Live from RSSC Mariner - Rio to Barcelona

Me too! Time to start packing.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Me too! Time to start packing.

 

 

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Ditto! We are also on the TA:D

Welcome to Malaga. We can see you from our hotel and well done on bringing the sunshine with you. Shame you didn’t arrive yesterday as it was awful weather and we would have relished some sun.

Have fun.

Rp

I'll make it third. ;)

 

Love to hear more about the cruise if you have time to share. Thanks.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner... we were having such a fabulous time and the internet was a little slow.

Disembarked in Barcelona this morning. Everyone had to be off the ship by 8:30 a.m. as they were leaving directly for Marseilles and the refurbishment.

I think a lot of the crew are staying for the refurbishment and beyond. Paul Reynolds was the cruise director and John was the assistant cruise director. They did a great job and I really enjoyed sailing with them.

Juno56, I too would love to hear more about your cruise. We board following refurbishment and would particularly like to find out which crew are onboard currently and staying on for the Transatlantic back to the States. Thanks for any info you can share.

The cruise was fabulous! We docked in Barcelona this morning. Paul Reynolds was the cruise director and John was the assistant cruise director. They did a great job! Captain Serena was very present during our cruise; I saw her on the pool deck, in the buffet, Compass Rose, etc. Not sure exactly who will be on the transatlantic after the refurbishment, but I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

Thank you Juno56 for sharing! So glad you had a great trip!!

We did have great weather during the trip even with an almost 20 degrees difference between Rio and Barcelona. We did not feel unsafe in Rio. The thing to be aware of is walking along the Copacabana and having someone squirt mustard on your shoes and then passing it off as bird poo and then asking if they can clean your shoes, in order to make money. This happened to several people on this trip, but the worst was when one of the cruisers actually had dog poop squirted onto his shoes. He was told that people are scooping it up at dog parks and putting it in squirt guns. So beware. The trip was very good and Regent did a great job as usual. We met some lovely people while on board and in particular some really great cruise critic posters--you know who you are. We were amazed to learn that the Mariner will be refurbished both inside and outside, all within 21 days. The day we disembarked, there was already evidence of the crew clearing out the ship--all books, games, dvds were removed from the library by 7:00am!

Here I sit, at home, Sunday morning after getting home around midnight last night from this amazing trip. We spent 3 full days in Barca after this 17 day trans Atlantic.

Phillygirl, Carnevale and others, it was really nice to meet you and your husbands! So nice to get to know you all.

This was our first Regent experience and we (my wife and I) certainly hope not the last. While Mariner certainly showed some signs of wear, she was more than acceptable, and the staff was beyond reproach.

From the comments I read on CC leading up to this cruise, my expectations for dining was very high, and I was not disappointed, with one exception. Compass Rose was great, both food and service. We went to Signatures once and had a lovely meal, again, both food quality and service. Two meals in Sette Mare were very good, loved their lamb chops, and La Veranda was our go to lunch spot, usually getting individually prepared pasta.

Maybe my expectations for Prime 7 were to high based upon my pre cruise research but to be very honest, we were disappointed. We went there on day 5 of the cruise, I had a special they were offering, two strip steaks, one American and one Argentinian. The steaks were maybe 1/2 inch thick, I asked for mid rare and both were well done, no pink at all. I did send them back and the second try, they got the temp right but the steaks were average tasting at best and the Argentinian one was tough.

My wife got the surf and turf, a filet and 6oz serving of king crab legs. Her steak was pretty much without any seasoning and pretty tasteless and the crab legs were not much better. Throw in having to ask repeatedly for water and wine refills and it was not a good experience.

Interestingly, the next day, we ran into Jamal, the Maitre de of Prime 7, and he asked us how our experience was. We delicately told him the it was less than we expected and he begged us to come back and let him try again for us. Of course we agreed and went back the next day. They got the the steak temperatures right but we were still not overly impressed with the flavors.

Who knows, maybe it was just us..... We loved the food on this ship and the service was off the charts!

For someone new to Regent, you did exactly the right thing by speaking with Jamal (we have sailed with him many times and really like him). Hopefully other Regent posters will learn from your experience (even though the steak was still to up to what you expected). If passengers do not nicely speak up, there is no way to know when something is not right.

Prime 7 (or P7 as some of us call it) does have ups and down and is not our favorite dining venue. We asked ("gently") to have food redone a few times - on various Regent ships. I understand that they cannot prepare steaks on the ship as they do at home since they cannot have an open flame but the meal should be flavored correctly.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your experience on the Mariner and hope that you will return to Regent again (perhaps try the Explorer - it is amazing!)

Does anyone remember the last name of the ship's doctor on the Rio to Barcelona cruise (2/25 - 3/14/18)? I would like to get in touch with his wife, Christine. His first name was Ralph.

Juno56: Sorry it took a while, but unfortunately, my husband had to visit the infirmary during the Rio-Barcelona trip. We just looked up the doctor's name from the paper work that he provided. He was excellent. His name is Ralph Carungi. Hope this helps.

Juno56: Sorry it took a while, but unfortunately, my husband had to visit the infirmary during the Rio-Barcelona trip. We just looked up the doctor's name from the paper work that he provided. He was excellent. His name is Ralph Carungi. Hope this helps.

Thanks, Phillygirl3!

frankdp, my husband and I raise Angus beef. If you have to put seasoning on a steak for it to taste good, it is not a good steak. A good steak should taste great with nothing more than a little salt. And Argentinean beef is always tough and stringy IMO, at least what I have had.

That said, we have a love hate relationship with Prime 7. We have had some great meals and great steaks there, but also some major failures. These days, with the always available menu in Compass Rose, we have found the filets and lobster there to be better than Prime 7.

frankdp, my husband and I raise Angus beef. If you have to put seasoning on a steak for it to taste good, it is not a good steak. A good steak should taste great with nothing more than a little salt. And Argentinean beef is always tough and stringy IMO, at least what I have had.

That said, we have a love hate relationship with Prime 7. We have had some great meals and great steaks there, but also some major failures. These days, with the always available menu in Compass Rose, we have found the filets and lobster there to be better than Prime 7.[/quote

 

 

Thanks Rachel, you pretty much made my point. The steaks, after the first attempt were pretty close to the doneness we asked for but were quite flavorless. Dry aged beef should explode with flavor, these did not.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. We loved this cruise and by and large the food was excellent. We had two very good meals in Sette Mare and another in Signatures, but our favorite place for dinner was Compass Rose. Amazing menu, tremendous service!