I started my first post in another spot but decided to move here...since this is "seamail".

First order of business...Here the "Who's-Whos" of crew members on board this sailing:

Captain Philippe Fichet Delevault
Staff Captain Stan Mercier De Lacombe
Chief Engineer Germain Souvet
Security Offier Harry Harrison
Ship’s Doctor Dr. Jean-Claude Richard
Hotel Director Marcel Gademan
F&B Manager Dominique Nicolle
Financial Officer Sabine Geyer
Executive Chef Mike Romhild
Dining Room Manaer Garry Roberts
Housekeeper Sunny Kekic
Guest Relations Manager Berenice Scheepers
Travel Concierge Manager Christine Andrusyshyn
Cruise Director Bryan Townsend
Assistant Cruise Director Dionne Lochner
Social Hostess Nova Hughes
Computer Instructor Theresa Luff
Youth Coordinator Crystal Deschamps
Cruise Consultant Brian O’Brian
Art Director Handre

We were on the Mariner more than 3 years ago so I haven't seen too many familiar faces, but the crew seems very friendly and busy.

This morning is is very windy and the pool deck is almost deserted. Just as well because they are still refurbishing. There was a very large roll of carpet being cut up as I walked by going to the Veranda Cafe.

The coffee bar is very popular - lots of passengers enjoying pastries and caffine!

This is a spotlight on Food and Wine cruise so I plan to attend Lyn Farmer's lecture at 11.

More later!

Margo

So good to hear from you Margo!! It sounds like you and Tom are off to a great start.

Many of those names are new to me too. Captain Philippe Fichet Delevault is great, please tell him that Tom and Marcie Matassa say hi!

Margo,

Would you say hi to Dominque Nicoll from Me and Frank? We were fortunate to cruise with him on two of our cruises last year and dine with him both times. He was on WAVE with us last year He is quite a gem.

It seems easier to write my trip journal in our suite and then upload it later.

This is our first of two sea days enroute to San Juan. The weather is warm, partly sunny with a moderate wind. We are moving along at about 17 knots – maximum speed for the Mariner because of some “pod” issues. We had an unexpected stop last night at around midnight in Freeport to evacuate a passenger in need of critical medical treatment.

The ship is brimming with activity. There are 720 passengers on board, including Mark Conroy, President of Regent Cruise Lines. I’ve seen many children, in all age groups. This is clearly a family holiday voyage and Club Mariner is likely to have a good crowd of young guests.

Embarkation was very smooth, the only real line forming for carryon screening. We had a light lunch on the pool deck and then found our suite. We met Donabel our stewardess. She seems very efficient and took our in-suite bar request and removed extra hangers right away.

The suite refurbishments seem to be almost complete – I love the colors – soft tan, rust, and gold. New carpet, upholstery, draperies and bed linens look great. Televisions are not flat screen, at least not in 913 C. I think there are new lamps in our suite – the light level seems better. Unfortunately we get very detectable cooking odor through the ventilation system – I know that’s an odd thing to complain about and I’m not sure what can be done about it, but it is a bit annoying.

It was disappointing to find there is still no WiFi throughout the ship. I asked the Internet manager about the status of that project. She said they have been “wiring” the ship but it is still not completed. She had no estimate of when it might be done. Of course not – it may take years, or hasn’t it already! Ok, enough of that rant.

I just finished a 30-minute workout in the fitness center – apparently there was no refurbishing done there – the equipment shows hard use. There are 6 treadmills, 3 recumbent bikes, 3 elliptical trainers, 1 Stairmaster and another piece of equipment that is called a strider – it doesn’t seem to be working but I think it’s Stairmaster’s version of an elliptical trainer.

I've already sent a list of Officers and Cruise Staff so I won't repete that here.

Day Two

The weather is cloudy, windy but warm, in the 70’s. I did another 30-minute stint on the elliptical trainer in the gym. We order room service for breakfast – at 8:30 sharp – just as we requested. The food was warm, and prepared as ordered.

After breakfast I took my laptop to Club.com to connect via wifi with the Internet. I posted a few notes and checked my email. After having Internet access in our suite on Seabourn, I find this is a bother. I’ve also discovered it’s impossible to upload photos. I’m not sure what the problem is.

