Mariner moseying down to Mexico

[rudedoggy87]

8 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

After dinner we could not find any live entertainment at 8:30 any where.  *****?  We ended up back at our cabin.  That’s not okay.  There should always be a venue for listening to music.  

We think 9:30 is too late for a show. There should be something to do at all times from 5pm to 10-11pm.

We had an 8:30 reservation for dinner one night and were shocked that there was no music or entertainment - the live music in the observation lounge stopped at 7:15 and they turned on some muzak for an hour and then dimmed the lights - we were the only ones there! I couldn't believe it. 

 

I also think 9:30 is too late for the show.  

 

[Dr. Cocktail]

3 hours ago, rudedoggy87 said:

We had an 8:30 reservation for dinner one night and were shocked that there was no music or entertainment - the live music in the observation lounge stopped at 7:15 and they turned on some muzak for an hour and then dimmed the lights - we were the only ones there! I couldn't believe it. 

 

I also think 9:30 is too late for the show.  

 

All these posts are scaring me for my upcoming cruise - there really should be live music somewhere from 5 pm to 11 or so.

 

It's funny you're saying the show is too late - if I'm having dinner at 8:30, there's no way for me to see the show. In fact, I would say it's too early!

 

I had a similar problem on Oceania and asked the CD why they simply didn't do an early show at 7 for those eating later and a second show at 9 for those eating earlier. I mean, the entertainers are on board and nearly every other cruise line does two shows nightly. He frankly told me that "Head Office" (the same for Oceania and Regent) thought that 1/2 empty show lounges "looked bad".

 

I asked him so, lemme-get-this-straight - the "look" of the show lounge is more important than catering to passenger's needs?  I got a big smile and a nod!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

15 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

After dinner we could not find any live entertainment at 8:30 any where.  *****?  We ended up back at our cabin.  That’s not okay.

Hey Kathy, that is indeed a downer, and very surprising.  I know the uptake of artists onto the ships is slow since I have a friend who works as a musician on Carnival.  He is recruiting his fellow-musicians via FB. But that's something we look forward to, since we seldom go to the show.  

 

Hope the other aspects of your cruise are wonderful!

[papaflamingo]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:28 PM, Dr. Cocktail said:

All these posts are scaring me for my upcoming cruise - there really should be live music somewhere from 5 pm to 11 or so.

 

It's funny you're saying the show is too late - if I'm having dinner at 8:30, there's no way for me to see the show. In fact, I would say it's too early!

 

I had a similar problem on Oceania and asked the CD why they simply didn't do an early show at 7 for those eating later and a second show at 9 for those eating earlier. I mean, the entertainers are on board and nearly every other cruise line does two shows nightly. He frankly told me that "Head Office" (the same for Oceania and Regent) thought that 1/2 empty show lounges "looked bad".

 

I asked him so, lemme-get-this-straight - the "look" of the show lounge is more important than catering to passenger's needs?  I got a big smile and a nod!

On our 2 cruises we found that entertainment stopped in lounges during the theater show.  On Mariner the piano player would play until the show started then would start after the show ended, so about an hour break.  Also the duo performed every night in the Observation Lounge. And they were very entertaining. But after the show.  

On Navigator every night the band (4 members) came up to Galileos after the show and played from about 10 to midnight.  I don't remember when the piano player performed on Navigator, but I believe she was playing around 5 pm for a while then sometimes later after the show was over. 

Remember, these are small ships.  There isn't enough interest in the shows to warrant 2 shows per night.   Regent is a quieter experience than the major cruise lines.  The service is impeccable and for me the food is excellent. For me,  the entertainment is more than sufficient.  But I don't sail for the shows. If I want non stop entertainment I'll head to Royal Caribbean.  They are just very different styles of cruising. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

On our 2 cruises we found that entertainment stopped in lounges during the theater show.  On Mariner the piano player would play until the show started then would start after the show ended, so about an hour break.  Also the duo performed every night in the Observation Lounge. And they were very entertaining. But after the show.  

On Navigator every night the band (4 members) came up to Galileos after the show and played from about 10 to midnight.  I don't remember when the piano player performed on Navigator, but I believe she was playing around 5 pm for a while then sometimes later after the show was over. 

