Lots of Questions??? Sailing on the Mariner

[Buterfly3547]

Hi, We are cruising on the Mariner if the Seas in Nov with our dd's age 3 & 5 our friends are cruising with us with there ds's age 4 & 6. We have many questions. All help is greatly appreciated!

 

1. Can we request all the children to be grouped together at the children's centers?

2. Are drinks and snacks provided in the children's centers or do we have to buy a drink card for them? We don't allow our children to drink much cola or juice so we would prefer not buy a drink card.

3. Will there we a way for us to be contacted if our children needed us?

4. Do you tip the councellors in the childrens centers?

5. When are the formal nights on the Mariner of the Seas Eastern Carribean cruise?

6. Can we bring wine onboard and pay for a corkage fee in the dining room? What is the cost?

7. Can you buy drink cards for cocktails?

8. We were thinking about doing one spa treatment what is the best one offered?

9. In St.Marteen and St. Thomas is it easy to get to a beach without purchasing an excursion? What are the best family beaches?

10. We are on deck 10. What time do we usually get of the cruise? We are planning 2 days in Disney and wanted some idea what time we would get off so we can plan our day?

11. Myself and DH cruise in 1999 on NCL and had to line up for customs at 4:45am because we weren't from the US by time we got through customs they were finished serving breakfast. Is this going to happen on RCL? It made for a very long day and we didn't have kids then!

12. Can you get icecream or frozen yogurt on board for free?

[jad7984]

I am sailing on the Mariner on March 18th and was wondering about free ice cream (#12) also!

 

If you'd like, I can try to find out the answers to your questions when I board in two weeks and come back to let you know.:)

[Buterfly3547]

I am sailing on the Mariner on March 18th and was wondering about free ice cream (#12) also!

 

If you'd like, I can try to find out the answers to your questions when I board in two weeks and come back to let you know.:)

 

That would be great! Thank you... have fun!

[cb at sea]

I can't answer your questions about the kid's club--mine are grown and gone--thank God!!!

You don't need to buy a soda card for anyone if you don't want to--they have lemonade and tea--basically water-based drinks--included in your fare. Cans of soda are $1.50 each--not unaffordable! There are no cards for alcohol!!!!

You don't need to buy excursions to get to the beach. Just grab a cab and go! Do some research beforehand to find out which beaches would suit you best! (Plenty of books in your library will have tons of info!!)

As far as getting off the ship--they try to have the ship empty by 10am--we're usually off by 8am!

We never get to eat prior to leaving--way too rushed. We eat AFTER we've left port. I don't know about the immigration/customs issue you may have.

Yes, there is frozen yogurt/ice cream in the Windjammer.

[kittymom65]

I can only address a few of these:

 

5. When are the formal nights on the Mariner of the Seas Eastern Carribean cruise?

 

Monday and Friday

 

9. In St.Marteen and St. Thomas is it easy to get to a beach without purchasing an excursion? What are the best family beaches?

 

We took the ferry to St. John from St. Thomas and went to Trunk Bay. It is beautiful, well worth the trip. It is very easy to get there and back.

As far as St. Maarten, most of the beaches on the French side (Orient, Maho) allow women to go to topless, so you may want to stay on the Dutch side.

 

12. Can you get icecream or frozen yogurt on board for free?

 

There is a free frozen yogurt machine on the pool deck.

[DonnaK]

Hi, We are cruising on the Mariner if the Seas in Nov with our dd's age 3 & 5 our friends are cruising with us with there ds's age 4 & 6. We have many questions. All help is greatly appreciated!

 

1. Can we request all the children to be grouped together at the children's centers?

2. Are drinks and snacks provided in the children's centers or do we have to buy a drink card for them? We don't allow our children to drink much cola or juice so we would prefer not buy a drink card.

3. Will there we a way for us to be contacted if our children needed us?

4. Do you tip the councellors in the childrens centers?

5. When are the formal nights on the Mariner of the Seas Eastern Carribean cruise?

6. Can we bring wine onboard and pay for a corkage fee in the dining room? What is the cost?

7. Can you buy drink cards for cocktails?

8. We were thinking about doing one spa treatment what is the best one offered?

9. In St.Marteen and St. Thomas is it easy to get to a beach without purchasing an excursion? What are the best family beaches?

10. We are on deck 10. What time do we usually get of the cruise? We are planning 2 days in Disney and wanted some idea what time we would get off so we can plan our day?

