Just Back Mariner Eastern 2/4-2/11/07

[katiel53]

bjlabby,
Portofino is an Italian restaurant, but they have a great filet mignon. I much prefer going to Portofino instead of Chops. I love the pasta course that has ribbon pasta with mascarpone portabello mushroom sauce. It is to die for. There are so many good items on the menu. Tiramisu or flourless chocolate cake, yum.

Chops is a steakhouse with the normal steakhouse food. They have many good steakhouses where we live, so Portofino is my choice always. I do have to say in Chops there are several different steaks whereas in Portofino, the only type is filet mignon.

I can't wait to get there in May.

Katie

[suezyq50]

Thanks for an excellent review. We are on the Marnier May 13th. I like to plan ahead of time. Trying to decide Chops or Portofinos.
Where in "northwest GA" do you live?

[Curlygurl]

Where do you go to make a reservation for these restuarants? They sound great and would hate to miss out on trying at least one of them!:rolleyes:

[winncove]

You need to make your reserv. ASAP in person @ the restaurant or by phone. We also did Portofino on the same cruise as Kittymom & loved it. Had done Chops on the Serenade last Sept. & wouldn't you know I'd be the one to get a dried out filet..twice! A one in a million chance, but it sorta soured me on Chops. Ck out the Portofino menu [search..there are several posted]. I never thot I'd pay for Italian @ sea but the choices are fantastic and so worth it! Have to go there again for the mushroom appetizer. Can't remember what I did get but know I couldn't eat all of anything. Even wasted 1/2 my filet, :( , & took my dessert to my rm.

Hey Sharon & Anthony! Glad you were as impressed w/the Mariner as we are. Have our 5th booked for Jan. 27th @ this time. Beautiful, great sevice & we thought the shows were above avg this time! Skipped the 1st one figuring it would be same old, same old. PC is so easy to get to from here & so far never a problem w/embark or disembark. I still have to ck the plans by the elevators sometimes for the diff. show areas, [which way do we turn?!] but then I'm an old lady! I was excited about San Juan but have to disagree w/you on that one thing. We thot it was too crowded [5 ships in port didn't help], dirty [trash bags on the sidewalks too] & rundown. Wish now we'd been able to get to Coco Cay but then I might be planning a more expensive cruise from San Juan!. You did a great job w/your review. Did you see the Drifters were on the next W. leg ? I was surprised that we enjoyed their show so much since the originals are older than we are! Cya @ sea again?

All of you waiting for the Mariner: it will be fantastic. First timers have no idea! Hope you get there b4 Becky Luv leaves. Now I understand all the hype about her! Never lucky enuf to have had her b4.

[cappy09]

How do you get in touch with Bernard in St Maarten. Would like to book him on our next cruise that goes to the Caribbean. Sounds like he gave you a great cruise

[Arizona Laura]

We used Bernard in St Martin last month and he was great.
Sometimes he passes his groups to others like Victor I have read.
We had a group of 14 and it was awesome. I still hear from the group all the time how they loved the tour.
Try your best to stay with him.
Make sure you go to see the planes at Maho.
Bernard can be reached at [EMAIL="info@sxmtours.com"]info@sxmtours.com[/EMAIL]
Have a great cruise.
Laura

[kittymom65]

[quote name='cruzlover']Thanks so much for the amazing review! I felt like I was on the trip with you. Your dinner choices sounded great. My travel agent was on the Mariner in December and brought me the compasses but I would love to see the menus. Do you happen to have them or did you take pictures of them. We're sailing in April, doing the Western itinerary.[/quote]

Sorry, I did not get copies of the menus, but they do post them outside the dining rooms each day so you can check them out before dinner.

[kittymom65]

[quote name='bjlabby']Great Review... Less than 100 days till we're on Mariner and we're itching like crazy! I have a couple of questions that you might be able to answer:

1. Where is Chops on the ship? I looked at the Deck Plans on the RCCL website, but didn't see it anywhere. If you could only choose one, Chops or Portofino's which would it be, especially if you wanted to get a good steak? From your review, I'd guess it would be Portofino's, but I got the impression that was more of an Italian restaurant.

2. If your day at Coco Cay hadn't been scrubbed, would the first formal night been on your first full day at Sea (Day 3), instead of Day (2)?

Thanks for any answers![/quote]

As soon as you walk into the Windjammer, Chops is on your left, and Portofino is on your right. I think it is a matter of personal opinion about which is better. If you want the American steak house experience, with lots of steak and meat choices, the go to Chops. The only steak on the menu at Portofino is the filet, but it was wonderful. The other menu selections there were mostly seafood. I think the fact that the steak there was cooked with roasted garlic put it over the top for me--I think I could eat garlic off a car bumper.;)

The first formal night, to my knowledge, was always going to be day 2, regardless of whether we made it to CocoCay or not.

have a great cruise, wish I could go with you!

