Mariner Review - Long, be warned!

[kimsbfl]

What a trip?! What a ship!!

Where to begin?

First off, we’re newbies but not easily impressed. We’ve travelled extensively including 5 and 6 star resorts in the Caribbean. The Mariner was better.

After learning so much from Cruise Critic boards and reviews – I was ready! Thanks to all of you.

Travelled Feb 26 to March 5 on Mariner of the Seas Western Caribbean with DH and DD 8.

Embarkation:

Went very well. We had our set sail pass completed on line and that speeded things up. The ship is massive. In port that day was a Disney ship and a Carnival ship. The Mariner is much larger and more beautiful. Like getting into a sports car at the Valet – look at me, look at me. Discovered something I didn’t know – if you are dropping off a rental car, drop off your bags at the ship first. That way you don’t need to transfer your bags from the car to the shuttle to the ship. Aha.

Cabin:

We had an inside cabin on Deck 10 – small but very well planned out. Surprising amount of storage. The bed was very comfy but I missed my pillow. Our DD slept above us in the pull down berth. At night the steward would set up the berth with ladder and during the day, she would tuck it away. I climbed up and it was just as comfortable as our bed. Our steward was ok, not great. She seemed inconvenienced when we asked her to put our beds together and apparently could not get us a bigger ice bucket – had to order from room service. We asked her to empty the fridge and she told us to just do it ourselves – no sensors. Towels were slow to be replaced – once had to go grovelling to the pool for towels not replaced from our excursion the day before. Tipped her up front. From conversations with fellow cruisers, we were missing out. Oh, well… onward and upwards. She did do cute towel animals. RCTV in the room is so informative. You can check your sea pass, view upcoming ports, book excursions etc. Found the hair dryer in the top drawer of the vanity outside the bathroom. Adequate but you have to hold down the button to keep it going. Look for coupon books that may have been left by previous gold cruisers. The bathroom is tiny but well planned. Easy to wash my daughter using the convenient hand held shower head.

Day 1:

Cool and windy. Even Captain Johnny warned us to hold on to someone at night – it was going to get a little rough. He was right. 18 foot waves. I was fine but my DH was a little green – took bonine and was fine. It was sort of comical watching everyone try to walk straight on the Royal Promenade. Made reservations at Chops and Portofinos’s – filled up fast. Be sure to do this asap! It’s well worth it. Wandered the ship in amazement. Absolutely beautiful. No expense has been spared on this ship. Everything is elegant, clean and meticulously designed. Beautiful!!!! Apparently they spent $650 million on her – it shows. Scouted out our dining seating – Main seating in Rhapsody in Blue on the 3rd deck. Lovely. No need to change. Registered our DD in Adventure Ocean, would start on Day 2. Just regular consent forms, allergies and your instruction on if they can sign themselves out or not. Casual dinner at the Windjammer –good – Prime Rib, mashed potatoes etc.

Day 2: At Sea

Cool and windy – hmmm I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. First, grabbed coffee at the café on the Promenade – very good. To go cups are large enough and it is self serve out of large decanters. Regular, decaf, hot choc, lots of teas too. Breakfast in the dining room. Okay, but a little to formal for us. We were sat a table with 6 adults. Made the best of it but didn’t to it again. As soon as we were done, picked up tickets for the ice show – don’t miss it!!! DD went to Camp in the afternoon as she wanted to take part in the Circus Show on the Promenade. It was great! They were all dressed up and their faces were painted. Tooooo cute. Checked email on Deck 8, not very fast but efficient. $5.00 for 5 minutes. Just swipe your seapass and your good to go. Formal night tonight. Very lovely. Dining room staff were awesome. Had the steak, very good. DH had the escargot –to die for. He placed a standing order for them every night and sure enough any night we dined in the Dining room there were not one, but two, servings of escargot waiting for him. Ordered the wine package, platinum, 5 bottles for $150 gratuity included. This option went very well for us. DD ordered from extensive kids menu. Unfortunately, the servers do not have crayons etc like I had read, so bring something for the kids to keep them occupied. After dinner, saw a comedy team – Mario and Daniel – in the Savoy Theatre. Pretty funny! The theatre is stunning. Wood paneling, plush seats…cannot believe we are on a ship.

Day 3: Labadee.

