Seven Seas Mariner Review
Not the Regent experience we are used to.
Rating by category
Additional details
We were so disappointed with the Regent experience on this trip. We chose it because of the destination, being an inaugural trip to Cuba, (2 days in Havana), with a stop in Belize and Mexico on the way back to Miami. Neither of these 2 stops were anything to write home about, one being a man made beach resort owned by NCL.
It was great to visit Cuba, but my review is mainly to do with the disappointing service and mishaps on the cruise. The staff worked very hard, but didn't seem to get on top of things. While in the main, the food was nice when or if you got it, (one course omitted completely one night, and our sides didn't arrive another night), the wait staff were so under pressure it was difficult to get their attention if you needed anything. There were a number of Regent VIP's on the trip, who had officers milling about them and I even saw one of them send their food back to be cooked more when in the Compass Rose. The service in Prime 7 was just okay with the vacated table beside us left uncleared for the rest of our meal. The steaks we ate were very good but the sides were disappointing. Our meal in Signatures and the Italian were the best dining experiences this trip.
I'm not sure if Regent have disimproved due to being taken over by Norweigen Cruise line, but its definitely not the same level or friendly personalised service we received on our previous Regent cruises, which was 6 star service. The staff were hugely under pressure so didn't have time for niceties.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Suite
Very comfortable, well maintained mid ship suite. Plenty of storage and good choice of current movies, news channels on the TV, albeit a very dated model, though I'm aware the ship is due a refurbishment in near future, so no doubt this will be updated to a flatscreen then. I can't fault the cabins. Both the aircon which had a very low noise level and the double blackout curtains, made for a very good sleep each night.
Port Reviews
Harvest Caye
If you like spending time by a pool or on the beach then this is a nice resort, though not authentic to the country. It has been developed for the cruise ships. We did a boat trip of the lagoon wildlife, which was a pleasant few hours.
Costa Maya
Again this was another man made resort stop for cruise ships. I took a shuttle bus into the next down which gave me some exposure to the actual country.