Mariner Eastern Caribbean Review 5/27-6/3/07

[jstewie23]

Can you purchase unlimited internet time? If so is it one arm or two?

 

:D you can purchase unlimited internet time and it is $100 for the week, but that is for the dial up modem converter/speed for your stateroom, not wireless. They get you for a couple of limbs on the wireless charges.

[jstewie23]

Thanks for the fine and very detailed review! Mariner was our first ever cruise and we will be back on her on 6/17. :)

 

I noticed you said you had Becky as CD and Capt. Per was Captain.

 

Does anyone know when Capt. Johnny is scheduled to return??

 

Not sure exactly when he returns. They have 10 weeks on/10 weeks off contracts. I know there was a thread some where about current RC ship captains. The info might be in there...sorry.

[sj25]

www.sxmtours.com

 

He was great. Our tour was 7 1/2 hours and it was only $30/person. You won't find that long of a tour or that pricing from the cruise ship excursions.

Thanks...looking into it now...

[sj25]

I just made reservations...did he take very long to get back to you?

Also when does he take the payment?

What time did he pick you up?

[khank]

How was the ship's excursion to Trunk Bay and how crowded was it in the afternoon? We're debating between doing the ship's excursion or going on our own. I really like the idea of being picked up at the ship thru their excursion vs. having to catch a cab, get on the ferry, and catch another cab to get there - especially with teenagers. Did you have a decent amount of time at the beach?

[jstewie23]

I just made reservations...did he take very long to get back to you?

Also when does he take the payment?

What time did he pick you up?

 

He ogt back to me within a couple of hours, but I think my initial email was in the morning. I never had to wait more than a day for an email response.

 

He met us at the ship dock at 9am. We docked at 8am, so we didn't have to rush to eat breakfast and get off of the ship.

 

We paid him at the end of the tour when he dropped us back at the boat.

[jstewie23]

How was the ship's excursion to Trunk Bay and how crowded was it in the afternoon? We're debating between doing the ship's excursion or going on our own. I really like the idea of being picked up at the ship thru their excursion vs. having to catch a cab, get on the ferry, and catch another cab to get there - especially with teenagers. Did you have a decent amount of time at the beach?

 

There were probably 60+ people on the excursion from the ship. The problem with the ship excursion is that it is only 4 hours and 2 of those hours are travelling back and forth. It was also $50+ per person. That only left 2 hours to get your snorkel gear, get set up on the beach, do the underwater trail, relax on the beach, then get cleaned up to get back to the taxi. It is not a lot of time. You don't realize how much time you spend snorkeling. I did not have any time to just relax on the beach.

 

You can do this on your own for a lot cheaper and a lot longer than 4 hours. Just make sure you check the Red Hook ferry schedule so you get back to the ship on time. The comfort of the ship excursion is you don't have to worry about anything.

 

Next time I get the chance to go back to Trunk Bay, I will do it on my own.

[CP3o]

www.sxmtours.com

 

He was great. Our tour was 7 1/2 hours and it was only $30/person. You won't find that long of a tour or that pricing from the cruise ship excursions.

 

Thanks for the review, I have a couple of questions. Did the tour run late or were you booked for 9-4:30? Bernard emailed me with 9-3pm and that may be all my kids can take. Were there any kids on the tour with you? Did they get bored? Also, since beach time comes after shopping, does Bernard let you leave your purchases in his van?

 

Lastly, do you know about where on this map Bernard drops you off and which way to the $8 umbrella's? I'm hoping there are some reasonable prices and kid friendly food to the left as you face the ocean since I've heard thats the more family oriented part of the beach. Thanks for your help.

 

http://home.carolina.rr.com/photos2005/SmallOrientPanorama.htm

[MGilly]

We did the SkyRide to Paradise Point ...

Are you allowed to go up and down more than one time?

[sj25]

Are you allowed to go up and down more than one time?

no only one time.

[jstewie23]

Thanks for the review, I have a couple of questions. Did the tour run late or were you booked for 9-4:30? Bernard emailed me with 9-3pm and that may be all my kids can take. Were there any kids on the tour with you? Did they get bored? Also, since beach time comes after shopping, does Bernard let you leave your purchases in his van?

 

Lastly, do you know about where on this map Bernard drops you off and which way to the $8 umbrella's? I'm hoping there are some reasonable prices and kid friendly food to the left as you face the ocean since I've heard thats the more family oriented part of the beach. Thanks for your help.

