Our First Cruise and First review Mariner of The Seas

[gnewt]

We are a family of 4 from Ottawa Canada. Both my DW and I make our professions in the hospitality/Hotel/Resort industry and we travel with high expectations. I never thought I would do a cruise simply because I love the resort/hotel environment and the freedom of being on land. However let me confirm at the very beginning of this review that I am now a changed man and I am now a Cruise Convert.

We flew into Orlando a couple of days early do drop a load of money shopping at the Premium Outlets, Ron Jon’s and every where else we could find. Needless to say that the children ages 6 and 10 months could probably go the remainder of their lives without seeing another store. We stayed 2 nights in Cocoa Beach at the Holiday Inn. Now it was great that it was on the Beach, but regardless of their "Relax, it’s Holiday Inn" slogan, there is no way to relax at this hotel. It has to be one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in. We had a famous "Family Suite" which was really a run down motel room with a 6 foot tall plywood partition separating the queen bed from some bunk beds. I tried calling most other hotels in Cocoa Beach to move, but no luck they were all full with you fellow cruisers and the last of the Spring Breakers.

Luckily Sunday morning came and we were able to check-out of Paradise Hotel J and head for the ship. I drove the family to the ship where we dropped off the luggage with the very friendly porters (Which was good based on the amount of our luggage). I left the family there and returned the Rental Car to Enterprise. Transported back to the terminal where I met back up with the family and thanks to Cruise Critic lined up at the left hand doors. I was amazed at just how quickly it was until we were on the ship, but not nearly amazed as how I was with the ship itself. It was amazing.

We did find out quickly that we did not get the early dining time that we were waitlisted for and immediately went to the dining room to add our names to yet another waitlist. We kept our fingers crossed for the change as we knew that we could not do the late dining time with 2 kids. We investigated the ship a little, and then went to our rooms (2 adjoining Promenade rooms on the 7th deck) the rooms were small as expected, but nothing to complain about. One room was set-up as a queen and the other room was set-up as 2 singles and even though requested on our reservation there was no crib/playpen in the room. Not to worry we met our room attendant who took our request to put the 2 single beds together and put a Playpen in the room, remove the one coffee table and to empty the mini bars in the rooms. That evening we went to Windjammers for dinner which for a buffet was fair in quality and great in selection. After dinner we went and registered our DS (6 years old) for Kids club then returned to our room. The mini bars were emptied, but the bed was not done and we still not have a playpen. No worry about the bed, this could wait forever, with the understanding that they must be busy with requests. Besides which I can easily push the beds together, and I did. But we did need the playpen as our DS (10 Months) needed to sleep. I stepped into the hall and spoke with our attendant and he mentioned that they may not have any other playpens on the ship. I was a little awe struck and explained that we really needed one and he mentioned that he would take care of it. At that point he noticed I had pushed the beds together, so he came in and fixed them into a queen with the proper bedding. The family stayed up and watched the Bon Voyage Parade, which was pretty good and then we returned to our room. Still no Playpen. At 11:30 I finally went to Guest Services and reviewed the requests and that I still was without the Playpen. The Guest Service Agent made one phone call and 5 minutes later Voila! A Playpen in the room. Now that the Drama was over lets get on with the trip!

Day 1 at Sea- the water was a little rough, and I thought it was just normal, until some other frequent cruisers said that it was not the norm. We had 70 mph winds, which with little ones kept us inside all day, but that was OK as we had this huge ship to explore. DS went to kids’ camp with apprehension, asking why he had to go to "school" on his holiday. We went and requesting again for the early dining time as my wife is a big Foodie and buffet dinners were not going to cut it for her, and Chops/Portofino’s was out of the question with a 10month old. We were told not to hold our breath with 800+ kids on board a lot of people wanted early dining. We were told we would be notified by 6pm either way. Luckily we received our letter at 4pm advising us of our new table and early time-Yippee- Happy wife, happy life you know!

