New to RSSC-Questions for Mariner Experts

We are very happy, long term Silversea cruisers, but are sailing on the Mariner next month as Regent's pricing was so low for an eleven day voyage we could not refuse their offer. We don't do organized shore excursions or need air included, so we never considered Regent in the past as we did not want to pay for things we would never use.

So our questions come from a Silversea viewpoint, if you know what I mean.

1. Is there a Maitre 'd in La Veranda for breakfast and lunch, or do you just seat yourself anywhere you wish? I know it is a buffet, but in the equivalent restaurant on Silversea, you are seated by the Maitre 'd at every meal.

2. Is wine served with your meal at lunch in La Veranda?

3. We are confused about the suite mini-bar. The brochure says it will be "personalized" and replenished daily with soft drinks, bottled water, and beer. Is that all that is offered? Can we get full bottles of wine or liquor in the suite as is offered on Silversea? We are in a deluxe veranda suite if that makes a difference.

4. Is a pillow menu/choice of pillow available?

5. Is self debarkation available if we wish to carry off our own luggage on the last day? If not, can we choose our debarkation time or is it decided by suite/deck/status?

6. Is room service breakfast available the last morning?

7. Does anyone know how many treadmills are in the fitness center?

8. Finally, is it really true I will not feel out of place without a sports jacket at dinner? I know what the brochure says, so I will not bring one, but I just want to make sure.

Thank you in advance for any help offered. We are looking forward to enjoying Regent in general and Mariner in particular. So far we have been impressed with the pre-cruise documentation we received and the helpfulness of Regent's telephone agents. And, we have never had a bad cruise or very much to find fault with.

Hereby most of the answers. But I am sure more people will react :)

1. Is there a Maitre 'd in La Veranda for breakfast and lunch, or do you just seat yourself anywhere you wish? I know it is a buffet, but in the equivalent restaurant on Silversea, you are seated by the Maitre 'd at every meal.

It is selfservice/selfseating. But if you need help no problem

 

2. Is wine served with your meal at lunch in La Veranda?

You can choose the kind and how often you want

 

3. We are confused about the suite mini-bar. The brochure says it will be "personalized" and replenished daily with soft drinks, bottled water, and beer. Is that all that is offered? Can we get full bottles of wine or liquor in the suite as is offered on Silversea? We are in a deluxe veranda suite if that makes a difference.

Yes all is possible

 

4. Is a pillow menu/choice of pillow available?

This one I don't know for sure. But there are allready more then one kind of pillow on the bed

 

5. Is self debarkation available if we wish to carry off our own luggage on the last day? If not, can we choose our debarkation time or is it decided by suite/deck/status?

Yes you can do it yourself

 

6. Is room service breakfast available the last morning?

I don't think so but I am not sure

 

7. Does anyone know how many treadmills are in the fitness center?

I don't know how mucht it was, but we never had to wait

 

 

8. Finally, is it really true I will not feel out of place without a sports jacket at dinner? I know what the brochure says, so I will not bring one, but I just want to make sure.

This is true and what I like of Regent (and Azamara).

We have sailed on both Silversea and all of Regent's ships. First, let me answer the couple of questions that Henk23 was not sure of.

Yes - you can order room service for breakfast on the morning of disembarkation (the menu choices need to be hung on the door by 9:00 p.m. the evening before).

No pillow menu like they have on Silversea.

Based on the picture here https://www.rssc.com/ships/seven_seas_mariner/spa-fitness/default.aspx#Content it looks like there are five bicycles but not sure how many treadmills are on the Mariner (perhaps you can tell).

When we sailed on Silversea for the first time, we made a conscious decision not to compare everything with Regent and just enjoy our cruise. IMO, this helped us have a good experience and we ended up sailing Silversea two more times. When I reviewed the two cruise lines, we liked certain things better about Silversea and other things on Regent. They are both great cruise lines.

Since we haven't been on Regent yet, not sure about the pillow menu. That said on the Butler sheet you fill out it ask you what type of pillow you want.

Since we haven't been on Regent yet, not sure about the pillow menu. That said on the Butler sheet you fill out it ask you what type of pillow you want.

Your right - there is a choice of "down" or "hypo-allergenic". Silversea offers more choices. So, if you aren't in a PH or above, just ask your steward(ess).

We have sailed on both Silversea and all of Regent's ships. First, let me answer the couple of questions that Henk23 was not sure of.

 

Yes - you can order room service for breakfast on the morning of disembarkation (the menu choices need to be hung on the door by 9:00 p.m. the evening before).

 

No pillow menu like they have on Silversea.

 

Based on the picture here https://www.rssc.com/ships/seven_seas_mariner/spa-fitness/default.aspx#Content it looks like there are five bicycles but not sure how many treadmills are on the Mariner (perhaps you can tell).

