Impressions of the Mariner in Alaska (5/25-6/1/2016) w/ a Toddler

[JennAngel9]

We recently returned from our first Regent cruise on the Mariner, Stateroom 847 (I think this is a standard stateroom in the Concierge category). Overall we were very happy with Regent and felt we got a good value for the (not insubstantial) amount of money we spent to pay for ourselves, our 18mo daughter, and our in laws (as an anniversary present and also a babysitting service). I'd say the things that stood out most were how accommodating 99% of the staff we encountered were; in particular, I was blown away by how competently and thoroughly Regent handled my daughter's food allergy issues.

 

This was about my 20th cruise, my husband's 3rd cruise, and the first ever cruise for my husband's parents and my daughter. Before we sailed I inquired about taking a toddler on Regent and encountered a decent number of hostile opinions as well as many supportive comments and a few voices of qualified approval ("if your kid is well behaved and you are committed to keeping them from melting down in public..."), so I wanted to express my impressions on that topic before moving on to general thoughts [kindly skip this long paragraph if children don't interest you]. Every single member of the staff was over the top wonderful with DD. One of the security officers who swiped cards as we returned even kept trying to give us candy bars for her each time we returned and everyone knew her name and knew us and told us what a joy she was. She is in a particularly charming phase of calling everyone she meets between the ages of about 50-95 "Grandma" or "Grandpa" and several people stopped us over the course of the week to tell us what an absolute doll she was or what a joy it was to watch her. However, I think we earned a lot of this goodwill with our 4:1 adult to child ratio and the fact that there was always at least one person 100% dedicated to making sure she was content (or not acting out) at any given time she was in a public area and we only took her to dinner twice. The rest of the trip we alternated dinner times, where her grandparents would typically have an early dinner, then grandma would either finish putting her to bed or stay in the room watching her sleep while we went out for dinner around 8p and then they'd head back out for a nightcap when we returned to the room around 10p. This actually created a unique problem for us because Regent had before dinner canapes & dancing from about 6:30-8, which sounded divine but we didn't get to experience it, and then there were basically no dance venues from 8-10:30 or 8-11:30 depending on the night. This was actually our major gripe with Regent as compared with Celebrity or Seabourn (the two lines we've cruised most recently) and certainly Cunard (which I haven't sailed in some time, so it may have changed). I recognize that Alaska is more port intensive and less nightlife intensive, but I feel like it would have cost them very little to have a young crewmember act as DJ playing danceable songs in Stars nightclub starting around 9:30 or 10 and would have made a huge difference to us. I will take responsibility for not thinking of this until the end of the cruise and allow that Regent might have even accommodated us if we'd thought to ask. Instead, we spent our precious free time after dinner working on puzzles or chatting in the library. Oh right, back to baby. So not starting dinner until 6:30 (especially since Alaska time is 1h behind Pacific time) didn't seem particularly baby friendly (discouraging infants and toddlers in the dining room is actually fine by me) but it was also hard on my in laws, who were coming from Eastern time zone and effectively starting dinner at 10:30p (even with our few days head start around Alaska). It's possible this is a change in cruise dining generally, but I feel like on all previous cruises (except perhaps the Cunard Grill dining room) there were broader options of hours. Regent allowed us to order the same custom menu for DD to be delivered via room service each night at 6p, which was the perfect solution for us. It was a little messy feeding her off the couch/tiny coffee table without a high chair but I don't think any serious damage was done to the upholstery! I suspect if we requested one they would have sent it down to our room, but it was pretty tight in there with the crib. The blackout curtains cut out about 90-95% of the light from the perpetual Alaska sun and the room dividing curtains did a great job of filtering light and noise between us and DD-- but I found myself wishing several times we'd paid to be in a slightly larger cabin. Final miscellaneous thoughts on travel with a toddler: (a) HOLY COW THE RAILINGS ON REGENT ARE LOW AND POROUS! It's gorgeous and more attractive than plexiglass, but not ideal for kids. We definitely could not let her out of arms reach on either our balcony or the main walking track on deck 12; (b) we experienced overwhelming kindness and myriad compliments from countless fellow cruisers and had exactly one unpleasant experience in which an older passenger barked at me for blocking her path with a stroller (I actually blame Regent for setting up a bingo purchasing queue at the bottleneck exit of the Horizon lounge), I wasn't even sure her ire was directed at me until the other three women in line around me made reassuring comments like "ignore her, somebody's obviously a bit grumpy" and "couldn't she just have said excuse me?"-- so for those who fear the anti-kid crew on Regent, I don't think you have to so long as you are considerate of your kid and your fellow passengers, but this leads me to © I think next time we will probably leave DD at home. She had a great cruise and was actually a better traveller than me, she made many friends and fans and she enjoyed seeing birds and bears--but we definitely took a trip and not a vacation. I love travel but being responsible 24/7 or even 20/7 (thanks mother-in-law!) for a tiny person on a moving ship definitely adds a lot of stress and both DH and I agreed that if his parents hadn't been there and so helpful it would have been a colossal disaster.

