October 11-18 Mariner of the Seas Review

[Uncle Fester]

We had the great pleasure of taking the October 11 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Mariner of the Seas. As a little background, this was our fourth cruise with Royal Caribbean and our sixth cruise overall. This was also our second cruise on the Mariner with the last time cruising out of Port Canaveral on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Along for the cruise this time were myself, a forty-something economic consultant, my lovely wife, our 13 year old daughter, 9 year old son and my mother-in-law and father-in-law, who were on their second cruise and first on RCCL.


Embarkation – Grade: A


Instead of parking at the pier, we dropped the luggage at the ship around 11 am and spent some time visiting with one of my brother-in-laws who lives near LAX. We left our cars at his place and he dropped us all off at the ship at about 1:30 pm. By that time, the departure hall was virtually empty and it took us less than 10 minutes to complete the paperwork and to board the ship. I guess the Port never expected to host a ship as large at as the Mariner as they had to use temporary scaffolding and ramps to reach the ship’s 4 deck where you enter.


Overall Ship Condition – Grade: A


Overall, the ship is still spectacular. We didn’t see too many signs of wear-and-tear that one usually sees in public accommodations as heavily used as a cruise ship. Usually, during tough economic times, maintenance and repair are one of the first areas you will see cutbacks, but we saw continuous painting, cleaning, repair all seven days we were on-board.


Staterooms – Grade: A


We have booked balcony staterooms in the past and found that we end up using the balcony more as place to dry bathing suits than to sit in the sun and watch the world go by. We have since decided on the last few cruises we’ve taken to booking connecting interior staterooms. This gives us an extra bathroom and little more room for the four of us (the in-laws were in their own cabin next door). We selected connecting interior promenade view staterooms on deck 7 this time, which we enjoyed a great deal. It was nice to have a window that gave the room a little more open feel, and having the window allowed us to watch the parades and shows in the Promenade without having to fight the crowds. Some who have had the promenade rooms made comments about the noise, but, except for the two parades, we could hear nothing coming from the Promenade below. The only issue was saw with the room was the corner of the bed was really close to the corner of the desk/vanity making it some what difficult to move bags, but other than that, we had no issues.


Food and Drinks – Grades: A+ for service, B+ for product


We had the early sitting in the Sound of Music dinning room with a table for the six of us. We ate all our dinners in the main dinning room and had all but one lunch and one breakfast in the Windjammer. Whether it was in the MDR or in the Windjammer, we found the service on this cruise to be the best we have experienced on any cruise we have taken. Our waiter, Mr. Tyagi, was undoubtedly the best waiter we have ever had. By the third night, he had our preferences memorized and always made sure we had something we would like. He also worked in the morning in the Windjammer, and he was always able to find a table for us, even on the last day of the cruise when everyone was in the buffet.


As for the food, we found it very good. We have noticed over the last 15 years RCI has cut back some on the breadth of selections (on our first cruise, we always had an appetizer along with a salad with multiple choices of dressing, but now, you usually get one or the other). But, we pretty much always found something we really enjoyed, and, if we did not care for our first order, they were always ready to bring us another choice. As for the buffet, the food was good – not spectacular – but they always had a broad selection to choose from. I didn’t go to Johnny Rockets, but our kids did and said it was just as good as the one back home.


We don’t drink wine, so can’t really comment on the selection on board, but can speak to their selection of brews. While they have some interesting ales, we continued to find the selection of beers and ales they do keep on board to be somewhat limited for this day and age of craft brewing. They have the usual commercial brews, think Bud, Bud Light, Miller, etc., but don’t have a real broad selection of more interesting brews. They even did away with the Royal Caribbean Ale. I still don’t understand why, with a replica English pub on board, RCCL doesn’t offer a broader selection of English ales, including hand-pumped real ale. The drinks of the day where the usual fruity/sweet drinks you would expect, but still fun to drink on occasion.


