We chose this cruise for its itinerary having sailed from Dubai to Cape Town via East Africa with Regent three years ago (a cruise which rated as one of the best we have ever done). A bonus was a chance to sail on the Explorer.

We chose the pre-cruise experience on offer in Lisbon as the post cruise with a Safari meant coming home on Christmas Day! Pre-Cruise - Lapa Palace - good hotel but too far out of town and no good bars or restaurants nearby. Also, the buses couldn't get to it causing problems for excursions and transfer to boat. Not well organised. the second excursion was a disaster! Sintra was vaguely interesting but poor organisation meant a mile walk for coffee, loads of food which no one wanted and long delays resulting in lunch not arriving until well into the afternoon. The transfer to the boat was also poor. This is not the first time we have felt that Regent need to vet the pre and post tour operators more carefully.

Initially the Explorer is much more impressive than any of the other three Regent ships despite their valiant attempts to upgrade them to match. You do feel this is luxury. Sadly, the ship did not live up to expectations. Suite, service and food were good, but lack of outside space spoilt the voyage. Very lush inside but if you wanted to sit outside it was a sunbed or one of ten or so seats at the pool bar. We enjoy sitting on deck during the morning and early evening with a coffee or drink. There is nowhere to do this other than the very limited seating round the pool bar which does not get the sun. Eating on the balcony of Veranda was good when the weather was fine, and it was open, but it shut for three days with no good explanation given! Something to do with a crew member getting bitten we heard eventually. Strange because we never saw an insect on the boat! The Pool Grill is mainly covered in. It was good to see they have got rid of the sauce bottles and some of the food was very good e.g. prawn skewers but the main choice was largely burgers (we don't consider that five-star luxury) and the whole place in our view resembles a diner. We did appreciate the speciality restaurants opening at lunchtime. Read more