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SS Mariner r/t Cape Town Nov 24- Dec 09, 2015 review from a Regent Newbie

teemsum

By teemsum,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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newlondon: Looking forward to reading your review. We did enjoy our tour of the Nautica - really a lovely ship. IMO, it doesn't matter what my reaction is -- it is your experience that counts and it sounds like it was a lovely cruise. On the Riviera, we did not like the MDR but had no problem with the specialty restaurants -- they were good to excellent. The service on Oceania is great -- we simply have a preference for Regent. Do you do a safari?

 

John, I do remember meeting and chatting with you. It is good to hear that you will return to Regent. You seem to have the same attitude on board that we do. Nothing is perfect and if something isn't exactly what you want, it is easy enough to change it I'll have to remember your phrase about some people look for "fly poop in pepper":D

 

In terms of Easter on board, if you are at port, Regent will give addresses for the nearest churches. The time of the year that you will be sailing is perfect (in my humble opinion).

 

Agree about the long walk from the aft suites. When we were on the Riviera (significantly larger than the Mariner) we had a forward suite. This was before my knee replacement and I had one heck of a time walking from one end of the ship to the other. I like your idea of staying longer in the Observation Lounge to rest up for the trip back to the suite!

 

Stay well!

 

Jackie

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forevertravel

forevertravel

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It's nice you took the time to review your cruise. I was on that cruise and my experience was totally different. Now, I'm a regular Regent cruiser and we love Regent. We thought the cruise was awesome and I've never experienced the problems you had (not getting the white wine you wanted or non-alcoholic wine). We have always found the food and wine excellent and they were on this cruise. I'm sorry Regent was not to your liking but we all have different tastes. Fortunately for all of those there are plenty of cruise lines to choose from. Good luck on your future cruises.

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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Hi Jacquie, We did do a safari at Kapama River Lodge which had a substantial number of Mariner cruisers. It was fantastic--although hot. FYI I reviewed it on TA.

 

So happy to hear that you enjoyed the safari - so did we. I am looking for your review and can't fihd it. Any hints as to where it is?

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JohnM65

JohnM65

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newlondon:

 

I'll have to remember your phrase about some people look for "fly poop in pepper":D

In terms of Easter on board, if you are at port, Regent will give addresses for the nearest churches. The time of the year that you will be sailing is perfect (in my humble opinion).

Agree about the long walk from the aft suites. When we were on the Riviera (significantly larger than the Mariner) we had a forward suite. This was before my knee replacement and I had one heck of a time walking from one end of the ship to the other. I like your idea of staying longer in the Observation Lounge to rest up for the trip back to the suite!

Stay well!

Jackie

 

Thank you Jackie If you liked my fly analogy my father had another Italian saying: "To wash the head of a donkey is a waste of soap and water".

It seems CC does not like the term Jack... :(

Easter 2017 we would be at sea and yes they do provide church address and service times.

And, you and your DH stay well!

John

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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Thank you Jackie If you liked my fly analogy my father had another Italian saying: "To wash the head of a donkey is a waste of soap and water".

It seems CC does not like the term Jack... :(

Easter 2017 we would be at sea and yes they do provide church address and service times.

And, you and your DH stay well!

John

 

That is soooooo funny!

 

newlondon - will try to find your post.

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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newlondon and cAPS lOCK oN, thanks for your responses. I will check TripAdvisor later but did check out the reviews on the Nautica.

 

newlondon, as you know, three out of the four reviews of your cruise were fairly negative. I ignored one review as anyone that books a cruise to Africa and complains about poverty did not do their homework and perhaps should not have booked the cruise.

 

As you know, I toured the Nautica and thought that the decor is lovely. It is very different from the Riviera and Marina which is quite different than the Regent. While I am happy that you enjoyed yourselves so much, you do realize that the benefits you received are only available in top suites on Oceania since they are "class" oriented. We stayed in both a PH suite on the Riviera and a "Vista" suite (second from the top suite). The Vista suite on Oceania is massive - even has a small workout room. When you stay in a Vista or Owners Suite on the Riviera, you can dine in whichever restaurant you want every night. However, this is not the case for most of the other suites on the ships. I believe that in a PH suite you get two reservations in each specialty restaurant. If we had to dine in the MDR or the Terrace Cafe at night we would be most unhappy.

 

The most surprising thing that you posted was that the food in the MDR was good. Previously, this dining venue has had a negative reputation so it is nice to hear that things have improved. To be honest, we do not like the Terrace Cafe for any meal but do sit there to enjoy food from Waves for lunch.

 

As long as you and your DW are happy - it really doesn't matter if your preferences and our do not match. We are happy with Regent and look forward to our Explorer cruises.

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newlondon

newlondon

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Totally aware of all you posted, Jacquie. Very surprised about the negative reviews, but one can let little things spoil a trip or not.

Was not aware, however, of MDR reputation. We loved it and it was one of the main reasons we booked next cruise on O rather than RSSC. You may remember my expounding on how poor the food on Voyager was SYD/HK 2+ years ago. This is my comparison.

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Hambagahle

Hambagahle

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... While I am happy that you enjoyed yourselves so much, you do realize that the benefits you received are only available in top suites on Oceania since they are "class" oriented. We stayed in both a PH suite on the Riviera and a "Vista" suite (second from the top suite). The Vista suite on Oceania is massive - even has a small workout room. When you stay in a Vista or Owners Suite on the Riviera, you can dine in whichever restaurant you want every night. However, this is not the case for most of the other suites on the ships. I believe that in a PH suite you get two reservations in each specialty restaurant. If we had to dine in the MDR or the Terrace Cafe at night we would be most unhappy...

 

On Oceania passengers in Owners, Vista and Oceania suites get 2 reservations in each speciality restaurant on a 10-14night cruise. 1 on shorter cruises and 3 on longer ones. I have been in the Owners Suite on Riviera and an Oceania Suite also on Riviera. When we were in the Owners Suite our butler (Sandeep, Head Butler) told us on arrival that we could eat in any restaurant any evening and just had to tell him in the morning what we wanted to do. He actually had "filled our dance card" so to speak before we got there by adding extra speciality restaurant reservations. We changed some of these because we very much like the main dining room - we think the food and service there is just fine - and we also like the Terrace Café for dinner (or lunch or breakfast...)

 

PH suites on Oceania get 1 dining reservation - not 2 or more.

 

Personally I am very very impressed with both food and service on Oceania and on my last Regent cruise was very un-impressed. However things change over time and I haven't been on Regent since 2012. So I won't comment on it now. All I can say is that we were thrilled with just about all our meals last April on Riviera. The only restaurant that I really do not like is Toscana. And that I think is a very personal problem - we live less than an hour from Italy and Italian food isn't very special to me unless it is really great - like in some restaurants in Milan and Turin for a start...

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Travelcat2

Travelcat2

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Totally aware of all you posted, Jacquie. Very surprised about the negative reviews, but one can let little things spoil a trip or not.

Was not aware, however, of MDR reputation. We loved it and it was one of the main reasons we booked next cruise on O rather than RSSC. You may remember my expounding on how poor the food on Voyager was SYD/HK 2+ years ago. This is my comparison.

 

My initial views regarding the MDR on Oceania came from reading the Oceania board for a while a couple of years ago. There were numerous complaints about the dining venue and reports that the food was going to be upgraded. When we were onboard the first time, we had lunch there - it was not good so we did not return (which isn't giving it a fair shake). On the second cruise we had breakfast there because we do not like the Terrace Café. However, as I have said repeatedly, we really enjoy the specialty restaurants. As long as we can dine there every night, we are happy!

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