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

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

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

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

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

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

North to Alaska! A review of our recent voyage on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner from Vancouver BC, Canada to Seward Alaska Alaskans are justifiably proud of their state! And, as we found out…. in Alaska size really does matter (as we were reminded constantly!). Alaska is BIG! So big they consider Texas "Cute" :-) So BIG that if the outline of Alaska is superimposed on the outline of the "Lower Forty-Eight” It stretches from COAST-TO-COAST! BTW... most of the t-shirts appear to be somewhat of an exaggeration :-).... I'm just sayin' Alaska! It's also stunningly beautiful and awe inspiring on many levels and in its big BIG way! Overview and Why My wife said “it’s time to visit Alaska” and I agreed. We looked at the various options and decided a cruise would be just the thing to give us the opportunity to experience a wider sampling of what Alaska had to offer… in a pampered sort of way of course! We looked over the different cruise offerings and decided to try Regent Seven Seas despite the much higher price tag attached. We reasoned there were some perks offered that would somewhat offset the higher costs. 1. It is an “All Inclusive” cruise line so alcoholic beverages are included. Not that my wife is a big drinker (she’s not :-) but I have been known to tipple a bit. 2. A gourmet food experience that Regent advertises as “Exquisite Cuisine” 3. All balcony suites on the ship (SS Mariner) 4. And the real equalizer… A very good selection of included shore excursions. The only excursions that sported an additional cost were usually the helicopter and seaplane sort of excursions and a few of the all day things. I thought to myself “we could make up the difference in cost by taking advantage of this”. 5. Regents reviews and reputation as a first class, luxury cruise line. Note: I should have dug deeper! As we discovered some of the above is true and some not so much. Purchase Experience The purchase experience couldn’t have been easier. After choosing the cruise I simply called Regent and spoke to one of their representatives. He was helpful and guided us through the process smoothly. One thing to note is that Regent supplies airfare and all transfers as a normal perk of your cruise package. You can save some money by doing it yourself of course but then you have to take care of all airport/hotel transfers yourself. In the case of the Seward to Anchorage transfer (2.5 hours) that could be up to five hundred dollars! If you book one of their cruises and are flying intercontinental the covered airfare is Business/First Class. Since ours was not an intercontinental flight it was cattle car class. But, since the flights were direct to Vancouver and a direct return from Anchorage it was all good… On the surface this looked like a great cruise. It was rather shorter than many of the other itineraries (only 7 nights) on Regent or the other cruise lines. That was good for us as this was sort of a last minute decision (at least for us) and was only booked three months prior to departure. Looking at the cabins we a booked a “Concierge Suite” and were "treated" to an extra day in Vancouver at the Four Seasons Hotel. I liked this idea, not because of the extra day in Vancouver, but because we arrived a day ahead of the cruise to minimize any possibility of a travel snafu. Pre-Cruise - Pick up at the airport went well. Regent was well represented and greeted us as we exited customs. Transfer to the hotel was in a nice van with five other passengers. We were dropped off at the Four Seasons the rest of them went on to the Trump Towers. Luggage was handled appropriately while we checked in at the front desk. The hotel clerk immediately tried to up-sell us to a suite. If I understood her correctly it was “only” $950 for the night. After a split second I was able to choke out… “No thank you…” I told her… “we will be fine for the one night in the room booked by Regent.” The Four Seasons itself was nice but somewhat tired.... definitely showing its age. The neighborhood was fine and great for walking. After taking a walk we looked at the hotel food offerings and opted to go outside. At the recommendation of one the hotel bell staff we tried the Cactus Club Restaurant just down the street. It was great! A great choice whenever in Vancouver! Regent supplied a good breakfast through the hotel the next morning and at 11:45 we were bused to the Ship. Embarkation - started smoothly. We had to once more go through customs only this time it was US customs as our destination was, of course, Alaska. We had one heart stopping moment as one of the Canadian customs agents announced we needed to have our “TICKETS” in hand. “TICKETS??!!?? I don’t know anything about stinking TICKETS!” I started canvasing our neighbors in line to find while most had a printout of their “ticket” many did not. I snagged the first official looking (uniformed) person I could find and asked the question….”Do we REALLY NEED a ticket?” Thankfully the answer was “No, just show your passport and state what ship you will be boarding…” Whew! First bullet dodged. Heart Stopping moment #2 We wended our way through customs (Thank you sir, enjoy your trip!) and made our way through the Regent line to the check-in counter. They had eight or ten positions open and were smoothly processing passengers until, of course, I step up and hand them our passports. We took pictures in turn and then the agent went to find our ship passes and keycards and came back empty handed. While the agent approached us still clearly standing there in line another passenger pushed passed me and my wife and laid her documents on the counter glaring at the gate agent. I paused just a second and politely (kind of) said “excuse me… I don’t believe we are quite finished here.” She looked at me like I had a bug on my nose… for a moment I didn’t think she was going to yield but she did sort of huffing and puffing and with a bit of blustering and posturing…. Turning back to the gate agent I noted she appeared somewhat flustered as she told me it would be just a moment before calling a floor supervisor over. I glanced back to see “Pushy Lady” visibly fuming at the delay. Smiling inwardly I turned back to the agent now joined by a supervisor. I heard snippets of their conversation and understood her to say she couldn’t find our reservations in the system or our keycards in the pile. The supervisor calmly typed for a moment and pointed something out to the agent, left and came back with our documents a moment later while the agent stood frozen smile on her face. All was well and we boarded the ship leaving the dazed gate agent and “Pushy Lady” behind. We boarded the ship thinking to go directly to our room and drop off our carry-on stuff. Well that was the plan but we discovered that our boarding time was considered “early” and nothing was ready. In fact they later made a ship-wide page to the effect the rooms were off limits until announced. That could have been made clear upfront but it was not. A simple note via eMail or being told that at check-in would have been sufficient but neither effort was made to the best of my knowledge. A kind of ship-wide announcement in a semi-scolding tone was made but probably was not the best way to make that known. In any event we were able to tour the public areas of the ship and have a nice lunch at the Pool Grill. Initial Impressions Initial impressions of the Mariner were very favorable. As we moved about the public areas of the ship we were struck by the cleanliness and overall well maintained look of the vessel. The lounges, the restaurant areas, the seating areas and other public areas were clean, comfortable and inviting. Public toilets were spotless. The Pool Grill and Pool Deck was a great place to chill out while waiting for our room to become available. Food was sampled and found to be of good quality served buffet style. The Mariner is one of the oldest ships in the Regent fleet but has aged gracefully and appeared to be in great condition and more than serviceable. When we were finally able to enter our cabin it was a pleasant surprise. A very spacious “shotgun suite” awaited us. The suite contains a sleeping area that can be separated from the seating area by a heavy drape. The seating area has a, more or less, full size couch (actually more “Love Seat” size), small table, 55” flat screen TV atop drawer/vanity area, bar essentials (glasses and corkscrew) and a mini fridge stocked with beer and soft drinks. You also have the option to customize the stocking of the mini-fridge by contacting your room steward. Fresh fruit along with a bottle of Champagne were waiting for us. Neither of us are much in the way of champagne drinkers so it eventually went back into the fridge to be passed along to the next customer or, hopefully, a crew party. The WALK-IN CLOSET had a generous supply of hangers with ample room for clothes and a nice row of drawers for storage. The closet also has a safe and the Life Vests. The bathroom is large with a very reasonably sized shower equipped with both rain shower and hand held shower heads. Each suite has its own balcony… excuse me…. Veranda…. that was generous in size with two wicker chairs and a small table and topped with Teak decking. All in all a SWEET Suite! Tipping Mariner is a “No Gratuity” ship. “Gratuities are neither expected or required” as it was stated. That is certainly the case and never was there a hint from any of the crew that they were fishing for a tip. The Hospitality Crew and the Room Service Crew was universally polite and attentive and I could fault none of them. I enjoyed several conversations