 

http://home.carolina.rr.com/photos2005/SmallOrientPanorama.htm

 

The tour didn't run late. We got the same 9-3 time as well. We got to Phillipsburg for shopping at 3 and he gave us options:

1. take anyone back to the ship that didn't want to shop

2. drop us off and we can get back to the ship on our own

3. drop us off and pick a time where he would come back and get us

 

We did #3 and told him to pick us up at 4:30. He would have done any time we wanted.

 

There were 3 kids on the tour with us. 10 people total. They did not seem bored at all. We were able to leave everything in the van at any point. It was very nice not having to lug bags around.

 

I don't remember the name of the place where we got dropped off. I do know the $8 deal was to the right. Look for the red umbrellas. For the food, we ate a place that had sandwiches/burgers. It was $58 (+ tip) for 3 meals, 4 guavaberry coladas (highly recommended), and bottle of water. The sandwiches were huge. I struggled to finish mine and I was starving when we sat down. There was also another place past the $8 red umbrellas where they had hotdogs and some other stuff. I think that place was cheaper than where we ate. There is also a place called Pedros that is supposed to be really good and inexpensive, but we didn't look for it.

 

I just looked at the map and I think we were dropped off at Kakao. The restaurant right there is VERY expensive and were full meals, not lunchtime sandwiches. Pedros is down on the right side.

[jstewie23]

Are you allowed to go up and down more than one time?

 

That's a good question. I was wondering the same thing when we were there. I don't know for sure.

 

The ride up is 7 minutes. You could do everything up there in an hour. Get one of the local Bushwacker drinks :)

[sj25]

The tour didn't run late. We got the same 9-3 time as well. We got to Phillipsburg for shopping at 3 and he gave us options:

1. take anyone back to the ship that didn't want to shop

2. drop us off and we can get back to the ship on our own

3. drop us off and pick a time where he would come back and get us

 

We did #3 and told him to pick us up at 4:30. He would have done any time we wanted.

 

There were 3 kids on the tour with us. 10 people total. They did not seem bored at all. We were able to leave everything in the van at any point. It was very nice not having to lug bags around.

 

I don't remember the name of the place where we got dropped off. I do know the $8 deal was to the right. Look for the red umbrellas. For the food, we ate a place that had sandwiches/burgers. It was $58 (+ tip) for 3 meals, 4 guavaberry coladas (highly recommended), and bottle of water. The sandwiches were huge. I struggled to finish mine and I was starving when we sat down. There was also another place past the $8 red umbrellas where they had hotdogs and some other stuff. I think that place was cheaper than where we ate. There is also a place called Pedros that is supposed to be really good and inexpensive, but we didn't look for it.

 

I just looked at the map and I think we were dropped off at Kakao. The restaurant right there is VERY expensive and were full meals, not lunchtime sandwiches. Pedros is down on the right side.

Thanks for all the info...I am waiting for him to reply...I have to check again to see when we leave...now when coming back into port did you get stuck in the traffic...I do remember we was walking around last time we was there and the traffic was backed up alot!

We've been there twice...one time we just shopped and did the beach right there...and then the other time booked the jeep excursion from the ship was great but alot of money and this time we've got our daughter with us...

[jstewie23]

Thanks for all the info...I am waiting for him to reply...I have to check again to see when we leave...now when coming back into port did you get stuck in the traffic...I do remember we was walking around last time we was there and the traffic was backed up alot!

We've been there twice...one time we just shopped and did the beach right there...and then the other time booked the jeep excursion from the ship was great but alot of money and this time we've got our daughter with us...

 

We did not get stuck in traffic b/c he had us back in Phillipsburg at 3. When we left P-burg at 4:30 to head back to the ship, you are only a few blocks away. You could walk to the ship in 10 minutes from where we were if you wanted to. It was very well organized/scheduled by Bernard.

 

When people do the touring on their own, they don't realize when they try and get back to the ship for 6, that's when they hit traffic. The locals know everything and make sure you are back in plenty of time.

 

I emailed Bernard and told him to keep an eye out for your reservation request ;)

[raina*faith]

Thanks for this review, I'm thinking about going on her in the near future. :)

[sunlover2]

GREAT Review!!! Thanks for all the time and thought you put into it...we are sailing her on June 10th!!!!!

[bluecruisin]

I thought i has read something on this thread about the past guest cocktail party, but i couldn't find it now. What day and times was the past guest party? Thanks for your help!