Remember, these are small ships.  There isn't enough interest in the shows to warrant 2 shows per night.   Regent is a quieter experience than the major cruise lines.  The service is impeccable and for me the food is excellent. For me,  the entertainment is more than sufficient.  But I don't sail for the shows. If I want non stop entertainment I'll head to Royal Caribbean.  They are just very different styles of cruising. 

Thanks for your response ... at least it sounds better than I feared. While I don't need nonstop entertainment, I like to enjoy a drink with a piano player or combo before and after dinner.

 

I've been on a 200 passenger ship where there were actually two piano players on board!  You just need a good CD to sort it all out and observe passenger flow. Different itineraries will have different entertainment needs.

 

As for production shows, I don't really care - they're usually not my "thing"...   

As someone who considers "early" dining eating at 8 pm,  there's really no way for me to see them.

[puppyluv1]

Sorry for another wine question but is Sant Margherita Pinot Grigio still an included wine?

[mrlevin]

34 minutes ago, puppyluv1 said:

Sorry for another wine question but is Sant Margherita Pinot Grigio still an included wine?

Yes

[puppyluv1]

Thank you mrlevin!

[flossie009]

We promised that after coming home we would provide a summary review of our cruise on Mariner. Sorry this has been so long coming but things have been hectic since our return.

In the meantime we have been interested to read the various commentaries from other guests with whom we shared this vacation. We are fascinated to see the same voyage from differing viewpoints and never cease to be amazed how individuals can have such diverse opinions on the same cruise. Glass half full? Glass half empty? Maybe some just chose the wrong glass?

 

Anyway here are our final thoughts:

 

The ship

We have always liked Mariner and this cruise reinforced our opinion. She is a very stable ship with no vibration. 

We like the layout of the public areas especially the Pool deck and the Horizon Lounge with its outside area aft.

Because we find the basic suites on Mariner to be a little snug we tend towards a Penthouse or Horizon, with shower-only. This time we booked 906 (no post between bed & couch). A spacious suite and very happy with the location. Fortunately we did not suffer from the plumbing problems reported by some.

 

Lounges & Bars

We favoured Mariners or Horizon for our pre-dinner tipple. We do not tend to frequent the Observation Lounge very often.

Stars lounge is under-utilised. A shame as the excellent duo performed in there for the late evening spot.

Coffee Connection is a handy place for a beverage during the day.

The Cruise Connections group did not impact on our enjoyment of any of the bars or lounges.

 

Restaurants

We enjoyed La Veranda, Compass Rose and the Pool Grill for lunch on various days. All good in their various ways.

For dinner we had excellent meals in Compass Rose, Chartreuse and Prime 7. Service was good in all three. Where possible we opted for shared tables and met some interesting dinner companions. We met many Canadians this cruise.

We had no problem getting extra reservations in the two speciality restaurants.

We did not go to Sette Mari this cruise.

Supply chain issues were still evident, particularly with the wine favoured by Susan ☹️. However we worked with the F&B Manager to resolve the initial problems.

 

Ports & excursions

Puerta Vallarta - The excursion we chose (PVR002 - Town, Country & Tequila) was not good; probably because of the guide. Too much standing around and ran so late we missed the Tequila tasting. Suffice to say the highlight of our day was a visit to Walmart after returning from the excursion 😉

Mazatlan - We chose to enjoy a lazy day on board

Cabo San Lucas - A vibrant busy tender port. We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion (CSL014 - Salsa & Salsa) 

Ensenada - Another excellent included excursion (ENS009 - VIP Wine Tasting with Gourmet Lunch)

San Francisco (2 days in port) - We did one complete circuit on the HO-HO bus (SFO-012) then dropped off in Union Square. Returned to the ship using one of the historic street cars.

Although Regent offers the HO-HO bus as one of its included excursions each day, it would have been more useful if they had offered day tickets for the SF transit system  to assist those of us wishing to do our own thing. 

Santa Barbara (tender port) - We took the “highlights” excursion (SBA001). OK but could have been better if the coach driver had known the route and/or had the guide not kept saying “Oh, we should have made a turn back there” 🤨. In hindsight maybe we should have gone to see Harry & Meghan in Montecito 😀

 

Entertainment

Production cast were OK, as were the visiting performers. The Regent band was excellent with a couple of stand-out soloists.

