Just back from 1/8/06 Mariner cruise

[MJN]

Hi,

Just got in from our cruise on Mariner. The ship is awesome and we had a great time. Weather was a bit cool in Florida when leaving and on return and the seas the last night were really rough but the ship, crew and Captain were all great. Captain Gerry is the most personable Captain of a cruise ship that we have ever had. The cruise director was awesome too. The shows were all really good. We had one called Beatlemania that was fantastic. They looked and sounded like the real Beatles and I am a real fan. The ice show was really great too. The only complaints we had were from the weather, not anything at all to do with the ship itself. We had a really pleasant wait staff and cabin attendant. We had an eastern itinerary and our shore excursions were the Water Island bike tour in St. Thomas and the Butterfly farm and Marigot shopping. Both were really good though the bike tour was a bit more hilly than we realized but the guides were helpful and the beach at the end was really beautiful. The butterfly farm was really neat, lots of beautiful butterflies but the shopping part was too short, only 45 minutes, not near enough time. They did give a narrated tour of the island which was nice. We also went on the tram ride in St. Thomas which is within walking distance of the ship and it was awesome.

If anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them.........MJN

[1corona4u]

Hi,

Just got in from our cruise on Mariner. The ship is awesome and we had a great time. Weather was a bit cool in Florida when leaving and on return and the seas the last night were really rough but the ship, crew and Captain were all great.

 

We saw that!! Here is a still I captured of the seas last night. Not sure exactly where you were, but there were 15-25 ft seas out there.

 

Here is the thread I started about it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=280016

(the graphic in that thread is live, the one below, static from last night)

 

[Heidi H.]

Glad you had a good time on Mariner. I would like to ask you about the water island bike trip. We didnt do it last time we were in St. Thomas and plan on doing it this fall for sure when we are there. Would you tell me a little bit about it? How did you get to water island? How long did you get to stay at the beach? What condition were the bikes in? Anything else you could add about it would be helpful, Thanks:)

[shrimp0]

Welcome back MJN. I will be boarding the Mariner one week from today also on the Eastern itinerary.

Questions:

Was the first formal night still on Monday? ( since the Mariner is now going to CocoCay with a longer day on Monday I wasnt sure if the formal night would be moved to Tuesday the first day at sea)

 

Do you remember if there was a 007 Martini Madness hour... and when it was?

 

What movies were playing in cabin through the week? ( DH likes to watch tv before bed and wanted to know what movies... mainly so he knows which DVD's he doesnt need to bring)

 

Do you remember the name of the shopping expert? just wondering if it will be someone we have had before.

 

Ok... cant think of any more questions right now... but I am sure I will come up with more through the week.

thanks!!!

[luv2cruise03]

Glad you had a great trip....looking forward to our cruise in April.

 

I too am curious about the first formal night...I have read both Monday and Tuesday.

 

Kind of hoping for Tuesday since that is a sea day, and also my daughters 16th birthday.

[patbob]

we were on the Mariner 1-8-06 it was monday @ friday

[MJN]

Hi,

I have been busy unpacking but finally found all my cruise compasses so I can answer some of your questions.

Monday and Friday were the formal nights, so yes, the first night was the Coco Cay day. The cruise director was James Andrews from Australia and he was excellent. He has tons of energy and a great sense of humor. We also did the Murder Mystery dinner which was fun. The actors were the singers and dancers from the stage show and they were really fun. We got to ask them questions to help us determine who was the murderer. The dinner took place in Portofinos and my only complaint was that we had fewer choices on our dinner. We only got to choose soup or salad and the main entree. I am not a fan of antipasto so that was not my favorite. Other than that it was a fun and tasty evening.

We never found time to watch any movies but according to my cruise compass the movies they showed were "Dark Water", "Guess Who", "National Treasure", "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", "Bewitched", "in her shoes", "March of the penguins", "Hitch", "Longest Yard", "SAhara", "Kicking and Screaming", "Meet the Fockers",

For the Water Island bike trip we met our guide outside the ship on the Pier. She was a high energy lady and very friendly. I am bad with remembering names but she was very nice. We had to walk the length of the pier past the Disney ship and the Costa lines ship to catch our ferry. The ferry took us through the harbor to Water island, about a 15-20 minute trip. From there we boarded a small bus that took us to the top of the island where we had a beautiful view of the surrounding hills and harbor. All along the way we were told a history of the island and St. Thomas. We were given bike helmets, a bottle of water and fitted with bikes. There had been rain the night before and we had the afternoon trip so the bikes were splashed with mud from the morning run. They were cannondale bikes and they gave us a talk on how to shift them and use the brakes. The trip downhill was much steeper than expected and there was some uphill riding too. They did take several short breaks to view some of the area and give you a chance to catch your breath. We were given the option at one point to go on to the beach or do a bit more riding of a more advanced nature. We opted for the beach, which was really beautiful. If you are an experience rider you will love this tour. If not, you might want to do a little biking ahead of time to get yourself prepared. The guides were really nice and the ride is beautiful.

