To Mariner…or not.

[bookbabe]

1 hour ago, kjbacon said:

You’re not wrong there and we have loved all of our Regent cruises. We are so excited about the WC but admittedly, some of this concerns me.

We’re in the same boat…literally. 🙂 Booked on the 2026 WC, and all the Mariner complaints have been making me nervous too.   We’ve booked a “test cruise” on the Mariner this fall, planning to discount the ship condition a bit in our decision-making process since everyone seems pretty sure there will be a dry dock before 2026.  
 

It’s hard to be as excited as we should be, though, when you read endless reports of sewage and bad service…

[wristband]

If one looks at Mariner's monthly schedule, Mariner is booked straight through and up to the 26 WC save for one week (perhaps a corporate buyout?).  To undertake the necessary repairs and basic refurbishment without going into "major" work, I can't see when that work could occur.

 

Bookbabe: Why are you sure an extensive drydock is scheduled?  Or a quick several weeklong one will occur?  Mariner requires significant work in every area imaginable - plumbing, electrics, capex, staterooms, public areas.  Not a simple process to schedule.

 

The CEO was repeatedly pressed on this very point two weeks ago by those booked on WC 2025 & 2026 who were onboard Mariner (we cancelled both).  Those guests were understandably concerned about the lack of assurances and specifically what they did not hear from Andrea.

 

Andrea waffled and hedged.  She refused to commit publicly dry dock would - or even can - occur prior to WC 2026. Plans can change and this might happen.

 

But if the CEO won't commit on this critical point, that is an answer itself.  Others present in the Theater might share their thoughts as to what they heard.

[Pcardad]

Mariner is scheduled for drydock in November of 2025.

[kjbacon]

4 hours ago, bookbabe said:

We’re in the same boat…literally. 🙂 Booked on the 2026 WC, and all the Mariner complaints have been making me nervous too.   We’ve booked a “test cruise” on the Mariner this fall, planning to discount the ship condition a bit in our decision-making process since everyone seems pretty sure there will be a dry dock before 2026.  
 

It’s hard to be as excited as we should be, though, when you read endless reports of sewage and bad service…

Happy to meet you and I am hopeful that we will be spending several amazing months together on our ‘26 WC. Good to get acquainted now!

 

We have always had good experiences on Regent but have only been on the newer ships, Explorer and Splendor, with more booked on the Grandeur. We have also discussed a “test cruise” and have not ruled that idea out.

 

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Mariner is scheduled for drydock in November of 2025.

Thank you for this helpful info and when I went back and looked at the schedules, there is indeed a large opening in November 2025.

[bookbabe]

2 hours ago, wristband said:

If one looks at Mariner's monthly schedule, Mariner is booked straight through and up to the 26 WC save for one week (perhaps a corporate buyout?).  To undertake the necessary repairs and basic refurbishment without going into "major" work, I can't see when that work could occur.

 

Bookbabe: Why are you sure an extensive drydock is scheduled?  Or a quick several weeklong one will occur?  Mariner requires significant work in every area imaginable - plumbing, electrics, capex, staterooms, public areas.  Not a simple process to schedule.

 

The CEO was repeatedly pressed on this very point two weeks ago by those booked on WC 2025 & 2026 who were onboard Mariner (we cancelled both).  Those guests were understandably concerned about the lack of assurances and specifically what they did not hear from Andrea.

 

Andrea waffled and hedged.  She refused to commit publicly dry dock would - or even can - occur prior to WC 2026. Plans can change and this might happen.

 

But if the CEO won't commit on this critical point, that is an answer itself.  Others present in the Theater might share their thoughts as to what they heard.

I’m just going by what I’ve read in other threads here on CC.

[BBWC]

2 hours ago, wristband said:

Others present in the Theater might share their thoughts as to what they heard.

My impression was not so much that she would not commit, but she did not know (after stating earlier that dry docks are scheduled years in advance). In fact, I got the impression that she didn’t know anything about Mariner as she is completely absorbed by Grandeur. I don’t know if it was you or someone else who asked what she considered the three most pressing problems on Mariner, and the answer she provided did not address the question at all. As I recall, at that time someone shouted’ baloney’.

[kjbacon]

2 hours ago, wristband said:

If one looks at Mariner's monthly schedule, Mariner is booked straight through and up to the 26 WC save for one week (perhaps a corporate buyout?).  To undertake the necessary repairs and basic refurbishment without going into "major" work, I can't see when that work could occur.

