SOOOO Just how BAD is the MARINER???

[fb0075]

Just off the SPLENDOR and its GREAT, but keep hearing MARINER has really slipped!

   I want to do a cruise in JUNE on HER but want to know what to expect----

CONDITION?

FOOD?

ENTERTAINMENT?

 

PLEASE DONT ANSWER IF YOU HAVENT BEEN ON IN THE LAST YEAR!!

 

THANKS FRANK

[Pcardad]

Mariner is on the back half of the World Cruise and has the best duo onboard for entertainment and Regent's top General Manager just joined the ship in Singapore. I have friends and family (and myself) onboard on a regular basis and they have all been extremely happy. There have been a few posts about a suction toilet issue back in December (caused by a guest flushing an article of clothing) but it was resolved. Mariner is not as new as EXP, SPLDR and GRDR but has been maintained well. It is due for an extremely extensive drydock in November of 2025.

[Nachosdelux]

was on it in January and agree with above.

 

Is it "new" like the Grandeur etc?  No.

 

Is it in decent shape with excellent food and service?  Yes, IMHO.

 

More importantly, I would sail her again - and I am booked on her again in the fall.

 

Navigator, on the other hand - I would not sail her again.

Edited March 18 by Nachosdelux

[fb0075]

GREAT THANKS

The DUO on the Splendor was not good at all IMHO!

[flossie009]

40 minutes ago, fb0075 said:

CONDITION?  👍

FOOD?  👍

ENTERTAINMENT?  🙁

We were on board over Christmas & New Year

[RELS]

2 hours ago, fb0075 said:

GREAT THANKS

The DUO on the Splendor was not good at all IMHO!

 

No, but the RSO on the Splendor was terrific! At least it was in Dec/Jan for our cruise.

[Kwaj girl]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Mariner is on the back half of the World Cruise and has the best duo onboard for entertainment and Regent's top General Manager just joined the ship in Singapore. I have friends and family (and myself) onboard on a regular basis and they have all been extremely happy. There have been a few posts about a suction toilet issue back in December (caused by a guest flushing an article of clothing) but it was resolved. Mariner is not as new as EXP, SPLDR and GRDR but has been maintained well. It is due for an extremely extensive drydock in November of 2025.

 

Kasia and Boogie left for vacation at the end of February.   The Vivace Duo took over but is  nowhere near as entertaining.

[welshfamily]

We had our first Regent cruise on the Mariner last summer and enjoyed ourselves so much we are booked for 17 days on the Voyager this year.

Again not as new or sparkling as some of their ships but then neither are we!!

 

No cruise is perfect and certainly Regent flight department have lost the plot as far as we are concerned but the onboard experience last year was excellent.

[papaflamingo]

We were on Mariner in Dec.  Yes there were a few toilet issues, and it's not people flushing stuff down, but a suction problem.  One day when we were in port they shut the entire system down to make some repairs. Since we were on a tour, don't know how long that was, but it was done well before we returned from our excursion.  What I heard (can't really verify this) was that some of the seals were failing preventing the suction from building so they had to replace seals.  Makes sense.  Anyway, I've been following the World Cruise and there is no real comments about the system so it seems they've handled it. 

As to the ship, in general it was up to Regent standards as far as food and service.  Food, for me, was great. No complaints at all and I enjoyed everything I ordered. Service was pretty good, but slipped occasionally in the restaurants. Example, my wife never seemed to be able to get coffee with dessert.  Same thing happened on Grandeur in Jan.  Since both were Caribbean cruises (Grandeur was Panama Canal) I think that it was just a different "vibe" but both ships seemed understaffed.  Not so on Explorer. We got off Explorer 2 weeks ago in Tokyo and it was a superb cruise in every way.  So I think the service "glitches" are isolated.

The ship's in good condition.  You will see some worn or stained carpeting, especially if you look for it.   I don't actually notice trivia like that, so it didn't bother me. But the crew works hard to keep it up, so if you see something in your cabin that bothers you, bring it to their attention and if possible they'll correct it.  

We've booked Mariner for Oct. 2025 and it'll be its last cruise before a major overhaul.  So I suspect it'll be pretty worn by then, and we are thinking hard about it now.  But the service, food, etc. should be Regent standards, and for me, that's ll that really counts. 

