Mariner Report - last week

[bouhunter]

First I'd like to thank everyone here for all I learned the last few months at this GREAT forum. There is so much participation here, you can learn so much!

 

Now for random thoughts and comments on our Western Caribbean cruise on Mariner last week:

 

We've travelled the Caribbean a lot, but this was our first cruise. The Mariner is awesome. I can't believe there can be 3000 guests on a ship yet it doesn't really seem crowded most of the time in most places. Yes the pool area gets busy, but even that isn't too bad.

 

The day we sailed from Canaveral it was very cool. The water in the pools was cold too. We flew into Orlando around noon and were on the ship by 2:00. Windjammer for a late lunch was a zoo - very busy. After muster we unpacked and explored the ship. We had a balcony cabin at the aft end of the hump. The location was great, no long walks down a hallway and very close to the elevators on deck 7. It was a quick two flights of stairs down to the promenade and one more to deck four when you wanted to get outside on the deck and take a walk.

 

Next day at sea was still mostly cloudy and not very warm yet. We played minature golf and our 7 year old spent some time at Adventure Ocean. She ended up loving what she called "kids club". During the week she participated in the circus and the pirate parade on the promenade. We were very impressed with the staff at Adventure Ocean. We also went to the "shopping show" at the ice rink. The lady who puts this on talks VERY FAST AND SHRILL - don't sit near a speaker! We bought her 20.00 shopping book. Don't - it's a waste of money. We did get 3 free music CD's at some stores in ports, haven't listened to them yet. Still I wouldn't recommend it. She pushes certain stores and I'm sure there's some money changing hands in the process when people buy from them - they always ask what ship you're on. She really pushes Diamonds International. The one in Cozumel wanted ridiculus prices for their loose diamonds. We could easily do better at home.

 

Day 2 in Labadee - the weather was awful:( Not very warm, and rained most of the day. We did go in and do some shopping and had lunch but it was miserable. Bought a few souvineers and were back on the ship early afternoon. I'm sure on a sunny day it is a beautiful place. That day it was so overcast you couldn't see the top of the mountains. I felt bad for the vendors in the craft market - they were counting on doing some good business and many people understandably never got off the ship.

 

Day 3 in Jamaica - warmed up and some sun. Some rain too. Climbed Dunns River falls with our daughter. We'd done it in 1993 and it was nice to be back in Ocho Rios (we'd spent a week there). We bought the DVD they filmed as we went up. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but others here have said they do a nice job. They guy collected 40.00 cash and sure enough it was waiting for us on the ship. We went with Phil Lafayette and he did a good job. Though we asked him about dropping us off back at the Island Village shops and he really didn't want to. Took us all instead to a place for jerk lunch. It was good food, but we'd have preferred to get back and have more time for shopping and Margaritaville. I guess if someone hasn't been to Ocho before his tour is nice, but we just really wanted to do the falls and have more time on our own. In hindsight we'd have been better off just taking a taxi to the falls.

 

Grand Cayman - we went with Captain Marvins for snorkling and stingray city. They did a great job. A nice boat and crew. Our 7 year old loved stingray city and got right in there to hold and pet them:) The snorkling was good too. We saw a huge moray eel and a pretty big sand shark, and of course lots of beautiful fish.

 

Cozumel: The daily compass said something to the effect, "if you're on a RCCL tour meet in a certain place (Savoy?) and we'll take you to the tenders. If not on one of our tours go to Schooner Bar for a tender ticket. Don't get your ticket until you're ready to go ashore".

Don't wait to get your tender ticket - get it right away at 8:30. We waited as they'd suggested and ended up waiting for quite a while to get ashore. I think they started running them at 10:30, we weren't in town until after 12:00. That's what you get for reading the instructions and following them:rolleyes: Our daughter wanted to stay on board at Adventure Ocean. We did some shopping and ended up at CNC's for a late lunch, refreshments, and entertainment:D

 

The last day at sea was warm and sunny - a perfect day for pool and sun time. It was quite windy, but warm enough that it was still nice outside. I got a kick out of one of the waiters making the rounds with drinks, calling out "got your medication here, get your medication!"

 

Misc notes:

I get up earlier than the family and like to walk and read. A great quiet place to read is the card room next to Ellingtons on deck 14 aft. There are a few comfortable chairs and you have it all to yourself in the morning next to windows with a view. Ellingtons is nice too, but for reading the music from the speakers can be kind of loud.

 

On port days we ordered breakfast room service as I read about here. Nice to avoid the chaos of windjammer and eat on the balcony. They were always very timely. It's nice they call a few minutes ahead to let you know it's on the way.

 

Our stateroom attendent Henri was awesome. My daughter loved the animals he made from the towels:) We left him a very good tip - above the recommended amount.

 

Overall we loved our first cruise and will do it again!

 

If anyone has any questions I'll be glad to try and help out.

[PhinsAndGills]

Thanks for the review. I was on the same route 11/20 and I sure miss it. Sorry you didn't have the best weather in Labadee. That was the day we had some of the BEST weather. Our weather in Jamaica and GC was chilly and rainy. Ah well, gives us all a GREAT excuse to book another cruise! :)

[kimsbfl]

Wow, it's like I'm reading my review in the future.

 

We sail for the first time next Sunday on the Mariner with our daughter who is 7. We're also first time cruisers but have travelled to the Caribbean often. In the early 90's we also went to Ocho Rios and climbed the falls. Can you believe it?

