LIVE -- Mariner FLL to Lima

[Travelcat2]

I really wasn't going to post on this cruise since I had nothing to say. The last time we were on the Mariner (2008), we didn't care for it that much. The itinerary we are on is not exactly what we would have normally selected. Don't bother to ask why we are here as we aren't quite sure.

However, here we are on the Mariner and do have a few things to say. First (and this has nothing to do with Regent), we flew a "non-stop" flight from Seattle to Miami that had to stop for 4 hours in Orlando due to fog. The flight from Seattle was overnight and we are exhausted.

We were thrilled to board the ship and find people/staff that we knew. Loved the hugs and welcomes that we received. That is the one HUGE thing that makes us prefer Regent to Silversea. . . . . . the people.

This evening we dined in Prime 7. We do not like Prime 7. I thought my DH was crazy to book it. I didn't want to eat there yet again. However. . . . we were very wrong. Every morsel of food was perfection. The wine (Cabernet) was amongst the best we had ever had. We ordered a crab leg main course that was amazing. The service was perfection. Can't wait to return.

The ship looks like it needs the uplift that it will receive in March. Our suite (905) is scheduled to be converted to a shower suite. That will be nice.

Since I always post the good and the not so good. . . . let's talk about La Veranda. After a long (by Regent standards) embarkation, we went up to La Veranda. On the elevator we found people trying to get into their suite that was not ready (not sure if they are all hard of hearing. . . . but we were told. . . and it was in writing. . . that you cannot go to your suites until the announcement that was expected around 2:30.

See how easily I get off topic:o The service in La Veranda at 1:30 p.m. (they were open until 3:00 p.m. on the day of embarkation) was horrendous. NO ONE attempted to carry anyone's plates to the table (repeat NO ONE). Used plates were not picked up. It was like pulling teeth to get wine or a refill. Food was good. We will not return to La Veranda unless an excursion requires it. Almost forgot. . . . the wine glasses were TEENY. What the heck happened?

We did not have our Prime 7 and Signatures reservation confirmations in our suite. Our butler is wonderful and took care of it for us. Our spa reservations were not there -- needs to be checked out tomorrow.

Sorry for those of you who are not happy that I tell it as I see it. We are tired. . . . but, happy to be here. We are sooooooo happy that Franck Galzy, Franco, and the rest of the crew that we have met previously are on board.

Tomorrow is a CC Meet and Greet. Really looking forward to it.

[mrlevin]

TC, sorry to miss you this morning.

Please don't make determinations about service on turn over day; it is extremely hard on staff. This is especially true today with 300+ full South America cruisers boarding. Also, we kept a lot of bar staff up very late last night; so they were dragging even worse today.

I can state that you did not see me going to my cabin ahead of the appointed time today; however, if you had boarded last week you would have seen me going into my cabin early to drop off my belongings.

Please try to have a great cruise. The ship is in great shape and the food hasn't tasted better. If I can provide advice, make sure to order meat rarer than normal as they have a tendency to turn rare into medium rare.

Marc

[cruzndiz]

TC.... I hoped & hoped you would "find me" on board today but no such luck. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Embarkation for us was a breeze but I heard from more than one person that the earlier arrivals had a major snafu in the port with computer problems and who knows what else. New to RSSC full circle cruisers cwn/rnn were let down when Mark Conroy promised they would be on the ship early (they weren't, they just got stuck sitting at the port) and they still had not received their luggage as of 6:40pm :eek:

Also, Marc the # of full cruisers is 275 (which is still a good amount!)

Had a great sailaway and met a bunch of CCers....hope someone caught it on the webcam.

Dinner at Signatures was very good because of the company (had a blast with 2 other couples: nanook and cwn) but I didn't think the food was as good as in the past. It was good, don't get me wrong, it just seemed maybe less inspired(?)

I hand delivered invites and a special souvenir I had made for everyone for tomorrow's Meet & Greet.....hope we get a good turnout!

[turtlemichael]

"The ship looks like it needs the uplift that it will receive in March." TC2, I guess you are on a different ship than the superb one I was on just one week ago.

[TheSeaAroundUs]

TC dearest, I _sure_ hope you're doing the whole Circle, as I am only on the last leg, RIO->FLL, and I would absolutely love to finally meet you in person!!!

re: La V (and other service), I am the one who doesn't care how long it takes for wine to be refilled, yet agonizes that an empty water glass goes unnoticed for entire, whole minutes!!! (I do my serious drinking outside of mealtimes.)

I'll be in sweet [sic] 900. In the past, I've ignored the CC greetstuff; I am one who is supremely comfortable in his own company and often seeks solitude. However, this time I may change my stripes! You only live nine times, after all (as this cool cat told me once....)

Happy sails to all!!!!!!!!!
David

[Hambagahle]

Glad you liked Prime 7 -- I am very impressed by it both (now) on the Mariner and the Nav. Friends we have been playing Trivia with have kindly invited us to join them there on 15th...and we accepted with alacrity!

Have a great cruise!! Bon Voyage from Ken and me!!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

TC, hope you are now well rested and in a better mood! Complaining about waiters not carrying plates in La Veranda! Come on sweetie, relax and enjoy! (I personally hate it when they do that.)

[Travelcat2]

TC, hope you are now well rested and in a better mood! Complaining about waiters not carrying plates in La Veranda! Come on sweetie, relax and enjoy! (I personally hate it when they do that.)

Wendy, you hit the nail on the head. Wow -- I must have been in a bad mood to write that post. I have made up for the lost night of sleep and things look much better this morning. turtlemichael: I really only meant that the carpets will appreciate a good cleaning while in drydock. Have not noticed anything else that needs upgrading or changing (except, it would be nice to not have to walk by Park West any more -- not sure why they are so visible on this ship?)

Marc: It would have been nice to finally meet you. . . . you never know. . . we do go on occasional "escorted" cruises. The passengers I was referring to were in the elevator complaining that no one escorted them to their suites and that their suites were not ready. It was only 1:30 p.m. I kept my mouth shut when a man said "on Crystal we are always escorted to our suites".

cruzndiz: Looking forward to meeting you. . . . last night things became confused with muster ending at 6:00 p.m. (the same time you were on deck 12?) Thanks soooooo much for the "special souvener" -- we love it and it will remind of you for a long time (at least until the end of 2011:-)

David: We will be at the Meet & Greet in an hour and a half. Looking forward to meeting everyone. People who meet me expect a sarcastic, opinionated person. Sorry. . . . but that's "Travelcat". . . . I'm Jackie in real life who is much different.

We had breakfast in CR. "Adorable" was our server. Think he is the person who has been written about many times on CC (always in positive terms). Think we'll ask for his section in the future.Not much planned this afternoon except for Trivia. Our Cruise Director does such a great job with Trivia.

[Host Dan]

Thanks to all that are posting on this thread! I'm looking forward to more! :)

Host Dan

[old grump]

Linda (cruzndiz)

sorry we missed seeing everyone at sailaway last night. but looking forward to M&G at 11:00.

Thanks for the calendar magnet. Hey, I'm impressed!:D

Even though I forgot documents, we only received smiles coming on board.

Martha

[PaulaJK]

TC et. al

Have a wonderful cruise. What a great time to get a reprieve from our US weather........and what a nice ship to do so on. I'm fairly certain that things will stabilize after embarkation day!

Glad you enjoyed the crab legs,my favorite entree in P7.

PS The 'elevator chap' was incorrect re: his comment about Crystal. That line runs embarkation quite similar to the way Regent does...namely, 12 noon boarding followed by a welcoming lunch and then you find your own cabin when the go ahead is announced ,usually between 2 & 2:30. The one difference,which I appreciate, is that Crystal has a supervised gangway/entry area where you can check your hand luggage. I don't know whether this would stop people from going early to their cabins.

I know that we all look forward to traveling vicariously with those on this circumnavigation of SA/

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well, once up on a time, in Radisson days, they did escort you to your suite. That was pretty nice, I think. (But I suspect that went away when they started allowing people on board so early.)

Glad things are looking up, hope you have a great time. I've never been on Mariner so am always interested to hear about differences between it and Voyager (aside from the obvious layout-related ones.)

Park West was practically invisible on our recent Voyager trip, btw.

[FlyerTalker]

Truth is...if you board "early", many crew are performing other turnaround-day functions. So, service in restaurants and at the gangway may be spotty. OTOH, if you board at the "normal" time (say 2-3pm), you'll likely get the full escort treatment at the gangway. Take your choice....personally, I've never been one that needed to be onboard at the earliest possible moment like some. I'm OK having lunch ashore - I'll get plenty of "cruise cuisine" later.

