We wanted to visit the Amazon. It was worth the price of many sea days (which we normally try to minimize). We just returned, arriving in Miami Jan 6, 2020. It was a solid 4 star experience, based on 20 cruises on 12 cruise lines. The all-inclusive feature is nice, although for those of us who don’t drink, free alcohol is not a benefit. Not being nickel-dimed is worth it, unlike certain cruise brands. Check-in/boarding was ‘different’ in Rio, where we waited in a hangar like terminal until boarding time, then walked up the ramp into the ship where check-in tables were set up in the reception/atrium area. We’re used to the photos taken - boarding cards prepared etc. check-in process being done in the terminal; however, it was relatively painless and efficient. Our concierge cabin on deck 9 was fine, if a little small. Bathroom (bathtub/shower etc.) was nice, nothing special but no issues (toilet plumbing acted up in our section of cabins several times during the 3 week cruise, but fairly quickly repaired). Food was good, comparable and maybe somewhat better than Oceania, our previous standard. All the restaurants provided fine dining, good ‘everyday selections’ and several new items on the menu each evening. Service was in general very good. The Veranda buffet offered very good selections every day, with fresh fruit, pastries, a breakfast special every morning and eggs cooked to order. Cold cuts, salmon, and such were available every day, along with many kinds of bread/bagels/muffins etc. The dessert selections were very good, along with cookies (everywhere on the ship, all day, beside the cappuccino/Latte machines - a definite self discipline challenge). Lunch selections were varied and also very good. One complaint about the Veranda buffet is that it is only open for breakfast and lunch. If you don’t want to dress up and spend the time to ‘dine’ every night, the grill on the pool deck is your only option. The food there is mostly good and you can order chicken wings, burgers and such, but it is somewhat limited. Entertainment was good. Some excellent guest performers were on board, along with a very good naturalist/Amazonia speaker and an Apollo 9 astronaut. The ships dancers were excellent. The 5 piece band was outstanding. The singers were decent. One show was performed at 9:30 PM, on most days. Excursions: very good. We had no trouble booking excursions (free). Some were booked in advance, a few were booked only days before (our biggest excursion was booked privately, our usual MO when wanting to see a particular attraction(s) without having to compromise, nor wait for a busload of other passengers). Service/hotel staff were very good, with very few exceptions. Reading the small percentage of 1 and 2 star reviews of the Mariner highlights an issue of the passenger demographic that book the 6 star lines; specifically, a good percentage of high-worth individuals, many of whom are getting on in years and have mobility issues; some have airs of entitlement to go with very high expectations. Consideration for others can sometimes be lacking. Example: walking slowly down a narrow ramp with a walker, one old gentleman was overheard saying to his wife (who was trying to move out of the way for those behind), “don’t try to make room, they can just wait”. Another example is getting on and off tenders. Regent does not enforce their own rules about who can and can not ride, consequently, boarding/debarking tenders behind physically impaired passengers can be an exercise in patience – (I am in my late 70’s). To recap, nice interesting cruise. Would we book Regent again? Certainly, given a desirable itinerary. Read Less

We were excited to take this cruise because we wanted to visit the Amazon. Additionally friends had told us how wonderful Regent Cruise lines is The shore trips were marginal and poorly executed. The guides were extremely inexperienced and lacked knowledge The best bird sightings were at the zoo in Manaus. Not what we expected. The food was barely average. It lacked creativity and the ingredients were sub-par. We were told that the Italian food was the chef’s interpretation of Italian recipes. Since the chef was German, the interpretation was far from true Italian cuisine. The seafood was “fishy” tasting and sauces were offered on all meats, mostly to disguise poor flavor. Additionally the included wine selection was extremely poor and mostly 2018 red wines. We have cruised many different cruise lines and can honestly say from what we have been told Regent did not perform up to normal standards The specialty restaurants had inferior quality meat supplies. Very disappointing! The staff made the only redeeming difference in what otherwise was a very dismal Cruise We would not recommend Regent to anyone. Read Less

We have been with Regent over 100 nights. In general we were treated like children and pushed around for tours, dining, the Mariner is poorly run in general. The management doesn't care and is openly hostile. This is the culture on this ship now and has never been the culture in the past. Our cruise was tremendously expensive and we did not have the advertised 6****** experience. Trouble on board this ship, BEWARE before you spend your hard earned $$$$. The gym and spas are dirty, hot and not ventilated!!!! The spa hounds you to buy packages when you cannot use them and the spa is very expensive. The spa is very small on this ship and has one bathroom. During our stay the spa bathroom was filthy. Service at the pool is dicy, sporadic and inconsistent. We are tired of having to flag down the help to get a drink, etc. Read Less

Buenos Aries to Rio de Janeiro 10 night cruise. We arrived 2 days before departure to explore Buenos Aries. The ship put us up at the Alvear Palace Hotel. Wow! What a spectacular hotel. Highly recommend it. We booked a walking tour guide through the hotel. Great way to see part of the city and hear the interesting history. The cemetery "village" is a must. If you enjoy steak and a hip evening scene, book dinner at Parrilla Don Julio's. Short taxi ride from the hotel in an adorable neighborhood with lots of small shops and a ton of night life. They serve champagne while waiting for tables. We had a lovely time on the Mariner. While it isn't nearly has luxurious as the Explorer, it's still a luxury liner. Other than the bathroom and closet space being quite small compared to the Explorer, it was basically the same Concierge cabin and amenities. The staff for the most part were awesome. Very professional, friendly and attentive. The downsides were some of the excursions and the mediocre onboard entertainment and food choices. There was no cultural aspects to the entertainment or the food on board. When we travel, we like to experience that. The food in the Compass Rose dinning room was fine but not all that interesting. The Italian restaurant (loved loved loved the appetizer bar) and Prime 7 steakhouse offered more interesting food so we ate there most nights. The first few excursions were a let down, but they did get better. The Montevideo Old Town walking tour was listed as strenuous but was anything but that. We were on a bus most of the time and the little walking we did was to a very small shopping mall where we did have delicious churros. The Juanico Winery excursion is a not to miss in Montevideo. Next stop - Punta del Este, Uruguay - excursions were good and interesting. I did the bike tour and my husband id the Sea Wolves Island tour. We enjoyed both. The biking group included a range of abilities. The guide let us more experienced riders bike ahead at our pace which was great. In the afternoon, we walked from the pier to one of the beautiful beaches in town to experience the scene. Worth the walk. Rio Grande, Brazil - a required passport stop. We signed up for afternoon walking tour but the folks who went in the morning came back to the ship with awful reviews so we bagged it. Guess there isn't anything to see here. It's just a big ugly port. Porto Belo, Brazil - The cable car excursion is lovely. The walk through the "rain forest" (a park with pictures of animals and birds) wasn't but it goes with the cable car ride to the top so a necessary piece. We also spent time on our own walking to the beach. Santos, Brazil - a large city and a long ride from the pier. We did the Best of Santos and Guarja excursion. The "largest aquarium" is quite small and for kids. Not worth the stop. Lunch together was a real treat, as was the excursion to the beach. Wish we had had more time there. Some shopped. We walked the beach. What a fun scene. Parati, Brazil - Now we're talking. This is a gorgeously preserved Portuguese colonial an Brazilian Imperial town, dotted with tropical islands. The historic area right off the pier is traffic-free, cobblestone-paved streets with horse drawn carts everywhere. The small buildings have brightly painted doors decorating the historic buildings. Definitely not to miss. We walked around on our own for a few hours then did a short historic walking tour with a guide then an afternoon 4-Wheel/Land Rover drive into the rain forest through the country, to waterfalls and a rum distillery. One of the best excursions of the trip. Ilha Grande, Brazil - We did a morning Schooner/snorkeling trip. It is a beautiful sail around the coast. The swimming was a treat but not really a snorkeling excursion. Yes there are fish but no reef so not what we are used to when snorkeling and all the boats came to the same cover so it was very crowded. I'd still recommend this excursion for the sail. In the afternoon, we walked to a beautiful beach in the bay and ate on the beach at Lua Mar (recommended to us by the our local schooner captain) - fabulous. Have the seafood stew. It's amazing. Buzios, Brazil - Absolutely beautiful beach town, popular spot for the Rio de Janeiro crowd. In the morning, we walked on our own out to a beautiful cove beach past the white church on the hill with the statute of Mother Teresa. You can walk or take a cute little water taxi over. We walked but the water taxis looked like fund. We were supposed to take another schooner ride around the coast in the afternoon but ended up staying at the beach all day. On our walk back to the pier, we stopped for drinks and Accai and the Bardot restaurant right on the water overlooking bay dotted with sail bots. A perfect end to a fun beach day. Rio de Janiero, Brazil - disembark ship in the morning. Ship transfer to our hotel - JW Marriott right on Copacabana Beach! Book through the ship so you are guaranteed a room overlooking the beach. Rooms weren't ready when we arrived so they put us in a conference room. We checked our luggage and headed out to walk the beach. This is the largest and beautiful beach. Not too too crowded when we were there. Lots to see and do. And they serve food and Caipirinhas on the beach!! We returned to the hotel in the afternoon, moved our luggage into our room and left for city tour, which we booked through the hotel. The trip to Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Corcovado/Christ the Redeemer are not to miss. the next day we explored on our own walking from our hotel over to Ipanema beach and shopping. A fun day trip. Seemed much quieter on Ipanema than Copacabana beach so glad we stayed at Copacabana. Read Less

