My wife and I just returned from our tenth cruise with Regent, seventh on the Seven Seas Mariner. We have never sailed with another line, so we have no comparison. As to the ship, crew and cruise, it was fabulous. We have seen very minor cutbacks in service, but not in quality. We were again, treated like royalty.

The dining room waiters quickly learned our preferences and names, and treated us accordingly. The food was superb, and being an all-inclusive fare, the wine flowed at mealtimes! BUT, the pre-cruise and post-cruise programs left much to be desired. Going to Rome, Regent offers arrival the day before the ship departs, and previously, we were put up in hotels on the Via Veneto in downtown Rome, convenient to restaurants and attractions. This time, only the pricier cabins were housed there. We in "steerage" were housed in a Sheraton Golf resort, way out of town, inconvenient and costly to commute to downtown. The hotel restaurant was OK, but I didn't go to Rome to eat in a hotel restaurant. In Rio, again the poor folk were housed in another Sheraton, away from the action. The hotel would have been OK but they were renovating, including their restaurants, and the only open facility was a pizza kiosk. We were forced to do room service, due to the warnings about nighttime crime. Then checkout was at noon.

Our flight back to the States was at midnight, so the option was sitting in a hotel ballroom, or at the airport for twelve hours. We were very happy with the cruise itself, which of course, was why we went. The pre and post logistics led much to be desired. Makes us think about next year.