with several of the service staff. The majority seemed to be from the Philippines with several other Asian nations represented. There were also many others from Eastern Europe and Russia. The officers and administrative crew again represented several nations with our Captain from Italy, the Cruise Director from the US, and the rest from all points in-between. While our service crew and operational crew seemed to really be engaged in their jobs, our administrational and entertainment directors really just seemed to be “phoning it in” and were somewhat disconnected and appeared somewhat distracted. Entertainment - was a mixed bag. There were several entertainment venues on the ship. Most of the lounges, including the Observation Lounge, Mariner Lounge and Horizon Lounge had grand pianos or even a full stage that were in turn manned by a pianist, a duo (guitarist and a singer), single guitarist, or a full band. There was also the late night Stars Lounge that featured either Denis and Elina (Guitar and Vocalist), Karaoke or a jukebox request sort of thing. The Constellation Theater was the venue for the Broadway style Mariner Production Cast singers and dancers with the Mariner Orchestra (6 piece), the Featured Entertainers and the occasional movie. Throughout the voyage we took in several shows and found them to range from very good to just OK. Since Broadway shows aren’t our thing we really did not attend too much of the Mariner Cast Productions. What we did see was fun and good but did not strike me as stellar. The band was always good and the singers/dancers good but a bit variable. The “Headliner” this trip was Matilda with Patrick Murray. Billed as "Jamaica's Number One Comedienne" Matilda is a ventriloquist's dummy and the alter ego of Patrick Murray. Together a charming and funny duo! Overall the entertainment seemed slightly sub-par for a uber-luxury, and expensive, cruise line experience. The voyage itself was a relatively short itinerary. That was what we were looking for as we have much longer cruise coming up in August so thought this shorter cruise would be ideal… as it turned out, it wasn’t the best choice we could have made. Our published itinerary; June 25th – One night extension in Vancouver, Canada June 26th – Embarkation – Vancouver, Canada June 27th – Cruising the Inside Passage June 28th – Ketchikan, Alaska June 29th – Juneau, Alaska June 30th – Skagway, Alaska July 1st – Sitka, Alaska July 2nd - Cruising the Hubbard Glacier July 3rd - Seward, Alaska – Debarkation This looked like the ideal short-form itinerary but it wasn’t to be. What it ended up looking like was this; June 25th – One night extension in Vancouver, Canada June 26th – Embarkation – Vancouver, Canada June 27th – Cruising the Inside Passage June 28th – Ketchikan, Alaska June 29th – CANCELLED - Juneau, Alaska Just another lovely day “Cruising the Inside Passage” June 30th – Skagway, Alaska July 1st – Sitka, Alaska July 2nd - CANCELLED - Cruising the Hubbard Glacier Just another lovely day “At Sea” July 3rd - Seward, Alaska – Debarkation A little about about the TWO MAJOR stops on the itinerary were missed for different reasons. On the second day of the cruise one of the starter engines for one of the main engines failed stranding us overnight in Ketchikan Alaska. That might have been marginally OK if they had let us off the boat to go explore Ketchikan (again) at night... but no, that didn't happen. Instead they kept quiet about the issue even though everyone could see that the departure time had come and gone. A 4:30 pm departure had slipped to 4:30 AM with no information forthcoming from the Captain or the Cruise director. And, even as we got started, it was easy to see the ship was not running on both main engines and was just limping along! The constant TV presence of our Cruise Director, Andy, still extolling the wonderful sights we were about to see in Juneau suddenly shut off without a word leaving only a blank screen. Finally mid-morning there was an announcement.... Cruise Director Andy informed us that due to the (and only just now announced) engine problems. we would be skipping our stop at Juneau and would have another lovely day at sea on our way to Skagway. The passengers grumbles were louder than both engines when working. I was very disappointed because Juneau would have been our first Glacier experience! In my opinion it was unconscionable, inconsiderate and childish of Regent to keep us, the passengers, in the dark for so long on the status of the mechanical problem. It also blows my mind that a mission critical part was not stored on the ship. Sometime in the early afternoon we all heard and felt the second engine start and the ship jumped back up to a brisk 15 knots. Too little too late to save our Juneau stop.... In any event... while a major stop on our voyage was canceled we were still going to go to the face of the Hubbard Glacier, one of the four largest Tidewater Glaciers on the planet, and the largest in Alaska, on the next to last day of our trip. Right!!??!! We were supposed to go in, on the last day of our sail on the SS Mariner, through Disenchantment Bay to the face of the Hubbard glacier. The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America and is a stunning seventy-six miles long, seven miles wide and over one thousand two hundred feet deep at the foot of the glacier! At least that is what we were told. Cameras were checked and rechecked.... Parkas and foul weather gear donned and snugged up tight. The big day comes and several passengers, including myself, are up early on the top deck freezing our "you know what’s" off. As we started to round a bend in the fjord called Disenchantment Bay we were faced with a monstrous wall of dense fog still several miles ahead stretching from mountain to mountain across the bay. The Captain and the Passage Pilot made the decision not to enter the fog because of some significant icebergs floating about. A second major disappointment was about to rear its ugly head... This one weather related :-0 Whether right or wrong, or for better or worse, we were told we could still see the glacier as that bright line across the top of the fog bank!.... I, for one, would have rather NOT HEARD that little tidbit! Disappointment on Disenchantment Bay how apt is that?.... Ironic or not???!!! This second MAJOR disappointment on this short voyage was very hard to take. Really, I certainly have no issue with the safety decision that was made... just disappointed (once again). After returning to the cabin to lick and bind my wounds (metaphorically speaking of course!) I emerged and prepared for our now established daily routine..... BREAKFAST, LUNCH and DINNER! The next day was Seward and the end of the trip. This was a rather pricy disappointment… but live and learn :-) But! We liked what we saw and experienced in Alaska so much that my wife and I agreed we would return in a year or so and give a different cruise line a chance! A brief note on the rest of the stops and sights we did see. I liked Vancouver, at least what I saw of it was a beautiful city and it would certainly be worth spending some time in the city and the area… at least more than a night and part of a day to see more of the city. Chinatown maybe??? Ketchikan, Skagway and Sitka were great stopovers and with more time in port could have been fantastic! Hey wait! We had that extra time in Ketchikan that was totally wasted and inaccessable! Seward, well, nothing to say or see… Got off the ship…. Got on the bus. The Food I know that this is what some of you were waiting for so here goes…. Regent touts the food on board as; "EXQUISITE CUISINE" "Nothing can elevate travel quite like cuisine. That’s why we take so much pride in creating exquisite dining experiences that are nothing short of superb. Experience all the wonderful flavors and delightful scents of choice cuisine from around the world." (direct from the Regent website) It goes without saying that the food is one of the most important components of a cruise for many passengers. From elegant A La Carte dinning to the Grand Buffet the food is oft the star. And while, for the most part, the food at most of the Regent Mariner venues was good, sometimes VERY good, it was far from consistent. Here I’m just going to detail our experiences at the two Regent Specialty Restaurants, Chartreuse French Restaurant and Prime 7 Steak Restaurant and give you a few overall impressions about the other eating venues. Chartreuse French Restaurant That evening I had scored an early reservation (it was the best I could do) at one of the Regent Signature Restaurants, Chartreuse a French Restaurant. I was excited to try what Regent called "Modern French Cuisine". While the dining room was well appointed and comfortable the initial service, and later the food, were a disappointment. We were the first in the restaurant (right at our appointed time) and service was, for lack of a better word.... inattentive. For being the first customers (read ONLY Customers) it took a while to be noticed and seated. The sommelier was slow in visiting the lone table we were occupying . Then the sommelier immediately tried to up-sell me to a $275 bottle of wine and it took me just a moment to catch on. I did ask him what the featured wines were that evening and he recited them showing them to me on the wine list. Regent advertises as an "all-inclusive" cruise and indeed they are. Two wines were included that night, as in every night, a red and a white. But.... If I had not noticed the tiny prices following some of the selections I would have purchased a $125 to $300 bottle of wine. When I quizzed him about the menu he reluctantly confirmed that there was indeed an "upcharge" for those particular premium selections. I told the sommelier please just bring the "house red" after I was clued into the rules. He was visibly disappointed at the lack of the sale :-) I afterwards found that there may have been additional wine