Mariner - Istanbul to Venice

[JACKHAWK]

We are on day 4 of our cruise & I must say that all the bad comments about Regent are just not TRUE.

 

The morale & the friendliness of the crew is outstanding. The food is great! The free excursions have all been good. The ship is completely full but does not seem crowded at all. (The exception was Mykonos - all the excursions had scheduled specific departure times, but the passengers who weren't on excursions went to the tender before they were called on the PA creating a lot of chaos.)

 

The cruise air worked perfectly. US Air to Charlotte, then LH thru Munich to Istanbul.

 

The ship had some refurbishments before it got to Istanbul. New mattresses in all suites. Some new wall paper, decks sanded, & general cleaning.

 

Signatures was very good last night with the wait staff really cheerful. Going to P7 tonight.

 

Weather has been perfect & we are loving everything about the cruise.

[Dreps]

Glad to hear it. We were on the Mariner for 30-days around S. America in January/February, and we had the same experience. The food was excellent as was the service. The excursions were also very good for the most part. Was it perfect? Of course not. Glitches such as the one you describe are bound to occur, especially during a 30-day cruise. However, having sailed on Radisson/Regent for more than 100 days since 2003, we did not experience any evidence of deteriorating overall service that I seem to be reading about with increasing frequency. In fact, our two last cruises, were probably among the best.

[poss]

Thanks for the report, JACKHAWK, and glad you're so much enjoying everything. How'd you like Mykonos, by the way? Did you go to Delos?

 

Question: Did you do Regent air? I'm interested because I was told that they could NOT book me on US Airways for part of the trip and then connect with LH. I paid a deviation fee and that's exactly what I wanted to do-- schedule through Munich. They said they could not "mix" the two carriers (even though both US Air and LH are Star Alliance). We've been put on a really inconvenient flight through Frankfurt, with a long layover, getting into Istanbul way later than the flight I'd hoped to be on. I'd be interested to hear if they were somehow able to schedule you using the two airlines. Oh, I just thought of something: Did you do the business class upgrade? That's what we're doing; I wonder if for some reason they can mix on coach, but not on business.

 

I hope you continue to enjoy your cruise! I envy your being in that area at this lovely time of year.

[Hambagahle]

Hi Jackhawk

 

Your experience mirrors the one we had on the 7th April Monte Carlo to Venice cruise this year. It was simply wonderful!!

 

If you run into Dionne Lochner, Cruise Director, please tell her that the Thompsons say hello!! She is just terrific!!

 

Enjoy every minute. I wish I were on the ship with you all!!

[JACKHAWK]

Thanks for the report, JACKHAWK, and glad you're so much enjoying everything. How'd you like Mykonos, by the way? Did you go to Delos?

 

Question: Did you do Regent air? I'm interested because I was told that they could NOT book me on US Airways for part of the trip and then connect with LH. I paid a deviation fee and that's exactly what I wanted to do-- schedule through Munich. They said they could not "mix" the two carriers (even though both US Air and LH are Star Alliance). We've been put on a really inconvenient flight through Frankfurt, with a long layover, getting into Istanbul way later than the flight I'd hoped to be on. I'd be interested to hear if they were somehow able to schedule you using the two airlines. Oh, I just thought of something: Did you do the business class upgrade? That's what we're doing; I wonder if for some reason they can mix on coach, but not on business.

 

I hope you continue to enjoy your cruise! I envy your being in that area at this lovely time of year.

 

We did not go to Delos, but loved the terrace houses.

 

We did do a deviation, so that we could get to Istanbul a few days early. They responded with US Air, LH with a 40 minute connection in Munich. We had our TA respond immediately that we didn't want a 40 minute connection & told them we wanted the next flight (3 hour connection, but no worry about missing connection). Returning (no deviation) LH to Frankfurt, UAL home.

 

We went on an all coach flight US Air on first leg out of SAV to CLT, then business on LH. We have mixed carriers in the past with business upgrade. Once with UAL domestic connecting to SAS Int. Another time to Alaska - Delta to Alaska, returned with Continental.

 

Good luck.

 

[mimi1+1]

Great hearing your having a marvelous time. We're sailing Mariner Sep 22 Istanbul-Monte Carlo. Any great Restaurant suggestions for Istanbul? We're arriving 3 days early.

[zaby]

Mimi1+1

 

Just read your post, we are also sailing on Mariner on Sep 22 and are also arriving early into Turkey to visit Capodoccia.

[mimi1+1]

Zaby, We are two couples, We will be staying in Instanbul since this is our first time there. We are excited. Look forward to meeting you.

[zaby]

Great - we will also