I found 007 Bond Martini Madness in the Friday Cruise compass. It took place in the Vintages Wine bar at 7:45pm.

I did not attend the shopping gathering and could not find the names of the shopping experts in my cruise compasses, perhaps someone else on the cruise can volunteer that info.

I fully believe the 15-25 foot seas. They were the biggest waves I believe I have ever experienced. We also had 79 mile per hour relative winds on Saturday. They had to close down the upper decks of the ships. That made the winds hurricane force!!! Thankfully the Mariner has the promenade on deck 5 in the center of the ship where we could gather. Friday had been a gorgeous day on deck with lots of sunshine and light winds. Saturday was exactly the opposite. Hope this information helps....................MJN

[ericworldz]

i thought january-march should be a calmer sea?? since the mariner is a huge ship, do you feel the ship sway at all? do you get motion sickness? how's the weather out in the caribbean in january?

[MJN]

Hi,

Yes, this is a really huge ship. Just walking the length of it to go to different activities can take you a while, lots of walking. It does handle the seas well but if you are prone to seasickness you should still get a prescription from your doctor for the patches. We did and never got sick even though the seas on our last night were really rolling. The captain can change course to avoid major weather problems but we still did experience some real rocking and rolling on our way back to Port Canaveral. MJN

[Paticakes]

We also did the Murder Mystery dinner which was fun. The actors were the singers and dancers from the stage show and they were really fun. We got to ask them questions to help us determine who was the murderer. The dinner took place in Portofinos and my only complaint was that we had fewer choices on our dinner. We only got to choose soup or salad and the main entree. I am not a fan of antipasto so that was not my favorite. Other than that it was a fun and tasty evening.

MJN

 

Do you remember what night the Murder Mystery Dinner was? We are going on the 2/5 Mariner.

 

Thanks,

Patti

[cocoabeana]

I am sailing on the Mariner 3/05. Do you remember what time you arrived in port in St. Thomas? Also what time did they start letting people off the ship? Do you still have to go through customs? and if so what time did they start letting people do this? Any help will be appreciated. Have an excursion booked with a private company and would like to give a heads up as to how early we could arrive.

Thanks again

[MJN]

Hi,

The Murder Mystery for our cruise was on Thursday night. It started at 8:15 with champagne and appetisers in Ellingtons/Crown & Anchor lounge on the 14th floor and moved to Portofinos at 9pm. The murder took place in Ellington's. It was fun and a different way to spend the evening.

If I recall we arrived outside St. Thomas around 8am or so but had to wait for the pilot to come and bring us into port and it was around 9am before we docked and then had to go through the customs bit which took a while. They asked for those with early shore excursions to go through first. They announced that we were a bit late, probably due to fighting a headwind or rough seas on the way there. This was ships time and I believe we were told that St. Thomas time is an hour ahead of ships time but that we were to stay on ships time. The customs thing goes pretty quick but it still does take a while to check through 3500 people plus crew. Once you are cleared you can leave the ship and we did so don't know how long it took to do everyone. We had an afternoon excursion but walked to the tram to see the view overlooking the harbor which was awesome. Hope this information helps you............We loved our cruise despite the rough seas we had and the weather was not perfect but we still enjoyed ourselves and loved the ship, the crew and the ports. By the way, we were in port until 9pm which was 3 hours longer than our itinerary showed. ................MJN

[dthogue]

MJN,

 

Thank you so much for sharing all the info on the Mariner. We are not sailing until November, but I am trying to get as much info as possible.

 

Is there any way that you could share the compasses for the week? I would love to get a look at them so we have an idea what type of activities to expect. If you would be able to email them or photocopy, I would be glad to pay any mailing expense.

 

Thanks so much,

Tammy

[MJN]

Hi,

I did not mind a bit sharing the info on our cruise. Would be happy to share other info. Someone else has already posted the Mariners compasses and menu's earlier. Do a search and you will probably find them. My scanner is not working or I would do it for you. Hope your cruise is as much fun as ours was. It is a gorgeous ship and we loved it. MJN

[Nano]

Hi MJN! Thanks so much for all of the helpful info. We board the Mariner on 2/19 for our third time...and we can't wait! I don't believe they ever had a Beatlemania show before. My husband is a huge Beatles fan. When is that show, and does it replace Pure Energy or Front Row, the two shows we saw last year? Or do they also have those shows as well?

[Famof6]

Hi, thanks for the info on Mariner; our family will be going 4/30. I heard that RCCL has done away with the ambiguous "smart casual" nights and just has formal and casual nights. Is this so?

[MJN]

Hi,

I am a HUGE Beatles fan myself. The show was Thursday, the St. Maarten day. They were absolutely awesome! They looked and sounded so much like the real Beatles that it was incredible. They were on stage for a full hour. The really cool thing they did was to start out like the 1963 Beatles with the neat suits and original haircuts and then take a short break and come back on as the 70's Beatles with the Sgt. Pepper Uniforms and haircuts. It was really cool how they did that. Your husband will love it!

