Back from the Mariner

[cruisinchick1]

Just wanted to leave some Mariner feedback.

Embarkation: Very smooth and quick - on the ship by 11:45

Rooms: Very nice, larger D category balcony rooms offer a bit more space

lots of closet/storage, shower is great - no shower curtain to cling to your butt, love those doors! Beds need to be replaced however !!!! large dip in middle due to wear.

Dining: staff in all diningrooms very good, courteous and friendly.

Food: So-So, not the best, not the most variety but passable. Chops was worth the charge, food was excellent there.

Bars: Good drinks - Vintages Wine Bar was a great hangout.

Stores: Good cruise selection, very typical cruise line stuff.

Entertainment: So-So, other cruise lines have RCCL beat on this, but it was ok, nothing to write home about. The Ice Show is good though we did not get tickets this time around, they MUST find a better system, it is NOt fair that every passenger does not get to see this while on board, there were hoards of people getting tickets (12 or more some were getting) then the night of the show only a couple of people showed up to watch, NOT FAIR!!!! There MUST be a better system and RCCL MUST find it !!!!!

Promenade: Greta place to watch the "zoo parade" - what an eye opener to see some of your fellow cruisers....

Room service: Good, not very quick, but efficient

Disembarkation: Nightmare - trying to get your luggage off the conveyor belt is lousy, I like the terminal system better, where all are seperated by colors you go there and get yours. We had 2 cabins and had different color tags, so we ended up waiting 1 hour till the other color tags came around only to find out that they were actually in another room on a different conveyor. This is truly the only complaint that I have about the entire cruise.

[suezyq50]

You mentioned the beds. We had to reschudule our cruise due to Mariner going into dry dock in April. Beds should be replaced than.

[luv2cruise88]

Thanks for the review--I leave for the Mariner on sunday-- cant wait! hopefully the beds wont be too bad although I think I'll be so tired at the end of the day I won't even notice:)

[luv2cruise88]

Thanks for the review--I leave for the Mariner on sunday-- cant wait! hopefully the beds wont be too bad although I think I'll be so tired at the end of the day I won't even notice:)

[powelweb]

what a disaster! We sailed on 11/26, I went down early and took 1 look at the line and went back to my cabin for another 30 minutes- yes big line THAT early.

 

When I was in line, there appeared to be several different people around the entrance to studio b handing out tickets to these mob clusters that had formed around them.

 

I'd see pushy guests push their way past those of us who were trying to wait patiently and a few minutes later they'd be walking away with tickets, so then more people would push forward. There was 1 guy near me who said he was picking up tickets for his group of 45- and yes someone gave him 45 tickets.

 

A TIP - I learned this onboard, if you show up right before the ice show starts, and there are empty seats, they will let you in without a ticket.

 

We had tickets for the first showing (and missed dinner to attend), but there were many seats along the sides of the rink that were open.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise- Wendy

[nlcentralchmps03]

Just wanted to leave some Mariner feedback.

Embarkation: Very smooth and quick - on the ship by 11:45

Rooms: Very nice, larger D category balcony rooms offer a bit more space

lots of closet/storage, shower is great - no shower curtain to cling to your butt, love those doors! Beds need to be replaced however !!!! large dip in middle due to wear.

Dining: staff in all diningrooms very good, courteous and friendly.

Food: So-So, not the best, not the most variety but passable. Chops was worth the charge, food was excellent there.

Bars: Good drinks - Vintages Wine Bar was a great hangout.

Stores: Good cruise selection, very typical cruise line stuff.

Entertainment: So-So, other cruise lines have RCCL beat on this, but it was ok, nothing to write home about. The Ice Show is good though we did not get tickets this time around, they MUST find a better system, it is NOt fair that every passenger does not get to see this while on board, there were hoards of people getting tickets (12 or more some were getting) then the night of the show only a couple of people showed up to watch, NOT FAIR!!!! There MUST be a better system and RCCL MUST find it !!!!!

Promenade: Greta place to watch the "zoo parade" - what an eye opener to see some of your fellow cruisers....

Room service: Good, not very quick, but efficient

Disembarkation: Nightmare - trying to get your luggage off the conveyor belt is lousy, I like the terminal system better, where all are seperated by colors you go there and get yours. We had 2 cabins and had different color tags, so we ended up waiting 1 hour till the other color tags came around only to find out that they were actually in another room on a different conveyor. This is truly the only complaint that I have about the entire cruise.

Captain?

 

Cruise Director?

[lakemom]

we were on the christmas cruise. captain was named per saw him once playing air hockey with his 9 year old son. and cruise directer was philup "can i get a whoop whoop?" it was ok the beds weent so bad if you ask for an eggcrate. at least the sheets were nice and and soft! times for things were very regimented: forinstance frozen yogert only between noon and 6. also heavy on use of hand sanitizer stuff untill the last day and they get lax. also had trouble with keys needed 6 new ones. alternate restaurants not worth it in my book.