I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise in South America. The food was excellent and there were an abundance of choices on the dining menus. The service was excellent and I ate all meals in the dining room, except two times. The ship had various special nights in the buffet and there were nice with a great quality selection of seafood. I especially liked the caviar breakfast. The enrichment lecturers were excellent. There was a destinations series that was very informative and included a bridge commentary. There was also a unique series by Peter LaSorsa on how to travel safely. I found the many tips to be outstanding and informative. I wish the ship would produce a paper on all of the tips so I could take them with me. I am glad Regent is thinking outside the box and getting these types of quality unique lectures. The ports were to be expected in South America and most were disappointed that we were not able to tender in the Falklands, but I am told that happens often. Overall, I had a great cruise and would recommend. Read Less

Went to join the ship at Lima Peru, taking a taxi to the port, we were told that we would have to wait for 2 hours outside the port area as there was no terminal, so we were at the side of the road in a very unpleasant dock area, we were joined by others who were shocked at our treatment, a disabled lady who couldn't stand got a chair from a good samaritan dock worker. Eventually after an hour of standing or sitting in the roadside the chief concierge managed to get us on board. Entertainment , apart from the guest lecturer was mediocre, 5 musicians are a quintet not an orchestra, a lot of one man shows, and film shows, the "main attraction " shows were repeats of ones I had seen on this ship before, last 8 months ago, best show was Krew Kapers, the crew put everything into it. Food , Seti Mari is not like any Italian restaurant I have been into, and I am married to an Italian, born and bred, Prime Seven restaurant,had a lot of food of inferior quality, steaks were part cooked for speed , then heated up , which dried them out. Not 6 star. Chatreuse restaurant, has nothing french going for it, I lived in France for 7 years, and a french chef would turn all the food here down. Compass Rose( main restaurant) was the best bet, but food was drowned in sauces, Fresh fish is best done simply, not miso glazed or smothered in sauce, and a beef wellington should have a crispy pastry cover , not a micro waved soggy one. Baked Alaska should have a hot exterior with cold ice cream inside, not all frozen. Apart from Coffee Connection, where all the officers drank their coffee, including the Captain, coffee on the ship was dreadful , machine made slop. One morning , they had fresh berries on the menu, which I ordered, the raspberries came covered in a green mold , I was told they couldn't store them, so why advertise and serve them, not a six star cruise. On board ship for 31 nights, and never once had a pool deck party/ barbecue, missed going to Falkland Islands , because of heavy seas, asenior officer said he had been here 5 times and never was able to land, we spent an extra day at sea with no alternative option. Saying all this the crew were the best ever and deserve high praise. Read Less

We booked this cruise very late due to domestic circumstances and got a good deal as a consequence. The down side however was the available business class flights were limited. Our agent booked our outbound flight to Lima via Miami with a 2 hour 5 mins connection time and we thought this would be OK. Then we discovered that we would have to go through US immigration and possibly even collect our bags and go through customs. We asked BA in the UK and American Airlines who both confirmed this so I researched airport maps to ensure we didn’t get lost in Miami airport. We managed to check our bags all the way through at Heathrow and got a second set of boarding passes for the next flight to save having to go to the desk in Miami. Fortunately these boarding passes were marked with TSA Precheck. TSA is essential for a connection in the USA or there is no chance of making it in under 3.5hrs as the general queue for security was enormous. The TSA queue wasn’t small either. The flight into Miami was 30 mins early which saved us. In the end we didn’t need to collect bags or go through customs but did need to go through immigration and security. In the baggage hall we were directed back out land side without going through customs and then headed for the relevant TSA security area. After our overnight stay in the airport hotel in Lima (which was ok for one night with a great location and good breakfast) the taxi dropped us off at the Pier gate where we had to wait for a shuttle bus to take us to the ship. The taxi driver stressed where he would drop us was safe which worried us slightly. Some others for the ship arrived at the same place but we were literally dropped on the footpath. There were no facilities not even seats or a shelter. One woman who was ill had to sit in a car belonging to a baggage helper. Fortunately, there were around 8 armed police on hand to look after us but not an ideal boarding situation. A coach eventually arrived and took us to ship where they had a van with an X-ray machine in the back to check the luggage. Quite shambolic. Easily the worst port we have ever boarded a ship. Our cat F suite was nice and although smaller than some other ships we have been on was OK. It was certainly tight for storage space for a 3 week cruise where both warm and cold weather clothing had to be packed. The bathroom let it down somewhat as it is small and dated with a yellow/orange marble finish. Our suite had a bathtub but it is really only ¾ size. We had cracked wall tiles and a degrading mirror and a shower curtain looked to have replaced the original screen. The air-con in the cabin was very variable and in warmer areas couldn’t cool the room sufficiently. There were problems with toilets on our deck several times. Our bathroom was flooded when we returned from breakfast one morning as the clean water kept running in but our stewardess was already on it and had the engineer on the job. A cabin 3 doors up was not so lucky and the occupants had to be relocated and a de-humidifier ran inside and outside the cabin for several days. Our bathroom vents were not working so the bathroom became very hot and steamy. We asked the stewardess to report this for us and when we came back from a tour the vent tops were lying on the floor and in the bath. We had to chase them up to get the job completed. Why do half a job when they were back in use in about 15 mins when the technician arrived? I do wish the CEO had spent more money on the bottom end cabins and less on art works. My granddaughter who is almost 2 years old could produce some paintings for a fraction of the cost. The horizon lounge also looks a bit tatty especially the seats. I don’t think it has had any work done on it during the refurbishments. The food was generally good with lots of choice. One exception to this was the vegetables at dinner time. It seemed impossible to have good quality vegetables at dinner (especially green vegetables) that hadn’t been overcooked or looked as though they should have been discarded. At lunchtime they seemed to be OK on the buffet. Brussel sprouts, green beans, asparagus .. Forget it!! We never saw the chef in the restaurant to complain. The pancakes and waffles were also poor. They had little taste and were quite doughy so we gave up after a couple of tries. The staff were great as usual and many got to know us by name quickly. Strangely we hardly recognised any of the staff from previous cruises. Special mention to our cabin Stewardess Geraldine who was great. A few could have done with a bit more training. One bar waitress said they had run out of brandy glasses so brought a cognac in a plain glass and tipped into my old glass at the table! Scraping left over food off plates onto one plate at the table isn’t the best either. The officers did speak in passing but made no great effort to hold a conversation. I think we saw the captain possibly 4 times and his second in command twice. We saw the general manager more often but mainly on the stairs! It took us a few days to find some complementary wine which we liked, particularly white. Villa Maria (NZ Sauvignon Blanc) was available on boarding but not at dinner or lunch next day. It was restocked on day 8. We did find some nice Malbec and Bordeaux. The laundry lost some of our socks so we resorted to hand washing them as we couldn’t afford to lose any more. They sent us two pairs of socks they thought were ours next day but they weren’t so someone else lost socks as well. They also managed to shrink some of my T shirts so beware. You can’t take food ashore in Chile so think about the length of your excursions. You have to complete a customs declaration and carry it with you and your bags are x-rayed and searched and they use sniffer dogs. Most ports we visited on this cruise are commercial ports so you need to take a shuttle bus to the port gate. Some ports allowed tour buses to the ship and others mainly in Chile did not. Punte Del Este took the prize for the longest tender at 20 mins. Watch out for excursion time changes in the passages at night. Yes, I know most people don’t read them after a long day and a good evening in the restaurant and bar but you may miss your excursion or worse. E.g. we were supposed to leave Punta Del Este at 22.00 but that was changed to tenders at 17.30 and departure at 18.00 The Vero Water bottles in the room are glass so really heavy when full and almost impossible to pour without spillage. Single use water bottles were still available when going ashore. On several occasions (especially cold and windy sea days) La Veranda was so overcrowded they had to bring the tables in from outside and set them down the corridor. Not a pleasant place to sit with all the passenger and crew traffic passing by. This was surprising as we were told that there were only 600 passengers on board. The Glenfiddich supplied in the cabin and in the bar is a cheap version (like Seabourn) and not like you have tasted before. It says single malt on the bottle but tastes like a blended whisky and needs a mixer. The store ran out of this too after 2 weeks so it was replaced by a bottle of Glenmorange which was also in an unusual bottle? This was slightly better but again not the usual stuff I would buy in the UK. The Guest lecturer gave a good commentary and lectures highlighting the points of interest on our cruise. We missed the live commentary on the sail through a fiord in the observation lounge one day as we were late entering the fiord and trivia was taking place!! Obviously, we have different priorities to some of the passengers and the cruise Director? We were disappointed we couldn’t go ashore in Stanley. We arrived around 06.00 and waited for about an hour then set off around 07.00. The captain didn’t even hang about to see if the weather would improve. Presumably he based his decision on the weather forecast but we all know weather forecasts can be wrong and often are. Most people would have settled for a short trip ashore later in the day if it became possible but the captain didn’t even give it a chance. Interestingly when we missed a port with Seabourn due to the weather we received a credit for unused port charges in our onboard account but Regent don’t seem to do this? Just a note to reception. The sticky labels you apply to our passports are difficult to remove and leave a sticky residue. Most airports have now been persuaded not to stick baggage labels on passports anymore and stick them to boarding passes. Maybe you need a better system or label? At a guess the average age of passengers on this cruise was mid 70s possibly because of the itinerary. This changed the feel of the cruise somewhat. Look out for the high speed mobility scooters too. This was our 7th cruise on Regent and our 4th on Mariner but somehow the overall sparkle was missing. Is it because the best staff have been moved to Explorer or in readiness for Splendour? There was no galley tour possibly because 4 cases of upset stomach had been reported and we had a code red level 1 for a time. This seemed to be swiftly dealt with however with extra cleaning and an emphasis on hand washing. Some people still walked into the restaurant without using the sanitiser and this could have been tightened up. There was no bridge visit. The dress code was largely ignored. We only once saw someone wearing jeans in the bar being asked to go and change. I decided not to take my DJ this trip mainly because we had to take warm clothes and I am glad I didn’t. Next trip I will probably shed my suit and ties too. There was a lack of entertainment for the 4 days at sea we had following our unsuccessful trip to the Falkland Islands. The Assistant cruise director did an extra show the day we should have docked at Stanley which was good but nothing else was laid on. We seemed to rely on trivia and games with the entertainment team which is not to everyone’s taste. So, would I cruise with Regent again – probably as I think the food is better and I like the included excursions. Would I sail on Mariner again – probably but only for shorter cruises in warmer climates. As usual itinerary and price will dictate the cruise. Read Less

