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Seven Seas Mariner

Seven Seas Voyager

Seven Seas Navigator

Wellington

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.

Absolutely Outstanding

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.

Food was outstanding - "Crew was nice but just don't understand"

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.

First Class in almost all respects - Will definitely be back

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.

THE REGENT CRUISE FROM HELL

Last time we cruised on Regent was four years ago and it was on the Mariner. This, over three week, voyage gave us about three months total on that ship. Soon after we boarded we checked out the Main Dining Room, The Compass Rose, and wondered if we were on the right ship. We weren't aware that the Mariner went through an extensive refurbishment last March. Quite a change in the MDR, not just in the general decor but with wait staff and cuisine. Special shout out for the wine pairing sommeliers. Now, don't get me wrong, the Mariner was always great, but it was now super. 

For years now we have listed Regent as our favorite line and the Voyager as our favorite ship.  Sure wish we could scratch up the simoleons to book them more often and for longer durations.  

Cruise lines love to give romantic titles to their cruises, this one was "Havana Dreams, Panama Scenes". I suggest that it should have been the "Hurricane Dodger", LOL. When we left Anchorage, AK we were keeping an eye on a dying hurricane out in the Pacific off the Baja Peninsula in Mexico which had doubled back toward the mainland. Then we heard about Hurricane Michael moving into the Gulf of Mexico, which was likely to prevent us from visiting Cuba. 

Survived those okay and had an enjoyable visit in Cuba and the countryside there, a great transit of the canal on a beautiful day all the way but then, five days after the canal, we returned to the ship after touring Acapulco, Mexico and found a letter from the captain on our bed explaining that a big, already Cat 5, hurricane was dead ahead of us, Hurricane Willa, and another smaller one coming up from the south toward our present position at the time. In order to put some distance between us and Willa we turned southwest for a day or so then northwest. Eight days sailing non-stop between North America and Maui, 3800 miles, instead of the scheduled six days to cross from San Diego. Our captain had chosen the most prudent course of action which was to bypass the planned ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Tuesday and San Diego on Thursday and instead spend those days at sea navigating our course far away from the storm systems, with a new arrival into Kahului, Maui one day early for an overnight stay. On the way across the Pacific we learned of Typhoon Yutu, which was the largest yet in 2018, it had just hit Saipan and Tinian on the other side of the Pacific from our location. At that time the Accumulated Cyclone Energy, or "ACE," was by far the highest ever recorded, or using that criterion, it was the worst hurricane season on record since records began early in the 19th century. 

Our extra sea days were due to weather situations, the longest number of those we have experienced was nine and that was also due to an accident, a lady compound fractured her ankle so we had to turn back in order to get her off the ship for medical attention. All total we canceled two port visits due Willa, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and San Diego, Ca, plus one port canceled at the last minute due to political unrest, Nicaragua. Out of that we gained two more "At Sea Days" and another day and a night in Kahului, Maui. Hey, I saw more flying fish that voyage than I've seen in years. 

But it was all good for us since we love sea days and life on board was exquisite due to Regent's fine service, cuisine quality and on board activities such as that involved with one of my favorite aspects of cruising, the enrichment lectures, particularly those addressing the theme of the voyage or aspects of the area of the world the cruise is taking place in like history, naturalism and geography. On this voyage we had two lecturers, Michael Scott, a botanist and historian and Lt. Colonel Bill Rothschild a NASA Rocket Scientist and engineer. Scott's presentations fit perfectly into the area of the world we voyaged but Rothschild's were very interesting as well. I think they spoke a dozen times each and I attended every single lecture, perfect attendance. Not to mention my sometimes twice daily hot tubs and the wonderful service from the ships pool bar.          

In a way this was a strange voyage, smooth seas and nice warm days all the way, yet we have were surrounded by hurricanes most of the distance.

But all voyages can't be absolutely perfect. We did experience a few glitches, minor as they were. We planned on three formal nights which somehow got changed to two. But the last one they scheduled on the last night of the voyage, which was a port day preceded by six sea days. Nobody plans like that. Neither did they, toward the end they rescheduled the formal night to the last sea day, hurray. We almost always purchase pre-cruise and post-cruise hotel and transfer packages and so we did this time as well. On the pre-cruise hotel, which was part of the cruise package, they changed the hotel on us a few months before sailing, no big deal. But then a few weeks before sailing, after we had received the nice final formal cruise packet in the US mail, they flip flopped again and changed the hotel back to the original. Somehow we missed the email notice of the second change. So ended up in the wrong hotel. By the time we figured out there was something wrong we had already booked into a very fine room in the wrong hotel. Regent determine it was all our fault, so gave us a choice, stay in the wrong hotel and pay for it yourself or move over to the other one which we are paying for. We moved. On the post cruise hotel, the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu, Regent was right on top of this and changed hotels for us when they discovered Waikiki hotels were just hit with a massive labor strike and the Royal was included. They got us into a very nice waterfront hotel that was not on strike. Good on them.

In summation, I realize Regent's prices are pretty steep and going up, so are the other line's prices that we frequent. But you have to say this about Frank Del Rio (FDR)'s lines. The other lines seem to not only be increasing prices but also engaging in a commensurate ratcheting down of overall cruise quality. While at the same time, Regent is enhancing over all cruise quality.

Perhaps our best cruise ever from a shipboard standpoint

We chose this 28 day back to back cruise as we had not been to Alaska in many years and all we had to do is fly one way as we live in Florida.  

We flew to Vancouver and since we had a penthouse we received a free night at the Four Seasons Hotel. Embarkation was easy and after a small lunch in the Veranda our luggage had been delivered and our cabin was ready.

