CJANDH

We are booked in a Cocoon Residence in March. Anyone tried one yet? How was it? Bit concerned about the noise from the pool area right below the balcony.

Agree.

I am not sure what that means. Is John Ekin still on board as Cruise Director? Do Jamie and Dana report to him?

Things are definitely changing . . . for the good. We are booked on the March 8 sailing from Miami and have already received our Journey E-Ticket, including Boarding Pass, Luggage Tags, Health Questionnaire, along with a summary of our itinerary and directions to the port. A pretty comprehensive package well ahead of when I would have expected it.

I tend to agree with you on this. It is not just the reduced crew it is also the lower standards of maintenance. We were in a Grand Suite and the condition of the furnishings and the stained carpets were well below the standard I would expect from a 6 star cruise line. I feel sorry for the person who has booked this suite for the world cruise. I would have thought that a suite of this cost would have at least been recarpeted and had new chairs and sofa. Instead they seem to be waiting for the dry dock nearly two years from now. When I discussed it with the Hotel Manager he agreed that the Grand Suites need to be completely redesigned. But that the dry dock in November 2025 was when it would happen.

I called as suggested. Very smooth experience. Polite young lady booked my dining in the two specialty restaurants on the days I wanted and at the time I wanted. She then explained that I could ask my Butler to get me extra reservations if I wanted them once on board. Good customer service from head office. I am looking forward to my cruise even more now.

Thanks.

Who do I call? Should I do it through my TA?

Can anyone help me understand how to make dining reservations for my upcoming cruise in March. I have an account and the web page correctly shows my booking details. But I cannot get the links to "onboard activities" , "special requests" and "destination experiences" to work. They don't seem to be actual links. I am booked in a residence suite that states I have priority for dining reservations. Is there something I am missing?

We are in Miami waiting to disembark. Now that is also a problem. The port authorities have decided that all luggage must be transferred to the terminal before any passengers can disembark and that the ship's crew cannot move the luggage to the terminal. Only port employees can do it. This seems to be a new rule that our CD did not know about. So far it has delayed the start of disembarkation by at least an hour. Folk with early flights are going to be getting nervous. I hate to think what this rule will mean if applied to a 5,000 pax ship!!!

I am eager to hear how the top suites on EJ compare to Silversea and Regent. I heard that one of the Cocoon Residences had some noise issues early on. They look great; but I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

You are lucky. We are in a Grand Suite and it is far from being in great shape. The carpets are worn and stained and the soft furnishings are really showing their age.

It is showing its age and needs a refurbishment now; not in November 2025.

Agree. And what happened to Ross? He came on board and then disappeared.

This year Mariner had "formal optional" on the Captain's welcome and will again for the Captain's farewell. Completely missed the opportunity to switch them to Christmas and New Year's Eve. But many people took matters in their own hands and dressed up for these gala dinner nights. It made the evenings special to see so many glamorous people.

We too scheduled our tour on the 24th to the Pink Dolphins and it was great fun. We also knew when booking that we would spend Christmas Day in Manaus; but we were not prepared for such a filthy port with trash floating by the ship all day.

I agree with the positive comments on food and staff but I do think that the cruise has not been up to Regent's standards. Apart from the already posted comments on the entertainment, one other planning issue that can be clearly put on a desk in Miami was the decision to spend Christmas with an overnight in Manaus. On Christmas day the city was like a ghost town. Nothing was open and the streets were filthy with litter. A sea day with lots of onboard activities would have been much better, with a visit to Manaus on a day when there was something to do other than drive around empty streets.

We did share.

Too many guests or too few dining venues? Dinner last night was a zoo. At 7:30 there was a 45 minute wait for Sette Mari and a 30 minute wait for Compass Rose. When we were eventually seated in CR, the service was slow and the wait staff seemed stressed. With a full ship, the two open, non-specialty dining venues are inadequate. Regent should consider opening the pool grill in the evenings as Silversea does with Hot Rocks and their Pizza restaurant. It is Christmas dinner tomorrow and I wonder how they will cope with the whole ship wanting a turkey dinner. CR is opening early at 6:00. That might allow for extra sittings.They are also offering the Christmas menu in Chartreuse and Prime 7. But most pax do not have the option of dining there. We shall see.

Who is Ross?

The Band-Aid the engineer put on our pipe seems to be holding. No problems since the fix.

Interesting. 1101 and 1103 were both "out" this morning and the engineer said it was that whole row of suites down the starboard side. Maybe he exaggerated. Anyway, fingers crossed that it is fixed and was a one off problem with an aging ship. Still having fun 😄.

She needs to go in sooner than that. The toilet issue has returned today. Much of deck 11 was without the ability to flush for several hours this morning as the vacuum system failed. It is working again now; but for how long?

More toilet problems!!! This morning at least half of deck 11 has no toilets working. The engineers working on it are saying it is the vacuum system that is down. Mariner is not ready for a world cruise!

I have not heard any toilet complaints so far. Cruise is going well but a bit too many sea days for me.