We just got home after an incredible 10 days in the Caribbean. We really enjoy the port intensive experience, with 7 of the 10 days in port. The downside is that the sea days are perfect also and we would have savored more time enjoying those wonderful sea days. The service and crew were incredible. The hostesses in all the venues, the waitstaff without exception and the bar servers were so good that it's ridiculous. The servers at the pool were always there to get you anything you could think of. Wine glasses in the restaurants were always topped off. The meals were served elegantly, no rushing, no running, no tossing silverware on the table between courses. If you need to eat in 30 minutes, this is not the ship for you. If you like to dine, enjoy your tablemates or your spouse, you will have a lovely meal with plenty of time at the end to dance, get to the show and get a seat with no problem or do whatever moves you. On the few occasions where we wanted a table for two and none were available, we simply walked a few yards to a lovely bar, enjoyed a perfectly constructed cocktail and when our table was ready an elegantly dressed host or hostess approached us, greeted us by name and escorted us to our table. Perfect in every way. By the way, the food was very good to outstanding. We never had anything that was just OK. The suite was well maintained, kept spotless by our steward and his assistant. They kept the mini bar stocked and fresh fruit was always on hand. By way of full disclosure, when we checked into our cabin on our last trip on the Mariner one of the vents sounded like a jet engine, very unpleasant. When the steward stopped by to introduce himself I pointed out the noise and asked him to try to handle it. We went to lunch, took a walk around the pool and had a beer. When we got back the problem was resolved. Just that quick. The public spaces were always clean and the restrooms always looked like someone had just refreshed them. The excursions were above average in my experience and the logistics were handled very well. Given the small passenger count we expected this to be the case and were not disappointed. The entertainment was excellent. The sets and costumes were simple, not as extravagant as say Princess, but the singers and dancers were the best we've seen on any size ship. With some major cruise lines (ie. HAL) cutting back hard on production type shows its incredible to see this kind of talent and staging on such a small ship. The orchestra did double duty most nights and followed or preceeded the shows with a dance or genre set. The also had a great, energetic and talented duo on board that played every night, did requests and kept us dancing. One topic that's harder to quantify is the quality of the passengers themselves. We met so many wonderful people on this cruise. Days spent with people on excursions or on the ship that were having a great time and not spending every minute trying to find fault was a delightful change of pace for us after traveling other brands. It was great leaving the cabin in the evening and seeing everyone comply with the simple elegant casual rule. Everyone looked great and dining was so much nicer. I wish some of the premium lines would compel passengers to adhere to the stated rules. If you need to wear cutoffs, ball caps, t shirts, etc. at night that's absolutely OK. Choose a ship that allows or encourages it. To my fellow travelers and reviewers that had problems on with their cabin, food or service I can only say that you had some very bad luck because we've been on the Mariner twice and they exceeded every expectation. Read Less

We have been on over 20 cruises on various lines. We took this because it was the next level up and we wanted to compare it to Oceania. One passenger describe it best when he said about the crew, they are very friending and smile but the just don't understand what you are asking for. Alcohol is included in the price but if you don't drink, the staff does not know what to do with you. I never had a meal where I did not have to ask (seriously) at least 3 times per meal to have my water glass refilled. Everyday either first hand or watching others, orders (both drink and meal) were wrong or delivered to the wrong table. At least 3 times my order was delivered to someone else and I would not have gotten my order if I did not see this. In the dinning room we noticed that about 70% of the activity was around serving boos and not food. The meals were top notch. The everyday menu was excellent as a back-up if you did not like the daily choices. Chartreuse, the French restaurant was poor at best. Everyone we spoke to was very disappointed. One person was trying to be polite and when I said "it sucked", he said, "well.... yeah". The rooms were very roomy, that cabin crew nice but not as quick as we would expect. If we were gone for 2 or more hours in the morning, we did expect our room to be made up when we came back which did not happen about 1/3 of the time. Shore excursions are included in the price but you need to know that you have to book them within the first 5 minutes of them opening if you want to get a popular one. The excursions themselves were okay but because our itinerary was changed from Cuba to the Caribbean, I can understand that they were not excellent. The programs were some games and only had 2 enrichment seminars per day while at sea. For this group, more of that would have been appropriate. We are active people and there was not much to learn about of be active while at sea. Read Less

Regent sells this cruise as luxury, which is deceptive. Most of their ships are old which in this case is the Mariner, which is in disrepair [the Navigator which I sailed on is worse the ac could not be fixed and staterooms in aft bounced from the engine room.] The stateroom was not ready for use. The ac temperature was 74 and there was slow airflow. After four calls throughout the day and being ignored I threatened to call the General Manager and two men showed up to fix it. The shower had low pressure and a new shower head had to be replaced. Basically, I am restoring the stateroom for the cruise line. The bathtub was very high and narrow. Although we were there was no accident because we were careful and physically in good shape, I’m sure there are many accidents. I do not know how in good faith Regent can allow this dangerous situation to continue. The ship’s waste-processing system leaked toxic gas into my stateroom, throughout the ship and even along dockside at different times. Try breathing this all weak with no fix. The toilet stopped working because the entire line had to be repaired. The quality of the food was on the cheap end. For example, I ordered a rib eye, which I could make shoes out of which were not even supermarket quality. The fruit was not ripe, lower end quality, as you know fruit is rated. The service is slow and disorganized because Regent hire third world labor whose forte is not serving. The dining room manager was obnoxious. The dining attire stated nothing about sandals. However, He singles me out in a non-discrete manner in the middle of the dining room for all to hear “ sandals are not allowed!” I pointed to male guest already seated with sandals and asked what do you have to say to him….His response was no response. I asked him about the woman wearing sandals and he ignorantly responded, “this not discrimination!” Keep in mind he didn’t read stated rules on the menu, which I have already mentioned. Now we get to the pool deck. Although drinks are included there were no waiters on deck 12. There were three waiters on deck 11 by the pool. I spoke to the Beverage Manager who does not do his job and supervise and informed him. I sure the reader will not be surprised that the next day there were no waiters on deck 12 serving drinks and to make matters worse the pool deck manager allowed every towel area to run out of towels. I know this because I had to check every area looking for towels instead of relaxing. When I found him his explanation was, “there’s wind I can't put them out!” He could not explain why he did not put the towels in the boxes with lids [another incompetent.] It should be noted the main incompetent is the General Manager who hides in the back, is never visible, does speak to passengers passing by to get feedback. The buck ends with the CEO. The pyramid crumbles from the top and that’s who’s responsible for their brand. This cruise line is an overpriced, high-end rip-off. Just about any mid priced cruise line can do way better than this. Save your money or find a real luxury cruise line if it exists. Read Less

This was an Anniversary cruise for us and we were quite pleased with the overall experience (particularly no children on board). My wife's double-doctorate background concluded that, facetiously, Walt Disney must have been involved with Regent's personnel committee because she/we were so, so overwhelmed with the friendly, caring, positive and enthusiastic traits we experienced every single day of our cruise in our interactions with the crew and staff. Having read some of the previous food reviews on Cruise Critic, we felt we were on a different ship in that our meals were over-the-top good, both as to food quality & appearance and service. Period! They were very good gastronomic experiences. Our cabin was impressive as will be described below. Now, as to areas that could be improved, I'd need to start with the embarkation process in Miami where we were crowded into a holding pen area until magically they started calling groups to board the ship. No refreshments or other amenities were offered while waiting, some of whom were there for 2+ hours. A fairly common complaint I heard on board was the unreliability of the ship's Wi-Fi system. Another frustration was the lack of sports information on the TV system, i.e. ESPN. We're in the midst of the college and pro football seasons, and the World Series, and we were left in the dark. No one wants a sports bar, but ESPN would have been great. Finally, our port visit to Costa Maya was less than satisfying, but the other ports were well worth visiting. Please don't let these few negatives stand in your way. The many, many positives easily overwhelmed the negatives. Read Less

