Concerns about the Mariner

[GNALUZU]

Thanks Gnaluzu.

 

Actually what i meant by wait times, was waiter service in the restaurants. (sorry - my bad grammar)

 

Ahhhh, gotcha. I haven't had any problems with service wait times except for at the pool bar. They are a little understaffed up there at times.

[jstroose1]

We were on Mariner June 9 sailing - I think 733 was cabin - no smell at all but our friends who were a few doors closer to middle than we are had horrible smell in their bathroom - they thought coming from their shower drain.

[Hambagahle]

We were on the TA in March, after the reports of sewage smells on the round SA cruise. One day, we did. briefly, get a "whiff" of something. But briefly. We were in a Seven Seas Aft suite on Deck 9... nothing else to report. No vibration. And not much "movement", even when (according to our Stewardess) it got "rough". IMO, it didn't!!

[pingpong1]

Folks - I don't think that any one person can "prove" that another person "didn't smell something" peculiar or offensive in their stateroom on any given cruise, ship, or day. Just because you may not have smelled anyting does not mean someone else didn't. And it doesn't make their complaint frivolous. If they smelled it - they smelled it. And I guess if there was no offensive smell in your particular stateroom - then naturally, you don't think that there was any "problem" at all. This board, along with the majority of it's long term and loyal "cheerleaders" seems to want to agressively tamp down anyone or anything which in anyway tends to cause a potentially or real negative reflection on Regent. They're just a for-profit company - like any other for-profit company. If there are areas for improvement or conern, then they should be told as much by their customers.

 

I am so struck by reading two most recently posted reviews of the exact same Mariner cruise on 7/12 to the Baltic; one review posted by "muly" and the second one posted by "joan5678". Reading both of those reviews side by side, you could reasonably surmise that those two individuals were on two completely different ships and two completely different cruises. And you would think that they where being waited on in the CR by two entirely different sets of serving staff.

 

Is one reviewer "lying" (or at least being unreasonably negative) and the other reviewer being totally honest (maybe also "lying"), or does one have a rather dour outlook upon everything and the other one being just "high on life"? They both "saw things/sensed things" based upon their own personal "yardsticks" of measurement. Without some totally impartial 3rd-party team of "judges" following both during their week of cruising, I don't know that any of the rest of us could accurately conclude which review was "correct" and which one wasn't. Maybe both of them are!

 

I'm also seeing a lot of comments on another Regent thread at the moment regarding what is "appropriate attire". I have called upon all the self-control I could muster to not "weigh in" on that subject (and bring down upon myself the wrath of the cheerleaders) with my own views. I know that to some people, particularly those who are more "seasoned citizens" and who are probably in the "upper stratas" of income level - "rules are rules"; particularly those rules that they particularly agree with. There was a time in our history (the '40's and '50's) when "proper attire" at a baseball game, a movie theater, or a broadway play called for suits and hats for men and "proper" dresses, hats, and handgloves for women. It was also "proper" - and a "rule" in 1955 - that Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She "broke that rule" and the rest is history. People are even wearing jeans and t-shirts to church services today. I don't think God minds!

 

Will it really "ruin" the dining experience for you if some of the passengers wear well-tailored and dressy jeans (I guess defined by the fact that they're made of denim) or dress shorts, rather than more formal "dress slacks"? By virtue of you/us paying a lot of money for these Regent cruises, it seems to me that we are trying to insulate ourselves from the natural evolvement of our changing culture. What will people 50 years from now think of Regent's "previous" (today's) dress code standards? Will they think they were stodgy and overly formal, just as the wearing of 3-piece suits to a baseball games seem to us today? Perhaps it would be nice if "elegant casual" was adhered to after 6PM in CR or P7 - but is it "reasonable", in 2012, to follow and enforce that same dress code throughout the entire ship after 6pm - to include and Italian Bistro (SM), the pool deck, all other open decks, and the entire ship in general? It's up to Regent to set the dress standards for their "place of business" based upon marketing demands - not us. If they mis-read the wishes of the majority of their customers - they will fail. If they answer the demans of the majority of their customers - they will succeed.

