Hassle free cruising perfected

Landed in Miami the day before sailing and Regent set us up in a very nice luxury hotel for the night. Breakfast in the morning was with other people embarking on the cruise and allowed us to meet a few new couples that we would see again aboard. We explored downtown Miami in the morning and then headed back to the hotel to catch the bus to the port that Regent had arranged.

Embarkation was a very simple process and we were greeted upon boarding by one of the show performers with glasses of Champaign. Ship was impressive looking inside and out with nicely detailed furnishings, walls, and flooring.

Spa treatments were a bit overpriced and many of the ports offered massages for 90% of the quality at less than 10% of the price.

Dining was the clear highlight of the trip. From most to least enjoyable they are Pacific Rim, Chartreuse, Compass Rose, Sette Mari, and Prime 7. Prime 7 though not our favorite was still more than adequate.

Breakfast was probably the worst meal on the ship as it was clear that they conceded a bit of quality in order to quickly feed everyone aboard. Although the food wasn’t terrible, it was the same every day and became quite boring by the end of the trip.

We ate at the pool bar for lunch most days which offered burgers, pizza, cold cut sandwiches, and salads which were good for a light bite. Our one lunch at Chartreuse was spectacular but most days our excursion had us back too late to partake in the other restaurants for lunch.

In general the menus were static for the specialty restaurants except at lunch when they had daily specials. At Sette Mari and Compass Rose, half of the menu changed every day with many of these items being fantastic and giving great variety while still allowing you to find a go-to regular item that you could get every night.

I’m not one for the shows but my wife really enjoyed all of the three musical shows we went to.

Daily activities like MENSA puzzles and team trivia allowed us to make great friends and accrue points towards Regent branded shirts and bags at the end of the cruise..

Generally service was great with only a few long waits to order at the restaurants when they were particularly busy.

Excursions were generally very well organized with all of the activities in the descriptions being accurate. Note that many of the excursions tended to run longer than listed on the description which meant we almost always meant the pool grill was the only option left for lunch.

In general the cruise was worth the rather high price that we paid. We are currently planning how to fit our next Regent Cruise into the budget/work schedule