 

Bookbabe: Why are you sure an extensive drydock is scheduled?  Or a quick several weeklong one will occur?  Mariner requires significant work in every area imaginable - plumbing, electrics, capex, staterooms, public areas.  Not a simple process to schedule.

 

And if you look at November’25 as we Pcardad said, there are several unscheduled weeks.

[papaflamingo]

8 hours ago, bookbabe said:

We’re in the same boat…literally. 🙂 Booked on the 2026 WC, and all the Mariner complaints have been making me nervous too.   We’ve booked a “test cruise” on the Mariner this fall, planning to discount the ship condition a bit in our decision-making process since everyone seems pretty sure there will be a dry dock before 2026.  
 

It’s hard to be as excited as we should be, though, when you read endless reports of sewage and bad service…

Don't over react.  It's not really "endless reports of sewage and bad service," it's some reports.  But Mariner holds 700 passengers.  If it was as bad as everyone seems to think it is, there'd be a lot more reports.  I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't bear these reports in mind when deciding on such a big commitment, but if there is truly a sewage problem on Mariner it will either be solved in 3 years or out of service in 3 years.  

[wdr59911]

We have friends on their second cruise.  They sailed with us on another line...(with the Big X) and had a great time.  They are now on Mariner in the Med and are somewhat disappointed.......their comment to me was "good, but not great".  We are booked on Explorer in September so interested to see the changes that have occurred since COVID.  I think the industry in general is struggling with a lot of new and inexperienced staff, cost and supply issues.  It is not an easy time and frankly, some will not survive.... I wish them all the best.   

[pingpong1]

I think a related question to the topic at hand...  Out of the entire regular passenger loads on any given Regent cruise (or any other cruise line)...I wonder how many of those passengers (percentage-wise) are regular (or even infrequent) readers and posters on Cruise Critic, or on any other cruising website?

 

I raise this question only because if we don't regularly see an outpouring of either praise or complaints about various Regent ships or cruises, it might not mean that things are either "great, good, or terrible".

 

It could instead mean that the overwhelming majority of (Regent) passengers (either once in a lifetime, or "regular" customers) simply never post about their various cruise experiences (either good or bad)...either while currently on a cruise or after having just recently disembarked.

 

Just because we don't "see" too many negative (or positive) reviews, I don't think we can use the quantity of reviews alone to judge that things were "mostly good" (or "mostly bad").

[kjbacon]

Good point, pingpong. Years ago, I read that the percentage of us on Cruisecritic was surprisingly low. There is also personal tastes and impressions to consider. We were on a different luxury cruise line last year and we were quite disappointed in most aspects while their regulars thought they were just great.

[papaflamingo]

9 hours ago, pingpong1 said:

I think a related question to the topic at hand...  Out of the entire regular passenger loads on any given Regent cruise (or any other cruise line)...I wonder how many of those passengers (percentage-wise) are regular (or even infrequent) readers and posters on Cruise Critic, or on any other cruising website?

 

I raise this question only because if we don't regularly see an outpouring of either praise or complaints about various Regent ships or cruises, it might not mean that things are either "great, good, or terrible".

 

It could instead mean that the overwhelming majority of (Regent) passengers (either once in a lifetime, or "regular" customers) simply never post about their various cruise experiences (either good or bad)...either while currently on a cruise or after having just recently disembarked.

 

Just because we don't "see" too many negative (or positive) reviews, I don't think we can use the quantity of reviews alone to judge that things were "mostly good" (or "mostly bad").

I agree completely, but I also follow 2 other Regent discussion boards on the other social media platform and there was barely a mention of sewage smells over there.  That's a lot of people and I followed a couple of people on the World Cruise who blogged daily.  So like everything else, both glowing reviews and negative reviews must be considered carefully. 

[pappy1022]

Just like any comment boards, including the likes of Amazon, etc., you need to look at the totality of the comments and come to your own conclusions, the best you can. If you are a frequent visitor to these Regent boards you will get the feel for the cheerleaders and the “Debbie Downers”. Generally, people are more apt to register a complaint than to offer glowing praise. I have my concerns about the post COVID Regent, and all cruise lines for that matter, but it won’t stop me from going on another Regent cruise. That way, I can judge for myself and lessen the impact of the opinions of others. It’s clear that things have changed post COVID. That’s true for most industries and we have to adapt. Cruise lines are struggling with large debt and they have to change and reduce cost and/or increase revenue via price increases. It’s taken me a while to accept that cruising won’t be what it used to be prior to COVID. That’s true of Regent, all cruise lines, and most industries as well.

