Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Summary

Typical Per Diems: $495+

Mariner sails the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale (winter).

Voyager is sailing internationally in 2011.

Introduced in 2001, the all-suite Seven Seas Mariner was designed to be exceedingly spacious, and was the first vessel built by any line to have a private balcony off every single stateroom. Sister ship Seven Seas Voyager, which entered service 2 years later, continued this theme and has improvements in some areas where we found Mariner lacking, particularly public-room warmth and bathroom layout. In addition, Voyager was designed with an efficient one-corridor approach, making for extremely smooth traffic flow in the public areas.

Cabins

Deluxe Suites represent the vast majority of the available accommodations aboard Mariner and Voyager. On Mariner, they measure 252 square feet, plus a 49-square-foot balcony; on Voyager, they've been enlarged to 306 square feet, with a 50-square-foot balcony. Even beyond size, Voyager's standard accommodations are superior, with a warmer feel and more over-the-top marble bathrooms, each with separate shower/bathtub facilities. Conversely, Mariner's top-end suites are somewhat larger than Voyager's, from the forward-facing, 1,204-square-foot Master Suites (with two balconies, including one enormous 721-sq.-ft. expanse) down to the 359-square-foot Horizon Suites, located in the stern and opening onto expansive views of the ship's wake from their oversize balconies. (Voyager's Master Suites have only one balcony, measuring a comparatively tiny 183 sq. ft.)

All staterooms are designed with blond woods and rich fabrics and feature king-size beds convertible to twins, cotton bathrobes, a hair dryer, flatscreen TV with DVD player (with movies available from the ships' DVD libraries), stocked refrigerator, safe, and a large walk-in closet. Refurbishments in 2006, 2007, and 2008-09 upgraded cabin upholstery, mattresses, bed linens and duvets, towels, and bathroom amenities, and added slippers and bathrobes for guest use while aboard. Balconies overall are a little less than private -- walls separating them do not extend to the edge of the ship's rail, making it possible to lean out and see what your neighbor is up to. Top-level accommodations, from Penthouses up to Master Suites, come with butler service and iPods with Bose speakers.

Six suites on Mariner and four on Voyager are wheelchair-friendly.

Dining Options

Mariner and Voyager each have four restaurants, with the main dining room, the Compass Rose, serving all three meals in single open seatings. Casual breakfasts and lunches are available in the indoor/outdoor La Veranda Restaurant, up near the top of the ship on Deck 11.

Two reservations-only (but no-charge) restaurants are open for dinner only. Signatures features world-ranging and primarily French upscale cuisine prepared in classic French style by chefs trained at Paris's famous Le Cordon Bleu School. The new Prime 7 steakhouses serve prime aged steaks and chops along with fresh seafood and poultry entrees. Appetizers include avant-garde choices such as a trio of steak tartare and foie gras sliders with rhubarb chutney as well as traditional items such as oysters Rockefeller and a jumbo lump crab cake. Additionally, in the evening, half of La Veranda is turned into an excellent candlelit, white-tablecloth Mediterranean Bistro with a combination of waiter and self-service dining. Grilled food is available poolside, and might just be the best pool food at sea. Room service runs 24 hours, and guests can even have the Compass Rose dinner menu served course by course in their suites during dinner hours.

Public Areas

Both ships have beautifully laid-out, two-deck theaters with terrific sightlines from virtually every seat, plus an Observation Lounge sitting high up on the top deck and featuring a semicircular bar, plush chairs and sofas, and a 180-degree view of the sea. It's a particularly attractive room at night. Lower down, each ship also boasts a well-stocked library, a cigar lounge, a card and conference room (popular with bridge players), and a computer center. A very nice feature here is that guests are charged only for transmission time, meaning you can compose a document in Word or another program free of charge, then open your e-mail and paste it in, and incur a cost only while you're in active e-mail mode. Wi-Fi access throughout the ships lets laptop users surf from all public areas and most suites, and cellphone access is also available via a satellite system. Mariner also has a dedicated disco, which seems underutilized and mostly patronized by the officers. On Voyager, the Voyager Lounge serves as the disco at night and as a piano lounge before dinner.

Pool, Fitness & Spa Facilities

Each ship's one pool and three hot tubs are located on Deck 11. Deck chairs are set up around the roomy pool area, as well as on the forward half of the deck above, where you'll also find a paddle-tennis court, golf driving nets, shuffleboard courts, and an uninterrupted jogging track. Sunbathing doesn't seem to be the biggest priority for Regent guests, so deck chairs are usually readily available, even on sea days in warm cruising areas.

Each ship's somewhat spartanly decorated Canyon Ranch SpaClub is located in an attractive but rather small space. A similarly smallish oceanview gym and separate aerobics area are located in the same area, as well as a beauty salon.