selections included for the asking. However, even though I had asked, no other options were offered or clarified. The waiter came to the table immediately after the sommelier vacated and told us of that evenings chef's special choices then left us to peruse the menu. He returned after an appropriate amount of time and left with our order. For appetizers my wife ordered Escargot and I ordered the seared Duck Foie Gras. Entrees were roasted lobster for her and double cut Lamb ribs for me. The Escargot were terrible. Served in a disgusting gravy of some sort they were rubbery and served removed from the shells, a good indication they were (possibly) frozen or even (GASP!) from a can. My Foie Gras was somewhat better. It was nicely displayed/presented with three little apricot dots arranged on the plate. Taste was meh... rather tasteless and bland. The entrees didn't fare any better. My wife's entree, Roasted Lobster with Scallop Mousseline, Green Asparagus and Fava Beans (no Fava Beans were visable), was displayed well but was extremely overcooked resulting in a tough, tasteless piece of unrecognizable meat. The vegetables that were there were fine and well cooked. My lamb was delivered beautifully presented and flanked by two Chickpea Fritters. However I had ordered the lamb Medium RARE. It arrived terribly overcooked and tough. As a result of this criminal treatment of what likely started as a decent piece of meat it was largely tasteless and tough. My desert, Creme Brûlée was well presented and was tasty, rich and creamy with a satisfying sweet/bitter crunch from the caramelized sugar on top while the wife's Chocolate Napoleon was inedible. Prime 7 Steakhouse Tonight was our second specialty restaurant reservation. This time at Regent's steakhouse, Prime 7. We had been by the restaurant several times on the way to the Compass Rose and it was always busy and packed. We had a late reservation at 8:30 pm on the 30th. We showed up about five minutes early and were asked to wait in the lounge area. The Maitre D' came and collected us after a short wait at 8:33.... Perfect! After being seated we were immediately approached by our waiter and the sommelier. The menu as suitable for a steakhouse, was simple and to the point featuring mostly beef offerings with a few chops, seafood and poultry choices. We made our orders and sat back with a little of the house vino. A Palate cleanser of Tomato Bisque was delivered to the table followed closely by the appetizers. The presentation on her appetizer, the Tuna Tartar was very nice and she enjoyed it. My appetizer was Foie Gras Sliders with Rhubarb Chutney. It came out looking like two tiny little hamburgers, which I thought entirely appropriate for a steak house lead-in and they were delicious. Our entrees arrived. She had ordered King Crab and I ordered a 18oz Bone-In Ribeye. Mine was delicious! This was at least a pound of steak-y delicious-ness. Billed as a Prime, Dry-Aged piece of meat, it was cooked perfectly to my ordered medium-rare temperature with a beautiful seared crust on the outside. It was all I could do not to pick up the bone and start gnawing away at the steak like a wild animal. Luckily I was able to control myself and waited until the end of the meal before waving the bone around making a fool of myself. As delicious as my steak was, my wife's King Crab was not. She certainly received a big ol' plate of Crab. But that plate was overcooked, dry and lifeless. She could finish only a small portion of the total before calling it quits. I definitely felt bad for her and told her so between mouthfuls of my perfectly done steak! Dessert was Cheesecake for me and a Berries in Creme Anglaise for her. Both were a good choice and satisfied that Dessert Jones.... We said thank you to our stellar waiter Rochcelle.... and headed out. Some brief thoughts on the other dining venues…. Compass Rose – Compass Rose is the main dining room. Comfortable and well-appointed we found food here consistently good. Everything, with few exceptions, was well prepared and generally tasty no matter what was ordered. Service was always prompt and extremely courteous. Surroundings and ambiance were open, elegant and comfortable. It is open seating and we were always able to score a table by a window. Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner it is always menu driven. La Veranda – Our choice on deck 11 for Breakfast and Lunch. La Veranda is buffet style serving. More elegant and more variety than the adjacent Pool Side Grille Buffet. It was consistently good. In the evening La Veranda transforms into the menu driven (only buffet in sight is a salad bar) Sette Mari At La Veranda Italian Restaurant. Sette Mari is a great alternative to the Compass Rose and other eating venues. The food is very good with a good Italian themed menu offering. The Pool Grille - was the one breakfast, lunch and dinner venue that allowed a casual dress in the evenings. The food there was served buffet style and usually had a good mix of everything from hamburgers to some simple seafood selections. Ice Cream and deserts were also featured along with a Fresh Juice Bar. For convenience it was located adjacent to the Pool Bar. NOTE: One thing that was, unfortunately, true across ALL of the RESTAURANTS is that they could not deliver a piece of fish that was not overcooked to the point of being criminal. Shrimp and Scallops on the other hand were usually delivered perfectly. Lobster and Crab… not so much. Meat temperature was better with my lamb served at Chartreuse being the major exception. My steak at Prime 7 was perfection! I also give you this as a sample excursion/meal… A Shore Excursion that featured a Crab Feast! Note that this was one of the MANY Shore Excursions that was supplied at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE. Cruise St. George Inlet and Crab Feast We enjoyed our time in Ketchikan walking around the city before going to a Crab Feast. Before the feast we went on a bus trip and then a small boat into the St. George Inlet. we saw some Bald Eagles and pulled up a crab trap to play with some crabs (yes, I know what that sounds like :-) Heading back to the small boat dock restaurant, The George Inlet Lodge, we indulged in our feast. It was all served with a large heaping bit of wit and wisdom from Asley our Charming Young Lady (I never thought I would live long enough to use that term... But there it is!!) of a server. It was very simply, a salad, a cold beer, and a never ending pile of the best Crab I have ever eaten. If you ever find yourself eating Crab at the George Inlet Lodge and served by Asley give her a big hey from Regent 06/28/2019 :-) Debarkation was fairly well organized but had a few hiccups. Debarkation occurred through an exit on Deck 6. Luggage was tagged and picked up from the cabin the night before. We had our breakfast and then made our way to the Coffee Connection area on deck 6 to wait for the call to exit and board the buses that would take us to Anchorage. The only sore spot was the ladies toilets on deck 6 were closed for whatever reason (men's was fine). My wife had to go down one deck to get to a bathroom..... That would not have been that much of an issue but all of the other ladies-in-waiting had to do the same and almost immediately a line formed. There were of course other public bathrooms but on the higher decks and not as convenient. As the traffic became heavier in the one bathroom on deck 5 the toilet paper ran out and was not replenished. It seemed to be “a not so fond farewell....” The bus ride to Anchorage (2.5 hr) was fine but stretched to 3.5 hours because of an accident on the one highway to Anchorage. Upon arrival, because our flight was in the evening, we were taken to the Anchorage Hilton to a "Hospitality" area arranged by Regent. For the end of a supposedly "high-end" cruise the "Hospitality" area was rather weak.... It was an old, no longer used, restaurant at the top of the Hilton. It was a bit tired looking and had little in the way of amenities. No water, hours old coffee, no hot water, and only a tray with a few cookie crumbs being there. No one replenished anything during the time we were there. There were people to help us with the shuttle transfer to the airport at our designated/selected time. We went out for lunch and settled on a nearby restaurant called "The 49th State". It was a casual nice place and had cold freshly on-site brewed beer and upscale pub grub. We ordered a pizza featuring Reindeer and Elk sausage that we enjoyed very much. When in Anchorage it would be a good lunch or evening meal stop! We wandered about downtown Anchorage for another hour or so and returned to the hotel for our trip to the airport and back to “The Lower Forty-Eight”. The wrap up! The Regent cruise wasn’t a total bust. The accommodations (cabin) and the hospitality crew are first rate. The fact that out of five stops we only truly made three was more than a little disappointing. I can’t say that Regent didn’t offer an accommodation because of the issue in by-passing Juneau, they did. But, it was not enough, in my opinion. What was offered was a $750 per passenger ($1500 total) off the your NEXT CRUISE with Regent. Sorry, those of us that were on this voyage, at least in my case, were not going to sign on again. We have been home now since the 4th of July and have heard nothing from Captain, Cruise Director, Chief Engineer or Regent Corporate concerning what happened. That seems like a bad case of “don’t give a crap” at the very least. A head-in-sand attitude at best. Regent is billed as one of the world’s premiere cruise lines which is why we gave it a whirl. Reviewers rate Regent very highly… I can only speculate they were not on our cruise! Would I cruise again with Regent? No, not as it stands now. That said…. If the perfect itinerary at a decent price appeared at the perfect time… I never say never :-) 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

