Quick Thoughts about Mariner 10/31 - 11/10

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We are just back home from the Mariner Barcelona to Venice.

 

The ship is in excellent shape. We had a great time. Our precruise hotel in Barcelona - The Condes de Barcelona was very nice. Our Bus Class air ok. We had a surprise at the airport leaving that Air France was having a strike and they would not guarantee we could leave Paris before Tuesday when our ship sailed on Monday and we had two precruise nights planned in Barcelona. We had heard that in the Bus Class Lounge and I called Regent and they had us retrieve our bags and rebooked us via Swiss so we missed nothing although we did have a 4 hour wait to catch the next flight. A real plus for Regent Air on that one! Our flights home on Air France were exceptional. We had only an hour between flights in Paris and I did not expect our luggage would arrive but it did.

 

The ports were great: Barcelona, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Rome, Florence, Venice, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Sorrento and Napoli. We missed Amalfi and Taormina and Sorrento and Napoli were substituted. We had a few rainy days and rough seas but nothing we did not expect this time of year.

 

The food was mostly good, we noticed a fair amount of menu changes and we planned poorly - eating in Prime 7 on the Captain's Farewell dinner missing the Beef Wellington. Prime 7 I thought was exceptional. Signatures - the same. Food was wonderful. We were very disappointed in the wine selection. Many wines that used to be daily pourings are on the reserve list. The wines were averaging about $10-12 a bottle or less for what I can get at home. In Compass Rose Food - almost daily on the menu were Indian Curries/Tikka Masala and the like. Some of the pairings of food just did not go well together. One morning I ordered Crab Benedict and was told no. I used to order it all the time. That day at lunch was a Seafood BBQ with Crab on it. No reason they could not have prepared it for me. Portion sizes are down. We rarely eat at La Veranda, but, the last night on board, we did dine there and had a wonderful meal. I tried to eat at Prime 7 on Saturday night - my actual birthday - but was none too happy that Park West had reserved the venue that night. Their presence on board was not minimal nor low key. I wanted to go in during the auction and tell guests to do some on line research before doing any purchasing but chose to enjoy my vacation instead.

 

We splurged on an Aft Suite and now I am truly spoiled. The Butler, Vivek, make our trip over the top. He was by the minute on time with my morning coffee. One day I forgot to put it on my breakfast menu and he noticed. Our suite level did not include a cocktail party and he helped me put one together anyway that was lovely and perfectly executed. On my birthday I came in and he had decorated my room with balloons and a banner and a cake.

 

Excursions: We did a Food and Wine Trails excursion for $269 pp. It inlcuded a winery tour and lunch with pairings. The lunch was lamb stew, salad, and wine. The winery was very pretty with award winning gardens. There were 45-50 people on a bus for that tour. For the money, we could have hired a private guide to a winery so we were disappointed; The wines were nice; We backed out of going to Rome on Your Own because to get on a bus and wander around for 6 hours with a two hour ride in each direction in the rain - not Regent's Fault - was unappealing. Same with the excursion to Taormina. As seasoned Travelers, we picked the On Your Own in several cities. We were really disappointed that for example, we were bussed to Sorrento and what was expected was at least some time to do what we wanted (which was to have lunch there!) . The ride was about 1 hour and 25 minutes each way. We had exactly one hour and 15 minutes there. I'd have skipped the tour because to go and sit on a bus for almost three hours and call it a tour is not acceptable. The guide for the bus did nothing and I think he called us back earlier than the Regent description because we returned to the ship 45 minutes earlier than the destination services description. The guides once we were in any of the destinations disappeared. In Florence, we were taken to her stores which paid her commission for sales of jewelery. When I suggested a jewelery store to other passengers, she steered them toward the one - two doors down where she was wearing their pieces of jewelery. I did buy the piece she wore ( a silver mesh scarf ) and she was clearly upset I did not tell them she told me about the store and which tour I was on. Our tour of Murano and Burano was again tour guides taking you to stores where they were given percentages of sales. We did not take the lace and glass making tour on the excursion - wandering around on our own during the sales pitches. The Glass Factory in Murano is known and we personally experienced on a prior visit for bringing people to the factory for a tour and paying the water taxi fare and then failing to provide return transportation.

 

The entertainment on board was varied. They had 4 production shows all good. We missed the other shows. Even the lounge entertainment most nights we missed. We chose to have nightly cocktails in Mariner Lounge before dinner as opposed to Horizon or Observation Lounge. After dinner and the production shows, I went to the Casino which was always filled with the usual people. All I will say is that I play with a daily limit and I came home having some more money in my wallet than left with.