 

When we sailed on Silversea for the first time, we made a conscious decision not to compare everything with Regent and just enjoy our cruise. IMO, this helped us have a good experience and we ended up sailing Silversea two more times. When I reviewed the two cruise lines, we liked certain things better about Silversea and other things on Regent. They are both great cruise lines.

There were 3 bikes on Mariner and 3 treadmills one week ago and one of the bikes was broken. Not sure if all the treadmills were working though.

Yes they did offer us a choice of 2 types of pillows.

Also, we were seated every morning in La Veranda, especially when Vivian was there. Not sure about lunch because we didn't go in there for lunch.

We were on Mariner in August and will chime in:

My husband is very picky about his pillows and his request was accommodated. I believe we requested in advance, but will need to check that. I know that you can always ask your steward.

There were 4 treadmills in the gym. In the mornings they were always taken (at all different hours). IMHO, the gym is very small and not at all a pleasant place to work out. The treadmills do face a window, one treadmill you get a front on view - the others you have to be looking to the side to get the view. (which will likely throw off your gait). (as my user name implies - I do my fair share of running). They are supposed to also have classes, but on our cruise, the exercise instructor was not on board so the room was used by people mostly stretching.

Sports Coats for men. While they are not required at anytime, you will find that most men will wear them in the specialty resultants.

And depending on the location and duration of the voyage, the number on men wearing coats in the MDR will vary from a few to 2/3rds. Shorter voyage like Alaska, Med and Caribbean will be few. Longer trip and locations like Baltic will be much more and I think this is becasue there are many more Europeans on those trips.

My advise is that you take a sport coat/blazer and matching tie. (No man should be without.)

J 595/40

My advise is that you take a sport coat/blazer and matching tie. (No man should be without.)

I think you be in minority with a tie. But if you feel better with it is your own decision

I disagree about the sports coats. I would put it this way: if you think you might feel uncomfortable without one, by all means bring one. If you don't want to wear one, don't worry about it.

Yes - many men wear jackets in specialty restaurants. While not required, I'm happy that my DH packs one.

Don't worry about a tie, few wear them and on a 22day B2B in the med this year on Navigator they were almost extinct. A jacket for dinner in prime or a reception is useful, also depending on where sitting may be good with the AC, especially as in warm climes a formal, short sleeved shirt may not be enough. My wife always puts a pashtima in as some dresses/ tops are chilly without in CR. Don't tend to wear in sette Mari, unless outside, either pashtima or jacket.

I always have a jacket anyway as for flying its my bag for tkts, passports etc, wallet, especially if in business class on plane. Anyway if not in business it's the only way to get an upgrade at the airport.

We were on Mariner in August and will chime in:

 

My husband is very picky about his pillows and his request was accommodated. I believe we requested in advance, but will need to check that. I know that you can always ask your steward.

 

There were 4 treadmills in the gym. In the mornings they were always taken (at all different hours). IMHO, the gym is very small and not at all a pleasant place to work out. The treadmills do face a window, one treadmill you get a front on view - the others you have to be looking to the side to get the view. (which will likely throw off your gait). (as my user name implies - I do my fair share of running). They are supposed to also have classes, but on our cruise, the exercise instructor was not on board so the room was used by people mostly stretching.

Thank you. This was the info I was looking for regarding the fitness center.

nfcu - The issue of jackets in the dining venues is always one of some interest on this board. The fact, as opposed to the opinion or preference of certain posters, is that the stated dress code of Regent neither requires nor suggests a jacket (much less a tie) in any dining venue on any of the Regent ships.

Irrespective of the opinions of some posters that "a gentlemen will always wear a jacket" or other such tosh, one can absolutely follow the dress code of Regent without ever wearing a jacket (or, for that matter, a long-sleeved shirt, as Tommy Bahama-style shirts entirely fit within the Regent dress code).

Contrary to the statements of some posters, we have not found any particular difference in the mode of dress in the specialty restaurants as opposed to that in Compass Rose, with the Regent elegant casual dress code being entirely acceptable in all restaurants.

So, in summary, Tommy Bahama rules!!

nfcu - The issue of jackets in the dining venues is always one of some interest on this board. The fact, as opposed to the opinion or preference of certain posters, is that the stated dress code of Regent neither requires nor suggests a jacket (much less a tie) in any dining venue on any of the Regent ships.

 

Irrespective of the opinions of some posters that "a gentlemen will always wear a jacket" or other such tosh, one can absolutely follow the dress code of Regent without ever wearing a jacket (or, for that matter, a long-sleeved shirt, as Tommy Bahama-style shirts entirely fit within the Regent dress code).

