New India Travel: Our Impressions of the Regent Seven Seas Mariner

General information about our Regent Seven Seas Mariner (Alaska to Russia to Japan) cruise.

Regent Seven Seas Mariner docked in Otaru, Japan.

The Regent Seven Seas Mariner is a gorgeous ship and we really enjoyed our cruise! We first saw her docked in Whittier, Alaska. It was a perfect, warm, sunny day and she really was stunning against the backdrop of both water and mountains. The vision made an excellent first impression on us.

As we boarded and started to explore, we warmed to the Mariner even more. For us, she's just the right size with a capacity for 700 guests in all-suite, all-balcony accommodations. There are plenty of people to meet and socialize with during your voyage, but there's still ample room for peace and quiet and romantic moments for two. In fact, Regent is proud that its passenger space ratio is among the highest at sea when compared with other cruise lines.

Though the ship was launched in 2001, it's in excellent shape, from the public rooms to the suites. We are having a slight problem with one of the Mermaid pods on this cruise but the Mariner will go into dry dock in December for a tune up, as well as some upgrades and tweaks to keep the ship in tip-top condition.

This is the sight that greets you when you first board the Regent Mariner. It's the lobby on Deck 5.

A bank of three glass elevators whisk guests to their destinations. When the seas are very rough, the Captain turns off two elevators but leaves the center unit in service.

The lobby atrium is a great spot for taking photos.

Sculptures adorn the atrium walls.

All-Inclusive Policy
As of 2007, Regent is going to an all-inclusive policy. This means all gratuities and select wines and spirits are included in your cruise fare.

Service
The service aboard the Mariner was superb! Everyone on the crew seemed to truly enjoy working for Regent and took pride in their work. The crew was friendly and efficient while not being intrusive. In fact, the crew to passenger ratio is 1:1.6. No wonder the service is so good!

Staterooms
Every room on the Mariner is called a suite and each has a balcony. In my opinion, that's a real plus! Once you've had a stateroom with a balcony, there's really no going back. It adds an additional layer of luxury and comfort to your vacation. It's so worth it!

Suites range from 301 square feet (including a 49-square-foot balcony) to the 2,002-square-foot Mariner Suite that's fitted with two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a 727-square-foot balcony and a 71-square-foot side balcony.

Suites are incredibly comfortable. We loved the European king bed – which can also be configured as two twins – with down pillows and Egyptian cotten linens. You'll find a nice-size walk-in closet with a digital safe, bathroom with marble accents and a shower and tub combo (a few suites have a shower and no tub), cotton bathrobes and slippers, a hair dryer, flat-screen TV with CD/DVD player, a mini fridge stocked with soft drinks and an in-suite bar setup. (You can indicate your preferences prior to sailing using Regent's online reservation system.)

There are six wheelchair accessible suites with roll-in showers: suites 828, 829, 918, 919, 1012 and 1013.

We booked a Penthouse B suite. There's another blog entry devoted to that room category. Check it out for more information. We really loved the additional space and we'd definitely book this category, or a Penthouse C, again. Penthouse categories A and B include butler service. Penthouse C suites do not benefit from a butler. Depending on your needs, you may or may not need the additional service.

What does a butler do? He can press your clothes, shine your shoes, make dinner reservations, arrange for a private tour of the galley, set up a private in-suite party, refresh your fruit bowl on a daily basis, bring canapes to your room before dinner and assist you in many other ways.

Butler suites also receive a quantity of personalized stationery, complimentary newspaper delivered to your room each day (major papers are on the list but not our paper of record, the New York Times) and an iPod music system with Bose speakers (top three suite categories only).

There was no iPod in our Penthouse B suite, but the docking station was there with the Bose speakers. That was perfect since we had our on iPod with us anyway. It's so nice to be able to listen to your favorite music while cruising into port!

During our cruise, several suites were open for us to view. I believe this is one of the Seven Seas Aft suites.

Dining

There are four restaurants – Compass Rose, La Veranda, Signatures and Latitudes – aboard the Mariner, plus the Pool Grill and 24-hour room service. According to Passages the daily cruise newsletter, not all restaurants will be open every evening. For example, if Latitudes is open tonight, Signatures will be closed. When Signatures is open, Latitudes may be closed.

This is the shared lobby area for Compass Rose and Latitudes.

