Review (in pieces)--Mariner--3/13-3/20

[Morgan32]

Hi everyone! We had a fantastic time on our Western Caribbean cruise. This was my spring break from law school...the only week in a year that my husband and I can take a vacation together! I have taken 2 cruises & my husband has had 1...none on RCI. We are 25 and 29.

 

The Mariner is beautiful and HUGE!! I think there are entire parts of the ship I never saw! Thanks to everyone who answered my pre-cruise questions. And a great big Hi to all the Cruise Critics who were on this cruise:D

 

The Review:

 

Saturday, March 12th: Driving & the Radisson

 

We left Louisville at 5 am Saturday morning. No big delays...tons of construction all down I-75 through Georgia, short traffic jams on 285 around Atlanta and on 95 in Florida. I had fun leaving books at rest areas and restaurants on the way down (see www.bookcrossing.com for more info on this). We arrived in Cape Canaveral around 8:30 pm. Check in at the Radisson at the Port was quick. The hotel and pool area is beautiful. Very pink. I wish we'd had a day there. Ordered room service. Not cheap and the food was ok. Crashed into bed.

 

Sunday, March 13th: Embarkation

 

Our park & cruise package at the Radisson included breakfast. The buffet was very good. We had a shuttle scheduled at noon. Got to the shuttle area around 11:40. Didn't get on a shuttle until about 12:30 (found out our name had been crossed off). Once on, we were off to the Mariner! :) Also docked that day were the Carnival Fantasy and the Disney Wonder. Embarkation was quick. Line was relatively short...only about a 5 minute wait. We were onboard about 1 pm. Our room (6320--balcony on the hump) was ready. We dropped our carry-ons and checked out our balcony. I loved loved loved having the balcony. We were at the "top" of the hump--chosen thanks to recommendations from cruise critics:D . We could look down the whole ship in both directions. We then wandered around the ship, bought coke stickers, and had lunch at the Promenade Cafe. The cafe has these wonderful little sandwiches (which I ate many of during the cruise....made a great hold-over until dinner!) and pizza. They also have desserts and pastries in the morning. Then we hit the pool. Pool was actually chilly and we spent more time in the hot tub. Muster was at 4:15.

 

We went up to Deck 12 for sailaway. Waved to the people sitting at the restaurants along the pier area. Went back to the room to unpack some. Met our stateroom attendent, Pamela, who brought us some extra hangers. We went to the welcome aboard show at 8. It was nice--they give you a little taste of everything to come during the week. It was hosted by Kirk "Fabulous, How you doin'?" Detweiler. We had late dinner seating. The dining room is unbelievable. All chandeliers and that staircase! It reminded me of the dining room from that movie about that famous ship that sank :eek: Didn't really want to think about that! Our table was on the third level of the dining room. It was a table for 10. We ended up having two other couples at our table, both on their honeymoons. We absolutely loved this table and our dining companions. Unfortunately, this ended up being the only night we sat with them...more on that later. Halfway through our meal, another couple was brought over to our table by a waiter and seated at the opposite end of the table from the rest of us. They were irate about something. Very weird to have people at your table who don't want to sit anywhere near you. Dinner itself was wonderful. I had the stuffed chicken...very good. I also had a chilled soup (don't remember which one) and spinach salad. The house vinagrette was so good! Dessert was chocolate mousse, I think. We also had many "savory bites"....we thought the name was hilarious and laughed about it all week.

 

After dinner, we finished unpacking. We saw the tail end of the promenade parade. We put out our breakfast room service request. Then went to sleep.

 

 

I think this review is going to be very long;) I have to get ready for work, so I will type up some more late tonight after I get home from class. Feel free to ask any questions...I'll try to answer them as best I can!

[MackMasterson]

Can't wait to hear the rest, less than 6 weeks until my turn!!!

[pmfan]

Do you know what time the Cafe opened on Embarkation Day? Did it open at 12:00 when the Windjammer did?

Do you have copys of the new menus that I have been reading about? I read where they started new ones the first of March on the Mariner.

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Please tell us all the details.:)

[monoptn]

Can't wait to hear the rest! We are going on our first cruise on the Mariner in April!!

Lori in TN

 

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;4;24;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500

[Slavechild 2]

We want to hear more. Did they have surf-n-turf for dinner ? Which shows would you recommend ? Did you try Chops or Portifinio ?

[seabrz92056]

We leave for the Mariner Western tour on Sunday, heading to Orlando from SD on Saturday, gosh I hope you get everything in before I leave so I can hear all about it!!

 

I especially want to hear about the new menus and any excursions that you did.

[pach]

You left us hanging...............;)

[jakie]

On another thread they said they no longer had irons in the rooms due to the possible fire hazard. Is this true? I'll bring wrinkle release just in case, but they were referring to the Jewel.

