DDDDale

Thanks for confirming that Regent indeed has a policy to remove certain items from suites the day before disembarkation to prevent those items from being stolen by their guests. Apparently I am the only affected person who is insulted by that policy. We paid almost $45k for the cruise and they felt it necessary to protect their bluetooth speaker and binoculars from theft by me? Even though they had my credit card information? I’m surprised that they didn’t protect the really nifty satellite phone and the bedside clock. I guess they didn’t mind it I walked off with those items, the corkscrew, pen and some towels. This is a first for me. We have been on a lot of cruises and stayed in many hotels and, to my knowledge, Regent Seven Seas has been the only provider to consider us potential, no, probable, thieves and actually remove items to prevent us from taking them. I’m astonished that they would have such a policy and equally astonished that others are apparently okay with it.

Finally recovering from my usual post cruise illness (preferable to being ill DURING the cruise as were many) and something has been irritating me since we disembarked from the 25 day “Christmas in the Amazon” cruise on the Mariner. We had a horizon view HS suite and while preparing to leave on the morning of 1/6 I noticed that the desk area seemed different. I then realized that the Bluetooth speaker (if that’s what it is; we never used it) was gone. I then realized that the binoculars from the glassware cabinet were also missing. Apparently someone had removed them the previous evening while we were at dinner and before we completed our packing. Is there any explanation other than they were concerned that we might (innocently or deliberately) take them with us when we left? I’m feeling quite insulted.

I hadn’t intended to say anything additional on the matter of wine LISTS but can’t help myself. I must have missed a post where someone suggested the desire or expectation for “fine wine matched to your meal every night.” I know I certainly didn’t mention such, not even close. All I wanted was a list of available wines; preferably provided without asking but at least available after one casual request of a waiter. You can make more of that if you wish but that’s all there is. Ddddale

I asked for a list of included wines on two separate nights of two different wine pourers and was told such a thing did not exist. Things change and unfortunately rarely for the better.

Hi Army, thanks for reading. Regarding wine, I guess my expectation is that I shouldn’t have to work so hard to find out what wines are available. “Luxury” means not having to work at it. I shouldn’t need to know the tricks or the work arounds. If I don’t like the offered red or white I’d rather see the totality of what’s available rather than just try another of their choosing, and then maybe another until they finally produce one I like. Again, too much work. Another night I asked “isn’t there an actual wine list?” I was given a very nice and lengthy menu of “connoisseur wines.” If they have that list I can’t imagine why they couldn’t produce a list of “included" wines. There IS a reason of course. It’s much more efficient to say “red or white?” A certain percentage of patrons will just accept this limited choice and some won’t. At the bar, where they do have a very limited “list”, I saw that they had Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio which I know and like so I just stuck with that for the entire cruise. Again, to me that is somewhat lacking in “luxury”. Just curious, do Seabourne and Silverseas provide wine lists? It may seem like kind of minor and picky point but sometimes decisions are made on minor and picky points.