 

Ok, for those of you still reading, here are my more general impressions of Regent (mostly as compared with Seabourn, Celebrity & Cunard-- my other favorite lines), keeping in mind that I was dealing with pregnancy exhaustion and morning sickness the whole trip:

 

Cabin: As mentioned above, we liked our cabin but having only sailed in suites on Celebrity and a Penthouse on Seabourn (a true 2 room suite), the room felt exceptionally tight with a third person and her crib. DH's parents' room was exactly the same size but felt much more comfortable. The bathrooms, however, were extremely tiny and while my 6'3 husband managed to make do with the shower-bath combo w/o a single complaint, I felt terrible thinking about the contortions he must have had to practice and still think it's a miracle he wasn't injured! The walk in closet fit all 3 of our clothes AND our umbrella stroller without a problem, probably the most impressive part of the room. :)

 

Crew: All lovely, I wouldn't say I had a single bad experience. I actually think the hardest thing was hearing how many of our crew members had to leave children at home half-way across the world. Our cabin stewardess mentioned that she had a 4 and 8 year old and then later her husband introduced himself to us at dinner ("are you the couple with the toddler? my wife is your steward, she says your daughter is so lovely!") and we were struck by the fact that this couple were both away from their kids for months at a time to try to give them a better life. Incidentally, this is my gripe with the no tipping policy-- I'm always struck on cruises by the disparity in luck between myself and my steward(ess) or the waitstaff and I partially alleviate that guilt by leaving a few hundred above and beyond suggested gratuities tucked in envelopes at the end of each sailings, as well as writing out letters of recommendation for people who go above and beyond. We actually didn't do that this cruise largely because I was so distracted having a toddler I didn't think about it or pick up cash in advance. I'm actually currently trying to figure out how to get in contact with Regent to see if we can tip belatedly via credit card.

 

My one negative impression is that the final sea day we had dinner in Prime 7 (lovely, amazing meal, I thought it was better than Signatures) and service was generally spectacular but they were serving Baked Alaska in the main dining room-- we were in Alaska and my husband had never had it before (plus I like it) so I asked if we could have that served instead. The waitress said she would check and then the maitre d' came by and said he couldn't do it because (a) he couldn't guarantee the quality of the dining experience from outside his restaurant and (b) if people saw us with it that everybody would start asking for it. I appreciated his honesty and it didn't ruin the night, but I feel like that kind of request should be granted and if it couldn't be, that a 6* cruise line would either offer to have it waiting at a table in Compass Rose post-Prime 7 or delivered to our room.

 

Dining: I made some comments about this over on p.5 of RachelG's excellent thread and I won't repeat them but bear in mind that most of impressions are colored by a non-trivial struggle with morning sickness causing general nausea and food aversions (especially to egg, pork and fish! :() In general, I felt that the dining experience on Regent met expectations for a luxury cruise (it was at least slightly better than Celebrity's food) and the service was consistently excellent...yet I was never thrilled by anything on my plate (with the exception of the food at Prime 7, and we eat in top steakhouses regularly--get the bone in ribeye and the crab legs). Again, could be the nausea, but for me dining is more about smooth, unobtrusive service and ambiance than anything I'm eating and Regent nailed the service component! Because of my finicky palate, I made a variety of special requests in Compass Rose and they were all accommodated cheerfully. The first night DH and I each only ordered 2 courses and were a bit shocked by the small portion sizes (totally appropriate if we'd actually ordered every course!) and wished that the waiter had gently reminded us portions were sized on the assumption you ate 3-4 courses, but we ordered the cheese plate and a dessert and left perfectly satisfied. Speaking of which, I'm a bit of a cheese snob (ok, I'm a cheese addict with a preference for fancy cheeses but will eat almost anything in a pinch) and I was pleasantly surprised by Regent's cheese plates, given that I had been forewarned there was no cheese cart in CR. The cheese cart in Signatures was excellent but not that much of a step up from the choices in CR. Compared to Celebrity, the main dining room cheeses were more varied, more adventurous and better plated. I'm pretty sure they are inferior to the options on Seabourn but I was also a few glasses of wine in by the time it arrived on that cruise so I'm not certain my judgment is fair. As long as we're talking about Seabourn, I did miss being able to get caviar and champagne (obviously the champagne was not Regent's fault) each night before dinner, but the one morning Regent served it at brunch it was quite delicious.

