MARINER Review-Oct 5-12,2008

[Tralynn222]

Background Info: I (39) was traveling with my DH (45). We were supposed to have our best friends traveling with us, their two daughters, cousins and daughter’s friend. Two days before embarkation we received news that the our best friend had a stroke. He is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery, however, he wasn’t cleared to go on the cruise by his doctor. The rest of us however did go and while we missed their presence, we all had a great cruise.

 

We were all expecting that they would lose all of their money because they hadn’t opted for the insurance, however, the absolutely wonderful people of RCI amazed us all by applying all of their money to a future cruise. Our friends had to have their doctor provide RCI with proof that he was hospitalized. Once that was done, they booked them on a cruise for next October. We were all extremely relieved that they didn’t lose all that money.

 

Hotel Info: After we were assured that our friend’s health was out of danger and we decided to go ahead with our plans of the cruise, my DH and I drove over to Cape Canaveral and stayed at the Radisson. As recommended to us by fellow CC’ers, it was everything that we imagined. We arrived at the hotel at approximately 5:30pm on Saturday. While driving over the bridge we could see that Carnival and Disney were both still in port which I was excited about because I would’ve thought that we would’ve missed them by then.

 

Upon arrival we noticed that there were a LOT of people there pre-cruising it. Check-in was quick and we made our way to our very tropical but elegant room. My DH was very impressed and kept commenting that I did good. (Thank you CC)

 

We hurriedly dropped our bags and off we went to find FishLips. (Another recommendation from this board). I thought our GPS would’ve been able to find it so I never brought the address, however, it couldn’t. I actually had to stop and ask for directions. After a few twists and turns, we did end up finding it. I had a mushroom risotto with scallops that was absolutely to die for!! DH had the fish and chips that wasn’t anything to write home about. We did get to wave at the Carnival ship pulling out which was the highlight of the evening.

 

The next morning there was a free breakfast buffet for those that purchased the cruise package. If you didn’t do the package, then it was $9.95 per person, which isn’t bad either.

 

We could’ve taken the free shuttle over to the port, but we opted for the easy way out and chose to take a taxi. About 9am I phoned for a taxi through M&H Cab Co. If you need their number just email me. I asked them to pick us up at 10:30 and was told to meet him in front of the convention center as it would be crazy in front of the hotel (which it was). My husband dropped me off in front of the CC with the luggage and the cruise parking is directly behind there. Our cab (mini van) showed up just as my husband was returning and we loaded up quickly and arrived at the port within 6 minutes.

 

Embarkation: After loading our luggage into the van, we never touched them again. Once arriving at the port, the porters took our luggage right out of the van. Cost of cab ride-$ 16.20 + 2.00 tip. We tipped the porters $10 and it was off to the terminal. The doors on the right weren’t even opened yet ( it was about 10:20am) so we were directed to the left ones. We quickly maneuvered through security. Our check-in went smoothly and soon we went to be seated. A woman came through asking if there were any diamond or platinum members (we’re platinum) so we were directed to the other side of the terminal for priority embarkation. We actually had to sit and wait until about 11:15 to begin boarding. My DH and I were # 5 & 6 on the ship. The windjammer wouldn’t be open for another 10 minutes so we perused around until it was. I had to try the honey stung chicken that has been raved about so much on here and boy was it good! I actually had two pieces and that isn’t normal for me.

 

Cabins wouldn’t be ready until 1:00 sharp, we knew this from our previous cruises.

 

We were on Deck 10 right before the hump and let me say, I love this location and will never book anything else. We merely had to walk up the stairs for the windjammer or the pool deck. It was a great location for basically everything.

Once entering our cabin, the purchases that I made through gifts and gear were waiting for us. As were our robes. Our Crown & Anchor society gifts that we received later in the week were my favorite yet. Matching hats that said Crown & Anchor Society. We were surprised to receive two platinum pins congratulating us for making platinum when we had made platinum two cruises ago and already received our pins. I gave them back to the LA and he blamed it on his assistant. Yea..ok. We did do the Next Cruise booking and plan to use it for Oasis!!!

 

The only drawback of being one of the first onboard is being one of the last to get your luggage!! I’ve never had my luggage arrive so late. They came sporadically but the last one (biggest one) didn’t arrive until 6pm.

 

Ship: This was our first time on Mariner. It’s decorated beautifully and very well maintained. The a/b wipes were out everywhere which we were happy to see. They even had them next to the computers which I thought was very smart.

