On board Mariner - Dec 2 - 12, 2023

[LovesPurple]

We boarded Mariner yesterday in Miami.  First impressions - the ship is obviously not new, but super clean and no complaints about our concierge suite.  I had the best night’s sleep last night, and the first dinner was excellent!  Service has been very good too.

 

Some minor issues - a concierge suite gets 4 wifi devices/log-ins per person but when you upgrade, you only get one.  Other devices don’t even get the included wifi, which seems very strange to me.  You can switch between devices, but I wish you either got 4 upgraded ones or 1 upgraded and three normal.  Another minor grumble is that they are out of the normally stocked scotch I prefer - minor, but as Miami is a provisioning port, I have no idea why they wouldn’t get more.  

 

One last point - if you are tall, try to get a shower stall instead of a bath/shower combo.  My spouse is 6’4” and cannot stand up straight in it.

[Grandma Gilly]

I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you mean when you say that if you upgrade you only get one device log-in.

[mnocket]

We'll be getting on as you get off, so I'll be interested in reading your impressions as the cruise progresses. It's our first RSSC cruise and we're not sure where we should set our expectations. 

[pingpong1]

LovesPurple - Did you happen to wave to us (on the Splendor) this morning when our two ships passed close by to each other while sailing north of Cuba?  You of course, are heading south out of Miami while we are on our last day at sea and docking in Miami tomorrow morning.  😪  Regards.

[LovesPurple]

2 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

LovesPurple - Did you happen to wave to us (on the Splendor) this morning when our two ships passed close by to each other while sailing north of Cuba?  You of course, are heading south out of Miami while we are on our last day at sea and docking in Miami tomorrow morning.  😪  Regards.

We absolutely waved! Hope you have an amazing last sea day. 

[LovesPurple]

1 hour ago, Grandma Gilly said:

I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you mean when you say that if you upgrade you only get one device log-in.

Normally, with 4 devices, you could have your phone, tablet and ereader all connected. When you upgrade, you can only use one at a time

[crusin7]

1 hour ago, LovesPurple said:

We absolutely waved! Hope you have an amazing last sea day. 

 

We saw you wave!

[cwn]

I would ask about that as before the system change husband upgraded and I didn’t, we could still log in on our own account at the same time in 2 computers.

The old system upgrade was not worth the cost.

1 hour ago, LovesPurple said:

Normally, with 4 devices, you could have your phone, tablet and ereader all connected. When you upgrade, you can only use one at a time

 

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

4 hours ago, LovesPurple said:

Normally, with 4 devices, you could have your phone, tablet and ereader all connected. When you upgrade, you can only use one at a time

Odd... When we sailed on Splendor in June, we were upgraded from a GTY H to a Concierge D, without asking, and were able to benefit from the additional wifi logins without doing anything special. We connected a first device, then a second, third and fourth, and it just worked.

[Donder69]

We are also hopping aboard right after you! Which deck are you on? Look forward to any updates on your trip…

[wcsdkqh]

I think he is referring to purchasing the internet upgrade that results in a single connection.

[LovesPurple]

Yesterday was a great sea day!  Amazing food all day (including a fantastic dinner at Sette Mare), fun trivia, great fellow passengers and good service.  I love the daily Mensa quiz and had fun at the beginning bridge lesson.

 

Today is our first port - Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.  We are just about to arrive and the weather is spectacular.  I’m headed out on an included tour in an hour and looking forward to it.  Starting the day off right with breakfast and mimosas on our veranda.

 

A few more things to consider for those joining soon - 1) check your shower curtain - ours was mouldy - lots of black mould on the end closest to the shower head.  We did ask for it to be replaced and it was immediately.  2) the Regent app does not work on Mariner - I don’t mean it is slow or glitchy, it is just not available at all.  This was confirmed by Club.com (the internet help station).  3) there are enrichment talks, and my spouse went to the first one yesterday.  However he found the speaker not enjoyable - seemed out of touch about gender and a bit of a colonial tone.  As an example he talked about how Puerto Rico is filled with pretty women as they participate in Miss Universe as their own country and have won 5 times.

 

 

 

 

[LovesPurple]

12 hours ago, Donder69 said:

We are also hopping aboard right after you! Which deck are you on? Look forward to any updates on your trip…

We are on Deck 9 - great location and nice and quiet.

[LovesPurple]

13 hours ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

Odd... When we sailed on Splendor in June, we were upgraded from a GTY H to a Concierge D, without asking, and were able to benefit from the additional wifi logins without doing anything special. We connected a first device, then a second, third and fourth, and it just worked.

The multiple devices worked until I purchased the upgraded wifi, from that point on, it is only one device at a time.