This was my 5th cruise with RSSC, so I already knew I would like it. Here are some of the things I like about it. The Mariner is just the right size-small enough to go places others can't and large enough to have multiple places to dine and hang out. I like that it is really all inclusive, once on the ship I don't have to spend another dime if I don't want to. I like that even the lowest tier suites are large by the industry standard and are very comfortable and include a veranda. I like that it is generally all adult. On this cruise there were a few children, but they had special programs for them. There are no mandatory formal nights or assigned meal times. They generally offer a good selection of shore excursions, many of which included for free. The specialty restaurants are good, but the food in the main dining room is always very good as well. Read Less

I'm relatively new to cruise travel -- prior to this one, I'd completed two cruises, both on another cruise line. I booked this primarily due to the itinerary -- it included both Alaska and the Panama Canal -- and the cost. The cruise was actually two separate cruise: a 10-day Alaska trip from Vancouver to San Francisco; and an 18-day cruise from San Franciso to Miami via the Panama Canal. As such, it mixed cool and warm climates which made packing ... interesting. As a solo traveler, I always have to factor in the "single supplement" which for most cruise lines is 100%. Regent Seven Seas seems to be bucking that trend: so far, all the cruises I've booked have been less than half that (42-45%). This makes Regent Seven Seas much more competitive with more "mainstream" cruise lines for solo travelers. Add the fact that the fare is all-inclusive: drinks (including alcohol), excursions, gratuities, and specialty dining -- things that a lot of cruise lines charge extra for, and the comparison is even more favorable for Regent. The Mariner hosts 700 guests, so it classifies as a "smaller" ship. This makes the ship easier to get around for those of us with some physical challenges. In my case, I have advanced COPD which makes walking long distances particularly problematic. As long as I take my time and walk slowly, I'm OK. Since the ship is smaller, this means getting around the ship is much easier. My cabin was near the aft elevators; most of the ship's guest services, boutiques, etc. are nearer the bow, which meant walking almost the length of the ship at least once a day. I was able to do this with minimal discomfort which allowed me to enjoy more of the ship's features. SUITE: Every cabin on the Mariner is a suite with a veranda. I booked a Concierge suite -- one of the smaller suites on par with Holland America's "Vista" suite -- about 300 sq feet including the veranda. It was a great size for a single person: HUGE walk-in closet; decent bathroom size, comfortable furnishings, mini-fridge stocked and replenished as needed at no additional charge. “On-demand” movies in various genres (about 200 or so, total) available via the interactive television system, which also includes dining menus, daily activity video from the Cruise Director, and the usual set of “Enrichment” and “Destination” videos from onboard lectures. Super comfortable bed and pillows. FOOD: 5-star all the way! Far exceeded my expectations. The expansive "always available" in the Compass Rose (the main dining room) guaranteed a totally yummy dining experience every day without getting bored. In addition to the "always available" selections, there are daily specials which provide additional 3-4 choices in each course. The food is exquisitely presented and absolutely delicious. Portion sizes are reasonable. I visited La Veranda fairly regularly for breakfast and occasionally for lunch. The choices were amazing -- way more than I could possibly explore on a 28-day cruise. The omelets are especially yummy and made to order with whole eggs (unless you order an eggwhite omelet). Lunch selections vary every day although there are a number of things that are always available. Again, beautifully presented and super delicious. Chartreuse is RSSC's "French with a twist" with a set menu -- no daily variations. The food is superb, again beautifully presented and prepared. I ate here three times. Prime 7 is the upscale steakhouse -- I ate here twice and found it excellent, but honestly not much better than Compass Rose. Sette Mari is the Italian restaurant that features more sophisticated dishes. Again, excellent! ENTERTAINMENT: I'm not usually a "shows" person -- I tend to hit the sack kind of early most nights -- but I did attend several shows since it was so convenient (located not far from Compass Rose and Prime 7). The entertainment staff is superb -- 12 singers/dancers who are extraordinarily talented. Their ABBA tribute during the "variety" show was outstanding, and "Blazing Boots" was a country music hit (and I'm not even a country music fan, but it was so well done!). John Barron, the Cruise Director, did one-man shows twice, and his show is definitely worth seeing. And the Constellation Theater is beautiful -- comfortable seating, great sight lines, etc. EXCURSIONS: I don't pre-book excursions mostly because there just isn't enough information in the descriptions for me to make an informed decision about whether or not I can actually physically handle it. As mentioned before, I have to be careful with walking long distances. I don't want to put myself in a position where I might end up delaying other people due to my having to walk slowly. Add to that a very bad knee (waiting for a knee replacement), which makes things like staris and getting on/off tenders particularly tricky, and it just doesn't make sense for me to book an excursion only to have to skip it due to physical challenges. I can't know until I reach the port what those challenges might be. I'm OK with not being able to take many excursions as I find the onboard experience just as important. I'm perfectly content sitting on my veranda, sipping a glass of good red wine, and taking photos of everything I see that is interesting. SERVICE: Again, exceptional. My two room stewards were amazing, making sure I had everything I needed to stay comfortable and happy. The real test of customer service is how they respond when a problem arises. Four days into my cruise, I broke a tooth -- a lateral incisor, with a near-complete fracture. No warning -- it happened in the dining room after biting into one of their amazingly delicious crusty dinner rolls. Just one of those fluke things. I ended up visiting the medical office -- no dentist on staff, and we were just leaving Juneau on a Saturday night. The ship contacted the Sitka port rep (our next port stop), who was able to get me an appointment at e local dentist's office on Monday. Regent provided transportation to/from the dentist's office, and the only charges I incurred were the dentist's bill; RSSC did not charge me anything for their efforts on my behalf. Blew me away! This tells me that they really do put their customers first and will do whatever they can to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The bottom line: I enjoyed this so much and was so impressed by Regent's commitment to guest experience that by day 11, I was ready to book another Regent Seven Seas cruise: the 2020 "Navigate the World" -- the 131-day world cruise. It's on the Mariner and I was able to book the same cabin I occupied for this cruise. Given the service, the food, the entertainment, the itinerary, and the price, it's the best choice for me. Read Less

I should start by saying that this is my first cruise experience. We booked using a travel agent. We had the following requirements: great food, not a lot of kids, and not a "party" boat. This cruise definitely checked all the boxes for us! Cabin:We upgraded to a concierge Suite on the 10th floor. It was so spacious. We had a king size bed, walk in closet and even a sitting area. We had a bathtub with wonderful Loccitane products as well and even a balcony with enough room to have two chairs and a small table. Dining: The food was fabulous! We ate at all the options that they had! The pool bar had burgers, etc. Prime 7 has steaks and seafood. Compass Rose is open Breakfast lunch and dinner and has a great variety. And Sierra Mar ( My favorite) is italian and Chartreuse is French. I HIGHLY recommend making dinner reservations at Prime 7 and Chartreuse. These did book up on our 7 day cruise and the others are first come first served. ALL THE FOOD AND DRINKS were included. Not just the beer and wine but everything! Service: This was unlike anything I have experienced. Everyone that works for this ship is very nice and so accommodating. Pretty much anything that I asked for, they would make happen. For instance, we had a steward named Gregory that we met on the first day. He asked if there was anything that we needed for our room or mini bar. I asked for wine for the mini bar and he even asked what kind that I preferred and made sure that the mini bar was stocked with my favorite wine the whole trip. This was a nice touch. Ship: Was very clean, and very well appointed. It had a luxurious feel without feeling stuffy. Shore excursions: We did the Bering Sea- Crab Fishermans Tour in Ketchikan. I would HIGHLY recommend this! It was one of my favorite excursions that we did!!! Very informative and it was interesting to see what the day and the life of a crab fisherman would be like. We also got to see A LOT of bald eagles! Mendenhall Glacier and whale Quest in Juneau. Very fun! We got some great pics of the glacier and it was a beautiful day so it was nice to be on the water. We didn't get to see a lot of whales though. Venture to Glacer Point was amazing but I wouldn't not recommend to someone who doesn't like to walk a lot. It is a pretty far walk to the Glacier after the canoe ride but for myself who likes this, it was great! It was really cool to be soo close to the glacier. The Sea otters, Raptors and Bears, in Sitka was a little disappointing. We thought it was a little more like seeing Bears and Eagles in the natural habitat but it was more like visiting a zoo. We did see Sea Otters but couldn't get close enough to get good pictures. I do have to make clear that ALL the excursions were NOT free. There are a lot that are but those ones didn't really appeal to us. We were given a discounted rate but still, that was a little misleading. Overall, this was a great experience! It was an expensive cruise, but we felt that it was worth every penny! We are already looking forward to booking another cruise with Regent! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it meant a short flight to Vancouver and a limo home from San Francisco. Flying has become our least favorite part of traveling. Mariner is a beautiful ship even if she needs a facelift. We started cruising on her twelve years ago when she was a Radisson ship before becoming Regent, and later joining NCL. We enjoyed her in 2005 and still enjoy her now. We are looking forward to sailing on her again in 2018 after her retrofit. We chose an F forward cabin with shower, no tub which is adequate for our needs and provided a comfortable ride. We do not like Compass Rose, the main dining venue, because service is way to slow for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We find the menu to be monotonous, although improved with the choices of sauce but still prefer the specialty prestaurants. Artful Travelers provided guest speakers and entertainment that were a highlight of this cruise. Filmmakers discussed their PBS and Frontline films in both lectures and at cocktails and discussions, and passengers could ask questions at both venues. We also had a variety of Guest Speakers including Barbara Boxer. Passengers who signed up for the Artful Travelers Program were invited to dinners and cocktail parties. Regent Entertainment is definitely a step up from years past. Service was excellent in most venues, our suite was well maintained and our every request was taken care of right away. We usually take the "free excursions," and those were entertaining, the one Regent Choice Excursion was just ok, not great. We have approximately 300 days on Regent and this was one of our favorite cruises because of the Artful Travelers Experience. When Regent offers this opportunity, give it your consideration. Read Less

