Mariner of the Seas Review.........WITH PICS (YEA!!!)

[cruisn4bruisn]

Production Show

 

Part of the tribute to John Williams

 

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Mushroom Soup

 

Lasagna

 

Sirloin

[CruiseDreaming]

As for the fog in Galveston, seems to be only the winter months, mainly Dec./Jan./Feb/ with the moisture and warmer temps. Don't remember fog any other time we've been.

 

Thanks for that info! I've only been out of Galveston once and I didn't remember fog being a problem.

 

Kerrie :)

[cruisn4bruisn]

Day 3 Cruise Compass Pages 1-5

[cruisn4bruisn]

Pages 6-8

[T_Bone2012]

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Thanks for that info! I've only been out of Galveston once and I didn't remember fog being a problem.

 

Kerrie :)

 

Here is what we woke up to on our last day of our cruise on 1/22 - we were supposed to be in Galveston!

 

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[OKC Cruisers]

OKC - Sure sounds like us. We were picking shells all day long. Although I kinda find it surprising that my son would actually walk up to somebody and just start talking. He's not much of socialite but maybe he was just having that much fun!

 

He didn't, we were in the palapa next to you (I guess) and my wife saw the conch shell he was holding and asked him about it. She also took a photo of it.

 

Pete

[cruisn4bruisn]

I went back and looked at our pictures and I don't think that was us. My son's swimsuit was different so must have been another little boy.

[cruisn4bruisn]

Day 4 Cruise Compass Pages 1-5

[cruisn4bruisn]

Pages 6-8

[bcwaves]

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Mushroom Soup

 

Lasagna

 

Sirloin

 

Love your review!! Question about these food pictures - what did you change (if anything) to get the last photo to be lighter than the first ones? I'm hoping to be brave enough to snap photos of the food on our cruise and want to be prepared to get the best pictures without taking 800 before I eat! :p

[cruisn4bruisn]

Nothing different. The first 2 I shot and the last one was my wife's plate. She may have used a different setting or the flash perhaps. I didn't think about multiple pictures most of the time because I just wanted to capture the moment and wasn't thinking I'd actually be showing them off.

[Jimnbigd]

Oh, and I fogot to add: it's a LONG tender ride (Belize), since the ships have to stop way offshore due to the reef.

Unless you are on a Costa cruise. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the review. I was on this ship last December and going again the end of March.

We had fog on our March 2010 cruise (Easter Sunday). Fortunately my wife and I drove and the others were not scheduled to fly back until Monday.

Whenever there is a fog delay, it seems some passengers are mouthing "Fog. Fog". At least, I think that's what they are mouthing. ;)

[saintbernardlover]

Whenever there is a fog delay, it seems some passengers are mouthing "Fog. Fog". At least, I think that's what they are mouthing. ;)

 

Grand Giggles :D

[cruisn4bruisn]

classic! Yeah fog is something that you just have to deal with sailing out of Galveston. You hear about it happening to others and your like, that sucks, and then it happens to you and you are like, FOG!!! :D

[BonTXNY]

classic! Yeah fog is something that you just have to deal with sailing out of Galveston. You hear about it happening to others and your like, that sucks, and then it happens to you and you are like, FOG!!! :D

 

 

Our 1/8 cruise departed 8-ish. I thought the lines seemed orderly. I don't recall any mob scene trying to shove in line. Fog was always a concern of mine since I knew Jan-Feb is the "season" in Galveston. This last cruise might have been the first one on time since December. If it wasn't norovirus it was FOG :eek:

[cruisn4bruisn]

Alright guys I dragged myself back to work to do some real work.......writing this review (I do not have a demanding job).

 

DAY 6

 

As we headed back home I can't stop getting just a bit sad. Although we still had 2 more days at sea, the anticipation of going to the next port was fun for us. Today though was a day of rest and relaxation. There wasn't much that we did; sat by the pool and played some putt-putt. We went to the ice show, which you CAN NOT MISS! They are great skaters in a tight space. Amazing what they can do. The show was called, "Ice Under the Big Top." It was a circus theme if you didn't catch that in the name. Some parts very funny, some very romantic, some just crazy! They had a special guest, Wolfgang was his name I believe, that was out on the ice with a giant hamster wheel looking thing. It was pretty amazing was he could do with it. After the show we went and relaxed before heading to the headliner show and dinner.

 

The headliner show tonight was a group called, Voices Three. I coudln't believe it when we saw the cruise compass the night before because they had just gotten on the VOS last December when we went on our first cruise and we really enjoyed them that time. I wrote a post on another thread about this group last week that someone was asking about. Again, it's a show you CAN NOT MISS!!! These guys are great. Three different voices, three styles, but they come together beautifully. There was some opera style, some italian love song, and some Conway Twitty. Unfortunately if you are in your teens or 20's and listen to Lady Gaga and Blake Shelton, you probably won't appreciate what these guys can do.