[seasickphil]

20 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

Just like any comment boards, including the likes of Amazon, etc., you need to look at the totality of the comments and come to your own conclusions, the best you can. If you are a frequent visitor to these Regent boards you will get the feel for the cheerleaders and the “Debbie Downers”. Generally, people are more apt to register a complaint than to offer glowing praise. I have my concerns about the post COVID Regent, and all cruise lines for that matter, but it won’t stop me from going on another Regent cruise. That way, I can judge for myself and lessen the impact of the opinions of others. It’s clear that things have changed post COVID. That’s true for most industries and we have to adapt. Cruise lines are struggling with large debt and they have to change and reduce cost and/or increase revenue via price increases. It’s taken me a while to accept that cruising won’t be what it used to be prior to COVID. That’s true of Regent, all cruise lines, and most industries as well.

I agree with everything you say, all industries have faced spiralling costs, not excluding us people. Where I stand is that prices in the cruise industry are increasing across the board but the product we are receiving is going in the opposite direction. Last time my wife and I sailed on Regent (post Covid) our experience was not as good as pre Covid but hopefully things next month on Splendor will be better, i really hope so.(because after having one bad experience don’t mean the next one will be the same)I know many loyal customers may not have seen any decline on Regent post Covid but reading on here that is not the case for everyone Will Regent customers who pay a high price in return for premium product continue to do so if, according to some on cc are not receiving an experience that they have become accustomed to getting.

 

I have my hard hat near me if needed.😉😉

[curmudgeon98]

I have been on Mariner for the past week.  This is our first Regent cruise, so I don't have a direct basis for comparison, but from what we've experienced, I would judge the hard product (physical ship condition) as "fine".  It's not that you can't see the occasional scratch or bit of painted-over rust, but we haven't had or seen any significant issues such as we've seen on older ships of other lines.  A/C works well and adjusts nicely by cabin controls.  Toilets have been fine, with maybe a half hour of downtime one day while engineering dealt with a clog (presumably from oblivious guests using "flushable" wipes).  I find the bathtub very uncomfortable for showering, but that could be solved by knowing to pick one of the cabins that has been converted to a shower stall.  Public areas have seemed fine to us.  I'd be surprised if there was deep rebuilding done in drydock (such as tearing out plumbing or electrical) unless they go all the way and replace the engines to meet new standards; I'd expect any work to be more along the lines of paint, carpet, and furnishings.

 

We may or may not sail with Regent in the future, but my hesitations are more around some aspects of the soft product.  Food quality and service has been decidedly mixed (we've had better on mainstream lines), and the onboard entertainment has been so-so (from our perspective).  Some of this may have been impacted by a large staff turnover at the end of the World Cruise last week.   We've felt that the included excursions have been well-described, and fairly good (within the limitations of groups sized 20-30).  We'll see how things develop over the next week. 

[1982CruzStart]

Thank you curmudgeon 98 for your review of your trip so far.  I like reading the good, the bad and the ugly from each person's perspective and then i can figure out what is important to me and what isn't. 

 

Seasickphil, our last trip on Voyager in Jan/Feb 2023 was disappointing as far as the Regent experience went however the trip to Antartica made all that less important to us.  We started to look at other cruise lines. Cruising is my favortie way to travel. 

 

So far we haven't found another option that appeals to us so we are hopeful that our 2024 cruise on Grandeur will be better. We are looking at the 2025/2026 voyages and staying with the newer ships. If our 2024 experience doesn't live up to our expectations we will cancel whatever we book for 2025 and revisit cruising with Regent or anyone else. It is an expensive vacation and we pay 35-40% more because of the foreign exchange so we need to look closely at getting value for our 1 vacation a year. 

[mnocket]

2 hours ago, curmudgeon98 said:

Food quality and service has been decidedly mixed (we've had better on mainstream lines),

I've got my first RSSC cruise coming up in December.  This comment worries me as one of my reasons for trying RSSC was the noticeable decline in food quality on the mainstream lines.  As they say.... food is subjective and I'm hoping that my assessment will be far different than yours, but only my first hand experience in Dec will tell.  I'm curious though, which mainstream lines do you think have better food than RSSC?