Nice to see land! Overcast but warmed up. Tender went very well. Bring your towels Labadee is lovely. Lots of beach chairs, lots of beaches, free water mats, barbecue lunch with iced tea, fruit punch. The water park is actually 3 different venues. First, there’s a small kids splash pad $5 per hour, I believe. Then, there’s trampolines, and climbers in the ocean $10 per hour. The coolest was an inflatable water slide. Looked like a hoot, $3.50 a slide or $20 all day. There’s a free, imagine that, tram that will take you around the area. Dragon beach was closed due to high waves. There’s beach volleyball near Dragon beach. Dinner was at Chops. Great! The best meal of the cruise. Go hungry, very, very hungry. Very cool, they bring over a cart before you order to show you what you can order. Hubby had Portobello mushroom appetizer, amazing. The Filet Mignon is so tender you don’t need a knife. Potatoes are the largest I have ever seen. Yum, yum. Great service! Great Food! A bargain at $20 each, including tip. Saw a very good show at the Savoy, a tribute to the music of the 80’s.

Day 4: Rain then Sunshine in Ocho Rios

We port here so a breeze to get off the ship. Don’t forget your seapasses! Wandered around a bit. Just down the street is a shop offering cheap phone calls. I believe it was 10 cents a minute, minimum $1 to the US or Canada. Great to call parents! Ended up at Margaritaville. Quite the place. There’s a pool with waterslide. Good food and lively entertainment. Some risky stuff at the swim up bar. Dinner at Portofino’s. Very good but not as good as Chops. The bean soup is very, very good! Try the seafood pasta. The halibut was a little dry. Server was great though. From the beginning, they put you at ease by pointing out if there’s something you don’t like, don’t hesitate to tell them. Also, if you see something being served to another diner and it tickles your fancy. Just let them know. Tiramisu was okay, not as great as I have read. But then again, a good friend is famous for her Tiramisu so perhaps we were a little harder to impress. Changed after dinner and got on the Love and Marriage Show. Hilarious. My husband could not remember what year we were married. Well, the rest of the cruise, everyone reminded him – 1989.

Day 5: Grand Cayman

Nice and hot and sunny! Very lovely Island. We took a taxi tour. $20 for 1.5 hours. Saw a lot of the island, stopped at a Turtle farm, went to Hell too! That’s a blast. Bring your address book. I didn’t have mine or I would have sent out some postcards. Imagine getting a postcard marked, Hell. Lots of funny shirts for sale, too. ‘Been to Hell and Back’ etc. Dinner back at the Dining Room. I had pasta Marinara, not very good, tasted very sweet. Cheesecake is excellent. Saw the Ice show – Wow! Stunning. Again, no expense has been spared. Truly top notch.

Day 6: Cozumel

Another hot and sunny day! Lots of fun. We rented a Jeep and toured the island. $71 including all insurance. First we stopped at Paradise Beach. Great! Excellent safe food! Mmmm, Guacamole! Beach chairs are free along with admittance. We were suckered into paying $8 each then noticed many people were onto them and just came in. Not to worry, we made a fuss and got our money back. Tipped the waiter large! He was awesome. Eric. Special on beers: 5 Dos Equis in a bucket of ice for $12. Can’t beat that. After the beach we toured the island. The beaches are magnificent – isolated and tranquil. Devasted by Hurricane Wilma, they are trying to rebuild. Be sure to tip lots – they really need it. Dinner in the dining room – lobster. Now, surprisingly, we are not huge lobster fans. We prefer crab, sweeter and much more tender. We were pleasantly surprised. The lobster was amazing. Tender and juicy. We all had more than one. Tell your waiter you would like more than one lobster the day before. Saw the only show that we did not enjoy. Greg Bonham. Not our taste, if you’re under 50, pass.

Day 7: At sea.

A little windy but nice and sunny. Stayed by the pool, read, relaxed. Dinner in the dining room. Just had a bunch of appetizers – had a late lunch. DH had steak, wasn’t very good. Time to pack – Yuck! Too fast, too fast. How can it be over? We didn’t want to leave.

Disembarking:

Went pretty well. We had Lavender tags which meant earlier so by the time we arrived at the carousel, they were waiting for us.