 

We did not avail ourselves of the spa. I could not imagine spending $180 for a 50 minute massage when I can have a massage at home for two and 90 minutes each for less than that including a generous tip. In LA a good massage is about $60 an hour. A Plain manicure for $45 is beyond outrageous. I love to go to a spa - I just hate feeling ripped off. I can do a spas day at home at a luxe spa for far less and great technicians.

 

The Gold /Platinum event was a wine and food pairing. There were only 30 people who were at that level and about 12 attended the wine pairing. I was hoping to do the sail in to Venice on the Bridge but there are some new maritime laws that prohibit passengers in the bridge during maneuvers. We watched the sail in from our Aft Suite balcony with Elda's commentary over the TV. That will be the best memory for me of the cruise. The weather was picture post card perfect.

[WesW]

Thanks very much for your Mariner end of cruise summary--well done.

[RachelG]

Thank you for your excellent review. Agree about the spa prices. The only time I go there is when I have a big on board credit to burn.

[OrpingtonT]

Thank you. Most interesting prelude for our Mariner cruise next Sunday.

[Hambagahle]

Good review and very interesting. Right at the end I saw the mention "Elda". Is this the lovely Italian woman who was an Assistant Cruise Director? If so I do hope she will be on the Mariner on our TA. She is great!

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Elda left the ship with us. She is from the area around Venice and was glad to go on vacation right where her family could pick her up.

[2old4this]

We are just back home from the Mariner Barcelona to Venice.

 

The ship is in excellent shape. We had a great time. Our precruise hotel in Barcelona - The Condes de Barcelona was very nice. Our Bus Class air ok. We had a surprise at the airport leaving that Air France was having a strike and they would not guarantee we could leave Paris before Tuesday when our ship sailed on Monday and we had two precruise nights planned in Barcelona. We had heard that in the Bus Class Lounge and I called Regent and they had us retrieve our bags and rebooked us via Swiss so we missed nothing although we did have a 4 hour wait to catch the next flight. A real plus for Regent Air on that one! Our flights home on Air France were exceptional. We had only an hour between flights in Paris and I did not expect our luggage would arrive but it did.

 

The ports were great: Barcelona, Marseille, Monte Carlo, Rome, Florence, Venice, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Sorrento and Napoli. We missed Amalfi and Taormina and Sorrento and Napoli were substituted. We had a few rainy days and rough seas but nothing we did not expect this time of year.

 

The food was mostly good, we noticed a fair amount of menu changes and we planned poorly - eating in Prime 7 on the Captain's Farewell dinner missing the Beef Wellington. Prime 7 I thought was exceptional. Signatures - the same. Food was wonderful. We were very disappointed in the wine selection. Many wines that used to be daily pourings are on the reserve list. The wines were averaging about $10-12 a bottle or less for what I can get at home. In Compass Rose Food - almost daily on the menu were Indian Curries/Tikka Masala and the like. Some of the pairings of food just did not go well together. One morning I ordered Crab Benedict and was told no. I used to order it all the time. That day at lunch was a Seafood BBQ with Crab on it. No reason they could not have prepared it for me. Portion sizes are down. We rarely eat at La Veranda, but, the last night on board, we did dine there and had a wonderful meal. I tried to eat at Prime 7 on Saturday night - my actual birthday - but was none too happy that Park West had reserved the venue that night. Their presence on board was not minimal nor low key. I wanted to go in during the auction and tell guests to do some on line research before doing any purchasing but chose to enjoy my vacation instead.

 

We splurged on an Aft Suite and now I am truly spoiled. The Butler, Vivek, make our trip over the top. He was by the minute on time with my morning coffee. One day I forgot to put it on my breakfast menu and he noticed. Our suite level did not include a cocktail party and he helped me put one together anyway that was lovely and perfectly executed. On my birthday I came in and he had decorated my room with balloons and a banner and a cake.