[nlcentralchmps03]

we were on the christmas cruise. captain was named per saw him once playing air hockey with his 9 year old son. and cruise directer was philup "can i get a whoop whoop?" it was ok the beds weent so bad if you ask for an eggcrate. at least the sheets were nice and and soft! times for things were very regimented: forinstance frozen yogert only between noon and 6. also heavy on use of hand sanitizer stuff untill the last day and they get lax. also had trouble with keys needed 6 new ones. alternate restaurants not worth it in my book.

Any word on what happened with Becky?

[HunnyBunnyTink]

She was on the 12/17 cruise up until that thurs when I heard that she slipped on the ice rink and hurt her back and had to be taken to the hospital to get it checked out but that she is doing ok now.

[bigsky]

Those were the worst beds we've ever slept on!!!! Yes, large dips in the middle of them. But we're going again in July on her...and hopefully we'll have new beds! :D

[nlcentralchmps03]

We were on the new bedding on the Sovereign and it was fantastic!

[gsxrsquid]

Previously did two cruises, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Glory.

This was our first and last cruise on RC.

Everyone we talked to told us if we like carnival we would love royal caribbean. We went on board expecting to be wowed.. I am working on a review and will post in near future.

 

Overall I felt the ship had half the crew Carnival had to take care of passengers. the funny thing was in Cozumel I heard people talking who had been on Carnival before saying the same thing. Achemd and Leonardo the waiters were awesome but obviously had too many tables to cover.

 

On Carnival if you left room and came back you dould see they had been there ans straightened up, even if it was 5 or 6 times a day. On Mariner if you didn't get bed made before noon it would not get done until after 8.30 that evening.

 

Food was everage, no where as good as Carnical. The shows were good. Several crew memebers told me Carnival was known for food and RC for entertainment. It fit with what I had seen.

 

All cruise ships do what they can to make money but I felt I could not move without RCs hand in my pocket. Slots on Mariner are the tightest I have ever seen in my life. You expect to lose money on a slot but you want to enjoy it a little, not just have the machine suck it down without a burp.

 

The promenade deck was worse than cozumel. you couldn't move in the evenings because all the junk on sale.

 

The shows were great though. saw the variety show and the adult late night show and the ice show was excellent.

 

Food was average. Ate at chops. what a rip with the "cover charge" This weekend I am going to Black angus in panama city for for less than we spent on chops are going to have an awesome steak dinnner.

[gsxrsquid]

Previously did two cruises, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Glory.

This was our first and last cruise on RC.

Everyone we talked to told us if we like carnival we would love royal caribbean. We went on board expecting to be wowed.. I am working on a review and will post in near future.

 

Overall I felt the ship had half the crew Carnival had to take care of passengers. the funny thing was in Cozumel I heard people talking who had been on Carnival before saying the same thing. Achemd and Leonardo the waiters were awesome but obviously had too many tables to cover.

 

On Carnival if you left room and came back you dould see they had been there ans straightened up, even if it was 5 or 6 times a day. On Mariner if you didn't get bed made before noon it would not get done until after 8.30 that evening.

 

Food was everage, no where as good as Carnical. The shows were good. Several crew memebers told me Carnival was known for food and RC for entertainment. It fit with what I had seen.

 

All cruise ships do what they can to make money but I felt I could not move without RCs hand in my pocket. Slots on Mariner are the tightest I have ever seen in my life. You expect to lose money on a slot but you want to enjoy it a little, not just have the machine suck it down without a burp.

 

The promenade deck was worse than cozumel. you couldn't move in the evenings because all the junk on sale.

 

The shows were great though. saw the variety show and the adult late night show and the ice show was excellent.

 

Food was average. Ate at chops. what a rip with the "cover charge" This weekend I am going to Black angus in panama city for for less than we spent on chops are going to have an awesome steak dinnner.

[jandjfun]

Previously did two cruises, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Glory.

This was our first and last cruise on RC.

Everyone we talked to told us if we like carnival we would love royal caribbean. We went on board expecting to be wowed.. I am working on a review and will post in near future.

 

Overall I felt the ship had half the crew Carnival had to take care of passengers. the funny thing was in Cozumel I heard people talking who had been on Carnival before saying the same thing. Achemd and Leonardo the waiters were awesome but obviously had too many tables to cover.

 

On Carnival if you left room and came back you dould see they had been there ans straightened up, even if it was 5 or 6 times a day. On Mariner if you didn't get bed made before noon it would not get done until after 8.30 that evening.

 

Food was everage, no where as good as Carnical. The shows were good. Several crew memebers told me Carnival was known for food and RC for entertainment. It fit with what I had seen.

 

All cruise ships do what they can to make money but I felt I could not move without RCs hand in my pocket. Slots on Mariner are the tightest I have ever seen in my life. You expect to lose money on a slot but you want to enjoy it a little, not just have the machine suck it down without a burp.

 

The promenade deck was worse than cozumel. you couldn't move in the evenings because all the junk on sale.

 

The shows were great though. saw the variety show and the adult late night show and the ice show was excellent.

 

Food was average. Ate at chops. what a rip with the "cover charge" This weekend I am going to Black angus in panama city for for less than we spent on chops are going to have an awesome steak dinnner.

You probably didn't get your bed made because the room steward has :) "off hours" during the day, then comes back and works in the evening .