 

I'm standing by to "cheerfully receive" all incoming salvos and mortars. Best Regards to all. :)

[RachelG]

I have been on cruises too where someone posted a really negative review, and I wondered if we were on the same ship. There were some people on our Norway cruise ( Orpington will remember them) who we without a doubt the most negative people I have ever met. Nothing was good. Service was terrible, food was terrible, staff was surly. Funny that I thought everything was pretty much ok. Oh, I had to get off my butt and walk to the pool bar once to get a drink-- not the end of the world.

 

Don't agree about the dress code thing though, pingpong. There are a couple of really upscale restaurants here in town where a most people really dress up, but I have seen people who looked like they just finished mowing the yard and didn't bother to shower or change clothes come in. It just brings down the experience. Surely if you can afford a luxury cruise, you can dress a little nice for dinner.

[johnsburk]

+1 pingpong

My 35 yo son wears shorts & a polo to church every Sunday. I think god is just as happy to see him and his family as I am.

[DaveFr]

I've just read two pretty scathing reviews of the Mariner on the review section of CC. The most worrysome of them is the re occuring sewage odor. I've read about this problem before on this board, but I figured it was something that occasionally happens on most ships at one point or another, but "goes away". It's back.......

We're booked for the Monte Carlo to Rio cruise and now I'm getting twitchy about it. 17 days is a long time on a bad smelling ship....Although we got a good rate, it's still a sizable piece of change, at least for us. We'll be in cabin 959. Does anyone have any experience with this cabin? What about the rest of the ship. If it smells bad, I'm not gonna be happy.

 

Folks - I don't think that any one person can "prove" that another person "didn't smell something" peculiar or offensive in their stateroom on any given cruise, ship, or day. Just because you may not have smelled anyting does not mean someone else didn't. And it doesn't make their complaint frivolous. If they smelled it - they smelled it. And I guess if there was no offensive smell in your particular stateroom - then naturally, you don't think that there was any "problem" at all. This board, along with the majority of it's long term and loyal "cheerleaders" seems to want to agressively tamp down anyone or anything which in anyway tends to cause a potentially or real negative reflection on Regent. They're just a for-profit company - like any other for-profit company. If there are areas for improvement or conern, then they should be told as much by their customers.

 

I am so struck by reading two most recently posted reviews of the exact same Mariner cruise on 7/12 to the Baltic; one review posted by "muly" and the second one posted by "joan5678". Reading both of those reviews side by side, you could reasonably surmise that those two individuals were on two completely different ships and two completely different cruises. And you would think that they where being waited on in the CR by two entirely different sets of serving staff.

 

Is one reviewer "lying" (or at least being unreasonably negative) and the other reviewer being totally honest (maybe also "lying"), or does one have a rather dour outlook upon everything and the other one being just "high on life"? They both "saw things/sensed things" based upon their own personal "yardsticks" of measurement. Without some totally impartial 3rd-party team of "judges" following both during their week of cruising, I don't know that any of the rest of us could accurately conclude which review was "correct" and which one wasn't. Maybe both of them are!

I don't think anyone was trying to prove that a particular poster did not experience foul odors on their cruise. The OP asked for past experiences on the Mariner regarding odors. Posters responded by posting their experiences on Mariner. A post that no foul odor was smelled by a poster on one cruise does not negate a post by another cruiser that he or she encountered a foul odor on a different cruise in a different suite.

 

As for the reviews by "muly" and "joan5678," you must surmise that they were on two completely different cruises on two different ships because they were. :D "muly" was on a Baltic cruise on the Voyager while "joan5678" was on a Black Sea cruise on the Mariner.

[pingpong1]

RachelG - Thanks for your always-thoughtful and much appreciated comments. Thanks also for not "thrashing me" within an inch of my life for my most recent post. :D I honestly have mixed feelings about the dress code. At least the "all or nothing" aspect of it. If the Regent dress code was still "formal" (as perhaps it or its predecessor used to be) at all evening meals - with coat and tie "required" - I probably would not be an upcoming passenger/customer (which I'm very much looking forward to).