We have always wanted to cruise through the Panama Canal. After looking at lots of options (and no longer paying college tuition for our youngest!) we decided to take a splurge trip and booked the Regent Mariner. We are 61 and 66 years old and have cruised on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Princess. This was our first luxury cruise line. We were told to be prepared to be spoiled. Perhaps we heard that too often and set our sights a bit too high. It was a very nice cruise, but I would not say we were spoiled. (For reference, our last cruise was with Princess, in a Club Class mini-suite. That suite was a bit larger, and we felt the Club Class dining service was equal to, and in some cases, better than our experience on Regent. However, the food on Regent was superior!) I will say we were very spoiled by only 615 guests on the ship! The 2nd day we were wandering around on decks 5 & 6 and saw no one! This was middle of the afternoon! We were in a concierge cabin, so the night before the cruise we were in the Regent hotel- the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills! The hotel was amazing. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet and met some folks that morning that we regularly saw throughout the cruise. It was a great start to the cruise! Buses were very timely- our gathering time was listed as 11:30, the folks giving us the slip said come between 11 and 11:15 - she was right - the bus was leaving the hotel at 11:30! Once we arrived at the port there were quite a few people ahead of us - we waited around 30-45 minutes for our group to be called to check in. There was a nice waiting area with comfortable chairs. (Would have been nice to have coffee / water service.) There is an Illy coffee maker in each room- only problem, we could not figure out how to turn it on! The on/off switch is in back, next to the cord - very difficult to find, a neighbor told us where it was! Our refrigerator was stocked with various sodas and 2 types of beer. There was also a bottle of champagne, on ice, waiting for us when we arrived. A small bowl was kept filled with various fruit. We popped the champagne on "Block Party" night and then another bottle showed up! I had the stewardess remove it as I knew we were not going to drink it. We had 15 minutes of ship to shore time included with our room. I had to ask as to how to use it. (dial 50, wait for the dial tone, then 1, and for US calls the area code and number) I checked our account on the tv the next day and saw that we were billed for the time (I think it is at $7 or so per minutes - and we had gone just over the 15 minutes- so it was a lot!) I asked at Reception, and they had it removed. Since this was an included perk, I felt that it should have been taken care of without me having to ask to have it fixed. Be prepared for hot and VERY humid if you decide to take this itinerary. We had heavy rain in one port, and rain a few other times, mainly at night. The lightening shows at night were fantastic! There were beginner Bridge lessons offered. We have zero experience and went to the classes. We definitely learned a lot and enjoyed the folks we met through the classes. There were just 4 of us for most of the classes! We went to only a couple of the shows. I would highly recommend the Krew Kapers - ours was at 5:30 the 2nd to last night. There was also a magician / comedian that did 2 shows, we enjoyed both! Ports were Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Acajutla (El Salvador), San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua), Puntarenas (Costa Rica), Cartagena (Columbia) and then disembark in Miami. We took all Regent excursions, booking 2 extra charge excursions. In Ensenada we took the "Taste of Mexico" excursion. We boarded a bus drove out of the port and around the nearby area, with the guide pointing out different buildings (including the new aquarium that has been under construction for 4 years - she said hopefully it will be open the next time you visit!), we also stopped at the large square where she pointed out different statues and told us a bit about the country's history. We then stopped at an Opal store. The owner talked a bit about Mexican Opals- 10% of Opals are from Mexico. We went through the store and into what is probably normally a bar. Tables were set up with 8 people per table. A chef was there to lead the class. He talked about a number of different chilis, their hotness and what they were used for. Also passed them around for everyone to smell. We then "made" our own guacamole, green chicken enchilada, and beef tostada. All of the ingredients were prepared for us, a little chopping for the guacamole, stirring and assembling was all that was needed. Margaritas were for sale - $4 each (large glass) or unlimited for $20. Sodas were included. After we were finished there, we boarded the bus and they took us to a shopping area where we had 20 minutes to shop. I would recommend this excursion - just a little amount of walking, some history, and tasty food. We were able to list our email addresses, and they sent us the recipes from the day. Next stop was Cabo San Lucas. We took the "Salsa and Salsa" excursion. The location was very close- but the bused us up the hill (very nice in the heat!). We made 6 different salsas, all the while free margaritas were being poured. Also made 1 margarita at our tables. Then had a short Salsa dance lesson. The salsa making went a little long - but the entire excursion was fun, and tasty! In Acapulco we did the "Nature encounter hike and swiim" - first stop was to see the cliff divers - very impressive. Then off to board a glass bottom boat to go over to a nearby island to hike to the top. Nothing to be seen under the boat- we spotted 2 fish. They offer hiking sticks when you get off the boat (our boat was called the Titanic!). The hike is a good one- well deserving of the "3 people" Regent gives it! Pretty steep in parts, a bit slick on some moss and leaves. We were sweating and out of breath in parts. The view from the top of Acapulco Bay is very nice. Break up top, then back down to our boat and then to a hotel for lunch and a swim in their pool. The water was VERY refreshing! El Salvador was the next port. Acajutla was extremely welcoming to us. They are just starting to see cruise ships, and this was Regent's first time in this port. The bus we were put on for our "Buggies and Thermal Waters" excursion (extra charge) was small. Two seats on one side, one seat on the other and a fold down jump seat. The drive was quite long. We went first to the thermal waters- saw them bubbling out of the ground, and then a few more minutes to the location for lunch and a swim. The "pools" were nothing like the pictures Regent was showing on the cabin tvs. These were actual swimming pools right next to where we ate lunch. The water was milky looking. Only a few people went in the water - one pool was very hot, the others were various temperatures. This "resort" I guess you would call it is nothing like any of us expected. They are just starting to build the area up for tourists. It started sprinkling and then raining, then REALLY raining. At that point my husband and I decided that we were going to skip the buggies- we knew that they were on dirt roads, and with that much rain, it was going to be a mess and dangerous. About this time, the guide announced that the buggies were being cancelled for safety reasons. The other bus had gone to the buggies first - they came back drenched. We were glad to get into our small bus and start the 1 1/2 hour ride back to the ship. I would not do this tour again, nor go to this port again. San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua had to be cancelled due to high winds and a large swell. This was a tender port and not safe for us to do so. Puntarenas, Costa Rica was our favorite port. We did the "Aerial tram and river cruise" excursion (extra charge). Great excursion! Our guide was very good, giving us lots of information about her country. We went on the river cruise first, seeing lots of crocodiles, many species of birds, and iguanas. Then we were off to the denser rain forest for our tram ride. We were split into groups of 8 plus a guide for the approximately 1 hour tram ride. We did not see much wildlife - but enjoyed the scenic rain forest and all our guide had to say. Lunch was next and then back to the ship. I would definitely recommend this excursion! Finally made it to the Panama Canal! WOW! We wandered all over the ship, front, back, down to deck 5 to watch through the windows as he ship rose up in the canal. Definitely the highlight of the trip! Cartagena, Columbia was the final stop. We did not get off the ship as I had a terrible sore throat. Pretty sure the difference between outside high heat and humidity and the inside a/c had something to do with it. We had brought cough / cold medications with us, they were put to use. At breakfast that morning, I asked the waiter if they might have any lemon / ginger tea - he said they might, but, he would make me some fresh lemon and ginger tea. This was one point where I felt spoiled by Regent! I was very grateful to this gentleman! Dinners - we had reservations in Chartreuse the first night and Prime 7 the second night. We were able to get one more reservation in Chartreuse later in the cruise, at a 4 top, sharing with a couple we had not met. Other dinners were spent in Compass Rose, Pool Grill and Setti Mari. I had scallops a number of times - all cooked perfectly; my favorite was in Chartreuse! The often talked about Carmel corn Sundae in Prime 7 is definitely an interesting looking dessert; I preferred the carmel corn and left most of the ice cream! (I asked the waiter if just the carmel corn could be ordered- he said sure!) Lunch - lots of options - pool grill and La Veranda were our regulars; we ate lunch once in Compass Rose. Breakfast - our go to was Compass Rose. We highly recommend the "Frozen Blueberry and Banana Bowl" - a scoop of frozen pureed blueberries sitting on top of small cubes of various fruit (including bananas) and sliced almonds on top. Also of note, we ordered eggs Benedict twice, even though they were not on the menu. We had room service twice for breakfast on early excursion mornings. There are 1/2 hour delivery windows- they delivered quite close to the start of the window. Another quick option in in the Coffee Connection - cereals, toaster with various breads, fruit, yogurts; easy way to grab something quick. All in all, this cruise was a bit long for our taste - we feel that a port or 2 could have been skipped, decrease the length of the cruise by 2 days (and decrease the price!). It was expensive, about $1,000 per day for both of us. We met some very nice people on this cruise. We also came upon some snobby people that wanted to make sure everyone knew they had 200+ nights on Regent. Overall the crew was a bit too formal for us (always being called "madam" was a bit too much for me). We did have some nice conversations with some of the crew. For some reason, we were invited to dine with ships' officers two different times; once with the General Manager and again with the Head Concierge! Will we travel on Regent again in the future, maybe. Will depend on the itinerary and if we feel it would be best with a smaller ship / less passengers. We definitely liked that part of this cruise a lot! Read Less

We sailed on the Mariner twice in Alaska. I must admit I am a cruise writer and went on her to write a review. She was my sixth RSSC cruise and I've loved them all. Why? Because Regent has style. It's chic, but not pretentious. The dress code is comfortable chic and easy to abide by. Most of the food is exceptional. We always have found the service tops. Sure there hasn't been a lot of night time shows, but they are adding some. Doesn't bother us as we rarely go to ship shows. Having done hundreds of cruises we realize that the entertainment is often sub par. There are exceptions. But hey, we're transplanted New Yorkers and used to top performances on Broadway,etc. Whenever we sail on RSSC we don't want to get off and that's saying a lot. I never cared for the Canyon Ranch Spa and was happy to learn they've replace it with a Serene Wellness Spa. But I do use the steam bath and fitness center often. I love the all-inclusive fare which is really what it says, too. The free wines however could be improved upon they are fairly inexpensive labels. Read Less