Entertainment – Grade: B+


We missed the opening night show, but did see the two production shows, one of the guest entertainers, the Love and Marriage Show, the Quest and the ice show. The two production shows and the guest entertainer were what my wife calls “cruise ship good.” The production shows were the same we saw a couple of years ago with some good singing and dancing but nothing too memorable. The one guest entertainer we saw was a singer/impressionist whose show was about 10 years behind the times. The ice show was nice, but not really my thing. The parades were fun to watch as much for the people watching as for the entertainers themselves.

The audience participation shows were much better than the staged productions in my opinion. The Love and Marriage show was pretty good with the Cruise Director, Dave Chapman, bringing some life to the show. They have revised the Quest from the last time was saw it from small teams participating to splitting everyone in the theater into teams. I somehow found myself participating in some of the more colorful parts of the show, which made it a lot more fun than just watching.


The one area that RCCL seemed to excel was in the small venue shows like the piano bar and the pub. The sing-along in the piano bar always seemed to be packed with everyone having a good time. The guitar player in the Pub also did a fantastic job every night, but was especially fun on the last night of the cruise when several members of the ship’s orchestra joined him for a jam session.


The one only real problem we had with the shows was people continuing to save seats, especially for the ice show. We got to the show about 15 minutes before the start time, and attempted to sit down in a row where one women was sitting. She promptly said she was saving the row for her family, including her 80 something mother. I told her that RCCL policy was first come-first served and there was no saving of seats. She continued to babble on about her mother and that I should have got to the theater earlier if I wanted to sit in this row. I promptly told her I was at the theater now with all of my party. I even enlisted a crew member/usher who told the women there was no saving of seats. She continued to babble on about her 80 year old mother, who still hadn’t made it to the theater. We decided to not press the issue more, and split up and found seats elsewhere. Not sure what RCCL can do, maybe start assigning seats, but the seat saving is becoming a bit ridiculous.


Casino – Grades: Dealers: A+, Games: B


We go to Las Vegas several times a year, so we are pretty acquainted with casinos and their table games. The table game rules on board were a few steps below what you’d find in Las Vegas so don’t expect a real great game. As I recall, Black Jack uses 8 deck shoes and they even have begun dealing the hideous 6-5 single-deck Black Jack. They only dealt single-odds at the dice table, except for one afternoon when they kicked it up to double odds. They also had the usual assortment of carnival games (Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, Let It Ride), and what looked to be a standard U.S. roulette wheel.


While the games rules weren’t up to Las Vegas standards, I found the dealers, on average, were friendlier than in Nevada. In prior cruises, I noticed that the dealers skills were not quite up to the technical standards you’d see in Vegas, but this time, all the dealers I played with had strong skills (sorry guys, no hole-carding on this cruise). It was kind of nice to have a friendly dealer every time at the tables.


Adventure Ocean – Grade: B


Our kids have always loved AO and, in the past had to drag them out at the end of the night. This was our daughter’s first time in the teen club, and she made friends the first night. From then on, she was nearly always with her new friends in the teen club, pool, Promenade Café, etc. Overall, the staff did a great job with the teens.


This was to be our son’s first time with the 9 to 11 year old group and was looking forward to being in a new room with more advanced activities. After signing all of the paperwork the first night of the cruise, we went to the AO area on Monday morning only to find the 9 to 11 year old room locked with all of the kids in the 6 to 8 year old room. The staff said because of the relatively low number of kids on board that week (many schools in Arizona were on Fall Break, but not many others were I guess), they were combining everyone into one group. Unfortunately, they ended up following the 6 to 8 year old schedule of activities, which kind of bored our son. He still had fun most of the time, but there were a few times like when they were drawing/coloring that he decided to hang with us instead. It would have been nice if they could have found away to accommodate the older group a little bit more.


Ports of Call – Grade: A-


We didn’t use any of RCCI’s offerings, but instead booked our own excursions.


In Mazatlan, we rode with Randi’s Happy Horses again and had a great time. This was our second time with Randi, and had as much fun this time as we did our first time. The horses were wonderful, and the food and drinks at Victor’s after the ride were very good. The in-laws took a tour with Mazatlan Frank and had a nice time.


In PV, we ended just taking a taxi to the Malecon and doing some shopping and having some lunch and way too many drinks.