 

Thanks to my dearly departed Mom's training and guidance over many years, I do know there is a "proper time and place" for everything. And like most of the other passengers seem to think, I don't think it is unreasonable or overly burdensome to ask guests to refrain from wearing jeans and shorts when dining in the evening in CR or P7. In other words, "dress up a bit" when you're coming to eat dinner in a more formal setting like those two venues. It still drives me "crazy" now to see men and boys wearing ballcaps (in any venue - even McDonalds!) when they're sitting down to eat any meal. I was never allowed to wear a hat "inside" my parent's house and particularly not during any meal.

 

But in the interest of a little compromise and a recognition of evolving multi-generational norms, I'm not quite sure why it's necessary to have a virtual ship-wide ban on jeans and shorts "throughout the entire ship" just because the clock strokes 6PM. If the only rationale for this restriction is that "it's against the rule"......then change the rule! Would fellow passengers honestly be that offended, to the point of ruining their Regent cruise experience, if they saw people (like me) wearing a pair of jeans or shorts while walking about the open decks or lounging up near the pool after dinner, or sitting in a casual bar atmosphere after dark, or perhaps running around a jogging track? Particularly if they could be assured that the higher dress standards would be followed in the dining rooms. I'm not sure why I should be "restricted to barracks" after dark if I don't happen to have dress slacks and a sport shirt on. That just does not reflect today's society. Perhaps folks are afraid of the "camel nose under the tent". Once you permit casual attire in one place - it will creep into other places on the ship. But in the case of CR and P7, there's a "gate guard" who could look the patrons over before they entered those venues to ensure proper attire. I think that's better than the thought of a roving Master-at-Arms force doing ship-wide sweeps of the boat after 1800 hours to check what people are wearing and sending them off to their respective wood sheds.

 

By the way I do have my very own Medicare card, so I'm not part of the "young radical" generation. Maybe I'm just an "old radical", instead! I really do enjoy the robust and lively discussions this board offers. Regards.

[pingpong1]

DaveFR - Ooops! Thanks for catching my oversight. I just saw the two same cruise start dates and didn't catch the other detail (of two different ships). Might this infer that standards and performane may vary between the 3 different ships or might the original premise still hold true - that different people evalute the same situation/s differently and bring different expections to the party? Regards.

[rallydave]

+10 pingpong. Your posts regarding "appropriate dress" in the evening were spot on. It's simply a few of the Regent cheerleaders most specifically the one who thinks she is a CC moderator and seems to have opinions about everything and that those opinions are the gospel and need to be followed by all who are trying to force their opinions and belief on everyone.

 

Many of us agree with your posts but, are simply tired of being harassed by this person who seems to have multiple personalities that change like the wind so we have chosen to attempt to ignore her and hopefully the majority will follow our lead.

[Travelcat2]

+10 pingpong. Your posts regarding "appropriate dress" in the evening were spot on. It's simply a few of the Regent cheerleaders most specifically the one who thinks she is a CC moderator and seems to have opinions about everything and that those opinions are the gospel and need to be followed by all who are trying to force their opinions and belief on everyone.

 

Many of us agree with your posts but, are simply tired of being harassed by this person who seems to have multiple personalities that change like the wind so we have chosen to attempt to ignore her and hopefully the majority will follow our lead.

 

Your personal attacks are tiresome at best. Regent has stated it's policy regarding dress code. If you have seen a policy that differs from that which is currently stated, please reference it. If not, kindly stop your personal attacks (which, as you knowl are not permitted on CruiseCritic).

[rallydave]

This good enough reference, from the President!!

 

Within the last 15 minutes, asked Mark Conroy (President of Regent) about Jeans in Sette Mari, his reply below:

 

We don’t promote it that way but I think jeans are ok there (Sette Mari) it was always the one very casual venue.

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

Mark S. Conroy │ President

 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 

8300 NW 33rd Street │Suite 100

[Travelcat2]

This good enough reference, from the President!!

