Mariner Review Rio to Miami

Hi All…I know there was a running commentary on the big Miami to Miami on the Mariner, but I thought I would do a review on my personal experience on the Mariner for the Rio to Miami leg. We have been on Regent before, in fact I am happy to say this was our four time, with a fifth coming in September. We are happy with the service Regent gives and especially the fact that other than purchases in the boutique, I don’t have to flash my card around every five minutes or carry it in a stupid lanyard all day long. Just need it to get on and off the ship. That to me is so worth it. I thought I would break the review into subject for easier reading and for those who are considering Regent to find pertinent information. Now, I want to emphasize that these are opinions of my wife and I alone and reflect no-one else, unless specifically mentioned. And this review is probably no use to the seasoned Regent travellers who certainly have more extensive experience than we ever will. This review as I mentioned is for those looking for information on the Mariner or the experience.

Crew…First all – Captain Serena was the most personable Captain I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She patrolled her ship on a daily basis-sometimes twice a day, popping out of one door and disappearing in the next, BUT she never avoided the passengers and would always have a greeting or a pretty smile for you. If you wanted to talk a bit she would. Yes, her accent was a bit thick at times, so what. She always had a very in depth message from the bridge at noon, and never seemed to lose her temper, even under the varying degrees of Code Red we hit. And she was the ONLY Captain I have ever seen come down to help with the disembarkation in certain ports. The Cruise director Jamie was also quite good and always had a smile and anecdote to tell and would listen intently to the worst jokes as if he had never heard them. I don’t know how the Destination desk girls put up with some of the over demanding butt in line passengers, I have never experienced, in some cases such rude behaviour on a Regent ship. For example I don’t know how clearly stated it was in San Juan when to come and get your passports, but I watched as people from late tours simply wandered down and held up the process for others, the Destination girls handled this and other circumstances with aplomb, only once did I see them get a bit flustered. My wife lost or rather misplaced her sweater one night and the Front Desk ladies went way out of their assigned duties to find it ( it was still on her chair from dinner). I can’t say or speak highly enough of our room stewards, Lester and Bernadette, professional, polite, unobtrusive and always concerned. I wish other lines would take a few lessons. We had only limited dealings with Garry, our butler, but again it was obvious he was well schooled. The Bar staff was extremely good, especially the lady (I am sorry did not get her name) up in the Observation lounge, in one visit she remembered what my wife and I liked. Other cruise lines, you are just another person. I felt bad she remembered our names and I just never got hers..my apologies. The rest of the bar staff was very good as well, with perhaps one exception, who seemed a bit aloof..again just a personality thing. I cannot express how friendly and warm the crew were all hands included. Even if English was a third or in some cases fourth language they would always smile and say hello or some greeting.

Restaurants - Our personal favorite is Signatures, I liked the fact they have 3 rotating menus and we hit 2 of them. The Maître d’ was very good, knowledgeable about the meals and tolerated and laughed at my rusty French. The wait staff was the best of the three main restaurants IMHO. The presentation of the food was above par and was always very good – probably the best we have had a sea, at least as good as Celebrities meals used to be while under previous ownership. I missed the rotation of the excellent French onion soup, but hit the Mushroom twice!!! The selection of wines was good as well and the sommelier was very informative on the wine to the taste barbarian sipping it in front of him. Prime 7 was as usual good. Way way too much food, but they know offer smaller plate dishes too. I still don’t know how anyone can handle the 32 oz porterhouse. I was told that a tiny older lady actually ate one last cruise leg! The crab legs are great and they will take them out of the shell for you – thankfully. Compass Rose was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag. It was not for the efforts of the wait staff whose area we asked to sit in all the time. I think the kitchen got overwhelmed because a couple of the special events with heavy food items ran into the dinner hour. I literally saw some of the wait staff running to catch up. That being said the meals were always well presented and quite tasty. Only once did a meal come a bit cool, yes, I should have sent it back, but I could not bring myself to complain. Also the frequency of the high Code Red really put a strain on them as they had to hand you any items, like bread separately. Also, again, a personality thing, but the one Maître d’ and I, just could not connect and I found him very aloof. An extreme surprise to us was Seti Mari. I will admit this was the first time we had tried it. We got convinced by the little Italian girl who my wife and she were constantly discussing how they hated pantyhose, yes, I know a strange conversation – but you had to be there. Anyway, she convinced us to try it and wow, excellent Italian cuisine. Yes, it is not in a fancy venue, it is just the La Veranda all “dolled up”, but they do an incredible job with what they have to work with. Not that it is bad; it is not true Italian family style. What enhanced the experience was the young man who was Italian from near Naples, he was great. The Buffet at noon was varied, and despite the frequent Code Red issues was always hot and very tasty! Love the burgers. Again, the staff was very good, no issues.

