Review - Mariner 7/22 Seward-Vancouver

[NoviceCruiser3]

First, let me say thank you to all who posted your advice, tips, and comments! Thanks to you, I felt like I had a handle on our 1st cruise!

 

I so loved meeting some of you - Lisa, Erin, MtnDriver & spouses. Carla! Can't believe I missed you! I was looking for you at every turn! Lisa - thanks so much for taking the great photos of the 3 of us on the sea kayaking excursion!!

 

Prior to our cruise, we did Regent's pre-cruise Denali tour (to be reviewed in detail separately, though I did post elsewhere) and then 4 days afterwards on our own in Vancouver. It was really an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

Now onto the review:

 

Pros:

1. Ship very clean, spacious, easy to find things

2. Embarkation went smoothly; red carpet & champagne were nice touches

3. Spacious room (Penthouse Deck 11) & balcony

4. LOVED our butler & stewardess!!

5. Greeted w/ hors d'ouvres in room upon arrival

6. Sent laundry out twice - came back gorgeous!

7. LOVED Signatures & Prime 7

8. Club Mariner taught my daughter about whales, glaciers, totem poles

9. 4 Glacier helicopter tour & dog sledding was the best excursion - the most amazing thing!!

10. Getting close to Hubbard Glacier, and being able for ship to turn 360 was awesome!

11. Cruising Tracy Arm was gorgeous

12. Staff for the most part friendly & courteous, same w/ other passengers (I know, beyond Regent's control on the passengers)

 

Cons:

1. Food in Compass Rose & La Veranda (w/ the exception of 1 dinner in LV) were mediocre at best. Most of the items we had (and remember, there were 3 of us) were actually tasteless. As in no flavor at all. Hugely disappointing for a line that claims to be 5 star. The specialty restaurants were superb, so why that couldn't translate to the other locales is baffling.

 

2. I waited 10 minutes for fresh pizza to come out - when it did, it was burned (as in black on top) but was served to me anyway.

 

3. Hubby & I went to dinner one night (DD was in Club Mariner) at CR. We asked to be seated near a window. There were many empty 4-toppers.

Maitre' D told us he couldn't seat us at a 4-topper. We pointed out another 2-person party at a 4T, and were told they were waiting for friends (they were midway through their meal). So, we were seated against a wall. And then we watched at least 3 other couples be seated at 4 toppers (and they were never joined by anyone else).

 

4. At one point during the dinner above, the Asst. F&B Manager came over to us (we didn't ask to speak w/ anyone). He asked for our thoughts. We told him. Including about the table (no comments) and about the croissants in our bread basket every meal that were rock hard. Hubby even knocked one on the table. F&B Mgr. told us they were baguettes. Seriously??! I've been to France many times and have never seen a rock-hard, croissant shaped baguette. It was insulting.

 

Beyond food . . .

 

5. As some of you know, we copied/pasted every single excursion into a 94-page Word document so we could go through it. We excluded excursions that had age restrictions (DD is 8) or that said it was a strenuous activity. Our 1st activity based upon this which we booked early online was the Catamaran/4x4 jeep volcano tour (Adventure Combo). Once settled in our suite, I started reviewing our excursion tickets. At the end of a long paragraph on this excursion, is a line stating it's for ages 16 & up. Never saw that before. Called Destinations, and they confirmed it was a new restriction. OK, so how about flagging it and letting us know??? Had I not reviewed carefully the documents, and we had all gone, it would have been ugly. We were able to get on the Sea Kayak tour and then the Sea Otter & Wildlife excursion later that day.

 

6. Sea Kayak tour - 2 of the 3 of us were confirmed in; I was an unknown. So, we all went, got geared up, and finally, I was told I could go. And, I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Two problems: 1. I was with the guide, since we were an odd numbered group. That was cool for me while kayaking, but bad b/c he had to return early to help everyone out of the kayaks since they were understaffed so I had to return early. 2. Hubby & DD were far behind us (hubby basically paddled for 2!) and the guide never waited for them to catch up, so they missed most of the explanations, etc.