 

Within the last 15 minutes, asked Mark Conroy (President of Regent) about Jeans in Sette Mari, his reply below:

 

We don’t promote it that way but I think jeans are ok there (Sette Mari) it was always the one very casual venue.

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

Mark S. Conroy │ President

 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

 

8300 NW 33rd Street │Suite 100

 

Wes posted this several hours ago. Do you have a point?

[nana541]

MC makes the rules but he better let the crew know he just changed the evening dress code!!

[Seabourntraveller]

MC makes the rules but he better let the crew know he just changed the evening dress code!!

 

Pretty SAD when the President of the Company doesn't even know what their own Dress Code is?:eek::rolleyes::eek:

[rallydave]

Wes posted this several hours ago. Do you have a point?

 

Yes, while I haven't posted any personal attacks and will continue to avoid them, from your response to my post, you clearly stated that I needed to avoid personal attacks unless I could post a different dress code which I did so you are now giving me approval to post personal attacks??

 

Didn't know that you had the authority to approve deviations from the CC policy??

[Travelcat2]

Yes, while I haven't posted any personal attacks and will continue to avoid them, from your response to my post, you clearly stated that I needed to avoid personal attacks unless I could post a different dress code which I did so you are now giving me approval to post personal attacks??

 

Didn't know that you had the authority to approve deviations from the CC policy??

 

You have posted personal attacks in the past and continue to do so. No one said that you needed to post a different dress code -- only one that was valid and differed from what is currently stted. Unfortunately, Mark Conroy, is stating an opinion -- not a policy. If Regent's dress code has changed, it would be so indicated on the Regent website. In the interest of keeping this thread on track, I'm gone.

[TheSeaAroundUs]

Thanks to my dearly departed Mom's training and guidance ... [and] ... don't think it is unreasonable or overly burdensome to ask guests to refrain from wearing jeans and shorts when dining in the evening in CR or P7.

 

...

 

But ... not quite sure why it's necessary to have a virtual ship-wide ban on jeans and shorts "throughout the entire ship" just because the clock strokes 6PM....

I suppose that after all I do like things to be nice when I'm out in public :), but, I agree; I don't grasp the magnitude of the hue and cry regarding what sort of cloth a random individual is permitted to employ in order to sheathe his or her legs once the sun has passed a calculated spot in the sky, anywhere within view at all. [(S)He's spent the same amount of money, and, yes, perhaps someone's expectations are skewed to one side or the other, but expectations are of limited utility; and, of what positive value is taking offense?]

 

I understand that, yes, if one feels that one's spent enough money with the specific intention of (among other things) avoiding the sight of denim after 6pm, then one may legitimately feel poorly done by, after a point. If a large proportion of one's fellow travellers were doing so, then one might well feel as if one might had boarded the wrong ship. However, if I were in a dining room with 200 other people, and 2 or 3 wore jeans, I don't know that I'd even notice (n.b., of course I'm always rooted in my own little world anyway!) -- but, if it did catch my eye, I like to imagine that I'd not decide to devote the time and energy necessary to take offense, for that would involve diverting those resources from their original purpose of enrichment and enjoyment! Of course, though, it would probably depend on my mood at the time . . . . :rolleyes:

 

[ edit: this post contains some alcohol. ]

[tallship]

I suppose that after all I do like things to be nice when I'm out in public :), but, I agree; I don't grasp the magnitude of the hue and cry regarding what sort of cloth a random individual is permitted to employ in order to sheathe his or her legs once the sun has passed a calculated spot in the sky, anywhere within view at all. [(S)He's spent the same amount of money, and, yes, perhaps someone's expectations are skewed to one side or the other, but expectations are of limited utility; and, of what positive value is taking offense?]

 

I understand that, yes, if one feels that one's spent enough money with the specific intention of (among other things) avoiding the sight of denim after 6pm, then one may legitimately feel poorly done by, after a point. If a large proportion of one's fellow travellers were doing so, then one might well feel as if one might had boarded the wrong ship. However, if I were in a dining room with 200 other people, and 2 or 3 wore jeans, I don't know that I'd even notice (n.b., of course I'm always rooted in my own little world anyway!) -- but, if it did catch my eye, I like to imagine that I'd not decide to devote the time and energy necessary to take offense, for that would involve diverting those resources from their original purpose of enrichment and enjoyment! Of course, though, it would probably depend on my mood at the time . . . . :rolleyes:

 

[ edit: this post contains some alcohol. ]

 

I agree with your approach. I cruise to take a holiday and relax. I abide by Regent's policies but I also do not feel it is my role to police the activities of others nor do I really care to spend my time devoted to doing so whether it be on these boards or on the ship.

 

Has anyone noticed how surly this board has become as of late?

[Mudhen]

HOLY COW!!

I, as the OP, was only asking if anyone had smelled anything like sewage on the Mariner, recently. Was that a dumb question or what??!!! Never ment to start WWlll . At least now I know NOT to wear well pressed Tommy Bahama silk city shorts to dinner.....anywhere on a RSS ship!! haha!

We're truely "glass half full" kind of folks......now I guess I need a FULL glass to read these posts! (this post did not contain alcohol, although I wish it had).

[flossie009]

Hi Mudhen,

We will see you on the Mariner in November.

:rolleyes:To Dinner, I will be wearing my cropped jeans, sandals & socks; Sue will be in her 'bling' top and leather hot-pants.....LOL:rolleyes:

 

Regards

David

[Mudhen]

Hi Dave and Sue,

Looking forward to meeting you both! Glad some folks still have some humor and can go with the flow! Can't wait till November!

[TheSeaAroundUs]

... nor do I really care to spend my time ....

Aaaand, nothing whatsoever is more precious than time. You can have more money than I do, or more land, or more women (or men), or more of dozens of other "important" things. You may also have more time than I do, but that is within neither your control nor mine. This is in fact your most precious resource, bar none.

 

Has anyone noticed how surly this board has become as of late?

Yes; that's part of why this has lately become a weekly or bi-weekly, rather than a daily, visit. Well!, plus the fact that I've been too busy with a new invention / business to cruise this year, so I guess that dilutes the allure more than a little bit....

 

... (this post did not contain alcohol, although I wish it had).

Simple as; quaff before posting! You will though need to wait 15 minutes for it to take full effect . . . .

[mimito4]

These days I find myself mostly rolling my eyes and extremely disinterested in most topics here. . .but, I must SHOUT LOUDLY that I adore you, TheSeaAroundUs!

 

I love intellectual snobs in general, but when i find an intellectual that's sweet rather than snobby, well, include me at the top of your fan club. . .in fact, I may run for president of your club. Please forgive me for not being close to your equal in eloquent writing. Seriously. You are the best.

 

I do believe that Mark Conroy subscribes to one of my favorite rules (this from a non-rules follower), and that is to avoid wasting valuable time on exceptions. Why spend so much time on exceptions? I need to say that again. Why spend so much time on exceptions?

 

After all, the discussion (here and on another thread) about the fabric of clothing (denim) that covers probably less than 5% of people is indeed an exception. I believe there must be a rule that states that if 5% or less don't follow a rule, it must indeed be an exception.

 

Furthermore, given the age data of most Regent cruisers, I think we can breathe a sigh of relief that there is no danger of a slippery slope, at least when it comes to fabric and pants.

 

That said, I have seen my share of many non-denim fashion offenses on many luxury cruises. Ugh. Yet, I have still been able to choke down my steak. I wouldn't mind a fashion sheriff being appointed on each cruise. Send the offenders to their stateroom and lock the door!! ;)

 

In fact, if Regent wants to stay relevant I would say they need to overlook the fabric of the trousers and keep focused on continuing to play to those who can afford to pay the fare, regardless of the fabric of their trousers.

 

BTW, are denim collared Tommy Bahama shirts allowed?

[WesW]

HI T, warm welcome back to the Regent Boards, you are/were missed.