Review: Mariner of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean

[jcgrim]

A little long, but I hope I got everything. This was our first cruise and I was a little nervous about some of the stops and things but everything could not have gone better!!!

 

 

Embarkation – Boarding the ship was smooth and EASY! We arrived at the port around noon, the only waiting part was for dropping off the luggage with the porters. Once we were able to pull to the curb and unload everything, we never really waited again. We were on the ship by 12:45 or so.

 

Our stateroom – Once we arrived on the ship we went straight to our Balcony Stateroom on the 9th Deck. The stateroom was in perfect condition. A very large queen sized bed, fairly good sized bathroom (in fact it was bigger than the bathroom in the suite we stayed in the night before our wedding). Plenty of closet space, drawers and cabinets. I brought some extra over the door storage, but it definitely wasn’t needed. As we were going in we met our stateroom attendant who happened to be right outside our room. She was AWESOME!!! (I will elaborate more later on.) In fact, she already knew we were on our honeymoon and called Christina by Mrs. Our last name. Christina was blown away by this. What a GREAT start to the cruise.

 

The tour – After we dropped our stuff off we had a lot of time before the muster drill and decided it was time for a tour. The ship was incredible. We went down to the Royal Promenade first, they already had a sidewalk greeting set up with free samples of alcohol and free coupons from all the different stores and things to do on the ship. It was a great introduction for people that hadn’t cruised before. We got free samples, money off on spa treatments that we planned on doing, coupons to Johnny Rockets, some shopping guidance, and a lot of friendly people truly excited to greet everyone boarding. Next we visited the two theatres on board, these were magnificent theatres and we really looked forward to the shows that they had planned. Now on to the Pool decks where we would spend a lot of time. There were three pools (1 adult and 2 for everyone) and about 8 hot tubs.

 

The ship was magnificent and we couldn’t wait for the week to start.

 

The Ships staff – Let me just say, everyone on board was UNBELIEVABLE!!! We didn’t have one bad experience. Our stateroom attendant was incredible, we couldn’t even leave a piece of trash in our rooms trash can or it would be gone by the next time we came back. She came in at least three times a day always remembered our name and like I said always called Christina by her new last name which she LOVED. Our dining room waiter was also very good. It took us a few days to get used to his accent but he was great. Always ready to bring us more, we never had to wait for a second helping of anything and we never really had any downtime waiting on him. His assistant always knew what we wanted to drink and what bread we liked, she knew us better than we did by the end of the cruise. It seemed like everyone on board knew we were on our honeymoon. We never saw anyone that wasn’t happy to be at work and happy to help us with anything we needed. We couldn’t believe the caliber of the staff on board. And for that reason we will never sail another cruise line!!

 

Shows – They had so many things planned over the course of the week, but the schedule was perfect, no show was to long and not too much overlapped. Here is a list of the things we did:

Welcome aboard parade – This was great, a parade through the “downtown” part of the ship! What could be better on the first night.

The comedian show – HILARIOUS, he did two shows while we were there. One was for everyone and it was pretty funny. But the second one was for adults only and it was hilarious. Definitely a must see.

Captains welcome aboard – This was on the first formal night and was great, everyone got champagne and got to meet the captain (Captain Johnny). He then introduced all the heads of each staff and gave a lot of info on the ship. He is a very funny guy and I will make sure he is the captain for the next cruise I take!

The Ice Show – This show was incredible, another must see while you are on board.

The Love and Marriage show – This show was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It is very similar to the Newlyweds game show, but it has a little twist. We laughed for almost and hour straight!!!

Quest – Another HILARIOUS show, I couldn’t believe the things people would do for prizes it was CRAZY, almost funnier than the Love and Marriage show. If you aren’t interested in the Love and Marriage Show then you HAVE to see this show!!!

Karaoke Idol – During the course of the week, there were 4 preliminary rounds to qualify for the final Karaoke Idol competition, we didn’t go to all the rounds but we did go to the final and it was actually pretty good. They did however show a blooper real from the week and there were a lot of funny tryouts.

