penfriend

Last few cruises we were on - Mariner, Princess and Oceania - engineering came in to our cabin and asked us NOT to use a surge strip because charging ipad, phone and camera were too much draw to the power onboard.

Was never a problem for us on the Mariner last year The extension cord was in plain sight and the steward never remarked on it.

Some valuable advice I got as a first time cruiser, on the Mariner, was to take along an electrical extension cord-standard North American 110v two flat prongs. Invaluable if you have a lot of devices that need re-charging such as ipods, ipads, iphones and cameras.

Reports on this board are that all inputs are disabled. I would guess that outputs are too, but that's only a guess

You are probably correct. Thanks.

I am hard of hearing and use wi fi earphones when watching TV. The transmitter plugs into my TV through the "audio-out" jack which takes a regular 3.5mm (not RCA) stereo plug. Can anyone tell me if the Infinity TV's have an accessible audio-out jack? I know on Regent this function is disabled. What about Celebrity? Thanks.

Our experience coming from the Mariner to the Sheraton Dec 08 was every bit as chaotic as you describe. Total confusion and incompetence or indifference on the part of Regent's agents and hotel staff. The actual disembarkation from the Mariner onto the buses was very smooth and well managed but from the arrival at the hotel about 0945 until 1500 when we finally got our room chaos reigned. It seemed impossible to get any useful and accurate information and then only on a one to one basis when we demanded it. We echo the high praise for Regent and the Mariner but they need to do something urgently about their agent in Rio and contract with a better hotel. The Sheraton is rundown and very much showing its age.

Which cruise? We are on the March 2 cruise around the horn, and our roll call is enormous. Many on our rollcall are booked on the March 16 Panama Canal cruise in addition.. Both cruises seem to be very popular with categories sold out.

Hi

We have now posted on the roll call for the BA to Val cruise Mar 2 2014. Details to follow on that thread.

Why is it that there are so few postings here about the Infinity. We are booked on Infinity for a March cruise. Have we made a mistake?

Brutally spoiled by Regent but it feels so good. Hit me again (with a glass of champagne)

We are booked on our first RSSC and of course most reviews are favourable. However there is a new review by Piers…??….. and it is very damning, in fact they left the ship after 4 days!!

 

Please tell me this is not the norm, that these things don't happen. Have they posted about RSSC, or are they on the wrong review page?

 

They mentioned Regent Hotels, are they the same company?

Don't believe a word of it. This guy clearly didn't do his homework and read the explanatory material provided by Regent. The review tells you more about the reviewer than it does about Regent, and non of it reflects well on him.

We are just about to disembark from our first cruise ever on the Regent Mariner. We could not be more impressed and satisfied. When someone starts a review complaining about run-down port facilities then you can stop reading, confident that there is nothing useful to follow.

Penfriend - Put me down for "chewy bacon", as well :) The DW likes hers so that it shatters in a million pieces when touched with a fork. But as for me, "chewy" is just right, with all the "natural goodness" of the fat and grease to blend with the eggs and home fried potatoes (not hash browns - yuk!). I'm very interested in your trip. I've been looking through the Regent catalog for future cruises and have been considering the Atlantic crossing - either eastbound or westbound. I haven't been on the Mariner yet, so that's on the "to-do list", as well. Have a great time. Regards.

We clearly understand each other when it comes to bacon.

I think you will like a transatlantic cruise and the mariner is a fine ship. Our friends thought we would be bored with the several sea-days but there is always plenty to do. And it is all very luxurious.

What passes for bacon in the US - those thin salty strips - is edible (if at all) only if crispy. Proper English back bacon - what is called Canadian bacon in the US - is wonderful if grilled medium well and stays bendy.

This surge from the soft bacon fraternity has certainly saved my bacon: I was feeling quite lonely.

Bacon is quite different between the US, Canada and the UK. The British are not fond of "streaky" bacon considering it much inferior to gammon rashers which are never cooked to a crisp. So-called Canadian bacon is similar to the British gammon but a smaller part of the loin and again, not cooked to a crisp. Canadians generally prefer streaky bacon made from pork bellies, with some liking it crisp and others limp. In Canada, what the US calls Canadian bacon is called peameal bacon because it comes with a breadcrumb-like coating. Not the bacon most people chose. I cure and smoke my own bacon from pork bellies and agree that the presence of bacon fat makes all the difference to a good fried breakfast.

