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Seven Seas Mariner

Galveston

This was our third cruise on the Mariner, our second relocation crossing, and our first since the last refurbishment. Overall, we were highly impressed by the condition of the ship. The food was consistently excellent. Service levels were also extraordinary, and even a notch above past cruises. The staff was consistently friendly and helpful. One word of advice to would-be first time Regent cruisers. Do your research. There are no wave pools, climbing walls, trampolines, or ice bars on the Mariner. The clientele is decidedly older than average. 

The favourite activities seem to be bridge, tea time, and trivia contests. At times the ship seems as much a floating luxury retirement home as it is a floating luxury resort. The pace is generally slow; the evenings end relatively early. This is absolutely perfect for us; it may not be perfect for you. This itinerary was particularly heavy with sea days. Again, this is what we look for and enjoy, but if you want to hit a different port every day and seek out excursions, you might not have enjoyed this cruise as much as other itineraries.

Cruise Director Jamie Logan did a great job hosting and organizing events and communicating information to the passengers. We stayed in a Seven Seas Aft stateroom for the first time instead of our usual Horizons View, and we fear the spacious and tasteful surroundings, and especially the expansive deck, might have ruined other choices for us in the future! The butler and stewards provided unparalleled service throughout. 

As part of this cruise, Regent offered a pre-cruise safari option at several game reserves in South Africa. We stayed at the Botlierkop Game Reserve near Mossel Bay in the Western Cape region. This was an unexpected highlight of the whole trip. Excellent food and accommodations (in an air-conditioned a luxury-appointed tent away from the main lodge), knowledgeable and friendly guides, and an up close chance to see many animals in the wild. We were fortunate to see African elephants, giraffes, rhinos, impalas and black impalas, lions, eland, nyala, wildebeest, water-buck, bontebok, Cape buffalo, springbok, crested guinea fowl, blue crane, jackal buzzards, Cape zebras, and many types of indigenous plants and insects. It was a busy and magical few days, and we’d love to go back and do it again.

We only have a few small quibbles with this cruise, as explained below, but none of these things detracted from our overall extremely positive and enjoyable experience. We will continue to sail on the always-excellent Mariner!

Some people we spoke to felt that some of the excursions were not adequately explained by Destination Services and, as is the custom with Regent, included some long bus rides to places where short stops occurred. My wife, in particular, did not enjoy an excursion to Swakopmund on a Sunday, because many attractions were closed that day. Destination Services came in for some criticism because of this.

That said, some of the things we heard from other passengers, either directly or through ship scuttlebutt, in the nature about complaints concerning the lack of attractions and services in Namibia, suggested that these folks did not do much of a job researching their itinerary before embarking on the cruise. It is the rural west African desert, people! There is not much here, and what is here is always far from everything else. What did you reasonably expect? 

Soon after we left Namibia rumours began to swirl about the presence of several single male passengers, apparently paying guests, who were employed by jewellery stores in Rio, and who were approaching other passengers to sell them jewellery and tours in Rio. This is apparently against Regent policy, but as they were paying guests it seemed little was done to curtail this activity. Let me stress, we heard about this from others and did not experience it directly.

One final matter deserves attention. We had to miss our stop at Saint Helena due to a mid-Atlantic medical emergency that required the Captain to get a critically-ill passenger to hospital. Rather than turn back to Namibia or even Cape Town, he chose instead to increase speed and make haste for Rio de Janeiro. All aboard were disappointed in missing Saint Helena, and some passengers even claimed that this port was the sole reason they took this trip. Some of the more cynical passengers even speculated about the real reasons for speeding to Rio, to the point that the Cruise Director had to explain publicly that the extra fuel costs and dockage fees to get the passenger to hospital in Rio was costing Regent upwards of $175,000 USD. This is the second time we have experienced the Mariner having to change schedule to address the needs of an ill passenger. In both cases we believe the Captain and crew acted professionally and responsibly with the best interest of the passenger in mind. We were totally comfortable with the actions taken by the Captain and crew in this difficult situation.

