To Mariner…or not.

[Emdee]

We have enjoyed the Mariner in the past but recent reviews haven’t been great. I am particular concerned about the sewage smells and toilet flushing issues. 
Is it scheduled for drydock before next year? 
 

We are looking at a fall cruise plus a crossing. 
 

Would appreciate any input.

[Pcardad]

It is possible to get a sewage smell on ANY cruise ship - no matter the age. All it takes is a single person flushing something not intended for the system. I think Mariner's next drydock is later this year but I am sure someone knows for certain. She is a great ship - they all are.

[Emdee]

4 hours ago, Pcardad said:

It is possible to get a sewage smell on ANY cruise ship - no matter the age. All it takes is a single person flushing something not intended for the system. I think Mariner's next drydock is later this year but I am sure someone knows for certain. She is a great ship - they all are.

I loved the Mariner when I was on it as I do the other Regent ships. However as a ship ages it needs more frequent drydocks. I am a veteran cruiser so am fully away that things happen. However, many of the WC passengers mentioned the problem. 

[PhD-iva]

I was also concerned about similar reports about Mariner’s plumbing prior to my November 2022 cruise out of Los Angeles. I did have to call a plumber to fix my toilet as it wasn’t flushing properly once. It got fixed quickly and there never was any sewage involved or any smell. I was really pleased with Mariner. I can hardly wait until my next Regent cruise on Voyager!

[BBWC]

Even ADM doesn’t know when the next drydock is, she thinks(?) 2024 or 2025. Either way, way too late, the ship needs work now (consensus opinion of the world cruisers in the Town Hall).

[mrlevin]

3 hours ago, BBWC said:

Even ADM doesn’t know when the next drydock is, she thinks(?) 2024 or 2025. Either way, way too late, the ship needs work now (consensus opinion of the world cruisers in the Town Hall).

BBWC, do you know if many of the World Cruisers have decided to cancel their 2024 WC bookings because of the issues and lack of dry dock before 2024 WC?

 

Marc

[BBWC]

Yes, a number of them have cancelled. We were not booked on 2024, but cancelled 2025. In addition to the issue with the ship, many frequent world cruisers/high loyalty level guests feel that there are just too many people doing the world cruise. The ‘special events’ are really just a buffet for 500 people, nothing special about that. They used to have world cruise dinners on board, reception just for the world cruisers, etc. Nothing like that now.

[mrlevin]

22 minutes ago, BBWC said:

Yes, a number of them have cancelled. We were not booked on 2024, but cancelled 2025. In addition to the issue with the ship, many frequent world cruisers/high loyalty level guests feel that there are just too many people doing the world cruise. The ‘special events’ are really just a buffet for 500 people, nothing special about that. They used to have world cruise dinners on board, reception just for the world cruisers, etc. Nothing like that now.

Thanks for the update.  We have 128 nights booked on Mariner between this December and the start of the 2025 WC; hopefully we enjoy every one.  We canceled the 2023 WC as we have found that we prefer the Grand Voyages 70-94 nights.  I guess I should be glad that we had only ~115 full voyagers last year on Grand Arctic; the (few) events were nice.  

 

Again, thanks,

 

Marc

Edited May 26, 2023 by mrlevin

[BBWC]

Our thinking is exactly the same. We are going to do Grand Voyages from now on, world cruises are getting too long. And I like the idea of a smaller group.

[Timeflies]

On 5/25/2023 at 8:20 PM, Emdee said:

We have enjoyed the Mariner in the past but recent reviews haven’t been great. I am particular concerned about the sewage smells and toilet flushing issues. 
Is it scheduled for drydock before next year? 
 

We are looking at a fall cruise plus a crossing. 
 

Would appreciate any input.

We were on Mariner late last year for a month.  No problems, no blocked toilets, no smells and no sewage seen sloshing around anywhere it shouldn't be.

[GOARMY]

No issues when we were last onboard which was October-November '22.  Reminders were posted in "Passages" from time to time as to what NOT to flush. Well--that reminder is also "posted" on the toilet's lid.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

[rcandkc]

We just made final payment for fall Mariner cruise 😳. We were on Mariner May 2022 and had good cruise.  Hope it will be ok. 

[Gilly]

Remember that for every one of the people who write here or elsewhere about their disappointment with this or that, there are another few hundred happy clients who count their blessings and can't wait to step back on board a Regent ship - whichever one it happens to be - who appreciate all those thoughtful touches from incredible staff who make our experience so special.

 

[wristband]

Decide for yourself.  We are onboard now on the World Cruise ending shortly.  We have cancelled all our booked future Mariner cruises.  We would be very very reluctant to book Mariner again due to the poor and prevalent condition of an aging ship and ragged staterooms on a five month sailing.

 

Look at Mariner's schedule 2023-2026 - its booked solid (except for 1-2 weeks).  When is it feasible to take Mariner out of commission to undertake the necessary refurbishment and updating in any meaningful way over the next three years? 