11. Myself and DH cruise in 1999 on NCL and had to line up for customs at 4:45am because we weren't from the US by time we got through customs they were finished serving breakfast. Is this going to happen on RCL? It made for a very long day and we didn't have kids then!

12. Can you get icecream or frozen yogurt on board for free?

 

1. There is no set answer to this. Sometimes they are very rigid about keeping children exactly in their age group, and sometimes they bend a little. I suppose it depends on how many children are on board in the various age groups and other factors like that. (My daughter was 2 weeks away from her 9th birthday, and they would not allow her to join her sister in the 9-11 group. They said she must try the 6-8 group for a day or two, and then if there was a real issue and she wouldn't stay, I can come back and ask again - surprisingly, it worked out better for them to be in separate groups.)

 

 

5. Last year, the formal nights on Mariner Eastern were Monday and Friday.

 

6. Again, there is no set answer to this. RCI's official policy is that no beverages can be brought onboard at all. Many people have walked right on with bottled water and soda in plain sight, and wine in their carryon, and other's have had it confiscated. Most people are successful wrapping their bottles of wine in bubble wrap or soft towels and then double bagging them in large ziplock, and putting them into their checked luggage. Once onboard, if you bring wine to the dining room, they will serve it to you, and sometimes they even forget to charge the corkage fee (I usually tell them it was sent as a gift from my travel agent).

 

9. In St Martin, the pier is less than a mile long, and lined with shops. At the end of the pier is a very nice beach where you can rent two chairs for $10 and they throw in 2 drinks too. If the walk is too long, you can get all-day wrist bands to ride the water taxi to and from the beach, ship and shopping area for about $5 per person (kids are free). In St Thomas, you can take a cab to the beach. You'll get good info on this on the Ports of Call boards.

 

12. At the entrance between the pool and the Widnjammer, there are free self-serve frozen yogurt machine.

 

Hope that helps and that someone else can provide answers to the rest of your questions.

[Willum UK]

6. Can we bring wine onboard and pay for a corkage fee in the dining room? What is the cost?

11. Myself and DH cruise in 1999 on NCL and had to line up for customs at 4:45am because we weren't from the US by time we got through customs they were finished serving breakfast. Is this going to happen on RCL? It made for a very long day and we didn't have kids then!

 

Hi,

 

I'm pretty sure the answer to 6 will be No. RCI do not allow you to bring alcohol on board to drink on board. If you bring it on it will be identified when they x-ray the baggage (every time you return) and will be retained for you and given back at the end of the cruise. Having said that some RCI ships are more careful about this than others.

Regarding 11 we too are not from the US and we were on Mariner last December. We were through Customs in less than 10 minutes - after our leisurely breakfast in the dining room. The longest we have ever had to wait to disembark and clear customs was about 25 minutes in Puerto Rico. There tend to be fewer people going through the non-US lines on disembarkation

Hope this helps:)

[Buterfly3547]

Hi,

 

Regarding 11 we too are not from the US and we were on Mariner last December. We were through Customs in less than 10 minutes - after our leisurely breakfast in the dining room. The longest we have ever had to wait to disembark and clear customs was about 25 minutes in Puerto Rico. There tend to be fewer people going through the non-US lines on disembarkation

Hope this helps:)

 

Thank you...that is very helpful. I know it was crazy for us last time on NCL . They demanded that everyone not from the US had to be in the lounge by 4:45am even though they never started processing us until 6:00am.

 

How do they process luggage tags and how you leave the ship? Is it done by your cabin number?

 

Everyone is being so helpful. Thank you...

[Buterfly3547]

Just reading a post about dining room seating and now I have another question.

 

What are the chances of the eight of us being seated by ourselves in the dining room? I would feel horrible if a couple without children had to sit with a 3,4,5 & 6 year old even though they are usually very pleasant and use to restaurants.

 

thanks...

[katiel53]

The luggage tags are given out by your cabin steward. They are based on many factors including suite cabins, diamond/plus status, flight times and other reasons that I am not sure about. If you and your friends have different color tags, just ask one of the cabin stewards and hopefully he/she will be able to get more of that color.

 

If you have your TA link your reservations and ask for a table for 8, you may be able to get it. We usually ask for a table for 6 and have been very lucky getting what we wanted, but others have posted they couldn't do so.

 

Enjoy Mariner.

 

Katie

[DonnaK]

Just reading a post about dining room seating and now I have another question.

