Update - Mariner Dry Dock & Voyager Refurbishent

There is a current thread asking about new itineraries for the Mariner next year that makes it appear that the dry dock will be shortened considerably. Since we are on the Explorer, I was looking for the G.M. to ask about the new itineraries.

In the meantime, since we stayed in Malta an extra day because of a cancelled port, the Voyager and Explorer are docked together for 4 hours. Jason O'Keefe from Corporate and the President of Regent, Jason Montague are on the Voyager for a special "President's cruise". Jason O'Keefe stopped by the Explorer to see a few. We chatted about several things including the Mariner's scheduled dry dock.

It is correct that the Mariner will be "wet-docked" for 6 days next year. The hurricane (think that it was Matthew) pretty much took out the place where the Mariner was going to be dry docked. Plus, they need approximately 1,800 contractors to do the dry dock and there is no longer accommodations for that many people. This change was only made last week.

So, some things will be done in the six days - just not the major renovation. That will be delayed one year and will take place in Europe.

Regarding the Voyager, there is a photo team there taking photos of the "new" ship and they also plan on going on top of the hill (in Valletta, Malta) to get a shot of the Explorer and Voyager together.

Apparently, introducing the new restaurants/menus on the Voyager had some issues the first few days but is now running smoothly. First they are taking orders in CR as they have in the past (writing it down) and then will "graduate" to where the Explorer and Navigator are in terms of the new system whereby the servers take orders using iPads (or some type of tablet) which really speeds the system up.

We are booked on the Mariner for late next year and have no plans on cancelling. IMO, as long as I can get the delicious food on the new menus and Regent's great service, we will be happy.

Oops - very obvious typo in the subject -- to late to correct:(

So what are the dates for the Mariner wetdock?

TC2, Thanks for the info

So, if I read this correctly, there will be a minor refurb for Mariner during the six day period between scheduled cruises - Wed,11 to Mon,16 Jan 2017 - and the major refurb will be postponed to an unspecified date in 2018

Also Mariner will return to Europe in 2018, albeit the present schedules show her remaining in America up to May 2018

Thanks TravelCat, wondering what date in 2018? How much will be done in 2017?

 

Apparently, introducing the new restaurants/menus on the Voyager had some issues the first few days but is now running smoothly. First they are taking orders in CR as they have in the past (writing it down) and then will "graduate" to where the Explorer and Navigator are in terms of the new system whereby the servers take orders using iPads (or some type of tablet) which really speeds the system up.

 

Chef Kelly is in charge on the Voyager for the new menu roll out. He wanted the kitchen and wait staff to become familiar with the new menu first and learn the tablet ordering system latter. He knew about the prior problems with the order tablets and felt it was more important to get the food right first.

j

40/595

We also wonder what will be done during the 6 day "wet dock". The people from the Voyager that were onboard the Explorer only had a few minutes. Crew on the Explorer are still not all aware of this major change (basing this on the fact that I asked an officer that was not aware of the situation).

Assuming that we will learn more in the coming months. My guess is that they cannot reconfigure Compass Rose or La Veranda. Guessing that suites will be done.

Hopefully there will be more information shortly.

JMARINER - thank you for the information and strongly agree that the food needs to be right before the servers move on to the new system. Our server on the Explorer, Risky, loves the tablet ordering because it alerts the rest of the servers in her section what has been ordered, etc. We are having better service in CR on the Explorer than we have on other ships.

Chef Kelly is a she not a he (unless there are now two...)

Chef Kelly is in charge on the Voyager for the new menu roll out.

So Chef Kelly has left the Explorer for the Voyager now?

Chef Kelly is a she not a he (unless there are now two...)

There are two Chef Kelly/Kelley's - one is Head Chef of the Culinary Center for Regent and Oceania (female). The other is a Regent Executive Chef (male).

We also wonder what will be done during the 6 day "wet dock". The people from the Voyager that were onboard the Explorer only had a few minutes. Crew on the Explorer are still not all aware of this major change (basing this on the fact that I asked an officer that was not aware of the situation).

 

Assuming that we will learn more in the coming months. My guess is that they cannot reconfigure Compass Rose or La Veranda. Guessing that suites will be done.

 

Hopefully there will be more information shortly.

If I had to guess, I'd say that this refurb will be limited to soft goods - bedding, wall coverings, carpeting, etc - I don't see any way they would be able to handle any reconfiguration in that timeframe. It's going to end up costing them a bit more in the long run, I'd imagine, but having a freshened ship is better than not updating anything. If the rescheduling was indeed caused by the hurricane, well, whatcha gonna do?

We also wonder what will be done during the 6 day "wet dock".

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Assuming that we will learn more in the coming months. My guess is that they cannot reconfigure Compass Rose or La Veranda. Guessing that suites will be done.

 

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Yes, let's hope so since we board on the 17th. And there aren't many "coming months". We're talking about a cruise that begins two months and three days from now.

If I had to guess, I'd say that this refurb will be limited to soft goods - bedding, wall coverings, carpeting, etc - I don't see any way they would be able to handle any reconfiguration in that timeframe....

I agree, let's hope it goes well. We boarded Navigator right after a so-called drydock (a soft goods refit), and they were still working on the ship when we sailed away!

I hope to see some new pictures of the Voyager.

Just received a message from http://www.marinetraffic.com with a "new" picture and missed (IMO) the beatifull blue line on the outside of the ship. So is it realy new or....?

