Days before heading off on Regent’s newest ship, the Grandeur, the line launched new advertising promising that “nobody does it better”. In in they also claimed to have the “world’s most luxurious fleet”, and that no cruise line beats them on destination experiences, hospitality, luxury spaces, and dining. Having been on Regent before, while I found them great, I didn’t think they beat every line, so this latest trip turned into the perfect opportunity to really test out if Regent now does do cruising better than everybody else. I am Gary Bembridge, and this is what I found. And as always to offer an unbiased review I booked and paid for this trip myself like every single cruise I go on
For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron:
—————————————————
* Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers
* YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join
Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products:
—————————————————
* T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
* Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354
My social media:
—————————————————
* Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com
* Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge
* Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
* Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 119 cruises I have done to date.
#cruisetips #CruisingTips #cruisetipsandtricks
00:00 Start
00:43 What is Regent Seven Seas?
01:14 What Does Regent Do Well?
04:08 What Does Regent Do Same?
12:32 What Does Regent Do Less Well?
16:42 What Am I Going To Do?
30 Comments
Which of the 3 ultraluxury cruiselines do you think is the best for solos?
How do you feel that they compare to Viking Ocean?
It's good to hear you think Cunards Queens grill is one of the finest, I don't think I've ever had a bad meal aboard Cunard,they also have caviar & lobster thermador,in the queens,as many times as you like…….although I'm veggie 😂
How is this compared to Oceania? Ritz Carlton?
Gary stated the main competitors are Silversea, Seabourn, and Crystal. I'm really interested in how Explora compares to these. Or is Explora more of an Oceania and Azamara competitor?
Eye candy-too bad not all the food was fantastic. Seems uncrowded. I could go for bridge. Luxury ship with bargain excursions.
I have been on the Voyager and loved it! I’m booked on the Explorer and the Splendor. I was a solo traveler and the small ship and solo traveler deals are a good match for my needs. Additionally, they have meet up groups and I meet lovely people. The small ship allowed for me to see familiar faces everywhere and the everyone was very friendly.
Thank you for your comments about the enrichment talks. Several years ago my wife and I were on an Oceania cruise which included Norway. The cruise director hyped up the enrichment lecture on Norway by an expert (who happened to be his girlfriend). My wife looked up the expert (my wife is a university professor) and discovered the expert had no training in the area of her talk and read from a prepared script and did not take questions. Afterwards several people, who were very highly educated, talked about being insulted by the “talk”.
Seems Explora Journey does everything just as well or better for half the cost.
You always present interesting vlogs Gary!! I reckon the Queen Vic Princess Grill has been our best dining experience on any of our cruises.
What about Seabourn?
Gary we absolutely love your channel. Never been on the Cunard Queens grill, but did do the Princess grill it was very good. We had been on Regent Voyager cruise for a 2 week med cruise, and I think it was the best 2 weeks of our life. In March we have a Grandeur lined up. Regent is an amazing cruise line.
Agree. We've actually cruised on Regent the most out of all of the ultra-luxury offerings, however, we find that while it's a nice overall experience it's very solid. They're not doing anything spectacular or pushing the envelope enough as Silversea and Crystal are. Regent has the most beautiful ships, best suites, and most impressive main dining room at sea. Full stop. But as with you, we prefer Crystal or Silversea. The passengers on those two lines are really phenomenal. The dining is also far superior to Regent. We are curious to see if RSSC will roll out their own version of Silversea's essential fare within the coming months. We often describe Regent to those who are unfamiliar with the brand as "a solid floating country club at sea." Regent's corporate cousin, Oceania, has better food overall.
I really appreciate your unbiased content. Like you, I love the Cunard Grills experience as I also really like having my own dedicated table and serving team. It is also nice to get to know your neighbouring guests. Also, because of my Father’s health and age (he always cruises with me) we do like sailing to/from the UK with no flying. However, we absolutely loath the new Queen Anne and this means I am struggling to find any Cunard cruises that are suitable for us. So, I am now weighing up RSSC vs Seabourn vs Explora. Your comments on the quality of the excursions and insight talks are timely, as this is something we place a lot of importance on. As I rarely drink alcohol and my father just likes a small amount of wine with his evening meal, I feel that we don’t get “value for money” from all-inclusive fares. We have just 1 cruise booked for 2025 and nothing beyond that, whereas last year we cruised every other month. I am waiting with anticipation for your review of Explora.
Very Helpful !! Thank You !!!