YMMV

[cruiseluv]

Since I always post the good and the not so good. . . . let's talk about La Veranda. After a long (by Regent standards) embarkation, we went up to La Veranda. On the elevator we found people trying to get into their suite that was not ready (not sure if they are all hard of hearing. . . . but we were told. . . and it was in writing. . . that you cannot go to your suites until the announcement that was expected around 2:30.

See how easily I get off topic:o The service in La Veranda at 1:30 p.m. (they were open until 3:00 p.m. on the day of embarkation) was horrendous. NO ONE attempted to carry anyone's plates to the table (repeat NO ONE). Used plates were not picked up. It was like pulling teeth to get wine or a refill. Food was good. We will not return to La Veranda unless an excursion requires it. Almost forgot. . . . the wine glasses were TEENY. What the heck happened?



Oh , the horror, the inhumanity! Hope you don't have any more "problems" in the rest of your cruise. Enjoy, many of us are snowed in for the 2nd time in less than two weeks.

[neviboy]

Old Grump and Marc, I was booked but changed my mind. Now sorry that we missed you. Have a great cruise. Mariner was great in Sept.
I remember staying at Mille Flores near Lima at the end of a cruise in 06. Great area.
Keep up the postings !!

[Bigdogwon]

I really wasn't going to post on this cruise since I had nothing to say. The last time we were on the Mariner (2008), we didn't care for it that much. The itinerary we are on is not exactly what we would have normally selected. Don't bother to ask why we are here as we aren't quite sure.

However, here we are on the Mariner and do have a few things to say. First (and this has nothing to do with Regent), we flew a "non-stop" flight from Seattle to Miami that had to stop for 4 hours in Orlando due to fog. The flight from Seattle was overnight and we are exhausted.

We were thrilled to board the ship and find people/staff that we knew. Loved the hugs and welcomes that we received. That is the one HUGE thing that makes us prefer Regent to Silversea. . . . . . the people.

This evening we dined in Prime 7. We do not like Prime 7. I thought my DH was crazy to book it. I didn't want to eat there yet again. However. . . . we were very wrong. Every morsel of food was perfection. The wine (Cabernet) was amongst the best we had ever had. We ordered a crab leg main course that was amazing. The service was perfection. Can't wait to return.

The ship looks like it needs the uplift that it will receive in March. Our suite (905) is scheduled to be converted to a shower suite. That will be nice.

Since I always post the good and the not so good. . . . let's talk about La Veranda. After a long (by Regent standards) embarkation, we went up to La Veranda. On the elevator we found people trying to get into their suite that was not ready (not sure if they are all hard of hearing. . . . but we were told. . . and it was in writing. . . that you cannot go to your suites until the announcement that was expected around 2:30.

See how easily I get off topic:o The service in La Veranda at 1:30 p.m. (they were open until 3:00 p.m. on the day of embarkation) was horrendous. NO ONE attempted to carry anyone's plates to the table (repeat NO ONE). Used plates were not picked up. It was like pulling teeth to get wine or a refill. Food was good. We will not return to La Veranda unless an excursion requires it. Almost forgot. . . . the wine glasses were TEENY. What the heck happened?

We did not have our Prime 7 and Signatures reservation confirmations in our suite. Our butler is wonderful and took care of it for us. Our spa reservations were not there -- needs to be checked out tomorrow.

Sorry for those of you who are not happy that I tell it as I see it. We are tired. . . . but, happy to be here. We are sooooooo happy that Franck Galzy, Franco, and the rest of the crew that we have met previously are on board.

Tomorrow is a CC Meet and Greet. Really looking forward to it.
How long will it be in drydock or wet, because I know after it's TA it will be in for our suite bathroom redo, seems like there is a lapse of about ten days between the end of TA and the April 17 cruise.

[Travelcat2]

Oh , the horror, the inhumanity! Hope you don't have any more "problems" in the rest of your cruise. Enjoy, many of us are snowed in for the 2nd time in less than two weeks.

We were almost snowed in. . . . but our flight problems occurred trying to land in Miami. There was fog that forced us to land in Orlando and wait four hours for clearance to land.

There are never really "problems" on a Regent cruise. . . . . just small gliches. This cruise is particularly good in terms of food. The food thus far is probably better than we have ever experienced on Regent. Wonder if it the "new" (?) Head Chef. As I have said many times, nothing is perfect. However, in our last few cruises, La Veranda has been a "miss". With all of the great food around the ship, it seems to be a waste of time to even go there.

The Meet & Greet (organized by cruzndiz) was wonderful. We were able to put faces to the names we see on CC. Really a great group of people!

[Robroy]

I realize this is the Regent board but with your very recent voyage on the Silversea Spirit in November I'll be interested in any comparisons you may draw between the two. My wife and I are looking forward to returning to Regent in the near future and are quite curious as to whether our Dec 2007 fabulous experience on Voyageur is still the norm in terms of food and overall service.

Thanks and have a great trip!

Rob

[Emdee]

TC,
Can you do me a favour.... point Frank Galzy to my posting with my Navigator pictures. He was on the same Bear Excursion with my daughter in Ketchikan and I had promised to send him the link. However, I only had his Navigator email address.

Many thanks
Miriam

[Hambagahle]

TC -
Glad you are feeling better!! What an awful flight...

I have a question - is John McNeil your Captain? I had heard he might be though I had also hoped he would be with us on the Nav. If he is on the Mariner you are a lucky duck!

[petlover]

Our cruise ended on Jan. 11th, the day you embarked. We spent the day on the ship (disembarked early and then came back on via a visitor's pass) as we were visiting many friends who are on the full SoAm trip. As full SoAm passengers boarded, they went directly to CR for a nice lunch, or they could opt to come eat at the pool deck since it was such a glorious day. This is where many were. Like Wendy, we couldn't care less about having our plate carried to our table. Not sure why this was mentioned, I guess to each his own. Agree with Marc how difficult "change over" day is for the staff. They hustled like crazy all morning and we just stayed scarce, out of their way.

In our opinion, our entire 1 week FUN2 cruise was terrific. The service and food never missed. Having Franck as GM, Lisa as assistant CD was great. Paul Reynolds is now on vacation and Ray Solaire took over on the 11th as CD. Don't miss his show...he is so very talented and probably the best show we've ever seen on any Regent cruise.

Hopefully by now you're over your long flight and settling in nicely and will enjoy your entire cruise. Prime 7 was definitely a highlight for us as well, great food, great wine and great friends! Also, Make sure you have LV pizza for lunch, it was very tasty...

Thanks for posting and look forward to hearing more as your journey continues. IMO, our 2006 SoAm cruise still ranks #1.

[Travelcat2]

I'll try to remember the questions from page one. . . .

Not sure about drydock. I'll ask sometime during the cruise. I'm interested in what they are doing in addition to the shower conversions.

Am I missing something about the Alaska link. . . . didn't see it. I'd be happy to point it out to Franck.

The reason I mentioned the fact that dishes were not being carried to the table for passengers was not for me. I prefer to carry my own plate. . but there are quite a few passengers that need assistance. It must be terribly challenging for someone with difficulty walking to carry a plate and perhaps a cane/walking stick in the other hand.

My wine comment was simply because we were totally exhausted from the overnight flight and delay in Orlando. We just wanted to find a server for something to drink. . .l . water would have worked . . just happened to mention wine.

Robroy: If I did comparisons to SS on this thread, someone might pour a bottle of water on my head (just kidding). I have been asked about our SS cruise by several people from CruiseCritic. I basically tell them that the food in La Terrazza is dramatically better than anything we have ever had in La Veranda (for lunch or dinner). The food in The Restaurant and Compass Rose are about the same. Regent ships are so much nicer than the "plastic" Spirit. Drinks on the Spirit were fun. . . . their concoctions (how is that spelled?) are great. I have a copy of their drinks with me. . . hope to ask one of the bartenders on board to attempt to recreate them. The service in La Terrazza is also several levels above La Veranda. Silversea employees are apparently required to greet every passenger when they pass them in the hall. It feels a bit forced at times. When you are greeted in the hallways by Regent employees, they are pleasant and it feels a bit more real. I will mention a few things about SS to Franck Galzy when we have dinner with him. I did send an email to FDR after of SS cruise pointing out a few specific issues (the most specific related to the cold crab claws and shrimp/prawns on the two cruise lines). Don't think anyone wants Silversea to be like Regent or visa versa. We appreciate their differences (with the possible exception of the smoking policy on SS.