Later in the morning Lyn Farmer did a wine and food pairing seminar in the Horizon Lounge. We tried two Sauvignon Blancs and two Pinot Noirs with goat cheese, Gruyere, shrimp and roast beef. Amazing how the flavors changed with the different combinations.

Tom and I enjoyed lunch in Compass Rose. Mark Conroy was seated at a table nearby with his wife and several friends. He’s having a Town Hall meeting with passengers on Sunday at 11.

After lunch I went to the Movies in the Constellation Theater – Casino Royale was playing on the big screen. Later I did another 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer – I’m going to try to do 60 minutes a day so I can enjoy all the wonderful food.

The Captain’s Welcome Aboard reception began at 6 PM – we were slow to dress for dinner and decided to go directly to the Mariner Lounge – we found a good vantage point to watch the parade of diners in their formal attire. This group of passengers seem to be a bit less elegant than those on our past Regent cruises. Perhaps because the cruise is shorter in length and only one formal night is scheduled.

Dinner was lovely, but I noticed that Tom wasn’t eating very much. We finished fairly quickly and returned to our suite. It was our intention to watch the Florida basketball game. Just as we were settleing in Tom started to feel ill.

I won’t bore you with the gory details, but it was a miserable night for both of us. We’re still not sure what triggered his indigestion, but this morning Dr. Jean Claude Richard and his nurse Cora made a suite call. Tom is now in the infirmary receiving fluids and should be “home” again later this afternoon. Our suite has been sanitized and we have filed the paperwork to report his gastro discomfort to the CDC. The medical staff has been absolutely wonderful and I’m grateful that he’s receiving good care and should be as good as new in a day or so. Now I’m just crossing fingers (and washing hands quite frequently) that I don’t become ill also. Luckily for our fellow passengers, we ate alone yesterday and Tom spent most of the day reading and relaxing in our suite. Hopefully he didn’t infect anyone.

Beside the miserable night we had, we regret that we must miss the special birthday celebration for our dear friend. Tonight we had planned a special dinner in Signatures. I know they’ll have a great time and we are sorry to miss that.

In the meantime I’ve just visited the laundry room and discovered all machines empty AND a wonderful flat screen TV to amuse us when we’re washing the unmentionables!

In the midst of all of this activity I was able to pop into Mark Conroy’s Town Meeting. I am so impressed with how this gentleman handles his job and his communication with all of the passengers. He is polite, engaging and seems very candid in sharing details which other CEOs might not choose to do. I came a bit late but heard him discuss the potential of a new ship (not now, but they have plans and it will be a wonderful addition to the fleet if it is built). Monetary considerations dictate this decision. He also talked quite a bit about the growth of the Regent hotel chain and explained their place in the company.

We talked about the refurbishments – Regent will spend $10 Million on the Mariner with these upgrades. Flat screen TVs are planned and they may in fact install two sets – a 32” HD screen on the wall at the end of the bed and a 19” screen in the niche at the desk area. The area where the current television sits will be converted to a shelving/storage area. This hasn’t been done yet because they are still trying to decide if this is the best installation plan.

They think we’ll have wifi on the Mariner sometime today or tomorrow! I will be the first to let you know when that happens. A few moments ago my computer detected the network but I was unable to logon because they are still fine-tuning such things. Can you tell I’m a little anxious! LOL

Later….well, the network didn’t come through so I’m back at club.com with my laptop. I spoke to Theresa about the problems I’m having with outgoing mail on mac.com and she’s trying to find a solution for me. When I told her I was posting to LCT she knew exactly what I was talking about – we are “legend!”

Tom is on a restricted diet so tonight we’ll have room service and perhaps watch a video. As long as he’s feeling better all is good.

I’ll write more tomorrow from San Juan.

Great report Margo, but am sorry that Tom was stricken with that bug. Glad he's on the mend! Hope you can relax a bit now and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Margo, I feel like I am sailing right along with you, thanks so much for taking the time and the walk to club.com to update us!

I hope Tom is on the mend and back on his feet soon!

