Mariner review from a Regent Newbie

[Zoey1]

I was a bit hesitant to post my thoughts as Regent has such a lovely loyal following. Please keep in mind that this was our experience, others may have a very different one.

 

I have been following CC boards for about 18 years and always look here for tips, advise etc so anted to share our thoughts here as.well. 

To put  this in perspective a little about us..

 

While we are new to Regent we have taken around 25+cruises across many mass market cruise,lines settling in the last ten years primarily on Celebrity and Oceania. 

 

For my big birthday I wanted to go to Tahiti and have heard wonderful things about Regent and loved the itinerary so the Mariner fit the bill.

 

Pre cruise was changed a few days prior from The Royal Hawaiian to Alohalani as the Royal Hawaiian was one of the hotels on strike, kudos to Regent for that call, as no one wants to cross a picket line,let alone not have service. 

 

The hotel was okay, for the one night and Regent had a really lovely buffet breakfast put on at Morimoto restaurant.

 

We were sorry that we had not taken a taxi from the airport as the shuttle stopped at about five properties and after the long plane ride it would have been better for us to go directly to the hotel.

 

Embarkation was a total mess, we were shocked that we were out in a holding room, with folding chairs for over an hour before we were able to board. ( first picture)

We have never had this experience in all the years if cruising. We joked that if they had only provided cocktails and some canapés it might have taken the sting out.

 

When we finally got to check in they were wonderful and efficient and did not try and minimize the situation.

 

First impression of the ship was how beautiful the ship is. We were in a Mariner suite which was beyond lovely. Beautifully appointed with tons of storage. We were surprised that the balcony was not larger in such a large suite but it really was more then sufficient. Very spacious, 1 1/2 baths, dining table, sofa,two chairs, bar, it was really lovely however after speaking to many frequent Regent guests it seems that most do not stay in these larger suites, And while we loved having the extra powder room as we do in the Oceania suite on our favorites Mariner and Riviera and Royal Suites on Celebrity( we prefer the S class ships) it was not worth the money on Regent.

 

Our butler Joel was not a new butler but did nothing to enhance our stay. Your butler brings canapés but honestly if one wants an afternoon snack you can order room serice.

He did most of whatever was asked of him but a bit like he was doing us a favor. He was not able to help get extra reservations in Prime 7, when I asked for extra canapés when we had friends over, we were surprised at the small spread he put out( having done this on other lines this paled by comparison)

the last night our cheese candles arrived with mold on the cheese and the prosciutto was spoiled,( 2nd picture) we actually asked the hotel manager to come to the room to see this as this is just not acceptable. I was tempted to put this on our mid cruise comments but he did not do anything wrong, just didn’t add to our cruise in anyway so didn’t want to make an awkward situation.

 

Muster was “ Old school” with eventually putting on life jackets and lining up outside bit nice to think they take it seriously.

 

Meet and mingle was very well attended and it was really nice to put names with faces. 

 

Service every was fine However very  few,went the extra mile, for instance, when at the pool, I asked where we get clean towels, I was pointed in the direction whereas on Oceania and Celebrity someone would have brought it to us. Having said that it was nice to frequently have a server go by seeing if we wanted a drink. 

 

The very best service that we had was surprisingly in Compass Rose, they went above and beyond. Jason the Matr’d was wonderful as was our servers Tyrone and Dennis.

 

The.bar staff was great

Destination services while pleasant, were very under informed on the ship and  even at each port there was little to no direction of where to go or what to see. 

Reception was good.

 

Casino is tiny, and other then drink servers, there is no service even if you press the call button on the slots. Boutiques have wonderful staff but very limited selections.

 

Food was delicious.

Restaurants

Compass Rose, the food was wonderful almost every night, wonderful choices with lovely presentation. The service here was amazing.

Prime 7, great food and presentation, waiters were lovely but many times side dishes ( a few of our companions actually were missing the entree and by the time it came everyone else had finished.

chartruse , we did not care for.

La Veranda, buffet the food was generally fairly good but very limited selections.