I would rate them a little higher but a month after a Regent's canceled tour which I was to be refunded on my credit card, getting a round around. Lot's of promise but no refund a month later. As far as the cruise very smooth embarkation and disembarkation, thanks. Rooms looking pretty tired and need some updating but clean and taken care of daily with no problems. Not a big issue, not in the rooms much. Most of the staff very helpful and very friendly, few minor issues but nothing that wasn't taken care of. I and a number of guest were surprised at the number of kids on the ship which is no big deal but had to spend way too much time with unsupervised kids at meals, bars, and tours. If I wanted to take a Disney tour I would have booked one, although a lot of the blame falls on the parents. Didn't know Regents was supposed to be their baby sitters and the guest get to enjoy their kids. I know I sound like I hate kids which is not the case, a lot of people were not happy about the situation. As far as food very good to very poor, Compass Rose was terrible twice. Prime was excellent, Signatures very good but was rushed from the minute we sat down. Sette Mari was very nice, great staff every time. Some nice tours no complaints at all with the exception of a canceled tour that we did not find out about until we left the boat on the pier. Overall it was fine but not sure I got the best bang for the buck for what we were hoping for. Read Less

I choose this cruise because it was all inclusive. . We arrived at Vancouver, stayed at the beautiful Fairmont Vancouver the day before the cruise had a lovely breakfast which was included. Our luggage was picked up from inside our hotel room and transported to the ship.The cruise bus picked us up at our scheduled time. We were checked in, through customs and on the ship without delay or lines. I was disappointed in the size of the room. The food was great. The lectures were wonderful. Always about information for the next port (totem poles, bears, etc.) The free excursion were good. The one we paid for was awful. . (Wilderness Jetboat Prince Rupert)We did complain but they didn't seem to care. Good excursions were The Whale Watching with guarantee did produce hump back whales and sea lions, the crab boat with all you can eat Dungeness crab. The girls were very entertaining. The ship was very quiet. Not a lot of activities, Older cruisers, very few children. Very relaxing. The SPA was very pricey. Only a few shops, small casino, no photographers and no one trying to sale you anything, Just relaxing, eating, lectures, shows and social hour. No bill at the end. All alcohol and gratuities included. Deporting was organized and fast. I hated to leave the ship. I would go again. Read Less

I chose this cruise for my group of 4 adults because it was a smaller ship, and 7 days long. My husband and I had never been on a cruise before - the other couple had been one several cruises. The staff was polite, helpful, and always available, and prompt to help ! The rooms were spacious, and comfortable, the bed was cozy and comfortable! Shower was nice, balcony had comfortable lounging cushioned chairs and a nice deck table. The meals were lovely, and there were so many options- I don't know how one could ever complain about any lack of food or snack or drink service. The ship was clean, our room was aways tidied in the evenings. I went to the gym daily, and it was great ! The excursions were all as expected and very fun. My biggest surprise was how nice and friendly all the other passengers were- we made lots of new friends! Read Less