 

Beverage: So I'm barely drinking anything as I am pregnant but I did tend to get a small pour of one glass of wine a night and have a couple of sips with my dinner and I feel that Regent really outshone Seabourn in picking delicious wines for pairing with dinner. I also followed the tip of a CC poster and asked about other complimentary options the night we were in Signatures and had a lovely French white burgundy. It wasn't quite a Montrachet but it had excellent dimension and complimented the food nicely. I also felt that the bar staff was extremely attentive (perhaps because I often had an empty glass/no glass?) especially given that they weren't hustling for tips or getting a commission for pushing the wine. ;)

 

Excursions: We really enjoyed our excursions. We did the Spaaski Valley Bear Search (or something along those lines) in Hoonah and while we found our guide to be a bit odd it was a lovely walk through the wilderness and we actually saw a giant grizzly bear ambling along the road right before returning to our bus. I was actually frustrated because we were able to book DD on the excursion and confirmed with Regent that she was allowed only to be told the day before that the operator wouldn't take anybody under age 7, no exceptions. We would have kept her in the hiking backpack and she would have been fine, but we chose to let it go and divide the family on two different trips instead of going into lawyer mode. We did the Sea Otter Quest in Stika, an excursion I'd done a decade earlier when HAL stopped in Sitka and it was delightful, saw lots of otters and bald eagles a couple of seals and ended up setting off to an island where Puffins mate. The tour ran a bit long and dropped us in Sitka instead of back at the ship, which was inconvenient for us with an overtired toddler, but probably a bonus for everybody else. ;) We weren't able to get any tours we wanted in Prince Rupert, having decided towards the last minute that we didn't want to be on a boat 5+ hours to hopefully see bears when we'd already had three great bear sightings earlier in our trip. We spent about an hour walking around the town, which was cute but pretty sleepy. Finally, in Victoria we did the morning horse drawn carriage tour and the afternoon tea at Butchart Gardens, both of which I recommend-- though having done the tea previously at the Empress, I will say that you're not getting quite the same experience at Butchart though I suspect that's partly because you are in a large group on a shore excursion. Having done both (and getting to have fancy tea in Los Angeles all the time), I'd opt for Butchart again if doing the Empress meant that we could not see the gardens.

 

Attire: DH and I like to dress up on cruises and he ended up wearing a suit a few nights and a sport coat and tie on other nights. I was basically wearing the dresses I own of varying degrees of formality that still fit over my baby bump and were easy to pack. We were definitely much dressier than the average cruiser. I noted some people on night one in horribly schlubby attire (including jeans) but didn't see anybody well below the bar after night 1. As a young(ish?) couple who have lived entirely in NYC or LA for the last 10 years, I am very sympathetic to the gripe that well tailored jeans along with a coat and tie would look much sharper than a good number (even perhaps a majority) of men dressed on the ship-- but quite frankly, we don't care that much about what other people wear and will probably give serious consideration to Cunard going forward on special occasions we want to break out the tuxedo and Mikimoto collection... I understand everyone else has largely abandoned formal attire and it was convenient to pack one suit and a few pairs of khakis for my husband instead of a whole separate garment bag!

 

General Ship:

Very clean, always tables available in the dining room/buffet. The only time it ever felt crowded was at afternoon tea & trivia. Our first day we actually couldn't find a table arriving around 4:15 and ended up cobbling together some extra chairs and the crew brought us ottomans side tables that we made into a makeshift table. The central atrium was especially attractive for being a relatively small ship.

 

I don't think I would have noticed the "wear and tear" on our stateroom if there hadn't been much debate about it here... however the bathtub had at least one giant chip in it and the shower head metal veneer had a good number of chips and cracks, which struck me as an easy fix. In general the ship was in excellent shape but I would advise people to avoid cabin numbers approximately 831-843 (front to middle segment starboard side) because it ALWAYS smelled like mildew/mold in the hallway there until approximately 5' before our stateroom door, where it stopped suddenly. Again, this may have been a milder smell to the non-pregnant people on the cruise. Which leads me to my major complaint, there was a LOT of work being done on the ship during our sailing--I understand ships need a lot of upkeep to stay looking sharp but they had painted the varnish on our balcony railing AFTER we boarded in Seward with a "wet paint" sign affixed to our balcony door in the afternoon, and while they may not have known I was pregnant they did know we had a toddler and this basically forced us to choose between enjoying sailaway on our balcony and not huffing VOCs of wet varnish. Subsequently, we often smelled wet paint/varnish around the ship, especially on the last sea day, which seemed like an unfortunate time to choose to do that kind of work—especially on Deck 12 while our family was playing croquet and others were golfing. The day before we arrived in Victoria, we received a note to the effect that we would need to be off the balcony in the afternoon because they were power-washing the ship and that the deck would be wet and slippery after. Perhaps this is more of a problem on ships were all staterooms are balconies, but I have sailed nearly 20 cruises and only once or twice have I been notified work is being done on our balcony and have never felt that we were constantly smelling wet paint/varnish.

 

Free Future Cruiser Advice: We had a lot of OBC and did receive a note midway through the cruise that we had a large balance and would forfeit whatever we had not spent on disembarkation. I was still reluctant to spend too much given that I didn't want to have a large balance at the end, but we ended up buying my husband several new outfits and some sort of perpetual motion globe as well as a pair of Ray-Bans for me the last night of our last sea day. Anyway, the tip is to believe Regent that you're really not going to get nickel and dimed onboard, be more indulgent in the spa early but if you fail to do that BE SURE TO CHECK THE LAST DAY THE SHOPS ARE OPEN! Because our last day was in Victoria from 9a-midnight, there was no shopping and very little way to spend OBC and I happened to be at the reception deck (redeeming my Regent rewards for some nice swag) listening to an irate passenger with several hundred in OBC and nowhere to spend it. Also, frustratingly, they would not let us donate any of our OBC to either the crew welfare fund or individual tips. We would have rather given a few hundred to the crew, even at a discount rate, than load up on marked up RL gear and presumably Regent would have come out ahead, but alas, it was not in the cards.

 

In conclusion: We were very happy with Regent. To the extent my review is heavy on criticism, it is because when spending 10K+ per cabin, I expect perfection/exceeds expectations (or at least exceeds Celebrity/Azamara/Princess) in every category, and so I pointed out the areas that didn't really wow me instead of itemizing everything that was great, which was most things. While I would give Seabourn a slight edge, I don't think it's a fair competition as I couldn't drink much on Regent and instead of being on my first cruise with a new boyfriend/future husband I was taking a vacation while pregnant and responsible for an unpredictable toddler. I think we will definitely sail Regent again in the future, we really did overall like the environment and the fellow passengers were predominately excellent (oh, I should add that DH thought the coffee area on the Mariner was overall superior to the area on the Odyssey and he felt that food and service were essentially equal), I don't think it is SO much nicer than the suites on Celebrity (and this may be blasphemous but I think the specialty continental/french restaurants on Celebrity are a few steps up from Signatures), plus we like having a bit more nightlife options so I think that while our kids are young enough to benefit from kids' programming, we'll probably take our family vacations on Celebrity, Cunard or Disney and for adults only vacations we'll probably come back to Regent or Seabourn, likely choosing on itinerary and vacation dates.

 

I'm happy to answer all politely worded questions and criticisms of my review, but life is too short for flamers. :)

[stromer]

I enjoyed your review and I will be on the Mariner in about a month. I was also on the Oceania Marina - run be the same company so I am familiar with the rewards program but would like to know what merchandise was available for redemption at the end of the cruise. On Oceania they had low end items such as workout shirts, caps, umbrellas and othe simple items. Also when you went to redeem your points, they seemed to offer items even if you did not have enough points for them. Did they have similar type basic items or more high end items that a luxury line might offer vs premium line like Oceania?

 

We are sometimes interested in having dinner in less than 2 hours - typical of the normal dining venues. Does the Sette Mari offer any faster dining than the others or does it take the typical 2 hours or so? Do they have a self serve salad bar there in the evening to help speed things up?

 

Thanks, Rick

[liptastic]

Enjoyed your comprehensive review. You have been honest and given a good assessment of your experience. We have had 3 cruises on Mariner and will be back onboard in August for Alaska too. Glad you enjoyed the cruise and good wishes for the future new baby arrival. Jean.

[WesW]

Thanks so much for an outstanding/very thorough Mariner review

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[wripro]

Thank you for your review. Fortunately, you had four adults to deal with your daughter who were considerate and thoughtful to other passengers. Too many times this is not the case and parents allow their children to scream, run, jump in the pool, through the corridors etc without even looking up or caring what the effect may be on others. Congratulations to you for your thoughtfulness and I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise.

[RachelG]

I enjoyed your review and I will be on the Mariner in about a month. I was also on the Oceania Marina - run be the same company so I am familiar with the rewards program but would like to know what merchandise was available for redemption at the end of the cruise. On Oceania they had low end items such as workout shirts, caps, umbrellas and othe simple items. Also when you went to redeem your points, they seemed to offer items even if you did not have enough points for them. Did they have similar type basic items or more high end items that a luxury line might offer vs premium line like Oceania?

 

We are sometimes interested in having dinner in less than 2 hours - typical of the normal dining venues. Does the Sette Mari offer any faster dining than the others or does it take the typical 2 hours or so? Do they have a self serve salad bar there in the evening to help speed things up?

 

Thanks, Rick

Not the OP, but I can answer the question about redeeming points. They have t shirts and baseball caps with the regent logo, as well as money clips, pens, and other basic items.

 

Sette Mare can be done definitely in less than 2 hours, but usually most of our dinners when it is just the 2 of us in any of the dining venues is less than two hours. Obviously if we are with a large group it takes longer.

