A Quintessential Crossing on the Mariner - Live!

[vitacura]

I haven’t done a thread in several years, but thought I would start one for our Mariner crossing. Many sea days, but I hope some will find the information helpful.

 

For only the second time in our Radisson/Regent travels did we take Regent air. (One way) Booked this cruise months ago and received our airfare with an easy connection. TPA-EWR-BCN.

 

Of course, what is pre-trip packing without some excitement? Paging Hurricane Idalia, please enter stage left! Being in the Tampa Bay, FL area, we started the week not knowing what to expect. Hurricane prep, packing and then TPA airport closed on Tuesday and didn’t re-open until Thursday with our flight scheduled to depart on Friday! Idalia stayed on her northern course, missing Tampa by about 90-100 miles, and we dodged another one. Do feel for those impacted by Idalia to our north though!

 

Friday finally arrived and we were off with some uneventful (those are always welcome!) flights on United. Food was.. ok. Arrived in BCN where we met the Regent rep and a few other Regent travelers. We were taken to our bus (all six! of us) along with our luggage and promptly taken to the Hotel Sofia. A very nice hotel, albeit you will need to use a taxi or hop on/off bus to get to some of the more touristy areas (eg Sagrada Familia or Gothic Quarter). We barely slept on the flight, so we walked the area near the hotel before calling it an early night. There were quite a bit of shopping, restaurants/coffee shops to check out though. 

 

Sunday morning we left our luggage in our hotel room and joined another small group that elected to do a pre-cruise tour. There were 18 of us on this tour and we got on a nice, new bus with a great tour guide. We visited and walked several areas including the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, Pedrera, Gothic Quarter, Picasso Museum (did not go in) and Montjuic Hill. Overall a great way to visit some of the highlights of Barcelona in a short period of time before being dropped off at the port near 12:30pm.

 

Here is our Hotel Room at the Sofia Hotel

 

Sagrada Familia Cathedral

 

View from top of the Hill

[vitacura]

Finally time to board! I love this ship, my first cruise on Radisson was on the Mariner over 20 years ago as a teenager, so she holds a special place in my heart! (I’m so glad my wife enjoys cruising as much as I do!)
 

Easy check-in, quick visit to our Muster Station, then off to the Pool Grill for lunch. Ship looks great, always nice to see familiar faces. Suites were ready a tad early, perhaps they should have taken more time to get them ready.. we are in a Concierge suite and we were not too pleased upon entering our room..

 

Thermostat has seen better days, and a pizza box was found on top of mini fridge, where there is just enough space for it to fit, easy to overlook if it weren’t for the smell.. 

 

We let reception know, waiting on our room steward to come dispose of it. We will not let this deter from our trip, we just hope the negatives are now out of the way early!

 

We now wait for our bags so we can unpack! We are dining in Chartreuse tonight!

 

Suite had a nice Regent tote on our bed upon arrival!

 

 

Perhaps some tape is needed?

 

 

What’s that smell?!

 

 

Oh.. yuck! That’s what smells!

 

[rcandkc]

6 minutes ago, vitacura said:

Finally time to board! I love this ship, my first cruise on Radisson was on the Mariner over 20 years ago as a teenager, so she holds a special place in my heart! (I’m so glad my wife enjoys cruising as much as I do!)
 

Easy check-in, quick visit to our Muster Station, then off to the Pool Grill for lunch. Ship looks great, always nice to see familiar faces. Suites were ready a tad early, perhaps they should have taken more time to get them ready.. we are in a Concierge suite and we were not too pleased upon entering our room..

 

Thermostat has seen better days, and a pizza box was found on top of mini fridge, where there is just enough space for it to fit, easy to overlook if it weren’t for the smell.. 

 

We let reception know, waiting on our room steward to come dispose of it. We will not let this deter from our trip, we just hope the negatives are now out of the way early!

 

We now wait for our bags so we can unpack! We are dining in Chartreuse tonight!

 

Suite had a nice Regent tote on our bed upon arrival!

 

 

Perhaps some tape is needed?

 

 

What’s that smell?!

 

 

Oh.. yuck! That’s what smells!