No matter how good Silversea is, Regent feels like part of our family. They retain some of their staff for years. We remember them and they remember us. '

Don't want to lose the connection (and my post) so I will leave it here and will write more later. May as well take advantage of our two sea days.

[Travelcat2]

Not sure where the rest of the CC'ers are. Even Linda is not posting here (and I didn't see her all day. . . . definitely miss her and the others).

Trying to learn what will be happening during dry dock. According to a person who I believe to be a manager in the Boutique, drydock will begin April 7th and will last a week. In addition to changing bathtubs into large showers (which I love), we have been told that the Boutique will be moving to Stars. Not sure if that means the entire space or simply a part of it. We have long wondered why Stars is there sitting empty most of the time. It is apparently used for the kids program and is a smoking lounge. However, we have not seen one person in there since we boarded.

Dined in Signatures this evening. That is all I have to report on that subject.

This cruise, in some ways, has not begun since we have been at sea since we left Ft. Lauderdale. However, we have not had a moment of boredom. In fact, there is not enough time to rest and/or relax. So far, we are completely enjoying this cruise. Meeting up with some couples we met in South Africa and Alaska has been wonderful.

I know that last week was fantastic for the group of 120 (approximately), but, we've been told that this week is much calmer. I kinda get that:-)

The Mariner will never have cabins large enough for my DH. . . . . but, the
Penthouse Suites are delightful.

Really hope some other CC'ers post as I have so little to say. I don't like posting for the sake of posting. It is really a blast for me to meet people who have pre-conceived notions of who "Travelcat" is. Linda thought I was a Librarian or Teacher with grey hair and a strict persona. It was difficult to stop laughing at that. For those of you who have any notion that the stuff on CC bothers me. . . . . well..........you'll just have to cruise Regent or Silversea and learn the truth.

Happy and safe sailing to all of you.

[Travel2Learn]

Reading this thread has me even more excited about Voyager Beijing-Bankok in March. (Lima-Buenos Aires 2011 was sold out, so that may be on the calendar for 2012.) Thank you for all of your notes. Being new to Regent and traveling solo, it's especially good to hear about the friendliness.

Linda

[mrlevin]

Stars is a wonderful lounge. Because it doesn't exist on Voyager, they have had to close off Voyager lounge so that you can have a loud club at night. Mariner's Mariner lounge is much nicer than Voyager lounge.

Also, the staircase between the Casino and Stars is a great shortcut for those with cabins on Deck 7.

Marc

[TheSeaAroundUs]

Travelcat, I sure hope you'll still be there when I board in Rio. I would love to meet you. (I'll buy drinks! Nono, no, _really_, my treat, I insist.) Whereas some of your posts may appear contentional to some ... well, that just makes me want to meet you even more. I have never met a person whose company I did not enjoy (I mean really met; conflicts I had in junior high do not count). And, the best of conversations occur when one is speaking with a conversant who is _not_ too much like me. We'll enjoy each others' company and perhaps push a few limits, and it will end with a hug!!! (If you're a hug person; I am not, by predisposition, but have learned over time how fulfilling they can be.)

Cheers and happy sails to all.
David

[grapejuice]

TC, I think I would get on great with you on a cruise as well. Nothing much gets on my gander. If I where looking for you on a cruise, I would be looking for someone similar to what Linda's idea of you, except you would not have grey hair but a sensible dark bob and dark rimmed spectacles sort of like Nana Mouskouri (the Greek singer - lovely voice) But you would not wear these all the time.
Actually, I have images of a lot of you who are regular posters and who do not have their photos up (all lovely images I might add)

[mariners]

TC2, I think Linda is keeping her own blog and that might be why she is not posting on here. It's always amazed me that we can meet people at the CC group meeting and then not see each other again throughout a cruise. On each cruise, we seem to choose favourite locations and that is where we spend our time. Unless we phone or leave a note for other passengers, we might not connect again. When I left the note for you on our last cruise together, the nice people who were in "your" cabin returned the note with a "not at this address" notice. When you hosted a party, we were unable to attend. We never did casually bump in to each other. If I read Linda's blog correctly, check the casino, which is where I would meet her.:D
Looking forward to your future posts - even if you have little to say.

[Emdee]

TC2
We cruisers live through other cruisers when we are on dry land so your reports are much appreciated and enjoyed. Forget the naysayers......That does not mean that we may not agree to disagree sometimes!

Thanks for pointing out the link to Franck.

Miriam

[Travelcat2]

Marc: Heard an unverified rumor about Stars lounge last night. We were talking to the people in the boutique regarding their difficult to find location. A person we believe to be a manager said that they were moving into a portion of Stars lounge during their drydock beginning April 7th.

Linda: That itinerary sounds wonderful. Being on Regent is one of best places on earth to be:)

David: Regretfully, we are getting off the ship in Lima. We cannot do longer itineraries as we miss our animals too much. It isn't fair to leave them for longer than 2 weeks (even with our wonderful petsitter). Hope to meet you on one of our future cruises. And, yes, we are huggers:-)

Grapejuice: You really made me laugh. Actually, my hair is brown, shoulder length and I let it curl naturally and look rather crazy while on the ship during the day. It's straight and pinned up at night. Sorry, no glasses (due to Lasik surgery many years ago). I'm more or less a free spirit from the 60's;) My Avatar is one of my kitties -- they are a big part of our lives.

mariners: Thanks for the info. on Linda. We should have seen her at Trivia yesterday. . . . we have two CC teams and we like to see which team did better (we would have tied for first place if we had listened to the newest member of our team). Yes -- it was interesting last year that we did not bump into each other. One couple that did attend our little cocktail hour is on this cruise -- part of our trivia team. Have you considered the crossing -- Rome to FLL next November?

Once again, nothing to report. We're going into port when we arrive in Willimsted (or something like that) in 2 hours. Have early Trivia in a few minutes.

Thanks for all of the nice posts.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

That's so funny that folks have visualized TC as a prim and proper madame-librarian. I have not met you Jackie, but rest assured, I had always assumed you were a free spirit, perhaps a reformed flower child? (I remember my first husband's second wife called me a "flower child"; I was stung, but don't you be, I consider it a compliment now!)

I have met mariners, so I know what she looks like, and Marc, and Neville, and of course some folks have recognizable pictures.

But I'm also curious about how I am pictured, I must admit.

[Threechicks]

Wendy, isn't that you and your photo on LCT?

[cwn]

TC...Dick was a bit annoyed to have placed 2nd yesterday too..he is a bit competitive about his Trivia. He just came in and announced your team won today!! We are two hours late as of now into Willimsted due to rough seas and 40 m/h winds. We had planned to dive, but there has been rain and the seas are choppy, so guess we will justrwalk around.

This is our first time on Regent and all is great so far. If anyone is interested our blog is up and running with daily post.

www.circlesouthamerica2011.blogspot.com (http://www.circlesouthamerica2011.blogspot.com)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wendy, isn't that you and your photo on LCT?

Yes, you're right. But not here. And that picture is 5 years old, and I don't wear glasses anymore, and my hair is quite different.

I've been trying to get a good one that I could use as an avatar, but haven't come across one that I like.

[hondorner]

The avatars do work -- On our December cruise, Wendy was on her balcony and spotted Betsy and I far below as we returned from a late excursion and hurried up the gangplank. Until then, we had been missing each other. After she spotted us, we finally had a chance to meet. She looks just like I pictured a "Wendy"! I think I could even see a Tinkerbelle hovering near by ;).

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Funny Don, that's who I was named for. I actually think of myself more of a Peter Pan, Wendy was way more nurturing than I.

[RachelG]

cwn, I checked out your blog and it is really nice. I will be following along.
Too bad about the weather in Curacao--it is my favorite Caribbean island and is great for walking. There is a museum which is really interesting right near downtown.

[Cruising Librarian]

Loving the librarian stereotyping:) I worked at the San Francisco Public Library for 15 years and we are hardly the homogenous group most imagine. But now I can guess how other posters picture me (if anyone bothers)

I'm following this thread because we are sailing on the Mariner TA in 68 days, so I do appreciate the postings and will be sure to follow the blogs. We're looking forward to many sea days so details about daytime activities are of great interest.

[xrvlcruiser]

Our Captain is Felice Paterno . . .