 

Contrary to the statements of some posters, we have not found any particular difference in the mode of dress in the specialty restaurants as opposed to that in Compass Rose, with the Regent elegant casual dress code being entirely acceptable in all restaurants.

 

So, in summary, Tommy Bahama rules!!

On my last cruises on the Voyager in the Baltic and down to Barcelona(9/12-10/14) in the MDR, Compass Rose at least 50%-60% of the men wore sport coats/blazer at dinner. In Prime 7 it was closer to 95%. I think this was higher than my normal experience because there were a lot of Brits and EU's on the ship. IMO, Except for Alaska and the Caribbean, very few men wear short sleeve or polo/golf shirts at night.

J 595/40

Jmariner - While I will certainly admit that this sort of thing varies from cruise to cruise, our experience has not been remotely the same as you describe. In the 100-plus days on Regent that we have cruised in the last few years, we have never seen anything other than a small minority of men wearing jackets in Compass Rose or in the specialty restaurants. Further, I would emphatically refute your suggestion that "very few men wear short sleeve or polo/golf shirts at night". That sentiment might be your personal preference, as you stated in your post #9 above; but it is neither the dress code of Regent nor the actual practice of Regent passengers, in our experience.

The Regent dress code does mention sports jackets as an option. IMO, the number of men wearing sports jackets in specialty restaurants and on special night's (such as the night of the Captain's Reception) continues to increase.

That's just the nicest thing with Regent and Azamara. You can wear what you like by yurself as it is not blue jeans and sportsneakers. Only with thus you you fall out of tune after 18:00. Even personal will say it to you.

I can't speak for Baltic cruises, but in the Caribbean on Regent, freddie, Wendy, and Henk are right.

We've seen mostly 'casual dress' shirts (button-up-the-front) ...some dressy long-sleeve, but mostly short-sleeve dress shirts (tucked, and un-tucked), Tommy Bahama, some Hawaiian.

And also a healthy percentage of men wearing polo/golf shirts. And enough jackets there too (20%)...more in the specialty restaurants (30-40% maybe)...so you won't feel uncomfortable at all if you prefer that. A few ties as well, but very few, especially in Compass Rose.

Pillows - my wife asked for a different style pillow than the one on the bed and they brought it and she was happy with it. I don't recall a pillow-menu though.

Have a wonderful time!

I can't speak for Baltic cruises, but in the Caribbean on Regent, freddie, Wendy, and Henk are right.

We've seen mostly 'casual dress' shirts (button-up-the-front) ...some dressy long-sleeve, but mostly short-sleeve dress shirts (tucked, and un-tucked), Tommy Bahama, some Hawaiian.

And also a healthy percentage of men wearing polo/golf shirts. And enough jackets there too (20%)...more in the specialty restaurants (30-40% maybe)...so you won't feel uncomfortable at all if you prefer that. A few ties as well, but very few, especially in Compass Rose.

 

Pillows - my wife asked for a different style pillow than the one on the bed and they brought it and she was happy with it. I don't recall a pillow-menu though.

 

Have a wonderful time!

Thanks to all who replied. Since this is a Caribbean cruise, I will not take a sports jacket and will wear golf and Hawaiian shirts.

Also thanks for the pillow comments. This is important to us as we cannot sleep with big, fluffy, goose down type pillows that your head sinks into. We like the firm pillows and hope we can find something we can sleep with on Regent.

I can't speak for Baltic cruises, but in the Caribbean on Regent, freddie, Wendy, and Henk are right.

We've seen mostly 'casual dress' shirts (button-up-the-front) ...some dressy long-sleeve, but mostly short-sleeve dress shirts (tucked, and un-tucked), Tommy Bahama, some Hawaiian.

And also a healthy percentage of men wearing polo/golf shirts. And enough jackets there too (20%)...more in the specialty restaurants (30-40% maybe)...so you won't feel uncomfortable at all if you prefer that. A few ties as well, but very few, especially in Compass Rose.

 

Pillows - my wife asked for a different style pillow than the one on the bed and they brought it and she was happy with it. I don't recall a pillow-menu though.

 

Have a wonderful time!

Last week we saw a lot of men in Prime 7 with sports jackets but I think it was because we were in New England/Canada and it was quite chilly at night.

In Compass Rose there was all kinds of dress and mostly no sports coats at all.

In Signatures it was the same as CR although not sure why Prime 7 was different.

By the way, we also saw some folks in jeans and shorts wandering around the ship at night but not in the dining rooms. I would say this cruise was very casual most of the time.

Just ask for anything on Regent and they will accommodate. All the pillows on our bed were down pillow and when I asked if they were the cabins attendant asked if we wanted something else more firm. We didn't but there was the option.