Pool grill had some great items.

 

we realized that we prefer mostly private tours to Regent excursions as we like when we are enjoying an area we can stay longer and if we tire of an area we can leave early.

 

Afternoon tea was really lovely, get there early to get a table by the window.

 

Entertainment was decent as far as cruise entertainment goes, their singers and dancers were good.

 

we thought there could have been more diverse things to do during the day and in the evening, The ship goes to bed pretty early, and after the show, there is lounge but we thought the performers were dreadful and we were surprised there were not other venues but seems like there are not enough people around in the evenings.

 

I have  to say the other cruisers were wonderful,really friendly just a great bunch of people willing to share their experience or advise.

 

We spoke with quite a few loyal Regent guests and there was a number who a,somfelt as if service was not up to par on this sailing. 

 

Disembarkation was was a breeze and since the flights out of Papeete are at 11pm we took a day rate at the Inter continental hotel which was dreamy! 

 

We might give it another try if the itinerary was the right fit, despite my criticism we had an amazing time but all in all we were disappointed that service was not what we were expecting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruiseluv]

Hi,

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Yes, the mold on that cheddar was icky. You say you asked the Hotel Manager to come see it. Did he? What was his reaction? In my many cruises with Regent Ive never had a butler, so cant relate as to what he may or might not be able to do for you. I'm sure others will comment. However, I must say I dont understand why you were surprised by the suite size, as that's something its clearly described on the website/ brochure. All the information is there for a pax to make an informed decision as to if the extra cost is worth it for them. Yes, the ship is somewhat "dead" after hours, but again, something that's apparent if you have read these boards for a while. Regarding the "holding room".... well, in my estimation better than waiting standing in line ( for sure, much better if they had offered complimentary champagne or something!).  At what time did you get there? Maybe too early?  

[Zoey1]

11 minutes ago, cruiseluv said:

Hi,

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Yes, the mold on that cheddar was icky. You say you asked the Hotel Manager to come see it. Did he? What was his reaction? In my many cruises with Regent Ive never had a butler, so cant relate as to what he may or might not be able to do for you. I'm sure others will comment. However, I must say I dont understand why you were surprised by the suite size, as that's something its clearly described on the website/ brochure. All the information is there for a pax to make an informed decision as to if the extra cost is worth it for them. Yes, the ship is somewhat "dead" after hours, but again, something that's apparent if you have read these boards for a while. Regarding the "holding room".... well, in my estimation better than waiting standing in line ( for sure, much better if they had offered complimentary champagne or something!).  At what time did you get there? Maybe too early?  

 

The head concierge and head butler came to,our suite said the hotel manager was tied up. He was quite appalled and seemed embarrassed that this happened. He was very apologetic.

 

We we also shared our disappointment on several things and we thought he handled the situation really well, he did not try and explain away just listened and apologized.

 

We were a table for eight at dinner and they brought over a really nice bottle of wine with more apologies and had the head chef come over to apologize as well. 

 

We were here not surprised at the cabin sizes we chose it, but seeing the balcony in person, we were surprised it was that small in a suite that large but as I said it was more then sufficient.

 

we always have a butler on other lines but felt on Regent it was not worth the extra cost.

 

I can’t remember the time we got there but took the Regent shuttle that was assigned to us, I’m thinking we got picked up around noon. I agree sitting was better then standing in line( though there was plenty of that to get to the desk as well!. 

 

Thanks fir your repky,

Wendy

[Keith1010]

Thank you for writing a very balanced review about "your" experience.

 

Your review reaffirms my view for all cruise lines.

 

First experiences can vary by person with various factors whether that is the issue with the cheese arriving to your room or the service provided by staff such as the butler in your case. 

 

Most importantly in the end the only opinion that matters is your very own.  If we all had the same preferences we would have far less products to choose from other than the price of the products.