Here's how we would (and do) compare Regent to Oceania. The ship was lovely, our cabin was spacious, and the walk-in closet was more than sufficient. In addition, the service was very good, albeit not quite up to what we have come to expect on Oceania. The showroom and shows were every bit as good as Oceania. The entertainment director, Andy, was the best we have ever had and we met some really nice couples, whom we hope to hear from in the not too distant future. Now, the reason we will not go back to Regent any time soon. The food was inconsistent, ranging from usually just OK to downright it had to be sent back, and even after that, the replacement was only 50% good, starting with two lamb chops ordered medium-rare. one of us had overly salted meals, mostly in the main dining room, one of which was almost inedible, but she did not send it back because she was eating very little. She found other meals too salty, as well. Finally, in our favorite restaurant, the Italian, where we did not need reservations and where we ate 4 times, the 4th time the meal surprisingly was almost incredibly over-cooked. It seems the only restaurant of the four (including the main dining room) that could cook meat as ordered was Prime 7, the steak restaurant. Read Less

I have read recent reviews of cruises on the Mariner that cast doubt on the exceptionable quality of the cruise experience on this ship. In part, my motivation for writing this review is to balance what has been written by some others (and to reinforce the positive reviews of the Mariner Alaska cruises that also appear in CruiseCritic). I travelled with my two adult daughters for a 7 day Alaska cruise on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner. We spent several days on our own in Anchorage prior to the cruise, travelling on day trips with a rented car. The night before the cruise we stayed at the Anchorage Hilton (which we enjoyed somewhat less than our stay at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa) in a free, pre-cruise package, followed by a bus transfer to the port in Seward on the day of the cruise. The embarkation was extremely quick and simple, taking no more than about 5 minutes. The cruise experience of all three of us on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner was extraordinary. The staff was uniformly outstanding (more details about this later) and very friendly, from the captain to the dining staff and the room cleaners. The food was, in general, excellent, and great efforts were made to adapt the menu to the special needs of one of my daughters, who is lactose intolerant and does not eat meat (more about this in the next paragraph). We enjoyed almost all of the shore excursions, although some were much better than others. We chose not to go to most of the entertainment shows (usually because we ate dinner relatively late, so I have no comments to offer on them). When I reserved the cruise, I informed our Regent Cruise Consultant (through whom I purchased the cruise), that one of my daughters is lactose intolerant and does not eat meat. Shortly after our arrival on board the Mariner, we met with the Douglas, the officer in charge of dining on the ship. He told us that every evening we would receive menus for the next day at all of the Mariner's restaurants and that we would be able to make modifications to suit my daughter's food needs. The first two days we made requests to make modifications in various dishes that were on the menu -- and to add a non-dairy prepared dessert. We also asked our butler to arrange with the restaurants that my daughter receive a special order of non-dairy pancakes at breakfast. Everything was prepared as we requested. Then we decided to be more pro-active with everything on the menu. What followed was extraordinary. We would request salads, main courses and desserts that did not appear on the menu, but whose ingredients either appeared somewhere on one of the restaurant's menus or which we knew were available. Essentially, we prepared unique dishes that my daughter thought she would enjoy, and the kitchen staff prepared those dishes especially for her. In addition, at every meal they would prepare a special cake or pie for her dessert and, on the last night of the cruise she received a fresh cherry pie that was the tastiest dessert that I sampled on the entire cruise. I can't emphasize enough the contribution to our enjoyment of the cruise that was made by such outstanding and individual treatment (which also was tasty); it transformed one of my daughter's and my concerns about the cruise into an enjoyable and sometimes even exciting (culinary) experience. I also would like to single out the warm and friendly atmosphere in interactions with the ship's crew. We had several opportunities to speak briefly with the captain, who was always willing to spend a minute or two to talk with us. Our butler, Arnel, was extraordinarily helpful and went out of his way to resolve any issue or answer any question that we might have. The cleaning staff, including our steward Thirupathi, always greeted us with a smile and a warm welcome. The dining room staff was almost universally warm, attentive and helpful -- and, in addition to Douglas, I would like to single out the French Dining Room Officer Maria; both of my daughters and I enjoyed talking with her and we also were impressed by her ability to direct the staff under her supervision as well as to take responsibility on herself. The ship experience was in general very positive. The ship was clean and aesthetically pleasing. There were some problems with the 2 elevators on the other side of the ship from our room and this may have affected many passengers, but the 3 elevators on the forward side of the ship had no problems. A particular on-board experience that the three of us greatly enjoyed was the cruise along the Hubbard Glacier and the ability to bring the ship so close to the glacier, allowing us to clearly see and hear the sounds of the glacier's calving. Additional highlights for us were the shore excursions. In general, we enjoyed the excursions, although there were truly local experts who added tremendously to their guiding based on many years of experience, whereas other of the "local" guides were less familiar with the sights that they described, as they were summer staff that seemed to have undergone a quick orientation, but were lacking deeper knowledge of the surroundings. The two excursions that one or all of us enjoyed the most were the Tongass Rainforest Nature Hike (from Sitka), which had an excellent guide, and the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest (from Juneau). To sum up, on the basis of my cruise experience on this Alaska, Regent Seven Seas Cruise, I would definitely choose to sail again with Regent. Read Less

My travel agent booked this cruise for myself and my husband. I did not read any reviews on about this cruise or ship until after we had already booked the tour. As we trust our agent very much. However, after reading the reviews, I was quite upset and almost ready to cancel the getaway all together. I am very happy that we didn't cancel and went on this cruise. Although we read in many reviews that the food was mundane or just ok, we felt that it was great. We saw many people state how the ship was old, musty and rusted; however we did not see this. As to us it was very beautiful. We stayed in the Horizon Suites and couldn't have been more comfortable. The service on the ship was complete accommodating, organized and did everything they could for us to make sure we were happy. We were able to book all the excursions that we wanted with no issues, while some we were put on a waiting list, they still made sure we somehow were able to join the rest of the passengers in these adventures. Not everything was "perfect" as nothing always is. There were a few hiccups along the way but nothing to be upset about. Read Less