 

Thanks for your time!

[AmySP]

Thanks for the great review. I can't wait to get the rest of it. I just booked the Mariner for next March during Spring Break.

[RCIcruzer204]

Hey there! It sound like you had an awesome cruise so far... lol. I see you had Kirk Detweiler as cruise director. How you doin? haha that was funny. Did you recall him selling his new CD onboard? I've heard that he has a new one called shades of wrong coming out in March(from http://www.randomwhiteboy.com) his website , but haven't seen it being sold on any websites. If you could just let me know that'd be great! Can't wait to hear the rest!.... I'm desperate :rolleyes:

[Morgan32]

pmfan-- I think we got to the cafe promenade around 2 or 2:30. Not sure when it opened...and the Compass doesn't say what time it opened either. It was definitely less crowded than the buffet though. I meant to get copies of the menus but I completely forgot! I had looked at some old menus from the Mariner online before we left....I saw many of the same items on the new menus, so I'm not sure what they changed.

 

Slavechild2-- Didn't see surf n turf... lots of surf and lots of turf, but not together:D We didn't try Chops or Portofinos. The ice show was incredible! I was surprised how much more they did than skating...lots acrobatic type maneuvers on harnesses. The comedian (Max Docelli) was very funny...unfortunately we missed his longer show (we fell asleep too early!). I enjoyed the 2 big performances also. Especially the 80s themed one.

 

seabrz92056--I'm not much help on the new menus. I wish i had remembered to get copies of them. Stay tuned for excursions:)

 

jakie--no irons in the rooms. We sent really wrinkled items out to be pressed, and used a travel iron we'd brought for clothes with only a few wrinkles.

 

RCIcruzer204--I didn't see Kirk's CD for sale anywhere...but it's possible that it was there and I missed it. They may have sold it in one of the stores we didn't go into. he was very funny...not bad to look at either;)

[Morgan32]

More Review:

 

Monday, March 14: Day at Sea

 

At 7:30 sharp our phone rang...room service calling to tell us our breakfast was on the way! That was nice. Breakfast was great...I had a ham and cheese omelet and Mike (my husband) had eggs and bacon. The breakfast also came with pastries, bread, and croissants. We ate it and drank coffee out on our balcony and watched the ocean. One thing that was interesting about a Caribbean cruise was how many other ships you see. We saw hardly any when we sailed to Hawaii. The Caribbean has far more traffic.

 

After eating breakfast, we headed down to Studio B to take advantage of the advanced ice skating session. I had packed my skates just for this purpose. I had skated for about 14 years when I was younger. But I think the last time I skated was about 2 years ago. So I was a little unsteady at first...but it's like riding a bike, and soon I was skating happily around the little rink. And it is little...I was surprised by how small it was. There were about 10-15 people at this session. I tried a few small spins and teeny tiny jumps that I sort of still remember. I have no idea how the ship's skaters can do the jumps that they do in the ice show.

(Interesting side note....the ice captain is Matt Kessinger. He grew up in Louisville and started skating at the rink where I skated and worked at as a teenager. We talked to him some while at the session & found out he was from Louisville. But I didn't learn his last name until later in the cruise. When I did, I remembered exactly who he was. I think he went to Junior Nationals and maybe Nationals 10 or so years ago. He came back to our rink to do small shows and even coached for a while. It was crazy to see him again on our cruise! He was in the show and was fantastic.)

 

After skating, we picked up our tickets for the ice show. People were lined up early when we first went to Studio B to skate, but when we came out there was no line and plenty of tickets left. We got tickets for Thursday at 5:15.

 

We spent the rest of the morning laying out. There were no chairs by the pool, but plenty of chairs on Deck 12. However, by about 11:00 or 11:30 there were no available chairs at all. When we got up for lunch, people were there immediately to claim our chairs. We had lunch in the buffet. We never really had a problem finding a place to sit in the buffet...this had been a problem on our Princess cruise last year. Buffet was always good...not as good as the dining room, but still good for a buffet. We had no problems getting Cokes in the Windjammer. You can actually get them in the Windjammer...you don't have to go out to the pool bar or anywhere. One tip: the buffet is very confusing. When you walk in, Jade is the first line on both sides. If you bypass that line, you get to the Windjammer. That line is mostly salad. You can bypass that and go off to the side lines to get hot food.

 

After lunch we went to the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle! It was at 1 PM in Ellingtons on Deck 14. Ellingtons ended up being one of my favorite places on the ship. It's up high and is glassed in so you have a panoramic view of the pool deck and the ocean around you. We had about 20 or so people show up. We never got an invitation...I don't think many people did. It was so much fun to meet everyone. There were cookies and coffee. They had a raffle for various small prizes. At one point they called a number that was right before mine. Of course it was my husband's number and he lost his ticket! And of course he found it in his wallet later that night. Oh well:) No water wallet for us. We had a good time, and it was fun running into people we'd met later that week.