[RachelG]

Jennifer, thanks for your review. It is far and balanced, and brings up a lot of good points. For future reference, the baked Alaska could be delivered to your room by calling room service, as you can get anything of the CR menu through room service on normal dining hours. Though baked Alaska is not nearly as impressive as it used to be since they don't allow open flames on ships anymore. In fact, they just serve you a slice of it in CR these days.

 

The gift shop is always closed in port, so since we were in port all day the day before disembark (until midnight), the shop was closed. Anyone who had cruised before should know this, so I guess the irate person at the reception desk was either a first time cruiser or just didn't pay attention to the schedule.

 

I saw the same grungy looking group the first night, but never after that. Either someone must have said something to them about following the dress code, or they figured it out for themselves by seeing everyone else. It wasn't a lost luggage issue as we were at sea the next day.

 

As far as dining times, I like to eat early too. 6:30 is when we usually show up. If you don't like Regent's dining times, don't ever go on a Silversea cruise or any of the river cruises in Europe. They don't open the dining rooms until 7 on those?

Edited June 4, 2016 by RachelG

[pingpong1]

Jennifer - I echo my fellow posters in complimenting your most comprehensive and balanced critique. I could easily see that you spent a lot of time in considering and "processing" the "price vs. value equation" in each area that you reviewed.

 

I do a lot of that (evaluation) myself after each R cruise that we have completed. Like most people (I guess), we have a finite amount of money each year to expend on vacations/trips/cruises/recreation, etc. and I always want to come away from each trip feeling that we've received a fair and commensurate amount of value and enjoyment for the considerable amount of time, travel, and financial resources that were expended.

 

I think my "takeaway" from your review was that in some areas, you felt the value (vs cost) was there, but in other areas, it was not. Your "conclusion" paragraph stated it very well. ".....when you're spending $10K + per cabin (you) expect perfection....". Actually (and what you probably meant to say was that) on most all R cruises, the fare is closer to (or exceeds) $10K+ per person!

 

And yes, for that price most of us (including yourself) rightly do expect "perfection"! You should not be having to "deal with" things like wet paint and varnish smells or power washing operations going on around your suite while you're still occupying it - no matter what the company's "logistical excuse" might be - and particularly on a "6* cruise line". Actually, I wouldn't (nor would I guess you) excuse it on Celebrity, NCL, Azamara, or Princess, either! And if things, in reality, aren't going to be "perfect", then why are we being asked to spend in excess of $10K per person for an "expectation" that oftentimes isn't "delivered"?

 

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to compose such a well thought out review. It's also reassuring (at least to me) to know that even though Regent Cruising represents a choice that's within your family's resources, you have not closed your mind to other viable and alternative choices, when it seems the "right" thing to do. To borrow/plagiarize on a familiar metaphor, "competition should lift all boats". Best Regards.

[xrvlcruiser]

I have a very simple question: when should "normal" maintenance be done: painting, varnishing, washing decks?

 

Are you suggesting the ship should be taken out of service one day a month - and emptied of passengers - or whatever the timing is - to do this sort of thing?

 

I've been on several luxury lines over the years and this happens. Not a big deal.

 

Come on people - relax!

 

Peggy

[pingpong1]

Peggy - I'm not "unrelaxed". :p I was in the Navy for 25 years and rode many ships, so I'm well aware of necessary ongoing shipboard maintenance. But we also didn't have "paying customers" on those ships. Could notice at least be given, 24 hours in advance, so passengers whose suites were affected would have some foreknowledge of needed/routine work being done in their suites?

 

It can actually be quite disruptive and off-putting if you're not able to fully use your own verandah/balcony when you had specifically planned on doing so, because while on your cruise, the ship's maintenance crew decided to chip paint, strip railings and repaint/re-varnish them. Particularly if you weren't given advance notice of this happening. What if you had planned a dinner on the verandah that evening?

 

Would the smell and fumes from those chemicals be any less objectionable to people in adjacent suites for an extended period of time, as what occasional cigarette smoke out on the balconies is purported to be? Maybe if the work could be planned around port days (with advance notice given) so the work could be started/completed early and hopefully finished, dried, and ventilated before the passengers returned back from the day's excursions. I think it's at least fair and reasonable to provide suite occupants with a day's notice beforehand. Particularly for a "6* Cruise".

[Travelcat2]

Agree with Peggy. The ship can't go out of service all of the time for minor upgrades/fixes. The odor from the varnish is not long lasting and is generally done when passengers are ashore and it has never lasted until dinner. This goes on all of the time and has for all of the years we have cruised. The OP may be a bit sensitive due to her child. IMO, there are lots of outdoor spaces that can be utilized while the varnishing is being done.

[xrvlcruiser]

pingpong1 - first of all, thank you for your service.