[jstewie23]

I thought i has read something on this thread about the past guest cocktail party, but i couldn't find it now. What day and times was the past guest party? Thanks for your help!

 

no idea b/c this was my first cruise. Our meet & mingle was Tuesday at 1.

[kittymom65]

What a great detailed review!

Thank you for taking the time to post it, and I am glad you enjoyed the Mariner.

[CP3o]

Thank you for the Bernard tour details!

[poncho1973]

My wife and I were also on this cruise. It was my first cruise (her 3rd) and I would have to agree with your review. Very similar to our experience and we did almost the same things, except we took the snorkeling tour to Orient Beach.

 

Your description of the dining room food as wedding food is both humorous and 100% accurate. Not "fine dining", but it was good food and the staff was very accommodating to special requests. I would like to point out that we met a woman at breakfast who complained that the dinners were “too fancy and weird”. I find that hard to believe, unless you spend your life eating at burger joints and taco stands, but if your typical dining palate runs a little on the plain side… be prepared to live outside your comfort zone.

 

We enjoyed the Windjammer breakfast/lunch, although a few people we met complained about it being "plain". My advice is to enjoy the fish and various meats (we had different types of chicken, pork and beef) and skip the pizza, burgers and hot dogs. The people complaining about the plain items seemed to only eat those items, which WOULD be really boring. There are nice salads, Asian dishes and the aforementioned fish/meats to try. Most of them did not seem to repeat themselves too much over the week, so try to branch out a little.

 

We had breakfast/lunch in the dining room as well and enjoyed it. We also tried the room service; it was adequate and appropriately warm or cold (depending on what we ordered).

 

We enjoyed the ship. It was massive. Not much of anything to add to your description. We avoided the promenade most of the time and only popped into Vintages once. The adult pool was nice and it was refreshing to see (at least during the peak part of the day) the staff very active with the “no children” policy enforcement. We were probably the youngest people there most of the time, but not being “kid people” it really made our trip more enjoyable. We even wandered over to the regular pool area a few times and still had a great time. It was nice to have a place to retreat to, though.

 

Maybe I live in a different world than some of you (this is my first post, but I’ve been reading for a month or so and know this is not the popular opinion), but that whole “HELLO LOVE! IT’S ME, YOUR CRUISE DIRECTOR, BECKY” a thousand times over the week was just too much to handle. The cheese factor was off the charts. I did meet her in the hall and she was a little more normal. The constant pimping of “JACKPOT JEN” and her bingo games was a little much, as well. Captain Per was a really nice guy and his noon updates were nice. This could be my lack of cruising experience, but the Jackpot Jen and Becky “energy” really detracted more than they added. Maybe I just don’t get it, but then again, I’m not a “cruising is my life” type of guy.

 

We both actually lost a few pounds over the course of the cruise, but that would probably be the exercise, swimming, physical shore excursions and miles (and miles and miles) of walking we did around the ship and around the ports of call. We ate a lot more than we normally would, but tempered that with good habits. It was a little scary to see some of the people interpret “all you care to eat” as “I want to stuff everything on the entire ship down my throat until I explode”. We ate WELL and enjoyed it, but we also saw a man eat six full plates of food at the buffet. He ate that at the same pace as we ate our one plate and our subsequent trip to the dessert bar.

 

The shows were entertaining. The events were entertaining. The midnight buffets were fun, well presented and tasty. Rock-araoke was awesome (despite the aspiring teen American Idol girl attempting to take over the show, instead of just having fun) and we enjoyed the pool events too. We’re not sure why every middle-aged woman on the planet feels it is a necessity to turn ANY dance song into an excuse to do the electric slide, but we had a lot of fun in spite of that. Avoid the art auction like the plague. My wife and I are very much into art, but this was 3 hours of our life that we will never get back, in a bad way. The auctioneer was nice and the art was great, but it just isn’t the place or time.

 

In San Juan we just did a little shopping, went to the Fort and had dinner out, instead of Italian night on-board. It’s a very dirty place, generally speaking, but the area near the fort was exceptional and quite beautiful. I would agree that most people didn’t seem to think San Juan was a good substitute for the Bahamas beach day. I’ve never been to Puerto Rico or the Bahamas, so either was new for me. “Old” San Juan was nothing compared to the other wonderful “old” cities we’ve visited, but it was a new place to explore. The prices seemed nearly identical to the US Mainland. They may have been a tad higher, but other than trinkets, there wasn’t much that you couldn’t just buy here in Florida.