Why Regent? We selected Regent because of their upscale reputation and because they had a follow-on tour to Denali after the cruise. We usually cruise on Azamera and Oceania because we like smaller ships with better service. We found Regent to be a cut above those two. Previous reviews complained about the quality of service and wine. We found the service to be excellent and the wines were good. The ship was a bit worn, but not that noticeable. Embarkation and Disembarkation Both were smooth as silk and not long. Regent was organized and is helps to have a small ship. Clothing OK, it rains a lot in Alaska, but usually not hard in August when we went. Most days were partly cloudy 50-55o with intermittent rain. Our last day in Alaska was 43o with a light rain. We had layers and that worked. I typically had an undershirt, longsleeve shirt (cotton, you won't sweat in Alaska), fleece, and a Gortex jacket. Also had a lightweight sweater for cold days. Wore a baseball hat most times, but used a rain hat a couple of times. Wore lightweight gloves a couple of times. Good waterproof sneakers are all you need, unless you go hiking into the forests. I also had an umbrella but used it only once, the rain wasn't heavy. I carried a backpack off the ship to carry stuff, including shedded layers. Books We took a Moon Alaska Travel book along and it really helped to preview upcoming sights. Learned a lot of history too. And the fold out map was fun. I looked at several books and the best was Moon. I also read a great book on the Alaskan WWII campaign called The Thousand Mile War. Phone We had good Verizon service in all Alaskan cities and sometimes on the road too. Most places had wifi too. Restaurants Their Main Dining Room is the Compass Rose and it was the best MDR we have experienced. Food was excellent, service was relaxed but not slow, and the wines all good. They had a set menu and a changing daily menu. Frequently, we would mix and match, trying a daily special with a lobster tail for an appetizer. We had fresh salmon, weinersnitzel, osso buco, rib eye, scallops, and more - all were excellent. The MDR never seemed crowded. LaVeranda This is their buffet dining room for breakfast and lunch. Food and service was good. Breakfast got repetitive after seven days, but that's typical. The outside seating area is small Setti Mari At night, LaVeranda becomes an Italian restaurant. You order a main course but it's self serve for appetizers and deserts. Our lease favorite and slowest of the restaurants. Personally, I wish they would keep it as a buffet at night. Especially for those after long excursion days who don't want a sit down dinner with a waiter. Pool Grill Here they serve breakfast and lunch in a buffet. Breakfast is limited. Lunch has the typical burgers, dogs, salads, and deserts. But, they do have specialty days - watch for them, especially on sea days. One was Mexican day, another featured Hungarian foods, and the best was a seafood buffet that was awesome. Coffee Connection A nice, small venu amid ships that has a limited offering for breakfast and lunch - and a full coffee bar. Next to the library so you can read one of about six printed papers. Signatures This is their French restaurant and the best of the lot. Service and food were five star. The wine selection was upscale and very good. We were allotted one visit - wish we had more! We had the open faced ravioli with lobster and scallops, and the veal tenderoin - both excellent. Prime 7 This is their steak restaurant and the equal of Signatures. I had a surf and turf that was awesome. Again, great wines. Wines and Beers We enjoyed all of the whites and all of the reds except one. Lots of South American wines, some French, American, and Australian. And a German. The beer selection was very good with American lights, Bud, Coors, Sam Adams, Guiness, Grolsch, and Alaskan Amber (my favorite, brewed in Anchorage). Selection varied by venue. Bars Boy, they have a bunch and they are nice. We loved Horizons, at the stern of the ship, to watch as we leave port. Passed treats and live music before dinner. The Observation lounge at the front of the ship is another favorite. None seemed crowded and service was prompt. Lectures Joseph Snyder, a US Dept of State foreign service officer for 30 years, gave three presentations on Alaska, Canada, and Russia. The history was fascinating and Joe is an excellent presenter. Gym A bit small but good equipment. Bring your earbuds to hook into the TV on some equipment. Entertainment We went to the Crew Review, which was just OK, and nothing else. We did play Trivia and had a lot of fun. Although, the trivia master got two answers wrong. You play for points which can be redeemed for ship-branded merchandise the last day. Internet Connection You are on a boat and have only a satellite connection. Expect slow service. But, once you are in port, use your cell service. The ship's response to Internet problems was very good. Tips: register only once, one device at a time, and use logout.com to end your session. Guests 85% were American, 20 from England, 15 from Canada, and 80 children. This is not a kids ship, but it was summer. Not a typical Regent profile. They did make up some games for the kids. Excursions Ketchican - we docked right downtown - what a great looking town! We were supposed to fly up to see the Misty Fjord, but the weather prevented it. Some folks took a boat and had mixed reactions - great to see but the boat ride was long. We instead booked with AlaskaRainForest.com - you can find them and a bunch of other sightseeing vendors right on the dock. We took a two hour walking tour through a private area that had temperate rain forest and a walkway through a stream and tidal estuary. The guide did a great job explaining the rain forest and its flora and fauna. On the boardwalk, we got to see a black bear come out of the woods and fish in the stream for 15 minutes. Very cool. The Tongass is the largest temperate rain forest in the world. After the boardwalk, we went to a large building where they were carving totem poles. And a raptor sanctuary. Back in town (15 min), we visited the museum (it's a National Park so take your Senior Pass. Nice museum. Juneau - during the night we sailed by a fjord and I caught a glimsp. From the boat, Juneau is not attractive, but it's a 20 walk to town which is attractive. We took a Regent bus tour that took us to a private Rain Forest Garden with a 15 min walk through a forest with plants identified, and then the owner gave a talk and Q&A - very interesting. Then we went to the Mendenhall Glacier and visitor center - very cool. Our bus driver and tour guide was Emily. ++ Note about tour guides and drivers. These are mostly 20-somethings in Alaska for the summer for adventure - bring some $5s, 10s, and 20s for tips. We had three girls driving big buses and giving tours at the same time - awesome. They do have CDLs. Skagway - again, from the ship, nothing to look at. But, the 20-min walk to town is worth it, the sidewalks are boardwalks and lots of shops. I also found an Ace hardware store and got glue for one of my shoes. We took another Regent tour to the White Pass RailRoad. This follows the famous white pass path that the miners took to the Yukon during the gold rush. Great scenery and great history. A word of caution - the bus was not heated and the train had little heat - bundle up. Some tours take the train up and bus back or vice versa - some take the train both ways. FYI - you cross over into Canada and must take your passport. Sitka - the docks are 15 minutes from town. This is a blue collar fishing town with nothing much to see on a walkabout. We did another Regent bus tour (Melissa) and visited a Russian dance hall - lots of Russian history here - dances were just OK. Then we went to the awesome Raptor Center where they care for injured birds and release some - one of the highlights of our trip. We had a tour of the center, saw lots of birds, and even had a presentation of an adolescent bald eagle not ten feet away - wow. Two days of sailing on our ship - from Skagway to Seward we passed the Hubbard glacier and the captain spent a lot of time there for all of us get a good look - an awesome sight. Then, more and more mountains. The other day of sailing, from Vancouver to Ketchikan, had more mountains and mountains to see. I never got tired to seeing the mountains - wonderful peaks with clouds up, down, and swirling around. Alaska to me is mountains. Post Cruise Regent Tour This was a really good six day tour on an upscale bus, 40 people, and a great tour guide and driver. The bus was super comfy and had a toilet in the back. Usually we had 1.5 to 2.0 hours between sites.. To Girdwood - we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife Center after 1.5 hours. Great facility with big penned brown bear, black bear, elk, cariboue, musk ox, and porkupine. Got to the Alyeska Resort around noon - this is a large, expensive resort open summer and winter. They have a tram that goes up the mountain 2000 feet to a drop off for skiers, a museum, a four star restaurant, and a bar and grill. The rooms were not open around 1pm so we took the no-cost shuttle to The Bread Place and had a great lunch. Coming back, we took the shuttle the long way and saw most of the small, spread out village. At 5pm, we took the cable car to the top of the mountain, saw the museum (worth 30 min) and then had drinks in the bar before the dinner at Seven Glaciers. We did walk around for about 30 min in the wind and light rain looking at the resort, mountains, and ski hills - don't miss this! This restaurant was awesome, wonderful service and food with a view to die for. I'll never forget the clouds swirling up 3000 foot mountains. To the Grand Denali Lodge - up early with miles to go, first stop at Potters March. Nice. Next stop was awesome at Martin Buser's dog kennels - he's a four time Iditerod winner with a large complex to train dogs. He's an extremely personable guy who gave a great presentation on how he breeds and trains dogs. We got to handle six day old puppies! One of our best stops! The Grand Denali is super for Denali, like a good econolodge. Hey, it's Alaska. Park bus into Denali park - OK, you can't drive into Denali, you have to take the bus. We had a choice of the three hour or eight hour. We took the eight hour. A mistake. The bus is a school bus with nice seats but it's a pain to get on and off with a full load. And they are loaded. The scenery was fine, we saw bears three times, but it was too much time spent for little reward. Most of the road is gravel. I can't fault the Park, they need to keep traffic to a minimum. I would suggest the shorter tour. Most of what we saw was high sparse plains - nothing like the lush foiliage you see in the video in the visitors center. Ha! And, the clouds obscured Denali, which happens 60% of the time. Train and bus to Anchorage - we were supposed to take a plane in the am and fly around Denali but the weather cancelled us. Weather had been 50o to 55o most of the time in Alaska, but this day it was 43o, raining, and bitter. After noon, we took the train and bus to Anchorage. The train was great - more mountains and a dome car and good food and drink. And mountains! Transferred to the bus and got into the Anchorage Marriott around 8pm. Our guide suggested a local hangout Humpys - loud, local bar with great food - had the best ever fish and chips with fresh halibut. Last day - took a plane ride with Rust Flying (www.flyrusts.com/flightseeing/) to the Chinitna bay for bear viewing. This cost a bundle but was the highlight of our trip. Four of us (my wife, myself, and an Aussie couple) flew on a modern single engine plane (Australian built Gippsland) 1.5 hours to the bay. Wonderful commentary from Bart the pilot - history, local politics, oil wells, vegetation, and environment. Landed on a gravel beach. Met Marty the proprietor of www.akbearmountainlodge.com/ and her guide Al. We drove with Al on the gravel beach about 15 minutes to a beach/river area. There was a mother bear with a cub and we watched her fish in the river for 45 minutes. We got to within 25 feet of them! We were careful to move gently, keep quiet, and stay together. Doing this, the bears paid us no matter. Then, we watched a group of four bears, three of whom Al thought might be from the same mother. Again, no problems. It did comfort me that Al had a Marlin 45-70 bear rifle slung over his shoulder, just in case. After two hours on that beach, the bears trotted off and we left. Good timing as the weather turned rough and we headed back. Wow! I never thought I would get to within 25 feet of wild bears. Planes in Alaska - they are like Uber there. Lots of places cannot be reached except by plane, mostly float planes. In Anchorage, don't miss the Lake Hood floatplane base - there are literally thousands of plance there - biggest in the world - and a nice museum. Rust is the largest operator. Don't be afraid to take these planes - they know what they are doing. As long as you are going all the way to Alaska, spend the $$$ and take a flight. OK, the shops. Lots of ALASKA branded stuff for sale. We are mostly beyond this, unless we find something really special. I bought a hat from the Raptor Center and a shirt from Rust and Kathy bought two shirts. Most of the soeuvenir stuff we saw was much better than you would see in most resort towns. Read Less

