frankdp

Just booked Feb 15, 2021 sky suite, great price all 4 perks.  Twenty minute drive from my front door to the terminal.....Love this!

Your pics remind me of our visit to Copenhagen several years ago.  We stayed at the lovely Scandic Palace, also very close to Tivoli.   Looking forward to following your amazing trip!   Bon voyage!

Many of you desperately need a cruise.   Just an FYI.....there are no ghosts.

I’ve been giving serious thought to trying Haven but this thread is definitely giving me second thoughts.

Cruising Hawaii on Norwegian Pride of America is excellent way to enjoy Hawaii, the destination.   When we did it a few years ago, we took the 4 day land offer pre cruise and enjoyed it.  

On the other hand if you are expecting a superior “cruise ship” experience, you will likely be disappointed.   Since the ship is flagged as an American ship, it is required to have a crew comprised of 80% American citizens.   These folks are good people but the service level is not comparable to a more traditionally crewed ship.

My sweet five year old granddaughter wrote this.   She’s with Mom, Dad and big sis at a nice hotel in FLL boarding a ship tomorrow.  Not Oceania, a ship more appropriate for young families.    Her 4th or 5th cruise and really becoming a cruiser.   Papa and Nana cruise with them occasionally.    

I assume you you can decipher her interesting spelling....

Hi Czardas!   Just read this thread and I can safely say, everything you need to know about enjoying a Regent cruise has been covered.   You will find a very interesting and friendly, maybe just a bit quirky, group of shipmates.  

Looking forward to your review!  

I’m sure Bonine is not effective for all, but I suggest that folks try it.  For those it is effective for, it’s like a miracle.  

And I too would love to hear or read some “first person” reports on the sea spex.

As a long time optician, I find it difficult to believe that these would be anything more than a placebo, and a very ugly placebo.

Before I became an optician, I was in the US Navy for six years, five of which were on a destroyer, 390 feet long, 40 feet wide, displacing 22,000 tone.  Tiny compared to even the smaller Regent ships.  I was very prone to sea sickness and was miserable for the first two or three days at sea, every time.

Bonine, zero side effects 100% effective.

I booked my excursions earlier this week for a November crossing and a few were sold out.  Of that few, some gave the option to wait list, some did not.    Same thing for culinary classes.

Floridiana, the food is far superior to RC and Celebrity, even in the main dinning room.   The menu in the mdr is pretty darn extensive.

23 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

I love Morocco and have been there many times - port cities as well as the interior and generally on my or our own and driving.  To me the toilets are no worse than those in Greece (and I actually prefer what we call a "Turkish toilet" here because your "nether regions" do not have to touch a seat! - But I also know that for Americans they take a bit of getting used to..)  And frankly speaking I dread, absolutely dread, using public (or airport) toilets in the USA which are uniformaly disgusting...

 

I have not encountered people with the sort of "attitude" that your tour guide certainly had.   He has no business being in the tourism industry and I hope you reported him.   When we were in Rabat a couple of years ago we had a great guide who could not have done more for our group...   In general I have found Moroccans to be very kind and hospitable.  And would love to go back there next winter for a golf holiday in Marrakesh which is a city I particularly like.

You must hang out in some rough places when in the US.   Most public restrooms in decent establishments are very clean.   Airport restrooms are close to immaculate.

Just an amazing presentation both in the imagery and description.  So glad to have found this thread in that we just booked a crossing originating in Lisbon.  Two full days pre-cruise to enjoy this intriguing city!   Thank you kind sir!

Another advantage for the three names that make up the Norwegian is that they can and do share employees.  

We were on the cruise just prior to this one and our experience was similar, the biggest difference being that we are in the "grandparents" group.    We have sailed with our kids and grandkids in the past, but this trip was just my wife and I. 

We really liked Edge for many of the same reasons, great staff etc.   We had mixed feelings on the food.  For us, Cyprus and Normandie were very good, Tuscany was good,  and Cosmopolitan was just OK.  Of course food is very subjective so, grain of salt here.

We really enjoyed Le Petit Chef.  The animation was very cool and the food was better than I expected.   We had lunch at the morning and afternoon iteration of the same venue,

Le Grand Bistro, well worth the $20.00 surcharge.   Ate dinner at Eden on the last evening and it was off the chart!  You're sitting at your table, Looking down 1/2 level at the completely open kitchen watching about a dozen cooks and chefs buzzing around cooking your meal.   You might not watch the chefs for long because the Edenists are greeting you with a lovely "Good Eden!" or bringing you a welcome drink.   They each have a "personality" and seem to have fun with freestyling with the diners.   Not at all overbearing, and will give you as much or as little attention as you desire.  Be sure to watch for the sitar player.   I should mention that the food here was really, really good.   They offer five courses, two choices per course.   Some of the choices are a bit edgy (no pun intended), like my app, raw oysters with sea urchin.   Most of the plates they serve are pretty standard foods but with interesting preparations.   The apple desert is a must, almost too beautiful to eat.  Almost.