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/photos/picture/ships/2513871/shipid:375013

I hope to see some new pictures of the Voyager.

Just received a message from http://www.marinetraffic.com with a "new" picture and missed (IMO) the beatifull blue line on the outside of the ship. So is it realy new or....?

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/photos/picture/ships/2513871/shipid:375013

The "blue line" was new the last time the ships were refurbished. Interestingly, the Explorer does not have the same blue line.

Wendy, as far as I know, until the scheduled dry dock (now a 6 day wet dock) nothing will be done to the ship. They need time to roll out the new menu in CR and the new dining venue, Chartreuse. It is this learning process that seems to have slowed down service on the Navigator and Voyager for the few first days.

What I think will take a few (or a couple) of months is more information on what will be redone in the 6 day window. I tend to agree that it will be soft goods and carpeting. IMO, reconfiguring La Veranda is a huge job and will take more than six days to implement. CR is also a big job but I think they could do it in 6 days (depending upon what else is going on). They could do carpeting and put in the new chairs, etc. fairly easily.

I was concerned that the Voyager would have less computers (following in the footsteps of the Navigator and Explorer) but a crew member that visited the ship the other day said that the computer room had plenty of computers.

As mentioned previously, we have no issue going back to the Mariner prior to dry dock in 2018 (well, we do have one tiny issue........ right now we would prefer to sail only on the Explorer but realize that it makes no sense in terms of itineraries, etc.).

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Wendy, as far as I know, until the scheduled dry dock (now a 6 day wet dock) nothing will be done to the ship. They need time to roll out the new menu in CR and the new dining venue, Chartreuse. It is this learning process that seems to have slowed down service on the Navigator and Voyager for the few first days.

 

What I think will take a few (or a couple) of months is more information on what will be redone in the 6 day window. I tend to agree that it will be soft goods and carpeting. IMO, reconfiguring La Veranda is a huge job and will take more than six days to implement. CR is also a big job but I think they could do it in 6 days (depending upon what else is going on). They could do carpeting and put in the new chairs, etc. fairly easily.

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Let's face it, most drydocks are in fact misnomers, and are "wet docks". Rarely do they actually take the ship out of the water to do these refurbs--true drydocks are pretty rare.

What I am asking is if the 6-day refurb in January is in fact immediately before the January 17th cruise, when we embark. I agree it will no doubt be a soft goods replacement (which is good, since it means our cabin will be nice and new).

Let's face it, most drydocks are in fact misnomers, and are "wet docks". Rarely do they actually take the ship out of the water to do these refurbs--true drydocks are pretty rare.

 

What I am asking is if the 6-day refurb in January is in fact immediately before the January 17th cruise, when we embark. I agree it will no doubt be a soft goods replacement (which is good, since it means our cabin will be nice and new).

You are likely correct about "dry" and "wet" docks. I tend to think of the Voyager when it was taken out of the water to fix the pods (the Mariner as well) and when the Navigator was given her "ducktail" a few years ago.

Okay - I'll check with onboard management (who know far less than Regent management in Miami -- had Jason O'Keefe not been on this ship, I would still not know about the change in Mariner's dry dock schedule). It is quite busy this afternoon since tomorrow is a "turnaround" day. Will try to get the dates for you.

The "blue line" was new the last time the ships were refurbished. Interestingly, the Explorer does not have the same blue line.

Indeed on the real pictures there is no blue line on the Explorer. On the animated pictures (from the drawning table) it was still there.

So it was for a short period and IMO it is a pitty. I liked it :(.

And with some pictures to see:

Interesting data point. I went to our Jan.17 Mariner booking on rssc.com, and lo and behold, it said we had reservations in 2 of 3 specialty restaurants. Chartreuse was the third listing.

Then again, when I tried to book it, it was Unavailable on all nights. Isn't Chartreuse going to replace Signatures? If so, I guess they're just trying to work this one out--maybe at some point they will ask if we want to transfer our Signatures ressie to Chartreuse?

In any case, sounds like this 6-day refurb window might include some dining room changes?

Interesting data point. I went to our Jan.17 Mariner booking on rssc.com, and lo and behold, it said we had reservations in 2 of 3 specialty restaurants. Chartreuse was the third listing.

 

Then again, when I tried to book it, it was Unavailable on all nights. Isn't Chartreuse going to replace Signatures? If so, I guess they're just trying to work this one out--maybe at some point they will ask if we want to transfer our Signatures ressie to Chartreuse?

Yes, the Regent website seems to be having difficulty keeping up with the changes

On our Voyager cruise in a couple of weeks time the dining reservations page is offering P7, Chartreuse and Signatures............but Signatures is shown as 'unavailable' since Voyager has now undergone her refurb and dining changes

I do wish Regent could keep their website a little more up-to-date and accurate

When can we expect to hear from Regent on the "wet dock?"

When can we expect to hear from Regent on the "wet dock?"

About a month after it's finished... :rolleyes:

About a month after it's finished... :rolleyes:

:o:rolleyes:

Hi Folks, I have not had problems yet with the web site; if you are, however, I have had nothing but good experiences with Mike Moore. While you may think he is the IT manager only for O he has been helpful in the past with Regent. I suspect he has a lot of influence as a senior employee/officer at NCH. I suggest you contact him to solve your problems.