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Recent Experience on the Mariner-A Beautiful Letdown


tbennett

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My Wife, and in laws roadied down to Galveston with me for a 7 dayer to the Caribbean. This was not an experience so much as an endurance contest. First of all, the ship is beautiful. The service with one exception was excellent. The activities were abundant and the food ok. I am going to probably do a full review, but here is what bugged me about the ship.

 

The passengers were old. Like Spanish Mission old. OLD. So we had few people to talk to. As these passengers were old and white, the upcoming second inaugural of the President was a frequent complaint, or some such political musing. This was not my desire for a vacation. However that is not exactly the ship's fault. Now the MDR was good at first, then plummeted downhill to a virtual inedible state by the end of the cruise. This sometimes happens on cruises of this length, but it was particularly bad on this one. The same for all of the food in general. The dancers and singers were quality, but the comedian and magician were awful, dated, and unlikable. Daily activities were sporadic, as Royal focuses on the amenities more than the entertainment team. For me it became about endurance when I realized my port day lunch came down to a hamburger, or something called chili cheese pork.

 

More than anything, it is a victim of its own passengers. It is at heart, a cruise line that through not much fault of its own attracts posers. These people believe they are better than Carnival people, and this was a frequent theme throughout the cruise. Literally. Well, guess what? You are no better. You might be different, and have different tastes, but you are no better. Of course when I say poser I mean to say that pretending you are rich on a mass market line is pretentious. This is not the case with all passengers, and we made a few take home friends. But let me address some myths here, one, the food is not better. Not even as good. A buddy of mine once said that the difference between a $10 buffet at Texas Station in Vegas and a $38 one at the Bellagio was-get ready, $28.

Why? In the end it is all Sysco. Same with this range of cruise ship.

 

The food was not as interesting or as fun as Carnival, and neither was much else. Sure there was one named entertainment guest, and they were good, but give me more karaoke and comic activity late night. Give me goofy sports competitions. Give me some semblance of energy will ya? Now the staff works hard, if you are on this ship, respect that. Superstar karaoke? Where I am the star with my own band? Now that is fun. But that is me, you don't have to agree. The purpose of me writing this was to speak to my own kind, and they will recognize what I am saying.

 

So the folks who say Carnival and Royal are more alike than different are half right. A lot of the same distributors are probably at work, similar activities, amenities, and ports. But the differences are in energy and vibe. If my enjoyment of karaoke is too white trash for you, tough. If I think poolside music adds to the enjoyment, and you think it crass, well tough. It was hard to go a week by the pool and not hearing any kind of light, cheesy tropical beat. Royal does many things well, but it does not deliver the fun. Carnival does many things not so well, but when you walk off that boat, you feel like you have had fun. Maybe it is Farcus, maybe it is the music, the pulse, the rhythms of the cruise line, maybe it is the social spirit they engender, but for whatever reason, Royal is the rubber chicken fundraiser of cruise lines, pretty, elegant, and tasteless. Carnival is more of the spontaneous parents left on a trip party line. You don't know exactly what about pizza and left over liquor from the cabinet was so great, but you smile to this day even thinking about it.

 

P.S. No matter what biological age I get to, I will never act as old as these people.

 

-T

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We used to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Rhapsody cruises out of Galveston back in the day. By far the most "fun" cruises we ever took, largely because of the staff and southern hospitality of the cruisers on board.

 

I haven't taken a cruise from Galveston since Rhapsody left, so I can't speak to the bigger ships. But it does seem strange that the passenger make-up would change so much. Maybe it was the time of year? Maybe it was the senior discounts? Who knows.

 

We ran in to a similar experience on our very first cruise ever out of Fort Lauderdale. Most of the passengers were retirees, most that we spoke with seemed to live in retirement communities in Florida. Fortunately we didn't let that jade our enjoyment of cruising -- we're about to board our 10th ship.

 

Ann

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the ship is boring. And the reaction from the largely immature senior crowd to my thoughts while on the ship were similar to yours.

 

I too have been on a cruise where the average passenger age was extremely senior, and it does influence the entire experience. And, I would imagine they were in fact very unreceptive to your your laundry list of complaints. I personally would have run the other way every time I saw you coming if I had to listen to you rant about how much better Carnival was while I was on the vacation I chose.

 

The ship isn't boring. The ship is a ship. It does not have a personality. The Entertainment staff may have been catering to the majority, and those activities were not to your liking. The passenger mix clearly did not sync with your age bracket, or your expectations. It's hard to keep clubs open late when there is nobody in them.

 

You probably hit the nail on the head. You are Carnival people. The things that stand out as positives for many RCCL enthusiasts are clearly not what keeps you entertained.

 

Certainly you must understand that the "cheesy tropical beat" and "spontaneous parents left on a trip" party atmosphere are as offensive to others as RCCL's vibe is to you.

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You're absolutely right - the age of the passengers is out of the ship's control. Most January sailings do have an older crowd. Most parents don't take kids out of school at the beginning of a semester and most people that are still in the workforce don't use their vacation time early in the calendar year.

