Trip Report – Just Back from Mariner 4-night Sailing

[CaroleC]

16 minutes ago, LynnForestgate said:

Isn't it nice to see a rather charming, truthful and honest review.

 

Absolutely, couldn’t agree more.

[chawkjewel]

Great review.  We are on soon and this information was very helpful!

[#55worktoplay]

Great review!  I love that class of ships I have been on Oasis class and while all the extras are awesome I don’t miss anything on freedom class, plenty enough to keep me entertained.

 

My husband is also celiac and I just complete the special needs form in advance and when we get to the dining room he gets great attention and they accommodate his diet needs very well. Actually quite impressive, the  head waiter came every night at dinner to go over the next days celiac offerings and hubs would choose and voila he would be served next day. For pizza he would just go and order it half hour before he wanted it. Worked out great. 

[sandebeach]

11 hours ago, Gatordad815 said:

FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

These are interesting times, right?  We all had cruises booked, we all had plans, we all thought we knew we could count on certain stability in the world around us, and then we all had the rugs ripped out from under us by Covid in one way or another. 

 

We were all affected in different ways by this mess.  Some of us lost our moms to Covid complications, some of us worked crazy hours responding to Covid because of our line of work, and some of us had kids miss school for what seemed like an eternity.  The above was just my experience and I know for many others it has been way worse….

 

I thought solo cruising would be awkward, but I was willing to take the chance because I wanted to test the waters (so to speak), and I really am so glad I did.  For me personally, it’s time to turn the page and put Covid behind me and this was a really great step in that process.  I probably needed this trip more than I thought actually. And in spite of my concerns about solo cruising, I was never really bored or lonely.  I was relaxed, entertained and happy almost every minute of every day! 

 

In addition to all of that, I earned enough points in the casino for another free cruise….LOL!  So maybe I will be back sooner than I thought!

 

Happy cruising friends!  I will post the Compass below.  If I forgot anything or if you have any questions, I am happy to answer.  Cheers!

If you played enough in the casino to get 2,500 points on a short 4-day cruise, you definitely did great!!!

[Gatordad815]

8 hours ago, sandebeach said:

If you played enough in the casino to get 2,500 points on a short 4-day cruise, you definitely did great!!!

Actually, I didn’t get 2,500 points, but this is a good reminder to share another potentially helpful tidbit for casino players!

 

Normally 2,500 points are required for a free cruise, BUT, for a “limited time only” (according to the signs at the host desk) they’re offering certain cruises free (interior rooms) if you get 1200 points on a sailing! There are even 7-night Oasis class sailings from January-March on the list.

 

I met and talked to another guy whose goal was to get 2,500 points to achieve his prime status, and he did it by the end, but I was definitely not that dedicated to the cause! 

[canwegonow]

Thanks for this! We are on the 11/16 sailing and I was starting to get nervous that none of the headliner shows or ice shows are listed in the app. While I can appreciate the occasional round of "Name That Tune," I was hoping that wasn't all there would be for entertainment. I'm glad to see that there's something to do besides drink or gamble (not criticizing those who indulge, but it's just not our cup of tea).

[ZoeyVictoria]

Thank you for the enjoyable and helpful review.  We will be on the November 11 sailing and would like to know if we can expect the silicone vaccination bracelet or the ribbon type?

[Gatordad815]

1 hour ago, canwegonow said:

Thanks for this! We are on the 11/16 sailing and I was starting to get nervous that none of the headliner shows or ice shows are listed in the app. While I can appreciate the occasional round of "Name That Tune," I was hoping that wasn't all there would be for entertainment. I'm glad to see that there's something to do besides drink or gamble (not criticizing those who indulge, but it's just not our cup of tea).

Part of why I thought it would be helpful to post a review and the Compass is exactly this. No entertainment was showing on the app before my sailing either. It all showed up once we were on the ship, so I had no idea what shows would be available (and there were 2 shows I had never seen reviewed!)

 

In my experience too, even though you can book a reservation, on our sailing they weren’t necessary. I saw every show once and was never asked to show proof of a reservation (though to be fair I was showing up to the shows about 3 minutes before they start and RC says they allow people without reservations to take empty seats 10 minutes prior to showtime). I’m sure things would be different on a packed sailing, but on my trip the reservations definitely weren’t needed!

[Gatordad815]

1 hour ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

Thank you for the enjoyable and helpful review.  We will be on the November 11 sailing and would like to know if we can expect the silicone vaccination bracelet or the ribbon type?