 

7. For the Steam Train excursion in Skagway from noon -4:00, we were told no lunch was provided. The crew was having a drill from 10:15 on, and we had to leave by 11:15, so we were on our own in town for lunch (a departure from what Regent did during the pre-cruise Denali tour, supplementing all the time to make sure we had food). In addition, we were told to meet at the pier at 11:50, so we had to go all the way up to get our food & come back down (passing the train) to the pier, only to be told (at 11:40) that we could get on the train. Duh - had we known, we would have done that in the first place!!!

 

8. Disembarking - received no less than 3 pieces of paper telling us different times to leave our suite. Seemed like the left hand never knew what the right was doing.

 

9. Went to the Destinations desk to check on our sea kayaking wait list status. Conversation went as follows:

Me: Hi. I'd like to check on the status of a wait-listed excursion for tomorrow please.

Clerk: If you're in, you'll have a voicemail.

Me: I was told that yesterday and the excursion is tomorrow and I haven't heard anything yet.

Clerk: You'll get voicemail.

Me: I haven't been in my room for hours, so I have no idea whether I have voicemail.

Clerk: When you go back to your room, if you have voicemail, you'll know.

Me: I'm not going back to my room for awhile. Can you please check for me to see whether anyone has left a message?

Clerk: No.

Me: Can you check the computer to see if there's an update?

Clerk: OK. (not that I even listened at this point).

 

There's more, but I think you get the idea.

 

We really did have a great trip, but did not feel we received 5 star quality, as Regent promotes, in the areas above. I should never feel frustrated or belittled by staff in a true 5 star service industry place. So I have to say that was a huge disappointment.

 

Motion Sickness update: used the psi bands & ginger during pre-Denali; worked like a charm. Day 1 on ship was wicked rocky; I was very sick. Took Bonine, but alas, too late, though I was able to sleep. From then on, used psi, ginger, bonine, AND the patch for the entire cruise and was fine on the cruise (which albeit, settled down) and all the excurions (helicopter, float plane, catamarans, other boats). I did have during the 2nd patch, a bit of blurry close-up reading vision, but it was well worth it, and disappeared once I removed the patch in Vancouver.

[gfranzen]

This is very disconcerting. It seems that Regent has demotivated their staff. I worked in a top notch kitchen for years during college, and quality comes from the exec chef on down. If Regent loses their 5 star luster they are history.

 

Thanks for the candid review. I hope Regent is monitoring this thread.

[RachelG]

Actually the response from the excursion desk sounds like what I had previously heard on voyager (previous to this year) many times. They were definitely the weak link. I basically gave up on them.

 

On Voyager this year, they had much improved. However, from this report, I would say Mariner is status quo. Maybe they moved the marginal staff from Voyager to Mariner.

[WesW]

NoviceCruiser, thanks for sharing your candid comments both pro and con.

[nana541]

VERY DISAPPOINTING!:confused:

[Travelcat2]

Do you know if the ship was full (or overbooked) the week of your cruise? Also, was this your first Regent cruise?

[ErinPhotoBug]

Oh no! Novice! I'm so sorry to hear you had such disappointments on the trip! Had we experienced the same, I would have felt exactly as you stated.

 

We were on the same cruise as Novice, her husband, and her adorable little girl, and although we also thought the food in Compass Rose most nights was above average at best (the entrees in particular seemed to fall flat), we didn't experience as many of the other disappointing service issues.

 

We, too, dealt with the excursions desk: immediately after check-in, we tried (and succeeded) to get on the Sea Otter and Wildlife excursion which had been fully booked online. This interaction was with the Aussie gentleman whose name escapes me but he was incredibly helpful considering the HUGE line behind us and the rate at which he must certainly would have wanted to turn over passengers at the counter. The next day, having STILL not received the rest of our pre-booked excursion tickets, we headed down and dealt with a very brusque Romanian woman who acted like it was our fault that we hadn't gotten our tickets. She reprinted them and then glared at us as she stamped with absolute finality "DUPLICATE" on each ticket. We both left, laughed, and grunted "Harumph, harumph, harumph!!" with each step up the staircase. Granted, if we had been half as sick as most pax on that very bumpy ride down from Seward, this would have been MUCH less amusing.