 

I think we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Solarium. We read, drank frou frou drinks (or at least I did!), and sat in the hot tub until the sun set. That night was the first formal night. We had a picture taken in the Centrum and then had another taken with the captain (Tor Olsen)...that man is tall. The picture was funny because we looked like children next to him!

 

Earlier that day we'd gotten a note in our stateroom that our table had been changed. Still aren't sure why. We were moved down to the second level to a nice table that overlooked the lower level and the Captain's Table. We were disappointed not to be sitting with our former tablemates (who'd all also been moved), but still excited to meet new people. But no one showed up! It was a table for 8 and we ate all by ourselves. We met our new waiters, Sanjeev and Jenthu (not sure if I spelled that correctly). They were great and a lot of fun. I think I had some sort of steak that night, the Caesar salad, and the pear soup. All was good...the pear soup actually tasted more like applesauce. That was the only chilled soup that I didn't paticularly like. Also, the steaks throughout the week never really came how we ordered them (we ordered medium well and usually got steaks that were far more red in the middle than we would have liked)...but that was my only complaint about the food in the dining room. Everything else was fantastic! Can't remember what was for dessert...maybe creme brulee?

 

The Platters were the main entertainment that night, but we didn't go.

 

After dinner we waddled back to our room, sat on the balcony for a while, and fell asleep. I think this was the night we attempted to keep the balcony door open. Falling asleep to the ocean was nice. But I awoke about 2 or 3 am...our neighbor was on her balcony, and let me just say that she had the worst case of smoker's cough I've ever heard. I kinda felt bad for her...it sounded painful. So we slept with the balcony door closed for the rest of the week since our neighbor spent a lot of time at night on her balcony.

 

Tuesday, March 15: Labadee

 

We had breakfast in the Windjammer. The ship anchored at about 8 am. I think we ended up on the 2nd tender to Labadee. Taking advice from these message boards, we headed for Hideaway Beach near the end. We never got a map in our room, but there were plenty of signs on the peninsula pointing the way to the different beaches. We got two beach chairs near the water. I was glad I brought water shoes because there are lots of rocks and pebbles as you go into the water. The water was chilly at first, but warmed up quickly. it was very nice. We had a good view of the ship and of Haiti. Mike swam around and found a few sea urchins (eek). Later that day, we ran into one of the couples we'd had dinner with the first night, and he had stepped on a sea urchin. Ouch. Watch out for those little guys. The sun on Labadee got very hot, so we moved our chairs into the shade. Much nicer. Spent the morning relaxing, reading, and swimming.

 

We then went for a little walk to Dragon's Breath. The sound reminded us of the blowhole we saw in Kauai last year. We then headed over the the BBQ. It was good...lots of salads, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings. We were determined to lay in a hammock, so after lunch we strolled down the main walking area and happened upon a just-vacated hammock. We hopped in and took naps and read for about an hour or so. Then we strolled over to Nellie's Beach and checked out the belltower and the other old structures. Saw a few little geckos. By that time, the tender line had begun to form. And it was long. But it moved relatively quickly.

 

Back on the ship, we watched the sailaway from our balcony. We never got near the Haitian market. Later we went up to this little deck that has only a few beach chairs & that overlooks Deck 12 and the pool deck. This ended up being another one of my favorite places on the ship. We watched the sun set from up there. We also saw the rest of Haiti off of one side of the ship and Cuba off the other side.

 

We went to "Front Row" show at 7 pm. I really enjoyed this...I always love the big shows. This one was a medley of Vegas, Hollywood, and Broadway songs. My favorite was "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables done Whitney Houston-style. Very interesting.

 

At dinner, we again dined a deux. Our assistant waiter, Jeethu, entertained us with toothpick puzzles:D He was great. We thought about asking to be moved to a table with people, but never got around to it. It was nice to have time to ourselves, although a little weird to do so at a table for 8. I did miss discussing the day's events with other people and hearing about what they did.

 

We had all intentions to go to the Quest game that night. I'd heard so much about it that I really wanted to see it. But there is something about eating a huge dinner so late after a day in the sun that makes me not want to do anything but sleep, so sleep we did. I heard a lot about the Quest the next day. Some of our former tablemates really got into it and captained a team.

 

 

To be continued tomorrow evening.... I have to get some sleep:)

[Morgan32]

RCICruzer-- I just noticed that you have a Rent quote in your signature!! I love that show. I saw it 3 times the last time it came to Louisville:) And I saw it in New York once... I think in 2000? Definitely one of my favorite shows.