 

Excursions: We did a Food and Wine Trails excursion for $269 pp. It inlcuded a winery tour and lunch with pairings. The lunch was lamb stew, salad, and wine. The winery was very pretty with award winning gardens. There were 45-50 people on a bus for that tour. For the money, we could have hired a private guide to a winery so we were disappointed; The wines were nice; We backed out of going to Rome on Your Own because to get on a bus and wander around for 6 hours with a two hour ride in each direction in the rain - not Regent's Fault - was unappealing. Same with the excursion to Taormina. As seasoned Travelers, we picked the On Your Own in several cities. We were really disappointed that for example, we were bussed to Sorrento and what was expected was at least some time to do what we wanted (which was to have lunch there!) . The ride was about 1 hour and 25 minutes each way. We had exactly one hour and 15 minutes there. I'd have skipped the tour because to go and sit on a bus for almost three hours and call it a tour is not acceptable. The guide for the bus did nothing and I think he called us back earlier than the Regent description because we returned to the ship 45 minutes earlier than the destination services description. The guides once we were in any of the destinations disappeared. In Florence, we were taken to her stores which paid her commission for sales of jewelery. When I suggested a jewelery store to other passengers, she steered them toward the one - two doors down where she was wearing their pieces of jewelery. I did buy the piece she wore ( a silver mesh scarf ) and she was clearly upset I did not tell them she told me about the store and which tour I was on. Our tour of Murano and Burano was again tour guides taking you to stores where they were given percentages of sales. We did not take the lace and glass making tour on the excursion - wandering around on our own during the sales pitches. The Glass Factory in Murano is known and we personally experienced on a prior visit for bringing people to the factory for a tour and paying the water taxi fare and then failing to provide return transportation.

 

The entertainment on board was varied. They had 4 production shows all good. We missed the other shows. Even the lounge entertainment most nights we missed. We chose to have nightly cocktails in Mariner Lounge before dinner as opposed to Horizon or Observation Lounge. After dinner and the production shows, I went to the Casino which was always filled with the usual people. All I will say is that I play with a daily limit and I came home having some more money in my wallet than left with.

 

We did not avail ourselves of the spa. I could not imagine spending $180 for a 50 minute massage when I can have a massage at home for two and 90 minutes each for less than that including a generous tip. In LA a good massage is about $60 an hour. A Plain manicure for $45 is beyond outrageous. I love to go to a spa - I just hate feeling ripped off. I can do a spas day at home at a luxe spa for far less and great technicians.

 

The Gold /Platinum event was a wine and food pairing. There were only 30 people who were at that level and about 12 attended the wine pairing. I was hoping to do the sail in to Venice on the Bridge but there are some new maritime laws that prohibit passengers in the bridge during maneuvers. We watched the sail in from our Aft Suite balcony with Elda's commentary over the TV. That will be the best memory for me of the cruise. The weather was picture post card perfect.

 

ChatKat in Ca. - As others have already written . . . a superb report. Many thanks for the detailed assessment. Like you, I chill whenever tour guides push the bus driver and the guests into "the only store that is honest." We all know what is happening, at least we should know and when tip time comes, as it surely does, boycott her/his efforts to gain commissions by serious reduction in tips.

 

We were on a van tour of Cairo Egypt some years back and our bus sailed right past the city vast and ancient burial grounds to reach a diamond store before it closed. We passengers put up a howl. She ignored us and told the driver where to park before facing the angry faces with her microphone. "This is Cairo's only honest diamond sales," she said as we all knew she would, "and you have one hour to buy and shop." She stepped off expecting to lead her 'sheep' once again. Of the 40 or so on the bus, only 10 or 12 left their seats. We had gone into a leaderless strike. We sat there and visited until she returned. Now too dark to see anything else of importance, we moved on to the hotel. Very few tipped on that one, something we just agreed on without a word being said between us. Jack Morris

[DaveFr]

Good review and very interesting. Right at the end I saw the mention "Elda". Is this the lovely Italian woman who was an Assistant Cruise Director? If so I do hope she will be on the Mariner on our TA. She is great!

Gerry,

 

Are you thinking of Elsa, who I believe is from the UK? If so, then sadly she left Regent and the cruise industry to pursue other interests after the recent Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale cruise on the Navigator. If we're talking about the same person, she was a tremendous asset to Regent and we enjoyed getting to know her on her last cruise.

[xrvlcruiser]

Elda is Italian and has been with Radisson/Regent as assistant CD for a while.

 

Elsa is from Australia . . two different ladies . .both terrific gals!

[PaulaJK]

for your post cruise report.

 

I was glad to read about the condition of the ship as well as your positive responses to Prime 7 & Signatures. Any word on what the latter will become? We are on the New Years when the change is supposed to occur.

 

You seemed to have ver poor luck with your tours so we will be vigilant with ours...a good heads up.

 

I was dismayed to hear about the significant downgrading of the wine selections. How was the service in Compass Rose?

 

Since you had pre dinner cocktails in the Mariner Lounge but missed much of the entertainment, does that mean that there is no cocktail time music in the Mariner Lounge? Was there entertainment in the Horizon or Observation lounges after dinner?