 

What are the chances of the eight of us being seated by ourselves in the dining room? I would feel horrible if a couple without children had to sit with a 3,4,5 & 6 year old even though they are usually very pleasant and use to restaurants.

 

thanks...

 

 

Chances are good that you'd all be seated at one table for 8. They usually take demographics into consideration whenever possible. If a couple were seated at your table, and were unhappy, they could request a change. On the first day, the maitre'd receives a lot of change requests, and reorganizes the seating chart to accomodate most of them by the next night.

[Inshape]

Been on Mariner twice and other RCI ships. Most of your questions have been answered. When cruising in Nov, if on holiday week then there will be too many kids to move anyone. On non-holiday weeks and not many kids they will allow your older to move down into the younger group. As a matter of fact this past Oct when we were on MOS they offered our almost 11 yr old daugher the opportunity to go into the 12-15 group. This was unheard of and they said they saw she was bored with the 9-11's. She did not move since she made a friend and wanted to stay with her...but rarely went into AO. She just hung out with the girl. As far as St Thomas: It is very expensive to get around there-cabs charge per person. And a 10 min ride could cost you 7$ pp once way. maybe look into renting a large car and going with your friends to one of the beaches. Read about all of the beaches on the ports of call room and you can figure which one to go to which will suit your needs. Trunk Island is great if you can leave the kids behind and do snorkeling...but you have a lot of young kids and I would not recommend this. As far as St Marteen goes, Bikini Beach has been a favorite of ours. It has a snack shop, bathrooms, nice beach, bar, and many things to do like parasailing and jetskiing. It is the beach to the left of Orient. We did see some topless bathers but this is a European style area and it was fine. Too bad you are not doing Disney first and then the cruise. if you can change that I sure would. The cruise is so relaxing and a Disney vacation is not. You will need another vacation after Disney. First of all it is non stop lines, and 24/7 with the kids, unlike a cruise. If you cannot switch it, you can be off the ship as early as 10 if all goes well. You could do self-assist with each kid pulling their own luggage and get off when you want. That is what we do. We are called too early so we go and eat breakfast and leave when we want with our luggage. The cabin steward always says it is ok to leave the stuff until 8:30 ish so we are usually off by 9.Yes there are soft serve yogurt in cones by the pool. Ben & Jerrys in on deck 5 but there is a charge. We never buy soda cards and the kids are fine. There is plenty of water available to the kids if in the AO with water fountains there. There is plenty to drink without soda--juice, ice tea, punch, and water.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Have a couple of answers for you...in St. Thomas the kids would enjoy Coral World-kind of like a big mostly outdoor aquarium (hire a cab to get there). We took our 2 1/2 year old granddaughter and she absolutely loved it. Go on their website and there are coupons. There is a beach adjoining it-Coki Beach. Coki is free and you can go back into Coral World with your admission writbands to use the bathrooms and showers. Coki is a good beach for children-no rough surf or undertow.

 

IN St. Martin just take the water taxi ($5 per person for unlimited rides, children free) into town and there is a very nice beach right there -chairs and umbrellas and even jet skis can be rented. And the shopping is right near by. The surf is mild enough for little ones-we initially thought we were going to take a cab to Orient Beach but the lady in the tourist office (Just on the pier where Mariner docks) said that the surf could be too rough at Orient for little ones). We had a very pleasant and relaxing experience at the beach in town and the ladies enjoyed the shopping!

[cruzobsessed]

was just on the mariner at christmas time and did the eastern route as well. it was awesome. i can answer a few of your questions:

we traveled with another family. they put 3 bottles of wine in their checked luggage and we put 4 bottles in our luggage. my husband has a very small cork screw which he put into socks in his shoes also in checked luggage. all made it fine and every night before dinner we had a glass of wine with our friends on our balcony.

in st. martaan we took a 5 minute cab ride to a beach on the dutch side (no nudity) called DIVI LITTLE BAY. if you get there before 9:30 it is empty and they charge you $5.00 pp for chairs and umbrellas. they offer snorkel equipment, jet skiis and other fun things for the beach. it is part of an all inclusive so there are many services.

even though the ship assigned us a certain color for disembarking we changed it with our cabin attendant the night before. disembarkation is based primarily on your after cruise plans. people with early flights have priority.

as another poster already suggested....have your reservation linked with your friends and request a table for 8. again, when we cruise with this other family there are 8 of us and we eat together.

never feel funny asking questions that's why we're here:D

[Buterfly3547]

Too bad you are not doing Disney first and then the cruise. if you can change that I sure would. The cruise is so relaxing and a Disney vacation is not. You will need another vacation after Disney. First of all it is non stop lines, and 24/7 with the kids, unlike a cruise. If you cannot switch it, you can be off the ship as early as 10 if all goes well. You could do self-assist with each kid pulling their own luggage and get off when you want. That is what we do. We are called too early so we go and eat breakfast and leave when we want with our luggage. The cabin steward always says it is ok to leave the stuff until 8:30 ish so we are usually off by 9.