We have sailed on Regent's 'sister' line, Oceania Cruises, several times and have had excellent experiences, so when we were searching for a higher end cruise line to Alaska and found Regent and learned it was all-inclusive, we decided to give them a try. Overall it was a good experience but I would not rate the experience as highly as I have rated the Oceania cruises we have experienced. Ship: While the ship has been updated, the decor is lacking in appeal. The main carpet throughout the ship is dated in style though it looks new. The multi-story atrium wall across from the bank of elevators is a dark brown with some blown glass pieces that look dark and dreary. The artwork throughout the ship is contemporary but not to my taste Our cabin 732, a Veranda suite, was appealing with comfortable furnishings. The bathroom had marble and granite with a roomy shower -- no tub. Dining: Marina has two truly speciality restaurants. Prime 7 for steak and Chartreuse for French cusine. They turn the breakfast/lunch buffet restaurant, La Veranda, into Sette Mari for Italian themed cusine in the evening which was quite good so much so we went back a second time. The carbonara was very good. Prime 7 was excellent. We ordered a ribeye steak and Alaskan King Crab and made our own shared surf and turf. Both were excellent and we enjoyed this dinner tremendously. However, the people seated at the table next to us ordered lobster and we could overhear them complaining that it was overcooked and they were disappointed Chartreuse was our poorest most disappointing meal of the week. I ordered a tenderloin steak -- it was tough and not flavorful. The cheese souffle, which had to be ordered 20 minutes ahead of time, was ok -- not bad but not the best souffle I have had. Our first evening we dined in the main dining room, Compass Rose. I ordered the fish special of the evening which was pan fried red snapper. Something must have happened to my order as it took a long time and the waiter as well as maitre d came by to apologize for the wait and ensure me my meal would come soon. When the fish finally did arrive it was over cooked and dry. Other meals we had at Compass Rose were much better including our last evening on board during which I had a crusted baked salmon which was cooked perfectly and very tasty. We had breakfast each day at LaVeranda. I initially was impressed that their cooked to order egg station would take your order and table number and then deliver it to you. On Oceania, one of my main complaints for their similar breakfast station was that you placed your order and then had to stand with alot of other people waiting. Regent's ordering system was an improvement, with the exception of one morning where they must have lost my order and I waited and waited. My husband was finished with his breakfast and I was still waiting for mine. I had to ask wait staff a couple of times to check on my order. Lunches at the Pool Grill were all very good. In general, the wait staff throughout the restaurants are all very professional and eager to serve and please. Being all-inclusive, we enjoyed wine with every dinner and the somms kept our glasses full. The all inclusive for drinks and wine was one of the top experiences on Regent -- there was no waiting for a bill at the end of a meal or in one of the lounges. When we were finished we just got up and left. Entertainment and Activities: While I enjoyed several of the shows put on by the onboard singers and dancers, these were not to the taste of my husband. One evening was a country-themed show which he would not even go to so that evening we watched a movie in our cabin. Since the Mariner is a small ship there were not multiple concurrent choices for evening entertainment. The first night and a subsequent night they had a magician, Fred Becker with his wife/assistant who also sang. He put on a great show both nights they performed. He also did a workshop and taught a trick or two and answered questions which was interesting. On Oceania, there was a string quartet that played nightly. Regent did not have this. They had a duo with a guitar and a singer who were good but they were not in the Observation Lounge during the pre-dinner cocktail time. Playing at that time every evening was a pianist who played well but it was very much background music and not entertainment that you sought out. Our other issue with the entertainment was that shows do not start until 9:30 p.m. We were generally done with dinner by 8 or 8:30 p.m. which meant that we had time to kill before the show started. Moving up the show time to 9 p.m. would be a great help to how an evening flows for passengers. The shows were mostly sparsely attended with the theater on the main floor more than half empty and very few seats taken in the balcony. Moving up the time to start earlier I think would help draw a larger audience. Activities were few on board, although we did particpate a few days in trivia and my husband did the mensa quiz. The enrichment lectures on Alaska and wildlife were all interesting and well delivered. Cruise Director: The cruise director Andy was very outgoing. I saw and interacted with him and his wife, Tammy, who serves as social hostess, more than any other cruise director/team on any ship I have sailed on. Andy was at every show walking around and talking with people prior to the show. Tammy also was very friendly and talkative. They are excellent respresentives and ambassadors for the Regent brand. Ports and Shore Excursions: Another benefit of Regent is that we had many shore excursion options from which to choose that were included in the cruise fare. However, the best 'port 'was actually the afternoon we sailed into Disenchantment Bay and approached Hubbard Glacier, all while on the ship. We staked out a prime viewing spot earlier in the afternoon at the Observation Lounge which is forward on the top deck. The day we sailed in the weather was outstanding! The cruise director, the cruise enrichment lecturer, Eric Ball (who was excellent -- I attended all three of his talks) both said it was the best weather day all season for Hubbard Glacier. Being a smaller shiip, the captain was able to take us in extremly close to the glacier and we spent quite a bit of time 'hanging out' there. It was a festive, fun party atmosphere with all of the other passengers. Other shore excursions we took: In Sitka, we went two-person kayaking which was very scenic and enjoyable; hiking the Chilkoot Trail, although we had several older (in their 80s) passengers who clearly were not phycially fit enough to be on this excursion, which was rated a 3, the top difficulty rating. Consequently, we had to go very slow on the hike and continually had to keep waiting for them to catch up. I was concerned that one of them would fall going up or down the terrain. So this put a damper on this hike, although the trip ended with river raft ride along a river where we saw so many bald eagle I lost count. We also did a hike which was rated a 2 in difficulty that was a leisurely stroll through the Tongas National Forest with an extremely knowledgeable nature guide. The highlight of this excursion was that we were able to see lots of salmon swimming upstream. Another excursion was a 10-person canoeing trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. The canoeing ended up being more challenging than expected but it was very enjoyable and we got as close to the face of the glacier as we were allowed. We also went by Nugget Falls and were able to get out of the canoe and get some great photos in front of the falls. Overall: One of the reasons we were attracted to Regent originally was that the ship is a smaller ship -- under 700 passengers. However, this ended up in some respects being somewhat of a negative to the overall experience. Sometimes we were the only couple or perhaps one of two or three couples in the Observation Lounge or Horizon Lounge. Many areas of the ship were empty and 'boring'. The best times on board were when there were people filling the room and creating some buzz or excitement, such as when we approached Hubbard Glacier, and another late afternoon as we sailed the Inside Passage and people again gathered in the Observation Lounge to look for orcas and humpback whales, which we were delighted to see! The all-inclusive experience definitely has benefits. Passengers looking for a very quiet, small ship experience will be quite pleased with Regent. I would consider sailing with them again depending, of course, upon itinerary and pricing. However, for the overall experience, our next couples cruise will be back on Oceania. Read Less

Some friends our ours recommended this cruise after they had taken it and loved it. We booked it through the travel arm of a large retail enterprise, which was probably a mistake. Prior to the cruise, there were several communication glitches, but I don't know whether that was the fault of the travel "agent" or Regent. In the end, the glitches mostly worked out, but it was a frustrating start (example: took forever to get our flight information and then huge delay in the flights actually being booked, which made upgrades difficult). Then, when we arrived at the Anchorage airport, the transportation arrangements to our hotel (the Marriott) were chaotic. The young man who was supposed to be holding a "Regent" sign in the baggage claim area did not have a sign; we found him through the process of elimination, since the other cruise lines all had signs. Regent was taking guests to more than one hotel, and there was some disorganization surrounding getting appropriate bags onto the appropriate bus. Unfortunately, none of the people involved in the process inspired confidence, and were amused that any of us were worried about our bags that were nowhere in sight (turns out there was a third cart of luggage still inside the airport that was almost overlooked). Anyway, we and our bags got to the Marriott where we were not allowed to take our bags to our own rooms; the Marriott staff who brought them to our room entered without knocking, which of course is not appropriate, but apparently he thought none of us were in our rooms yet. Ah well, the bags arrived, and these were annoyances, not earth-shaking problems. It's just that is was surprising, given Regent's reputation. In the end, we enjoyed a very nice visit in Anchorage, with good food, some nice shops, and a visit to their very nice museum. The next day we took the two-hour plus bus ride to Seward to board, but we left much later than the time Regent had included in the materials they sent us, which was actually a good thing, again just surprising. It was a beautiful and pleasant and uneventful ride; our driver was personable and informative. The boarding process in Seward went smoothly and fairly rapidly, and we were happy to find our bags already in our room (a deluxe F suite on deck 8) when we arrived. Our room steward greeted us and was delightful. The distilled water I had requested for my husband's CPAP was not in the room and the steward clearly had not been informed of our request, but she very quickly retrieved some for us. What we missed, unfortunately, was a get-together that occurred promptly after boarding; it was on the printed materials left in our room, but we were focusing on getting somewhat settled in, changing clothes, etc., and had not yet read the materials, so we missed it. Live and learn, we won't make that mistake next time. As for the cruise itself: We were unbelievably lucky and had perfect weather the whole time. This minimized any negatives that occurred. We loved all of our excursions, which were all no-extra-fee. We loved Compass Rose and Prime 7; Chartreuse was disappointing in food, but the service was excellent (as it was for the most part in every restaurant). We mixed it up for many of our breakfasts and lunches - Pool Grill (excellent), La Veranda (also great), Compass Rose (became our favorite). We also liked the one dinner we had in Siete Mare. One of us attended the guest lectures, and was impressed. The other attended the wine tasting, which is basically an introduction to the wines they serve, and it was fun; the wines are not upper tier, but most were acceptable. We skipped the shopping presentations, because that was not important to us. We did not use the spa or the exercise facility. The casino was mostly dead every time we checked it out. As for the main theater shows, we were not impressed, but in fairness, we see many Broadway and Broadway-quality shows due to availability of extraordinary and top-notch entertainment where we live and where we travel. Kudos to the performers for giving it their all, but they need a little more support, direction and better material. However, we were very impressed with the pianists, the instrumental ensembles, and the duo (singer and guitar player) who performed in the bars and lounges; they were all excellent. And the final night show put on by the crew was delightful. For the most part, the staff was excellent and friendly, always a friendly greeting in passing, an offer to assist if it appeared necessary. We loved our room stewards, and they kept our cabin in great shape. There were occasional staff persons who were not very warm, but at least they were able to give accurate information. We thought the interior of the ship was really lovely, and we liked the art. It never felt crowded. We appreciated the laundry facilities, which we used several times. All of the seating in the restaurants, lounges, public areas was comfortable and almost always with adequate space. We had a few negative experiences that were puzzling. On our last night, we had a late reservation in Prime 7, so we went to the Observation Lounge to take in the beautiful view and have a drink before dinner. It was mostly empty, but we waited for over a half hour for someone/anyone to take our drink order; other people sitting nearby had the same experience. It was like we weren't there. I finally went up to the bar to order, and the bartender promptly prepared the drinks but seemed frustrated, so I have to guess there was some staffing issue that evening. They also had not cleared the tables the entire time we were there, so we and others eventually moved used glasses to other tables so that we had a somewhat clean place to put our drinks. That same lounge had seemed to have some trouble filling drinks orders a couple of days prior, which again appeared to be a staffing issue. When there are very few "customers", it's hard to understand why there would be very slow service or no service. The other negative experience was when we tried to contribute our remaining onboard credits to the Crew Welfare Fund. I asked at the reception desk who I should see to do that, and the gentleman working there told me it was not possible. So, we used the credits buying things we really did not need in the onboard boutiques. Later, someone else told me he was mistaken, that indeed we could have put our unused credits in the Crew Fund. So, while we would have been very happy to put a few hundred dollars toward the crews' benefit, his misinformation prevented it. Disembarkation went very smoothly. We placed our bags outside our cabin before 11pm, and they were waiting for us when we got off the ship. There was again some chaos in the terminal after we got off the ship, but the very friendly Canadians kept us smiling and eventually we were on the bus on our way to the airport. We have Global Entry, so the getting through U.S. Customs at the Vancouver airport was a breeze. We did not expect perfection, and overall we felt the experience was truly wonderful. But the few negatives did seem to be out of character for Regent's reputation. We will cruise with Regent again. Read Less