Ship..What can I say, the Mariner, in fact all the Regent ships are kept at such a high standard, as compared to other lines. Never once did I see a piece of paper on the floor. Yes, I am sure the passengers are not the type to throw crap all over the place, but things do slip and I never saw as much as a crumb. The tables were wiped off as quickly as possible; even the card room table were brushed, often. The Regent ships are just the right size for the number of passengers, we never felt crowded. IN fact we sometimes met another coupe who walked around after dinner, and then later and they remarked that they wondered where everyone went. Oft times, you actually felt that the ship was deserted except for you and the crew. Try that on the mega ships, they can take their water slides and well…I am too polite to say what they can do with it. The theater was spacious and could easily handle twice that capacity, if the shoved in more seats. Sound and sight lines were all good, even down to the extreme corners or the 6th floor. The bars were clean and well stocked. The common rooms were all appropriate for the size of the ship and number of passengers. The only slight crowd was the Coffee connection at certain times of the day, this could be in part due to the young lady who staffed it, she made excellent Coffee Nelson’s. Basically you could always find a quiet place to sit. Now as for the pool deck, again, for some reason, this is the first time I saw towels purses books etc sitting on loungers for way way more than 30 minutes. Yes, we had a number of sea days, but still. We also noticed that in the daily paper it was repeatedly noted that staff would remove unattended stuff. I am far from a chair snob, but seriously folks, if you put your junk down then go have a shower, go to breakfast, go for a drink then expect your junk to be there when you come back in two hours, get a life, this is not Carnival – go ahead flame me and call me a snob – don’t care. Yes, this has nothing to do with the ship, but I hope it is not an indication of the way of things to be. And finally a note on the ship herself, some folks noted that she seemed to rock and roll more than they remember, and it did seem to be more then I remember as well. You have to realise we had a 26 ton hitchhiker on the 12th deck on the port side alone – no counterweight on the starboard..would that have done it, maybe, a few old salts claim she was listing a bit to port.

Ports of Call. I left the most controversial to last. Again, I heard the old , sorry to say – to me – worn argument about group tours and all included. So, I talked to a few of the newer folks to Regent and that is one of the prime reasons they switched. The intense nickel and diming on the other lines is getting worse, and the tours are getting outrageous priced. Regent needs new blood to the group, that is how they will survive so all the more travelled passengers will still have a place to sleep. So these all-inclusive items even though I am not stupid to realise these are not worked into the price are still into the price and it only hurts once. So that rant aside, the tours almost to the last one we took, were small group tours of no more than 20 to 30 folks, most less, split between 1 to 3 small buses. Try that on other lines that pack 50 people on a bus and 10 buses converge on a spot. The guides were very good, maybe a bit over enthusiastic in some spots, but still, better that then dour. The selection of tours varied with the ports, but was always applicable to the port. Only on ports where it was religious holidays were the tours limited, and example was San Juan. We hit that one on a Sunday and the forts were closed and most of the shops on Old San Juan. Some opened though. We missed Devils Island due to the crazy sea conditions off that island…I was disappointed. The Amazon exceeded my expectations. I went into it well read on what I was going to see and NOT see. So when Terry Breen gave her lectures (excellent by the way) I had an idea of what she was going to say. I was disappointed because in normal no El Nino years this is the high fruit and flower season. The dry conditions sort of ruined that – oh well.

So that is about it.. a bit wordy sorry, but my personality is that way. I hope this helps someone who is considering Regent.

Thank you for your lovely review. We'll be sailing the Mariner for the first time in May, chosen solely based on itinerary and had no idea what to expect, having recently previously cruised primarily with Celebrity and Seabourn.

Despite your self-described status as a "barbarian", how did you find the selection of wines on board the ship? Are there a lot of choices in the various dining rooms?

JennAngel9..I refer to myself in that text, since despite my wife's best efforts and the sommeliers' as well, all white wines taste like grapefruit to me. Red wines on that other hand I can smell and taste...oh well. So to answer your question, all of the restaurants feature 2 main wines that are paired to the majority of the entrees and mainly of course to the chef's selection of the night. The wines are a white and a red. We only had 2 repeated reds the entire 20 odd days. Signatures usually feature a French red and white. Prime7 usually a more robust set from North America. Compass Rose - all over the place, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand..And Seti Mari was Italians. As the head Sommelier explained, all these wines all open and serve varieties, which is okay by me. The ones that need to be decanted and aged out, are of course extra cost, but are always available. If you don't like the white or red of the night, then you can ask if they still have some from another night, if you can remember that one. I trusted nothing to memory and was the uncouth person toting a camera to dinner (as I was called one night) taking photos of the wine, meals , everything...