That evening we had our first dining room dinner (I think formal, but can’t remember) and the family went, 10 month in a tie, white shirt and docker style pants. The 6 year old had a suite with vest instead of jacket, navy pinstripe to match my suit. This evening was our first introduction to Amalia our Server, who may single handed, have won my devotion to Royal Caribbean. She was outstanding as was the entire staff, especially with our children, but she was even better. The service we received in the Dining room was exceptional. (Not 5 diamond, but that would be impossible on a ship of 3000 plus passengers with 2 dinner settings) but was way better than expected and my expectations are high! Every night our settings were place, our wine on the table, a small bowl of berries in front of the high chair (as we had mentioned it was DS’s favourite) and milk ready for our other DS. Simply Amazing! The food throughout the week in the Dining Room (Breakfast and Dinner) was superb, (again not 5 Diamond but well beyond expectations)

Day 3- Puerto Rico- We did get into Puerto Rico about an hour late due to the winds, and by this time we could not tear our son away from the Kids Camp (By the end of the week he stopped in his tracks and said "This is paradise") in fact if I had to listen to him beg to stay for late night (10pm to 1am) anymore I would go crazy. We did not get off the boat in Puerto Rico for long as we really wanted to enjoy dinner in the dining room, but really there wasn’t too much to see, especially with little ones.

Day 4- St Martin- We did get off the boat here and went right to Orient Beach. We really did not see anyone bearing all. The beach in itself is not anything to write home about, nor here. You are pretty much being hustled right away to rent your spot on the beach, which is pretty narrow and on the day we were there the waves were pretty strong. We still enjoyed our day at the beach. We didn’t really do any shopping, but I don’t think there really is that much outside of Jewellery and some electronics, which we didn’t need.

 

Day 5- St Thomas. This time we went into the town to see the shops and such, which I thought was a waist of time. Again we were not in the market for Jewellery and the vendors of the stores and restaurants were very aggressive. In the afternoon we went to Maghens Bay which I wish we would have just done for the entire day. The drive there was amazing with many picture opportunities and the beach and water were just amazing. Now if you are looking for water sports this is not the place for you. But if you are looking for calm water and a nice beach, this was perfect. We returned to the ship and elected to try Johnny Rockets for Dinner. It didn’t do too much for me, but the milkshake was pretty darn good.

Day 6 and 7 at sea- We really enjoyed these 2 days at sea. Our oldest lived in the Kids club, which is just what he wanted and our youngest splashed about in the inflatable pool we brought for him, or napped pool side, while we enjoyed being outside, this time with no Wind.

Last Day- We were up and ready to go- Unfortunately Royal Caribbean converted our bill to CDN for us which ended up costing us more money as there exchange is not as good as if they would have just charged my Credit Card directly in US, so that was not a good sign, but we were just too sad to be getting off the boat in general to really worry about it. We were off the boat, to the Rental Car Company and in the car by 8:30 am.

 

Now 1 week later here I am finally out of vacation mode (yeah right) and back into the day in day out grind of work.

However I think we are going back on the Mariner in the fall just the DW and I, and then maybe another family cruise (freedom class) next March. I guess, no, I know, that I am hooked now!

 

 

[Grandiva]

Thanks for your comments on the Mariner. I will be meeting her very shortly and looking very forward to it.

[ERTHDOG]

thanks for the review , we sail on mariner in 3 weeks and appreciate your realistic expectaitions on the food . sometimes people do expect too much and dont take into consideration that there is 3000 people to feed.

 

sounds like you had a great time, and that is all that matters

 

dave

[gnewt]

What was really funny was that at our table of 8 there was only the 4 of us. Apparehntly the other 4 were there on the first night that we were not. We were told that the one couple complained through the entire meal. About half way through the trip the head waiter called to see if there was any reason why they didn't return to the dining room, their response was that they preferred the food in Windjammer as it was more their style. This just goes to show you that you can serve great food but if it doesn't meet what the person wants they will complain. In my opinion the Lamb, lobster, prime rib and duck in the dining room were far better options than burgers and fries in windjammer, but that is because that is my preference.

I have to tell you that reading about people complaining about service and standards going down is very subjective and can be taintied by a lot of other factors than the actual service received. I spent a long time managing a resort with rates starting at $300 per night for the worst room in the hotel. Anytime we dropped our room rate drastically as a special it was garanteed that our level of complaints would go up! and usually this was on perceived value! Why you ask? I really can't say with certainty, but I could give a lot of potential reasons, most of which relate back to perceived value and expectations. In a nut shell I think it is a challenge to receive the quality of product and service in our daily lives as we receive while on board, but that is just my perception!

