Mariner of the Seas Review with Pics

Day 1

After years of being addicted to Cruise Critic reviews, I have decided to write my first review chronicling the Aug 11th Western Mediterranean cruise with my wonderful GF Paulette. We could not fly in the day before the cruise due to commitments at work, however we have made similar Europe flight without any issues so, we weren’t worried. The original plan was to take the 2:59pm USAIR Express out of LGA for the short hop to PHL to connect to the 6:15pm Rome flight. The adventure starts out on Friday, Aug 10. The weather forecast is for heavy rain starting at 11am and continuing through the afternoon. There are 2 things that don’t go well together – LaGuardia Airport and rain. We weighed our options – 1) go to LGA and pray or 2) rent a car and drive to the Rome flight. At 12pm, after verifying the weather radar, we decided to rent a car and drive to the city of brotherly love which normally takes an hour and 30 min.

"Insert story of Belt Parkway being flooded and closed (30 min delay), gridlock traffic on the Brooklyn side streets (30 min delay), Staten Island Expressway being flooded (30min delay), NJ Turnpike 10 mile traffic delay due to construction delays (1hour delay)"

Thank God for my blood pressure meds…

We happily arrive in PHL Airport at 5pm with plenty of time to check in, go through security, have a calming drink in the USAIR club and board our A330-300 to Rome.

Sad note – on approach to Rome we flew right past Giglo and the Concordia wreck.

After a nice Envoy class dinner, 2 movies, 2 mojitos, a nice glass of Port and a 3 hour nap, we arrived in Rome at 8:30am.

We were promptly met by the Rome Cabs driver (can’t remember his name) who drove us to Civitavecchia.

We arrived in 45 mins and dropped off our luggage. Upon entering the check in area we were given a #55 tag and told to show our online checkin sea pass to the young woman near the check in counter. When we showed her, she took the #55 and replaced it with a #1 tag. We were then 1st to check in and first to board the lovely Mariner of the Seas. We quickly went to the Windjammer for HSC, which was disappointingly little dry. We then set up our RCCL online wifi account access. Diamond perk - 30 mins free internet. One hour free is all I need to download the newspaper on my iPad and check on things at home and work. By then it was 12:30pm and we decide to check and see if your room was available. Since 900 people had gotten on in Genoa, the fire doors where wide open. As we approached OS1320 our suite attendant David from Jamaica, saw us and said of course your suite is ready for you.

Sorry didn’t take any pics of the room, but it the standard 2nd generation Voyager Class OS with the big balcony.

After muster drill, room service – 3 Vidalia Onion Tarts and an end cut Prime Rib dinner, the evil jet lag has caught up with us and we go to bed...

Looking forward to this review! Great start already. That picture of the Concordia is extremely eerie, probably even more so seeing like that in person even if it was through an airplane window. Any pictures of the airplane or the aircraft cabin :)

Wow, not the way you want to start a vacation! Can't wait for more. :)

Day 2

Got up at 6am to watch the Genoa docking

We took tour:

GN16 Milan On Your Own

PRICES: Adult 82.00/Child 69.00 USD

DURATION: 8 hr(s)

DEPARTURE TIMES: 7:50 am

The drive was about 1 hour and 45mins with a stop at and Autogrill rest stop along the way. I was surprised how mountainous the terrain was. The bus arrived and parked around the corner from the Scala Theatre, which is one block from the Duomo

After walking around and having a yummy lunch we got back on the bus for the short 1:45 min ride back to the ship.

After sail away, still feeling the effects of jet lag, we took what we though was going to be a nap, but which actually ended up turning into a full night sleep.

(Not counting the 11:35pm Promenade pizza run and the mudslide with extra chocolate for dessert)

Cannes

Today started out with Paulette screaming!!!!! Since there aren’t any spiders on Mariner, I quickly jumped up out of a dead sleep to find out what was wrong. Paulette, then shoved an envelope in my face and said “Read it” - Dear Mr. and Mrs...., You are cordially invited to dinner with Capt Flemming tonight at 9:30pm in the main dining room. I quickly joined Paulette screaming!!!!!!!! After calming down, we opened the curtains to find ourselves anchored in Cannes.

Today was going to be a beach day, since we had been to Cannes last year on Voyager. (SNCF from Provence) We had reservations at C-Beach beach club for 2 loungers and an umbrella in the 2nd row, since the 1st was sold out. We took the elevator down to deck one, waited 5 minutes and tendered into Cannes. After a long walk the around the harbor and amazing yachts, we arrived at the beach club/restaurant.