 

The Relaxation days – There is always something to do on board. We spent a fair amount of time out by the pool relaxing, only downfall was finding a chair, but that wasn’t a big deal, we just walked around for a minute or two and we always found one. We also decided to each have a deep tissue massage in the spa. The spa as expected was a little pricey but as honeymooners we were able to get 20% off so that was pretty nice. All the spa therapists were great and very helpful. We even got a tour of the spa before hand to help us pick out the massage we wanted. All in all the relaxation days were great. We had 2 days at sea then 3 days at ports then 2 more days at sea, so we spent a lot of time on the sea days just relaxing or checking out the different things on the boat.

 

 

A little suprise - The night of the midnight chocolate buffet we met the Executive chef, he was an awesome guy and we were offered to be two of the 6 people to get a personal tour of the Galley, it was unbelievable!!! They server 3400 people and over 11,000 meals a day!!! The operation was flawless and what I could not believe, is the Galley was so clean you could eat off the floor. I was blown away!!!!

 

 

 

Food!!!–

For breakfast we mostly went to the Windjammer buffet every morning. This was the best choice because they had so much to choose from, there is no way anyone couldn’t find something they like. One morning we ordered room service, and this was excellent. We ordered a breakfast and it came standard with a full plate of assorted pastries as well as what we ordered.

For lunch – The windjammer buffet was also the best choice as they always had something for everyone and it is free. But I MUST suggest Johnny Rockets, its only a $3.95 cover charge and the service and food was AWESOME! In fact both the waiters we had didn’t even charge us for sodas, which the menu said those weren’t included. To start off you got unlimited Fries and Onion Rings with Ranch sauce. Then you could order anything off the menu including deserts and you could order as much as you like! We did this twice over the week. We also were able to come back on the ship on the port days to eat lunch as we didn’t have any tendered ports so we ate for free almost every day!

For dinner – The dining room is obviously the best choice as it is free and the service is top notch! We had everything from Chicken to lobster and it’s a full 5 course meal every night. But two out of the seven nights we ate other places. One night we ate at Jade the Asian cuisine. Christina really wanted the Sushi so we tried it. It wasn’t the best we had but it was alright, and it was buffet style so you could get whatever you wanted. The other night (actually the last night), we decided to do a date night at Chops Steakhouse. Its an extra $20 per person but it is WELL WORTH IT. I must suggest that everyone try this at least once on their cruise. They had all kinds of steaks, but Christina and I both ordered the Filet Migon and everything was excellent!!! The service was great, we even had a team of 2 waiters per table. It was a very nice way to end the cruise. Don’t forget to make the reservation on the first night because they fill up very fast.

 

Ports –

San Juan – This was our first stop. And definitely not our favorite. We weren’t sure what to do here due to the fact we were here from 4-11pm. So we decided to just stick with the shopping and a view of downtown. It was only $5 to get to downtown via Taxi. Word of warning the Taxi drivers are CRAZY, hold on for dear life! The downtown area is alright, we didn’t really buy anything, but if you are looking for jewelry there is a lot of it. Then we decided to visit the famous Sr. Frogs. This place was awesome! Everybody should head down there and at least try the YARD. It was also the middle of spring break so that made the place a little busier than normal, but that made it even better! We then headed back to the pier where we stopped and purchased a LOT of alcohol. Prices were perfect and no tax or duty!!!