[Caroldoll]

if I would have to describe her--she is medium height--about 5''3 or 4 which is tallk compared to my 5' 11". She is medium build too--with, as she said, shoulder length brown hair which looks sexy down. She pins it up and this makes her more severe than sexy. She is not loud--she is a lady--compared to me! She smiles a lot. Dark eyes, medium skin. Dresses "cute"...not teeney bopper, but cute. Her huisband Dennis is rather slim and probably the same height. He moves like a cat on a hot tin roof--hard to keep up with. His British accent is sooo sexy. My husband and he were quite a duo..Dennis and Joe at 6;5". They left us in a cave in Gibraltar!! We had a laugh over that. Dennis is well mannered and well brought up...and smart. Quiet. Very nice couple. They are dear friends whom I will never forget.

Jackie, in person, does not have a forked tongue. She is smooth and kind.

Wish we were on the ship, but sadly we prefer Silversea.

[Emdee]

Capt.Felice Patruno is a lot of fun. Such a warm friendly captain. He had it in his head that my name was Sonia but knew it was wrong so he would always start with Sonia.... no... Miriam.Hambaghle arranged a wonderful cc party when we were on the Mariner so we got to meet all of the senior staff .

[Hambagahle]

Right, Miriam - we all loved Felice Patruno AND his lvely daughter who joined us for a few days on the April cruise!

In reading Jackie's posts there are two things I note: more of those wretched showers and so fewer baths! Ugh! It really makes getting a suite on the Mariner a nightmare for us. But on the other hand, I would be really really delighted to see something else in place of Stars, which seems "dead space".

Sounds like you are having a great time, Jackie! And I really liked the remark about Regent staff being "family". It is so nice to see them again. We had a chat with our wine steward last night...he remembered us from the Voyager in 2006 AND the Mariner last year. Nice! He also remembered we hate Sauvignon Blanc. How about that for memory?

[RachelG]

LOL about the showers. I hate tubs and am wait listed for a shower suite on Mariner on the exact cruise that you all are on now. When I booked (only 2 days after the schedule came out), all shower suites in the category I prefer were already taken. My TA said it is because it is the first leg of the circle SA cruise, and a lot of the full cruisers had already booked up the shower suites. She feels confident that we will get our shower in that category, but if we don't, I will pay more to get it.

[petlover]

We too like having a tub so will continue trying to get one each time we're on the Mariner.

As for STARS, we were on Jan 4-11 and spent every evening there with many others. It was FAR from dead and very lively until at least 1:00 am.
We've been on other Mariner cruises where it was dead...seems to depend on the passenger mix on individual cruises.

[mariners]

STARS was also used during the day by Club Mariner when we were onboard. We've had the same experience as petlover in the evening in STARS. It's either been really lively or almost empty. It was also used for group get togethers on our cruise - agent hosted, Cordon Bleu graduation, etc.

TC2, if I have the correct couple from the last cruise, please say hello to J & C from us. We had been booked on the Voyager crossing that was cancelled and as we had already booked the Voyager Safaga to Barcelona segment, the Mariner crossing was not in the cards for us. We are, however, still taking a crossing as we are flying from Barcelona to Rome and will board the Seabourn Odyssey for the Voyage to the Americas. Isn't it great to have all of these choices?!

[petlover]

Oh that's right Mariners. We were on a BK escorted cruise, about 100 of us and we had both a Welcome and a Farewell party in STARS. We enjoyed the privacy and the large space. I hope the boutique doesn't take over too much of STARS. I guess time will tell.

[Threechicks]

Wendy, thanks for posting a photo. I read what Don said about recognizing people on board from their avatar so posted mine yesterday. Perhaps one day the two Canadians will be on the same cruise.

[Travelcat2]

if I would have to describe her--she is medium height--about 5''3 or 4 which is tallk compared to my 5' 11". She is medium build too--with, as she said, shoulder length brown hair which looks sexy down. She pins it up and this makes her more severe than sexy. She is not loud--she is a lady--compared to me! She smiles a lot. Dark eyes, medium skin. Dresses "cute"...not teeney bopper, but cute. Her huisband Dennis is rather slim and probably the same height. He moves like a cat on a hot tin roof--hard to keep up with. His British accent is sooo sexy. My husband and he were quite a duo..Dennis and Joe at 6;5". They left us in a cave in Gibraltar!! We had a laugh over that. Dennis is well mannered and well brought up...and smart. Quiet. Very nice couple. They are dear friends whom I will never forget.

Jackie, in person, does not have a forked tongue. She is smooth and kind.

Wish we were on the ship, but sadly we prefer Silversea.

Carole. . . . . you are soooooooo sweet. Flor a minute I thought Dennis and I left you in a cave. Now I remember, you and were stranded in that gorgeous cave (won't tell anyone that you were a bit frightened). I tend not to mention my friends on CC for two reasons: 1) Don't want to ruin your reputation and 2) My reputation, whether earned or not, gives us all quite a few chuckles.

Okay, back to the subject.

mariners, yes -- you have the right couple. We are dining with them and Franck Galzy this evening. I'll definitely tell them hello for
you. They are a delightful couple.

Side note... we were waitlisted for a shower suite for months. . .. it never came through. Our current cabin (905) is scheduled to be converted in April.

Have to make my negative comment regarding the excursions. Yesterday, as we joined the line (aka queue) to get off of the ship, we heard a baaying sound (the sound made by sheep). It was none other than Linda (cruzndiz). She recalled the "herding" post I did some time ago. For those of you who love "free" excursions, you'll be happy to know that the heads of sheep (aka passengers) are still moving at the same pace as when we were in Alaska (and this time I have witnesses);)

Speaking of things still the same, the uncovering of the main course in Signatures has not changed or the Mariner. A change was reported by someone a couple of months ago.

One thing that has changed for the better is the cold shrimp and crab (sorry if mentioned this previously). When frozen shellfish is defrosted, it should not be left to sit in the water as Regent did in the past. We are finding the shellfish 99% better than in the past.

Food remains excellent. Service is great. . . especially Gilbert and Rommel and their servers in CR and Linda in P-7. I believe that the Mariner is running so smoothly becasue of their General Manager, Franck Galzy. Both the staff and passengers apprecviate his hare work and delightful personality. Ray Solare is delightful as is Elsa who seems to be everywhere doing everything for the guests.

I do plan on answering the question about activities on board during the day. Need some time on that one. We are currently is Aruba -- went snorkeling this morning and have time for an hour rest before our "champion" trivia team gets to together and tries to win again!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

TC, it was me who reported that they'd stopped the "un, deux, trois" on Voyager. Oh well.

Threechicks, that picture is 6 years old, but when they are so tiny, the essence is still the same. I still have the hat.

[bennett2005]

Would someone be so kind and look up the details of the Poggio Antico wine on the reserve list. I had some on the prior cruise and failed to note the details. Year, if a reserve or not. Appreciate any info.

[Travelcat2]

Just a quickie to tell Wendy how much we love her new avatar!!!

In terms of the wine. . . . will try to remember to look it up.

[tallship]

Wendy - you look great

Remember it was your old avatar that led me to meet you at FLL before boarding for SAND

[hondorner]

I told you she looks like a Wendy...

http://donhorner.com/pix/wendypeterpantink.jpg http://donhorner.com/pix/wendy.jpg

[bk travels]

The un, deux, trois "ceremony" did change on Mariner. We had a rather dramatic presentation in Signatures a few times on our cruise this past May. In particular there was a voila flourish that could be heard throughout the dining room. Last week we were on Mariner again and the presentation was much more subtle, quiet, and lovely actually. We liked the change.

[Travelcat2]

Just a couple of things. Apparently the "herding" off of the ship that was going on yesterday and today was due partly to the fact that they were only able to use one gangplank instead of two due to the level of the sea. Also, there was a mechanical problem with their card reading system.

Just have to mention that we won Trivia for the second day in a row. We have an incredible team!



P.S. Monsieur Franck, Vous estes un homme merveilleux. Votre couer est aussi grand que les sept mers. C'est un honneur de vous connaitre!;)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

How about Tinkerbell then, anybody but Wendy Darling? (I grew up with the original book, "Peter and Wendy", and the annual TV production with Mary Martin, not the Disney version. Wendy was very much the little mother in both.

BTW, it's "gangway", not gangplank guys, they may be pirates in a way, but...

Oui, Franco, il est le meilleur. He was our first maitre'd on the Gauguin in 2000. I was scared to death of him then.