 

In Saint Thomas we did the Paradise Point lift, the shopping and snorkeling at Saint John’s Trunk Bay. We must have been around you all day, as it sounds like our paths were identical. Saint John was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. Unbelievable… simply unbelievable. The snorkeling was the best we’ve ever done. We saw literally millions of fish (a massive school of those shiny neon feeder fish enveloped us) and had an excellent time. This was the best day of the entire trip. The prices on rum were great. The rest of the alcohol seemed pretty close to US Mainland prices, sans tax. The jewelry stores abounded and seemed to be pretty low-priced. We didn’t take the trip to buy jewelry, so we visited a few and ignored the rest. Trinkets were plentiful and just as gaudy as anywhere else in the world. Name brand rum for $6 a fifth is too good to pass up, but if you like vodka or tequila or other spirits make sure you know your price at home (and on the boat itself) prior to purchasing. I love premium vodka and it is actually cheaper at home than it was anywhere on this trip. Don’t be fooled.

 

In Sint Maartin/Saint Martin we did the Orient Beach snorkeling and did a self-guided shopping tour using the maps provided. We also talked to a few long-time cruisers and found a few nice shops. Beware of ugly naked people at Orient Beach... they were definitely around, but it wasn’t like you walked into a nude beach, they were just around and it seemed as if they were all the type of folks one might hope stayed covered up. I’m not a parent, but it didn’t seem like it would be weird enough to be a deal-breaker. It was pretty easy to see them walking down the beach, so a few covered eyes/turned heads for the more “protective” parents wouldn’t be difficult or a simple talk on why some folks go to the beach in the buff and a “you really don’t want to see that” warning should suffice for the more “relaxed” parents. We did the power snorkel with the Sea-Doo torpedoes that pull you along at about 3mph or so. The water was nice, but there wasn’t as much to see as Trunk Bay. It also was not as clear. We saw a bunch of squid, a sea turtle, some parrotfish and such.

 

It was a great first experience for someone who is more of a hands-on type of traveler. I don’t think we’ll become regular cruisers, but it was different in a positive way.

 

Thanks to everyone who posted their tips and information. That made this a much better experience.

[Kruuzin]

The last time we were on the Mariner we did the 4x4 tour in St. Martin. It was a fun tour. It stopped at Orient Beach. My daughter, then 15, was mortified. She didn't know where to put herself. Everytime she looked somewhere-she saw naked people. Needless to say, we won't be doing that in August.

 

St. thomas is one of my favorite spots.

 

Thanks for the reviews. WE can hardly wait to get back to the Mariner. My daughter really loved the ice skating.

[jstewie23]

Thanks for the review poncho. They really did push those Bingo games and you could tell that some of the bingo players were addicts and lived for it. We really didn't venture to the adult Solarium pool, but it was good to know that the RC staff was diligent about keeping kids out.

 

I was also surprised at the amount of food some people ate at all times of the day. I won't comment anymore on that ;)

[jstewie23]

The last time we were on the Mariner we did the 4x4 tour in St. Martin. It was a fun tour. It stopped at Orient Beach. My daughter, then 15, was mortified. She didn't know where to put herself. Everytime she looked somewhere-she saw naked people. Needless to say, we won't be doing that in August.

 

St. thomas is one of my favorite spots.

 

Thanks for the reviews. WE can hardly wait to get back to the Mariner. My daughter really loved the ice skating.

 

We were in the middle section of Orient beach and we maybe saw 3 topless women and one of them was walking along the beach. It certainly wasn't everywhere, but this is also the off season down there.

[poncho1973]

It stopped at Orient Beach. My daughter, then 15, was mortified. She didn't know where to put herself. Everytime she looked somewhere-she saw naked people. Needless to say, we won't be doing that in August.

 

I'm going to put our naked people/topless women count at about 20 or so. We were in the middle section and they seemed to be walking from the nudist resort to the main resort area.

 

Like I said, you could see them coming down the beach long before they got close. Even so, it would have been very easy to put 100' or more of distance between you and them. As a child, my mother (AKA the protective one) would've told me to turn away and I would have. My father (AKA the relaxed one) would've told me not to stare, to mind my own business and leave the people alone and I would have.

 

The VAST majority were topless women (maybe 2 or 3 men and 3 fully nude women???) and one would think that a 15 year old girl would know what that looks like and how to react... but I don't know how that works in your house. I must also add that the median age of those parading by was probably 60. I would view what we saw as cause for being mortified for an entirely different reason... hahaha!