[Pcardad]

13 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I've got my first RSSC cruise coming up in December.  This comment worries me as one of my reasons for trying RSSC was the noticeable decline in food quality on the mainstream lines.  As they say.... food is subjective and I'm hoping that my assessment will be far different than yours, but only my first hand experience in Dec will tell.  I'm curious though, which mainstream lines do you think have better food than RSSC?

I don't know if this helps but Prime 7 seems on par with Ruth's Chris...to my limited ability to tell the difference.

[mnocket]

54 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I don't know if this helps but Prime 7 seems on par with Ruth's Chris...to my limited ability to tell the difference.

Thanks, that helps.  fwiw I enjoy Ruth's Chris.  It's a good steak house imho.  Not on a par with the truly outstanding steak houses, but head and shoulders above anything I've had on a mainstream cruise line. 

[PhD-iva]

I truly enjoyed most of my meals on Mariner Nov 2022 (16 days LA to Lima). I recall 1 or 2 meals that “were not to my liking.” Food was good, ingredients fresh, just not what I liked. I’m sure others would have had no issues. 
One example, a power bowl lunch in CR. All the ingredients were presented separately in the bowl. I’m used to my salads mixed. See? Trivial difference. I readily admit that others could have no problem w that meal, but “it was not to my liking.” Not a strong criticism at all. I really enjoyed ALMOST every meal on Mariner. My fellow pax were OUTSTANDING and I had a BLAST!

[Kwaj girl]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

I truly enjoyed most of my meals on Mariner Nov 2022 (16 days LA to Lima). I recall 1 or 2 meals that “were not to my liking.” Food was good, ingredients fresh, just not what I liked. I’m sure others would have had no issues. 
One example, a power bowl lunch in CR. All the ingredients were presented separately in the bowl. I’m used to my salads mixed. See? Trivial difference. I readily admit that others could have no problem w that meal, but “it was not to my liking.” Not a strong criticism at all. I really enjoyed ALMOST every meal on Mariner. My fellow pax were OUTSTANDING and I had a BLAST!

 

And I LOVE that Osaka Power Bowl! And it is on tomorrow's lunch menu in CR on Navigator. Your point is well-taken.  To each his/her own!  💯

Edited June 8, 2023 by Kwaj girl

[curmudgeon98]

On 6/7/2023 at 10:54 AM, mnocket said:

I've got my first RSSC cruise coming up in December.  This comment worries me as one of my reasons for trying RSSC was the noticeable decline in food quality on the mainstream lines.  As they say.... food is subjective and I'm hoping that my assessment will be far different than yours, but only my first hand experience in Dec will tell.  I'm curious though, which mainstream lines do you think have better food than RSSC?

I would say that food and food service has gotten better in the second half of the cruise, though still a bit inconsistent.  Maybe the new staff influx after the world cruise is getting in better sync, and we've been arriving to the dining room about 20 minutes after opening - when there is a bit of a lull.  

 

There are definitely more choices of premium ingredients on Regent than on mainstream lines (no need to wait for lobster night or filet mignon).  We still get some dishes without a lot of flavor, or with odd sauces, and the occasional lukewarm one (yes, we could send it back, but we'll put up with a lukewarm dish rather than spoil the pacing of our meal).  Sette Marie, the evening casual restaurant conversion of the buffet was pretty poor the two times we tried it, and it doesn't impress at breakfast either.  

 

I'd say that in the past year we've had food at least as good (though with less "premium" choices) on Princess and Celebrity, and better food on Azamara and Seabourn.  That's all pretty subjective, of course.  

 

We've been pleased with the wines on offer - the default selections have been decent, and they are happy to get you something of a different style (maybe from previous nights) if you prefer.  I'd say the wines are better than what is included in the basic drink packages on other lines.  

[briar14]

We are on Mariner now, anchored in Sicily. Boarded in Barcelona May 30, so we have had some time to experience the cruise(s) and the ship. We have not encountered any of the issues cited in this thread. Everything in our suite works well. Service is Regent excellent. Food quality and temperature is fine. But . . . as much as we enjoy Mariner, she definitely needs to go into dry dock. Decor is tired, although we feel some of the soft goods in our suite had been recently replaced. Especially because Mariner does interesting itineraries, we would not hesitate to sail on her again.

 

[PhD-iva]

I loved Boogie & Kashia while I was on the Mariner. Are they still there? Stars lounge after the show!

Edited June 15, 2023 by PhD-iva
Typo

[briar14]

I believe they left in Rome.