 

That is gross!

[vitacura]

I had no pre-cruise requests in regard to our suite this time, but I was surprised at the selection they left for me. None of them are what I normally drink, perhaps they want less crowds in the bars? Nah.. I like the ambiance at the bars!

 

 

Will have our Room Steward/Stewardess clear them once they come to introduce themselves. 
 

Today’s specials for Compass Rose:

 

 

 

[vitacura]

6 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

That is gross!

Right? Perhaps I should tag that post as NSFW! 😬

[mrlevin]

I would be livid; I would expect the Housekeeping Manager in my suite in 15 minutes.  

[flossie009]

32 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

I would expect the Housekeeping Manager in my suite in 15 minutes.

Agreed, this needs elevating far above Reception and the Room Steward.

Not a good advert for Regent & I hope @Jennefer Teegen reviews this thread.

 

The suite has obviously not been properly cleaned, prepared & checked for all these issues to have been missed.

 

Also it has to be asked: what ignorant Regent guest would bring a pizza on-board and then leave it to fester in a cupboard on top of a warm fridge? 🤨

 

 

 

@vitacura, Have a fabulous crossing on the excellent ship, Mariner, and thanks for posting 😎

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by flossie009

[mrlevin]

I would let HK Mgr know that you expect her to fix it and that there really would be no need to elevate to GM.  I have found that getting the direct manager to fix a problem instead of taking everything to GM is better in the long run.  Of course, you have posted online so I am sure that Miami willl be contacting GM; I would still try to give the HR Mgr a chance to address before she is asked by GM.

Edited September 3, 2023 by mrlevin

[crusin7]

Holy Smokes!  I bet you were shocked to find that delicacy waiting for you!  I agree with Marc…call the HK manager.  You are not a guest at a Motel 6.  I see you have my favorite channel on the TV.  The black mussels are excellent.  I hope you enjoy your cruise.

[vitacura]

Thanks everyone! Our luggage was waiting for us outside our suite, so we brought them in and finished putting everything up with still no sign of anyone coming to our aid. I decided to go down to reception in person, but as soon as I departed our suite I met with our lovely stewardess and explained the situation. She was mortified and apologized profusely. She will have the mini fridge changed out since the bottom of the box had melted onto the top of the fridge. 

Went for a stroll around the ship and found the public spaces to be in great shape!

 

In Port with us are Virgin, Royal Caribbean and Costa.

 

 

Currently enjoying a Vesper martini and a glass of Champagne for the Mrs. at the Observation Lounge. I signed up for the Macallan tasting on the 11th. Sail away is at 1900. Can’t wait!

 

 

Figured it best to post the Beverage Menu while I have cell signal and don’t have to rely on the ships wi-fi.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by vitacura

[rcandkc]

I really do not know how the suite was left like that.  I’ve never seen or heard of such an oversight.  I’m so sorry. 

[Techno123]

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 I agree with @flossie009 yes an unacceptable oversight from whoever cleaned the room but what low life  puts a partly eaten pizza on top of the fridge and leaves it there 😱

[welshfamily]

We left the Mariner two weeks ago and are almost ready to book again.. Just waiting for quotes from TA.

We had a great cruise( I wrote a review)/ however we had poor  service from our steward, not bad enough to complain,  just niggles.  
We were on Deck 9. Two Concierge cabins.  Please post if things improve and how.

As we were Newbies and not really on board with what we should expect it would be great to hear someone else’s experience.

Have a great cruise.

 

[rcandkc]

25 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 I agree with @flossie009 yes an unacceptable oversight from whoever cleaned the room but what low life  puts a partly eaten pizza on top of the fridge and leaves it there 😱

And it looked like none was actually eaten. 

[RetiredandTravel]

This is very odd (& disgusting), it leaves me wondering if it wasn't a guest who brought in the pizza.  Possibly the room was being worked on.