 

It was hard to go a week by the pool and not hearing any kind of light, cheesy tropical beat.

Strange - there is always a Caribbean type band playing at the pool on every single day at sea and often on port days.

 

Food is subjective and since I have never cruised Carnival, certainly not going to have an opinion there. I do know Royal is implementing new menus which are a nice improvement. I don't know if Mariner has it yet.

 

We are extremely active on our cruises and thrive on nightlife - bars, casino, lounges etc. Royal tends to give us options but I know that it can and does vary - and is reliant on passenger participation. We did a Mariner cruise out of California several years back and every night by 11 pm that ship was EMPTY. Ghost ship. And I saw a large diversity of ages and ethnicities during the day but ZERO nightlife. Go figure.

 

I'm assuming from your comments that this was your first RCCL cruise. Sorry it wasn't better for you. I have been on a few "older, quiet" sailings so I get what you're saying. But it's not a fair indictment to criticize the entire cruise line based on one sailing's demographics. Hope next time - on whatever line - you have more fun.

 

 

the ship is boring. And the reaction from the largely immature senior crowd to my thoughts while on the ship were similar to yours.

 

Just saw the above - not cool. You are entitled to your thoughts but you knew when you posted that not everyone would agree with you 100%.

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NorbertsNiece,

The OP assumed I was the one who was 78 because I use Granny in my CC name. I was one of the younger ones in our group. I would love to be called immature when I'm 78....heck I'd liked to be called immature at my age!!!

 

:p

 

If he had taken the time to speak to any of them, he might have realized they're some of the most iteresting to talk to a lot of the time!

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norbertsniece,

the op assumed i was the one who was 78 because i use granny in my cc name. I was one of the younger ones in our group. I would love to be called immature when i'm 78....heck i'd liked to be called immature at my age!!!

 

Smiley face and winking face..... for some reason not working here!!!!

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OP...

 

I'm sorry you had a less than stellar time... I've cruised Mariner before back when she sailed out of Port Canaveral... Awesome time!!!

 

I've been on just as many Carnival cruises as Royal and have been fortunate to have great experiences on both... We even chanced a short cruise during college spring break season and had a great time!!

 

I honestly feel you were the victim of bad demographics... And hope you'll give RC another chance...

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Don't go on Allure. You already indicated you did not like RCCL's marketing dynamics.

 

It would only seem logical to stick with Carnival if that is where you get the most of what you enjoy for the buck rather then give RCCL another shot at the high dollar "superships".

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The passengers were old. Like Spanish Mission old. OLD. So we had few people to talk to. As these passengers were old and white, the upcoming second inaugural of the President was a frequent complaint, or some such political musing.

 

 

Yea, this little bloviation with it's sprinkling of political elitism pretty much set the tone for this review. I'm no cheerleader but this mini-review is a waste of space. I can't imagine reading the OP's full review. It would fill a hot air balloon.

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I think it SOLELY depends on the time of year you sail. After Christmas and before spring break is when what they call the snow birds sale - retired people escaping the northern cold. We've gone in November, January and February. January cruise we went on with our children had WAY more old people than the other 2. We won't cruise in January again!

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Every voyage is going to have an entire different group of people on board.

Depending on what month & week you cruise will be a big factor in the demographics.

You probably picked a bad week.

 

At least it wasn't a bunch of "liberals"...

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Interesting followup to your other thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1751247

 

Yes, interesting. I guess the OP changed his mind about how relaxed he really wanted to be on his cruise!

 

OP, well written and entertaining review. We will be on the Mariner in 23 days and can't wait to join all the old fogies. At 47 and 50, We like being the "younger" folks on a cruise.... less little kids...less crowds getting off on port days...less crowds everywhere....no waiting for deck chairs. However, we do like to relax on our cruise, so its ok for us. For the record, we love Carnival too. Hope your next cruise is more fun for you.

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My very first cruise was on Carnival - I was 22 years younger and single at the time. I found all the drinking games at the pool, blaring music, dining room antics and the like to be so stupid and juvenile I couldn't wait to leave. Don't remember much about the food but do remember a few days just grabbing pizza - which I have NEVER eaten on a cruise since! Sorry the OP didn't find enough people of his own mindset on this cruise - understanding that things change depending on the time of year one cruises. Karaoke star? Really? Maybe it's time to get over himself.

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This is the time of year the seniors sail. The good thing when you sail with them is they go to bed at 9pm and you have the ship to yourself. :)

 

We have sailed different times a year with young and old when the young sail it is quite crowded. The seniors seem more cranky than the younger crowd. No cruise will group is ever perfect.

 

Ultimately you are the one that decides if you are going to have fun or not.

 

We love Royal and I can't compare our cruises to Carnival since we have only sailed on Royal.

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We are taking a Mariner cruise in March and while I expect there will be more younguns, a ship full of seniors wouldn't be the end of the world. We are in our thirties and have cruised HAL a number of times... Talk about being the youngest in the crowd! But we still had fun and we will this time too. Good food, drinks, sunshine, someone cleaning up after us, what more could I ask for?

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