[hondorner]

...Oui, Franco, il est le meilleur. He was our first maitre'd on the Gauguin in 2000. I was scared to death of him then.
Whoops, don't think that Franck is the same person as Franco. Franck Galzy was just starting his career at Regent around 2000, sailing as a waiter, I believe, on Navigator's Maiden Voyage. He has moved up quickly, and was first promoted to GM on Navigator in January, 2010. We had the honor of sailing on his first voyage as GM, and had a lovely dinner with him. He is so cute, and so personable, that I think Betsy wanted to adopt him (he's about the same age as our son). He did a fine job on his first outing in his new position.

I had the opportunity in February, at Marina's Float-out in Genoa, to speak to Nicola Volpe, who will be Marina's first GM, and who was working at headquarters at Prestige Cruise Holdings at the time. I related to him what a great GM Franck had become, and he said he was really pleased to hear that, as he had been the one to promote him!

[cruzndiz]

Sorry I have been so remiss in posting -- totally unlike me! ;) Actually, the rough seas and high winds put me a little "off" for the 1st couple of days so I hadn't been so out and about but as of yesterday things seemed to have calmed down. Plus the internet is even slower than I remember it to be from last time, so I basically log on, do my work e-mails, then post to blog since pretty much everyone who knows me checks that anyway.

First of all, let me say that I am having a fantabulous time in all ways except the included excursions which have been a nightmare of epic proportions. I saw where Travelcat posted earlier some things that may have contributed to the delays encountered, but honestly the procedure that Regent has put in place for processing these excursions is just not good. Really. Personally I thought it was a great idea including the excursions -- the less I have to think about the better -- but that was before I boarded the ship. I still like the idea of included excursions, but RSSC needs to go back to the drawing board and rethink how they are going to handle them to give their guests the best possible experience. In fact, I plan to put some thought into this myself and put forth some suggestions if I can come up with anything because as much as I love Regent these past two days have really turned me off. TC was having dinner with Franck Galzy tonight so I'm hoping she will discuss this.

more.....

[cruzndiz]

The trivia competition is fierce, indeed, and Ray is very rigid in the way he runs it so there is no funny business going on :p Today I was very upset when my teammates informed me that the team that won (not us) had also won yesterday until I saw that they were my very own CC pals who have amassed their own collection of bookmarks and have been so kind as to donate their "points" to someone less intelligent ;)

The CC group is very tight here with lots of mingling going on!! I was sitting here at the coffee connection laughing hysterically as I read through all of the posts on this thread. Thanks, everyone, for the laughs!

As far as the staff: my room steward is a phenom (really I don't know how she manages to get everything done around mine & Mike's widely disparate schedules); the CR waitstaff (dinner) except for Rommel and Nixon have been slow, neglectful and forgetful but it hasn't affected my meals which have been very good; in general all of the staff is very friendly but it feels like there is a more casual attitude/atmosphere among many of them as far as service goes. Examples include the hot tubs not being open any day on time (even after mentioning it more than once, the same thing happened again today), the gym not being open on time (why was it even closed?), the pool bartender seeing us standing at the bar but continuing to chat with other workers before coming over to take an order (there were no other guests present), ordering a soda at the beginning of dinner and having to ask where it was when the 3rd course was being served and the soda still wasn't there (this happened 2 out of 3 times). None of these things in and of themselves is an issue, but they are representative of the big picture and I really feel like this is a direction the company is going whether they intend it or not. I don't know if that makes any sense, and I can't quite put my finger on what I'm feeling...but when I do figure it out, you'll be the first to know.

[tallship]

Hondorner-
Franck Galzy's first turn as GM was Dec 2009 on Navigator cruise immediately after dry dock. I was on that cruise and he most definitely was the GM - his first cruise in that role.

[Hambagahle]

Franck Galzy is a star! We sailed with him on the Mariner when he was head of F&B in 2008.

Jackie - tried to do your beach walk in Grand Turk and was thwarted by rain! When the rain cleared a LARGE Princess ship was docked next to us and we didn't want to be swallowed up in the crowd so we stayed on board.

How I wish the Mariner had been built by Mariotti with both shower and bath... then all this "I like showers/I like bath" business would not happen!!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, sorry for the mixup, I thought someone mentioned Franco recently,

[Travelcat2]

Would someone be so kind and look up the details of the Poggio Antico wine on the reserve list. I had some on the prior cruise and failed to note the details. Year, if a reserve or not. Appreciate any info.

The wine I believe you are referring to is:

Altero Poggio Anticco
Brunello di Montacino D.O.C.G.
Sangiovese Grosso, Tuscany
2003 $140

Wendy: Franco is indeed on the ship. We have had some lovely discussions about his time on the Paul Gauguin.

We first sailed with Franck Galzy on the Mariner, Alaska in 2008 when he was Food and Beverage Manager. He was the GM on our May 2010 cruise on the Navigator. . . and here we are again on the Mariner. I believe he is setting the standard on all three Regent ships. His team is with him on this cruise. IMO, it does help to lead by example. The example being set is a good one. Don't want to say too many nice things about him, lest his head becomes too large for his shoulders:-) He will be on the Voyager during their drydock this year.

The shower vs. tub issue on this ship will continue until they conversions are complete. There will still be plenty of bathtub suites left. For most of us who live in te Pacific Northwest, large Jacuzzi type tubs are pretty standard in homes built over the last 15 years or so. For that reason, large bathtubs are not as appealing to us as large showers. Just personal preference I guess.

Please forgive my more than normal typos. My fingers do not fit well on my netbook and I'm typing fast to avoid losing the connection.

Time for early Trivia.

[bennett2005]

Thank you ever so much for the info on the wine. Yes that is the one.

If you like red wine and have some OBC to use that is a special treat.

[SnoBirdCruiser]

Hi "Bennett", sure wish you were here with us....oh well,April will soon be here.

So far we are enjoying the cruise and all the nicce people we have met....I have to say,that so far, the food has been very good, only missing fresh vegitables with dinner.
I like the new serving portions of food...perfect for me.

As some of you know, we are gold heading up to platinum level, have cruised with most of these same officers several times,including this past June.....So far not one staff member could even call us by name or for that matter even recognize us.....I find that funny as most of you know, I am not exactly a shrinking violet.
Oh well, c'est la vie! It wont stop us from having a great time on board for the next 35 or so days.

I really am enjoying Trivia...today was our third win in a row.....WTG!!!!
Till tomorrow.

[bennett2005]

Yes, would have been nice to be with you on the cruise. Was on the one before as you know. Can not do that often as it was an 8 day party. Too old for that, but was great fun, with great friends.

Looking forward to April. We both get into B head early so we will have some time together. Is your friend from Huntsville going to be with you the entire time.

We need to pick some restaurants for the french town as I am in a Condundrum as to what we should do.

See you soon.

[nanook21]

Just have to mention that we won Trivia for the second day in a row. We have an incredible team!
Well, that's because you 'stole' our team members, Dick & Peter! Linda, Wayne & I did almost as well with only 3 people. LOL.

I've finally got onto this board, we've been so busy since boarding. And, we don't have unlimited Internet time like many of you, as this is our first Regent cruise. And, Oh My!! I'm afraid I'm now spoiled for any other line.

Embarkation was a breeze, and we were greeted by champagne and handshakes from all senior crew (we came early, but only had a brief wait in the terminal). Went up to La Veranda, and had absolutely no problems being served copious amounts of wine on the aft deck while we waited for our suite to be ready. Lunch was perfectly enjoyable. Have to say that our first experience with Signatures was (a) not fabulous but just ok as to the food, and (b) great fun with two CC couples (cruzndiz & cwn). Like Linda posted, it was a blast.

I'll post some more later, but will do it off-line then cut/paste to save my Internet time. Right now I'm killing time in Cartagena as our Bay Cruise on Spanish Galleon tour was cancelled (the second such cancellation, so we're not happy about the tour situation). More on that later.

Food in Prime 7 is fabulous!! Will try to go there again later. We've had no problems in La Veranda whatsoever, except maybe the odd time when it was slow getting a glass of water. Ah well, we're on vacation, so relax!

[nanook21]

PS - while I'm still logged in here, I should comment. Captain Patruno (sp?) is wonderful, Ray Solaire is a total delight, and Franck Galzy seems to be everywhere. Very impressed with the staff on this cruise.

Later!

[SnoBirdCruiser]

Yes our friend will be there..He will be joining us in Joberg only for the safari portions. Right now he is doing the entire Circle South America on Crystal.