[hazeleyez3]

Thank you for the realistic review - especially from a new cruiser - the next 4 months cannot go by soon enough

[captjaneway]

gnewt,

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and glad you decided to share the details with us. I agree that perception and attitude have alot to do with having a great time or not. Some would have taken the few delays in meeting your requests that you experienced as inferier service. Your understanding and ability to move forward gave you the opportunity to enjoy a new experience. And it is obvious that some excellent service from Amalia helped balance the scale. I will be on the Mariner in less that two weeks and if I run into her I will tell her about your post. Welcome to cruising!

 

CJW

[DEBS@40]

:) Sound like you had a fab first cruise so glad, but sorry too that now you've developed an addiction:eek: to cruising.

 

BTW RCI converted my expense account to $ twice, I called customer service about 8 weeks after my cruise, they were so full of apologies and 10 days later I got a cheque for the difference £40:)

[tomko2]

Enjoyed your candid review and happy to read that you enjoyed the cruise. We have not yet been on the Marnier but have been on the Navigator and Explorer which I believe in the same class of ship.

Our favourite thus far has been the Radiance class (Jewel, Brilliance, Serenade and Radiance); next December we sail on the Independence (Freedom class).

We return to Ottawa in a week and hope all that snow is gone by then!:D

Welcome to cruising and CruiseCritic!

Kathy:)

[gnewt]

Kathy, I am happy to report that almost all of the snow is gone! The weather is supposed to be very nice the remainder of the week so it should all be gone by the time you get here. Thank you to everyone for your positive comments. I would highly recommend the Mariner to anyone and everyone.

[minnie00]

We are going on the Mariner for the 2nd time this fall and just can't wait !!:D

I enjoyed your review:cool:

[kittymom65]

Thanks for the review, I am glad the Mariner has made you a cruiser!:D

[gnewt]

Thank you for the positive comments.

 

I forgot to mention one great thing about Amalia. We were very aware that our 10 month old might disrupt people during dinner if he started crying. On 2 nigths this was the case and both times my DW and I would take turns taking him out of the dining room and walking him to get him to sleep. On both nights Amalia would see us leave and upon return would then ask if she could walk him so that we could enjoy our dinner. INCREDIBLE. She walked our DS in his stroller while we ate. It was amazing.

 

I am now trying to book the week of November 13 on the Mariner so that the DW and I can go back (without the boys) and see Amalia before the ship moves over to LA. A great chance to do the Western Caribbean, see Amalia and celebrate DW's birthday, yes I am hooked!

[Tralynn222]

That's usually all it takes is just one time. :)

 

Enjoyed your review...it's a wonder why your cabin steward wasn't able to get you that playpen sooner. You did the right thing by going to guest services though.

 

Can't wait til October to see her for myself. :)

[ken_nyc]

Thank you for your review, very entertaining! Enjoyed your perception of the cruise. We were on the Mariner last year and enjoyed it.

[gnewt]

I am happy to note that I have rebooked my DW and I back on to the Mariner for November. My DW does not know yet as it will be somewhat of a birthday surprise with her birthday being when we will be onboard.

 

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that we get Amalia as our server again. Does anyone know if I can request this in advance?

[Katdb]

Hi gnewt from a fellow Canadian (& from Ottawa too!).

 

I've sailed Navigator and Explorer, we have the Mariner booked for this December (soooo far away:rolleyes:). Just wanted to thank you for the review, makes me even more excited!

 

Also, every time we sail, even though we check off the "don't convert my bill" box, it gets converted. You can just head down to guest relations when you get the final bill and they will switch it back to USD (especially now that our dollar is so great, this is a much better option!).b

[tomko2]

We gave up chasing the conversion change. We tick off the do not convert; it gets converted and we just let it go now.

Nice to see so many people from Ottawa on this thread.

We are heading to the airport soon on our way home from our winter in Florida.

Sounds like the weather is awesome.

Kathy:)