 

  I'm sure you know this but there are many more complimentary wines available not on that list and you can ask for any one of them at any time.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[PaulaJK]

We were on the previous cruise and this morning noticed that the staff seemed to be under pressure to do the turn around, perhaps influenced by folks seeming to board earlier and earlier. . Am not excusing this, of course and I am  certain that R will not either. On a positive note, our cabin was kept sparkling. Our butler was great. We wish you the same.We had to change cabins and so far our new butler seems fairly invisible…will see.

[rcandkc]

I absolutely don’t mind relaxing on the pool deck waiting for suites.  When they announce they are ready, we stay seated and let the masses go.  It’s better for them to be truly ready. 

[ginny123]

Thank you so much for posting on this trip!  We sail the Mariner in eight weeks and cannot wait!!  And my husband will be super thrilled to see the drinks listing you've posted.  Agree that the pizza box looks to be something a worker might have left behind for some reason.  I'd probably mention it to the HK mgr along the lines of "how strange" to find it there but "stranger still" that it was obviously there for quite some time.  So hope the rest of the trip your suite is maintained as well as our have always been...excellently.

[SkystheLimit]

We board the Mariner in two weeks. Thank you for posting.  Look forward to more.  Hope you have a wonderful crossing.

[vitacura]

Had a lovely meal in Chartreuse last night, service and food were impeccable. No pictures of dinner, but we did notice it only got to about 3/4 full. They do hold some tables for the high end suites.

 

Very little swell last night, about two to three meters. The slight rocking motion helped me sleep. They did replace our mini fridge last night and the thermostat is now in place, yay!

 

Seas are calm today. Lunch on the Pool Deck featured French buffet including made to order Crepe Bretonne.
 

Plenty of tables available in the shade, even around 12:30-1. Lots of open loungers by the pool as well. Pool is drained at the moment. We are sailing at near capacity.

 

 

Some lively music for about an hour!

 

 

 

It’s a good, friendly mix of guests on board, lots of returning Seven Seas members. Captains welcome party is tonight followed by dinner in Compass Rose. 
 

Coffee Connection features:

 

 

 

Internet is pretty decent in the public areas, allowing me to upload pictures. In our suite (deck 9 aft), not so much. We elected for the free SSS internet over the streaming upgrade.
 

As always, I appreciate your thoughts and comments and thanks for following along!

[kjbacon]

Great pictures and info, thank you! We recently booked the Mariner so I’m so glad that you are giving us this live tour.

[vitacura]

I did forget to mention that both our Stewardess and the assistant Chief Housekeeper came by to check in with us and apologize for the condition of our stateroom upon embarkation. They said if there was anything else we needed to please ask.

 

We had a relaxing afternoon on our balcony, with the Mrs scheduling a few spa treatments on upcoming sea days.

 

 

There are two guest lecturers on board, Terry Bishop and Douglas Nelson. They do record the lectures so you can watch them in your suite later on.

 

 

Enhanced Bios featured in the Passages.

 

 

Seas remain calm, we did skip the Captains welcome reception and went straight to dinner in Compass Rose at 6:30. Dinner was a swift 90 minutes for five courses (dessert included). My filet was cooked to a perfect medium rare. Another great experience with dinner. Bar staff were moving around and it was easy to get wine or drink refills.

 

I do enjoy the nightly change in soufflé flavors, tonight was Hazelnut!

 

 

A glass of wine and a Grasshopper at the Horizon Lounge before turning in for the night. Tomorrow we are in Cádiz, Spain!

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by vitacura

[Jlhalldc]

Enjoying your posts and thanks for sharing your experiences. It's great to hear your candid observations. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Happily following along.  We have our first Regent cruise booked on the new Grandeur but it's not until 2025 so I'll have to wait a while to try one of those grasshoppers...which looks delicious!

 

I'm sorry about your little unwelcome surprise when you entered your room but it sounds like they have corrected the situation pretty well...only thing that could make it better is a nice bottle of bubbly on ice.

 

I have a question about the flights, if I may.  We will fly from ATL and likely have to stop somewhere along the way as you did.  I'm wondering if there is a way to select my preferred airline and also a non-stop option?

[boblerm]

Kudos to you, @vitacura, for not allowing a truly egregious situation dampen your enthusiasm for your cruise.  
Have a blast, and thanks for posting!