[RCIcruzer204]

Rent is my favorite broadway show by far. I've been hooked on the music for about two years. We went to see it last week for Drew Lachey's last performance. We met him, Jessica, and Nick after the show it was so cool! :eek: lol. Keep the review coming!

[Morgan32]

More review:

 

Wednesday, March 16: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

We had breakfast in the dining room this morning. I had eggs benedict and was happy as a clam:p HAL's Westerdam was in port with us, along with a smaller cruise ship called the Saga Ruby.

 

We had signed up for the Dunn's River Falls and Dolphin Encounter Swim excursion thru RCI. Our tickets indicated that we should meet our excursion at the end of the pier at 9:05. The ship docked at 9 am and we joined probably about 1500 people trying to get off the ship and down the pier at the same time. Very crazy. We got to the end of the pier and joined the line for our excursion (well after 9:05). We got on the bus and headed to Dolphin Cove where they gave us colored bracelets to indicate which encounter/swim we had booked. Then we got back on the bus and went to Dunn's River Falls.

 

Before getting off the bus, they told us to be back on the bus by 11:45 so we could make it back in time for our dolphin encounter. A tip: if you book this (or any) excursion to Dunn's River Falls, bring some cash. We did not know to do this and brought only about 8 dollars for tips. However, lockers cost about 7 or 8 dollars (they give you 3 back when you return the key) and if you don't have water shoes you can rent them for 5 dollars. Mike didn't have water shoes, so we opted to spend our money on those. The park employees offered to watch our bag for us, so we took out our SeaPasses (everything else in the bag was ok to lose, but I didn't want to be left off the ship!) and left the bag with them. We then followed our guides down to the waterfall. Our gruoup from the bus got completely separated and ended up in different groups. The climb up the falls was exhilarating. It wasn't very hard, but it wasn't exactly easy. I saw more than a few people fall down. You climb up the falls as a human chain. The falls aren't very steep; I had pictured falls that were more vertical and steeper to climb. The climb is pretty slow...we stopped a lot. We made it almost to the end, but had to stop early so we could make it back to our bus for Dolphin Cove. We picked up our bag and gave the woman who watched it our last 3 dollars as a tip. We walked very very quickly thru the market on the way out. The vendors didn't seem as pushy as I'd thought they'd be. They guilt-tripped us more than anything (Why are you in such a hurry, mon?). Made it back to the bus and headed back to Dolphin Cove.

 

The Dolphin swim was fantastic! We booked the one where you actually get in the water with the dolphins (I think this was the most expensive of the dolphin offerings thru RCI). Our dolphin's name was Hannah. We got to pet her, dance with her, watch her do tricks, and even exchange kisses with her. It was so much fun! As we were swimming to get out, Hannah followed Mike and spit water out at him:p They don't let you take waterproof cameras in with you, but they do take pictures you can buy. We didn't even look at the pictures since we brought no money with which to buy them. There is a small beach at Dolphin Cove with beach chairs for guests to use. There is also a BBQ (bring money for that too) and some vendors.

 

By the time we left Dolphin Cove, it was about 1:30 or 2 and we were starving. They dropped us off at the pier (they'll drop you off in the shopping area if you wish) and we headed back onto the ship to change and eat. We went to the Windjammer. We had intended to go to Margaritaville for a while, but we'd only have had about an hour. So we decided to stay on the ship.

 

That afternoon we watched the sailaway and also played putt-putt (aka mini golf). That was fun...although the wind has a tendency to move your golfball away from the hole! Mike then attempted to climb the rock wall. He did really well, especially considering the kids shimmying up the wall around him like quick little monkeys. He didn't make it to the top, but was almost there.

 

Dinner theme that night was Caribbean. Some people went all out for this, wearing matching floral and Hawaiian shirts/dresses; some even wore those Jamaican hats with the dreadlocks attached! Having read so much about Caribbean night on this board, I was almost afraid of the food. But it was good! I had jerk chicken (which was huge!), bananarama soup (the BEST chilled soup in my opinion), and the salad. I can't remember what the dessert was...but there was not a dessert I didn't like on this cruise! The kids in the Adventure Ocean program came tromping through the dining room dressed like pirates. They were so cute! They had a song and a little comedy routine they did on the staircase.

 

After dinner we went to the Love and Marriage Game Show. We were really looking forward to this because we had participated in (and won!) the equivalent on our Princess cruise last year. We were excited about watching other people answer the embarrassing questions:D One of first night dinner couples was chosen as the newlywed couple...they did so well and ended up winning. Everyone was hilarious. Afterwards, we headed up to the pool deck for the beach party. They had pina coladas in cups that lit up different colors on the bottom and strawberry daquiris in pineapples! I had to have a pineapple drink. We had a good time and hung out for a while with our former tablemates and some more people they'd met. At the beach party, they had dancing and the bartenders did tricks with drinks & bottles. Lots of fun.