Food:

Windjammer is quite good for breakfast with everything you could imagine. The servers are constantly offering coffee, tea, juices. This is even as there are self serve stations available. There are always smiling servers greeting you, almost singing: ‘Good morning, enjoy your breakfast.’ There is an abundance of fruit, pastries, cereals, milk – chocolate too etc. The omelets are very, very good. The toast is a little dry, try the English muffins. The scrambled eggs are yummy, the bacon is not. There’s smoked salmon, bagels, oatmeal, you name it. The Windjammer is across the back of the ship with many window tables available. For lunch, the Windjammer is pretty good – pasta station etc. The sandwiches are quite good as well. On Day 6, we passed by after 3:30pm and were surprised it was open for snacks. Great chili and chips, burgers, wings.

Café Promenade is great for a snack and is open 24 hours. Try the Empanadas, they’re tucked away past the pastries. They are great. Lots of yummy little sandwiches and great cream puffs. Chocolate Chip cookies are just like homemade. Pizza is okay.

We ordered room service twice, once pizza and once breakfast. Overall, very quick and efficient. We also ordered ice each day.

Dining Room food is pretty good. You have to remember you are not in a gourmet restaurant, and that noted, it’s great. Lots of choices to please everyone. During non-formal nights most men wore khakis and golf shirts, woman a casual skirt or slacks.

Do yourself a favour and go to Chops and/or Portofino’s. Great food, great service. The most memorable meal in a while.

Pool deck is lovely. Lots of chairs. The water was pretty cold so didn’t go in. My only complaint: they do not have life jackets for kids. All the pools are minimum 4’7” deep so bring along water wings or something.

Be sure to go to the shows. The love and marriage ‘1989’, yes, my DH will never forget, and the Quest was terrific.

We all played mini putt once, it was fun. 9 holes. Also, our DD did the rock climbing. The guy there was really sweet and helped her get further up the climb.

The Adventure Ocean kids club was fabulous. Our DD loved it and begged us to let her stay. They had so much fun, probably even more fun than we did, if that’s possible. They did the circus show, took over the ship as pirates and scared guests throughout the ship one evening sneaking up on them and making alien faces. Our DD came home with a lanyard, hand decorated pillowcase and pirate bandana. She was so tired every night and morning – a good sign that she was having a blast. There is an arcarde on the way in to the club, how convenient. Sort of like when you’re in Vegas, everything is through the casino. Was pretty pricy with most games $1.50 or more. The air hockey was $2.45. The evening group sitting was great. Again our DD couldn’t get enough so she loved going. At $5.00 from 10pm and on, it is very reasonable and gives Mom and Dad some time to see the shows that she would probably be bored at. Of course, take the kids to the Ice Show though.

You must go to the very front of the ship at night. It is so beautiful. Living in a city, you don’t get to see that many stars, it was magical. To get there, you must first start at Deck 4 and get out to the side deck. Follow the stairs and keep going. It’s not really lit so don’t be alarmed, just keep going. It’s unreal. Our DD loved it, we went there several times.

Shopping on the ship is surprisingly reasonable. Near the end of the cruise, lots of stuff goes on for ½ price.

An absolutely wonderful trip, looking forward to booking another one VERY SOON!!!!

If anyone, has any questions I'll answer them as best as I can. Bon Voyage!!!

[PSCruiser]

Great, detailed review! Doing the same cruise next Jan. Did I miss it- which night was the 2nd formal night?

[Honeymooner3310]

Great Review. I will be on my honeymoon cruise for the same trip in May. We can't wait.

How was the tendering in Cozumel?

[green eyed lady]

Thanks for the great review. We will be on her in July. A couple of questions...when you go to Labadee, do you just take the tender and you are on the beach? I guess this is like their private island? What do you have to pay for there besides the water park? Is there a charge for the BBQ lunch?

Thanks.

[mikats]

Hi, I was on the same cruise with you on the same deck!!! Room 1589.Great review.I totally agree with you on all points. Did you go to Johnny Rockets? I was happy that the rain we got didn't last all day.I cannot wait to go back again.I am wondering if anyone knows how to communicate with someone on the ship-a crew member. Can anyone help me on this?:)

[kimsbfl]

Hey Mikats, we were practically neighbours in 1563. I didn't go to Johnny Rockets, we have one nearby. Sorry, don't know how to communicate with crew members. Did you find you were still swaying with the ship after you came home? I think I'm settled now.:)

 

Jen, you just tender in Labadee and it's all yours. It is owned by RCCL so no other ships are there. The only thing you have to pay for is booze. Your seapass works at the bars so you don't need to pay cash.

