Baltic Cruise on Regent Seven Seas Voyager

It is a small ship by today’s standards. 42000 tons and 698 passengers with 349 suites. We had a Deluxe Veranda suite which was very spacious with a sitting area with sofa and marble coffee table. All the cupboard tops were marble. There was a mini bar containing beers and soft drinks and fresh water was supplied every day. We have a welcome bottle of champagne. The bed was very comfortable. There was a spacious marble bathroom with a separate bath and shower and plenty of storage. There was also a walk in closet. The reclining chairs on the balcony were very comfortable.

The food was some of the best we have had at sea and the quality of the wines and drinks were top notch. There were 2 speciality restaurants which were included in the price but the main restaurant menu was vast and of excellent quality. In the main restaurant, Compass Rose, you could have lobster, Dover Sole, Scallops, various steak every night and the highlight at Sunday breakfast was champagne and caviar and the quality of the champagne was good. You were spoilt for choice. There was a French speciality restaurant, Chartreuse, which was excellent and Prime 7 which specialised in steaks but also did other meats, fish and seafood. The choice was excellent. It is necessary to pre-book for the speciality restaurants. The buffet restaurant was also excellent and it was set out with linen tablecloths and napkins. The choice was very good for breakfast and dinner. In the evening it was transformed into an Italian Restaurant. There was a choice of antipasti and other starters followed by a main course served at the table and self-service dessert and cheese. The fish stew I tried with lobster and other seafood was excellent.

The service was not as perfect as it should be at times and we had to wait a long time to be served dinner on two occasions but I think there appeared to be some trainee staff. If would not put me off travelling with Regent again because it is an excellent product. Good points – as well as the quality of food and drink it fully all inclusive with numerous choice of free excursions, free laundry, free gratuities and wifi. The entertainment was good in the theatre. The production cast were very good and they had some excellent guest artists. and there were some excellent guest artists. There were 3 main bars. In the Horizon Lounge a resident band played most nights, in the Observation Lounge there was a resident pianist and in the Voyager Lounge there was a singing duo. There were various lectures during the day and a daily trivia quiz. There was a choice of 91 free excursions. We sailed from Southampton to Copenhagen. Our first port of call was Zeebrugge where we booked a full day excursion to Ypres and the WW1 war graves and museum. A very good tour, very moving. We could not dock at our next port of call, Amsterdam, because of strong winds. Our next port of call was Oslo, a lovely clean city. We did a boat tour and visit to a large ski jump site. Not the best tour but probably a bad choice on our part. The next stop was an overnight in Stockholm which is a beautiful city. On the first day we did a tour of the Vasa Museum which was very interesting. On the second day we visited the Old Town and Palace which was also a wonderful tour. The next port was Riga in Latvia where we did a coach and walking tour of the city which was also very good. The next stop was Klaipeda in Lithuania. Not my favourite city. I did a coach tour of the city and a visit to an Amber factory while my husband went on a tour to a Soviet Nuclear Weapon site. Karlskrona in Sweden was the next port which was a pretty place. Our tour visited a very interesting Maritime Museum. Our highlight of the cruise was a visit to Berlin from Warnemunde, a full day tour. We paid extra for this one as we wanted a fully guided tour. We visited all the main sights including the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie and had a canal cruise. An excellent tour with an excellent guide. We finished with an overnight in Copenhagen and booked a Scenic Copenhagen by Sea. I have been to Copenhagen before and it is a lovely city and I would have preferred to do a tour on foot. We did not get chance to stop anywhere to take photos.

All in all, a wonderful cruise, the age profile was 60-70. Everyone was friendly and it was not stuffy at all. We were very impressed with the quality of the food and wine choices. We would certainly sail with Regent Seven Seas again.