My wife favored a particular red and the super nice bar lady up in Observation lounge would have it ready every night!!...How is that for service...

Oh yes..Prime 7 was the only one to try and gently push an extra priced one on you...Signatures was the only one that asked if you wanted a before dinner drink of any kind!!!

And you can even get a lot of rose wines...( some of which are really tasty -despite I was told they are pop)

A really nice review.....well done! We're mini veterns with 4 Regent cruises down and one to come in November, but still enjoyed your review. Fun to read, well written. Congrats on a job well done!

Linda

What a well thought out review without the countering of the small negatives. A pleasure to read.

Thanks for your report.

Fine report. Very good of you to take the time. Thank you, and wishing you many years of pleasures at sea.

Thank you very much for reminding us of why we are so hoping to get back to Regent for at least one more time! :)

Great review, thanks Drcandon. Wish I'd known Bernadette was your room steward - she's a star and deserves a virtual hug from us. After 72 days of looking after us in South America in 2013 we developed quite a bond - in a very professional way. Also a key player in the Krew Kapers... And like you, the Amazon exceeded our expectations and gave us enough time to reflect on ourselves. It's that kind of place.

Thank you for your excellent review. In particular, your comments regarding tours is right on the money.

Z and TB

Thanks for the extensive report.

I received a pm asking if I could describe the gym in the Mariner and/or if I had knowledge of the gym on the other 2 ships. Lucky for you all, I am a "gym rat" and live my sea faring time in the gym - probably so I can eat at lot and not feel guilty.

So the Mariner gym has 2 parts, a main room and a slightly smaller aerobic room, they are both square and approx 20 by 20 I would estimate - although I did not measure..So let me put it in amount of equipment. They have 4 stationary biles, 3 treadmills and 4 ellipticals in a row. Scattered a bit closely in the room are 2 lat machines, one shoulder press, a chess press, gut machine and 3 leg machines. They have a decent selection of weights up to 50 lb dumbbells. The aerobic rooms have cycle fit bikes, ab balls, matts, and balance bars all around the room, plus much to my wife's happiness a good selection of small hand weights. A cooler rounds it out with water and power drink available. The weight stack machines are all brand new and as I was told by Val, (work out guy) they are standard on all three ships now.

The Navigator gym was a bit smaller but not by much and was similar equipped at the time, perhaps more so considering 200 guests less. The gym in the Navigator seemed to be more spacious and was basically empty except for me. That was last year BTW. As I understand has now been updated like the Mariner with new stuff.

The Voyagers gym is a funny configuration. it is more long and rectangular rather then squarish. The cardio machines lined up in a row, all the weight machines lined up on the opposite wall - basically facing them. Now this was about a year ago and they may have changed it, but the space would be the same. I never did look into the aerobic room for some odd reason...This gym was similarly equipped at the time - as compared to the Mariner - so I suspect with the new equipment it will also be the same. As an oddity, it had slightly heavier dumbbells going up to 65 lbs...For some reason I always felt that gym was a bit claustrophobic. It might have been that all the gym folks came in the same time - because all the tours got back the same time (Europe).

Of course I have no idea about the new ship - whomever sails on her will have to report.

Hope this helps

Thank you for your extended thoughts on the wine. This seems similar to our experience on Seabourn. We liked trying the various wines that they had on offer and then we would spring for our own choice if we didn't like them.... or skip wine, depending on how much we'd had in the afternoon. ;)

I'm glad to hear that they had lots of rose... though I doubt we'll be doing as much wine-by-the-pool daydrinking on an Alaska itinerary!

What are the options for those of us who like to start dinners with a glass of bubbly? By the glass? Have to buy the bottle?

What are the options for those of us who like to start dinners with a glass of bubbly? By the glass? Have to buy the bottle?

Bars and restaurants pour Montaudon Brut as their house champagne. Just ask for a glass anytime you like. The house champagne is included in your cruise fare. There is no extra charge.

Thanks DaveFr! Looks like you'll be on the cruise just before us. Do you plan on doing updates while aboard?

JennAngel9,

You never know, I just might make a few comments about my cruise. :D Are you on the May 25 or the June 1 cruise?

We're doing the May 25th sailing. I cruised years ago on HAL and the Sea Otters in Sitka were the absolute highlight of the trip for me, so I wanted my family to be able to experience it as well. :)