 

Thursday, March 17: Georgetown, Grand Cayman (aka The Tender Smash and Hurl Day)

 

St Patricks Day! They had the Wig and Gavel pub decorated & we saw several people wearing their green. This morning we crawled out of bed a little late (stayed up too late the night before!). We had breakfast in the Windjammer. Throughout breakfast, the captain made announcements concerning the rough water. Grand Cayman is a tender port. The water was so rough that they kept moving the ship around to try to find the best place to let the tenders off. There were 6(!) other ships anchored with us that day (let's see if I remember them all....RCI's Rhadsody of the Seas, Star Princess, Carnival Victory, Carnival Conquest, HAL's Westerdam which followed us from Jamaica, and a small cruise ship. I never saw the name of it but the sign in the shopping center near the pier said that the Holiday Dream was in port that day, so maybe that was it) We had tickets purchased through RCI for the Seven Mile Beach Break, which was a get there by yourself excursion. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to get off the ship because the water was so rough. They let those with tours get off first (we waited since ours didn't have a start time). We got on a tender at about 10 or 10:30. The tender line was long because the tenders were moving so slowly. From what I've heard, they stopped sending out tenders at 11:30 because it would take too long to get everyone back on board later.

 

We had a bumpy ride to the pier. We got off and hopped on a taxi van (3 dollars per person) to Seven Mile Beach. Our tickets were for the Beach Club Colony, and included a beach chair and a drink. The beach was nice, though crowded. Although probably not as crowded as it would have been if everyone who had wanted to had gotten off the ships. The beach is roped off according to ship, although I saw many Carnival towels infiltrating the RCI section. Our towels were generic tan...I saw some nice towels with RCI logo on them...maybe the Rhadsody has nicer towels? Anyway, the beach was great. The water is just beautiful. We could see all the ships anchored and I took many pictures. We spent time swimming and lounging. We ended up leaving about 1:45 because we could feel the sun penetrating our double and triple layered spf 45 sunblock. (and we did end up with minor sunburns...I'm beginning to think there is no spf high enough for my skin).

 

The hurricane damage on Grand Cayman is still visible. Many of the buildings are still being repaired & you can see that there are fewer palm trees than there should be. I'm glad the island is recovering though...I thought it was beautiful and I'd never seen it before the hurricane.

 

We took a taxi back to the pier. Across from the pier is a shopping area, so we bought a few souvenirs and visited the birds and reptiles in the middle of the shopping center. While resting on a bench, Mike spotted a FedEx woman (he works for FedEx). We ended up talking to her for a little while and Mike got a picture with her and her truck to take to work. About 3 we headed over to the pier and joined the tender line. At that time it wasn't too horribly long. But we ended up waiting twenty minutes or so for the tender, and the line was very long by that point. 3:30 was supposed to be the time for the last tender...I don't think that happened.

 

We got on the tender and soon found out why it took so long to get the tender back to the pier. We had another bouncy ride to the ship and then attempted to get on the ship. That was fun. They lowered the metal gangway onto the tender. The tender was rocking back and forth and up and down, smashing into the side of the ship and then hurling away from the ship so hard that the gangway kept falling off the tender and the tender was propelled back into the side of the Mariner. In between the smashing and hurling, when the gangway was moving only a little, one person would go flying across the gangway onto the ship. :eek: Then another smash and hurl, and then another person would zoom across the gangway. We were in the lower level of the tender in the back. When it came time for us to run across the gangway, it was about 4 pm, the time when the ship was supposed to depart. I think I got off that tender just in time...I was very hungry (we hadn't eaten lunch) and had a small headache from the sun...and then the smashing and hurling on top of that made me feel a bit seasick.

 

Once onboard, we went to the promenade and gorged on sandwiches and pizza. We took quick showers and headed down to Studio B for the ice show, "Under the Big Top." This was one great show. The skating was great. I think the rough water affected the skaters some...there were a few falls and a few single jumps that looked like they were intended to be doubles or maybe even triples. I think Matt was the best skater of all...especially the scene where he was the clown in love...but perhaps I'm a bit partial:) There was a special guest, Dmitry Kalinin, who did this amazing routine with the harnesses to a choir version of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters." It was really a great show, and I was impressed with how the skaters maneuvered on that tiny rink.

 

That night was a formal night and dinner was Italian themed. I know I had tiramisu for dessert and Caesar salad, but I can't remember what else. Tiramisu was fantastic. After dinner, we went to the Pure Energy show, which I loved! It was 80s themed, and I'm a little 80s obsessed...I think it's a nostalgia for childhood. Anyway, the show was great! A few of the songs weren't exactly from the 80s (twist and shout?), but the majority were. I loved it.