Please start the research for great restaraunts....talking of "conundruum" I don't believe it is available on this cruise and I forgot to order it, as I did for Norway.

Big BBQ party up on 11 deck tonight...should be a blast, only hope I don't melt with the humidity....watched them unload a truck load of palms....am assuming they are for the party......Keep in touch...

[Travelcat2]

Well, that's because you 'stole' our team members, Dick & Peter! Linda, Wayne & I did almost as well with only 3 people. LOL.
\

Hmmm, wasn't even going to mention that we won again;) Every time we adopt a team member, it's because their team wasn't around. Once they are in our group twice, they are stuck with us. Just thought I'd mention that the wonderful lecture that was in competition with trivia, repeats on the television later in the day. In any event, we are enjoying trivia (and donating our points to Linda).

My DH said that the food and wine has improved a lot. We are now anxious to book a cruise in 2012.

Still have not forgotten about sharing the information about what people do all day on Regent. We're coming up on 2 1/2 sea days so there will be time (but the internet will be slow).

Cartegena, Columbia has the most beautiful skyline. Can't wait to check out this beautiful city.

Oh, before I forget. The Boutique moving to a portion of Stars is still not confirmed. Apparently it was being considered. Do not know what will actually happen.

Once again, the staff of Regent feel like family. After almost a week, we are still meeting up with staff we cruised with previously.

Buenos Tardes:)

[hondorner]

Hondorner-
Franck Galzy's first turn as GM was Dec 2009 on Navigator cruise immediately after dry dock. I was on that cruise and he most definitely was the GM - his first cruise in that role.
You're correct. We sailed on Jan 13, 2010, nearly the next cruise after yours (I think Navigator was chartered between Jan 6 and Jan 13), and I was so excited to be on the ship so recently after the drydock that I should be excused for thinking it was the first ever :o;).

[SnoBirdCruiser]

The great BBQ oon deck 11 was outstanding!!
IT TOOK THE ENTIRE DECK CREW AND EVERYONE ELSE(oops sorry for caps)over 3 hours to set up,including palm branches,flags, white linen, navy chair covers....very festive. The music was the type that made you want to dance and dance we did!!!
Then Ray S offered a challenge that iif the crew could dismantle EVERYTHING in 5 minutes he would treat the crew to a case of Heiniken and Corona. They won and our kilted-up Ray now owes them a couple of cases of beer.
The local dancers were very talented....couldn't believe that anyone could shake their booty like that...WOW!!!

The weather is hot and humid...the pool cool....should be another great day...

Till tomorrow....

[Travelcat2]

Greetings from Cartagena! Excursions ran perfectly this morning. . . exactly the way Regent would like to see it every day! We disembarked quickly and with no line whatsoeveir. Waited on the bus 5 minutes and left. The city is quite amazing in many ways.
Regent continues to exceed expectations. As mentioned above, it is very hot and humid here. Definitely not cat weather:p Looking forward to Trivia.. . . almost hope to lose so that others have an opportunity to win!

[RachelG]

Which excursions did you do?

[Travelcat2]

Which excursions did you do?

We did the Popa Monestary (misspelled), a cathedral and the Palace of the Inquisition that showed all of the ways of torture that was used to make people confess to things they did not do and to accuse their innocent friends in order to save their lives. It was an interesting tour -- much to learn about this country.

[NCCruzQueen]

I caught this photo of the Mariner going through the Panama Canal on the Miraflores webcam this afternoon. Y'all are looking good. :D

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/bpunte/Mariner_PC.jpg?t=1295384262

[Anna B.]

I caught this photo of the Mariner going through the Panama Canal on the Miraflores webcam this afternoon. Y'all are looking good. :D

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/bpunte/Mariner_PC.jpg?t=1295384262

good job ;)

[Travelcat2]

Wow -- what a great shot. We are all tired from being up from 5:00 a.m. to watch every second of the Panama Canal. The weather was perfect -- clear and not as hot as it could have been.

Internet connection all day was pretty much impossible. Nothing much to report. Lost Trivia two days in a row. . . . both days minus key team members.

Really appreciate the photo!

[cruzndiz]

Lost Trivia two days in a row. . . . both days minus key team members.!

Well who the heck would sked trivia in the morning when key members have important photography functions or nap time scheduled?? LOL :p

Also, I see you lost Liar's club as well ;)

[Travelcat2]

Have to address the dreaded art auction which occurs today. It boggles my mind that Regent (or any other cruise line) would employ a company who has at least two convictions of fraud against them. As has been mentioned -- probably too many times -- an art auction has no place on a luxury cruise line and does not exist on Silversea or Seabourn. As I would not dare to say anything while I'm here, the only thing I can do is tear up their ads in tiny pieces. Then my DH tries to make the pieces even smaller. (Note: We are tearing up ads that appear in our suite. . . . not randomnly walking the ship and tearing up ads). If Regent would get rid of their artwork, there would be more acreage for FDR's lovely work as well as for legitimate paintings.

This morning we saw an incredible video of our 11 hour crossing of the Panama Canal. Some very talented individual managed to get it all in a 4 minute video. Absolutely incredible.

Cruzndiz: Yes. . . . we are losing at everything lately. You should be rooting for us. . . . . it would give you more points;) It's funny that you see us and you seem invisible.

I promised to list what there is to do during the day. My next post will be from today's "Onboard Activities". Too afraid to lose this link if I keep writing.

[Travelcat2]

Part II -- Activities (some shortened)

8:00 a.m. - Relax and stretch with fitness instructor
9:00 a.m. - Social Travelers Breakfast
9 - 9:45 a.m. - Indoor Cycling
9:30 - Service Club Get Together (Kiwis, Lions, Rotarians, PEOs)
9:45 - Beginning Bridge
10:00 - Enrichment Lecture with Terry Breen (on Ecuador, etc.)
10 - 10:30 - Complete CORE Fitness
10:15 - BAGGO - Bean bag throwing for reward (hmmm sounds like fun)
10:30 - Mah Jongg players meet
10:30 - Introduction to Spanish
11:00 - Enrichment Lecture with Marlene Barasch
11:00 - Board Games Enthusiaasts meet. Today is YAHTZEE.
11:00 - Wine Tasting - Italian Wines
11:00 - SPA LECTURE - "Back Care Clinic"
11:15 - OFFICERS SHUFFLEBOARD CHALLENGE
12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Curry Buffet Feast on Pool deck.
2:00 p.m. - Horrible - dreaded (my words) Art Preview and Auction
2:00 p.m. - Dance Class
2:00 p.m. - Duplicate and social bridge play
2:00 p.m. SPA LECTURE - "Swollen Ankles and Fluid Retention"
2:15 p.m. Ping Pong
2:30 p.m. - Tour Talk - Manta & Guayaquil
3:15 p.m. - TOP TOSS (compete for points)
3:45 p.m. - Needlepoint
4:00 p.m. - Pilates
4-5 p.m. - Crepes Teatime
4:30 p.m. - TRIVIA
5 - 5:45 p.m. - Indoor cycling
5:30 - Friends of BILL W.
6:00 - Relax & Stretch with Fitness Instructor
6:15 - 7:30 - Piano Melodies - Observation Lounge
6:30 - 7:30 - Pre-Dinner Dancing - Horizon Lounge
6:45 p.m. Regent Signature Guitarist -pre-dinner melodies (Mariner lounge)
6:45 - 7:30 - Social Travelers get together for conversation.
9:00 - 9:40 - Pre-Show dancing in Theater
9:45 - Comedy Entertainer Bruce Smirnoff
10:15 p.m. Intimate Dancing in Stars Nightclub (with smoking allowed)
10:15 - late - Moonlight Melodies on piano - Observation Lounge
10:30 - late - Dance the Night Away - Horizon Lounge
11:00 - late -- Jukebox Disco in Horizon Lounge

Not even checking for typos. . . . . hope this helps whoever asked. It is definitely a full day:D

[Hambagahle]

Clearly not enough to do, Jackie!!!

[Cruising Librarian]

Many thanks for a sample daily activity agenda..certainly several nice choices available.

[cruzndiz]

Just a few comments as we head into the final days of this wonderful cruise....

1. Service in the restaurants continues to be spotty but this is clearly an issue of there being less staff. The bartenders are exemplary, my room steward and assistant are exemplary, but they are quite obviously short handed in all 4 eating venues and it manifests itself in things like forgetting to bring drinks, forgetting to refill wine glasses, delays in taking order...that sort of thing.

