Mariner at Christmas

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, cruisevirgin24 said:

May I ask how you booked a car from the terminal to your hotel? Did you use Uber when you disembarked, or pre-book using a car service?

Regent arranged our car transfer to the hotel.

 

We used Uber this pm to/from a local mall for some retail therapy. Quick pick-up & good service both ways.

[flossie009]

A final reflective overview of our 2023/2024 Holiday Cruise on Mariner:

 

Cruise overall: Very enjoyable

 

Ship: We like the layout of Mariner, and the ship was in good order throughout

 

Suite: An excellent, roomy, well maintained PHC on deck 9. No major toilet issues - one half hour flushing outage during our 25 nights on board

 

Weather:  Changeable. Some windy rough weather early on. Mostly warm & sunny. Humid up the Amazon

 

Itinerary: Some interesting ports of call, but having now done the Amazon twice we probably would not do it again

 

Service: Very good

 

Food: Very good. Lack of variety in fruits & cheeses

 

Drinks: We always got what we wanted in bars & restaurants

 

Entertainment: Could have been a lot better had the CD & entertainment team used some initiative. They did face the difficulty of a performer arriving with no luggage and a cocktail pianist with visa issues

 

Lecturers: The lecturers seemed OK, but none of the subject matter appealed to us. Most lectures were not related to the itinerary or time of year

 

Fellow guests: There was a significantly higher percentage of Europeans on this cruise compared to most Regent cruises. The people we met were mostly very interesting & friendly folk, some of whom we have sailed with previously. There were a few jerks, some entitled lounger hogs, and one couple left the ship in Barbados after a “rumble in the jungle” (a woman physically attacked another at the Boi Bumba show in Parintins 😮)

 

Excursions: A mixed bag. Some very good; a couple were poor.

 

So that’s all from us. Over to @crusin7 for the next chapter 😎

 

[1982CruzStart]

Thanks Susan. As always, i enjoy your excellent pictures and commentary. Safe trip home. 

[cwn]

Really enjoyed your posts. Your pictures were great, Thanks for taking time to keep us up to date. Where are you going on your next cruise?

[kjbacon]

Thank you, Flossie, really enjoyed traveling along with you!

[lprp]

23 hours ago, flossie009 said:

A final reflective overview of our 2023/2024 Holiday Cruise on Mariner:

 

Cruise overall: Very enjoyable

 

Ship: We like the layout of Mariner, and the ship was in good order throughout

 

Suite: An excellent, roomy, well maintained PHC on deck 9. No major toilet issues - one half hour flushing outage during our 25 nights on board

 

Weather:  Changeable. Some windy rough weather early on. Mostly warm & sunny. Humid up the Amazon

 

Itinerary: Some interesting ports of call, but having now done the Amazon twice we probably would not do it again

 

Service: Very good

 

Food: Very good. Lack of variety in fruits & cheeses

 

Drinks: We always got what we wanted in bars & restaurants

 

Entertainment: Could have been a lot better had the CD & entertainment team used some initiative. They did face the difficulty of a performer arriving with no luggage and a cocktail pianist with visa issues

 

Lecturers: The lecturers seemed OK, but none of the subject matter appealed to us. Most lectures were not related to the itinerary or time of year

 

Fellow guests: There was a significantly higher percentage of Europeans on this cruise compared to most Regent cruises. The people we met were mostly very interesting & friendly folk, some of whom we have sailed with previously. There were a few jerks, some entitled lounger hogs, and one couple left the ship in Barbados after a “rumble in the jungle” (a woman physically attacked another at the Boi Bumba show in Parintins 😮)

 

Excursions: A mixed bag. Some very good; a couple were poor.

 

So that’s all from us. Over to @crusin7 for the next chapter 😎

 

Thanks @flossie009, sorry I didn’t get to meet you, hopefully we will meet on another occasion.

I did, however, meet Marc aka @mrlevin, which was great after all these years.

I agree with much of what you have written, although we had quite a few service issues, especially in Compass Rose.

 

I spoke extensively to senior management onboard about it. Our next meal there would be better, but then it would slip again.

The only place we consistently got good service was in Chartreuse.