 

I've always had a notice when maintenance was going to be done - either a card in the cabin or in the daily newspaper. Or both. I can't swear it was 24 hours ahead of time - probably more like 12 hours.

And Jackie makes a good point - it is usually done on a port day starting early ("be sure you keep your curtain closed") and finished well before dinner.

Yes, if there is a toddler involved, the issues are difference.

 

And - trust me - if I smelled cigarette smoke, I'd be on my way to the GMs office in one second.

Do I love the smell of varnish/paint - no but I understand that ships - like our houses - need to be kept up.

 

Your reference to 6* - how should a ship keep it's rating if it's not allowed to keep the hardware up to par?

 

I tend to do longer cruises so maintenance is part of the routine over the time on board.

 

By the way, to OP said something about the balcony railing - my children/grandchildren sailed with my husband and me a number of years ago - when the children were quite small. Regent added additional material - plexiglass, I think - to create better protection. None the less, no small child should be out there alone. Which I'm sure all of us know.

 

Peggy

Edited June 5, 2016 by xrvlcruiser

[JennAngel9]

Thank you everyone for your overwhelmingly positive responses. I'm going to try to address everyone, let me know if I missed anything!

 

Rick- The Regent rewards items sound exactly like the ones on Oceania (personally, I felt that the three free t-shirts, even if they were Regent promotional was a pretty sweet reward for playing trivia during tea!), for 45 points we ended up with two long sleeve tees, an athletic tee and a visor, and we kept a handful of points because DD loves to play with them! They also had other styles of hat a purse hook and a travel scale. We generally had 3 courses (plus sorbet) in Compass Rose and were generally out in less than 90m. We definitely had one night where we were out in less than an hour. Our night in Sette Mari actually ran as long or longer than most nights in Compass Rose because they bring you tapas and then you order several courses-- but I'm certain you can streamline either restaurant faster (yes, Sette Mari has some buffet offerings, enough to make a whole meal) OR you could order everything delivered to your room at once as many posters advised me I should have done with the Baked Alaska. D'oh!

 

Jean- thanks for the warm thoughts! I think sailing on the Mariner is a real treat and hope you are blessed with equally good weather.

 

WesW- I'm honored you took the time to read it. Thank you for your service. :)

 

Wripro- Thank you for your commendation. I agree that one set of laissez-faire parents can ruin a cruise for everybody. I tried to acknowledge in my review that feeling some pressure to not be that parent made for a less relaxing cruise than when we were childless. ;)

 

Rachel- Thank you for the excellent (and in retrospect obvious!) tip about the Baked Alaska. Clearly we should have spent more time with you on board, but we didn't want to crash your clique. ;) I realized that I didn't say anything about how excellent and smooth the sailing was in my review (I felt your separate blog covered the trip itself very well!), but I will point out now that compared to my first Gulf of Alaska cruise on the Veendam, the Mariner was basically like sailing on glass. Ironically, the day I was feeling the most motion was while we were in port in Hoonah-- I think they had generators or something on which was causing a lot of vibration in our midship stateroom. I'm curious to hear how the sailing after ours is going as the captain seemed to think it would be quite a bit rougher. I did a Nile cruise on Uniworld a few years and while I don't remember dining being that late I do remember going to bed directly after dinner most nights!

 

Pingpong1: I agree with your assessment and definitely don't want to contemplate what the actual total cost we spent on the cruise was, especially with DH sitting next to me in bed. ;) Our vacations last year prior to this cruise we'd stayed at the Ritz in Key Biscayne and the Four Seasons Manele Bay and since I try to avoid tabulating each cent in retrospect it's hard for me to do an exact price comparison, but I'd say overall after you consider daily food and activities (and especially beverages if I'd been able to drink), Regent is probably only slightly more expensive. On the other hand, we had like 750-900sqft true 1 bedroom + living room suites...but we didn't have the joy of traveling from scenic landscape to idyllic port town. It's really hard to compare and honestly, I didn't do too much of it while on the cruise, only after traveling home did I real start thinking about it to try to write a helpful review and think about what we would want to do next! So much of cruising satisfaction (in my opinion) is about (1) having reasonable expectations and (2) feeling like you're beating the opportunity cost. We ended up on Regent in part because Celebrity moved to a separate suite dining room (which might be the perfect product for us as I think they have beautiful suites and do a lovely job in their speciality restaurants) and by the time we put ourselves and the in laws in suites it was only a few thousand more to sail Regent, which I figured we'd make up at least 1/2 the cost not buying shore excursions, tipping, drink packages, etc. I occasionally found myself regretting that we didn't go with the much larger suite on the Millennium but our room on the Mariner was (just) big enough and I think the best thing about Regent/Seabourn is the LACK of crowds and the lack of spotty service and you really never notice those things when they're gone unless you've recently taken a mass market cruise! Oh, and thank you for your service also. :) My grandfather was an officer in the Coast Guard so we might have some sort of blood feud. ;)

