Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

PART#2 CRUISING IN THE SS MARINER FROM TOKYO TO VANCOUVER

ronrick1943

By ronrick1943,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

ronrick1943 "Live from...." Rare

ronrick1943

Posted
Posted

PART #2 CRUISING ON THE SS MARINER FROM TOKYO TO VANCOUVER

 

 RON & RICK ARE ABOUT TO BOARD THE SS MARINER

Yes the land part of this trip is over and tomorrow we’ll be boarding the SS Mariner here at the Port of Harumi Pier in Tokyo.  The car service will pick us up at 11:00AM, should be a short drive to the pier with

Boarding at 12:00 Noon.

 

Hope you don’t mind but I wanted to start a new thread to cover this cruise as the land portion is over and done. 

 

We only ask that you to remember that what we write and post is our opinion as we’re seeing it, feeling it and living it—you may not agree and that’s OK as everyone will have their own opinion.  No one is right or wrong; we’re here to have an enjoyable cruise on the Mariner.

 

Let’s enjoy the time we have together during this cruise.  I’ll start posting with boarding, lunch and our suite itself. 

 

Hope all of you will enjoy what we have to say, if you have a question please ask what you want and hopefully we’ll have an answer for you.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ronrick1943 "Live from...." Rare

ronrick1943

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all, just got up.  Breakfast first, packing up and the car service picks us up to take us to the ship-looking  forward to a great cruise.

PS, the Steak House was all most to much---  all most I said because it was the best steak we've ever had, would we do it again--YES!  But I think we had one steak  to many as breakfast will be coffee and maybe a slice of toast. And we may need to stop on the way to the ship for a check-up at the cardiologist after last night!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bebop bonnie

bebop bonnie

Posted
Posted

The Steak House is enough reason to get back to Tokyo soon!  And actually, there are so many reasons to go back to Tokyo!  Yup, Ron, I've been in Boca 35 years...at A1A and Spanish River.  Have a fabulous cruise!  Can't wait to hear more!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Anchorbuoy said:

There is a large turnover of officers today on the Mariner. The captain, General Manager, cruise director, cruise consultant, F&B Director, executive chef, and a large number of staff are leaving today.  

 

I thought that Vladimir (F&B Director) just got there.  Strange!  Would love to know who the G.M. and Cruise Director will be on Mariner.  Thanks much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anchorbuoy

Anchorbuoy

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

I thought that Vladimir (F&B Director) just got there.  Strange!  Would love to know who the G.M. and Cruise Director will be on Mariner.  Thanks much.

 

Vladimir arrived 2 days ago. The GM is now Davor, the CD is now Margaret. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

Posted
Posted

Hi Rick, thanks for Part 1--great job! Now wishing you and Ron a fantastic cruise.  I'm going to pretend I'm still onboard the Mariner as I armchair along--your descriptive prose and great photos make it easy to do!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ronrick1943 "Live from...." Rare

ronrick1943

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The car service picked us up at the Hilton right on time.  In fact the driver was waiting for us as we came down.  Loaded up the luggage and off to the ship.  A little traffic but got to the port a little early, about 11:30AM.  Regent staff took our bags curbside and we went into the terminal, filled out the are you sick form as required.  However, Regent wasn’t ready, once called to register they had a little confusion on check in.  Once they took care of that problem things went pretty fast and we were on board.  Our suite was ready so we drop off our carryon bags.  Before we could leave are Butler arrived to Welcome us and let us know about the amenities while on the ship.  Our Butler is Bobby; first impressions are good we’ll get along just fine.  Also Jelly and Celine we’ll be our Stewardess for our suite, again I think we lucked out all three seem outstanding.

 

Had lunch with friends we met on the last cruise, just happened they booked this cruise.  La Veranda was busy; the food was done nicely and very good.   Since its cold outside the dining room was getting full, but the crew handled it nicely.   Just made myself a big salad, Ron had the same.  Back in the suite to unpack, and relax a little before mustard.  Just heard the announcement that if you’re on a B2B and this is the second part of the cruise you don’t have to attend (I think that is new).

 

Bobby the butler came back to see if all is good.  No real problems, a patio glass door won’t open-they will get that fixed shortly.

 

Tonight dinner will be at Chartreuse; I’ll let you know more about that later.  The open space area(s) are full of cherry blossoms which look pretty nice since they’re in Japan.

 

That’s it for now, more tomorrow and more photos.  Last photo is Tokyo before we sail.