 

Afterwards, we went down to the dining room to see the Gala Buffet. I took tons of pictures of this. The ice sculptures were beautiful, and the creations they made out of all that food! We were still stuffed from dinner, so we didn't eat anything and went to bed instead. Before we went to sleep we stepped out onto the balcony to see all the ships we were in port with that day all around us. They were all lit up and it was just beautiful to see all those ships traveling together in the night. Most of them went with us to Cozumel the next day.

 

********

 

More tomorrow....

Ask any questions...I'm excited that I can now answer a few!

[Jobro2]

We're cruising the Mariner (Western) in June and I'm trying to get "down" the certain themed nights. When is the first formal evening? Is it Monday..your first day at sea? Is this Lobster night? Wed., in Jamaica is Carribean night, and the second formal evening is Thursday . Is this the lobster night?(Grand Cayment day)? Is this correct? Is there anything else I've missed??? If you choose to go to Windjammer on the formal night with lobster, do they serve it there?? Thanks for you advice!

[scotmonson]

Great Review! We are sailing on the Mariner on May 8 and can't wait.

[cllb585]

My family and I were on the Mariner with you guys. We were at the meet and mingle. My brother and I were the only teens at the meet and mingle. Any way, you've written an awesome review so far! The tender coming back from Grand Cayman was insane! I actually got hurt getting off of it. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your review!

By The Way, I'm a HUGE! rent fan too. I've seen it 10 times now I think.

[Morgan32]

I had a crazy day yesterday & didn't have time to add more to my review. I will do so tonight if I can eject my husband from the computer long enough:)

 

Jobro2-- Formal nights are Day 2 (Monday, 1st full day at sea) and Day 5 (Thursday, Grand Cayman). I think one or both may be different on the Eastern itinerary. Lobster night was Friday (Cozumel); this was not a formal night. Caribbean night was Wed (Jamaica) and there was a decades-themed night on Tuesday (Labadee). I didn't really see anyone doing the decades themed dress. I don't know for sure if they serve lobster in the Windjammer, but I have the impression that they don't. But then, lobster night on this itinerary was not formal night:)

 

scotmonson--hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise! I wish I were going again:)

 

cllb585--Hi! I don't think we got a chance to talk to you all at the Meet and Mingle...there were a lot of people there! I understand how you could've gotten hurt on that tender--hope it wasn't too bad. Maybe we should have a cruisers-who-love-RENT thread...lol:)

[Morgan32]

Friday, March 18: Cozumel, Mexico

 

We had breakfast in the buffet again. I preferred the dining room or room service, but Mike liked that he could get a pile of pancakes more discreetly:rolleyes:

After breakfast, we headed to the Savoy Theater to meet our tour group. We had booked the Tulum Mayan Ruins Express excursion through RCI. Once the ship had docked, our group headed for the pier. The Mariner was docked right next to the Rhapsody, and at the next pier were the Star Princess and Carnival Conquest. The Westerdam was at a pier closer to the downtown area. From the pier we boarded a ferry to the mainland (Playa del Carmen). The ferry ride was nice; I took a nap:D At Playa del Carmen, the group separated into smaller groups (about 35-45 people each) and followed tour guides to the busses. We boarded a bus and headed off to Tulum. Our tour guide was great! He had this incredibly long name...the only parts I remember are his first two names Cesar Augustus (not sure if I spelled that correctly). He told a funny story about another tour group he'd had who were all Italian. They thought it was funny that they'd come all the way to Mexico to meet someone named after a Roman emperor! Anyway, he was a wonderful tour guide. On the way to the ruins he talked about the Yucatan and about Mayan culture. Near Tulum, the bus stopped at a store where we could buy water or snacks and use the restroom.

 

At Tulum, there was a 10 or 15 minute walk to reach the ruins. Once there, Cesar took us around and told us about the history of the city, the Mayan religion, and what specific buildings might have been used for. We had about 45 minutes then to explore on our own. The ruins are incredible--I'm always amazed that something so ancient still stands today. My undergrad & masters degree are in history and one of the things I love best is actually being able to stand in a place that is alive with history. I've always wished that I could somehow "live" history & I feel that visiting someplace like the ruins is one of the few ways we can have a glimpse into the past. I just loved visiting the ruins and trying to picure what the city looked like hundreds of years ago when the Spanish arrived.

 

We enjoyed wandering around the ruins, reading the signs and taking pictures. I also took lots of pictures of iguanas! There are so many iguanas at Tulum--on top of the buildings, scurrying around in the grass, just everywhere. Our group met back at the bus where we had boxed lunches waiting for us. Cesar made sure to tell us that the lunches were courtesy of Royal Caribbean. They actually sent the lunches over on the ferry with us. He joked that you can try to run away from the food on the ship, but you can't get away from it:rolleyes: hehe Anyway, I thought it was nice that they sent some food.