Service and food on the ship were superb. We really enjoyed the Veranda for breakfast and lunch and had most of our dinners in Compass Rose. The menu selections were huge and it was always hard to decide on an entree so we usually shared between the two of us. Chartreuse was not our favorite but we enjoyed Prime Seven (especially the whole Maine lobster) several times.

The excursions in Alaska were exceptional. We went whale watching (saw hundreds), and loved watching the dolphins play and the bald eagles who were spotted in the trees by our guide. We had a dungeness crab feast in Ketchican (all you can eat)!

Two ports were cancelled (Nicaragua because of unrest and Grand Cayman because of Hurricane Michael). Would not want to go back to Acapulco or Guatemala. 

Mostly life on the ship was great. There was good weather and we enjoyed just sitting by the pool reading or going to lectures and playing duplicate bridge (there was an excellent bridge director (Joyce from Saskatchuan) .

Looking forward to our next Regent cruise (Tahiti to Singapore 2020)

Mariner has it all!

We were so disappointed with the Regent experience on this trip. It was chosen because of the destination, being a trip to Cuba, (2 days in Havana), with a stop in Belize and Mexico on the way back to Miami. Neither of these 2 stops were anything to write home about.

Excursions that were part of bundle package were cancelled within weeks of cruising to later find them available on the ship for a price. Day in Havana excursion was boring and basically the same as another tour we did day before. Tour was more than 2 hours longer than what it was suppose to be. Not enough time at stops to absorb what was around us. 

For the first time in all the cruises we have taken the cabin attendants were marginal. its definitely not the same level or friendly personalized service we received on our previous Regent cruise. Service was slow and not everything ordered was delivered. First night took more than 3 hours to receive meals that were delivered cold. Breakfast ordered for 6 AM and showed up cold at 6:50 AM. Asked for decaf drinks received caffeine drinks.

The ship overall was "tired". Our room smelled like mildew. The shower didn't drain the first day. Woman's 2 stall bathroom on Deck 5 had 1 toilet out of service. It's time for dry dock. 

There is little to do on sea days. This cruise was not worth the cost. Entertainment was just OK. 

Do not know if we will ever cruise with Regency again.

Cruise to Cuba

We were asked by friends to go with them on a Regent cruise that included Havana, Cuba. Not having been to Cuba and knowing that Regent was in the same class as Crystal (which we had sailed before), we agreed. We booked and paid for a Category D, concierge suite on deck 9. This suite is known by Regent to be noisy and they admitted there was a design flaw in the ship that allows the sloshing of the swimming pool water to be heard in "6 or 8" cabins. Still, they sell these cabins with no disclosure and no discount (like an obstructed view cabin might be sold on other ships) hoping no one would notice or complain.

We did complain but they said nothing could be done as the ship was full. 

On day 3 of the 7 day cruise, a penthouse suite on deck 10 opened up (I don't know why) and we were moved to the larger and butler attended suite. It was an appropriate and appreciated response but a 6 star cruise line and ship should never have such issues.

The food on board was excellent, well prepared and mostly well presented. The included tours were average at best with a "Jungle River Raft Trip" in Belize being the notable exception. It was a wasted day with nearly two hours travel each way from the ship only to float in conjoined rubber rafts on a very lazy river for about a mile. Over an hour of the trip to the river was on old school buses and washboard roads. Not good.

The public areas of the ship were roomy and never felt crowded and the entertainment was very good but also very "cruise ship" with talented singers and dancers performing in a well designed venue.

The ship, in general, is in need of a major refurbishment. Even in a penthouse suite, some drawers in the dressers wouldn't pull out, there were stains of some sort on the patio door and it's latch was missing a screw and loose.One of the bath towels had a hole in it, etc. Just not Regent/Crystal class stuff. If we're going to have a Princess/NCL/Royal Caribbean experience, we shouldn't be paying Regent prices.

Disappointing for Regent

By and large this was a very good cruise. Plus: Great food in all venues with very good service. Nice set up around the pool .Cons: Mediocre bar service particularly in the Mariner lounge. Shore excursions canceled for no apparent reason. The reason provided was we booked late. We booked in January and the cruise sailed April 18. Who knew that was a late booking? The on board cruise consultant is beyond rude. Nasty unfriendly man who answers normal questions with a condescending demeanor. He should go back to a cubicle ! On the other hand, the cruise director and the speakers and the entertainment is WONDERFUL.  

I think the big plus here is the Compass Rose Dining Room. The other dining venues were ok, definitely more intimate but Compass Rose is the best. Not terribly impressed with Signatures. Amateur staff. The best service is in Compass Rose. Going on Navigator in July. Hoping the smaller ship has better service.

Wonderful ship. Missing the magic of few years back

We chose RSSC Mariner because of the itinerary going to Cuba. We just finished the cruise and as always loved it. The cruise was fully booked and we weren't able to get reservations in Prime 7 or Signatures. As it turned out we walked into both restaurants and managed to dine there. Somebody always no-shows or cancels last minute. For the first time in all the cruises we have taken on RSSC the cabin attendants were marginal. I asked for a bottle of wine, it was never delivered. On the first day we told them that we drink a lot of water and to keep the fridge filled. We had to ask for more water once. The ship overall was "tired". It's time for dry dock. But overall it was a great experience. We were on Mariner for Christmas & New Year and many crew members were the same, so that made it nice. The entertainment was the same, so we didn't go. The "Spontaneous Duo " was still there too. Didn't like them Christmas, didn't like them now. 7 days on RSSC is NOT enough. We actually haven't figured out what "enough" is.

Good as always

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