 

Peggy & Pingpong- I honestly don't know how frequently the exterior of the ship needs to be repainted and revarnished. I definitely think that it should not be done on embarkation day after passengers have boarded such that it's not dry in time for sail away and I think doing paint/varnish on the one open activity deck during a sea day is also a poor choice when there was a long stretch in port the day before and the day after. I certainly see no problem with washing decks regularly as long as you aren't actively hosing down passengers, but I'd never before been instructed to remain off the balcony the rest of the day because it would be slippery-- that may have to do with the colder climate, but I've sailed Alaska and Northern Europe several times. Frankly, if you could pay 3% more (we're talking a few hundred dollars per person) to revamp the ship between cruises leaving it out of service one day a month, I'd happily pay that. I hadn't thought about it this way but for all our nervousness about the smoking policy on Seabourn (which we sailed in Europe, full of Europeans!) we kept off our balcony more on Regent than any other cruise. Admittedly, I'm not sure if the varnish would have kept me off the balcony if I wasn't in my first trimester of pregnancy-- but again, a simple notice would have allowed me to remind the appropriate manager that I was pregnant and request they do it at a less inconvenient time. Again, comparing this trip to previous cruises, there was more obvious/noticeable painting (though less window washing and bannister polishing); and comparing it to being at a top notch resort on land, well it basically never happens.

 

Travelcat2- I'm not sure if you read my review. I specifically stated that the ship was painted after we boarded (that's when the wet paint sign went up) and that there were clearly still fumes during sail away when we wandered out to watch the porpoises, assuming (like you) that no luxury ship would schedule maintenance such that it interfered with evening enjoyment of the balcony. I think this was a particular oversight given that the waters departing Seward are some of the most scenic and full of wildlife anywhere in the world.

 

 

Random additional recollections: The second or third night of the cruise we sailed through heavy fog and the captain had to sound the ship's horn approximately every few minutes due to limited visibility. I actually had ear plugs somewhere in the stateroom and if I'd known it was going to be continuing I would have bothered to get out of bed and hunt them-- I actually thought I was hallucinating for the first hour or so! This is obviously a safety issue and not a Regent or Mariner issue, but I wish we'd been warned in advance it might be necessary and recommend anybody else doing Alaska this summer keep a pair of earplugs in the top nightstand drawer!

 

Also, consistent with my comments about dinner being late, another hiccup was that our cabin steward did not come on duty until 6:30, so when I asked if we could have turndown at 6 (5:30 would have been optimal) she politely explained that it wasn't possible until 6:30, which required us to delay DD's bedtime nightly (only a problem on Alaska time, the first 1/2 of the cruise) so that they could empty the trashes and swap out the towels, and resulted in us foregoing a full turndown service so we could get baby in the tub and asleep. This probably will not affect anybody without younger children as you can't dine anywhere before 6:30, but again, not something you would run into at a top hotel and something to be aware of when deciding if you want to arrive early to adjust to the time change.

[beauty123]

Great to see your review, my sister and I were on the same cruise but the 14 night option. I need to do a review really if I ever get around to it. I did notice some wear and tare but nothing terrible / major I thought the cabin lay out was very well thought out, better than lots of hotel rooms I have stayed in. We also wanted turn down done early and some nights we were waiting to go to bed, I think they assume everyone stays out late watching the show, well we don't!. Considering the price I was disappointed that it was only slightly better than the other 2 ships we have cruised on but then again what else can you do with loads of people out at sea except play bingo and sing karaoke?, food was nice but then again it was on our other 2 cheaper ships too. The only real issue I had with the dining was at that chaotic / confusing set up on deck 11, or more to the point a, I do not expect a buffet at 6 star or even 5 star and I certainly don't expect to be wondering about with a plate full of food and no where to sit, that is 2 star holiday / vacation camp. I would sail with Regent again though if and when the right itinery comes up for us.

[Living Life Large]

 

We are sometimes interested in having dinner in less than 2 hours - typical of the normal dining venues. Does the Sette Mari offer any faster dining than the others or does it take the typical 2 hours or so? Do they have a self serve salad bar there in the evening to help speed things up?

 

Thanks, Rick

 

The Sette Mari has an appetizer and salad bar for dinner, also menu salads as well. Service was excellent and you can dine as slow or fast as you wish.

[Travelcat2]

Random additional recollections: The second or third night of the cruise we sailed through heavy fog and the captain had to sound the ship's horn approximately every few minutes due to limited visibility. I actually had ear plugs somewhere in the stateroom and if I'd known it was going to be continuing I would have bothered to get out of bed and hunt them-- I actually thought I was hallucinating for the first hour or so! This is obviously a safety issue and not a Regent or Mariner issue, but I wish we'd been warned in advance it might be necessary and recommend anybody else doing Alaska this summer keep a pair of earplugs in the top nightstand drawer!