 

Back in Cozumel, the ferry dropped us off in the downtown shopping area. Mike and I wandered into one store, Viva Mexico, that remembered from my previous Cozumel visit. I love this store. It's very colorful and has just about any souvenir you'd want. We bought a few items for family and friends, and a little for ourselves. We walked a little more, passing Carlos & Charlies, which was doing a booming business at 5:30 in the afternoon. I went there on my last visit with a friend and spent the majority of my time there chasing after her as she was dragged around the dance floor and restaurant by random men, and then trying to persuade an extremely drunk cruise ship passenger from wandering out into the street. I think I had my fill of Carlos and Charlies from my previous visit, so we just walked on by this time:) We then grabbed a taxi ($6) and went back to the ship.

 

As we walked up the pier, we saw passengers from our ship on the balconies and upper decks and passengers on the Rhapsody's decks yelling back and forth "Marco! Polo!" That was hilarious! Once on the ship, we went down to the Ben & Jerry's counter at the Cafe Promenade and got giant double scoop waffle cones. Very good, but you do have to pay for it. We then went up to Deck 12 to watch the sailaway. From Deck 12, we could look straight down onto the Rhapsody's pool deck. I knew the Mariner was big, but I really felt it when I could down down and see the entire pool area of another ship! We also went down the peek-a-boo bridge area to watch right before it was closed (they close it at sunset). We watched the Rhapsody leave, and then the Conquest. We were next. It was neat seeing the line of brightly-lit cruise ships heading out of port.

 

When we arrived in the dining room for dinner, we had a surprise--other people at our table!! There was a father and daughter from Ontario. He said they hadn't been all week because his younger daughter wasn't too keen on the fancy dining room We were just excited to have people to talk to. That night was lobster night. Neither Mike nor I care much for seafood (except your basic fried white fish sandwich or tuna from the can...although I like salmon too), so we didn't get the lobster. I had a steak and onion soup. For dessert, we each had a plate with a piece of cheescake, a cream puff, and this wonderful chocolate thing. That night (at least I think it was that night!) the waitstaff sang what they called "The Favorite Song" and paraded around the dining room. We had fun waving to Sanjeev and Jeethu as they went by. One thing they didn't do on the Mariner that I'd seen on both my previous cruises was the Baked Alaska parade. Although we did have Baked Alaska for dessert one night.

 

There was a comedian after dinner (David Orion), but we chose to go sit in the hot tub instead. They also had the win-a-cruise bingo that afternoon.

[Morgan32]

Saturday, March 19: Day at Sea

 

We slept in this morning to make up for getting up early every other morning! As a result, I slept through the second advanced skating session. We went to the buffet for a late breakfast and I stopped by the Guest Relations desk to pick up cards so we could debark the ship early by carrying our own bags. I needed to avoid the sun that day, so we tried to sit in the shade on the pool deck and read. However, it was so windy that it was rather cold. We put on sweatshirts and stayed as long as we could stand it. We then went up to Ellingtons on Deck 14 and made ourselves comfortable in those cushy chairs. That was fun; we stayed warm and still could see all the action on the pool deck.

 

Mike went to play in the arcade for a while and I stayed in Ellingtons and read. We then went back to the pool deck, had some frozen yogurt cones from the machine near the Windjammer entrance (don't miss this! they have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and swirl. very refreshing.) As we ate our cones, we watched the Mr Sexy Legs Contest. Too funny!!

 

We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch. There was a short line (it was about 1:30 or 2). The cover was $3.95 per person. We sat in an outdoor booth. It was much warmer in the sun. Our waiter brought us fries and onion rings. Mike ordered a burger and I had a chili dog. We got extra onion rings (those were good!). For dessert, I had an Oreo sundae. That was the best part of the entire meal....yummy! The waiters performed a dance routine to Stayin' Alive.

 

We then decided to check out the casino. We each spent $10 on the slot machines. Mike lost all his, but I won our $20 back. So we broke even. Big gamblers, we are:rolleyes: We went to our room and sat on the balcony for a while. Mike really wanted to try Blackjack, so he took our $20 and went back to the casino. This time the $20 didn't come back, but he had a good time. I stayed on the balcony and read and gazed at the ocean. I don't think I could ever get tired of doing that! As we passed the Miami/Ft. L area, we passed 4 cruise ships, all brightly lit and headed south to the Caribbean. *sigh*

 

At dinner, our tablemates came again. I had the tom turkey (very good) and the brownie madness for dessert (very very good!).

 

After dinner, we went back to our room and packed. It's so much fun to pack for a cruise, and no fun at all to pack to go home.