I don't think they have totally done away with the Smart casual nights as I saw references to it in the Chops and Portofino confirmation. I have it in front of me. It says "Dress Code: Smart Casual- NO Shorts Please!" I did look the Compasses over and it does not say Smart Casual on them, just Casual or Formal and on Caribbean night it says "Casual or colorful Caribbean Attire". So I guess it has cut back on the use of smart Casual.

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.........................MJN

[afdds]

MJN- Thank you so much for all the wonderfu information. We sail the Mariner-March 19th.

 

Just one quick question- When did you get your ice skating tickets? I've read that you can't attend without one. Was there a big rush or a large crowd when you got the tickets? Trying to plan out of days. Can you tell us when the skating show was?

 

Guess that was more than one question! ;)

 

Thanks again for the help.

[MJN]

Hi,

They gave out the tickets for the shows on Tuesday morning between 9-11 I think. The shows were on Wednesday and Friday evening. I know on friday they were at 5 and 7pm, not sure what time the Wednesday ones were. We went at 5pm on Friday since we had early seating. The show was absolutely wonderful. I don't know how they do it on a moving ship but they were really good and it was a really nice show. They were mostly Russian Skaters. We met one who was doing double duty in the future cruises office. Very nice guy. They don't charge for the ice skating tickets, they are just trying to spread out attendees so everyone doesn't try to go at the same time. If you show up early for the show you get the best choice of seats. We got a front row seat next to where they go in and off the ice to change and it was a good view. There will be a line if you go for the tickets at 9am but it moves quickly and if you go at 10am there will be no line.

By the way someone asked if they still had the pure energy show and front row and yes, they did and they were both great shows too. The singers and dancers were all really great. We thought all the shows were good. They have one guy who is a kind of juggler that really is good and had an unusual kind of juggling act. The comedians were pretty funny, though probably the weakest of all the shows. My favorites were the Beatles act and the ice skating, but those are always my favorites. Hope my information helps you.............................MJN

[dthogue]

What night was Caribbean night? Were there any deck parties - late night buffets? Do you need to sign up or pay extra for the Murder Mystery Dinner?

 

Thanks,

Tammy

[MJN]

Hi,

Caribbean night was Wednesday night and yes it did cost quite a bit extra for the Murder mystery. It is normally a $20. per person extra charge for Portofinos or chops and this was $49.50 extra per person but included your wine and champagne and it was lots of fun. If you like caviar some of the Oerdeurves (sp?) they had in Ellingtons early in the evening had caviar, but not all, they had several kinds of canapes etc but some of them did have caviar. They were generous with the champagne in Ellingtons and later with the wine. The only appetiser they offered in Portofinos (that night) was the Anitipasto. We had a choice of Minestrone soup or Ceasar salad. We had a choice of beer tenderloin (our choice) or Tiger shrimp. They had Tiramisu for desert in a chocolate cup with fresh raspberries. The tenderloin was delicious. We did enjoy ourselves that night and the dinner was great. It was fun. Would we do it a 2nd time, probably not, but we were glad we did it at least once. If you enjoy the murder mystery you will have a good time.

It was a different way to spend an evening. We signed up the first day, they only take 50 people .............................MJN

[MJN]

Hi,

Forgot to say that yes, they did have two late night buffets but we didn't make it to either of them. We have a hard time staying up that late and were still full from dinner even though we had early seating. One was a party on the pool deck and one was in the dining room. We didn't even see them so can't comment on them. Guess we're getting too old for staying up so late, we use to do it all the time.......MJN

[Katie H]

MJN-

Are you saying there was no Smart Casual - so no need for DH to bring jacket and tie or me to bring a dress? We will bring formal clothes for fomral nights and for casual nights I will wear slacks and blouse, DH will wear Dockers and casual shirt. RCI is still telling me that there is one Smart Casual, but the land based people don't seem to know what really goes on onboard. Would hate to drag along those extra clothes and not need them. On the other hand, would hate to not have them if that is the dress code.

 

Also, can you check your Compass and see if they had karaoke any night?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Cincy-David]

.Is there any way that you could share the compasses for the week? I would love to get a look at them so we have an idea what type of activities to expect. Tammy

 

Hi Tammy, I have copies of the MAriner Compass posted in our Roll Call Thread.

 

Go to Mairner 11/27/2005 roll Call Thread. I forget the exact number, burt right around post number 800-815 you should find them. Just scroll up and down until you find them. These are ones from an October cruise that a friend sent me.

 

Have a great time, she is a beautiful ship and we had a great time. Check out my pictures at the link below. I have over 300 shots from our cruise the week after Thanksgiving.

[Bribrittmom]

We were on the Mariner in Dec. and yes they did have Kareoke (sp?),but not Kareoke idol like the Serenade did in 2004.