Thanks for the sea mail Margo. I sure hope Tom is doing better by the time you read this!

Hi Margo,

Thanks for posting such a detailed, informative report. So sorry to hear about Tom's illness. Hoping that he is feeling far better very, very soon.

Please keep the reports coming. I so enjoy your seamail. Take care.

Margo,

I'm so sorry to hear that Tom has not been feeling well. It's no fun to be sick on your cruise!!!! Hope he is all better soon!

Thanks for your post. Love hearing all about your cruise!!!!!

Margo: Hope Tom is on the mend soon - love your reports - thinking of you :hug: :hug:

Thanks for posting, M! Hope T is all better by the time you read this.

So good to hear from you Margo. I'm so sorry Tom was ill, hopefully he's better by now.

We do have wifi through out here on the Voyager. Hopefully, you will soon. The internet is best in locations such as where we are (center and low on deck 6 just above Club.com) Some who are on higher decks say it is not very good. Even with good internet reception, we too have lots of trouble loading photos. It takes too long and we get timed out.

I agree, Mark Conroy's Town Hall meetings are wonderful and informative! Keep enjoying your cruise, we love your seamail!

Margo, wishing Tom a speedy recovery and hoping you continue having a great time. Thanks for cheking in.

Cerinda

[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]

Thank you for all of your get well wishes!

What a difference a day makes! Tom is up and eating a light breakfast - he is a new man! We both slept well and I hope we're past the worst of it.

I'm going on a rain forest tour and he's going to relax - you know Tom - that should be easy for him! We are slowly cruising into San Juan harbor right now - it looks cloudy and warm. I spotted a rainbow in the distance - a good omen I hope!

I'll try to write more later this afternoon!

Margo

Margo - so glad to hear Tom is feeling better, nothing worse than being sick on vacation.

Your report sounds great and I too feel as if I'm right there with you.

Margo so happy to read Tom is feeling better! Enjoy your rainforest tour.

Margo,
I initially had trouble uploading photos for my AOL travelogue on the SA cruies and the solution was to upload them 1 at a time. Early in the morning when there is hardly anyone using the computers I could load 2 or 3 at a time. They are eventually supposed to increase the bandwidth by 7 times and that should help.
Jim

Jim...thanks for the advice. I feel like the Mariner is the ModelT of internet connected ships.

Funny thing happened a few moments ago. I had returned from my tour and lunch on the pool deck and decided to see if the wifi was "up" yet. I looked for networks from our cabin and found the name they use here at the Club.com....I opened the screen and tried to log on. Then I noticed there was a Silversea logo at the top - I was actually getting their network in our suite on Regent - so....explain to me, why they can't get the signal from deck six to deck nine? This is too odd - it makes me wonder who they hire to do their installation.

At least now I know they wifi on Silversea!

Margo

Margo, thanks for all your great reports. So glad to hear that Tom is feeling better today.

Nancy

Hi Margo. I forgot to write down your suite number before we left. We're in 767. Maybe we'll see each other soon, just look for the bouncy 8 year old with medium length hair who's my daughter. :)

I too have had issues with the wifi. Today, I have full cell service in San Juan so I'm using that instead.

Thanks for posting Margo it is lovely to hear from you. Glad Tom is feeling better. WIFI on the Mariner --- yeah I thought it would be a while yet that makes me happy. If you have the opportunity and feel comfortable you should talk to Mark Conroy. Tell him you post on Luxury Cruise Talk, tell him you work with me. He is really approachable and sincerely enjoys communicating with his guests.

Hi Margo. Thank you for your reports. We are following your cruise from over here. Glad Tom is feeling better. Tell him Wendy sends a big hug! Would you believe we had a tsunami warning here yesterday due to an 8.1 quake in the Solomon Islands. Luckily it came to nothing. See you soon!

Thanks for checking in Margo! Glad to hear that Tom's feeling better!

Wireless signals have a harder time penetrating steel decks than they would crossing empty air between two ships - maybe the reason why you're picking up the Silverseas wireless signal but not the Regent one? It's a theory at least.

Glad to hear that Tom's doing better! Hopefully he'll continue to get better and better!

