The Cost Cuts Are Now Showing
The cost cuts are now showing |
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Reviewed By: Daniels, Woking on 22nd Jan 2010
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| Cruise Line: Regent Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Seven Seas Mariner |
Sailed:
December,
2009 |
| Destination:
Panama Canal
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Age: 65+ |
| Cabin: Suite |
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Sailed Seven Seas Mariner from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale.
Due to problems with US security and customs all the crew had had to be inspected personally which delayed boarding by three/four hours - this 'extra' inspection may have arisen because the ship had visited Columbia on the preceding trip and hence a drug find was a possibility so you may need to check where the previous cruise has been. The facilities for boarding were bad, a large marquee which was poorly heated or air conditioned, but fortunately it was a benign day. On getting aboard it was obvious that the crew had had insufficient time to prepare for the arriving passengers and deck chipping hammers were visible (and audible) for the first day. The crew were busy which did not give a relaxed ambiance to the start of the cruise.
We had met several first-time Regent UK passengers at embarkation and assured them that Regent was the best and they must enjoy their trip. However it was found necessary to defend Regent from the impression gained from the state of the ship by these UK passengers. General complaint was that the ship had not been ready, the maintenance work was obtrusive and the pool was empty.
So generally the first impression was poor.
Our cabin ('D' grade suite) was more than adequate but the cabin attendant was on his first trip with Regent and he did not get everything 'right' until four days after sailing.
The first port of call was missed out because one of the four engine pods was inoperative and the transit speed would not allow the ship to reach the destination in time; so we were told but we had our doubts.
Regent did the decent thing and flew late arriving passengers, who had missed the ship, on to the now new first Port of call but, a warning to independent travellers, they only made arrangements for passengers who had arranged their flights through Regent. One independent couple who had arrived late then flew on to the first scheduled port of call only to realise that the ship was not now going to stop there.
The ship was much the same as on previous trips but looking a little 'weary' or 'tired'; the ship needs a revamp to reintroduce the slickness and style evident on previous trips on this ship. It is realised that the cruise industry, as most industies, is suffering economically but the passengers do not have to see the evidence of 'corner-cutting' so visibly.
The shows were good amateur and predominantly featured off-duty crew but were adequate.
The restaurants were up to Regent's usual luxurious style but personally the change from the Viet-Namese/Chinese restaurant to an American steak restaurant is regretable. The main restaurant staff were fantastic, very considerate and competent. The speciality resaurants staff were a little too severe as if the waiting staff considered themselves more important than the guests. It took three attempts for each of three nights to get a dry sherry, each time the sweet sherry was returned and even then another sweet sherry was offered on at least two occasions - this could be forgiven in the main restaurant or at poolside but not in the speciality ones.
A pleasant innovation in the 'casual' restaurant was the introduction of a Pizza bar but often the choice was limited (Cost-cutting again?).
The cruise director, who it is expected would orchestrate the whole experience, was prominent by his absence; and the cruise director's staff had an attitude problem which gave the feeling that they were aboard to enhance their lives but not to enrich the passengers. In one instance the assistant cruise director responded to a complaint by insisting that the guest needed to accompany this member of staff to the hotel manager. The guest (passenger) responded correctly that it was the guest's needs which the cruise director should be attending to and not the needs of the Cruise director.
Most shore excursions resulted in Guests being made 'Captive Shoppers' at tacky souvenier shops which always looked as they had been selected because of the high commission made available to the tour guide rather than offering anything of interest to the passengers. This enforced commission shopping is not worthy of a luxury cruise line and Regent must make some efforts to enhance their shore excursions with something of special local interest and value if they are to retain passenger loyalty.
The lecturers were very good and gave far more to the trip than could have reasonably been expected and all were willing to take time at the coffee shop, or elsewhere, to provide more education and insight for the guest's benefit. The lecturers were a vast improvement in the Regent changes.
Overall it was an adequate cruise, one that could just (only just) earn the adjective 'luxury' and because we had experienced Regent's genuine luxury in the past, we were a little more dissapointed than many of the first time Regent cruisers. Unless Regent can demonstrate that they truly are in the luxury end of the cruise market they shall not be getting repeat business from us unless there are some really serious discounted offers made available.
A little like being let down by a close and special friend (which Regent had been) one is very wary in giving another chance.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Almost evenly split among the main restaurant, the casual restaurant and the two speciality restaurants | | Entertainment | |
| A US comedian whose style and delivery did not suit European tastes was the low point; the high point was the dancing show put on by the crew. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Grand Cayman is the 'pits' at the best of time but when four cruise ships are town at the same time then it is truly awful. Skip Grand Cayman and introduce Cuba as a shore excursion.
Costa Rica was fantastic and one of the best shore trips ever. | | Staff | |
| The 'cabin-boy' always willing to go the extra mile and. despite this being his first trip, was succesful in making us as pampered as possible.
Contrast this with the staff charged with seeing to the needs of the guests and especially the concierge and cruise director's staff who appeared to not know what was avaialble. Example; the daily newsletter had promised a 'Panama market experience' aboard but the concierge was not even aware of its existence. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Enough for the youngsters who repeatedly told us they were too busy to do everything and more than sufficient for us pensioners who cannot rush around as much. | | Cabins |  |
| Excellent and the maintenance of the cabin Scotch Whisky stock (at no charge) was greatly appreciated. | | Overall Rating | |
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