The World is now visiting Charleston, spending two nights here. It is a beautiful ship and has been engaged in some marketing as well as allowing its passengers to see our wonderful city. Are their any World condo owners who would share their experiences, any "renters" that would comment on their cruise?

Ted

I haven't had the opportunity to sail on The World, but a friend did. There was a 'special' from Brisbane to Sydney (a couple of nights) and she took advantage of it. She raved about it but she has never sailed with Regent. Don't suppose that helps much!! Lee

We watched a special on it on TV.

The World isn't really a cruise ship. It's a floating Condo complex, all units have full kitchens.

No nightly entertainment, few, if any, classes or activities in the daytime, not much in the way of dining.

I thought there was also several regular cruise ship type cabins, too? We looked into it when she first sailed and I am sure the cabins we looked at didn't have full kitchens? I also remember that the rates for the inaugural season were very low, too. Maybe they have remodeled those type of cabins into condo units since she first debuted.

I just looked on their site. Here is an example of a studio rental that you can purchase just as you would a regular cruise ship cabin.

Well, we're hearing that that's where Capt. Dag is going, so you might have a familiar captain. Yes, Dag has left Regent.

Sigh .. Crystal, say it ain't so. Is it wrong to infer, after the various changes post-takeover, Regent is now Oceania all inclusive? Dag gone, Knut gone, Jarle hurt (and presumably gone after he heals) ... Mark Conroy, is he next to leave?

Anne (no cheers and no pleasure)

Oh my, Dag gone. Lots of World Cruisers will be disappointed, I'm betting. I never met the guy.

Crystal:

I got LOST. Has Dag left Regent? Where did he go?

Dag has left Regent and gone to Residensea The World.

Having never sailed Oceana, I don't know if Regent is becoming more like it. The passengers have been pretty vocal about places where slippage has been perceived. Let's hope they take it to heart.

My understanding of what happened with Dag is that the command structure has changed, and the captain now is in charge only of the bridge and the General Manager reports directly to HQ instead of to the captain, a change he did not like. I may have misunderstood, so don't take this as gospel.

Rumors continue about Mark Conroy being on the verge of leaving, but who knows.

Thanks for the clarification, Crystal. I understand why that change would not sit well with Dag.

We will stay tuned and see how things develop. It is GREAT to hear how well you are all being treated on the DC; that's a very positive and welcome piece of news.

Fingers crossed, Anne

Silver Sea looking better & better. Regent's captains having full control of ships seems a thing of the past....remember all of Dag's family on FJORDS? Master of his own private yacht.

You mean the captain was in charge of the hotel staff? I thought they were two different structures, and would report separately. I think this is the way it was way back when, when we first were on the PG, in 2000. Of course, I could be wrong, I didn't even know there was a General Manager. Is that different from the Hotel Director?

WOW thats too bad, Dag leaving. We only cruised with him once, but we very much enjoyed him, he was very friendly and around the ship all the time. He definitely was in charge and it showed in everything. Love Knut too, he was on B2B in May, again very open, friendly, cordial and social. He loved the block parties, according to Lorraine, and she said that it is usually up to the Captin whether or not to do them.

Too bad, Regent's loss for sure.

We have cruised Oceania, and its very nice, but it is a different product in many ways, and I thought the two joining forces under Apollo would be a good thing, and maybe bring Oceania up a bit, but maybe not. Guess we will just have to wait and see. We actually had a cruise scheduled for May next year on Oceania, but due to the current financial situation, decided not to spend that amount of money right now, better just wait it out a bit, so we and the two couples going with us all cancelled. :mecry: :mecry:

Really, REALLY too bad. Now let's see if they lose the wonderful Capt. McNeill???

Wendy, it's a name change...there isn't a "Hotel Director" any more, that role is now "General Manager". And apparently they report to HQ.

Um, I posted a while back that my guess will be a complete merger of the two lines. With O having sell out capacity in most cabin categories, I think it won't be long before it's announced. I have no proof but having sailed on both lines in the current economy it makes business sense.

This has me wondering about Jamie. Will he stay with the Voyager if "his" captain is no longer there?


w

This is very disturbing. We booked the Norway capt homecoming cruies a high price cruise with the understanding the Capt was Capt Dag and would include a stop at his home town. Not the only reason to do this cruise but a factor. Could Ngaire confirm that this is true and what Regent is saying about this cruise.

A VERY UNHAPPY CRUISER.

Ralph, I received a mailer the other day, with some specials, and noticed something then that I didn't think too much about, but now it makes sense.

Assuming you are referring to Captain's homecoming in June, I noticed that the mailer spotlighted the June 26 Copenhagen to Copenhagen cruise, which is what we've all come to know as Captains Homecoming, and there is a little blurb at the bottom with Captain Dag's picture, saying

SPECIAL GUEST

"Captain Dag will be joining us on the June 26 sailing. Captain Dvergastein was born in the small Norwegian fishing village of Nevlunghavn. Join Captain Dag when he returns to his home port in Norway."

I remember thinking it was odd they were highlighting him as a "special guest", then I thought, well he will have just come off the WC, so maybe they mean he will be coming back as Captain just for this cruise during his time off, since he did that a couple of years ago, but maybe that's not the meaning.