You can read all about the restaurants on Regent's website so I'll just give you the highlights here...

Compass Rose – This is the Mariner's main restaurant, serving continental and regional fare. Since our cruise started in Alaska, many of the specials have incorporated local king crab and salmon. So far, this is my favorite restaurant onboard. We enjoyed a tasty grilled venison dinner, broiled salmon and a very good veal scallopini. The dining room is decorated in muted tones and is quite large. Dinner service does take some time, especially if you wish to indulge in all of the courses. However, service was friendly and efficient and we almost always could get a table for two at dinner. I don't drink alcohol so it took a few meals before our waiter made sure to always bring ice tea or diet Coke as an alternative. The sommelier was very accessible and made sure glasses were filled at all times. As mentioned in another entry, the wine selection was not as inspired as my husband would have hoped, but after talking with the sommelier, good alternatives were available.

La Veranda – This is the Mariner's more casual restaurant. It offers a buffet breakfast and lunch and then transforms into an Italian trattoria in the evening. There's a nice antipasto bar in addition to the a la carte menu. Dessert is also buffet-style. On some evenings, the menu was that of a Tuscan steakhouse. There's both indoor and outdoor seating. La Veranda was a great option for dinner when we didn't want multiple courses. We'd enjoy some antipasto and an entree or some dessert.

Signatures – There are two "specialty" reservations-only restaurants, one of which is Signatures. The cuisine is French and its managed by Le Cordon Bleu. We dined here four times, twice with our Le Cordon Bleu classmates. The first meal here was terrific. The other nights, we were a bit disappointed. The preparations were good, the menu inventive. However, the quality of some of the ingredients could have been better. For example, one evening, dessert included a roasted pineapple option. The chef used canned pineapple. It was a turn off. I couldn't figure out why this was done since La Veranda offers fresh pineapple as part of its buffet breakfast each morning. There were some highlights at Signatures. Their soup course is uniformly good and the pastry chef also performed well.

Latitudes – The second reservations-only restaurant is the Asian fusion-inspired Latitudes. We've dined here once. It was a nice meal but not knock-out spectacular. One thing to note is that Regent tries to make a large crosssection of its guests happy with its menu. To do this, the chefs often need to go light on the herbs and spices. We happen to enjoy bold flavors, so dishes sometimes seemed flat because they were missing some additional flair in the spice area. Going light on the spices was definitely noticable at Latitudes. The food was good, presentation was excellent but the taste lacked some umph.

Pool Grill – The Pool Grill was perfect for casual lunches or afternoon snacks. This spot, between the pool and the entrance to La Veranda, is also used for special events like BBQs, taco fests, fish frys, etc. You can get terrific burgers here, including a special bleu cheese burger that we loved! Other offerings included grilled shrimp, pasta salad, a regular salad bar, soups, sandwiches and sweets (ice cream, cookies, cakes, etc.). It was a bit chilly during a few of our sea days but you could always order from the Pool Grill and eat inside La Veranda.

In-Room Dining – There's a 24-hour menu, plus entrees from Compass Rose. (Menus are posted daily on the closed-circuit TV station.) To be honest, we had a few problems with room service that we believe stemmed from a languge problem. Just be specific when you call in your order and ask the crewmember to read back your request before hanging up and you should be fine.

Lounges

There are several lounges on the Mariner – all are terrific for conversation and a glass of wine before or after dinner. We especially liked the Observation Lounge (quiet and wonderful views) and the Horizons Lounge (which includes a good-size outdoor balcony area, in addition to indoor seating). The Connoisseur Club is the place to go to smoke a cigar or snag a snifter of brandy.

Horizons Lounge during a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

Here's the Mariner Lounge on Deck 5, next to Compass Rose.

The Connoisseur Club on Deck 6.

The fireplace in the Connoisseur Club.

Pool, Whirlpools and Deck 12

It was a little too cold for swimming in the pool during our cruise, but it was available for those who could brave it. The two whirlpools were almost always available and the warmer was nice and warm.

On Deck 12, that rings above the pool area of Deck 11, you can walk or jog.

Library, Club.com, Coffee Corner & The Garden Promenade

On Deck 6 you'll find the library (books and DVDs), Club.com (outfitted with Internet-ready computers), the Coffee Corner with a cappucinno maker (and wireless Internet access) and the Garden Promenade (that offers board games and puzzles).