 

Keith

[morneau]

Thank you for sharing your experience in your candid review.  The pictures of the suite look quite lovely, but I agree if that's the spread that was provided when you were entertaining guests that looks pretty minimal.  I share your sentiments regarding the butler.  On our recent sailing our butler was perfectly pleasant, but he lacked the attention to detail that we would have wanted and was always forgetting something or other.  In the end, we found it easier to make dinner reservations directly at the reservations desk than to rely on having him do it for us.

[MalbecWine]

Hiccups happen on all luxury lines but rarely does it interfere with the total cruise experience.

[poss]

Good of you to write a review.   Thank you.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, thanks for the review.  Despite the downsides, sounds like you had a good time.  The follow-up to your moldy cheese episode sounds like a win!

 

I personally don't get butlers much, but mostly they seem like nice guys trying to do a good job.  My personal counter-example was Oceania, of all places! But I find little need for them and don't like the afternoon canapes.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Wendy The Wanderer

[forgap]

I don’t like butlers either.  We had one on our first Regent cruise and he was a great person and went out of his way to please us, but I always felt uncomfortable for a number of reasons.   Mostly, I couldn’t wait for him to leave and we found ourselves frequently putting out the privacy sign.  Then he would call us!   To each his own, I guess.   

[JMARINER]

Thanks for your review.

 

Do you recall the names of the lounge performers?

 

I agree that Regent is pretty "dead" at night, unfortunately, this has always been true.

 

J

[1982CruzStart]

Thanks for taking the time to do the review. I always appreciate an honest well balanced review. Glad that in spite of the hiccups you had a fabulous time. 

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

We usually have a butler, not because they are great, but we enjoy the larger suites onboard. They all come with a butler. Some have been wonderful, some not so good. 

Sheila

[Hambagahle]

We always have suites with butlers and only once - on Voyager - have we had a less than good butler.  He was a "space cadet" - brought me a boiled egg with toast one morning and no butter on the tray!  When I said - where is the butter - his reply was that I hadn't ordered butter!   We only sail Oceania and Regent.  On Oceania, in an Oceania Suite our butler was Churchill - best butler we have ever had, aside from Preetham on the Mariner a long time ago.  (I understand he is now head butler on Mariner...)  Runner up to those two gentlemen would be Sandeep, our butler in the Owners Suite on Riviera - but sadly he died suddenly.  

I would not contemplate a cruise "sans" butler.  And totally agree that a poor one has a very negative impact on the overall quality of the cruise.

 

What I do not understand is why you, in a Mariner Suite, were kept waiting for so long for embarcation.  This has once happened to us but it was explained that there was a surprise inspection (Voyager again...) and everyone had to wait.  Champagne was served - and should have been offered to you.

 

I really liked the fair, comprehensive way you wrote this review.  Many thanks!  Gerry

[UUNetBill]

It seems like embarkation has been more of an issue lately - not sure if it's the ports or Regent, but either way they should be doing something to alleviate the wait.  As Hambagahle said, some champagne or something would have helped.  

 

And I have to disagree just a bit with the OP saying that the butler 'didn't do anything wrong' about the bad cheese - I think that a few people did something wrong - whoever plated that cheese should have seen it, and whoever set it out for the butler should have seen it, and the butler DEFINITELY should have seen it.  We encountered some moldy fruit in our fruit basked on one cruise - a quick call to our cabin steward took care of it immediately, and there was no other bad fruit to be seen for the rest of the trip.  I don't like to whine or complain about stuff, in fact my wife says I'm maybe a bit TOO easygoing...but there's really no excuse for something like that, IMO.

 

Hopefully we can get our January trip put together and see how things go on that one.  Fingers crossed...

[Speachy]

Hubby and I were on this cruise.  As far as the embarkation issue from Honolulu went for us,  prior to being seated in the 'holding room' (which was actually quite comfortable with a/c, water bottles and restrooms), we were standing in a long line of passengers. One of the port workers walked through and announced that the Mariner was under a "Code Red" and no one was getting on or off the ship for the time being. Within the hour we were on board. Apparently there was an emergency/medical incident that caused the delay.