Having sailed The Queen's grill on QM2, Princess grill on QM2 & QV, I would disagree with your cuisine assessment. The food on QV from Miami to SFO after it came from England was awful! The steaks had no flavor, were tough and ever single sauce & soup were too salty. Definitely improved after resupplying in SFO. I have twice had to send overcooked food back in the Queen's grill on QM2. I think it just depends on the timing and the itinerary.
Butter before jam?… tsk tsk tsk.
Thanks Gary, Over the years my wife and I have been fortunate to travel all over Europe and Asia, but always solo. We have never cruised. Friends talked us into going on the Grandeur out of New York to the Caribbean. 15 nights. 1st the good. Crew – 10. Ship – 10. Sadly things start falling after that. Food – 5. We were quite surprised that the quality was consistently below par. I could give many examples, but the best we to put is we did not have one memorable dinner, not one. Excursions – 4. Endless boring bus rides. We took an open trolley in St Lucia that was so silly that all we could do to keep ourselves entertained was make jokes and laugh. Cabin – 7. Though we were in an upgraded Concierge Suite it was much smaller than anticipated though very nicely appointed. Would I go again? Probably not.
I have been on Silversea and Crystal, but not Regent. I am considering an Oceania cruise and am wondering if you believe that the “Ultra Luxury” lines are worth the additional expense over Oceania?
We’d just completed our first Regent cruise on the Grandeur this past November and thought the experience was fantastic and even at 10 days felt very short as we wanted to stay longer. For me the biggest difference was the lack of upselling you see in other mainstream large ship lines. We enjoyed the cozy small ship and being able to easily walk on and off the ship at ports without large gangways and lines of people. I agree about the included excursions being sometimes underwhelming. Overall fantastic ship and line. We hope we can go again in the future.
We cruised Alaska to Vancouver last June on Silver Sea, I was surprised to see in your video how similar the ships look. Regarding Silver Sea I can say they had excellent excursions and educational speakers. I did find them lacking in quality entertainment. Based on your video Regent seems to do a better job. Silver Sea handles restaurant, seating and service just as you describe it for Regent. One thing I really would’ve liked on Silver Sea would’ve been its own Starbucks Café although I will say their coffee was excellent. It didn’t have the flare of Starbucks.
Did it pass Mark’s Cunard expectations 😂
I agree. I like it when enrichment relates to your cruise
Here's my (additional) two cents to the very accurate video content and commentary.
1. I drank too much on the Silver Moon and I ate too much on the Regent Explorer. For the best possible dining experience at-sea IMHO, merge the Salt Bar mixologist + Silversea somme + Regent chefs. I much preferred the cooking lessons and kitchen facilities on Regent.
2. Indeed both Silversea and Regent look after solo travellers extremely well. But the booking processes are very different when it comes to costing a cruise. Even when both lines offer the same +25% special solo supplement surcharge. Silversea's costing is precisely 125% of the per person charge. Regent's costing is shrouded in mystery, and, is always > 125%. Something to do with calculations based on "Catalogue fares" that are never ever published.
It's probably a funeral home. I bet at 9 pm, the ship is dead, and the nightclub is empty.
Seabourn and only Seabourn.
Gary Disagree on your assessment of the food. We have done both Cunard queens grill on the Queen Mary last summer and Regent SS Grandeur just a week ago. The Queen’s grill was very old fashioned with a number of items needing to be ordered the day before! Really poor. Staff were nice but stuffy. Yes you had your own table but when you are joining a cruise that has started at a port before you get on you have very limited choice, we ended up on the main corridor through the restaurant with no option to move, poor. Also they have no idea how to do veggie food. None of these issues were encountered on Grandeur. The only thing they fall down on is as you say not having a casual dinning offer in the evening, as the others don’t. Personally for this we like Oceania best, although not classed as ultra lux the food is by far the best at sea, in my book and i have been in the restaurant busness all my working life. Simon, English lakes.
Gary, I REALLY enjoy your reviews ! Over 260 cruises, just got off Explorer 1.. THE best cruise ever !! Perfect ship design, Food is incredible, Loved the singers, lecturers. staff A Plus. , Try it and let us know what you think…….
How a floating cesspool be the best, they're all floating trash cans. 😂😂😂😂
Ok haven't finished the video but the compass rose food options you chose to show (fish and beef) are above and beyond healthy apposed to every other cruise line I've been on where everything is smothered in butter or cream sauces so for these healthy choices alone I would board regent. Idk why other lines think everyone wants to eat heavy and fattening gourmet French foods