 

Our only other nit on the cruise was the Inside Passage day, when there was an Alaska BBQ lunch up on the Pool Grill. Well, gosh, WHO IN THE WORLD would go to something billed as an Alaska Fish BBQ on their last cruise day? Uh, EVERYONE ON THE SHIP. As a result, it was absolutely swamped and we actually had to wait for plates to come out of the kitchen. Later, when I was commenting to my husband about having to WAIT. FOR. PLATES. I had to laugh at myself. I had to wait 3 minutes for a plate and in those 3 minutes SEVEN WHOLE PEOPLE lined up for the fish before me. The fact that I started having attitude about this reaffirmed to me why we don't sail mass-market cruise lines. :)

 

DH and I were late eaters most nights and quickly discovered that if we came down around 8pm, we usually had a 20 minute wait for a window table for 2 (the Mariner Lounge entertained us very nicely with cocktails and canapes during that time!). If we came down at 8:15, it was usually a 10 minute wait, and if we came down at 8:30 we were seated immediately. After a couple of nights enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail in the lounge, it was almost disappointing to be seated right away! :D

 

I will say that we had exceptional weather and exceptional excursions (dry suit snorkel, sea otter quest, tracy arm, heli-trek, kayaking, etc) that put us in a very good mood for the entire cruise, making the service issues that we had much more bearable. In another situation, I could have been absolutely livid with some of the staff (OH! I actually managed to get an EYE ROLL from the head somellier Daniela when I asked for a cream sherry with my cheese course the night we dined in Signatures - I'm pretty sure she thought she was "in the clear" when she did it and didn't count on me looking at her face while I said "Thank you so much!" as she walked away. I chose to laugh heartily at this, half because it was so unbelievable and half because every other server we had on the ENTIRE cruise was kind and funny and helpful.) Was this "Regent Service?" Well, no. But like I said, we were in a very good mood to begin with. And that night the seas were VERY rough and I concede that even those who work on ships can only take *so much* when the seas are rockin' and rollin'. And having to head down to the wine cellar and find that ONE bottle of cream sherry to accomodate some lady whose taste in dessert wine strays from the very nice Sandeman port that accomanpied the cheese cart ... I'm still irritated by her attitude, but I get it. Sorta.

 

I cruised Regent on the PG in 2006 and found no fault in service or staff. If our experience on the Mariner this July was an indication, Regent may need to work on its mid-level staff and the Compass Rose kitchen may need a boot camp. But our room steward (Alan) was unbelievably wonderful, the suite was gorgeous, and every high- or low-level staffer we met and spoke with was polite, friendly, and kind.

[NoviceCruiser3]

Oh no! Novice! I'm so sorry to hear you had such disappointments on the trip! Had we experienced the same, I would have felt exactly as you stated.

 

We were on the same cruise as Novice, her husband, and her adorable little girl, and although we also thought the food in Compass Rose most nights was above average at best (the entrees in particular seemed to fall flat), we didn't experience as many of the other disappointing service issues.

 

We, too, dealt with the excursions desk: immediately after check-in, we tried (and succeeded) to get on the Sea Otter and Wildlife excursion which had been fully booked online. This interaction was with the Aussie gentleman whose name escapes me but he was incredibly helpful considering the HUGE line behind us and the rate at which he must certainly would have wanted to turn over passengers at the counter. The next day, having STILL not received the rest of our pre-booked excursion tickets, we headed down and dealt with a very brusque Romanian woman who acted like it was our fault that we hadn't gotten our tickets. She reprinted them and then glared at us as she stamped with absolute finality "DUPLICATE" on each ticket. We both left, laughed, and grunted "Harumph, harumph, harumph!!" with each step up the staircase. Granted, if we had been half as sick as most pax on that very bumpy ride down from Seward, this would have been MUCH less amusing.