[kittymom65]

[quote name='Buterfly3547']What are C&A coupons? We are going in November. Just started reading your review. So far it's excellent. Very helpful.[/quote]

Thank you!
C & A coupons are Crown & Anchor Society coupons. You are eligible for membership after your first cruise, and then you are gold level C & A member. It then goes up by the number of cruises you take, and the coupons get better and better (or so I hear). Just about the best perk in the gold book is free trip to Johnny Rockets, and buy get one free drinks.

[kittymom65]

[quote name='suezyq50']Thanks for an excellent review. We are on the Marnier May 13th. I like to plan ahead of time. Trying to decide Chops or Portofinos.
Where in "northwest GA" do you live?[/quote]

I see you are in Rome, we are about 45 minutes north of you in Dalton, or as most people know it, the Carpet Capital of the World.
Hi neighbor!!!

[kittymom65]

[quote name='suezyq50']Thanks for an excellent review. We are on the Marnier May 13th. I like to plan ahead of time. Trying to decide Chops or Portofinos.
Where in "northwest GA" do you live?[/quote]

I see you are in Rome, we are about 45 minutes north of you in Dalton, or as most people know it, the Carpet Capital of the World.
Hi neighbor!!!

[kittymom65]

[quote name='Curlygurl']Where do you go to make a reservation for these restuarants? They sound great and would hate to miss out on trying at least one of them!:rolleyes:[/quote]

You can go to the restaurant in person, or call from your stateroom. We went there literally as soon as we boarded the ship, so that we could get our preferred day and time

[kittymom65]

[quote name='winncove']You need to make your reserv. ASAP in person @ the restaurant or by phone. We also did Portofino on the same cruise as Kittymom & loved it. Had done Chops on the Serenade last Sept. & wouldn't you know I'd be the one to get a dried out filet..twice! A one in a million chance, but it sorta soured me on Chops. Ck out the Portofino menu [search..there are several posted]. I never thot I'd pay for Italian @ sea but the choices are fantastic and so worth it! Have to go there again for the mushroom appetizer. Can't remember what I did get but know I couldn't eat all of anything. Even wasted 1/2 my filet, :( , & took my dessert to my rm.

Hey Sharon & Anthony! Glad you were as impressed w/the Mariner as we are. Have our 5th booked for Jan. 27th @ this time. Beautiful, great sevice & we thought the shows were above avg this time! Skipped the 1st one figuring it would be same old, same old. PC is so easy to get to from here & so far never a problem w/embark or disembark. I still have to ck the plans by the elevators sometimes for the diff. show areas, [which way do we turn?!] but then I'm an old lady! I was excited about San Juan but have to disagree w/you on that one thing. We thot it was too crowded [5 ships in port didn't help], dirty [trash bags on the sidewalks too] & rundown. Wish now we'd been able to get to Coco Cay but then I might be planning a more expensive cruise from San Juan!. You did a great job w/your review. Did you see the Drifters were on the next W. leg ? I was surprised that we enjoyed their show so much since the originals are older than we are! Cya @ sea again?

All of you waiting for the Mariner: it will be fantastic. First timers have no idea! Hope you get there b4 Becky Luv leaves. Now I understand all the hype about her! Never lucky enuf to have had her b4.[/quote]

Hi Del & Jerry! We loved the Mariner, and we are so glad we got to meet you! We will be booking for the same week next year (I think 2/3 is the sail date we are looking at as of now) in the next few weeks. I hate that we will not get to go again while Becky is still there. I guess that means we are going to have to bite the bullet and get down to Miami for the Liberty before too long.
I wish we could sail as often as you guys, I really don't think we would ever get tired of it.
Hope to see you on board, luv!

[kittymom65]

[quote name='cappy09']How do you get in touch with Bernard in St Maarten. Would like to book him on our next cruise that goes to the Caribbean. Sounds like he gave you a great cruise[/quote]

email at [EMAIL="info@sxmtours.com"]info@sxmtours.com[/EMAIL]
I think we ended up with Victor due to a mix up about the time we were to meet Bernard. My confirmation from him said 10 ship time, but when we met Victor at the info center at about 9:40 ship time, he said that Bernard had left at 10 their time, and we were late. Since I had printed my confirmation showing 10 ship time, I showed it to Victor, who quickly apologized for the mixup. We had a great time anyway, and I think Victor really tried to go out of his way to make the tour really great.

[love2vacation]

Thanks Kittymom65 for your great review- and letting me travel vicariously with you on vacation!:D

It will be a long 15 months till we go on our next one.:cool: