Live from the mariner - food

[wineasmusic]

I remember reading all the problems with food back in October/November. I'm happy to say they seem to be all fixed. While not perfect, so far I think it has been as good as it gets. I'm a very happy camper (although one that will gain some weight because of it).

 

Sailing the rural coast of Brazil so not much to see but providing some great down time to recharge the batteries.

Darrell and Peggy

[Jay23]

Glad to hear that!! J :)

[Eager2Travel]

We are very pleased to hear the good news. We will be boarding the Mariner next Monday.

[JMARINER]

Do you know who the ExChef is?

[wineasmusic]

Jonathan Smid from Canada is the chef.

D2

Edited March 6, 2014 by wineasmusic
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[JMARINER]

Jonathan Smid from Canada is the chef.

D2

 

That is probably why the food is good. I don't know him, but the last time I was on Regent in November the Chef was named Kelly Cochran?. He was an Oceana transplant (also from Canada). He was the worst Chef in all of my 31 Regent/Radisson voyages, so anyone would have to be better.

 

J

31/425

Edited March 6, 2014 by JMARINER
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[Travelcat2]

We have sailed when Jonathan was Head Chef -- the food was excellent. I feel that chefs from Oceania transferring to Regent (or visa versa) may have recipes but aren't familiar with how the food has been prepared (for years and years) on Regent. They need training! On our last cruise the pastry chef was putting out bread and pastries that may be acceptable on another cruise line but bore no resemblance to what we were used to on Regent. Fortunately the F&B Director was able to correct the situation when he returned on vacation. I assume that the F&B Director onboard prior to our getting on the ship was an Oceania transfer. Clueless is the only word that comes to mind!

[DrHemlock]

Interesting you should say that about the bread and pastries, TC. On our recently completed Mariner cruise, the croissants at breakfast were seriously brown and crispy on the outside, rather dry on the inside. Not like previous Regent cruises and certainly not what one would buy at any decent boulangerie.

 

Not a complaint. Didn't ruin our breakfasts or our cruise. But we noticed.

[TedC]

DO NOT EAT the Hemlock!

[gnomie1]

For years the quality of food on any of the Regent ships was good - not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination (unless of course your normal diet consists of white bread and the mac and cheese that comes out of the blue box), but there were no complaints. In the summer of 2013 we started to notice a huge difference in the quality and when we sailed again this past December, it was quite obvious that the bean counters had been working overtime to cut down on the costs. Maybe because I live in NYC and can get great food all the time, but the food on Regent has become a huge disappointment. I use to enjoy Prime 7 - I love steak and beef, it is something that I don't cook at home so I usually order it when I go out. We went to Prime 7 twice on our last cruise and neither time was anything special. It was not bad, just nothing special, it was what one would expect and any mid-level steak house in the States. Most of the desserts are not worth the calories and the breads leave much to be desired. At one time in my life I worked in food service and it is quite easy to tell that they are now purchasing the lesser expensive items, esp when it comes to meat and fish. It is also obvious that in the preparation of food the use of salt has increased. One thing I use to comment about the food on Regent is that you could actually taste the food, it wasn't overly salted which is no longer the case. The quality of the smoked salmon is inferior to prior years. The biggest indicator - normally I gain 4 -6 pounds on a three week cruise - got off a 35 day cruise and found out I had lost 8 pounds. I am not one to eat for the sake of eating - I like to enjoy my food and if it is not good, I just pass. We use to anxiously await for dinner every evening, on our last cruise with often opted for room service - it was easier and more often than not, it was the only way to get exactly what we ordered.

 

Unfortunately, the entire dining experience is not what is use to be, which results in unpleasant meals. We had some really horrible instances on our last cruise and again, it was caused simply due to the many cutbacks. The service is not what it use to be and everything is hit or miss. How many times did I put in a special order for breakfast (nothing special, eggs or waffles) and after 30 minutes, had to leave to catch my excursion with my breakfast never showing up. The last night we ate dinner at SM and waited over one hour for our first course and then everything arrived at once and they never even bothered with coffee/tea - it was obvious that management did not care. We took the children to Alaska in 2011 and then to Europe in the summer of 2013 and even they noticed a difference in the service - when a 12 and 14 year old boy make a comment on the difference in service and the quality of food, you know there is a problem.

[journeyfan]

Dr. Hemlock,

 

Interesting that you should comment on the burned and dried croissants you had on your recent Mariner cruise as we experienced the same thing on our August 2013 Baltic cruise on the Voyager. In the mid-cruise comments, I noted the unedible croissants and the very next day, they were a little less burnt and less dry. The following day they were even better, and by the the 3rd day, they were quite edible. Maybe now they are back to being burned to a crisp now that I'm no longer there to complain! I'm a long-time regent cruiser and the croissants had always been excellent so I really noticed the difference.

[Travelcat2]

Interesting you should say that about the bread and pastries, TC. On our recently completed Mariner cruise, the croissants at breakfast were seriously brown and crispy on the outside, rather dry on the inside. Not like previous Regent cruises and certainly not what one would buy at any decent boulangerie.

 

Not a complaint. Didn't ruin our breakfasts or our cruise. But we noticed.

 

On our last cruise the salt sticks were the size of my little finger and were hard -- almost like a breadstick. They are normally soft and considerably larger. We did not complain but did asked what happened because some of the desserts did not resemble anything we've had previously. As I mentioned, the F&B Director met with the pastry chef. By the end of the cruise the salt sticks were back to normal.

 

Food is subjective. We do not have difficulty with the food on Regent. Occasionally there is something not to our taste -- we return it and order something else. They recently added Miso Glazed Sea Bass to the CR menu (it appeared twice on our last cruise). It is a recipe from Oceania - normally served in their specialty restaurant, Red Ginger. I absolutely adore the dish. My DH did not care for it.

 

Having sailed on Oceania (only once), I feel that the chefs in their specialty restaurants are amazing. However, if they are transferred onto a Regent ship without proper training (which, IMO, means doing a cruise on Regent with an experienced Head Chef), it is difficult for them to create dishes that Regent guests are used to.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Travelcat2