For Cabo, we booked a snorkeling tour on the Eco Cat. I’m planning on posting a full review on the Mexican Riviera board, but, briefly, it was a good, but not great tour. They were very accommodating, especially since we had to rebook our excursion due to a rerouting because of Tropical Storm Patricia, and they provided everything they said they would, but the boat itself wasn’t quite up to what they presented and they spent a bit too much time at Land’s End instead of giving us more time to snorkel.


Gym/Pools – Grade: A-


I tried to workout everyday while on the ship so became pretty acquainted with the gym. They had all of the machines that I used, and I think even had some free-weights. From a cardio stand-point they had all the treadmills, bikes, stair machines you’d find in any gym. As usual, the place was packed the first two days of the cruise, but thereafter, I never had to wait for a machine even at what would be considered busy times. If you like to read while working out, bring your own magazines since I didn’t see any stashed any where. The only issue I had was that the disinfectant sheets they had out to clean the machines after use always seemed to be empty. I recall one morning walking all around the room looking for something to wipe the machine down before just having to use a clean towel.


We really didn’t have too much of a chance to use the pools and spas. The first and last days out of LA are usually pretty cool, except in the middle of summer, and with Tropical Storm Patricia making it a bit cool and damp on the second day, pool days were a limited. We did use the spas/hot tubs in the Solarium several times, which were extremely nice.


Debarkation – Grade: A-


We had a 8:40 am departure time, and, after having breakfast in the Windjammer, proceeded down to the Studio B theater to wait for our group to be called. We arrived at 8:40 and they called our group exactly at 8:40. It took only a few minutes to exit the ship and get down to the luggage area. They had approximately 6 officials checking customs clearances, but they were all squeezed together in a relatively small area. With a lot of people carrying luggage, it got pretty crowded. It would help if they had several doors they could use to spread the people out some.


Like inside, traffic outside was a bit chaotic. We really couldn’t tell if there was any organization to the traffic, and my brother-in-law, who was picking us all up in his van, had to circle several times until he could find a place to squeeze into for loading. This is definitely an area that could use some process improvement.


Overall Grade: A


Even with the little knits and gnats throughout the week, this was the best time we have ever had on a cruise as a family, primarily because of all the great people we met. Our Meet-and-Mingle group was great, and had a blast with other people we met on board, including the Star Trek convention people. The ship was great, and had something for everyone in the three-generations we had on board. Do yourself a favor, and take this cruise. We’re already planning our next one for this coming May.

[joeyancho]

Thanks for the great review. We cruised the Mariner on the Sept. 20, 2009 cruise and found VERY little to grouse about. We also toured with Randi. It was great. We were the only ones on the tour. Victor's was everything everyone said about it. It was by far the best of 24 cruises. Great ship, great food, great weather, great time. We are booked on the Radiance Dec. 11, 2009 cruise. I hope it turns out as well.

[junglejane]

Thanks for the review. We're also from Arizona and will have booked the Mariner for our Spring Break. And we've booked connecting promenade rooms on Deck 7 for ourselves and our DD's ages 13 and 9 (actually turning 9 mid-way through the cruise). I'm glad to hear the rooms weren't too noisy.

Actually while you were on this cruise we were on the Sapphire Princess for our kids' Fall Break. Obviously we really like these Mexican Riviera cruises, but for Spring Break we've decided to try RCCL.

Any more comments on the teen program? Our older DD turned 13 two days after we got off the Sapphire, so this will be her first time in a cruise ship teen program.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Uncle Fester, glad to read that you and your family had a wonderful cruise

Loved, loved, loved all of your details, thanks for sharing your vacation with us

###

[Uncle Fester]

Originally Posted by junglejane

T

Any more comments on the teen program? Our older DD turned 13 two days after we got off the Sapphire, so this will be her first time in a cruise ship teen program.

From what I've read in the past, and experienced first hand this time, the key with the teens is to make sure they go the club the first night. Unlike the younger groups, the activities with the teens are much less structured, and if kids dont' show up, they'll cancel an activity. So it's kind of important that the kids meet early in the week because activities maybe canceled later in the week.