We fully enjoyed this cruise on the Mariner and look forward to visiting her again soon.

Seven Seas Mariner, Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, 2015

We did our very first cruise on Regent when it was known as Radisson.  We did about 7 cruises with them and loved every minute of every cruise.  It has been 5 years since we have sailed on the Mariner, and unfortunately, we have to say it just wasn't the same.

The cabin was beautiful and the ship and most of the staff great.  However, it was sort of obvious that they are cutting some corners.

As people who work out, we went to the gym.  Some of the machines were not working and we were told some hadn't been working since April!  We asked about it and were told "it is out of our control."  Who is responsible to see that the equipment is maintained?  The televisions on the machines for the most part were not working.  If you do an hour workout, all you have left to look at is a wall - - no ocean views or anything.  By the end of our cruise there was only one treadmill in operation.

On our previous cruises, after eating at the Compass Rose or any of the specialty restaurants, we would rave about the food for hours.  Not this time.  We would give the food a generous B minus.  The bread was awful.  The lamb had no flavor, and we ate most often at the Italian restaurant which was quite good.  Little things were missing, like freshly ground pepper.  The wait staff seemed overworked - - too many tables per waiter and the service was a lot slower than we remembered.  It was hard to get anyone's attention if you had a problem with your order.  The best dinners we had were at Setti Mare.  We were disappointed in Signatures.

There were little things missing - - I love to soak in the tub on cruises, and Oceania has different bath salts you can add to the water.  There was nothing on Regent and they are supposed to be a "luxury" line.  My husband likes blueberries on his cereal in the morning, and when he asked if there were any, he was told yes, but they don't put them out because people will eat them.  ?????????

The shore excursions were somewhat disorganized.  For example, on one, they didn't tell us that the bus we were on was more of a shuttle bus and many people panicked when the bus left and they ended up paying for taxis to get back to the ship.  Others left their jackets and bags on the bus thinking that the bus would be the one to transport us back to the ship.

The captain, Teo Srdlic, was fabulous.  He was one of those captains you see everywhere on the ship, always stopping to talk to the passengers.  He was a delightful man.  Also, the cruise director, Jamie Logan and his assistant CD, Dana, were wonderful.  The entertainment was also quite good.

There was a pre-cruise safari as part of the cruise and that was absolutely one of the best experiences we ever had.  The accomodations, flight arrangements and transportation was done efficiently and easily.

On disembarkation, we were transported to a "hospitality room" where we were told there would be food and drink.  There were about 300 people using this room.  The first bus there got some food and coffee, but once that was gone, there was no more.  I asked about it and was told by the hotel staff that the cruise line had not authorized any more.  From Rio where most flights leave late at night, this meant about 6-10 hours at the hotel with nothing but a small bottle of water.  In the past when we have stayed at hospitality rooms, there was food, sandwiches, danishes, coffee, soft drinks, and sometimes Radisson/Regent gave you a day room.  This is not what we were expecting and we, along with the other 290 people were very unhappy.

We flew from Rio to Atlanta and we got caught in the storm that hit the south.  Our flight was canceled, and I called the Regent emergency air hotline for help in getting home for Christmas day.  I was told there was nothing they could do.  I don't know why they even bother listing an emergency hotline number if nobody would help.

While most of the staff was pleasant and helpful, there were a few exceptions where people were downright rude.  On one excursion where we had a Regent crew member with us, everyone in our jeep was miserable and we all wanted to go back to the ship.  The Regent crew member said, "Well, this is not your personal excursion and I want to be here."  Excuse me.  We paid for this cruise, you did not, and it is your responsibility to see that the passengers were happy and the 8 of us were miserable.  She then ignored us for the remainder of the horrendous excursion in bumper to bumper Rio traffic in an open air vehicle inhaling exhaust fumes and sewer odors for hours.  

All in all, we were so looking forward to this cruise after 8 prior sailings with Radisson/Regent and I really hate to say we were disappointed.  The line has gone downhill in the 5 years since we last sailed with them.  The identical cruise was offered on Oceania, and we wish we had done theirs instead.

Not What They Used To Be

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