind individuals that work together to create for guests a once in a lifetime celebration and memories. We chose this trip because we vowed to return after 20 years to the places where we honeymooned. I mentioned to Sunil, our butler how my husband John was my hero and superman for when he married me, a widow, he took on the responsibilites of two greiving  teenagers and ill and declining parents. I wanted to thank him with a surprise German themed evening of food and music. It brings back his happy memories of his parents of German descent. I thought we might have dinner in our suite and perhaps hear a couple German tunes where the musicians were playing that evening. Here's the amazing evening that Sunil flawlessly executed with the help of Marius, Chef Wesley, Kasha, Anyje, Boogie, Zach and their fellow performers. When we returned from our shore excursion, Gretchen and Deborah who kept our room always tidy, had beautifully decorated our suite. Towels were creatively transformed into swans forming a heart messaging I ♡ YOU on the confetti strewn bed. Red and white ballons with ribbon streamers were everywhere. We were then invited to the Mariner Lounge where Kasia and Antje greeted us in their German durndl dresses. They had planned a unique and upbeat show of beer toasting, music, song and dance. The girls wisked my joyful husband to the dance floor where he joined the dance and returned misty eyed. I am amazed how they came up with such a professional costumed show with such short notice. Brendon and Nathan said they had just finished learning their parts that afternoon. You would never suspect as it was executed with  perfection and all in attendance throughly enjoyed the upbeat energy of their performance. We then returned to our suite for dinner where Marius and Chef Wesley wished us a happy anniversary and presented all of John's favorite German dishes: his mother's Sauerbraten, schnitzel, spaetzley, pretzels and Asparagus soup served with a nice Reisling wine. I had mentioned to Sunil that John enjoyed a cigar and whiskey after dinner. He suggested that a taste of Louis XIII Cognac would make a nice gift from me. I agreed so we surprised John once again with a stroll to the cigar lounge were Sunil made a white gloved ceremonial presentation of this special indugence. We then caught John, the cruise director's excellent show. When we returned to our room there was yet one more surprise: a black forest cake topped with a fondant sculpture of Superman carrying me reminiscent of our original wedding cake. John's dad was a master baker and played trumpet in a German folk band and he would have been impressed. We were never charged for any of this. Regent doesn't nickle and dime you. They just treat you special all the time. We love that you never put your hand in your pocket once on board. You just sit back enjoy and let them pamper you So you see all of these wonderful individuals went over board to gift us an evening we will forever cherish. They make a Regent cruise special. Read Less

This was our first time on the Voyager, and it will probably be our last. The staff was, as always, wonderful. However, the service in Compass Rose was excruciatingly slow; so much so that we just stopped eating there and relied on room service and the pool grill for dinner. As others have mentioned, you had to ask for refills of water, wine, etc, and that has never happened to us before on any Regent cruise. And the food was just mediocre. It felt as if they were just using up whatever food was onboard before the ship got to Miami. Not impressed at all. The Cruise Director (not allowed to name him, but he is a fairly new CD, and perhaps that was part of the problem) was not visible at all on the ship, and when he was, he was rather stand-offish (I heard the adjective "arrogant" used more than once). The whole social vibe of the cruise was off; the members of the production crew were not very engaging (we've always enjoyed spending time with them during the social games, or after hours, but not on this cruise...they just didn't interact well with the passengers). There was no interaction between the Cruise Director and the Social Hostess, which is unusual. Just a strange, not friendly, atmosphere. We were very impressed with Terry Bishop, who was both a lecturer and singer/comedian. We were not impressed with the production shows, but this was the last cruise for that crew (their contract is up), and they all got off the ship in Miami, so perhaps that had something to do with it. The maintenance of the ship was poor. We heard several first time cruisers with Regent comment that it looked like Regent had stopped putting any money into the ship and was just biding its time until it could sell the Voyager. Crew members started painting and fixing the ship up about a week out of Miami...come to find out it was the first time the Voyager was going to be in the US in 9 years, and they were spiffying it up for the Regent bigwigs and/or the authorities in Miami. Too bad the paying customers weren't important enough for a spiffy ship (and yes, I got that info from a high level staff member). Captain Stan did a great job routing us around the bad weather and rough seas, but we did miss Madeira Island and Bermuda (the two places we really wanted to visit). He did manage to add on Saint Maarten, but it was just a short visit. However, it kept us from being on the open seas for 9 days straight. We love Regent, but did not book another cruise while on board. There was just too much off about this cruise for us to book with them again for a while. Hopefully this was just an anomaly and not the new norm...because they do seem to be moving more and more in the direction of NCL. Read Less

The embarkation was very quick and we were on the ship in minutes.We really enjoyed ourselves even though unfortantly we missed a couple of ports because of the weather.We were busy all the time with several wonderful lectures from Terry and Adam,drinking and eating too much and the entertainment on the ship was wonderful. David Niven was not only a hard working wonderful cruise director but put on a show that brought down the house. The cabin was excellent and really even though we had a butler it really was not necessary the food in Compass Rose was very good and if I had a complaint some of the food was warm not hot when I got it. Chartuse was nice but their menu was limited but dover sole was delicious Prime 7 was wonderful and anything on the menu was outstanding would go on a Regent cruise again for sure Read Less

Third time on the Voyager, and sixth sailing RSSC. Good news: the regular cabins are still great; house keeping still strong and service oriented; refurb quite good; great menus in the restaurants; alhough food is very good, quality no longer outstanding, and quite inconsistent; service WAY BELOW standards we always loved. Never had to ask for coffee, water and beverages in the past —— this time it was the norm. Wifi was the WORST! Regent probably had no choice but to give it for free. Been involved in mergers and acquisitions —— understand how new owners assume that they can operate the new acquisitions better and more economically than previous owners. In my opinion NCL either reduced F and B staffing or have new members that are not well trained. Captain and crew did a great job navigating the storm! Felt sorry for the room service waiters —— they really had a workout! Took our first Crystal cruse last year. Other than cabin size, service and food was superior. Read Less

From the moment we were greeted at embarkation to the moment we left the ship our experience was one of total enjoyment, comfort, respect and outstanding service. Our suite was kept immaculate, Our Butler was one of if not the best in all our years of sailing. Dining was a pleasure and fine dining is the best description. The preparation and special requests were outstanding and innovative. Although I believe the beef was not the top quality I experienced in the past. I give the waitstaff mixed reviews. Compass Rose only one stood out while the others seemed lost. Prime 7, The whole experience from the Maitre'D to the waiters to the runners were amazing. I wasn't a fan of the shows ( I'm usually not) but the other guests seemed to enjoy. Diverting around rough seas was a great choice and adding a port shows the commitment on Regent to keep the guests in their thought process. Read Less