We had the ribbon type-purple. I was hoping for the silicone ones because they just look more comfortable, but honestly the ribbon didn’t bug me at all. Once it was on I just kind of forgot it was there…

[Biker19]

36 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

No entertainment was showing on the app before my sailing either. It all showed up once we were on the ship, so I had no idea what shows would be available (and there were 2 shows I had never seen reviewed!)

This has been known since the restart - for now you can't book shows pre cruise and the RCI app does show them if you look at the current sailing.

[BuckeyeMark]

Thank you again for a fabulous review!

[Missusdubbya]

Great review, so sorry for the loss of your Mum

[KLMB]

A wonderful read.  Thanks for sharing.

[kjkrmk]

11 hours ago, Gatordad815 said:

We had the ribbon type-purple. I was hoping for the silicone ones because they just look more comfortable, but honestly the ribbon didn’t bug me at all. Once it was on I just kind of forgot it was there…

Thank you for the review.  We will be on the Mariner for the 6th time(first in many years) in January.  

 

We were on the Symphony last month and had ribbon type Vax bracelet.  One tip for that... Have them put it on your NON Toothbrush, NON soup eating hand...We didn't and it seemed we were dragging it through everything we touched with our dominant hand.

[Boo's Mom]

Thank you for the review and your perspective (encouragement) for solo cruising. 

I am heading out on a solo cruise (TODAY!) and have been a bit apprehensive about the whole solo issue. 

 

Your review has encouraged me to relax and enjoy the experience. 

Thank you. It was perfect timing. 

[BuckeyeMark]

I noticed one of the days was DRESS YOUR BEST.  Can you comment on what that looked like on board?  

 

NOTE: I am NOT trying to start the endless war about formal night, what you should or should not wear, how the world is worse/better off for tuxedoes, etc.  PLEASE DON'T RUIN THIS THREAD WITH THAT.

 

I just want a scouting report on what a DRESS YOUR BEST night looked like on the ship.  Thanks!

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, BuckeyeMark said:

I just want a scouting report on what a DRESS YOUR BEST night looked like on the ship. 

Not sure what you are looking for, but it was like any other "formal" night - folks attempted to look a bit "better" than a "normal" night.

[BuckeyeMark]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure what you are looking for, but it was like any other "formal" night - folks attempted to look a bit "better" than a "normal" night.

I'm looking for a report on what "better" looked like ... did he see a lot of suits and ties?  Dresses?  Were there some tuxes and ball gowns?  "Dress Your Best" is pretty broad.  What did most passengers do that evening?  Were you on board?  What did you see?

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Were you on board?  What did you see?

Not on Mariner specifically, but from my experience and other reports read here from other ships, I saw just what I mentioned. Not many suits/ties, very few tuxes/ball gowns - just something a bit better than a t-shirt and shorts.

[BuckeyeMark]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not on Mariner specifically, but from my experience and other reports read here from other ships, I saw just what I mentioned. Not many suits/ties, very few tuxes/ball gowns - just something a bit better than a t-shirt and shorts.

Thank you.  It'll be interesting to see what he saw ... and if post-covid travel has changed anything, are people packing lighter, etc.

[Gatordad815]

9 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

I noticed one of the days was DRESS YOUR BEST.  Can you comment on what that looked like on board?  

 

NOTE: I am NOT trying to start the endless war about formal night, what you should or should not wear, how the world is worse/better off for tuxedoes, etc.  PLEASE DON'T RUIN THIS THREAD WITH THAT.

 

I just want a scouting report on what a DRESS YOUR BEST night looked like on the ship.  Thanks!

I would say there was a fair range of dress for dress your best night and more people definitely dressed nicer (though certainly not everyone). It seems this is partially a generational thing (though not entirely). I saw a tuxedo in the dining room on a man 20 years older than me and a tank top on a guy 20 years younger than me! 
 

Most folks were somewhere between those ends of the spectrum though and many made some effort. I typically wear a jacket with my family on formal nights, though that seemed a bit excessive since I was solo, so I just wore slacks with a nice linen shirt. I was far from “formal”, but I did better than tank top guy 😀 And I’d say more people were dressed like me (nicer clothes but not formal wear) than either tuxedo or tank top guy.

 

Hope this helps!

[sharktums]

Really great interesting review, thanks!