 

Again, thanks for your report. Paula

[Arizonasunshine]

Thanks for the report. We were on Regent's Athens to Barcelona cruise and wholeheartedly agree with you on the wine and tours. This was my first time on Regent and to be honest, the daily wines were not as good as those on our January cruise, which was on Azamara. Our tour guides were all over the map, some were very good, others were putting in their time. The one constant was that they all had their favorite shops and restaurants which I am sure gave them kickbacks.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Service was excellent in Compass Rose; Adorable who has been on many of our cruises was onboard - a top server.

 

We are picky about wine quality. There was one zinfandel - St. Francis, one of the premium pours was Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay - for us about $12 a bottle in California yet Sta. Margarhita Pinot Gregio was on the everyday pour list. Some of the wines were not acceptable to us. I think when they went all inclusive, the totally dropped wine quality.

 

As for tours, I really think that again, all inclusive is not a benefit to us. We did one on board booking, but, we will actually do an itinerary where tours will be of minimal importance to us - like a crossing.

 

Editing to add that Signatures will remain French menu without the name or being attached to Cordon Bleu.

[DaveFr]

Elda is Italian and has been with Radisson/Regent as assistant CD for a while.

 

Elsa is from Australia . . two different ladies . .both terrific gals!

Thanks for the clarification, Peggy.

[PaulaJK]

Thanks for the responses ChatKat.

[travel with friends]

when they offered the california wines we politely asked it they had any from where we were sailing and they always had another type that they poured. the day were were in debrovnik we saw them loading onto the ship several cases of local wine so the next night in comass rose we asked about that and they opened a bottle of red zin from debrovnik that was wonderful.

veronica

Service was excellent in Compass Rose; Adorable who has been on many of our cruises was onboard - a top server.

 

We are picky about wine quality. There was one zinfandel - St. Francis, one of the premium pours was Kendall Jackson Reserve Chardonnay - for us about $12 a bottle in California yet Sta. Margarhita Pinot Gregio was on the everyday pour list. Some of the wines were not acceptable to us. I think when they went all inclusive, the totally dropped wine quality.

 

As for tours, I really think that again, all inclusive is not a benefit to us. We did one on board booking, but, we will actually do an itinerary where tours will be of minimal importance to us - like a crossing.

 

Editing to add that Signatures will remain French menu without the name or being attached to Cordon Bleu.

[VWConvertible Girl]

What port was the Food and Wine Trails excursion?

[poss]

Thanks so much for your report. Your comments on excursions were particularly helpful to me since the off-ship part of these vacations seems to be among our highest priorities. (E.g. much more so than entertainment or service.) And I know exactly what you mean about being taken to these "special" stores: has always annoyed us on past cruises. In fact, since we don't enjoy shopping, I wish there were none of that sort of thing-- though I know that many many people enjoy it.

[RachelG]

I too wish Regent would drop any tour guides who take you to stores where they are getting a kickback. On our excursion to the Catacombs outside Rome, we stopped, ostensibly for a bathroom break, at a store on the freeway less than 40 minutes after we left the ship. No way any one needed to use the bathroom that soon, and the catacombs were actually only a little ways further and had plenty of perfectly fine bathrooms.

AND the guide would not let anyone stay on the bus. Everyone had to get off to "shop". What a huge waste of time!

[Travelcat2]

I too wish Regent would drop any tour guides who take you to stores where they are getting a kickback. On our excursion to the Catacombs outside Rome, we stopped, ostensibly for a bathroom break, at a store on the freeway less than 40 minutes after we left the ship. No way any one needed to use the bathroom that soon, and the catacombs were actually only a little ways further and had plenty of perfectly fine bathrooms.

AND the guide would not let anyone stay on the bus. Everyone had to get off to "shop". What a huge waste of time!

 

Did you report it to Regent/PCH? This is valuable feedback for them for future excursions.

[RachelG]

Did you report it to Regent/PCH? This is valuable feedback for them for future excursions.

 

I absolutely did. In fact, I filled out a complaint form about the entire excursion. I know there were others who complained as well.

[poss]

Likewise.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

What port was the Food and Wine Trails excursion?

we took the one out of Marseille. There was another one - I think in Florence or Rome.

[MRVEGAS711]

Any pictures??

[ChatKat in Ca.]

There are always pictures. :D I am a professional photographer. I just haven't processed them yet.

[2old4this]

There are always pictures. :D I am a professional photographer. I just haven't processed them yet.

 

We are waiting for the pictures. Jack Morris