 

We are cruising on Nov 25th. We actually could do disney first but it would be on the Thanksgiving weekend and we thought the crowds would be bad so we decided to go after. We are only going to do the Christmas Processional and MVMCP so it shouldn't be too bad.

 

We had planned on doing some shopping in Orlando on Sat Nov 24th and then driving to Cocoa beach and staying there. Now we are thinking about skipping the shopping and hiring a car. We are thinking everything will be too busy including the interstates. Any opinions?

 

Has anyone done any of the spa treatments?

 

We did request to be seated together when booking through RCCL and after we booked we were able to get a upgrade from inside to balcony ajoinging rooms for a good price.;) We are so excited!

 

It great how quickly everyone is answering my questions. Thanks...

[kmdress]

Adventure Ocean staff will give you a smaller pager when you sign the 3 & 4 year olds in to the program. They will 'beep' you if your child needs you for any reason. I'm not sure about the 5 & 6 year old children. Even if they are placed into different groups, they spend a good deal of the time together in one large room, that is divided into smaller sections. They will be able to see each other any time.

[mbtaz]

Hi, We are cruising on the Mariner if the Seas in Nov with our dd's age 3 & 5 our friends are cruising with us with there ds's age 4 & 6. We have many questions. All help is greatly appreciated!

 

1. Can we request all the children to be grouped together at the children's centers?

2. Are drinks and snacks provided in the children's centers or do we have to buy a drink card for them? We don't allow our children to drink much cola or juice so we would prefer not buy a drink card.

3. Will there we a way for us to be contacted if our children needed us?

4. Do you tip the councellors in the childrens centers?

 

I'll try answering these based on what I know. You will have a good chance putting the 6 year old into the 3-5 age group. They seem to be much more lenient in moving kids down than up. They will take the kids for ice cream daily (normally around 3pm) Water is available to them all day via a fountain but they use cups to get water. Other snacks (cookies, unbirthday cake, cupcakes) are also given to the kids. They also make gummy candy one day. I did not tip the youth service but I did bring a bag of Lindt Chocolates and gave them to them the last day. Most ships will give a pager or a cell phone to parents of 3 year olds. They do not work off the ship but I personally don't leave my son on the ship and get off without someone in the group I am traveling with staying on the ship. Hope this helps.

 

ENJOY

[burnsie]

Yes there is free ice cream by the pool! My lost husband can usually be found there!

 

The night you get the luggage tags if you go down by the pursers desk, there is a table with the colors and the approximate times they will be called. We took an earlier color and double checked with the purser and he said no problem.

 

If you stay in Coco Beach, we stayed at the Residence Inn and had a two bedroom suite that also had a pullout couch for $120. The place was close to the port and very clean. They have a shuttle to get to the port. Although next time we won't take the shuttle back and will reserve a taxi it would be faster.

 

You will love the Mariner she is beautiful. I can't wait to go back.

 

burnsie

[suezyq50]

Burnsie: How did you get a two bedroom suite for $120? That is a fantastic price. They are $200 now. I did see it for $179, but now it is gone.

[Buterfly3547]

thanks for the help...

 

We had planned on doing some shopping in Orlando on Sat Nov 24th and then driving to Cocoa Beach and staying there. Now we are thinking about skipping the shopping and hiring a car. How busy are the stores and interstates during the Thanksgiving weekend? Any opinions?

[katiel53]

thanks for the help...

 

We had planned on doing some shopping in Orlando on Sat Nov 24th and then driving to Cocoa Beach and staying there. Now we are thinking about skipping the shopping and hiring a car. How busy are the stores and interstates during the Thanksgiving weekend? Any opinions?

 

We live in Orlando and the malls are an absolute zoo. Trying to find a parking place is next to impossible, getting out of the parking lots take forever. Last year a neighbor of mine who works at the Florida Mall spent over an hour trying to get out of the parking lot to go home.

 

If you like crowds, the malls are the place to go. If you want some relaxation, stay away from them.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Katie