QuirkyCruise Reader Review: Grand Mariner in New England (BLOUNT) by Liz W.

QuirkyCruise Reader Review: Grand Mariner in New England (BLOUNT) by Liz W.

Grand Mariner in New England

REVIEWER

Liz Walker from the USA.

CRUISE LINE

Blount Small Ship Adventures.

SHIP

Grand Mariner.

DESTINATION

New England Island Cruise.

# OF NIGHTS

3.

DEPARTURE DATE & PORTS

July 2018, from Warren, Rhode Island.

OVERALL RATING

2 out of 5 stars (5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor, 1=terrible)

-Food Rating: 5

-Cabin Rating: 4

-Service/Crew Rating: 3

-Itinerary Rating: 2

HOW MANY SMALL-SHIP CRUISES HAVE YOU BEEN ON?

1.

REVIEW

It’s always amusing to start off a review with saying, well at least the food was good. I wish I could say that our entire experience with Blount New England Island Cruises was as good, but sadly not. The food was good, the bed in our cabin was comfortable and my husband really enjoyed having conversations with the captain. The weather was not in our  favor, so I understand that we couldn’t venture out to the islands. That’s not my issue. My issue was how this change in itinerary was handled by the cruise directors. The main cruise director was leaving and passing the baton onto her replacement. Neither seemed to have much experience or training in customer service. It appeared to us that they could care less about trying to make the experience more pleasant for us passengers who paid good money to be there. Both could benefit from good training in marketing/customer service so that they could better respond to situations such as this. Hey, no one can control the weather, but Blount certainly can have a system in place that includes a plan b, c and even d, when bad weather prohibits the cruise from fulfilling the destinations on the itinerary. We felt abandoned by the cruise directors as if to say, “oh well, you’re stuck here, not our problem”. They provided very little information and communication was poor. Another reason for better training is so that the staff learns skills on how to defuse a situation when passengers become annoyed, which was our experience. It was day 2 and we hadn’t left the dock at Fort Adams in Newport and we couldn’t get to the main part of Newport because the water taxis were not running. Finally, the cruise directors made arrangements for taxis to take us to Newport Vineyards. At least it was something and got us off the ship. Day 3 we had to leave Newport because another Blount cruise was coming in, so we set off to Bristol, RI and remained there for our 3rd and final night. When I tried to have a discussion with the cruise director regarding what their plans were for us, her response was that they had no plans and that she had to “pull teeth” to get Blount to pay for the taxis to the vineyard. This is not the wisest thing to say to a passenger because it left a bad taste in my mouth for not only her, but the company. After more passengers complained, the cruise directors hired a bus to take us to the Providence zoo. When we arrived at the zoo, the cruise director told us that we only had 2 hours because they only rented the bus for a certain amount of time.  again, bad taste in my mouth. I think they got the message that we were displeased because when we returned to the ship, they had a wonderful spread of  HOR’DOURVES (did I mention the food was good?), open bar and entertainment. None of which was offered on the original itinerary, but certainly a welcomed and much appreciated addition, and helped defuse the situation. On our last day, the captain set off for Block Island very early in the morning and we were able to spend 4 hours before having to sail back to Warren, RI. Thankfully Blount provided a free taxi service for us while on Block because of the limited time we had on the island. I have other suggestions for things to do while on the cruise that passengers might find fun and interesting such as a tour of the ship that includes learning about the history of Blount, etc., trivia night for the passengers, karaoke, other group games,  etc., that would be organized by staff. I guess my only other comment regarding Blount Cruises is that these ships seem to be better made for rivers and not the ocean. Less opportunity for high swells on a river.  So the million dollar question, would my husband and I take another cruise with Blount? Although I appreciate the $500.00 credit we received in the mail from Blount, my answer would be, probably not.

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About The Author

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Ted & Heidi are long-time travel writers with a penchant for small ship cruising. Between them they've traveled all over the world aboard hundreds and hundreds of small cruise ships of all kinds, from river boats to expedition vessels and sailing ships.

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