The staff takes extreme measures to be sure that the kids meet and mingle the first night, and this is when the "cruise friends" are made. Our daughter ended up meeting 3 or 4 girls she did nearly everything with that week when she wasn't with us. The daughters of some people we met didn't go to the club the first night because the kids thought the teen programs would be lame. The kids ended up spending most of their time with their parents because it became more difficult to meet kids later in the week.

[Uncle Fester]

Originally Posted by PhoenixCruiser

Uncle Fester, glad to read that you and your family had a wonderful cruise

Loved, loved, loved all of your details, thanks for sharing your vacation with us

###

You're welcome

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for the excellent review. Looking forward to our cruise on the Mariner of the Seas.

[Mickeefan]

Thanks for the review. This is good to know. We're going on the Mariner on 12/27 for a New Year's cruise. My nephew is 15 and by knowing this, I can encourage him to go (at least the first night) and meet the other kids. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Uncle Fester

From what I've read in the past, and experienced first hand this time, the key with the teens is to make sure they go the club the first night. Unlike the younger groups, the activities with the teens are much less structured, and if kids dont' show up, they'll cancel an activity. So it's kind of important that the kids meet early in the week because activities maybe canceled later in the week.

The staff takes extreme measures to be sure that the kids meet and mingle the first night, and this is when the "cruise friends" are made. Our daughter ended up meeting 3 or 4 girls she did nearly everything with that week when she wasn't with us. The daughters of some people we met didn't go to the club the first night because the kids thought the teen programs would be lame. The kids ended up spending most of their time with their parents because it became more difficult to meet kids later in the week.

[junglejane]

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but when you talk about teens attending the "first night" do you mean the embarkation night?

The reason I ask is that on Princess, all they do on the embarkation night is registration and an open house for the kids' program, and nothing actually starts until the next day. (It might be different with the teen program, but I don't know because DD turned 13 after the last cruise.)

[akcruz]

I agree with the comments on the teen program 100%. It is embarkation night that they hold the first meet & mingle. Make sure your teens go as this is when the groups are formed. If the teen isn't in one of those groups that first night it does make it harder for them to get included later on.

My kids, now 19 & 14, love the RCI teen programs and have always made great friends. I now just wish they could do the same for 18 - 20 set, but that's another discussion!

[reallyitsmema]

I agree with the teen comments too. The teen areas are open the first night as a meet and mingle for the teens. The younger groups of AO have a registration, open house. The teens go themselves, without parents, and hang out with their new friends. We have sailed the Mariner twice with a teen and the kids he met that night were the kids he hung out with all week. The other thing that they had on at least one of our Mariner cruises, not sure about other one, was free arcade late night on the first night. The kids only found out about it by going to the meet and mingle.

Akcruz, I understand your pain with the 18-20 group. My son has aged out of the teen area too and I am hoping that he will be able to find someone to hang out with for the week. We are considering bringing one of his friends depending on pricing so he can enjoy his week and not be stuck with us all week.

[minnie00]

How did you find the weather on the sea days? was the ride down to Mexico rough?

We are also in AZ and would love to be able to drive to the port and we love the Mariner...but...

we are put off by the cold sea days, rough seas, and dark water.

We are so enchanted by the Caribbean that its hard to decide if we would love the Mexico route...and of course all the deals are in the cold months like Feb

[Jasperdo]

Originally Posted by minnie00

How did you find the weather on the sea days? was the ride down to Mexico rough?

We are also in AZ and would love to be able to drive to the port and we love the Mariner...but...

we are put off by the cold sea days, rough seas, and dark water.

We are so enchanted by the Caribbean that its hard to decide if we would love the Mexico route...and of course all the deals are in the cold months like Feb

Generally speaking, the first and last day on a Mexican Riviera cruise can be on the cool side, especially during the winter months. The last day is typically windy as well, since you're going against the normal wind currents. Other than that, the days are warm and sometimes hot. I've cruised to Mexico in January, February and March and have found that it's a great time of year to go.

