Seven Seas Mariner Review
Seven Seas Mariner, Venice to Monte Carlo, June 2014
Rating by category
Additional details
As I have previously reviewed a Mariner Mediterranean cruise, this review concentrates on areas where our experience differed this time.
Pre-cruise hotel & transfers
We arrived in Venice on a BA flight from LGW around 4pm local time. Regent's local reps greeted us at the exit after baggage collect. We waited until all the expected passengers had been assembled then we set off by foot to the water taxi station. This is about a 10 minute walk and with the high humidity and temperature in the 80s in the non-existent shade was quite taxing. Our bags had been colour-coded to indicate whether we were in the Excelsior or the Hilton Molino Stucky. We then had a 15 minute wait for the water taxis to arrive – again no shade was available and it was not a pleasant experience even for the younger passengers. When the taxis arrived, the baggage carts followed. Despite the labelling, one unfortunate passenger had to run after the party bound for the Hilton to recapture his luggage so as to ensure it finished up with him at the Excelsior.
Cabin Review
The recent refurbishments to the Mariner have already been described in detail on Cruise Critic so I won’t repeat them here but it does seem a pity that the ‘ordinary’ suites (as opposed to penthouses and above) have not had their soft furnishings replaced. The armchair and sofa in ours, for example, though perfectly serviceable, do look rather careworn. The new LCD TVs (Samsung) were not working properly when we arrived but were successfully rebooted – they are part of the computer system – by an engineer called by our super stewardess Mayren. Unfortunately the DVD feed is an RGB connection and the picture quality is poor with a heavy moire effect.