[pappy1022]

Thanks Papa for clarifying info on the toilet issue. Some people continue to insist that this is only a people problem and not a mechanical issue. Blaming the customer, blaming Regent’s contracted providers or suggesting we need to change our expectations about Regent is a faulty and tired argument. 

[Pcardad]

40 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Thanks Papa for clarifying info on the toilet issue. Some people continue to insist that this is only a people problem and not a mechanical issue. Blaming the customer, blaming Regent’s contracted providers or suggesting we need to change our expectations about Regent is a faulty and tired argument. 

It started with a guest flushing something - I've got a text from someone onboard telling me about it. This blocked the pipe and then popped a number of old seals leading to a lot of downtime. And yes, everyone should change their expectations for cruising on all lines post Covid.

 

I call Regent out when I feel it is warranted (like how they handled the pre-cruise hotel in Iceland or when a certain GM would not make the time to meet with guests) but I also have no issue backing them up when there are people posting nonsense/entitlement posts...and I will continue to do both.

 

The faulty argument is that Regent is running around in breach of contract. They may do things you (and in some cases, I as well) feel far short of the mark...but they are within their contractual rights. If you don't like them, don't cruise with them.

[jeb_bud]

We were on Mariner last October. The decor is obviously dated but I did not notice excessive wear and tear, although I admit it would have to be fairly serious for me to notice. 
 

On our cruise service suffered compared to our previous experience, both pre and post pandemic. I attributed it to cream-skimming to staff Grandeur. From reports more recent that appears to be a glitch rather than a trend. 
 

We won’t be on Mariner again until August of ‘25, just before the refurb and we are looking forward to it. 

 

 

 

[lprp]

4 hours ago, Pcardad said:

It started with a guest flushing something - I've got a text from someone onboard telling me about it. This blocked the pipe and then popped a number of old seals leading to a lot of downtime

We were on Mariner Christmas and NY and believe this is definitely what happened. I was told verbally while on the ship and in writing from Regent when we got home.

 

We didn’t have any toilet issues, although a suite a few doors along from us seemed to have several judging by the number of times the “sludge gulper” (doesn’t that conjure up a wonderful image 😬) was deployed.

 

That said, the area outside Reception and Destination Services often had an aroma that was at times gag inducing! The reception staff admitted to being nose blind to it!!

We had to move from the Mariner Lounge after dinner one night as the stench was unbearable.

 

Edited March 19 by lprp

[lprp]

18 hours ago, fb0075 said:

CONDITION?

FOOD?

ENTERTAINMENT?

We were also on over Christmas and NY.

The overall condition of the ship is fine, notwithstanding the drain issue that seems to have been resolved 🤞.

There were definitely some things that were not as good as they should be - entertainment was dreadful considering it was a holiday cruise and service in Compass Rose was “Miss” more often than “Hit” for us, Regent acknowledged that this was due to a large number of new (not fully trained) staff.

I would expect this to be fully resolved by the time of your cruise.

 

 

[Pcardad]

15 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Kasia and Boogie left for vacation at the end of February.   The Vivace Duo took over but is  nowhere near as entertaining.

K&B should be back on by June.

[RELS]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

K&B should be back on by June.

 

Thank goodness! We are on Mariner in November, and I have been waiting to see them!

[NCCruzQueen]

17 hours ago, Pcardad said:

K&B should be back on by June.

When Kasia and Boogie left they told us that they’d return on May 17th.  The Vivace Duo have a totally different sound but ok.

 

As far as the toilets go,  if ours doesn’t flush, we call reception and it’s repaired within an hour.  We have had a hissing sound in the toilet and no water in the bowl.  I’ve found if you pour in a glass of water, the hissing stops.

[pappy1022]

On 3/19/2024 at 7:58 AM, Pcardad said:

 

The faulty argument is that Regent is running around in breach of contract. They may do things you (and in some cases, I as well) feel far short of the mark...but they are within their contractual rights. If you don't like them, don't cruise with them.