 

Also, consistent with my comments about dinner being late, another hiccup was that our cabin steward did not come on duty until 6:30, so when I asked if we could have turndown at 6 (5:30 would have been optimal) she politely explained that it wasn't possible until 6:30, which required us to delay DD's bedtime nightly (only a problem on Alaska time, the first 1/2 of the cruise) so that they could empty the trashes and swap out the towels, and resulted in us foregoing a full turndown service so we could get baby in the tub and asleep. This probably will not affect anybody without younger children as you can't dine anywhere before 6:30, but again, not something you would run into at a top hotel and something to be aware of when deciding if you want to arrive early to adjust to the time change.

 

Yes - the fog horn is a big safety issue. Assume that most people know about this (especially after the Titanic). In our almost one year onboard cruise ships, there has not once been a warning about this issue.

 

In terms of turndown, it was mentioned prior to your cruise that Regent was not set up for children (at least not before school is out). I'm sure that you could have requested extra towels in advance which would have made it easier to forego the turndown service. People have done this before and it is not a big deal.

 

Yes - the dining rooms open at 6:30 p.m. but room service is 24/7. This should accommodate all passengers - whether they have children, have a issue where they need to eat at certain times or ??? Jetlag certainly plays into the scenario - especially when there is a big time difference (as we had last year flying to Cape Town, South Africa). This affects all of us - not only children.

 

In any event, you do see what some of us are saying about young children on Regent and hopefully your next Regent cruise will meet your expectations.

[JennAngel9]

Beauty123, thanks for chiming in. I never experienced a wait in the buffet area, but perhaps we were lucky with timing. I agree that never having to wait around for a chair was one of the main reasons to sail the luxury lines! Like you, we tend to prefer to dine with table service (even at theme parks we'll pay more to avoid having to stand around and wait in line for food if at all possible!), and the narrow hours of Compass Rose for breakfast and lunch definitely pushed us towards eating in La Veranda on several occasions-- but as others have pointed out we could (and probably should) have just defaulted to the much more generous room service menu during some of those times! Regarding turn down, I think if you're used to staying in high end hotels, the idea of not being able to get down turn down on demand unthinkable, but it wasn't a really a huge deal once we adjusted our expectations downwards-- I do have to wonder why Regent doesn't generally have cabin stewards on duty from say 5:30-9:30 or at least a floater team that can handle early requests. Again, I suspect this is an issue where I could have raised it with the hotel manager, but it really wasn't worth the trouble!

 

Travelcat, I was going to ask you how sounding a horn could possibly have prevented the Titanic from hitting an iceberg, but I decided to google it first and learned some fascinating facts about the weather that night (available here for the curious: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/did-the-titanic-sink-because-of-an-optical-illusion-102040309/). While I don't think a horn would have made a huge difference unless they used it for Morse code, I absolutely agree with you regarding the safety issue and approve of its use. My gripe was that the Captain was giving us daily weather updates and forecasts and to my knowledge did not mention it the evening before using the horn all night but did say the day after "you may have noticed we were sounding the horn all night, that's a maritime regulation when visibility is less than [x distance I have forgotten]" and I think it would have been preferable for him to mention in advance when saying things like "we should have smooth seas..." that there could be reduced visibility leading to horn use and not to be concerned if we should hear the horn, etc.

 

You know, after further discussion with my husband, while we still think that larger ships are probably better alternatives once our kids reach their elementary school years, the more we think about it the better Regent really was suited to our toddler in terms of having the more extensive dining menu for in room, the ability to do a lot to accommodate her schedule even though standard hours in the dining room were late and most importantly, how much of a pain in the butt it would have been to have to wait to be seated or wait for a chair by the pool etc. with a toddler in tow! Nevertheless, I'm fairly convinced that the most relaxing cruise is a cruise with the children at home or summer camp. ;)

[lincslady]

Just read this about the repainting work on Mariner- last summer our balcony walls were very scruffy and in need of repainting. One day we had a note left to say that work was to be done that day; fine. When we got back to our room, the rail had been varnished, quite unnecesarily, but the walls had not been painted!!

 

Obviously wires are getting crossed somewhere.

[JennAngel9]

Perhaps Regent's parent company also has a heavy investment in a varnish manufacturer. ;)

[Travelcat2]

JennAngel9 - Interestingly, we were on Silversea doing the same route as the Titanic but in reverse. The fog horn was going for 2 or 3 nights straight (just fog - no icebergs that time of the year). We figured that it was alerting small boats that may not have the ability to detect other ships in the area. Although it was annoying, we ended up sleeping through it. BTW, I learned when raising our children that the more noise they became accustomed to, the better. I think that my daughter could sleep through anything:)