2. Food in CR has been excellent overall with some very creative preparations of dishes and interesting combinations of flavors. As happy as I was with the food last time, I am even more enamored of the menu selections this time around.

3. I am still not buying in to the included excursions. Some had claimed that the issues were primarily with Carib ports and travelcat mentioned that her tour in Cartagena was smooth. But I must not as easy going as others (which I doubt because I am pretty easy going;)) because even with today's simple excursion of only having to walk off the ship, hop on a Chivas bus and drive into Montecristi, we still had delays and confusion and our 3pm bus didn't leave until 15 minutes later (which might not seem like a big deal but there were two other buses scheduled to depart at 3:10 and 3:20 so why they insisted on sitting at the pier trying to cram more & more people in made no sense -- especially since the bulk of the pax onboard had already taken this excursion on one of the 6 or more buses this morning) It's just that kind of incompetence that is creating a bottle neck unnecessarily.

4. Ray Solaire is a great cruise director -- very proper and traditional and runs all the games very well, as do his staff. I truly can't imagine what the people on CC (not necessarily this board) could find to complain about.

5. When the full cruisers get off the ship to do their "special overnight" tours those of us left behind are left to fend for ourselves pretty much as there is very little in the way of activities or entertainment scheduled. Not a complaint -- I am very good at entertaining myself in the casino! -- but just an observation.

6. The people from cruise critic are some of the best people on the ship!

And those are my observations thus far :p

Oh, and one very important thing that they won't tell you in advance -- do not use Skype video or they will block your computer's internet access.

[Travelcat2]

Today was particularly interesting because Regent went to Guayaquil, Ecuador for the first time. We were there overnight about 12 years ago. All we remember about the city was that we were told not to leave the hotel due to the crime in the city.

We listened to Terry Breen speak about Guayaquil. The city has spent a lot of money to bring it to the point that it could be a cruise port. We noticed that the streets have been cleaned up (trash, etc.), and graffiti has been covered up for the most part (which makes it about 100% better than Rio IMO).

The ride to the city center caused several passengers on the shuttle to want to remain on the shuttle for the return to the ship. You could not see one tourist or anything resembling an area that tourists would want to visit. Having done our research, we knew that we wanted to walk on the "Malecon". The bus dropped us off by the most amazing iguana park we have ever seen. They are in trees as well as on the ground. . . . everywhere. There were also tortoises that we missed. Other than watching out for iguana poop falling from trees, it was a lovely place.

The Malecon is a beautiful walkway near the sea. It must have cost a fortune to build. We walked for half an hour and then felt the heat and humidity was a bit much and so we went back to the shuttle.

Now, the other side of the coin. For the first time in our lives, we had a police escort through town. The police remained next to the shuttle bus when we reached the park. Along side was a police type ambulance. This was quite interesting to many passengers. There were also quite a lot of police in the "tourist area".

Those passengers who went on tours were quite disappointed. The tour guides, for the most part, had difficulty speaking English. One tour that claimed there was only 1/2 hour of walking ended up walking well over an hour in the hot sun. If you wanted to take a taxi, they did not know where the cruise port was. One bus had passengers sitting in the bus for 2 hours.

Guayaquil is trying very hard to be a destination for tourists. I hope Regent (and other cruise lines) will give them a chance. They need feedback from Regent on how tours can improve in the future.

[Paint Horse]

Sounds like Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Great port when we stopped there a couple of years ago. But being new, it was a little rough. We were as interesting to the residents as they were to us.

[RachelG]

The iguana park sounds very cool. We had a pet iguana, named Iggy, when the boys were little. They are nice pets, but you have to watch out for their teeth if you are giving them medicine. (I know from personal experience.)

[TheSeaAroundUs]

The iguana park sounds very cool. We had a pet iguana, named Iggy, when the boys were little. They are nice pets, but you have to watch out for their teeth if you are giving them medicine. (I know from personal experience.)

That iguana park does sound super cool. (If someone 20 times my size, who didn't speak my language, tried to give me medicine, I think they'd have to watch out for my teeth too!)

Can't wait to join you all in Rio!

[Travelcat2]

Someone saw a photo session in the park. A beautiful blond had iguanas climbing all over her. She was feeding them. . .. quite a sight. We also like iguanas and have no fear of them. Now I know never to give one medicine;)

Wish I was still going to be on board in Rio. Franck Galzy and his crew are simply the best. They were amazing on the Navigator last May and remain so on the Mariner. I may have mentioned this previously. . . . Franck brought the Head Chef, "Franco" (not sure of his title. . .. he is in charge of the restaurants), and some wonderful Head Waiters with him from the Navigator. It feels that each ship this team is on is magical. The only one missing is Capt. McNeill who I know wanted to be on for this cruise.

[Travelcat2]

Haven't had a chance to post. Having too much fun. In some ways, this has been one of our top cruises. Will do a full review when I return and have a couple of days to unwind.

We leave the ship tonight at 9:45 p.m. for a 1:15 a.m. flight. So, when most people are disembarking tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., we'll be well on our way home. This is the first time we have tried this.

Good wishes to the many of you who are staying on for the full 71 days.

[Avondale]

TC2- Have enjoyed your many posts.and hope for more. You've made this leg of the sail around South America interesting, exciting and informative. It has made us look forward, even more, to the last past of this Cruise (Rio to FLL). Thank you.

[Anna B.]

Thanks so much for keeping us posted ;) and have a safe trip home!

[seniorladycruiser]

TC2

Thanks so much for your postings while on your cruise. My husband and I are cruising with Regent for the first time, taking a TA on the Mariner in March.

It was great to hear your comments and we are so excited about our cruise we can hardly wait.

Safe trip home.

Nan

[SnoBirdCruiser]

We are going to miss Jackie and Linda as well as all the rest getting off tomorrow.

I will start a new thread "Lima to Buenos Aires-Around the Cape" if anyone is interested. Remember I am not a great writer such as jackie and Linda are, but am willing to try.

Safe trip home all, Pat.

[Travelcat2]

We are going to miss Jackie and Linda as well as all the rest getting off tomorrow.

I will start a new thread "Lima to Buenos Aires-Around the Cape" if anyone is interested. Remember I am not a great writer such as jackie and Linda are, but am willing to try.

Safe trip home all, Pat.

Pat, you are such a sweetheart. Will really miss you and look forward to our next cruise together in November. Being on the same trivia team was such fun. . . . especially winning FIVE times;)

Will be reading your thread and sending hugs.

[Travel2Learn]

We are going to miss Jackie and Linda as well as all the rest getting off tomorrow.

I will start a new thread "Lima to Buenos Aires-Around the Cape" if anyone is interested. Remember I am not a great writer such as jackie and Linda are, but am willing to try.

Safe trip home all, Pat.

...Looking forward to reading your postings! :)

[cruzndiz]

Don't want to go to bed quite yet, because I know when I wake up in the morning it will be time for this wonderful vacation to come to a close.

I agree with Jackie (travelcat2) that this may have been my best cruise ever and a large part of that is the incredible people I have been fortunate to meet and sail with like tc2, cnn, rwn, snobird, xrvl, nanook, mcavanaugh, oldgrump, sealover, grapestake and so many others. It would deeply sadden me if I thought that our paths would never cross again.

I will be posting a full review when I get home but in a nutshell I have to say I still love Regent -- warts & all! :D

[2old4this]

The trivia competition is fierce, indeed, and Ray is very rigid in the way he runs it so there is no funny business going on :p Today I was very upset when my teammates informed me that the team that won (not us) had also won yesterday until I saw that they were my very own CC pals who have amassed their own collection of bookmarks and have been so kind as to donate their "points" to someone less intelligent ;)

The CC group is very tight here with lots of mingling going on!! I was sitting here at the coffee connection laughing hysterically as I read through all of the posts on this thread. Thanks, everyone, for the laughs!

As far as the staff: my room steward is a phenom (really I don't know how she manages to get everything done around mine & Mike's widely disparate schedules); the CR waitstaff (dinner) except for Rommel and Nixon have been slow, neglectful and forgetful but it hasn't affected my meals which have been very good; in general all of the staff is very friendly but it feels like there is a more casual attitude/atmosphere among many of them as far as service goes. Examples include the hot tubs not being open any day on time (even after mentioning it more than once, the same thing happened again today), the gym not being open on time (why was it even closed?), the pool bartender seeing us standing at the bar but continuing to chat with other workers before coming over to take an order (there were no other guests present), ordering a soda at the beginning of dinner and having to ask where it was when the 3rd course was being served and the soda still wasn't there (this happened 2 out of 3 times). None of these things in and of themselves is an issue, but they are representative of the big picture and I really feel like this is a direction the company is going whether they intend it or not. I don't know if that makes any sense, and I can't quite put my finger on what I'm feeling...but when I do figure it out, you'll be the first to know.

