I recently sailed on the Regent Mariner on a 10 day Mediterranean cruise. It left from Rome and finished in Venice. I was sailing along with 12 other members of my family- it was somewhat of a family reunion for us.

We did spend one night in Rome as part of the cruise package. The hotel was lovely and served us a great breakfast. The name of the hotel was the Hotel Majestic.

We were transported by bus to the ship- about a 45 minute drive. On the way, we were told by our guide that the bus would be stopping at a rest stop because the ships computers were down and they were not prepared to check us in- so rather than wait at the ship terminal- we would wait at a rest stop where we would be more comfortable. When we finally did get to the ship, the line in the terminal was forever! And we found out that the computers weren't down, they just are not prepared for very many people to check in at one time. They need to get that fixed- I have traveled on Royal Caribbean- which has quadruple the number of passengers- and the check in was better than on Regent! Also- I have sailed with Crystal, which is a closer comparison, and the check in on Crystal Cruises is much better with no wait at all and friendly people... Read more