[Jim Avery]

49 minutes ago, LovesPurple said:

Yesterday was a great sea day!  Amazing food all day (including a fantastic dinner at Sette Mare), fun trivia, great fellow passengers and good service.  I love the daily Mensa quiz and had fun at the beginning bridge lesson.

 

Today is our first port - Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.  We are just about to arrive and the weather is spectacular.  I’m headed out on an included tour in an hour and looking forward to it.  Starting the day off right with breakfast and mimosas on our veranda.

 

A few more things to consider for those joining soon - 1) check your shower curtain - ours was mouldy - lots of black mould on the end closest to the shower head.  We did ask for it to be replaced and it was immediately.  2) the Regent app does not work on Mariner - I don’t mean it is slow or glitchy, it is just not available at all.  This was confirmed by Club.com (the internet help station).  3) there are enrichment talks, and my spouse went to the first one yesterday.  However he found the speaker not enjoyable - seemed out of touch about gender and a bit of a colonial tone.  As an example he talked about how Puerto Rico is filled with pretty women as they participate in Miss Universe as their own country and have won 5 times.

 

 

 

 

We found our speaker onboard Mariner last month to be not enjoyable as well.  Not sure if it is the same one but just boring.  As to the mention of Puerto Rico women, I worked in PR years ago and I would most definitely agree with the pretty women statement.  And the won 5 times is factual I believe.  In any case not sure why this would be objectionable.

[Donder69]

1 hour ago, LovesPurple said:

We are on Deck 9 - great location and nice and quiet.

Ha! So are we. Good to hear as the quiet is one of the reasons for it. If you are in our cabin, thanks for replacing the shower curtain 😀

[irishwitchy]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

And the won 5 times is factual I believe.  In any case not sure why this would be objectionable.

That is because you are a man.   

[jeb_bud]

4 hours ago, LovesPurple said:

The multiple devices worked until I purchased the upgraded wifi, from that point on, it is only one device at a time.

What are you able to do with the upgraded WiFi that you could not do with the standard WiFi?  I know what Regent says you can do but I am curious about your actual experience. 

[CJANDH]

Articles in the press state that Starlink Internet has been installed on Mariner as the first of Regents fleet to get it. It is not clear if it is up and running now or will be switched on in January for the World Cruise. Can anyone confirm?

[LovesPurple]

3 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

What are you able to do with the upgraded WiFi that you could not do with the standard WiFi?  I know what Regent says you can do but I am curious about your actual experience. 

Streaming and downloading. My spouse didn’t get the upgrade initially but after the first day, he was frustrated by the included speed for anything other than email. It does make a significant difference 

[Midnight_Buffet]

What speed are you getting? Can you run speed test? They make it sound like with Starlink it would be super fast but seems like that's not the case?

 

Thanks!

[Cruisindad]

On 12/3/2023 at 2:35 PM, mnocket said:

We'll be getting on as you get off, so I'll be interested in reading your impressions as the cruise progresses. It's our first RSSC cruise and we're not sure where we should set our expectations. 

 

22 hours ago, LovesPurple said:

We are on Deck 9 - great location and nice and quiet.

We are also onboard, also on deck 9, and it is our first RSSC cruise.

So far we are quite impressed!  Lots to like about the experience so far.

 

[bookbabe]

On 12/3/2023 at 1:47 PM, LovesPurple said:

Normally, with 4 devices, you could have your phone, tablet and ereader all connected. When you upgrade, you can only use one at a time

We were on Mariner last week.  DH upgraded, and had one streaming login.  I had three regular logins.  We had to each use our own birthdays to access our logins.  I had the regular logins since I was guest one.  Maybe check with the nice gal at the internet desk and see whose credentials match up with which logins. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by bookbabe

[bookbabe]

16 hours ago, Midnight_Buffet said:

What speed are you getting? Can you run speed test? They make it sound like with Starlink it would be super fast but seems like that's not the case?

 

Thanks!

DH says 2.5-3.5 download last week on Mariner, slower with a VPN on.  Speed didn't differ between the streaming and regular logins, just what website features (ie video) you could access.

[Donder69]

I know this is late in the game, but I thought I would mention it in case anyone hadn’t thought of it—like I hadn’t;

 

I went to a travel doctor yesterday, and she said that we would definitely need documentation for a yellow fever immunization to get off the boat in Dominica and the Bahamas after Brazil. (Although she said sometimes it depends on who is checking the passports as to whether or not they enforce this.) You need to be immunized 10 days before you arrive in the yellow fever country, in this case, Brazil. So there is still time for you to do this if you haven’t yet. She also recommended typhoid fever immunization and malaria pills. Just saying 😉

 

Obviously, your mileage may vary and you should check with your own doctor first.

 

Steve

Edited December 5, 2023 by Donder69