I would think that GM Franch Galzy is the officer to see regarding many of your personal experiences. My experience with him during the 4-11 January cruise was that he was 'on top of things' and made adjustments quickly. Jack Morris

[2old4this]

Have to address the dreaded art auction which occurs today. It boggles my mind that Regent (or any other cruise line) would employ a company who has at least two convictions of fraud against them. As has been mentioned -- probably too many times -- an art auction has no place on a luxury cruise line and does not exist on Silversea or Seabourn. As I would not dare to say anything while I'm here, the only thing I can do is tear up their ads in tiny pieces. Then my DH tries to make the pieces even smaller. (Note: We are tearing up ads that appear in our suite. . . . not randomnly walking the ship and tearing up ads). If Regent would get rid of their artwork, there would be more acreage for FDR's lovely work as well as for legitimate paintings.

This morning we saw an incredible video of our 11 hour crossing of the Panama Canal. Some very talented individual managed to get it all in a 4 minute video. Absolutely incredible.

Cruzndiz: Yes. . . . we are losing at everything lately. You should be rooting for us. . . . . it would give you more points;) It's funny that you see us and you seem invisible.

I promised to list what there is to do during the day. My next post will be from today's "Onboard Activities". Too afraid to lose this link if I keep writing.

I wish I had known about their fraud convictions earlier. What exactly have they been convicted of if you can say? Misrepresentation? Failure to deliver? What? Jack Morris

[Travelcat2]

I wish I had known about their fraud convictions earlier. What exactly have they been convicted of if you can say? Misrepresentation? Failure to deliver? What? Jack Morris

If you Google "Park West auctions fraud?", you'll find pages of articles. Here is one http://www.gadling.com/2010/06/11/cruise-art-seller-park-west-accused-of-fraud/ . Apparently one fraud (copyright) allegation was dismissed January 17, 2011. They have been accused of "Racketeering and Fraud", "Scams", etc. I do remember at least one conviction that was reported in the New York Times a couple of years ago . . . but, do not recall the charge. In my opinon, any company that has been sued repeatedly is a company to avoid. NCL and Oceania have not renewed their contract. I can only assume that Regent will not renew when their current contract is up.

[nanook21]

so now I can finally post to this thread. Onboard Mariner, it was almost impossible to get a good connection. We were trying so hard to conserve our time package (we bought 800 minutes for $200), then ended up not using half of it because of bad connections - kind of a ripoff, but thats the choice we made, so c'est la vie. Next time I might just buy half that time package, unless we can be guaranteed better connections. IMHO, Regent should refund for un-used time when the connections are that bad.

I've been reading the above posts, and agree with TC2 and Cruzndiz & others on many points -especially about the service in La Veranda (not the best), and the included excursions, which were hardly worth the effort. But Regent got full marks for food (except for La Veranda the last week), and friendliness of the staff. We got warm hellos from everyone, everywhere, and it wasn't forced at all.

I wrote up a 'review' from the perspective of a Regent newbie, and I'll post it under a separate thread. I think I'll call it "Just off Mariner, impressions from a Regent newcomer". It will be a longgggg post!! :p. I'm sure I'll get flamed for the few negatives, so hope everyone remembers that it's just our opinion.

To all the CCers that we met on board, we absolutely, thoroughly, enjoyed every one of you. Some of you, we never seemed to run into very often, while others we saw constantly (Yo, Linda!!). In any case, we had a blast, and hope to see some of you again. I'm going to be avidly following Pat's ongoing posts for the next legs, as well as Carolyn's blog for the full circle SA.

[cruzndiz]

Hey Susan! Glad you guys made it back okay :D

I played hooky today and worked on my blog LOL so get over there and take a peek, I got some great pix of you guys especially with all of us at the Panama Hat party!

When my butt isn't numb from sitting anymore I'll upload all the pix to Picasa
<3<3<3

[Travelcat2]

Hey Susan! Glad you guys made it back okay :D

I played hooky today and worked on my blog LOL so get over there and take a peek, I got some great pix of you guys especially with all of us at the Panama Hat party!

When my butt isn't numb from sitting anymore I'll upload all the pix to Picasa
<3<3<3

Loved your blog. I could identify with most of it (didn't do anything on the pool deck and spent a lot of time before dinner in the Observation Lounge where they make amazing drinks). I almost forgot the hairbrush incident. what a surprise to see a hairbrush attached to our door:confused: We were all so busy that we never had time to gossip. Perhaps you'll consider the transatlantic cruise on the Mariner in November. There will be quite a few of us on there.

It was a blast cruising with you. Really hope we can do it again.

[cruzndiz]

We were all so busy that we never had time to gossip.

Seriously! I had more things I had to accomplish daily on vacation than I do when I'm at home working :eek: Although I would have to say the hottest gossip topic was "Ms Thong"

Perhaps you'll consider the transatlantic cruise on the Mariner in November.

I wish -- but I don't see that being an option anytime soon as I had to practically live on motion sickness tabs for the first 6 days of our trip and it wasn't even THAT rocky! I'm just glad I'm not still on board because I heard they have been having some major motion going on.

It was a blast cruising with you. Really hope we can do it again.

Same for me Jackie! I wish we could have done dinner together but you are just too popular! :D Give me a rain check

[Travelcat2]

Raincheck? Definitely!

What were you using for seasickness? I've learned to take medication prior to the seas being rough. We have the electronic wrist band, "the patch" (for emergencies only -- hasn't happened yet), ginger and an over-the-counter pill that we ordered from England. We took 1/2 a pill twice and felt great (not drowsy).

The seasick remedies will be tested in May when we a transatlantic on the 382 passenger Whisper. Not sure what we'll do if they don't work:confused:

Be sure to post when you have something else booked. We're waiting for the 2012 itineraries:D

[nanook21]

Loved your blog. I could identify with most of it (didn't do anything on the pool deck and spent a lot of time before dinner in the Observation Lounge where they make amazing drinks). I almost forgot the hairbrush incident. what a surprise to see a hairbrush attached to our door:confused: We were all so busy that we never had time to gossip. Perhaps you'll consider the transatlantic cruise on the Mariner in November. There will be quite a few of us on there.

It was a blast cruising with you. Really hope we can do it again.

Well that explains why we never saw you, except at trivia! Linda, Mike, Wayne and I spent most of our time on the pool deck (I hauled my little computer out there often to do my blog updates), so hardly ever saw many of you.

Linda, I just finished reading your blog, and its great! I stole some of your pictures, especially the one of our dinner in Signatures. I take a horrible picture, and that one, hallelujah!, is a keeper - it just might be my new avatar!!:D Too bad Mike didn't give us one of his great big grins in that one. I got a good laugh from your pic from Trivia with the "green mass in the bottom is Susan with her head cut off". Gee, thanks! LOL. Yup, I'm definitely a "mass".

I've spent many hours trying to get my pics organized on Picasa, as soon as I'm done I'll email you the access so you can grab whatever pics you want. I've got some doozies! My blog isn't nearly so polished looking as yours or Carolyn's, who I'm also following with interest. Carolyn & Dick are so detailed, and a very interesting read. I didn't include people pics in mine, it was geared more for my family and friends to show them where we were. I'll have to do more pre-cruise blog preparation next time!

[cruzndiz]

I take a horrible picture, and that one, hallelujah!, is a keeper - it just might be my new avatar!!:D You are crazy beautiful, girlfriend! The only bad pic is the one in your avatar right now!! :p

Give hugs to Wayne for me and remind him that he OWES me some Meet & Greet pix because all the ones I took I was shooting into the sun so they are all dark

[nanook21]

We've got some great pics of the meet & greet, as well as many others - the putting contest, panama hat party, etc. Easiest way to get them all to you is to share my Picasa albums with you. I'll email you about it, as soon as I've got them organized. We have over 2000 pics, and its a lot to go through to weed out the duplicates. Hosting a big party on Sat, so won't get to it until next week. But I won't forget! :D

[nanook21]

The only bad pic is the one in your avatar right now!! :p

There you go, Linda, my new avatar! :D (lifted from your blog!)

[cruzndiz]

And it's awesome!!!! :D