Sunburnt in Alaska

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Sunburnt in Alaska
Reviewed By: Hill, LONDON on 15th Jun 2009
Cruise Line: Regent Cruises	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Seven Seas Mariner	Sailed: May, 2009
Destination: Alaska	Age: 56-65

We would have got off to a better start if we had been told the correct much earlier boarding time and thus not had to hang around and then go through immigration at the cruise terminal in Vancouver with thousands of others. A tiring process. The ship itself was comfortable and spacious and did not feel at all crowded, despite over half the 600 on board being on an American insurance company incentive trip. This certainly adversely affected those not forming part of this group, especially if one was not from North America as nearly all were. The food was good but perhaps not outstandingly so with some odd presentation. The entertainment was enjoyable although the shows could have done with some improved choreography on occasion. The cabin was fine, particularly the bathroom, with plenty of storage space. As drinks and most shore excursions were included in the price it may seem churlish to quibble but sparkling wine is not champagne (the latter being available if one insisted) and some of the shore excursions were very poor and the destinations office knew nothing about some of them. A wildlife sarafi as far as I am concerned is not a trip to see one live bird and a collection of stuffed animals! This aspect of the cruise was the most disappointing as well as the generally poor administration of Regent. The staff were generally fine and pleasant although many were new and lacked training. Do not top up Sauvignon Blanc with Chardonnay or vice versa! As for value for money I am not sure. On balance one is paying too much extra for all the included items with similar itineraries available for about 25% of the Regent price, albeit without the gratuities,drinks and the tours and on much larger ships. Finally we did a post cruise Rocky Mountaineer 5 day excursion. Certainly do this trip but certainly not with Regent unless you want to pay more for less and not get the exact itinerary bought. Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (which Regent use anyway for the train part of this trip) offer a much better excursion including helicopter sightseeing for roughly the same money. By all accounts this is better operated as well as Regent's strengths are definitely not on land. The highest mark goes to the weather - glorious which for Alaska is rare.
Quality of Food
Fish and steak in the main dining room for the most part. Avoided the fast food outlets which looked fairly awful but were clearly patronised although lowering the tone considerably.
Entertainment
The Broadway show was by far the best.
Shore Excursions
The best was sea otters in Sitka (would have been better still if they had remembered to collect us again at the end)! The worst was a wildlife (mainly long stuffed animals) safari in Skagway. Terrible and lengthy (7 hours).
Staff
Rebecca from Sweden in the bar. Friendly and adept at her job and a great cocktail maker without the (over) flamboyance of the pool barman for instance.
Children's Facilities	n/a
Thankfully only a few children in May. We were told that in August it can be bedlum!
Onboard Activities
Fair choice but of course little time to indulge on this short cruise.
Cabins
A liitle more space to move around would have been good but all in all it was fine with good storage space (perhaps too much) and an excellent bathroom.
Overall Rating