 

Our only other nit on the cruise was the Inside Passage day, when there was an Alaska BBQ lunch up on the Pool Grill. Well, gosh, WHO IN THE WORLD would go to something billed as an Alaska Fish BBQ on their last cruise day? Uh, EVERYONE ON THE SHIP. As a result, it was absolutely swamped and we actually had to wait for plates to come out of the kitchen. Later, when I was commenting to my husband about having to WAIT. FOR. PLATES. I had to laugh at myself. I had to wait 3 minutes for a plate and in those 3 minutes SEVEN WHOLE PEOPLE lined up for the fish before me. The fact that I started having attitude about this reaffirmed to me why we don't sail mass-market cruise lines. :)

 

DH and I were late eaters most nights and quickly discovered that if we came down around 8pm, we usually had a 20 minute wait for a window table for 2 (the Mariner Lounge entertained us very nicely with cocktails and canapes during that time!). If we came down at 8:15, it was usually a 10 minute wait, and if we came down at 8:30 we were seated immediately. After a couple of nights enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail in the lounge, it was almost disappointing to be seated right away! :D

 

I will say that we had exceptional weather and exceptional excursions (dry suit snorkel, sea otter quest, tracy arm, heli-trek, kayaking, etc) that put us in a very good mood for the entire cruise, making the service issues that we had much more bearable. In another situation, I could have been absolutely livid with some of the staff (OH! I actually managed to get an EYE ROLL from the head somellier Daniela when I asked for a cream sherry with my cheese course the night we dined in Signatures - I'm pretty sure she thought she was "in the clear" when she did it and didn't count on me looking at her face while I said "Thank you so much!" as she walked away. I chose to laugh heartily at this, half because it was so unbelievable and half because every other server we had on the ENTIRE cruise was kind and funny and helpful.) Was this "Regent Service?" Well, no. But like I said, we were in a very good mood to begin with. And that night the seas were VERY rough and I concede that even those who work on ships can only take *so much* when the seas are rockin' and rollin'. And having to head down to the wine cellar and find that ONE bottle of cream sherry to accomodate some lady whose taste in dessert wine strays from the very nice Sandeman port that accomanpied the cheese cart ... I'm still irritated by her attitude, but I get it. Sorta.

 

I cruised Regent on the PG in 2006 and found no fault in service or staff. If our experience on the Mariner this July was an indication, Regent may need to work on its mid-level staff and the Compass Rose kitchen may need a boot camp. But our room steward (Alan) was unbelievably wonderful, the suite was gorgeous, and every high- or low-level staffer we met and spoke with was polite, friendly, and kind.

 

Erin, you are so funny! Thank you for the kind compliment re: DD!

 

Cream sherry rocks, BTW ;)

 

I didn't want to burst anyone's bubble, but wanted to be honest at the same time. Since you mentioned the BBQ, I have to say one other thing that bugged us was the "touch up" painting that seemed to go on in public areas during peak times. Including boarding the ship!! Really, do I have to (and I did if I wanted to get where I neeed to be) walk by & smell paint, varnish, and assorted other chemicals???

 

And we *must* have had the same Romanian lady at the Destinations desk:) You guys had a great attitude! We did our best, of course. And had it been just hubby & I, we might have been more go w/ the flow on the excursions (or maybe not, since we'd come so far!), but with an 8 year old, it's not as if we can leave her on board while we go Sea Kayaking :D

[NoviceCruiser3]

Do you know if the ship was full (or overbooked) the week of your cruise? Also, was this your first Regent cruise?

 

Good questions - I do not know about the booking status. Perhaps someone else does???

 

Yes, this was our first Regent Cruise, and for DD & I, our first cruise ever. So, I can't compare to anything else (though hubby went on 2 cruises years ago and almost didn't want to do this b/c they were so bad, but was told Regent was fabulous, etc.)