 

Sunday, March 20: Debarkation and Driving Home

 

We were up at 6 am. The ship was due to dock at 7 am and we were supposed to get off right after the ship was docked. Unfortunately, neither the Windjammer nor the dining room open until 6:30. We were at the Windjammer the second it opened and gulped down a quick breakfast. We ran back to our room, did a final check for anything missed, said goodbye to our room and wonderful balcony, and took ourselves and our suitcases to Deck 3 where we were supposed to wait for the announcement. When we arrived, no one was there. After asking the photo guy, we headed up to Deck 4 and joined the line of people on the outside deck. Apparently you're not really supposed to do this...but no one listens and goes to Deck 4 anyway. We were off the ship, through customs, and out in the pick-up area by 7:30.

 

We waited for the Radisson shuttle to come pick us up. After a couple phone calls by another family also waiting for the shuttle, it arrived around 8 am. It was definitely nice not to have to deal with parking at the pier, but if you're in a hurry, the shuttle might not be the way to go. We all got on, and then made stops at the Disney pier and Carnival pier to pick up more people. We got back to our car, made a gas and diet coke stop, and were headed home. After spending most of the day in Georgia in several traffic jams, we got home a little after midnight.

 

Some final thoughts:

 

--I loved this cruise! The ship, the food, the ports, the entertainment. It was all wonderful.

 

--This ship held nearly twice as many people as the Regal Princess or Carnival Fascination. Sometimes I could really feel that (ie. the pier in Ocho Rios and the formal night photo lines), but the majority of the time I couldn't.

 

--I loved having a balcony! I have now been spoiled for life. The hump location was really great. Next time I hope to try one of the famous aft balconies.

 

--The service was very good. We were always quickly waited on at the bars. Our waiters were fantastic. And our stateroom attendant always said hi and left us some great towel animals! This was the first time I'd seen a towel stingray, and also a towel monkey hanging from a hanger!

 

--I have the RCI Visa card. I had redeemed enough points to have $100 credit on my SeaPass. The credit showed up on the second or third day. It really helped with that final bill!

 

--I loved how I could check our SeaPass bill from our room's TV. I also enjoyed watching the channel that tracks the ship's direction on a map and shows the view from the bow.

 

--Probably the only thing that I was really miffed about this entire cruise was that we did not ask to be moved from our table, but we were. I don't know why that happened. I did, however, learn my lesson about then asking to be moved to another table where there are actually people! If we end up in the same situation again, I will ask to be relocated. We both really missed having people to discuss the cruise and our port adventures with. After having such a great table on our last cruise and then having another great table on our first night, we sorely missed that interaction.

 

--The only thing the Mariner didn't have that I wished it did: aft hot tubs!! I loved the aft hot tubs on the Regal Princess, especially at night. It was nice to be away from the crowd on the pool deck and just sit and watch the ship's wake.

 

--I have enjoyed all three of my cruises. It's fun to be able to compare the different lines. RCI, Princess, and Carnival all have their perks and not-so-good things, but they all add up to great vacations and I intend to sail all three again someday.

 

********************************

 

Thanks to everyone who actually read this entire review! I love writing these not only to help everyone plan their trips, but also because then I have a nice little travelogue for myself:) Hope you were able to find something helpful in this review. I hope everyone has as good a time as we did. Feel free to ask any questions:D

[Morgan32]

Stay tuned for pictures. I have to upload all my photos onto Snapfish or somewhere so I can get them developed. I'll post the link once I have them up.

[cruznduo]

Thanks for sharing your review. I have enjoyed reading all about the Mariner and you have made me more excited than ever for our April 3rd sailing. We will be with a group of 10 and I have shared lots of what you have written with them. I am glad you had such a great time and I hope we will, too! We have sailed on Celebrity, Princess and RCCI. Every trip is a unique experience and hopefully all of us will be going with an open mind, and mostly enjoy just being together. For those of us who have cruised before, it will be our first experience on a Voyager class ship...we have been docked next to them and can't wait to actually sail the Mariner and see what it's all about for ourselves. For the newbie cruisers, we can't wait to see their faces when we pull up next to her and they actually see one for the first time - what fun that will be!

 

Thanks again, for the balanced and exciting journal of your voyage. Reviews like yours are what makes the anticipation of cruising even more exciting!

Linda

[Shaden1982]

Thanks for the great review....we are leaving on Mariner April 10.

You have answered more than a few of our questions.

We can't wait!

Thanks again.

[CruiserTK]

Thanks for such a great, well written review. It definitely will serve as a memorable travelogue for you.

 

We cruised aboard the Navigator (sister ship) last March, and I could relive my cruise through your review. Everyday I would check to see if you had written the next instalment. I eagerly await your photos.

 

Once again, thank you.