This is a terrific cruise line. The staff was a wonderful cruise. Every meal delicious; prepared and presented beautifuly. The suite was very well appointed and the room attendant took spotless care. The only disappointment was the lack of entertainment. It was very hard to find live musical entertainment early in the evening. It seemed all of the music was at off hour and you had to hunt to find it. This was a real missed opportunity. A combo with singer in the lounge a 5:00 would be lovely. They had an enrichment speaker but could have used another on another subject matter. The exercise facility was adequate and the spa was serviceable but not luxury. I had a massage in the spa and it was good and the spa prices were reasonable for a luxury line. Overall we had a wonderful cruise but we did miss nightly pre-dinner lounge entertainment. We also missed hearing music as we walked about the ship. Read Less

Recently completed a 7 day Alaske cruise on Regent's Seven Seas Mariner. My wife and I had planned this trip for several years and finally decided to travel this past July (2019). We chose Regent at the suggestion of our Agent. On receipt of their sales brochure we "poured" over the information and decided it was time to "treat" ourselves to a high end cruise. We purchase the cruise for $17,000.00 dollars for a balcony room on the 9th level. NOT A SUITE. We have cruised many times in the past with our children and our friends. We have booked on Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships with travel throughout the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. What sold us on the Regent cruise was the "promise" of a "top of the line" all inclusive experience. Boy were we disappointed. As I will enumerate below. 1) The embarkation process in Vancouver was rudimentary at best. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and recieved our documents in a timely fashion. After a very long walk with carry on luggage we boarded the ship to a glass of sparkling wine. 2). Our room was ready to occupy. It was clean with a bowl of "aging" fruit available for consumption. The small refridgerator was stocked with 4 cans of soda pop and one water. I asked the room attendant about wine and spirits availablity (which we thought would in the refridgerator) and was told that individual servings were available through "room service". Who wants to wait 45 minutes for a glass of wine? My wife odered a bottle of wine (California Chardonnay). 25 bucks at Costco and was charge $60.00 on the cruise. Premium Wine and Spirits were to be included onboard as part of the "package". At the lounges we were offerd mixed drinks....mostly of a lower quality range of spirits. You had to request "top shelf" spirits. I'm not a big drinker but for $17,000.00 bucks I would expect top quality. 3) We met our room steward ONCE during the cruise. Never once were we asked if anything additional was needed to improve our cruise experience....BY ANYBODY.... Our friends who stayed down the hall had money stolen from a wallet during the day, they spoke to Guest Relations and recieved an inadequate response. Lesson learned.... lock your stuff in the safe. 3). The ship was in "good condition" and the maintenence crew kept it clean. It was quite clear that the Cruise Ship Operators" poured a great deal of their resources to its upkeep. 4) The entertainment was ok. Some good, some not so good. The Cruise director "Andy" was slightly overbearing constantly trying to "shill" the products both on the ship and at each port. I overheard several guests stating that the shops at the ports paid for this service. If I want to buy something I really don't need a strangers input. 5) There were plenty of "shore excursions" available at no charge, but.....If you wanted to partcipate in "upscale" excursions there was a charge We purchased 4 days of excursions for 2 people at a additional cost of $1900.00. Getting near $20 grand now. 6) The FOOD. Very disappointed. We were ALLOWED to dine at the upscale restaraunt only once during our cruise. We were told at the main reservation desk on deck 5 to inquire daily about cancellations then were told there that we needed to go to the individual resaurants and inquire. How embarassing, that we receievd poor treatment from ALL the maitre d's at the specialty restaurants. We dined a Prime 7 and had a wonderful dinner the crab legs served were what you expect from Alaska. Other than that evening the food and the service was subpar in the main dining room. My wife order lobster one evening and got somthing that resembled several large shrimp. I had Dover sole and had to remove pinbones fron the filets. Being that we were on an Alaskan cruise I would assume that Shrimp, Salmon and Crab Legs would be highlighted. Not on this cruise. The shrimp cocktails contained shrimp that were meally/old and the crab legs when available in the main dining room were that of "Red Lobster" quality. 7) Disembarkation. Now here is where Regent gets 2 stars. Smooth transition. I thought that this process was the only thing that Regent did properly. Probably to get the passengers off the ship and get the next "goats" onboard. All in all, quite a disappointing experience for what was billed as the cruise of a lifetime. Never again with Regent! Read Less

We selected Regent because we have friends who highly recommended Regent as the best in the business. We were a party of 9 on this cruise to Alaska. 1 Grand Suite, 3 Penthouse Suites, and 1 Concierge Suite. The cabins were very nice although the Grand Suite had A/C problems from the start and took repair on several occasions. This should have been repaired prior to boarding. All other staterooms were in good condition except for a bathroom door that needed repair. Lets talk about water. Yes water. Regent has decided to process their own bottled water with little information as to where the water is coming from other than to say they have a new filtration system. We preferred Evian water which they had but it was like pulling teeth to make sure it would be available. Many times we would wait 5 to 10 minutes for our waiter to locate and provide us our request which is unacceptable. Also our Butler made it clear that it was not readily available. Really, on a 6 star ship Evian is not available. Somehow throughout the cruise we were accommodated. They are pushing their new water claiming that it is more ecological for the environment. I guess Regent no longer recycles? Lets talk about the food. We have been on several other cruise lines some with the same rating as Regent and others with 5.5 Stars and their food is much superior to Regents. We dinned in the Steak house that apparently serves USDA Prime Beef. Trust me this is not Prime Beef unless the new definition is bring a chain saw with you to dinner. The veal is also very tough. There is no question in our minds that NCL is using their standard beef selection from their other lines on Regent. We dined their several times and the beef just does not add up to choice much less Prime. The main dinning room was just ok and most of the food is pre prepared, and when served shows dried out edges on the food, in some cases food was served cold. Breakfast, lacks any special flair and the pancakes on one day were literally inedible and the bacon was full of grease and clumped together. Typical cafeteria style food. Does this sound like a "6" star ship ? Lunch, was ok but again nothing special like other 5.5 and 6 star ships. They also had a grill outside near the pool that had no ventilation and you could eat their but then you needed to wash your clothes and take a shower as you smelled like you had been working as a short order cook. This is not an exaggeration by any means. With the cabin categories we had for the 9 people and Butler service you would think making dinner reservations would be easy. Think again. The ship is well maintained overall and pleasant. The captain did a 5 minute viewing of Hubbard Glacier as he did not plan ahead for the bad (fog) weather and their was a ship right behind ours that was on schedule for their viewing of the glacier. One of the main reasons for the cruise is the Glacier but somehow the Captain missed the memo. We cannot say this was a bad cruise but neither can we say it was a great cruise and by no means a "6" Star cruise. This is the problem when great cruise lines get bought up by larger more generic cruise lines. They try and integrate less with more and end up average. Read Less