 

We were pumped full of expectations - oh, what a great way to start cruising, you'll never want to do anything else, it's top of the line for everything, 5-star all around, etc.

 

We booked a year in advance, and although there were discounts in certain areas, it was still not inexpensive.

 

I contrast the "5 star" quality of Regent with our 5 Star stay at the Wedgewood in Vancouver post cruise. Wedgewood could not have been more fabulous, friendly, helpful, etc. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

[NoviceCruiser3]

NoviceCruiser, thanks for sharing your candid comments both pro and con.

 

Sure - I felt I owed it to everyone to be fair & honest and share our experience, for better or worse.

[ededmd]

Yes, this was our first Regent Cruise, and for DD & I, our first cruise ever. So, I can't compare to anything else (though hubby went on 2 cruises years ago and almost didn't want to do this b/c they were so bad, but was told Regent was fabulous, etc.)

 

Thanks for your review. I am curious what your husband thought (if you can represent his thoughts). Having prior negative experiences, did he find this one also negative overall or better than his priors but not worth the $ or what? Appreciate your opinions.

[NoviceCruiser3]

Thanks for your review. I am curious what your husband thought (if you can represent his thoughts). Having prior negative experiences, did he find this one also negative overall or better than his priors but not worth the $ or what? Appreciate your opinions.

 

Sure- we've discussed, so I know his feelings.

 

I wouldn't say negative overall. Definitely better than his priors in terms of room size, Butler & Stewardess who were awesome, cleanliness of the ship, balcony (having one and its size), and great food in the 2 specialty restaurants, Signatures and Prime 7. Our laundry came back beautifully cleaned, pressed, and folded (and packaged up), something I'm sure he didn't have done last time, LOL!

 

His thoughts were that Regent was smoke & mirrors. Everything was presented beautifully, but the actual quality didn't measure up. And for the prices paid (regardless of deals), it wasn't worth the money. The feeling is that we paid for, and were told we would receive, 5 star quality and did not.

 

Having rock-hard bread, (multiple times daily), truly tasteless food (one example is a dessert item from La Veranda, which looked like a sort of cheesecake or mousse, with an orange-colored topping. Hubby took a bite, and I asked what it was [vanilla, lemon, other], and he said it tasted like nothing. I didn't believe him, so I tasted it, and really - absolutely nothing. No salt. No sugar. No vanilla. No flavor. Even my 8 year old couldn't taste anything).

 

He felt the Destinations desk could have been far more responsive, polite, and on the ball, and should have caught the issue regarding the age restriction for our very 1st excursion. That seriously could have been a disaster.

 

He also felt the inconsistencies were glaring. Meet here! Wait, no one's there! Go here! There will be space on the excursion, don't worry! Oh, no space! Go anyway! Our rep is always there at the pier! (wasn't). Leave your stateroom at 8am! No, 9am! No, 7:15! Go to the Constellation theatre! No one's there, oh well.

 

He also didn't like the whole art auction thing. I just ignored it!

 

Bottom line is that he won't use Regent again. Definitely not what was advertised, etc.

[NoviceCruiser3]

This is very disconcerting. It seems that Regent has demotivated their staff. I worked in a top notch kitchen for years during college, and quality comes from the exec chef on down. If Regent loses their 5 star luster they are history.

 

Thanks for the candid review. I hope Regent is monitoring this thread.

 

And that's what we were looking forward to - 5 star luster. Which, we did find in Signatures and Prime 7. Of course, you could only book each of those only once, and while I'm sure some were able to get in a 2nd time, we could not.

 

Really a stark contrast in dining experiences. I know the fine dining has to be set apart somehow, but not that drastically :(

 

I hope Regent monitors as well, though I won't hold my breath. The Ass't F&B Mgr. I mentioned gave us his card, said he'd take care of things immediately (whatever that meant) and we never heard from him again (and nothing changed).