 

We had sent our friends a bottle of champagne for sail away, however, since they wouldn't be cruising we went to Cust Service to get a refund. We were told that they couldn't refund us our money but they would deliver the champagne to our room, which they promptly did.

 

Our Cabin Steward(Tony)was ok. My ONLY complaint about his procedure (and I did write this on my comment card) was that he would only bring us ice at night after we had left for dinner (late seating). In the morning he would take our ice bucket and not return it until later after we left for dinner. This made no sense to me, and it quite frustrated me. Twice I had to call him for ice and both times he said, "I bring ice at night". I told him I needed it earlier and one day I had to leave a sticky note requesting that he leave us ice. We've never had that problem before and wondered if this was just his policy or a new one with RCI. Anyhow, that was our only complaint.

 

Food: The food in the dining room was good. I was hoping to see some new choices but didn’t really see any “new” ones. Lobster night is always our highlight in the dining room but this time it wasn’t. Neither of our lobsters were “done”. Other than that, we had no other issues in the DR. Our waiter (Roj) entertained us every evening with his little puzzle sticks. Our assistant waiter was quiet. We saw our head waiter (from Poland) every evening and he was very charming and witty. He would come to pour the champagne or wine and the one night when one of the girls asked for Tiramasu that was served the previous night, he personally came over to apologize that he had eaten the last piece earlier that day. Haha

 

On our anniversary my DH and I opted for Chops. We always love the intimate atmosphere here and the exquisite service they give. He and I both ordered the strip (last year our filet was a little dry) and the strip was outstanding. The piece was so big I had to give it to my husband to finish. No room for dessert, however, they covered it up for us to take back to our cabin. (Went great with coffee on the balcony the next morning).

Ports: Labadee: Beach day. Sipping corona’s in the sun, doesn’t get better than that for us.

Ocho Rios Jamaica: We stayed on the ship and enjoyed having her mostly to ourselves. I actually could get my husband into the pool. He won’t go in when it’s crowded.

 

Grand Cayman: StingRay City tour booked through the ship. This was our second time doing this excursion. I wasn’t as enthralled with it as I was the first time. There weren’t as many stingrays this time and I think it’s because the legitimate boat tours aren’t allowed to feed them anymore. We were told that it’s become illegal to feed them. Not sure if that is true, that’s just what we were told. The group next to ours was feeding them so we kind of lopped into their group just so we could pet them

 

Cozumel: Dolphin Swim and Ride: This was the highlight of my trip. We were able to get into the water with the dolphins. We had two kisses with them, they gave us a belly ride and then we had some free time to swim and pet them. The pictures at the end we thought were way over priced. We purchased the DVD for $55 but even that wasn’t really worth it. They wanted $28 for a 5x7 photo. I don’t mind paying for photos but not when they’re priced like that.

 

Entertainment: The highlight of entertainment has to be the Quest. This was our third quest and definitely the funniest one yet. It was in Studio B which was surprising to me, but it actually worked out quite well. Wow…those guys are CRAZY! Drew Devine was great, as was his whole team.

 

We went to both production shows but neither of them really stood out as being memorable. We missed the variety show on the last night, being that it was my b-day and the waiter on deck kept bringing me shots of sex on the beach. YIKES….my poor husband had a hard time getting me up for dinner.

 

Debarkation: Was pretty painless. The line went slower than it does in Miami, but were were through it in about 30 minutes. Once outside we saw the line waiting for the shuttle back to the Radisson and chose to call the cab service we used to bring us there. The ride back was a little pricier…$20 this time, but it was well worth it as it started to pour and we just wanted to get to our car.

Thank you RCI for another great Vacation!!

[stones902]

Thanks for posting - very well written review!

 

Did you use the concierge lounge? If so, what were your impressions of the lounge and the concierge.

 

Thanks! I'll be on the Mariner 11/9

[Tralynn222]

Thanks for posting - very well written review!

 

Did you use the concierge lounge? If so, what were your impressions of the lounge and the concierge.

 

Thanks! I'll be on the Mariner 11/9

 

Thanks! No, being only platinum, we weren't able to use the CL..soon though, soon! :)

[kittymom65]

Thanks for sharing your great review!

[FrancescaH]

Hi Traci! I hope your friend is doing better. I'm sorry we missed you at the M&M. We must have been near neighbors as we were also one of Tony's cabins. I thought the ice thing was a bit strange too but it didn't really phase us. We had a great time as well.

