Mariner, December 29th to January 5th

[forevertravel]

We disembarked the Mariner on January 5th after a wonderful NYE cruise. The Mariner was as nice as last time we were on her Nov-Dec 2016 Cape Town to Cape Town. First of all, several of our favs were on it. It was nice to reconnect and see familiar faces. Cruising with Regent is always like cruising with family. The food was very good, the ship looked fine (I don't know about those "dated" comments I've read). Carpets were clean, furniture was OK, and the best part was the crew and service. The entertainment was good and Lorraine did a fabulous job keeping us entertained. The New Year's Eve party was fabulous. Very festive and fun. We cruised for first time with Captain Palm. He was very nice and a good captain. The sailing was very smooth. Weather was very nice until Key West, our last port. The weather was cold and windy. The only negative were during embarkation and disembarkation. They had nothing to do with Regent since Regent's hands were tied. Usually Regent staff takes care of embarkation. Many times they are the entertainment group. Since this was Miami, an outside group was taking care of the registration First they were going to start registration at 11am, then 11:30, finally noon. We had no issues and it went fast (we had a good person), however, others complained of mistakes. We had signed up to disembark at 8:10am. Well, Miami is an union port and only union workers can unload the vessel. Once again, they took their time and finally finished unloading luggage at 9am. We couldn't leave the ship until all luggage was unloaded. There was nothing Regent could do. All in all it was a wonderful cruise. We booked the Mariner for December 2019 Rio to Miami. We want to sail the Amazon. Feb 2019 we'll do S America so 2019 is our S America year. For those of you who boarded in Miami, have a wonderful cruise.

[ellbon]

Sounds like Dec 2019 is the make up,cruise for February 2018. All 51 one of us would prefer to get off in easynMia than awful,Rio. Plus deal with Rio,airport.

[Travelcat2]

Sounds like Dec 2019 is the make up,cruise for February 2018. All 51 one of us would prefer to get off in easynMia than awful,Rio. Plus deal with Rio,airport.

 

Not sure about a make-up cruise but we also would prefer getting off the ship anywhere other than Rio!!!!!

[forevertravel]

We are getting on in Rio and disembarking in Miami. We have never been to Rio and I don't hear any good things about it. That said, I want to see Corcovado and other sights in Rio. We are taking the Regent pre-cruise tour. I figure Regent will take care of us.

[Travelcat2]

We are getting on in Rio and disembarking in Miami. We have never been to Rio and I don't hear any good things about it. That said, I want to see Corcovado and other sights in Rio. We are taking the Regent pre-cruise tour. I figure Regent will take care of us.

 

The sites in Rio are definitely worth seeing - it is just the crime in Rio that is horrible.

 

Just listen to Regent's warnings about not wearing jewelry - not even wedding rings (which can be difficult during the time before you board the ship as you have no where to put them and your hotel safe isn't really safe). You will likely be fine when you are with Regent but be super careful during the times on your own.

 

I purchased a leg pouch that held our passports and credit cards when we disembarked from the ship and didn't have a flight until the evening.

 

Just be careful and don't let people tell you that there is crime in all big cities as a way of explaining away the problems in Rio. The difference between the crime in Rio and Barcelona, for instance, (I believe Barcelona is the #1 pick pocketing city in the world) is that in Barcelona they will sneakily take your belongings without hurting you but in Rio they rip a necklace off of your neck - could knock you to the ground to get your watch or you could be injured when they slice your shoulder handbag off of your shoulder.