Mariner - South America Jan 2018

I am currently holding a reservation on the Mariner for her South America sailing Lima - Buenos Aires.

I have reservations as I am concerned that the past three years on this itinerary there was a virus that went through the ship. The vessel was in code Red....I understand that this happens on cruises but on the same cruise three years running out of the same port???

Have sailed on the Mariner several times and I like the ship...Also notice that in 2019, the South America cruise is on the Explorer sailing out of Buenos Aires to Valpariso, Chile.

Another point: in the past cruises on the Mariner, the ship was unable to stop at the Falkland islands, due to weather....which is often a factor, understandably

In the 2019 itinerary, the cruise leaves in Feb ( not Jan. as the others) and approaches the Falklands in a different direction...

Question: Can anyone enlighten me?? Go in 2018 or wait till 2019? Anyone been on the cruises on the Mariner (Lim-BA) 2015, 2016, 2017

We were on Mariner during one of these code reds and it was no biggie. The staff and crew took elaborate precautions against its spread, and it worked well. Only downside was that we couldn't visit Explorer when it was in port with us in Cartagena.

Dreamliner, we sailed on board Mariner in 2016, Lima to Buenos Aires. Rather than repeat myself, the details of our cruise can be read on my blog starting in Lima here and onwards. Needless to say, your experience would be completely different from ours and there is no way of knowing whether 2018 or 2019 would be the best choice. It's the luck of the draw. It's most certainly a great way (?the only practical way?) to see this part of the world and our preference would be to sail with Regent. But beyond that, there are so many uncontrollable factors, who knows?

Mariner Lima to BA in 14 was also subject to a viral outbreak. On that cruise we were told it's 50/50 to get into the Falklands and luckily we did. However we

missed Punta Arenas which was disappointing.

Dreamliner, I will be on 2018 voyage; i don't know if that will entice you to stay with the booking or cancel as fast as possible. :D

Marc

For the same reasons, I cancelled the 2018 cruise and rebooked on 2019 on explorer. Both the fact that Mariner will be overdue for a refurbishing and the hopes that starting in Buenos Aires will make a code red less likely were deciding factors. We had also been to Lima and Machu Picchu before, and thought that starting from BA would make it easier to independently book a pre-cruise tour to Iguazu Falls.

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Just curious but why would starting in BsAs make a code red less likely?

I suspect that it has nothing to do with where the ship is but rather the time of the year. We have become ill (usually just colds or bad coughs) too frequently when we sail in the late fall through winter. It so happens the Mariner is in South America at that time of the year. So, passengers that get on airplanes to get to the port are exposed to many sick people (or may be sick themselves) and take it onto the ship.

We were on the Explorer last November and many people had colds. My DH caught pneumonia onboard. We certainly do not blame Regent or the ship for the illnesses (we did not go into Code Red). The only blame goes to people boarding the ship sick (and I understand that as well - if you have a sore throat and admit to it on the form you fill out prior to boarding, you could be denied boarding and lose all of the money you have paid for the cruise).

There isn't an easy solution to this problem but, as I stated, it isn't about the ship).

TC,

mom0f3 wrote "and the hopes that starting in Buenos Aires will make a code red less likely were deciding factors."

I'm assuming she had a reason to think it would be less likely starting there and was curious as to why. She didn't say anything about time of year as typically any SA cruise is November to May.

LoonCal, a previous poster attributed the issue to those passengers that had completed the Machu Picchu pre-cruise trip. I assume they figure no Peruvian pre-cruise less chance for disease.

Me, I am taking the Machu Picchu pre-cruise and have never come down with novovirus on ship before so we will see.

Marc

Yep. That was my rationale. I could be wrong, though.

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My wife and I are taking the Miami to Buenos Aires segments in January ourselves. It is the only practical way of covering so much ground and seeing so many amazing things.

As for the so called Code Red, we were on the Oceania Insignia in April and May and experienced one. Apparently the bug came from people who took an overland excursion to the Taj Mahal from Cochi. It spread from there but the crew jumped on it quickly and it was contained. It is a tremendous amount of work to completely scrub the entire ship but they did. In the next port, they had us vacate our cabins from 8am - 1pm and provided a free shore excursion for all that wanted it. You can pick up a bug almost anywhere and some can spread easily but if the ship's staff leap into action quickly, it can be mitigated. Several people were quarantined until they were better. Medicine was free. You only had to call the clinic and it would be sent to your cabin. I was astounded at their efforts.