We'd previously cruised the RSSC Alaska route on the Navigator Ship and choose to do the cruise again with friends but this time it was the Mariners route. The Mariner is almost double the size but very similar in the overall treatment of and services for guests. Billed as the first all-suite ship, Mariner is certainly a lovely ship. Granted, it's gracious but dated interior was due for a make-over in dry-dock in April 2017 but was postponed until April 2018. We're sure the renovations will be stunning. Public areas are never crowed (even during disembarkation at ports). There are numerous spaces for couples or groups to gather both inside and outside. The boutique shops are small, few and feel more like souvenir shops than the more specialized and higher-end shops on the Navigator. All the rooms are very spacious with generous balconies. Our suite, Horizon, was at the back of the ship and was very comfortable with a huge balcony. Our Butler, Ryan, was the true gem of our cruise and seemed to raise everything up a level or two every time we turned around. We found dinner in the restaurants (general and specialty) less than enjoyable with sporadic service and mediocre food. However, we enjoyed private dinners on our deck or in the room three times and the food always seemed much better, hotter/colder as appropriate and very timely. In fact, we accused Ryan of having a camera in room because he would magically appear to clear dishes or serve the next course just as the last of our group set down their fork. One area we suggest they examine is the liquor set-up. My husband asked for Scotch and Cognac and I asked for Grand Marnier. The bottles were HUGE and between us and our friends next door, we only managed to drink half of the scotch and only a portion of the cognac. Maybe smaller bottles would be a good idea and we could ask for more if needed. Of course the private wine selection was very good (although they were out or limited on several) and they happily ensured our bottles were chilled or breathing in time for our afternoon canapes. Our roomkeepers, Sri and Sachin, were very pleasant, thorough and seemingly refreshed the room each time we stepped out. They even got a chuckle doing our turn-down service watching Ryan juggle the dishes, wine, and our constant questions. Kristina and Kassy in the Horizon bar were stellar and worked like a well-oiled machine. We would sit in amazement watching them handle the rush of guests arriving after the shows ended. Kristina directed traffic, guided staff and mixed drinks and made guests feel welcome all at the same time. Kassy just churned out drinks, smiling all the while. The pool is saltwater and heated and the three hot tubs were uncrowded and always steaming. There were several children on the cruise and they seemed to enjoy the pool throughout the cruise, even on the coldest days! The excursions were very good and, unlike our first Alaska cruise, were all conducted. Some reviewers criticize RSSC for cancelled excursions but in fairness, it's Alaska and weather is variable by the hour and unless RSSC has more power than I know, they can't do anything to change it. Even tho our excursions were all held, the ice was too thick to go close to the Hubbard Glacier so instead of the fabulous up-close view we had on our first cruise, we only saw it in the distance on this one. Our Captain, a lady (woot woot), seemed to set a pace in the ship that was just a bit too fast. We were always early in port, leaving exactly at the departure time each day. This seems to run over to general staff too in that they always seemed to be rushed but not rude and in a hurry to deal with you and go on. In fact, we had to ask them to slow down our meals at the specialty restaurants so our "relaxing meal" could last more than 45 minutes! It's hard to feed 700 people and please them in all areas. Maybe a higher level food experience for us foodies would be a good addition to the services provided. Regent may look more expensive than other cruises but when you factor in everything you get - airfare, meals, drinks, excursions, entertainment, etc. - it's definitely a good value cruise. In summary, yes the ship needs updating but overall it's still a lovely ship. Sort of like your grandmothers house: fine details, a little rough around the edge but loaded with history, love, care and the desire to see you again. Read Less

This was our first cruise and it lived up to some expectations and disappointed in others. The ship was great in terms of restaurants and bars, and the quality of the food and wine was also good. The wines were well selected and while not top shelf, were tasty. The food in Prime Seven and Signatures was excellent ( preferred Signatures). Poolside was just that. Compass Rose was a disaster, waiting up to an hour for an entree and then getting it like warm and incomplete. The kitchen head should be relieved of duty. Waiters and bartenders were consistently friendly and helpful, but the sommeliers were just plain ignorant of what they were serving. (e.g. I asked what kind of port they had and was told red from Portugal). If you enjoy working out be ready for antiquated equipment. The spin bikes were broken and at least ten years old, and the number of classes could be increased. Technologically this ship is an unmitigated disaster. Both phone and internet connections were sporadic at best, and very slow when they did work. The TV service is very limited and the movie choice dated and skimpy. There is no music service. This lack of technology sensitivity is reflected all the way to the website which is tough to navigate and could offer so much more. The excursions were a lot of fun, and even the make ups where weather got in the way of flights were terrific. Bottom line is that I am not a great fan but the trip was good and worthwhile Read Less

First cruise on Regent Seven Seas. Heard good things and had high expectations. Ship is "tired" and showing wear. Hanging artwork a joke. SPA was crowded. Food was good but not exceptional. Service was only average in restaurants, staff not well trained. Had to stack plates on table before they would remove them. Internet was bad to nonexistent. Excursions (included) were okay, but weather made some unenjoyable. Wine and drinks were included but wine selection was quite limited. Shows were okay but only four nights. Should remove a chair from suit to give more room to move around. Bathroom and walkin closet had enough room. Bed was comfortable. Maid service was good. Even found me large slippers. For Regent, there were lots of families with kids, about 90 people under 21. Not much to do on cruise days except eat and drink. No cooking demos or tour of ship's operations. Never got close to Hubbard Glacier. Two excursions to see whales were disappointing. Long ride from Seward disembarkation port to Anchorage. Vancouver Four Seasons hotel was nice. Read Less

Overall met or exceeded expectations. First time on Regent. PRO: check in/out was efficient (got in room before 2PM otherwise you hang out on board after boarding after noon), room very good and butler was excellent, food was very good, restaurants very good, excursions well executed, wife said spa was as good as any she goes to, pool area in good shape , staff attentive for the most part, entertainment that we saw was good. Ports of call did not seem crowded although in more than one stop there were 2-3 cruise boats docked. Boat was very stable on seas when in open water (there are some stretches when not inside the passage) with at most 3-4 meter waves, CON: Gym was crowded in the equipment area. Pool area needs staff attention (on one sunny fairly warm day in port when folks were at pool waiting to depart somebody needed to walk around to offer drinks, pick up empty glasses. I used pool and hot tub.). Make sure to schedule spa BEFORE sailing. It was totally booked during some stretches. All must be out of room by 7:30AM in Seward. This was expected. Rented car in Seward by the dock and drove to Anchorage through state park. Many picture and glacier stops and lunch stop along way. Excellent. Alternative was a Regent scheduled bus ride direct to airport. We were unable to see Hubbard Glacier on cruse boat due to fog. Fortunately we took Tracy Arm excursion before that and snuggled up to the glacier there. Also saw whales on that excursion. Read Less

This was our first time on Mariner, but we have sailed on the RSSC Navigator and Explorer. We are booked on the Voyager for December. This 7 day cruise was our first to Alaska, cruising Vancouver to Vancouver. One on-board, we asked about a possible upgrade from our rather small concierge suite #871. For $1,000 additional, we moved to PH suite 905. It was money well spent. In addition to the significantly larger space, we enjoyed the services of our wonderful butler, Manu. The original plan was for 3 ports, Ketichikan, Juneau, and Victoria. Both Ketichikan and Juneau proved disappointing as they seemed to be real tourist traps with endless jewelry stores and shops selling Alaska souvenirs. Our float plane bear watching trip to Prince of Wales Island was terrific, but it should be for the $420 per person extra we paid. Our free whale watching adventure in Juneau was hosted by an excellent crew who certainly could not be held responsible for the 45 degree windy day. In our minds, the highlight of the trip would be the glaciers to be found in sailing the Tracey Arm. Of course, it was cancelled due to ice blocking the entrance. We never saw any ice on the entire trip. After this disappointment, we really looked forward to our day in Victoria after 2 really boring days. As luck would have it, this port was cancelled due to high winds. In total, 2 boring tourist trap ports and 4.5 boring days at sea. As usual, the crew and service team members were excellent; however, the food service in Compass Rose was extremely slow, especially at breakfast. It was not the fault of the servers, but rather the time it took for the kitchen to receive the orders, process them, and then deliver the food to the correct floor of the ship. This needs to be improved as the late arriving food was often room temp. Food was good, but not excellent. Lamb chops and veal, both ordered medium rare, arrived medium at best. The house wines were acceptable and some days, even very good. The extra price wine list had some great choices; however, wines that we purchased on the Explorer in August were now priced $50 higher than just 9 months ago. That excessive price increase for the same wines stopped us from making at least 3 or 4 purchases. As mentioned, we will be back in December but we certainly hope our 12 day trip on Voyager is an improvement. Otherwise, we may need to find a new cruise line. The internet was free but spotty and extremely slow. I hope they can improve this. Read Less