Wanted to try a high end cruise to see if Regent was better than my other cruises -- in a word, Regent is far below their competitors. In the past six years I did an Alaska cruise on Celebrity. I had an aft cabin and we had our own restaurant (Blu). All meals were ala carte, served fresh, hot and delicious. The price, as I recall for a 9-night cruise (instead of the 11 on this sailing) was about a third of Regent's price. Then I did two European river cruises on Avalon. Of course there is a much smaller number of guests on a river cruise, but every meal had a half dozen of ala carte meals, paired with very good wine. This brings us to our Regent Mariner experience. First of all, the pros. The ship was exceptionally clean, the staff was very friendly, the cabin was nice, unless you sleep on the left side of the bed like I did. If you get up to use the loo in the middle of the night, always remember that there is a wall facing you about 10 inches from your bed! There is a great Coffee Connection place where they served liquored coffee drinks and snacks, enjoyed that immensely. Now, one of the main things you go on a cruise for is good food, right? Overall, the restaurants were a major disappointment. The two "specialty" restaurants, Prime 7 and Chartreuse, were only made available one time during an 11-day cruise. Big mistake by Regent. We did eat there twice after going to see the concierge but they make you wait until 8:30, much later than we like to dine. Prime 7 was a disappointment. I had their signature dish, the surf and turf. I don't know if the beef was supposed to be prime or not, but it was just OK, certainly not memorable. The lobster was gummy and tasteless. My wife had the Alaskan king crab legs. The portion was generous but the crab was served absolutely lukewarm and had no flavoring at all. When I make crab, I use Zatarain spices so that the seafood has some flavor. Regent's food seemed like they deliberately cook everything to be bland. Of course their customers are mostly old, and it's like they want to avoid upset stomachs. By far one of the MAIN complaints about this cruise was the wine selection that was offered. That night they were serving "Josh" cabernet, which anyone can buy for about $8-$10. For what I paid for this cruise I was expecting $40-$50 type wine. For cocktails, Regent's bars were stocked with high end spirits, but they went EXTREMELY cheap on wine. Given their profit margin on their cruises this was a total disgrace. They claimed that the chef used this "pairing" to complement the food. The only thing that this wine could complement is a cold baloney sandwich. I use better wine than Josh (and the white equivalent they served that night) when I make my homemade spaghetti sauce. I made the waiter get me a French red (medium body) that was only slightly better. Another area where Regent goes wrong is the total lack of ambience is the two specialty restaurants. They are very sterile, and look like a chopped off half ballroom at a Marriott in Tulsa, OK. (Sorry, Tulsa). They have a very good piano player (Nick) who is playing to a mostly empty room on the way to the restaurants. Why don't they pipe in the music to the restaurants? I felt like I was eating at a nursing home, no atmosphere at all and mediocre food. At Chartreuse, the experience was better, the food was prepared better but again the wine selection was less than stellar. We had a great waitress (Zenife --she said call her Jennifer). She had a great personality and was the most outstanding waitperson we had on the cruise. Throughout this cruise, the food was often served lukewarm, and it was this night as well. I never had a hot meal the entire 11 nights, that is simply terrible. Their kitchen to customer wait time is simply too long. There were many times when I saw my food sitting on the service table, getting cold, before the waiter or waitress could get back to the station to serve the dinner. The servers were running around like crazy, so the problem was not them. Management need to put more people in the food preparation/serving process. I hate cold or lukewarm food, and that's all I got. I tried the Italian restaurant one night --this is the buffet converted to and Italian themed restaurant at night. You still have to get your own salad and dessert. The food here was blah and I never went back. That left a LOT of nights dining at the Compass Rose restaurant. The service in this place was wildly inconsistent. Sometimes you would get an attentive, personable waiter who seemed to care about your dinner. Other times not so much. This is an example -- we both ordered coffee after dinner. The waiter brought out TWO bowls of sugar, but no cups or coffee. Ten minutes went by -- I clocked it --- then he brought two cups and saucers. Again, no coffee. Another 10 minutes -- I clocked it-- he finally brought coffee. He apologized and said that the coffee just finished brewing. 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee --- really??? One night in the Compass Rose I had lamb chops with simple mint jelly. The food was again lukewarm and tasteless. When I make lamb at home I used onion and garlic powder, olive oil, and other seasonings. Again, nursing home food. I had a side of Lyonnaise potatoes. This was brought out after the entree and the potatoes were ICE COLD, not even the lukewarm I was used to. Other meals I ate were better (dover sole was tasty). I received a mid-cruise comment card and I shared the opinions I've laid out here. I received calls from several chefs and I explained the complaint about the blandness and temperature of the food. They tripped over themselves apologizing but things never improved. The best thing about Compass Rose was that they made fresh souflees at night. Finally something warm and usually delicious. Went there every night for dessert, no matter where I ate. The Mariner desperately needs another restaurant. On at least one of their sister ships they have a Pan-Asian restaurant. They just renovated the Mariner about a year and a half ago and why they didn't put another restaurant in, I'll never know. The worst thing is that they are going to use the Mariner for a half-year sailing next year. If you made me eat the food I had for that long, I would go insane. I am somewhat of a foodie, and this was the worst overall food experience I've ever had on a cruise. Add the terrible wine, and I felt that the value of this cruise was horribly, negatively skewed. Entertainment --- Sort of typical. They had a 12 person group of singers or dancers, backed by a house band. The band was good, and after they show they played at the Horizon lounge. Good listening and dancing music. The 12 person group was so-so... lots of energy but short on talent. A dark haired woman could really sing, but the rest were just ok. The first night they did a tribute to the Rat Pack, which is my kind of music. They just didn't have the voices or talent to pull it off. One of the lead male singers was singing the famous Sinatra song "One for my Baby". I literally could hear Frank turning over in his grave (just kidding, I think). There was a good female entertainer who did 2 shows and a comedian was pretty good. The rest was blah. The cruise seemed to be sort of disorganized in some spots. On the day we went to the glacier, it was midday. Everyone was out to look at the glacier and the viewing ended at about 2 p.m. when most restaurants (Compass Rose) closed, except for the buffet. Everyone went up there and unfortunately they ran out of food. It took 45 minutes to get a hamburger made. On that day, why not keep the other restaurants open later. Just poor basic management. Another warning -- there is a little sitting area around where the grill is located. The smell and smoke in that enclosed area seemed toxic to me --- couldn't wait to get out of there. There are so many suggestions where sound management principles could improve the customer experience. Again, this is not a 3 day Carnival cruise. Regent should be ashamed. Better yet, hire me as a management consultant! By far the biggest complaint I have (besides everything mentioned here) is their utter disregard for their customers in it's refund policy on unused shipboard credits. The main reason I went on this cruise was to go on the glacier hike. I had a total on $1400 in shipboard credits. Apparently $1000 was "nonrefundable" credit and the rest was cash. The glacier hike was $806 for both go us. We get to the pier and they tell us that the tour was canceled due to poor visibility. I was totally bummed but understand that they can't control the weather. I called reception and was told that I had to use the non-refundable credits onboard. We had a slip in the room that said we had these credits and that the could be used "for cash advances or casino credits". I tried to get them to refund the money back to my credit card and they said it had to be spent on the ship. Furthermore they would NOT let us use it in the casino, despite what their card indicated. I was absolutely livid. It was too late in the trip to use it for any other decent paid exclusion. We wound up spending almost $700 for a cheap watch and some wildly overpriced costume jewelry. My wife asked of the earrings were silver, and was told they were. She is allergic to any other metal. They apparently were made of some other cheap alloy, and now she can't wear them. Another lie from Regent. They should have willingly paid back the unused credit in cash, as their own card states. Terrible management. As I said in the beginning my expectations were very high due to the high price I paid for this cruise. Regent simply did not deliver and if you are reading this before you book, just don't spend the extra money to travel on this cruise line. It isn't worth it. They have lost a customer for life. Read Less

Touted as the best experience in cruising. Extremely disappointed doesn't even describe our experience. Had the best cabin on the ship (Master Suite) for a $60,000 experience of a lifetime on the Seven Seas Mariner for the late June 2019 cruise departure. We booked the cruise about 18 months in advance to have the selection of cabin and itinerary that best fit our schedule. Unfortunately, 2 days of the 8 ruined by engine failure and weather with very poor communication from the Captain and Cruise Director for explanations of the issues and a 12-hour delay in Ketchikan that forced us to miss the port of Juneau (where most of the best excursions were planned). Food and specialty restaurants a joke with respect to quality or food selection. Inedible pancakes delivered to our stateroom that could serve as hockey pucks or an entire day's salt intake. If you like waiting for service and having your meals delivered cold and late, you can dine in the specialty restaurants (but only once or twice if you are traveling with other family members not in the Master Suite). The Italian restaurant and main dining room had incredibly variable service and menu choices that did not vary much over the entire sailing. We have sailed on over 30 cruises with other lines and really loved Oceania (3 prior Owner's Suite sailings). We were told by everyone from the travel agent to the butler that we would have a great time and that the Alaska cruise would be memorable. Offered a meager $750 credit on a future tour. Gave comments mid-cruise that were not addressed and Regent's Customer Service extremely rude and unapologetic for the voyage. The company's marketing of the cruises is superb, but the execution of the logistics and services was the worst I have ever experienced. There are many other superior cruise lines that are happy to have the bookings. The Alaska itinerary was the standard northbound passage from Vancouver. The pre-cruise hotel was very good, but transfers were disorganized. Embarkation was promising when they poured a glass of champagne and had a steward lead us to elevator (who subsequently pushed the floor button on the elevator, dropped our bags, and exited the elevator). This was only the first comedic event of many notable missteps during the cruise. Our Master Suite was listed to be ready at noon. About 10 minutes after we arrived, about 40 travel agents and staff came in to the room and started touring the cabin while we were out on the front balcony-no apologies or explanations from the cruise management. No butler introduced himself for about 2 hours and the on-board phone system was not working in port. We were happy to come back home and see more whales off the coast of Boston than we saw during the entire Alaska sailing! Eventually got a reply from the Customer Service office with really no admission that sailing was sub-par or that Regent needed to improve anything with respect to service, dining, or accommodations. Clearly, they don't understand that customer service is everything and their reputation will suffer especially when touting their cruises as unique luxury experiences at a very expensive price. Read Less

We wanted to see Alaska & our travel agent advised us that Regent would offer us the best experience and value. Things didn’t go well at all & we feel we never got a true Alaska vacation as promised or the Regent experience! The ship lost an engine & we had to eliminate Juneau as a port & we had to eliminate the Hubbard glacier due to fog. We were at sea 3 of the 6 days. Not what we wanted and were only offered a $750 credit towards a FUTURE cruise to be booked within a year! In addition, restaurants were difficult to get seated in. Even the no reservation Italian restaurant had an hour and a half wait to be seated! Finding a table for 4 was virtually impossible. And to top things off, the casino manager cheated my husband out of winning a black jack tournament by verbally helping the other person in the finals! He then begged my husband to keep it inside the casino. We had 3 witnesses, reported it to executive concierge and the guest relations office has declined to offer an apology and/or give us any monetary compensation for a very bad cruise for so many reasons. Even my travel agent tried in vain to get us $1500 cash instead of future cruise credit, but they refuse to budge. What a terrible way to do business! Read Less

We chose this cruise and ship because we had been on the same ship with a different itinerary less than 2 years ago. We even chose the same room. We were told that the ship had been refurbished. Not so, at least in our cabin. So many things were wrong that it is hard to know where to begin. We boarded the ship at 2PM and didn't get our luggage until 5:30PM. The staff was all flustered. Something was off with the staff the whole voyage. Our cabin had stains on the carpet, rust on the balcony and lots of mold. The service at the restaurants was awful. The staff was inattentive and didn't clear tables, so we all ended up waiting or sitting at dirty tables. We had lots of trouble with our reservations at the specialty restaurants. The food was decent, but not terrific. Even on the first night, when the staff was introduced, they were not "on." Something felt off the whole voyage. We were supposed to leave Ketchikan at 4PM and didn't leave until 4am, so we missed all of our excursions and one whole day in port. That left us at sea for 3 out of 6 days. We got little in the way of an explanation and were each offered a voucher for $750 good on another cruise. Who would want to take another Regent cruise after this one...Viking is so much better and we are very avid high end travelers... Read Less