 

Big gap between the cost of the cruise on Mariner versus Regent providing what was promised.

[BBWC]

3 hours ago, Gilly said:

who appreciate all those thoughtful touches from incredible staff who make our experience so special

 

And that leads to the second major disappointment on this world cruise. The incredible staff was there until Singapore. Then a majority of the food and beverage servers left on vacation and where replaced by a bunch of inexperienced, untrained and unpolished crew. Some of them had not even been on a cruise ship before. The experience has not been the same ever since.

 

You have not been on this cruise nor participated in the Town Hall. I can assure you that the opinions expressed by wristband and myself is not a minority opinion.

[Gilly]

6 minutes ago, BBWC said:

You have not been on this cruise nor participated in the Town Hall. I can assure you that the opinions expressed by wristband and myself is not a minority opinion.

That's true, I haven't.  But I am also entitled to my opinion based on my own experience gathered over 300 days on board Regent ships  (including the occasional disappointment).  

Edited May 27, 2023 by Gilly

[BBWC]

6 minutes ago, Gilly said:

That's true, I haven't.  But I am also entitled to my opinion based on my own experience gathered over 300 days on board Regent ships  (including the occasional disappointment).  

 

Well, we have over 700 days, and most have been very good or we would not have come back so often. But this one is just “off”.

[Gilly]

OK, so you are more than twice as likely to have encountered a disappointing situation on board a Regent ship than I am.    

[briar14]

After 260+ nights on Regent, we have had one disappointing (for many reasons) Regent cruise—December 2021, Mariner Panama Canal. This was Mariner’s first cruise after reopening and it had at least one senior management person in common with the latter part of the 2023 world cruise. At that time I noted rust and mold around our veranda door and rust in some areas of the suite. Well, we board Mariner on Tuesday for 22 days and will celebrate our 50th anniversary while on board. I am concerned but look forward to a good experience with tempered expectations. 

 

Since the Mariner 2021 cruise, we have enjoyed two wonderful trips on Navigator and Voyager and found those ships to be well maintained and providing excellent service.

Edited May 27, 2023 by briar14

[HonTri]

8 minutes ago, briar14 said:

After 260+ nights on Regent, we have had one disappointing (for many reasons) Regent cruise—December 2021, Mariner Panama Canal. This was Mariner’s first cruise after reopening and it had at least one senior management person in common with the latter part of the 2023 world cruise. At that time I noted rust and mold around our veranda door and rust in some areas of the suite. Well, we board Mariner on Tuesday for 22 days and will celebrate our 50th anniversary while on board. I am concerned but look forward to a good experience with tempered expectations.

We were on her last November and didn't notice any issues in our cabin.

[BBWC]

3 hours ago, Gilly said:

OK, so you are more than twice as likely to have encountered a disappointing situation on board a Regent ship than I am.    

I don’t think we even disagree that much. I and most others lay the blame squarely on Miami and not onboard management. They can’t redo our suites, and they were probably just as frustrated as the guests with being given these untrained crew members. I can tell management is working hard to improve things, and service is slowly getting better. I definitely feel for the remaining experienced crew members because they had to pick up all the slack. From my own experience and talking to others, mid cruise comments are being addressed immediately. It is the ones sent to Miami that don’t get a response. 

[rcandkc]

24 minutes ago, BBWC said:

I don’t think we even disagree that much. I and most others lay the blame squarely on Miami and not onboard management. They can’t redo our suites, and they were probably just as frustrated as the guests with being given these untrained crew members. I can tell management is working hard to improve things, and service is slowly getting better. I definitely feel for the remaining experienced crew members because they had to pick up all the slack. From my own experience and talking to others, mid cruise comments are being addressed immediately. It is the ones sent to Miami that don’t get a response. 

I hope Miami is paying attention.  The service issues are my biggest concern.  I expect “Regent” service.  With proper service I can overlook tired interior but without it then I’m sure I would notice notice every issue. 

[Pack Leader]

Just received Regent list of highly discounted Mariner cruises. Wasn't sure why these offers were just on Mariner.

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

Just received Regent list of highly discounted Mariner cruises. Wasn't sure why these offers were just on Mariner.

Post it and we can see if they are part of a larger special.

[cwn]

2 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

Just received Regent list of highly discounted Mariner cruises. Wasn't sure why these offers were just on Mariner.

We are scheduled for the Nov ‘24 Amazon cruise…..is it on cruise on the list? We really like the Mariner because it has for and aft lounges and lots of public space. 
 

The Navigator is an old ship and in Dec it was in good shape except some suites really needed new carpet and such. There are always little pockets of rust on the ships, There was some rust in the corner of our balcony on the Splendor in Dec. Hope Regent will take care of the interior of their older ships. Many like them better than the new larger ships. A Chinese Dragon and a jewel incrusted egg doesn’t mean a thing to me…..good food, service and fresh unfrayed soft goods do!