Mariner at Christmas

[Eno-Bob]

5 hours ago, BBWC said:

…no announcement of decorating contest winner.

They did announce the winner on Splendor Today — they showed all of the decorated doors on the ship, the CD staff, the Captain and GM were shown viewing the doors and 3 or 4 winners were named by category.

[Horatio Snowblower]

18 hours ago, Smitty A said:

No announcement who won…..no surprise there.

 

The winner was announced by the CD on his daily talk show on channel 1. 

[flossie009]

Glad we didn’t find these when fishing in the Amazon 😮

 

BBC Report 

[PaulaJK]

We sailed Mariner from Venice to NyC in late summer and the movies were

present and the entertainment skimpy w band musicians in lounges vs dedicated

room entertainers. I suspect that this is not a CD issue but a Regent policy. Our

Beatles and ABBA evenings were squeezed into the Horizon lounge..no on 

deck parties despite mostly lovely weather…disappointing and boring.

[mrlevin]

4 minutes ago, PaulaJK said:

We sailed Mariner from Venice to NyC in late summer and the movies were

present and the entertainment skimpy w band musicians in lounges vs dedicated

room entertainers. I suspect that this is not a CD issue but a Regent policy. Our

Beatles and ABBA evenings were squeezed into the Horizon lounge..no on 

deck parties despite mostly lovely weather…disappointing and boring.

I strongly concur that this is a Miami issue.  Even with lack of entertainment this is a fantastic cruise.  The Captain, GM, and F&B are constantly circulating amongst the guests. The food, beverage, butler, and housekeeping staff are all fantastic.  Food is fantastic.  A fantastic cruise. 
 

marc

[CJANDH]

I agree with the positive comments on food and staff but I do think that the cruise has not been up to Regent's standards. Apart from the already posted comments on the entertainment, one other planning issue that can be clearly put on a desk in Miami was the decision to spend Christmas with an overnight in Manaus. On Christmas day the city was like a ghost town. Nothing was open and the streets were filthy with litter. A sea day with lots of onboard activities would have been much better, with a visit to Manaus on a day when there was something to do other than drive around empty streets.

[mrlevin]

29 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

But we knew this when we booked the cruise.  We scheduled our tour of Manaus on 24th and no tour got 25th because of holiday. Yes, a different schedule would have been better but we knew this in advance. 

[CJANDH]

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

But we knew this when we booked the cruise.  We scheduled our tour of Manaus on 24th and no tour got 25th because of holiday. Yes, a different schedule would have been better but we knew this in advance. 

We too scheduled our tour on the 24th to the Pink Dolphins and it was great fun. We also knew when booking that we would spend Christmas Day in Manaus; but we were not prepared for such a filthy port with trash floating by the ship all day.

[frantic36]

7 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Glad we didn’t find these when fishing in the Amazon 😮

 

BBC Report 

 

Thanks. Interesting reading. On the little hand lines we had for fishing piranha earlier this year it would have been a challenge to get it on the boat.

[irishwitchy]

I’m guessing you have no families? I can’t image going to this part of the world on Christmas and expecting a stellar day for a tourist.  

[mnocket]

 

 

19 hours ago, CJANDH said:

We too scheduled our tour on the 24th to the Pink Dolphins and it was great fun. We also knew when booking that we would spend Christmas Day in Manaus; but we were not prepared for such a filthy port with trash floating by the ship all day.

The port water was nice the day we arrived.  However, on the second day it rained in the morning and the street gutters run into the harbor area carrying all the street trash with it. It was pretty  bad and our tour guide admitted it was terrible and apologized for it. 

[mrlevin]

Today is the ninth of ten sea days; there is only one lecture scheduled for today; on algae.  Thinking back, a number of the lectures on this trip have been about algae. Miami sure made it hard on the CD.  Where is Terry Breen?

Edited December 30, 2023 by mrlevin

[pingpong1]

41 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Today is the ninth of ten sea days; there is only one lecture scheduled for today; on algae.  Thinking back, a number of the lectures on this trip have been about algae. Miami sure made it hard on the CD.  Where is Terry Breen?

Marc - Perhaps they're thinking that "you can never know too much about algae"!  😵

[labonnevie]

We do miss Terry. 
Best. Lecturer. Ever.

[flossie009]

Another glorious day at sea

 

 

 

 

[flossie009]

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Today is the ninth of ten sea days; there is only one lecture scheduled for today; on algae.

……… and no Spontaneous Duo playing on deck at lunchtime today.

They appeared briefly yesterday, but there appeared to be a technical glitch which meant they didn’t play more than a couple of chords.

 

Still, tonight’s variety show could be magic 🤔 . We will see 🤞

 

 

 

[mrlevin]

Ross arrives tomorrow!

[mrlevin]

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

Still, tonight’s variety show could be magic 🤔 . We will see 🤞

 

 

 

Variety show was a hit!

[flossie009]

So the plan is that up to 700 guests will be celebrating New Year in the Horizon Lounge on Mariner 😮

……….. could be cosy !!

 

[mrlevin]

28 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

So the plan is that up to 700 guests will be celebrating New Year in the Horizon Lounge on Mariner 😮

……….. could be cosy !!

 

I think there are 628 guests.  I am going to save our seats; probably right after tea. We have spent seven New Year’s Eve onboard and this will be first time trying to do countdown in Horizon; outdoor works best and atrium is a lot better than horizon. 

[kjbacon]

10 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Ross arrives tomorrow!

Great news … sounds like a heck of a party. Happy new year!

[fizzy]

7 hours ago, mrlevin said:

  I am going to save our seats; probably right after tea. 

That's a good one!

[lprp]

16 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Where is Terry Breen?

Or Terry Bishop?

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, lprp said:

Or Terry Bishop?

I think he is joining for the world cruise

 

[flossie009]

11 hours ago, mrlevin said:

I think there are 628 guests.  I am going to save our seats; probably right after tea. We have spent seven New Year’s Eve onboard and this will be first time trying to do countdown in Horizon; outdoor works best and atrium is a lot better than horizon. 

David approached the GM this morning and he says that the NY countdown is intended to be spread across 2 or more lounges.

Pity this was not the way the CD described arrangements; and not as scheduled in Passages; with all entertainment pre-midnight being in Horizon. 

We shall see how things pan out later 🤞 😉

 

Agree it would have been better on deck,  but they seem to have a forecast of rain