 

Dinner tonight was probably my favorite. It was our second formal night so if you've been on a cruise, you know what that means..........lobster! i started with a mushroom pastry that was absolutely incredible. After my first bite I said, "I had this last year. Why didn't I get 2 of these?" AAfter that came the lobster. I love how they come by a few minutes later offering another tail. Oh yes I took it! Unfortunately my wife doesn't do seafood so she had soup and the prime rib. Hers looked pretty darn good too. While we were waiting, the assistant waiter showed my BIL a trick with some toothpicks and forks. Pretty cool if you've never seen it. Gotta love physics. No dessert tonight. Nothing sounded good and I was stuffed.

 

After dinner us "kids" had a night out while the in-laws watched the little one. We went to the casino and I actually walked out a winner. I won $80 on a slot machine so got out of there pretty quick. We had a few drinks after that and then went to pick up the kid and head to bed.

 

Ice Show

 

We went through a rain storm in the morning.

 

Sunset

 

Voices Three

[cruisn4bruisn]

Wife's soup

 

Mushroom Pastry

 

Prime Rib

 

Lobster!

 

"The Trick"

 

Stingray towel animal

[BillOh]

Hello all! Although I am saddened to be back at work today, I shall live vicariously through my own review

 

You've hit on one of my motivations to do reviews when I get back from a cruise :D

[cruisn4bruisn]

Oh how this ride has been fun!

 

DAY 7

 

After the "late night" we had last night, we slept in a little this morning and headed to the windjammer for some breakfast. We only at the windjammer for breakfast the last 2 days and I wish I'd have gone more. Some much to choose from and I thought it was all pretty good. We ate like we hadn't eaten in a week!

The last sea day was another relaxing day for us. The air was a bit cool for swimming today so my son was a little disappointed but we played some putt-putt so that got his mind off of it.

 

After that we went and looked around the sales in the shops and the outside pool decks. We bought a few shirts and came in a bought a few gifts at the souvenir shop inside. In the afternoon we sat and listened to Three Seasons, a group of ladies made up of a pianist and 2 violinist. They were very good and easy on the eyes too. We just did some more relaxing throughout the day, went and packed before the last show, and just hung out.

 

My son and I caught the farewell show which was really good. We got to see Chad Chesmark, who was the magician we missed earlier in the week and he was great. It was comedic magic which I think are 2 great things that go well together. Teh RC singers and dancers performed again and they were good as always.

 

For dinner tonight my wife had soup, a potato gnocchi dish, and a giant steak! I had a ceasar salad and a calzone. Very delicious!

 

I was going to have a drink that night with my BIL but he got back to me too late after packing so just went to bed.

 

We were set to disembark at 9:30am the next morning. We got to the theater at 9:20 and our number had already been called. Cool!

 

We hopped in line and out the door we went. We were headed down the gangway when I thought..........I FORGOT MY PILLOW!!! I wouldn't have thought anything of it expect for the fact that it is a Tempur-pedic and they aren't cheap. I found someone in the terminal who radioed it in to the ship and she said to get in line and check with the porters when you get through customs. The line went pretty quick and when we got outside, we saw the lady helping us carrying my pillow so I chased her down and got it!

 

So another cruise in the books. Thanks everyone for bearing with me on this long drawn out process.I hope everyone enjoyed it and please feel free to ask my any questions. I will have my face firmly planted in front of my computer on CruiseCritic until my next cruise.

 

Our balcony view

 

Random pic of the promenade

 

Promenade/Atrium

 

 

MDR entrance

 

Casino floor

[cruisn4bruisn]

Dragon's Lair entrance

 

Schooner Bar

 

Pool deck

 

Sunset (my favorite pic)

 

Barge

 

More sunset

[cruisn4bruisn]

Soup

 

Potato Gnocchi

 

New York Strip

 

Calzone

 

Crescent moon with oil rigs

[T_Bone2012]

It's great how we have pictures from the same sunsets! We were so lucky to get such fabulous weather that week. I am really enjoying your pics. Most of my pics were taken while off the ship, as I was usually in a bathing suit and had my hands full of drinks while on the ship (no room for a bulky camera!).

[cruisn4bruisn]

I scurried around the ship the last day taking pictures of things to compare to the Voyager. My favorite picture taking time is sunrise and sunset. Can't beat it.

[divngmedic]

Thanks for making my Cozumel decision alot easier!:)

Nachi Cocum is great. Even when I take a dive trip to Cozumel I take a day off from diving and spend it there.

[cruisn4bruisn]

Nachi Cocum is great. Even when I take a dive trip to Cozumel I take a day off from diving and spend it there.

 

We are thinking about taking a quick 4-day cruise on another line just to go back to Nachi for a day.