Never said that they were in breach of contract. They obviously have the “legalize” in their contracts that covers their butt for most circumstances. That is what corporate lawyers do. As far as the toilets are concerned, there is enough evidence and examples that there is an ongoing issue and it’s not always that someone flushed something they shouldn’t have down the toilet. That’s the vibe I get from reading some responses. So yes, I won’t cruise on that specific ship with the toilet problem. It seems naive to use the argument, if you don’t like them, don’t cruise with them. It’s interesting that those generic arguments are used to deflect the fact that there are real issues on this ship that can’t be ignored but some choose to do just that. Let’s accept for the moment that a customer did put something down the toilet that they shouldn’t have done. Why is it that it is taking so long to fix this issue? As said in one of the posts, the seals should have been replaced years ago. Why weren’t they and why did Regent let this issue linger? 

[Pcardad]

25 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Never said that they were in breach of contract. They obviously have the “legalize” in their contracts that covers their butt for most circumstances. That is what corporate lawyers do. As far as the toilets are concerned, there is enough evidence and examples that there is an ongoing issue and it’s not always that someone flushed something they shouldn’t have down the toilet. That’s the vibe I get from reading some responses. So yes, I won’t cruise on that specific ship with the toilet problem. It seems naive to use the argument, if you don’t like them, don’t cruise with them. It’s interesting that those generic arguments are used to deflect the fact that there are real issues on this ship that can’t be ignored but some choose to do just that. Let’s accept for the moment that a customer did put something down the toilet that they shouldn’t have done. Why is it that it is taking so long to fix this issue? As said in one of the posts, the seals should have been replaced years ago. Why weren’t they and why did Regent let this issue linger? 

It was fixed 3 months ago....and it was confirmed that was the cause by others in this thread. I've had 4 couples on Mariner since Xmas with no issues. You are the one who keeps talking about it...not sure why.  I like my "naive" argument because it is the appropriate response in a free market economy...If you don't like the product, don't buy it.

[papaflamingo]

On 3/19/2024 at 8:58 AM, Pcardad said:

It started with a guest flushing something - I've got a text from someone onboard telling me about it. This blocked the pipe and then popped a number of old seals leading to a lot of downtime

That makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the info.  

A story... my son was a Navy F/A-18 pilot and deployed on the USS Bush for 7 months.  The Bush has the vacuum toilet system, the older carriers used a salt water flush system.  Anyway, the vacuum toilet system was so bad that they had to assign dedicated crew members whose only job was keeping the system working.  Each morning my son would put on the TV to the ships announcement channel and they would announce what section of the ship had operating toilets.  It was a long 7 months. 🤣

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

That makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the info.  

A story... my son was a Navy F/A-18 pilot and deployed on the USS Bush for 7 months.  The Bush has the vacuum toilet system, the older carriers used a salt water flush system.  Anyway, the vacuum toilet system was so bad that they had to assign dedicated crew members whose only job was keeping the system working.  Each morning my son would put on the TV to the ships announcement channel and they would announce what section of the ship had operating toilets.  It was a long 7 months. 🤣

Totally agree it was a bad situation...glad it was resolved and looking forward to the "new" Mariner after the drydock next year.

[Grandma Gilly]

Having sailed on Mariner over Christmas and New Year, we will now only sail on the 3 new ships. 

[edgee]

59 minutes ago, Grandma Gilly said:

Having sailed on Mariner over Christmas and New Year, we will now only sail on the 3 new ships. 

Based on the noisy cabin/" thin walls" issue I am hearing about on Grandeur, I may limit myself to just Explorer and Splendor.

[OC Cruisers]

We sailed Mainer in October and really enjoyed her. It was our 2nd Regent cruise after sailing Splendor in June. Though an older ship, she was in fine form on our voyage. We board Splendor again in under 2 weeks and wouldn’t have hesitated to sail Mariner again if we’d found an itinerary that worked for us. Happy traveling! 

[cwn]

3 hours ago, edgee said:

Based on the noisy cabin/" thin walls" issue I am hearing about on Grandeur, I may limit myself to just Explorer and Splendor.

Well when we were on the Splendor our toilet almost daily  at least one time didn’t flush. Most of the time it flushed in a little while in its own but once or twice we had a surprise……. Guess this means the Splendor is a no go too!

Since the Navigator and the Mariner are old, the Navigator and the Voyager vibrate at some speeds, Grandeur has noisy rooms, the toilets on the Splendor and Mariner have problems…..so all that leaves is the Explorer…. Surely someone can find some problem with her too…. Chair hogs, vibrations, noise, cranky  toilers….anything?🤣

 

 

 

Sorry, not sure there that came from

9 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Edited March 20 by cwn