[Island Cruiser]

Thank you so very much for your candid comments. They really really matter. Nothing will change at Regent if people don't make their displeasure heard. On all of our previous Regent cruises we have noticed if there is a weak link on their ships it's the Tour Desk. It really saddens me to read that many of the crew appear to be at wits end. But it's hardly surprising. They have been sailing up and down the coast of Alaska all summer dealing with a ship that is overloaded. The Alaska run is taxing enough on them with a normal full load of 700 passengers. But 730? 749? 800? My hope is that Regent will get enough static about overloads to limit the number of three and four to a cabin bookings they take next summer when all three ships will be promoting kids sail (almost) free. Pat

[Travelcat2]

Did your daughter take part in the children's program on board? If so, did she enjoy it?

 

We only have only been sailing for Regent since 2004, but, we have noticed the inconsistancies on some cruises -- not all. For some reason, we have found the best service and food on the Voyager.

 

When CC members post on the boards, they try to give an honest opinion of their experiences. The last thing we want to do is be so negative that it drives future cruisers away. On the other hand, saying that Regent is perfect is generally not true (although I gave one review where I did use that word).

 

In the case of this cruise, your comments have been thoughtful and balanced. I find your comment about "smoke and mirrors" most interesting. There seems to be a bit of that in many places we have visited.

 

After reading many thousands of posts, I find that people cruising Regent after trying mainstream cruise lines tend to think it's wonderful. Repeat customers tend to nit pick a little bit. First time cruisers have mixed reactions. Regent does read this board. Hopefully they will pay attention to the details you explained so well in your posts.:)

[NoviceCruiser3]

Did your daughter take part in the children's program on board? If so, did she enjoy it?

 

We only have only been sailing for Regent since 2004, but, we have noticed the inconsistancies on some cruises -- not all. For some reason, we have found the best service and food on the Voyager.

 

When CC members post on the boards, they try to give an honest opinion of their experiences. The last thing we want to do is be so negative that it drives future cruisers away. On the other hand, saying that Regent is perfect is generally not true (although I gave one review where I did use that word).

 

In the case of this cruise, your comments have been thoughtful and balanced. I find your comment about "smoke and mirrors" most interesting. There seems to be a bit of that in many places we have visited.

 

After reading many thousands of posts, I find that people cruising Regent after trying mainstream cruise lines tend to think it's wonderful. Repeat customers tend to nit pick a little bit. First time cruisers have mixed reactions. Regent does read this board. Hopefully they will pay attention to the details you explained so well in your posts.:)

 

Thanks for the compliments!

 

I am sure (from what I've heard) that Regent still is better than the mainstream cruise lines.

 

DD did take part in the Club Mariner for parts of time here & there and really looked forward to going & enjoyed her time there. The group was divided up by age ranges; hers being 5-8. Most of the kids in that group (like her) were 8. It was really very nice. She received her own invitation to attend, and received separate, daily schedules (separate from Passages) for each day the night before. You could go to whatever you wanted for however long you wanted.

 

They did things like ice breaker games, active games, discussion games, learned about what we were seeing, toured the ship, and even had their own dinner together. Family Olympics was the last day at sea. The 5-8 group had to be signed in/out by a parent/adult over 18; the other groups I believe could sign themselves out.

 

It was good for her to be w/ other kids, especially after being with us 5 days pre-cruise in Denali (the only other kids on the trip w/ us were teens, youngest being 13). Though most were very friendly and inclusive with her!

 

And did I mention it gave hubby & I some alone time? :D Usually not for more than 2 hours at a time, but that was fine!

[Suite Travels]

I would say that Crystal or Seabourn WOULD meet your expectations in food and overall service. We have sailed with Regent five times and your comments echo ours. Never again. We will stay with Crystal or Seabourn who are consistent in their service and food.

[Travelcat2]

I would say that Crystal or Seabourn WOULD meet your expectations in food and overall service. We have sailed with Regent five times and your comments echo ours. Never again. We will stay with Crystal or Seabourn who are consistent in their service and food.