[socmom]

Great Review! I was on the same cruise and I believe I may have even been on the same Mazatlan horseback ride with your family. I think your wife was bringing up the rear keeping me company on the horseback ride with our lazy horses!

It was our first cruise and I have no complaints with Royal Caribbean. I could have done without the rough seas during our tropical storm re-routing, but nothing the cruiseline could do about that!

[junglejane]

Minnie00, we are from Arizona and this will be our 4th MR cruise, so obviously we think they're great. We have gone twice for Spring Break and most recently we went on Oct. 10 for our kids' Fall Break. For our most recent cruise in October, we had one day of rough seas due to Tropical Storm Patricia. It was hot and humid in the ports, especially Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. But for our two prior Spring Break cruises, I would agree with Jasperdo about the weather and seas.

Twice we have driven from Phoenix to San Pedro and parked our car at the cruise terminal for the week. Most recently we flew to Long Beach on US Airways because we found a good fare. Cruising out of LA is quick and convenient, and much cheaper than flying to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for us. And the pricing on the cruises has been very attractive.

Give the Mexican Riviera a try!

[Niwel]

Wonderful review -- thank you for writing it up. Now I'm even more excited for our May cruise!

Question about the casino:
Is there smoking allowed and, if so, are there non-smoking nights? Our Jewel cruise in Northern Europe went non-smoking on the formal nights and it was so nice!

Re: Embarkation
We're used to sailing the Monarch, which occupied the "side berth" -- which one is Mariner at and how were the facilities?

[Uncle Fester]

Originally Posted by junglejane

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but when you talk about teens attending the "first night" do you mean the embarkation night?

As the others have correctly said, it's the first night you're on the ship. I don't recall their being free arcade games, but there could have been. The key is to just get them there. From what little we saw, the staff does a great job of making sure the kids interact and meet each other so that can start making friends.

[Uncle Fester]

Originally Posted by minnie00

How did you find the weather on the sea days? was the ride down to Mexico rough?

We are also in AZ and would love to be able to drive to the port and we love the Mariner...but...

we are put off by the cold sea days, rough seas, and dark water.

We are so enchanted by the Caribbean that its hard to decide if we would love the Mexico route...and of course all the deals are in the cold months like Feb

This is second Mexico Rivera cruise, and except for the one day because of the tropical storm, have never run into an issue with rough seas. We've had more rough seas on Caribbean cruises than on heading south from LA.

As for the cold sea days, I guess it's relative. I wouldn't characterize the days as cold, but rather cool. Think light jacket with shorts in the morning and losing the jacket in the afternoon. Our son, who is use to southern Arizona weather, had no difficulty swimming on the last day of the cruise.

As for the water, it is darker than in the Caribbean, but still nice during the late summer and fall months. We went snorkeling in Cabo and found the water was great. In the interest of full disclosure though, we took our last cruise to Mexico in early June and the water was still a bit chilly. But, it didnt' keep us out of the pool.

We really like the MR cruises, both from a fact that they are easy to get to and for the itinerary. There are still a lot of things we haven't done yet that we want to do on our next cruise.

[reallyitsmema]

Originally Posted by Uncle Fester

As the others have correctly said, it's the first night you're on the ship. I don't recall their being free arcade games, but there could have been. The key is to just get them there. From what little we saw, the staff does a great job of making sure the kids interact and meet each other so that can start making friends.

The arcade was free from midnight til 1AM on the first night on our first Mariner cruise. The only reason I remember was because we had set a midnight curfew and "everyone else was staying until one". Yes, we caved and he did too but it was also the only time he ever used the arcade because he said it was "lame".

Not sure if they had it the second cruise since he never went back to the arcade.

[Uncle Fester]

Originally Posted by socmom

Great Review! I was on the same cruise and I believe I may have even been on the same Mazatlan horseback ride with your family. I think your wife was bringing up the rear keeping me company on the horseback ride with our lazy horses!

I remember. We thought you guys were riding back down to PV it took you so long to get back. But, think of it this way, you maximized your riding hours per dollar.