 

 

 

port1.jpg

port2.jpg

welcome.jpg

sunset.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ronrick1943 "Live from...." Rare

ronrick1943

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Like I said tonights dinner was Chartreuse, we had a table for two at 7:30PM.  Very pleasant evening, we saw a few staff members that we’ve cruised with on other Regent cruises.  We were surprise that they remember us and greeted us with a warm welcome as old friends.

 

Dinner was very good last night as was service.  We really weren’t that hungry so we kind of ordered light.  I had a soup, scallops and Ron had salad, Dover sole.  We both ended the meal with a floating island.  We didn’t touch the truffles or the bread.

 

No show last night in the theater, they had lecturer—which didn’t make much sense as most people that didn’t come in early really had jetlag.  They were ready for bed earlier than normal I believe!

Morning was great, we did sleep in and had breakfast in the suite.  Since it was Sunday I also had them make me a plate of caviar, not the best but good and done the right way.

 

We didn’t go on tour today, however it looked like Destination Services did a good job.  Looking out from our deck all the buses were lined up ready to go—they filled up fast and took off on time.  Shuttle Bus services every 15 min.

 

Thinking about it now we made a great choice, they had a full band playing for about an hour. They were followed by dance groups in full costumes!  Hawaiian, Belly Dance, Drill Teams, Flash Dance, Tahitian Dance, Cheer Dance and more bands.  A full day of entertainment without leaving our deck!  Really it was a full day of good entertainment.  Oh I forgot a much of mascots for the kids!  They also had a street fair for locals, not just the ship.  Few hundred people at all times attended during the day. 

 

As the day came to a close and it was time to sail, another band shows up for a full hour of marching band playing and dancing/marching until we started to leave---then they kept playing and marching to the very end of the pier.  Truly a Grand send off. (TravelCat, you were right I was surprised)

 

About an hour out we had to turn around and returned back to port due to a medical emergency to take a passenger off.  Regent handled it just the way you’d want them helping the passenger first.  Hopefully all is good and they are getting the care they need.

 

Following are a few pictures of dinner last night; I’ll cover dinner at Sette Mari.

 

Just another item, The Coffee Connection was/is super good, fully staffed with people that know what they are doing.  The only thing you can say is excellent.  But for those who love French Press it’s not on this ship and they should have-I heard a few people asking.

beet.jpg

soup.jpg

sc.jpg

dover.jpg

island.jpg

truf.jpg

cav.jpg

band.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wendy The Wanderer

Wendy The Wanderer

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm a bit confused--were you still in Tokyo for the marching bands, or had you moved on to a different port?  Sounds wonderful, wherever it was, we've been fortunate enough to have people in port entertain us on various cruises and it's always special.

 

Okay, now I see from the other thread that is was Hitachinaka.

Edited by Wendy The Wanderer
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hambagahle

Hambagahle

Posted
Posted

Great to know that you can ask for a caviar plate in the suite - our first day on the cruise is a Sunday and we aren't planning to go onshore.  (Catalina island doesn't interest us that much) So that is exactly what we'll do!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Travelcat2

Travelcat2

Posted
Posted

So good to learn that they are still doing the warm welcomes and farewell in Japan.  We have not seen anything in the world as nice as what they do there.  

 

I saw school girls in a photo on the other thread and it reminded me of when we were there.  Not sure if it was the same on your cruise but on ours, the school girls were there to practice their English.  At first I thought that were looking for a tip or something to give directions but I was 100% wrong.  They were delightful.

 

Cannot imagine why they do not have French press on Mariner, Voyager or Navigator.  It seems that Regent has put some things that are special - only on Explorer (and Splendor) but French press should be easy enough to have on all of the ships (if they have storage for them ....... Navigator may not have enough space to store them and Voyager's Coffee Connection is pretty tiny as well.

 

Really enjoying this thread!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
1teach53

1teach53

Posted
Posted

Ronrick, hope you don’t mind me adding a bit to your wonderful thread? 

We did the 4 hour tour yesterday “Hitachinaka Highlights “   

We visited Kairakuen Garden & drove to Kasama Shrine. The weather couldn’t have been better, bright sunshine and temperatures in the 60’s. The shrine was in a small very authentic town. We walked the Main Street and enjoyed the small shops. 

This is our first time in Japan and we are overwhelmed with the friendliness and kindness of the people. We were so moved by all day celebration at the dock! What a party they-had in our honor! 🎉👏🎉

i am attempting to attach pics but the WiFi isn’t cooperating, maybe later. 

Karen 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...