[Tralynn222]

Hi Traci! I hope your friend is doing better. I'm sorry we missed you at the M&M. We must have been near neighbors as we were also one of Tony's cabins. I thought the ice thing was a bit strange too but it didn't really phase us. We had a great time as well.

 

Hey Francesca! Yes..we were right next door to you. I saw your magnet on your door. No, we didn't go to the meet and mingle, we lost track of time and forgot all about it. Your son looked like he was having a blast!!

[FrancescaH]

Hey Francesca! Yes..we were right next door to you. I saw your magnet on your door. No, we didn't go to the meet and mingle, we lost track of time and forgot all about it. Your son looked like he was having a blast!!

CJ did have a blast.. he probably played a good 20-30 rounds of mini golf over the week. And I keep hearing about it! :D

 

You were the one I talked about scrapbooking with I think on the M&M thread. If I had known we were neighbors I could have shown you the one from last cruise as I brought it along. Maybe we'll run into eachother again on a future cruise. :)

[Tralynn222]

CJ did have a blast.. he probably played a good 20-30 rounds of mini golf over the week. And I keep hearing about it! :D

 

You were the one I talked about scrapbooking with I think on the M&M thread. If I had known we were neighbors I could have shown you the one from last cruise as I brought it along. Maybe we'll run into eachother again on a future cruise. :)

 

Oh gosh that was so long ago I didn't realize that was you! Dangit, I would've loved to see some examples of your work. Oh well....perhaps we will. :)

[birdylady]

Thank you for your review. We LOVE the Mariner and will miss her. Our next cruise will be in the spring on the Monarch. I look forward to that but hope it's not a let down after Mariner.

Thanx also for the fyi about the Radisson and the taxi. We've been thinking about that.

Erika

[gacathy]

Thanks for the review. We were on the Mariner in September and were in the first group to board. We got our luggage by 2PM so I am not sure why you got yours so late.

[RosyToe]

to Tralynn222. We are booked on the Mariner in 8/09 and wanted to know if you have pictures of your cabin 1310. Also, if you know anyone who has pictures of cabin 1308 (handicap) it would be appreciated. my e-mail address is rmseed@sbcglobal.net

Rose Mary Sneed

[Tralynn222]

to Tralynn222. We are booked on the Mariner in 8/09 and wanted to know if you have pictures of your cabin 1310. Also, if you know anyone who has pictures of cabin 1308 (handicap) it would be appreciated. my e-mail address is rmseed@sbcglobal.net

Rose Mary Sneed

 

Rose Mary,

 

I believe that FrancescaH (see above) was in the cabin next door to ours, the H/A room. I will email you pictures of our cabin this evening.

 

[RosyToe]

To FrancescaH. Hi, I am Rose Mary and will be staying in cabin 1308 on the Mariner in 08/09. If you have photos, could you e-mail them to me or post them somewhere? My e-mail address is rmseed@sbcglobal.net

Thanks

[FrancescaH]

To FrancescaH. Hi, I am Rose Mary and will be staying in cabin 1308 on the Mariner in 08/09. If you have photos, could you e-mail them to me or post them somewhere? My e-mail address is rmseed@sbcglobal.net

Thanks

After one of our cruises in that cabin (we've been 3 times) I posted a couple of photos to the disabled board at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=454145&highlight=1308. You can also look through any of the photos from 2006, 2007 or 2008 links in my signature and you'll see photos including ones in the cabin.

[RosyToe]

Thanks for the photo Francesca. We have traveled in a regular JS on the Radiance and it was very spacious. This handicapped JS is much bigger. My husband is in a wheelchair and handicapped bathrooms are a lot easier for him than the tub in a regular JS.

[FrancescaH]

Thanks for the photo Francesca. We have traveled in a regular JS on the Radiance and it was very spacious. This handicapped JS is much bigger. My husband is in a wheelchair and handicapped bathrooms are a lot easier for him than the tub in a regular JS.

I totally understand and you're welcome! I have cerebral palsy and being at sea messes with my already bad balance so I spend most of the cruise in my Jazzy. Unfortunately we can't even think of using a non-accessible for that reason.

[RosyToe]

Francesca, we will be traveling with my daughter and a 23 month old. Any suggestions on what to pack and things to do on the ship? I have never traveled on a cruise with a little one. Thanks.