 

Hmmmmm, it took you FIVE times to decide you did not like Regent? Once again, you are visiting Regent with to promote other cruise lines and remind us how you do not like Regent:mad:. There is plenty of information on CruiseCritic to assist people in deciding which line they would like to sail.

[cruiseluv]

Hi Novice cruiser,

 

Thank you for your report.

 

Frankly, it is very disappointing to hear. Particularly disconcerting was the attitude of the Maitre D' at Compass Rose, refusing to seat you at a table for 4 but then sitting other couples! I don't know if I would have been able to keep quiet!

 

We are booked for a Mariner cruise next year , our first on that ship (have been on Voyager and Navigator). I will continue to monitor comments about the Mariner to decide if we will keep this cruise or not. Just yesterday I received a beautiful brochure on the new Seabourn Odissey offering very competitive rates. The only reason this would be slightly more expensive is that it doesn't include excursions. Depending on the itinerary this might not be a big difference.

[NoviceCruiser3]

Hi Novice cruiser,

 

Thank you for your report.

 

Frankly, it is very disappointing to hear. Particularly disconcerting was the attitude of the Maitre D' at Compass Rose, refusing to seat you at a table for 4 but then sitting other couples! I don't know if I would have been able to keep quiet!

 

We are booked for a Mariner cruise next year , our first on that ship (have been on Voyager and Navigator). I will continue to monitor comments about the Mariner to decide if we will keep this cruise or not. Just yesterday I received a beautiful brochure on the new Seabourn Odissey offering very competitive rates. The only reason this would be slightly more expensive is that it doesn't include excursions. Depending on the itinerary this might not be a big difference.

 

Re: the CR seating - well, we only had 2 hours alone since DD was in Club Mariner, so as annoyed as we were, we also wanted a nice dinner to ourselves.

 

As for the excursions, go with what you want to do. Even with some free excursions, we still had to pay for our daughter (perhaps some were discounted, even for her, but she was never free). I think most of the ones we did, we had to pay for. And by and large, they were well worth it. Especially the 4 glacier heli tour & dogsled!!!!

[Suite Travels]

TC, I was not responding to you and secondly we tried RSSC and then the change to Regent, which we had hoped would become Regent Hotel standards. Another factor was, we were sailing with friends who could afford Regent before it became all inclusive.

 

I was just suggesting to Novice who has not tried another luxury line other options. I am allowed to read post and give a review on any cruise line.

[marycang]

To Novice Cruiser

 

If you haven't already, please, send a cop of your original post to Regent Corporate. I think a personal letter has more value than waiting for someone from Regent to look at the CC board.

We are leaving on the Mariner next week, and my DH is already questioning our decision to go Regent instead of Silverseas, due to the mumber of pax. I hope we ae not disappointed.

 

Thanks for posting here.

[Island Cruiser]

Maria (cruiseluv), all of next year summer sailings on Regent are kids cruise (almost) free. Regent is willing to put two kids in all the cabins with convirtibles in order to sell out the ship. We simply won't book Regent under these circumstances. Silversea and Seabourn never looked so good! Pat

[NoviceCruiser3]

To Novice Cruiser

 

If you haven't already, please, send a cop of your original post to Regent Corporate. I think a personal letter has more value than waiting for someone from Regent to look at the CC board.

We are leaving on the Mariner next week, and my DH is already questioning our decision to go Regent instead of Silverseas, due to the mumber of pax. I hope we ae not disappointed.

 

Thanks for posting here.

 

I may send the post as a letter. I didn't post with the intention of having Regent see it & do something, but rather as a service to this group, which helped me tremendously in our prep.

 

Also, I didn't mean to burst anyone's bubble, just wanted to report my experience. I'm sure you will have a great trip - please do report back!

[NoviceCruiser3]

Maria (cruiseluv), all of next year summer sailings on Regent are kids cruise (almost) free. Regent is willing to put two kids in all the cabins with convirtibles in order to sell out the ship. We simply won't book Regent under these circumstances. Silversea and Seabourn never looked so good! Pat

 

How do you do that? I thought only certain rooms were able to hold 3 people????