Don’t book cabin 828:the cabin the refit forgot

[RachelG]

I am wondering if the shower curtain has to do with the cabin being handicapped accessible. I was in a handicap accessible hotel room once because it was all they had, and the shower was certainly totally different than the ones in the other rooms. And I seem to remember Orpington (Tom Noon, RIP) telling me that their handicapped cabin had a shower curtain.

Edited April 5, 2018 by RachelG

[briar14]

My husband and I spent a lot of time at dinner in Compass Rose on Mariner tonight talking about managed expectations. We have not had as many issues as Flossie but we have had a few. For us, TV was most frustrating—mounted on wall but no wiring, after many phone calls and personal visits to Reception, we now have usable TV and husband can follow the Masters! Veranda is paint spotted and needs to be power washed.

Something in the bathroom ceiling is missing. Safe was locked, but staff quickly solved that. Many staff members promised to call us back concerning the TV. We would have been very satisfied with updates. Hearing nothing, we kept bugging them, taking up more of their valuable time. Whatever the issue, clear communication either good or bad saves time and manages customers’ expectations.

And . . . We are having a wonderful time!!

[boblerm]

My husband and I spent a lot of time at dinner in Compass Rose on Mariner tonight talking about managed expectations. We have not had as many issues as Flossie but we have had a few. For us, TV was most frustrating—mounted on wall but no wiring, after many phone calls and personal visits to Reception, we now have usable TV and husband can follow the Masters! Veranda is paint spotted and needs to be power washed.

Something in the bathroom ceiling is missing. Safe was locked, but staff quickly solved that. Many staff members promised to call us back concerning the TV. We would have been very satisfied with updates. Hearing nothing, we kept bugging them, taking up more of their valuable time. Whatever the issue, clear communication either good or bad saves time and manages customers’ expectations.

And . . . We are having a wonderful time!!

While I am very very distresses to learn of all the issues that people are having on this ship, especially the OP, I LOVE your attitude. Please, continue to have a wonderful time!

Bob

[nigelc]

My husband and I spent a lot of time at dinner in Compass Rose on Mariner tonight talking about managed expectations. We have not had as many issues as Flossie but we have had a few. For us, TV was most frustrating—mounted on wall but no wiring, after many phone calls and personal visits to Reception, we now have usable TV and husband can follow the Masters! Veranda is paint spotted and needs to be power washed.

Something in the bathroom ceiling is missing. Safe was locked, but staff quickly solved that. Many staff members promised to call us back concerning the TV. We would have been very satisfied with updates. Hearing nothing, we kept bugging them, taking up more of their valuable time. Whatever the issue, clear communication either good or bad saves time and manages customers’ expectations.

And . . . We are having a wonderful time!!

 

Glad you are having a wonderful time. A TV mounted on a wall with no wiring - words fail me. But even worse is the apparent lack of customer service, one phone call or visit to reception is all that should be needed. As a high end cruise line, Regent should be ashamed of putting a ship into service without the proper quality checks having been undertaken.

[grandmommy987]

Shower curtains were in the Seven Seas aft bathrooms that have the combo tub/shower. Were shower doors added in the redo?

 

 

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[Pam]

Oh. We had a Seven Seas aft suite on our first Mariner cruise. But since am one of those people who use the tub (gasp), I never thought to look but I guess there would have been a shower curtain. Mea culpa! It's been so very long since we were on Mariner, and on that one we were bumped up to Mariner Suite so it had a separate tub and shower. Our first Mariner cruise was her first trip to Alaska; it was close to being her maiden cruise.

[RustyRollock]

Ships seldom put to sea after refits or even builds without a few unfinished jobs. It's inevitable and the reason why we will now avoid these voyages wherever possible. We saw several contractors on the Explorer maiden voyage who were putting various finishing touches to lighting, handrails, etc.

 

But I'm a bit puzzled by the OPs description of his "cabin" on Mariner unless it's not usually sold to passengers or surely there would have been other complaints about such sub- standard accommodation by now?

[gjkov]

Apparently we are very lucky, because (knock on wood) we’ve had no problems in our cabin. Everything working properly and looks great! We’ve heard from some we’ve encountered that, like Susan, are not so fortunate.

I was more than a little skeptical about traveling right after the refit, but decided to take the chance because it was the itinerary we wanted. We’re definitely glad we did!

[Travelcat2]

My husband and I spent a lot of time at dinner in Compass Rose on Mariner tonight talking about managed expectations. We have not had as many issues as Flossie but we have had a few. For us, TV was most frustrating—mounted on wall but no wiring, after many phone calls and personal visits to Reception, we now have usable TV and husband can follow the Masters! Veranda is paint spotted and needs to be power washed.

Something in the bathroom ceiling is missing. Safe was locked, but staff quickly solved that. Many staff members promised to call us back concerning the TV. We would have been very satisfied with updates. Hearing nothing, we kept bugging them, taking up more of their valuable time. Whatever the issue, clear communication either good or bad saves time and manages customers’ expectations.

And . . . We are having a wonderful time!!