OP, please forgive me for hijacking your thread, this started out as a comment, but sort of got out of control.....   

Following.  Enjoy your time onboard, we will be aboard for the Jan 13 cruise.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. We loved this cruise and by and large the food was excellent. We had two very good meals in Sette Mare and another in Signatures, but our favorite place for dinner was Compass Rose. Amazing menu, tremendous service!

frankdp, my husband and I raise Angus beef. If you have to put seasoning on a steak for it to taste good, it is not a good steak. A good steak should taste great with nothing more than a little salt. And Argentinean beef is always tough and stringy IMO, at least what I have had.

That said, we have a love hate relationship with Prime 7. We have had some great meals and great steaks there, but also some major failures. These days, with the always available menu in Compass Rose, we have found the filets and lobster there to be better than Prime 7.[/quote

 

 

Thanks Rachel, you pretty much made my point. The steaks, after the first attempt were pretty close to the doneness we asked for but were quite flavorless. Dry aged beef should explode with flavor, these did not.

Here I sit, at home, Sunday morning after getting home around midnight last night from this amazing trip. We spent 3 full days in Barca after this 17 day trans Atlantic.

Phillygirl, Carnevale and others, it was really nice to meet you and your husbands! So nice to get to know you all.

This was our first Regent experience and we (my wife and I) certainly hope not the last. While Mariner certainly showed some signs of wear, she was more than acceptable, and the staff was beyond reproach.

From the comments I read on CC leading up to this cruise, my expectations for dining was very high, and I was not disappointed, with one exception. Compass Rose was great, both food and service. We went to Signatures once and had a lovely meal, again, both food quality and service. Two meals in Sette Mare were very good, loved their lamb chops, and La Veranda was our go to lunch spot, usually getting individually prepared pasta.

Maybe my expectations for Prime 7 were to high based upon my pre cruise research but to be very honest, we were disappointed. We went there on day 5 of the cruise, I had a special they were offering, two strip steaks, one American and one Argentinian. The steaks were maybe 1/2 inch thick, I asked for mid rare and both were well done, no pink at all. I did send them back and the second try, they got the temp right but the steaks were average tasting at best and the Argentinian one was tough.

My wife got the surf and turf, a filet and 6oz serving of king crab legs. Her steak was pretty much without any seasoning and pretty tasteless and the crab legs were not much better. Throw in having to ask repeatedly for water and wine refills and it was not a good experience.

Interestingly, the next day, we ran into Jamal, the Maitre de of Prime 7, and he asked us how our experience was. We delicately told him the it was less than we expected and he begged us to come back and let him try again for us. Of course we agreed and went back the next day. They got the the steak temperatures right but we were still not overly impressed with the flavors.

Who knows, maybe it was just us..... We loved the food on this ship and the service was off the charts!

I am on this Mariner cruise as well and if the OP will allow I’ll chip in as well.

I saw no sign of military in Rio, but I did see what I would consider a normal police presence. We stayed at the Windsor Excelsior, facing Copacabana beach. Very nice hotel if a bit dated. Awesome staff, very clean, wonderful breakfast buffet, I do recommend it.

We used a wonderful tour guide named Gus, found him on TA. He took us to Cristo, Sugarloaf, the Seleron Steps and several other drops.

As Juno said, Mariner is in great shape, the crew is amazing, always willing to help and make our trip perfect. So far the food has been wonderful!

From what I just read, I think this plan needs to be approved by the Brazilian Congress next week. Personally, I hope to see soldiers on the streeets when I get there this Friday.

As mentioned twice above, Bonine. No side effects, so seasickness. Take one the morning of sailing and every morning of the trip.

I do or I don't.

We have a cruise booked on June 9 , 2018 . We will fly out of MCO (Orlando) to Venice and return on June 21 from Venice . We are looking at either Delta or American Air . Does anyone know if Regent uses these carriers ? We have a 11 am flight out of Venice . Is this feasible or should we look at a 12:15 pm flight on American . The American Flights connect through Philadelphia (both ways) and the Delta connects through JFK outbound and ATL return.

Yes, they use both.

I will not allow these sub humans to control me. I will be careful and avoid certain situations but will continue to travel. My wife and I will be on board Mariner with Phillygirl and will be spending 3 days post cruise in Barcelona.

If I let them change me, they win.