St. Thomas – This was our next stop and probably the best. We had an excursion planned here to go snorkeling at Buck Island. Our guide was waiting for us right off the ship. We took the catamaran tour that only had 6 people on it and we got a lot of one on one attention. I definitely suggest this trip over any of the others I was hearing about. They took us out to Buck Island and a guide got in the water with us. He knew his way around and was very helpful in taking all of our cameras and taking pictures deep in the water of the marine life and of us. He even took us over to a place in the coral where he feeds a squid each time they come out. This was awesome, he got the squid to come out of the hole and little and we could see it completely clear! We got a good hour and a half in the water and his ship was the only one where his insurance covered everyone not to have to wear a life jacket. The water was so salty that you floated pretty freely anyway. This was great because I hate those huge life vests that hinder you from moving around. I know how to swim so this was perfect! When we got out of the water he had rum punch and pretzels ready for us and it was a great ride back, telling us where to shop and what to do for the rest of the day. When we got back we had time to get back on the ship, change clothes, eat lunch then head back out to shopping. The shopping area is a little away from the ship but it was much nicer than San Juan. We did a lot of souvenir shopping here and found everything we wanted and more! Once we did that we decided we had to see Megans Bay, one of the top 10 beaches in the world rated by National Geographic. So it was a nice taxi ride over there, one suggestion if you want to do this, do it as early as possible because it is very hard to find a Taxi to take you over there in the afternoon, all they want to do is go back and forth to the ship and downtown. But we found one and we saw the most beautiful beach I have every seen! The water was clear the sand was perfect it was great! We even saw a wild iguana (pretty big!) on the beach, it was crazy!

St. Maarten – Here is where we got to swim with the dolphins!!! I must warn everyone that if you try to do this on your own it will cost a fair amount more than the ships excursion but it is well worth it!!! After a taxi ride then a ferry ride and then another taxi ride, we finally got to the dolphin discovery which was out in the middle of no where. Once we got there it was awesome. First they have a little pool of different sea animals that they let you hold. Then they take you down to their wine cellar for viewing of the dolphins through the glass and a short training video. Then you are ready to swim with the dolphins. You get to be in the water with them for about an hour, where they pull you by their dorsal fins and they push your feet and push you out of the water. We had 6 people in our group and 2 dolphins. It was an excellent experience. One I wouldn’t trade for anything. We bought the DVD they produced (it was excellent!!!!) and 4 pictures. Well worth it! Then we headed back to the ship where we had time to change clothes and eat again. Then it was a little overcast so we decided to stay near the shopping by the ship where we got to purchase a few more souvenirs and some alcohol. We even found Absinith!!!!! This port was excellent. There were a few more things to do, like Orient Beach and the downtown shopping but we were pretty beat after the trip over to the dolphins.

 

Debarkation - Pretty smooth. One suggestion I would make is to make sure you put on the form that you have somewhere to be at 10:30 so that they give you the early times to get off. Thats what we did and it went perfectly. The lines are a little long, but you have to expect that

 

 

 

 

 

The cruise was AWESOME!!! The weather was excellent!! The service was perfect!! I would recommend this cruise to anyone. You can’t go wrong. This was the perfect honeymoon!!

[ciship]

So glad you had a great time and a beautiful honeymoon! Thanks for the Eastern review and Congratulations!!!

[afdds]

What a wonderful review! I'm so glad you had a great cruise and wonderful honeymoon. We leave on the Mariner this Sunday! Can't wait! We have never been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. Our daughter just turned 18 and I have paid to have her cabin decorated. Can't wait to see her face.

[mark290]

Thanks for the great review.

 

I think of those things that don't cost extra on the ship as included rather than free :)

[cocoabeana]

Hey I was on the Mariner with you. I agree with everything you said. this was my second time on the Mariner. The weather was great as was the serivce from everyone. Disappointed with San Juan. did not even get off the ship. I found out that the Celebrity Infinity (that was next to us in St. Martin) was the ship that went to Cocoa Cay instead of us. They usually go to San Juan but booked this island for a private charter. Figures they go and pick our week. Oh well still an awesome cruise. congratulations on your marriage.

Sue

[jcgrim]

Thanks everyone, I guess included is better since we did pay a nice price :) But free just made it sound so much better.

 

Wow I can't believe the other ship booked it privately. They did have a special event on that ship though, so I found out.