 

Agree with boblerm - great attitude! Most people adjust their expectations when they go on a cruise after a dry dock or on a maiden voyage of a ship. How you approach and deal with issues can make or break your cruise. I remember that someone on the christening cruise had water coming down their bathroom mirror from the ceiling on Explorer. The person called - put down towels and got on with their cruise (yes - it was fixed). Also on Explorer, many of us had our sliding glass doors taped shut to stop the wind noise. Still, we are so happy that we had the experience and hopefully most passengers on Mariner will enjoy their cruise as well.

[wcsdkqh]

If expectations should be lowered for cruises following major refurb, then so should prices.

[irishwitchy]

If expectations should be lowered for cruises following major refurb, then so should prices.

 

 

I'm with you, I'm not spending all that money to have leaky stuff in my room and items that aren't wired correctly, etc. I will let you folks that don't seem to mind wasting your time and energy to get it all fixed for me and than take a cruise two months later. I thank you!

[commodore2010]

I am wondering if the shower curtain has to do with the cabin being handicapped accessible. I was in a handicap accessible hotel room once because it was all they had, and the shower was certainly totally different than the ones in the other rooms. And I seem to remember Orpington (Tom Noon, RIP) telling me that their handicapped cabin had a shower curtain.

 

If it is a handicapped cabin, then yes it would have a curtain. I remember seeing one once. Can't remember the ship but was made so a wheelchair could access shower.

[CBWIR]

It is a a handicap cabin. Perhaps some facts will help. The OP compared it to the suite next door. Well that is a penthouse C and the subject cabin is a Cat F. Of course the balcony is smaller than Cat C. The subject cabin is also larger than the standard Cat F. It is designed to be wheelchair accessible, thus the uneven floor which is in effect a ramp into the bathroom and another ramp to the balcony. It has a wardrobe instead of a closet to make it more wheelchair accessible. The bathroom has a flat surface into the shower. Want to guess why? Also a shower curtain. Guess why? Also, the room has been refurbished like all other Cat F except for the obvious handicap permanent design. Hate to let facts get in the way of post dry dock bashing.

[RachelG]

Glad my memory is accurate. Tom’s wife was in a wheelchair, so they always got a handicapped suite. And I remember him telling me he could just wheel her into the shower.

[Gilly]

I hope someone with first hand experience of this suite adds the accurate details to the suiteguru thread.

[greenman1168]

:)This wasn’t a matter of unreasonable expectations. The room, as refitted, is simply dysfunctional.

I was not complaining of the existence of a shower curtain, but the fact that it is only about 6” from the toilet, making it awkward to do one’s business. Nor did it keep water from spreading all over the bathroom floor, which makes it slippery and dangerous to walk on, not to mention unpleasant. This is a problem I felt should have been addressed in the refit. I tried to upload a picture but the picture insertion function couldn’t access my pictures.

The layout of 828 is not suitable for the size of the new sofa and table that they issued to all category F suites during refit. Between the uneven floor and the oversized ( for the layout) furniture, the room was nearly impossible to move around in. We couldn’t use the sofa to sit in because the table was too close, by necessity of available space.

Same issue with the balcony. The new deck furniture is simply too big for it. You can’t get around the deck chairs to sit in them. This is another reason I felt that the refit forgot this cabin. It was a one size fits all approach that didn’t work for this quirky room.

 

Once I was able to talk to the concierge the next day, Janina was very kind, helpful, and understanding of the difficulties this handicapped room had for my disability. I don’t need to use a wheelchair, but have difficulty with uneven surfaces, and the floor was extremely uneven. She bent over backwards to put us into another suite of the same category, which had the regular category F layout.

 

The floor in the standard category F layout is even, the toilet has space to stand in front of it, the new sofa and table fit the space so we can get around it and sit at it. There is an attractive mirror above the sofa ( 828 didn’t have that, no place to put it.)

The balcony is slightly bigger, enough so that so we can use the balcony furniture.

It is the same layout and size as a the suite we had on our previous Mariner cruise. We were delighted with it then and we even more delighted with it now, following refit.

Housekeeping helped us move our stuff. Staff and crew couldn’t have been kinder and more helpful, once I was able to contact the concierge, which wasn’t until the second day of the cruise.

Regent has redeemed itself to us, they really do try their best to make their guests comfortable.

But I still think 828 and 829 need a refurbishment customized to their unique layout to be functional as a room for a handicapped, or even a non- mobility -challenged person.

Edited April 7, 2018 by greenman1168
Punctuation

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Oh. Our first Mariner cruise was her first trip to Alaska; it was close to being her maiden cruise.

 

They don't do them like that anymore. That was one amazing cruise. Too bad we had not met.

[nigelc]

If expectations should be lowered for cruises following major refurb, then so should prices.

 

Spot on - but cannot see that happening.

[DeepFreeze63]

Reply to grandmommy

 

Re

 

Well done "greenman"; I'm thrilled that it worked out for you. Well done Mariner team; seems like once again the on-board Regent staff bailed out the Home office. I hope that Regent rewards "greenman" for their consultation/test pains! I hope Regent takes this experience to heart and has some designers with real experience on design for challenged access look over the fleet especially the Splendor - remember the Explorer theater.

[irishwitchy]

This was a great thread, because sometimes a bit of patience and understanding is really required, before getting the “story” correct.

 

Green man, nicely done and go enjoy the rest of the cruise and hopefully Regent gets more petite furniture in those rooms.