We liked the duo, siblings Vaughan & Maxine (new to Regent?)

The “Spotlight on Hollywood” lectures & events were an enjoyable bonus. We were fortunate to have dinner with Dave Lee (co-creator of Frasier) who was fascinating

 

Flights, pre-cruise, transfers etc

We arranged our own flights and had a very comfortable journey both ways between LHR & LAX with British Airways in their Club Suite pods. No luggage issues but we are fortunate in having direct, non-stop, flights each way

Regent dropped the ball with our private transfer from LAX to the hotel in Santa Monica. We hitched a lift on the Regent bus (badly organised and not a good first exposure for those new to Regent).

The 3-day pre-cruise in the Fairmont Miramar was very nice, but Fairmont opting to open a very noisy nightclub in the grounds seems destined to upset their hotel customers.

Regent redeemed themselves by organising a private transfer for us from the hotel to the port, which meant we could check in before the later LA port computer glitches caused delays. The health checks during check-in were poorly organised, with no flow or process evident.

Pier 46 at LA/San Pedro cruise port is certainly not a luxury experience for embarkation or disembarkation

 

Other bits

We found the internet to be acceptable for our limited needs. Worse day for connectivity was the day before disembarkation; maybe everyone checking in for their flights.

Amazed that Club.com on Mariner still does not have an air printer. We made the same comment last Christmas but it seems those managing internet services for Regent are deaf to guest requests.

We did manage to complete our on-line surveys before leaving the ship (I don’t think internet access is required; just needs a Wi-Fi connection to the ship’s intranet). However, the survey is badly designed and needs a complete revamp if Regent are truly interested in receiving constructive feedback.

We were surprised at the cool, cloudy weather we encountered in California. Fortunately Mexico was warm & sunny - a week later and we would have suffered from the effects of hurricane Roslyn

 

 

Conclusion

Overall, we had a very enjoyable cruise; the officers, staff & crew provided the efficient friendly service that we have come to expect on Regent.

The spectre of the pandemic still hangs over cruising but we found most crew & guests to be more relaxed than during our last cruise, 9 months ago. Fortunately we avoided sickness or quarantine and were able to socialise, which for us is a very important part of the cruising experience.

 

 

So that’s it from us …………. till the next time, which will be on Splendor 😎

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1982CruzStart]

Thanks Susan for the recap.  Enjoy your next cruise on Splendor. 

[PhD-iva]

Embarked About two hours ago on the Mariner. I flew into LA on an early flight, arriving around 715, and I knew I would need to wait about three hours for the transfer to the port. I preferred this to the mid afternoon flight Regent proposed.

It’s risky enough flying in on the day of embarkation, I did not want to schedule an afternoon flight without several hours to spare in case of snafus.

The transfer bus arrived at the port of San Pedro about 30 minutes to an hour prior to the earliest boarding time.
We sat on folding chairs in a large tent and filled out a few paper forms until it was time to start the embarkation process.

The embarkation process was very quick and painless, about half of which was completed in the theater on board the ship. I was on board by 12 noon and was asked to report to my muster station in horizons where they scanned  my card. Done.

Lunch was served in terrace café and waves Grill. As suites become available, announcements are made. I am in the lowest level suite (I was informed that it is not a state room 😀), and I expect to have a 2 1/2 hour wait in total. NP!

ok, more latah!

[edgee]

4 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Embarked About two hours ago on the Mariner. I flew into LA on an early flight, arriving around 715, and I knew I would need to wait about three hours for the transfer to the port. I preferred this to the mid afternoon flight Regent proposed.

It’s risky enough flying in on the day of embarkation, I did not want to schedule an afternoon flight without several hours to spare in case of snafus.

The transfer bus arrived at the port of San Pedro about 30 minutes to an hour prior to the earliest boarding time.
We sat on folding chairs in a large tent and filled out a few paper forms until it was time to start the embarkation process.

The embarkation process was very quick and painless, about half of which was completed in the theater on board the ship. I was on board by 12 noon and was asked to report to my muster station in horizons where they scanned  my card. Done.