 

I wonder if you can give some insight as to what's best to pack for my daughter. I've got lots of summer stuff but only 3 long pants for her. Of course, you never know what the weather will be.

 

Did you have a berth for your daughter to sleep. We do, so would like to hear how that went. Also, were there lots of kids aboard? As we're taking her out of school, would like to know what would be reasonable to expect.

 

Was she afraid at all with the tendering? Anything else you can think of would be appreciated. Thanks so much.

 

Kim

[bouhunter]

Kim - interesting how our travels mirror each other:)

 

I don't think our daughter wore long pants the whole cruise. We did take a sweater to the dining room for her sometimes, but they don't seem to keep the air conditioning too cold. She's one to say she's cold sometimes in air conditioned restaurants, but never did on board.

 

I'd call what she had a sofa bed. Basically the sofa flattened out into a bed. It was about the width of a double mattress but not as long. It worked out fine. The cabin is a little tight when it's made into a bed but you could still get around. The cabin attendent makes it up every night and puts it back as a sofa the next day.

 

I wouldn't say the ship was crawling with kids, but there were plenty around. When she was in Adventure Ocean there always seemed to be 10-15 kids there in the 6-8 age group. When they did the circus and parade I'd say about 15 kids participated in each. Sign her up the first day, she should really enjoy it. She wasn't afraid of the tendering but then she isn't afraid of much, she travels a lot with us. The tenders are pretty big boats that probably hold 100-200 people. One thing I did the second day and kind of made a game of it, we were down on the promenade and I asked if she could find her way to our stateroom. I let her lead the way and she found our room on deck seven. I thought that was doing pretty good, even an adult could take some time getting oriented on a big ship like the Mariner!

 

There is free frozen yogurt near the pool on deck 11, and Ben & Jerry's (2.50 per cup) on the promenade. She discovered both pretty quickly:)

 

Make sure you sign up for one of the ice shows. When you go, you might want to show up relatively early. On our way in they asked if our daughter wanted to be in the show. Turns out near the end they want a few kids to ride in a sleigh in the show. They sent us down to certain seats in the front row and took them out from there at the appropriate time.

[dbarry]

Thank you so much for the review! I'm also on the Mariner leaving on Sunday. I have a question about the tendering process in both Grand Cayman and Cozumel. On our roll call we have someone who is a little concerned about timing in Grand Cayman. They have booked a tour with Soto's and were told that they need to be off the ship by 9:10. I am assuming that they have a 9:30 snorkeling trip. They are concerned that if they have to wait for tendering tickets that they will miss their tour. Did you experience any problems getting into Grand Cayman? Did they call for all of ship tour people first before those with local tour companies? I've been to Grand Cayman several times and don't remember how they do this. Also the times that I've been there ship time was Daylight Saving Time and Grand Cayman was an hour behind us. I used Capt. Bryan's and had to walk to their office about a 10 minute walk away and after getting there had plenty of time to get a cup of coffee and a donut from the bakery right there.

 

How chaotic was getting to shore in Cozumel? I was really considering purchasing a ship tour just to get to the shore quicker. We would like to spend the day at Paradise Beach. I will definitely be one of the first in line at the Schooner Bar!

 

Thanks for your review,

 

Darlene

[kimsbfl]

Bouhunter, thanks for the answers. We, and she, are soooo excited.

 

Kim

[jaycor]

you do not need tendering tickets in Grand Cayman-we were on the Mariner last week.

We had booked a tour with the ship that started at 9:30am -we did not get on the tender till about 9:10. Arrived at port in 10 minutes.

Because we booked with the ship we were given early tender.

Once all the people who booked early excursions with the ship have gone then the rest of the passengers can get off.

I think that to try to get off at 9:10 will be too early as that is the time we left and there were still lots of people who had booked tours with the ship that still needed to get off.

Tell your friend to get down early and wait for the first available tender.

In Cozumel you do do need tender tickets-go early -I think you can get them starting at 8;30-go early-we went at 9;30and finally made it to the port at 1:00

[bouhunter]

Our private tour in Cayman (Capt Marvins) wasn't until 11:15 so we weren't in a hurry. You don't get tickets there. We just went down around 9:30 and got right on a tender. I don't recall when the first tenders were, but being on shore at 9:10 might be a challenge.

 

Another thing I remember about tendering in Cayman last week: When we were ready to go back to the ship there were big lines of people at the dock area. First we got in this huge line and I asked the people in front of us if this was the line for Mariner. They said they thought so and they were on the Mariner too. I wasn't so sure and walked ahead and asked one of the dock employees where the Mariner tenders were, he pointed to a gate in the fence with NO line. We just walked through and went right to a waiting tender. The huge lines were for Carnival:D

 

Also as for getting back to the ship and avoiding lines - I remember in Ocho Rios there were big lines to get through x-ray at the dock. My daughter and I didn't have any packages and we worked our way up front and they waived us right through to the pier - no need to wait in line:)

 

 

 

You do need a ticket in Cozumel - be at the Schooner Bar (Deck 4 forward) at 8:30 and get your ticket unless you want to wait untill 12:00-1:00 to be ashore like us and Jaycor.

[vikeqn]

One quick question for you- Who was the ships Captain?

I am really hoping Captain Johnny is back from vacation as we just love him!

Thanks again!