We were on this cruise and I thought I’d share our views as first time Regents’ cruisers (about 25 with other lines). Overall I’d have to say I wish we had stayed home. Maybe we were expecting too much, but I don’t think so. I won’t bother discussing the annoyance that was berth 46 and the conflicting information regarding parking for those driving to the pier. Really botched planning and execution. Shocking. We had a Seven Seas Aft suite on 9 and the suite was nice, especially the extra half bath. The balcony was nice but not exceptional. We spend a lot of time on aft facing balconies. Having a butler is kind of a nice touch but he really wasn’t of much use to us (not his fault). The stewards were terrific. Our first major issue arose at the Compass Rose the first night. We ordered dinner and I was surprised that there was on mention of wine. I expected, at the very least, to have a wine list. I got the server’s attention and asked about wine. Instead of a menu or a visit from a wine steward of some sort a surprisingly curt woman shoved a bottle of red and a bottle of white at us. Not knowing the ropes (and nobody on the ship having made an effort to point out those ropes) I said I’d try the white. I didn’t care for it but kept my mouth shut. The spouse asked her for San Pellegrino sparkling water and a while later she came back with Perrier and started pouring. We said “no, we prefer San Pellegrino.” Her response was that Perrier is what the restaurant served. She left and we never saw her again. The server came over and smilingly asked if everything was okay and I couldn’t contain my annoyance. After listening to me she gave me a big smile and a cheery “thank you”. Another woman came over. I wasn’t sure who she was but I think she was the sommelier from Prime 7. She asked what was wrong and I told her what my minimal expectations are for ordering wine in a restaurant and they didn’t involve red or white? She offered another white that was very nice. The spouse ordered a rib eye steak with some special sauce. The rib eye came but no sauce. Even after a reminder to the server it never arrived (but we got a cheery “thank you”. Someone from the front desk came over (not sure what his title was but over the course of the cruise we came to like him) and I unloaded on him. We left without having desert. So disappointing. When we got back to our cabin and prepared for an evening of watching the bedroom tv we discovered that it was broken. The perfect ending to the day. My actual thought at the time was “THIS is a luxury cruise line? It did get better from then on and we next found a terrific server on the other side of the dining room and a terrific wine guy who worked with him. The waiter, Pranay, was incredible even though he had to service 11 tables. That’s just too many and it was hard to watch him having to practically (and sometimes literally) run between tables. We liked our table and managed to get it for the balance of the cruise (and for that we were quite thankful). The food in Compass Rose was good but, again, not as good as I expected. The left side menu was terrific but the right side often lacked much that caught my interest. The food in Prime 7 and Chartreuse was good (the bone in rib steak in Prime 7 was perfect and delicious). Our table in both cases was perfect and the service was very good. Due to our comfort with Pranay and his team we preferred eating in Compass Rose. Most of the staff throughout the ship were wonderful and we got to know several quite well and had very nice conversations. I’d have to say that there was more I liked about the cruise than disliked but is it worth the additional expense to what a very nice full suite on Princess would cost? That will be the question. One thing that will forever sour me on Regent is that 2 days after returning home I tested positive for COVID and have suffered horribly for one week. We were shocked how much coughing there was on the cruise and most of those doing the coughing seemed to think nothing of it, not even bothering to somehow cover their mouths. Well, I’m sure THAT’s more than you wanted to read (assuming anyone read it) but since I have received no questionnaire from Regent I thought I’d avail myself of this opportunity.

In case anyone besides me is driving themselves to the pier I talked to Rosie, the SMS local rep and she told me that the PLAN is to have parking set aside for us in the normal port parking area for 91-93 but back toward the Iowa. They haven't done this before so we will see how it goes. They will have luggage carts THERE and a shuttle bus to take us to the ship. Sounds good, I hope it works. She said that when we get back we will be disembarking from 93, or so she thinks now so it will be a long walk to our cars. I'll need the exercise at that point.

I think I'll seriously consider walking.

Thanks for the information about where 46 is. So, I decided to make some phone calls to try to nail down specific answers to my rather important access questions since we will be driving and parking. 1. On the Cruise Vacation Document under Embarkation Port Information there is a phone number for the "local representative": Got the dreaded VOICE MAIL message telling me to "leave a message," However I was then told "mailbox full". I had to laugh. 2. For the World Cruise Terminal I called the Passenger Info number: No human but interestingly there was a listing of phone numbers for cruise lines that dock there. Regent not among them. 3. For the World Cruise Terminal I called the Parking info number. Yippee; HUMANS. A very helpful woman confirmed that the Mariner would be embarking from 46 and told me that I should first drop off luggage and passengers at 46 and then go back and park at the regular parking area near pier 92 and she said that there will be a shuttle bus at the terminal that will take me back to 46. She assured me that I wouldn't have a problem locating the shuttle. I always assume the worst but we'll see; I can always walk. Why Regent doesn't routinely provide that information I don't understand. I shouldn't have had to take the time and trouble to do this. I'm very disappointed.

This is our first Regent cruise (R/T from LA on 10/3) but we have been to the LA/San Pedro World Cruise Terminal many times and assumed (yikes) that we would be boarding the Mariner there. On the documents we received it merely states "Pier 46 California". Really precise. I have been searching for information about Pier 46 and have come up empty. We drive to the port and park and was expecting to park at the usual Pier 91/93 parking lot. Apparently not. Our travel agent has been unable to find out where Pier 46 is. I'm sure many of you can give me the necessary info as to where it is and what the parking situation is. HELP!! Dale