 

PScruiser, The second formal night was Thursday.

 

Honeymooner, tendering in Cozumel was busy with it being the only tender that you needed to obtain tickets for ( they're free just manages the crowds better ).

 

Ohhhh, I wish I were back. They're all in Labadee right now:( !

[mikats]

No swaying when I got home. It felt good to be on a bed that didn't move!! But I was tired after a 8 hr drive home so I didn't really feel a thing. Hate to be back at work and am already looking for another good deal so I can go back!! If you hear of any way to contact ship crewmembers, give me a shout.Thanks.:) :)

[msbookworm]

I'm going on this cruise March 26th (my first cruise) and have read yes and no for tipping for room service. Some have said it's included in the recommended tips and some say tip $1 or $2 dollars. What is the guidelines (if any) for room service? Thanks!

[jckvpa0]

I'm going on this cruise March 26th (my first cruise) and have read yes and no for tipping for room service. Some have said it's included in the recommended tips and some say tip $1 or $2 dollars. What is the guidelines (if any) for room service? Thanks!

 

The only time they would add a tip in is if you ordered a beverage that they charge you for. I always give a $2.00 bill no matter what.

[jimmyatc]

Absolutely outstanding review!! We can't wait to go on our first cruise on May21st on the Mariner.

 

I have one question for you.....where is Chops located? I could not find it on the RCL Mariner virtual map.

 

Thanks :)

[vermontvoyager]

The Mariner is a great ship. We sailed on her this past October with our 2 teen sons and loved it.

It sounds like your experience on Mariner pretty much summed up our experience on Mariner.

We will return some day after we try out some more ships.

Bob:)

[vermontvoyager]

Absolutely outstanding review!! We can't wait to go on our first cruise on May21st on the Mariner.

 

I have one question for you.....where is Chops located? I could not find it on the RCL Mariner virtual map.

 

Thanks :)

Chops is located just off to the right once you enter the Windjammer.

Bob:)

[kimsbfl]

Hi,

 

Yes, we always tipped room service. Usually $2.00.They were pretty quick and always thought of everything ie condiments, etc

[Boxer_Mom]

We leave weekend after next and are so looking forward to it! :D :D DH made me watch someone's home video set to music from Cruiseclues.com last night and it made me even more anxious!

Was there good sushi @ Jade in the Windjammer?

[mikats]

Hey BoxerMom. I just got back from a dream trip on the Mariner. Have a great time.If you happen to see a crew member working mostly around the pool area serving drinks named Marvin Purcell, please tell him Kimberly says hi. He's great!!! I can't wait to go back.

[cruisinfever]

We were on the same cruise. Wasn't it just awesome. This was our best vacation ever. We went to the love and marriage show. Your husband was pretty funny. Didn't you love the Captain. He was the best Captain we've had so far on the Cruise. We also went to Chops. Never had such a great Filet Mignon. We were 7 people at our table and they brought all the vegetables and side dishes they offer as family style. I think that's something new - they did not do that last year.

 

I have been reminiscing all day about the cruise. Wish it would not have gone by so quickly. I must admit I was tired when getting home. I don't get much sleep on a cruise because I don't want to miss anything.

 

Anyone who is going on the Mariner is in for a wonderful vacation.

[TheDMan]

I have a question. Other than the love and marriage show, how were the other shows? I was just on the Costa Mediterranea and Iabsolutly loved the shows. I'm just curious if the entertainment is good.

[will7260]

Great review!

This was our 7th cruise (3 Royal C., 3 Celebrity) and this was our favorite ship. The ice show is awesome! Capt. Johnny was the best captain so far-always funny and entertaining. The chocolate soft serve yogurt, wish I had a cone now......

We were on deck 9 and loved it!

Pam

[kimsbfl]

As far as shows go, they are topnotch. Don't miss Quest, we caught the tail end and miss seeing all of it. We were enjoying a late dinner at Chops that night. When we got to Quest it was hysterical. The ice show and the salute to the 80's was really good as was the comedy duo. The only show we didn't enjoy was a male entertainer/Barry Manilow type. Not our taste.

 

Have fun!!!

 

Wish it were us going again. One week is just too short. Too much to do, next time back to back cruises, well I can dream, can't I?

 

Kim

[TheDMan]

Hey thanks Kim. I can't wait until Sept. You're right a week just isn't enough time, I would love to do a b2b.