Mariner April 27 Panama itinerary change?

[kvisf]

We are on Mariners's April 27 FLL to San Francisco Panama Canal cruise, and just received email notification from Regent that the itinerary has been modified (mainly to alter time in several ports) due to Mariner's reduced maximum cruising speed. We had read about this reduced speed issue in other posts here but also read that the problem was expected to be fixed in drydock, which was scheduled to happen in March, just before our cruise.

 

Does anyone know what's going on? Has the drydock been postponed, or has Regent decided they can't fix the problem? Not sure it's a big issue as the itinerary changes seem to be minor, however the drydock was also supposed to include some (apparently needed) refurbishing of suites and public areas.

 

Also, do any recent cruisers have updates or opinions on how the new all inclusive beverage policy is working out? We were on Mariner in 2003 to Alaska, loved the ship, and thought switching to AI would be a good idea, so we're glad to see Regent trying it.

 

Thanks for any information.

 

Paul

[beaniele]

We are also on this same voyage. I see you have not had any responses so if anyone has any info would be very grateful. Thanks.

[Trouper 75]

We are also on this cruise and received the changes via E-mail. I don't believe the ship has yet gone to dry dock and thought RSSC might be adjusting the schedule in case...Perhaps the difficulties are more than expected and the dd doesn't allow sufficient time. We have no information and would appreciate hearing from anyone who does.

Babs

[kvisf]

We are also on this cruise and received the changes via E-mail. I don't believe the ship has yet gone to dry dock and thought RSSC might be adjusting the schedule in case...Perhaps the difficulties are more than expected and the dd doesn't allow sufficient time. We have no information and would appreciate hearing from anyone who does.

Babs

 

It looks like we depart an hour earlier from FLL, lose two hours in Cartagena (arrive at 9:00 instead of 8:00, depart at 1:00 instead of 2:00), and have some time shaved off in Puntarenas and the Mexican ports as well. The Mariner got a blistering review on another site from a passnger wh had several highly anticipated ports omitted from an Asian cruise with no advance warning from Regent until the Friday before departure. Looks like they are trying to avoid a repeat at least to the extent of being able to say "we warned you." I thought Cartagena and Puntarenas were the most interesting ports on the itinerary, after the canal, and find this a bit disappointing. Why don't they skip the Port Why-me stop instead?

[TxnAquarian]

Hey guys! I am on this April 27th voyage also. We are staying on for the following 11-day Alaska voyage as well. Both itineraries have adjusted port times now which is disappointing. On the Alaska segment, they have shortened our time in Seattle (which was a highlight for me) and we only have from 6am-11am in Sitka. And I, too, am bummed about the time in Cartagena and Puntarenas being limited in the Canal segment. I am in complete agreement with the poster who suggested skipping Port Huenueme. From what I have heard on this board, there is nothing there.

 

Does anyone have any info about this planned drydocking? I am just curious if it has been postponed. We had anticipated sailing on a fresh-from-the-docks ship.

 

 

Michael

[TxnAquarian]

Just bumping this post up....

[TxnAquarian]

Just bumping this post up....

[Trouper 75]

Hey, Michael. There are 6 of us that I know of..so far...planning to meet for a drink pre dinner, post lb drill, on the 27th in the Observation Lounge. Please join us. B & J

[Ngaire]

This was posted on another message board I thought it might be helpful to share this with you.

 

After reading Marc's and other LCTr's concern over the problem with the Mariner Pod, I sent the thread to Mr. Conroy, who took his valuable time to reply. Pls see below:

 

From Mark Conroy.

 

Thank you for the heads up on the feedback on the changes in schedule due to the pod problem.

 

Let me share with you what we are up against here and if I may I would love your suggestion as how to further clarify the issue.

 

Rest assured we would love to have the pod fixed during the next dry-dock; unfortunately it will not be possible.

 

The Voyager and Mariner have very different technology in their pods and the problems they encountered were also quite different.

 

The Voyager pod defect was discovered by our crew before any real damage was done primarily because of the problems we encountered on the Mariner led us to do an inspection that was not suggested by the maker. Since the defect was repaired prior to failure no damage was done so it was a matter of making repairs versus replacing critical custom made components.

 

Unfortunately the Mariner had a hidden defect in the way the insulation for the motor was mounted in the pod which the manufacturer was aware of but failed to notify us or any of the other users of the system. Due to this defect a portion of the insulation on one of the pods separated from its mounting and fell in the windings damaging 1/2 of the electric motors mounted in the pod.

 

The insulation in both pods has been modified and the damaged pod was repaired and has been certified by the Bureau Veritas (the Safety Society for the Flag State) to operate but to insure a safety margin it will be run at only 50% of full power. With one pod operating at 50% output and the other pod running at full power the ship can make a maximum speed of 18 knots versus the 19.5 to 21 knots (depending on sea conditions) with both pods functioning fully.

 

We typically schedule the ships at 18.5 knots and have the extra power available to counter sea conditions or to further maximize the time in port. We are now scheduling at 17.5 knots with only about .5 knots margin so we were required to make the adjustments that we just released.

 

The guest in the note mentions the arrival change in Hong Kong. We could actually make the distance between Hong Kong and Shanghai even at the adjusted speed, unfortunately due to heavy traffic the port of Shanghai only allows arrival and departures to take place at slack tide period.

 

We have order a replacement electric motor for the damaged one but unfortunately it takes 9 months to build it and then another 4 months to install inside the pod housing.

 

To mitigate the impact of these repairs and not have the ship laid up for 3 to 7 months we have actually order a complete new pod which is currently under construction in France. This new pod will take 16 months to build and 10 days to install so to be safe and to insure we will not be forced to cancel additional cruises; we will change it either immediately after the 2008 Alaska season or in January 2009 prior to the Circle South America voyage.

 

Once to new pod is install we will ship the damaged pod back to the manufacturer and have it rebuilt and stored in a ready to install state. That way if we have any other problems with the system it will be a mater of days to make the repair rather then a matter of months.

 

In the meanwhile we have planned the 2008 schedule taking the adjusted speed into consideration so we can maximize the port visits. This speed is the same speed most other ships are scheduled at some when done in advance the adjustments will be fairly minor.

 

Again thank you for bringing this to my attention and sorry for the long response but there is no quick solution to this issue.

 

Kindest personal regards,

 

Mark

 

Mark S. Conroy │ President

[BILLP1]

I will add that the all inclusive liquor policy on our Mariner March 13th cruise worked well for us. They poured just about any brand of liquor that I requested and the wine was in the $40 to $50 a bottle restaurant price range and had many varietys of Whites and Reds. The lounges were very crowded each evening before dinner and after dinner.

I was surprised to get Grappa after dinner which I have found hard to get in some restaurants... No extra charge..

Our final bill was $78 for Internet use...

 

We enjoyed our first cruise on Regent so much that we booked again next April ...