We had a beautiful suite and our butler was fantastic. Food and wine selection were not great but the waiters were very attentive. Some of the buffet lunches were pretty bad as far as food quality and taste. Service on the ship overall was good. They had to cancel one port due to wind so there were too many days at sea. Not their fault but it was not great to be on the ship for two days in a row. Excursions were pretty good but a little pricey. We didn't see any bears or much wildlife which is sometimes the case for June but people were disappointed none the less. Ship size was good, it felt smaller than it actually was. Public areas were clean and fairly updated. Breakfast started at 7:30 am which was late for us. Room service was available for earlier breakfast in your cabin if needed. Overall a pretty decent cruise but a little overpriced for the food that is served. Read Less

We wanted a relaxing cruise with a luxury cruise line and the opportunity to explore a portion of Alaska while enjoying fantastic scenery. We were not disappointed. The embarkation and disembarkation were incredibly well organized. Our penthouse suite (1014) and our butler (Irfan) were simply fabulous. The room was quite spacious with a wonderful balcony. The amenities were first rate and every detail seemed to be taken care (high end toiletries, walk in closet, binoculars etc). We eventually visited every dining venue on the ship. Prime 7 (steakhouse) and Signatures (French) both required reservations. Some reservations were made ahead of time and some during the cruise. Both restaurants were fabulous. Food was very above average...not necessarily the best I've ever had in my life, but definitely 5-star! We often considered upgrading to a higher end wine (for a price) but time and time again realized that the included wines (too many to list but excellent Chardonnay, Gavi di Gavi, Bordeaux, Chianti Reserve etc) were simply fantastic already. We enjoyed the numerous bars, lounges etc. A few times they got a bit busy, but we were able to get a drink by approaching the bar staff or going to the bar...in general though the bar staff did a fabulous job. We thought the shows (magician, dancers, singers) were simply awesome. The food choices and drink opportunities were endless and we never really found ourselves disappointed with any of the options. In Ketchikan we did the lumberjack show excursion. It was entertaining and quite funny. I'm glad it was free however. We also did the Cruise/crab feast excursion in Ketchikan. We were able to see bald eagles up close and eat more crab legs than we ever had in our lives. All part of the free excursion. In Juneau we did two separate excursions. The first was the complimentary glacier visit. We had 1 1/2 at the glacier which was enough time to hike to the waterfall (highly recommended). A single hour at the falls isn't enough time to accomplish this. Our second excursion was the $169 (?) whale watching in the evening. We choice this because it allowed us to do two unrushed excursions. The company that did this excursion was excellent. Professional and interesting with some food and drink provided. There were two disappointments with this particular cruise. 1. We couldn't cruise Tracy Arm due to the presence of ice burgs. Though another scenic "fjord" was selected instead. 2. We couldnt dock at Victoria due to high winds. Though disappointing, I saw both of these decisions as safety related and thus didn't "downgrade" Regent accordingly. We did this cruise with two other older (mid to late 50s) couples. We all generally agreed that the cruise was everything we could have wanted or hoped for. Negative comments related to petty things here and there but never rose to the level of disappointment for our experience as a whole. We are currently looking for another Regent Seven Seas cruise as we enjoyed this cruise line that much. I would definitely recommend them to my friends. Read Less

We just returned from our cruise on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner to Alaska, from Vancouver - Seward, sailing May 21-31, 2017. This was our first Regent Cruise and our last. We are experienced travelers, we dine out 3 - 4 times per week, and I am a trained chef. We most recently cruised with Crystal in October 2016. The ship was beautifully appointed and our suite was wonderful. The crew in general was friendly, but they seemed unorganized and not well trained. Our room was generally not made up until mid-afternoon. While we took advantage of many excursions, this only became an issue on the days spent at sea. The primary reason I would not sail again with Regent is the poor dining room experience. We managed to try most of the dining options, including the Compass Rose, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the Coffee Connection throughout the day, the Veranda for breakfast and lunch, the pool side buffet for Lunch, Sette Maria ,Signatures and Prime 7 for dinner. In general the quality of the food was only fair to good, and the selection about the same. Most disappointing was the cut of steaks being so thin, that it was impossible to receive anything but a medium well temperature. Rare was not an option. The second most disappointing issue with the food was the fact that on an Alaska Cruise, one could order Alaskan King Crab legs only once in seven days, and only at Prime 7. Big disappointment. And no Baked Alaska either. My friends who travel the other spectrum on Celebrity were scoffing at this. Even the selection and quality of breads and pastries at breakfast were meager. The service in the dining room was worse than the food. At breakfast buffet, juice was not offered at the tables. A coffee refill required one to be lucky enough to gain the attention of a server. The omlette station cook would touch his face and hair with the same hands (with glove on) that he used to cook and serve. I was served pancakes that were not cooked through. At a pool side Indian Buffet I was served cold food from the chafing dishes, and raw chicken from the grill. At dinner, I requested a Riesling White Wine, but when the sommelier would refill the glass, he would pour in the evening’s selection of a Chardonnay. I guess they are both white, so close enough. Likewise with the water. I would order Pelligrino, and get refills of ice water. I would request lemon and lime wedges with the water, and always had to ask twice. If a baked potato was ordered, I was not offered accoutrements. I would have to ask for butter or sour cream. The same when lobster tails or scallops were ordered. Where was the clarified butter? Coffee refills with dessert required the same looking for the server. As was a replacement for a dropped piece of silverware. By observation, most of the staff was untrained, did not learn how to work as a team, there was no Captain or Floor manager keeping eyes on the operation, and in general no one seemed to care. I did request to speak with the Restaurant Manager, who finally made an effort to talk to me, but only after our farewell dinner. His excuse was that this was early in the season, and the crew needed time to work together. This is not the Maiden Voyage of the Mariner, and I did not get a discounted rate for being on a training cruise for the staff. My last complaint was that my suitcase was damaged in the transfer to the ship from the pre-night in Vancouver at the Four Seasons Hotel. I reported this to reception before we set sail. I was told they would make an attempt to repair it for me in the carpentry shop. On the sixth night, I was told it could not be repaired. If made aware sooner, I could have purchased a replacement in a port, or had one shipped ahead of time to meet me in the next port. Instead, I was told I would receive a ship board credit to my account. At disembarkation, my final statement was not ready, and the credit was not applied. I did manage to get a $200 credit before I left the ship. Again, this is an indication of poor training and lack of supervision. I honestly must say, that passenger experiences on discount cruise ships have an overall more enjoyable experience than we did on Regent. PS: I had contacted the cruise line after this vacation. I received the usual corporate line, we are sorry you had some complaints, and we will strive to do better on your next cruise with us. They did not even offer a discount if we would sail again with them and give them a second chance. Read Less

The positive - Food was generally quite good. Specialty restaurants well above average. Rooms were slightly worn but spacious. Alaska post-tour Denali was well organized. The negative - Original bill (final payment before the trip) was incorrect. It required at least 10 calls to straighten out. Many people onboard had the same experience as I did with excursion services. Although we had paid and were confirmed for tours in advance, over and over those tour times were rescheduled coincide, forcing cancellation of many anticipated tours. While it is understandable for this to happen occasionally, the number of times it occurred and the number of people it involved led us to conclude that this was either done on purpose (to save Regent from paying for large numbers of people on the included tours) or the excursion staff is totally incompetent. Each day we were promised our refund for the extra charge tour we had booked that needed to be canceled would be credited that day. We were forced to waste endless time daily telling them it had not been received and requesting it again. We finally received it on the last day. We did not receive the $100 shipboard credit we had been promised. We were forced to call Regent booking and finally received it the last day. We had paid for transportation to the ship only to find our names were not on the list. When booking, we were promised free wifi for one account. That was not to be. While there were some good things about the ship, I could not recommend it, and I would not return to Regent. Read Less