Thank you for pointing that out to me. It helps. Capt. Dag has a reputation for making a cruise special and we were looking forward to that. While this makes up some for not having him as the Capt it remains a big disappointment.

Knowing the reputation and respect that many of the loyal Regent cruisers have for him it makes one really wonder what is going on at the corporate offices of Regent. No one is irreplaceable but some are more valuable than others.

One can not help but wonder about the future of Regent.

I wonder how many cancellations for this cruise will occur IF word gets out that Captain Dag will not be the Captain on this cruise. We took this cruise two years ago and loved it. I can't imagine taking this cruise without Dag or Knute. The new "Oceania" captain probably won't stop to buy fresh fish or stop for waffles in Gerainger Fjord.

I'm going to post a different point of view here. I've done the waffel and fish stop with Dag too. A year earlier than you did, I think, Marc. Fun. But theatric and totally irrelevant, to me, to the larger cruise experience which was wonderful. As long it is a great cruise, I don't care if the captain is a "mixer" or the officers are "mixers." I don't derive ego satisfaction from dining with them. Mixing well is part of their jobs. They all do it well or they would be otherwise employed. But I find the other passengers are usually more interesting dining companions because they aren't role playing whereas the officers are. Dag is a great captain. I like Knute even better. So is McNeil. But lets face it, captains are hired first to be sailors. Most highly qualified sailors, I presume, aren't cut out to be "hosts" too. The number who can do both well and with easy must be small. So it doesn't bother me at all if Regent decides to stay away from hiring "personality captains" and sticks with highly qualified sailors who will look out for their cargo (passengers) first. The captain can get me there safely and the "General Manager" can focus on making my journey enjoyable. I'm still a very happy camper.

Pat I am in total agreement with you. We go to enjoy the itinerary, the ship itself and the amenities and to meet other wonderful travelers. :cool:

I like Captains who are "mixers". It would help if they're mixers AND qualified sailors??? But I like mixers.

I don't need to dine with them, and rarely do (namely twice, and quite by accident). But I LOVE the Dag's and John McNeill's and Knut's and Neil Broomhall's of the world. And the Jamie's and Lorraine's and Sam Perry's. I like watching them "work a room", and mingle, and play shuffleboard with people, and laugh openly and loudly and often. I like the twinkle in their eye, and their charm, I like the way they make people feel so good, so warm, so special...

And while I personally do not like dining in the centre table with someone in uniform, I DP like watching some of the people who are tickled pink that they are invited, it makes their night, and I say "good on you, odds are you've worked long and hard, this is important to you, this is special to you, and you look great tonight". I don't think of them as egotists, I think of them as people who really get a kick out of that: I don't, they do, we're all human, I don't feel smugly superior just because that's not my thing.

I like Captains who are mixers. I will miss that.....or maybe not. Maybe I'll go where they are? Hard to say.

Pat, hear hear, my sentiments exactly.

I haven't heard any official word yet here on the Navigator. If this is true, what a big loss for Regent. Having cruised with Capt. Dag for 300 nights we've gotten to know him better than any of the other Captains and feel he has the skill plus the personality.

I'm wondering about the timing of all this ....just after the final payment of the 2009 WC was due. MANY who do go on the WC go because of Capt. Dag's energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and contributions to the entire cruise experience. It's not just about the ports.

If this is true, it's a big big loss for Regent and Capt. Dag will surely be missed. :mecry:

Hey! Captain Philippe is a mixer and a really great guy. Once he sat and just talked to Stan and me for about half an hour in Observation Lounge on Mariner. He even offered to buy us a drink before AI. We are looking forward to seeing him again on Ring of Fire. But, even if there is another captain, we go for the cruise and will enjoy it tremendously.

Ardis

Am trying to get confirmation of this. I heard it from someone who would be in a position to know, but I have to allow for the possibility of confusion.

Hold on. Captain Dag is not leaving. Not unless he hasn't been told. He responded to an e-mail today stating that he plans to join the Voyager in LA and captain the entire world cruise.

Which I find extremely good news. He is the complete captain: an excellent seaman; a leader who respects and looks out for his crew and treats them with compasssion;and one who has his customer's best interests at heart.

So please stop the rumoring unless you get some sort of offical world from RSSC, the holding company or Apollo.

In this age of internet babble and cable news talking heads that need to fill 24 hours of dribble, we have gotten used to quickly jumping to conclusions, assigning all sorts of motivations, making unsubstantiated predictions, etc. Hopefully this past election season (22 months!), should have taught us something, but it probably didn't. Just because someone says something, doesn't mean it's news or true. We need to go back to more fact-checking before jumping off cliffs. (OK, I'll get off my soap box.)

Fantastic News! :app:

Thanks, Larry. You're right. I don't usually engage in the rumor mill, and I need to go back to that approach. Sorry to have started it.

Thanks Larry

Peggy

Typical Cruise Critic.
They pulled the thread on this subject
and a few people are worried.

Hi Jim,
Not only did they pull that thread, they pulled my thread asking if threads had disappeared! No explanation, and as far as anything I read or posted, nothing objectionable. I'm shaking my head.

At least now I know that I'm not losing my marbles. I appreciate your response on the cc thread where I asked the question.
Jacki