Masaki

Margo --

Reporting in from Voyager which now does have WiFi throughout. I have found in Suite 810 that keeping the metal door propped open a few inches with a shoe helps with the Internet speed...most of the time taking it from 24 and 36 Mbps up to 48 or the max 56 Mbps. Maybe the same trick will help on Mariner.

Even after days of frustration, I was unsuccessful in using AOL's picture transfer regime to load photos into my AOL journal. I

Now I load them into Picasa's web site and add a link in my AOL journal. The upload automatically resizes the photos to one of three choices you make. As any of the readers of my journal know, I have been uploadinig many photos (some probably say, "too many!") and surprisingly it doesn't take too long. And I never "time out." Once they are uploaded it's easier to add captions while online than directly in the Picasa program while offline. You can also choose the title photo for each album (not just the first one) and organize (rearrange) the photos once again.

Marco, Voyager's great computer guy, showed me how to use this method and it reallly works. Maybe your instructor could do the same. Good luck. I am enjoying reading your reports.

editing to add...max speed is 54Mbps...not 56.

Margo, that is too funny about picking up the Silversea wifi!

Love your posts, Margo. Glad Tom is feeling better and hope your wi-fi status improves. Larry's system using Picasa is a good one.

Hey Margo. Glad to hear Tom is doing better. I love food and wine pairings. I rarely have one without the other I'm enjoying your seamail.

Dave

Hello from St. Maarten! Yes....I know you thought we were going to St. Barts today...so did we until we read our Passages last night - seems the captain changed our itinerary - not problem, in fact it gave us an extra hour in San Juan and an overnight here in Philipsburg. You can imagine how happy the crew is - smiles on every face today - OK, they always smile but today they are grinning!

If we had been in St. Barts today we would have stayed until 11 PM but tendering, which is always more difficult at night. And....if we had been in St. Maarten tomorrow we would have been with 4 other ships - a zoo for sure.

This seems like a win-win. We are docked - long pier - long walk, and next to Disney Magic - LOTS of kids! It's a beautiful sunny day and EVERYONE is smiling.

Now, the next best thing - I'm writing this from my cabin! YES, wifi, but not Mariner WiFi.....In St. Maarten they have a wifi service - $9 for 24 hours - $5 for 12 hours - since we're here overnight I decided to splurge on the 24 hour package! It sure bets schleeping my laptop downstairs to club.com!

I'm going to try uploading some photos too - perhaps it will work better than the "local" service here on the ship.

So...I'll work on that and report more later - it's still a beautiful day so I'm off to the pool for a while.

More later!

Margo

Helloooo Margo, I see you!!!




St. Maarten cam

Hellllllo KAREN! I wish I had a flag to wave at you. As you can see the weather is beautiful!

I'm a the coffee bar now - the other connection started to time out - I am really internet challenged on this trip but having a great time. I was able to upload one photo to ofoto before I lost the other signal. Will try more later.

Margo

Hi Margo! Last January we rented a jet ski in St. Maarten so get Tom suited up and go to the beach! Enjoying the seamail

Margo,

Yes it does look like a beautiful St. Maarten day! I'm looking forward to your photos. Keep having fun!!!

Great stalk, Karen!!!!

Eurika....I was finally able to upload a few photos to Ofoto.com - some of the redecorated Mariner and a few from our tours.

This evening we're having desserts on Pool Deck along with the evening's entertainment and dancing under the starts. It looks like the perfect weather and a full moon too. Should be fun.

Margo

Margo, the ship looks beautiful! I love the new colors and I think she looks brand new!!

Did you mention in another post that there is still a self service area in the coffee bar? Sometimes, I like to sneak down very early in the AM and don't want anyone to see me without makeup on, lol.

Hey Margo hope all is well now that Tom is better. Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job of staying active, good for you! We are leaving next Wed for the Disney Wonder, expect that to be a bit diffeent then the MAriner! But any cruise is a good cruise! Continued good times!
------------
Helen

Margo - thanks for the pictures!! I can't believe how great the coffee bar looks!!

Hope Tom is feeling better and that you both continue to have a wonderful time.

Thanks Margo - coffee bar looks incredible!!!!