I don’t blame the crew members who did their best, but they were understaffed and undertrained. I do wonder if the best people were transferred to Grandeur 🤨

 

Entertainment was the worst we have ever experienced on any of our 12 Regent cruises, including several Christmas ones. We actually walked out of several shows.

To only have one deck event during the day, when there were so many sea days is unbelievable, as is the, IMO, ridiculous decision to hold a deck party on the final night of the cruise when everyone was finishing their packing in order to get cases out by 10pm.

 

We’re hoping it’s an anomaly 🤞, we have 2 further booked plus a FCC.

 

We’re home now with all of the unpacking done as well as much of the laundry, which is much less than it would have been without the wonderful laundry service……

 

Until the next one - Bon Voyage to all Regent cruisers on CC.

LP

 

[Guest Cooper2020]

16 hours ago, lprp said:

Thanks @flossie009, sorry I didn’t get to meet you, hopefully we will meet on another occasion.

I did, however, meet Marc aka @mrlevin, which was great after all these years.

I agree with much of what you have written, although we had quite a few service issues, especially in Compass Rose.

 

I spoke extensively to senior management onboard about it. Our next meal there would be better, but then it would slip again.

The only place we consistently got good service was in Chartreuse.

I don’t blame the crew members who did their best, but they were understaffed and undertrained. I do wonder if the best people were transferred to Grandeur 🤨

 

Entertainment was the worst we have ever experienced on any of our 12 Regent cruises, including several Christmas ones. We actually walked out of several shows.

To only have one deck event during the day, when there were so many sea days is unbelievable, as is the, IMO, ridiculous decision to hold a deck party on the final night of the cruise when everyone was finishing their packing in order to get cases out by 10pm.

 

We’re hoping it’s an anomaly 🤞, we have 2 further booked plus a FCC.

 

We’re home now with all of the unpacking done as well as much of the laundry, which is much less than it would have been without the wonderful laundry service……

 

Until the next one - Bon Voyage to all Regent cruisers on CC.

LP

 

I have been  a frequent cruiser with Regent, I too was on this cruise and I agree with everything you have written. 

Positive points for me were -  the concierge suite  well appointed and delightful bathroom, the cabin steward Rivi was amazing, never having to ask for anything.  He kept the cabin spotless and well stocked with everything we had requested at the beginning of the cruise.  I loved the daily laundry service with clothes returning on hangers and neatly pressed - it was the highlight of my day when it returned.

  Negative - the crew worked really hard but were short staffed,  some untrained and  the servers unable to cope on many occasions.  The food. consistently cold in Compass Rose, La Veranda and the pool grill.   

It got to the point where I just didn't enjoy going for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Pool bar drinks were sub standard, at one point when asking for champagne the bar man gave my partner two already poured flat champagne's out of the fridge (is that six star). The bars were consistently running out of international branded beers, and the bottled sparkling mineral water stock ran out not long into the cruise and not replaced. 

 The ship looks old, at one point they removed some tatty sun loungers from the deck  to  respray the  arm rests (Probably for the upcoming world cruise).  Consequently when returned to the deck caused white  paint lines on my partners arms from leaning on them. 

We cruised on the Mariner last September and the experience was exactly the same.   It is fair to say I will be trying other six star cruise lines now.  

[rcandkc]

From reading many posts, it seems Regent has expanded too much because they aren’t keeping up with the needed servers and entertainment to cover 6 ships. 

[CJANDH]

6 hours ago, rcandkc said:

From reading many posts, it seems Regent has expanded too much because they aren’t keeping up with the needed servers and entertainment to cover 6 ships. 

I tend to agree with you on this. It is not just the reduced crew it is also the lower standards of maintenance. We were in a Grand Suite and the condition of the furnishings and the stained carpets were well below the standard I would expect from a 6 star cruise line. I feel sorry for the person who has booked this suite for the world cruise.

I would have thought that a suite of this cost would have at least been recarpeted and had new chairs and sofa. Instead they seem to be waiting for the dry dock nearly two years from now. When I discussed it with the Hotel Manager he agreed that the Grand Suites need to be completely redesigned. But that the dry dock in November 2025 was when it would happen.