The Regent (and Oceania) crispy bacon is a joy to us. We can't get that here at all...

 

But please, penfriend, tell us more about the cruise and especially ports and on board activities...

Hi Hambagahle

Despite your rather questionable taste in bacon ;) , when I get home later this month I will try to post a copy of the ships daily activities letter to give you an idea of what to expect. When we told our friends we had booked an ocean crossing most thought we had made a mistake and wondered how we would keep busy during the three at-sea days. believe me, we kept occupied and enjoyed every one of them. Another thought for those reading this: the internet connection, while occasionally spotty, has been much better than we had been led to believe. Perhaps Regent has upgraded the service. Also the library is well-stocked with current popular novels of the John Grisham variety, perfect for vacation light reading.All the restaurants are truly excellent, in fact we have found Compass Rose to be on a par with the two specialty restaurants as far as food and service is concerned, and only slightly less elegant. We would be quite content eating in Compass Rose every night on our next Regent cruise if we had to.

Glad you guys are enjoying yourselves. We went on out first Regent cruise last April onboard the Mariner and it turned out to be our best ever cruise. This was followed by the worst, which was onboard RCL's Enchantment of the Seas. Needless to say, we are booked on the Regent Navigator for this March.

 

If your only complaint was the bacon, then you are good to go. I'm a crispier the better kind of guy. Enjoy the rest of the cruise and keep us posted.

 

Tally so far: Crispy Bacon -3 Non-crispy Bacon-1.

 

Hi Zqueeze1

 

I am clearly outnumbered here in the bacon department. Where are all the valient defenders of undercooked bacon? I like my bacon cooked so that you can bend it, not break it off like a breadstick. I think though that I was served a particularly over-cooked slab of several slices stuck together which I sent back to be replaced by something similar. In case anyone reading this is wondering about this exchange, bacon is a very important subject and deserves serious consideration.

We are also on Mariner, in Recife today. I only have two complaints. The first one is the weather has not been great, it has been cold and not sunny.one 1 from the end and the sun is finally shining.. We were upgraded to a HORIZON suite

N suite. The suite is very nice, but the balcony is useless in this weather. Also itis very far from tne rest of the ship. We notice when we went to breakfast this morning that all the dishes are upside down and any one coming out

Of the kitchen are wearing hairnets. Did we have a surprise inspection or did a passenger complain?

 

Travelcat2---Everyone Thanks you forthe magnets. It was a great idea.

HJ---BAREFOOTFANTASY

 

Hi BarefootFantasy

We went on the Galley tour yesterday and the Executive Chef Kelly Crawford told us that the the Brazilian authorities would be conducting a sanitary inspection today. I didn't make the connection with the hairnets and upside down plates until you mkentioned it but of course that explains it.

We were also booked on this cruise. Any comments on the weather or ports?

 

Also like my bacon as crispy as possible:)

Hi Travelcat2

Ever since we neared Brazil the weather has been good. Before that it was OK but cooler than we expected, often cloudy with some windy days and a couple of days of rain. The seas have been quite calm throughout the crossing although on a couple of days the swell has been noticeable but it didn't seem to put anyone off their food.

The tours have been OK to awful depending mostly on the guide. i should admit we do not really like going off on buses and trailing behind a guy carrying a sign so we are rather biased here. On our next (non Regent) cruise we will organise our tours ourselves, which is the way we are used to travelling. I do think Regent should vet these tours and guides a bit more closely and weed out the duds. As for locations, I was not impressed with Cartagena nor Lanzarote but enjoyed the more primitive (under-developed) Cape Verde. We have just today enjoyed a nice tour of Recife.

We are currently half-way on the trans-Atlantic crossing to Rio. Our first cruise ever, not just on regent. Wonderful experience which has exceeded all our expectations. Food, service and general ship ambiance are all exceptional. Mariner is a great ship. Perceived carpet "stains" are largely a function of light and shadow. Wall paintings are soothing and complement decor well, in our opinion. My only "complaint" on the mid-cruise feedback form was that the bacon was overcooked and too crispy-like a cracker. Next day brought a follow-up call from the food manager telling me the kitchen had been informed of my preferences and that next time I should simply tell the waiter what I wanted. I was most impressed by this attention. We will be buying on-board certificates for a later Regent cruise.

My wife and I are booked on Infinity for next March and have taken the free Classic drinks package. I would like to upgrade to the premium package but my wife is happy with the Classic. Can just one of us upgrade? Thanks.