Lunch was served in terrace café and waves Grill. As suites become available, announcements are made. I am in the lowest level suite (I was informed that it is not a state room 😀), and I expect to have a 2 1/2 hour wait in total. NP!

ok, more latah!

Enjoy your cruise! BTW Waves grill and Terrace Cafe are Oceania dining locations. On Regent it's La Veranda and the Pool Grill. 😄

[ronrick1943]

Great post(s), enjoyed reading all-the good and the not so good service.  Thanks to all for taking the time.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Glad to be home.  Ship had some hits and misses.  Will be back after the puppies have had sufficient belly rubs and laundry is put away

[ivyleaguegent]

On 11/3/2022 at 5:04 PM, PhD-iva said:

Embarked About two hours ago on the Mariner. I flew into LA on an early flight, arriving around 715, and I knew I would need to wait about three hours for the transfer to the port. I preferred this to the mid afternoon flight Regent proposed.

It’s risky enough flying in on the day of embarkation, I did not want to schedule an afternoon flight without several hours to spare in case of snafus.

The transfer bus arrived at the port of San Pedro about 30 minutes to an hour prior to the earliest boarding time.
We sat on folding chairs in a large tent and filled out a few paper forms until it was time to start the embarkation process.

The embarkation process was very quick and painless, about half of which was completed in the theater on board the ship. I was on board by 12 noon and was asked to report to my muster station in horizons where they scanned  my card. Done.

Lunch was served in terrace café and waves Grill. As suites become available, announcements are made. I am in the lowest level suite (I was informed that it is not a state room 😀), and I expect to have a 2 1/2 hour wait in total. NP!

ok, more latah!

Robin,

 

Looking forward to your reports.  We are booked on our first Regent cruise next summer after having had less than stellar experiences on Seabourn and Silversea.  Prior to its demise we sailed almost exclusively on Crystal.

[PhD-iva]

I’ve been having a really great time on the Mariner. Every sea day I go to the bridge lessons in the morning, and then to the duplicate bridge play in the afternoon. Food has been very good, service very good, everything is wonderful.
I have to echo what I have read other people say about Boogie and Kashia. They play before dinner and after the evening performance in one of the lounges and they are super high energy. 
I thought Oceania did a great job taking care of the solo travelers, but Regent really puts them to shame. The solo travelers meet every night, and we are growing to be a very large group, almost 20 tonight. They also have a solo traveler breakfast at 9 AM on sea days, so I feel super well cared for.

[PhD-iva]

Also, today the captain announced that Nicaragua is giving us a pass. So we will not be stopping in Nicaragua instead we will have an additional sea day. I know others are disappointed, but I really enjoy the sea days!

[Catlover54]

3 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Also, today the captain announced that Nicaragua is giving us a pass. So we will not be stopping in Nicaragua instead we will have an additional sea day. I know others are disappointed, but I really enjoy the sea days!

 

Because of Covid risk?

[Kwaj girl]

5 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Because of Covid risk?

 

Might be political issues or violence.

[PhD-iva]

On 11/7/2022 at 12:43 AM, Catlover54 said:

 

Because of Covid risk?

Not sure, I think the Captain said they weren’t ready. …. But not sure

[PhD-iva]

Having SO MUCH FUN! Boogie and Kashia are BIG highlights. Entertainment available into the late evening. Good crowd in Stars lounge to dance after evening performance show in theater ends. Last night 2 female officers danced with us, before that Renee, destinations manager and super fun, danced w us on an earlier night. 
Lots of lectures available, I am really enjoying Dr. James Kus’ destination lectures.

 I haven’t heard any service or food complaints. Everyone seems super satisfied. Several (2 or 3?) covid cases that I know of, and our Solo travelers Social director Cherisse has laryngitis (not covid). She’s been absent several nights from the Solo group but always sends someone to take good care of us.

I probably won’t book my next cruise on board because prices seem very elevated. Oh well

[Jimmcdaniel]

Can you ask Boogie and Kashia if they are going to be staying on for the World Cruise?

[Kwaj girl]

42 minutes ago, Jimmcdaniel said:

Can you ask Boogie and Kashia if they are going to be staying on for the World Cruise?

 

I think they said there were when we were onboard earlier this month.