Mariner Los Angeles to Miami - live comments 9/30-10/15/19

[poss]

Silver Sweethearts:    I'd not thought of what you suggest.   I will look into such possibilities.  

Gerry:  At our age (I believe I mentioned that my husband, who is not real, real healthy, would turn 90 on that trip), there are so many things that we're obliged to "deal with," I feel more and more that I want as much as possible to be easy as possible.    But I get what you mean in a general sense.

[JC in CA]

We are back and the washing machine is working hard on load 4!  Had to cook dinner for the first time in 17 days!

 

Some pictures from our trip

The much talked about Caramel Popcorn Sundae (Prime 7) guess I’m one of the few who doesn’t think it’s the best dessert ever. I loved the Carmel corn - but not the combo with the ice cream. I asked the waiter if you could order just the Carmel corn - he said sure!  I would definitely do that!

 

Second picture is the corn chowder (Compass Rose- at lunch) - we chuckled because it was served with a “ corn muffin” so we skipped bread. Then once served there was this adorable quarter sized muffin. Tasty soup and muffin!

 

And the last picture is from Compass Rose at breakfast. It is called Frozen Blueberry, Banana bowl.  I probably had this 5 times!  Highly recommend!

 

Breads are a weakness for me.  The warm, triangle shaped, rolls in the bread basket are so good!  They are filled with mozzarella and marinara - too yummy - probably good that there are just 2 in the basket!  The pretzel rolls were my other favorite!  I think they were in Prime 7 - but not sure.  They were also served on the deck party buffet. 

[JC in CA]

We asked about a galley tour right after we boarded, were told the date / time and received an invitation a couple days later. I understand that there were a few galley tours.  There were probably 20-25 on our tour and it lasted about 15-20 minutes.  Definitely worth doing!  It is not advertised anywhere - you need to know to ask at Reception. 

 

[JC in CA]

We took an extra charge excursion - Arial tram and River Cruise - in Costa Rica. We liked the excursion very much. The drive was about an hour and a half. Full size bus with a very good guide.  We went on the river cruise first, then drove to the tram , nature “hike” (really just a walk on pavers/ paved path - although there was a short, steep uphill and downhill portion). On the walk we saw some snakes and frogs - all in aquariums. We also went into a butterfly enclosure. The river cruise was a little over an hour long. Right after we started out, our guide spotted a very large crocodile, ended up seeing quite a few. We also saw many types of birds - we were all given a pamphlet with pictures and names of the birds we might see.  We must have seen at least 10 different types. Our guide and the boat pilot were very good at spotting animals. The pilot made sure to turn the boat around so everyone could see and get pictures. Great excursion!

 

The tree is full of pelicans - never would have thought they’d hang out in treetops!

 

That is the tram.  Room for 8 plus the guide in the back.   The tram ride is just u dear 1 hour long.  My husband has a fear of heights and had been worried about this excursion- but said it was just fine.  

 

When we were in the butterfly enclosure, our guide said wait just a moment, went out and came back with that frog! He was holding it, then he put it on my hand; as I reached for my camera, the frog jumped onto the mans shirt!  He was so surprised!

[SkystheLimit]

Have enjoyed your review and pictures very much.  Thank you for taking the time to share.

[Travelcat2]

Love your photos (the frog was especially nice).  Really appreciated your blog.  Have you booked your next Regent cruise (if you posted the information, I somehow missed it).

[flossie009]

Thanks for an interesting blog and great photos

[RachelG]

I have really enjoyed your reports.  Thanks so much.  We have been to many but not all of the ports before.  Totally agree about Cartagena. I speak passable Spanish, so we went out on our own one day ( we were there two) and it seemed to be better that way, not as much of a target for hawkers.   Loved going through the canal and would do again.

[JC in CA]

On 10/17/2019 at 6:42 PM, Travelcat2 said:

Have you booked your next Regent cruise

Not yet, need to fill the vacation savings account back up!

 

[JC in CA]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!  Internet on the ship allowed me to post text, but I didn't even try to post pictures!  I'm glad you enjoyed my jabbering.

 

No next cruise booked yet.  Still trying to get my land legs back (usually takes me a week or so)!

 

Jerie

[Stefken]

About to join Mariner for South America cruise. Enjoyed your posts from your cruise. This will be our longest cruise yet, so hoping it goes smoothly. There are some troubles in Chile, hope that doesn’t impact on us visiting. Don’t want  to many sea days especially when it may not be pool weather outside.

we have  been on Mariner before (last November) so know we like the ship. Hope everything else is the same. From your posts  it seems to be, so we shall see.

Your cruise critic review was great and I’m sure would help anyone thinking of taking a cruise. An open mind and sense of adventure always helps, especially when things happen that are totally out of your control. 
 

[JC in CA]

Thanks Stefken!

Wishing you a wonderful cruise!  

[JC in CA]

I did write a formal review - lots of what I commented on above - here it is if you'd like to check it out

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=668302

 

 

[G&Jdesertrats]

Jerie (& Matt) — As fellow cruisers on this voyage, John and I have enjoyed reading your comments and agreed with so many of them.  And yes, perhaps too much anticipation on the “being spoiled” aspect.  That said, all the staff we encountered were very friendly and accommodating and names were mentioned in our end-of-cruise review. Happy to hear that management responded quickly to your problem; goes to show reviews are read!  We’re with you, glad we cruised the Panama Canal but wouldn’t do it again.  Perhaps we’ll cross cruising paths again!  We enjoyed meeting and getting to know you.

The Desert Rats, Gary & John

[JC in CA]

5 hours ago, G&Jdesertrats said:

Perhaps we’ll cross cruising paths again!

We hope they do!  Great to meet you two!

[Pinksunset]

Thank you for sharing your cruise and for writing the review!  It is very helpful for those of us weighing the benefits of fabulous Regent vs. other top level benefits of other mainstream cruise lines, in addition to TC’s good insights.

[hammo]

Really enjoyed the postings - thankyou .

We have a Regent cruise booked for next year , and was curious about the post which said we couldnt use our onboard credit in the casino ?  . We have $400 from Regent and $100 from our TA and were hoping to use the OBC there . We have sailed on Crystal and are Elite on Celebrity and always do so on those lines ? 

[JC in CA]

Hammo-

I can't remember where I read it - might have been on the cabin TV - but somewhere it said that credits could not be used in the casino.  We did not try to use ours there.  Perhaps others have experience with using OBC in the casino.

 

My husband plays Texas Holdem at home and went to check the game- said there were only a few players and he did not like the way the tournament was set up - something about unlimited re-buys.

 

We had $500 in OBC from our TA- spent almost $400 on Regent Choice excursions and most of the rest in the boutique and additional ship to shore minutes.  We were told that these credits were non-refundable.  One of our excursions had to be partially cancelled due to weather - around 5 PM the night before departure we received a letter saying they were crediting our account.  We were surprised to receive a credit back on our credit card!

 

-Jerie

 

[wcsdkqh]

Non-refundable OBC cannot be used in the Casino. If you have refundable OBC, it can be used in the Casino, or at least you can withdraw the cash, and use it in the Casino.  I always check with reception when embarking as to whether any of the OBC on my account is refundable or not.