The sand was soft, and the water was clear, but surprisingly cool, especially for August. We had a bottle of water, a bottle of Rose, and 2 veal cutlets with fries. We spent a good time relaxing and having a lazy beach day. At the end of the day, lunch was 67 euros and the chairs where 67 euros. (Expensive, but hey we are on vacation) The walk was shorter on the way back :-) Arrived at the tender dock, no line and 10 mins later we were on the ship. Upon arriving back at our suite, we were greeted with a bottle of Merlot from Luca the concierge. Can this get any better? We took a quick nap, got dressed then headed to the diamond lounge for a pre dinner drink and to hang out with our new cruise buddies we met in the lounge. (Names have been omitted to protect the innocent). Our buddies, who were the top cruiser on the ship, had been invited to dine with the Caption also so the 4 of us headed to Studio B, where the Head Waiter would meet us, to take us to the Capt’s table.

Dinner was fantastic, especially dessert. Sorry no food porn.

Barcelona

Woke up at 9am feeling relaxed and enjoyed our sail in to Barcelona.

We sailed ½ way into harbor, did a 180 and backed up the remainder of the way. My buddy Capt. Flemming did a great job :-)

Today’s plan was go to Sagrada Familia then to the beach. Instead of using the ship’s $12 pp shuttle bus we exited the terminal and took the port bus 3.50euro round trip. Then walked a block to the metro and took the subway (Private joke)

(Sorry Mom) - Sagrada Familia is not to my taste. We then took an 8 euro cab ride to Barceloneta beach.

We got 2 loungers and an umbrella for 14 euro and had another lazy day at the beach, excluding the constant harassment of people selling Mojitos, fresh coconut and offers for foot massages. Cannes and Barefoot beach and Nachi Cocom have spoiled us.

At about 4pm we took a 13 euro cab ride back to the ship to shower and change for our date night dinner in Barcelona. We then took the port bus back to Las Ramblas. We walked around, discovered a fantastic plaza with numerous restaurant and had wine and paella, for dinner. We arrived back at the ship at 10pm and enjoyed our first night time sail away from our balcony...

Palma

Woke up already docked in Palma

Since today was a national holiday, we decided to make it another beach day. (Tough life) We exited the ship and took a 17 euro cab ride to Palma Nova

All the loungers were occupied in the first beach, so we went to the next one and found available one.

These loungers were 12 euros for the day. Note – grab the empty ones, a man in a red hat will come get the money later. The water was very warm and the sand was very soft. After a few hours we crossed the street, found a restaurant and had an ok meal, with very good sangria. We hopped a 15 euro cab ride back to the ship. We had a shower and a power quick nap and then enjoyed another evening in the Diamond Lounge. Who needs dinner when you have yummy chicken wings, and meat ball hors d’ouevre?

Day 6

Valencia

When we booked this cruise we were excited because one of the ports was Tunisia, but a revolution got in the way. We had extremely low expectations of the replacement port –Valencia.

Boy were we wrong!!!!! Valencia turned out to be amazing. We took the ships $12 shuttle bus to the downtown area, did some sightseeing, and then grabbed an 8 euro cab to the beach.

The beach was incredible with its perfect white sand and warm clear shallow water.

We enjoyed great tapas and sangria at a beach bordering restaurant and grabbed a cab back to the ship

"Exclude story of taxi driver getting lost trying to find ship, and the lovely tour of MSC container yard - He did stop the meter and only charged us 10 euro, so it’s a par"

Comfortably back on the ship we watched my buddy, Capt Flemming handle another tricky departure.

We then established a new routine – eat all of the hors d’ouevre in the Concierge Lounge and then eat all of the hors d’ouevres in the Diamond Lounge, followed by a pizza and mudslide run at midnight.

she is a wonderful ship since she was renovated a yr ago... she moves back to new orleans this winter. if they have a port left

Day 1

 

After years of being addicted to Cruise Critic reviews, I have decided to write my first review chronicling the Aug 11th Western Mediterranean cruise with my wonderful GF Paulette. We could not fly in the day before the cruise due to commitments at work, however we have made similar Europe flight without any issues so, we weren’t worried. The original plan was to take the 2:59pm USAIR Express out of LGA for the short hop to PHL to connect to the 6:15pm Rome flight. The adventure starts out on Friday, Aug 10. The weather forecast is for heavy rain starting at 11am and continuing through the afternoon. There are 2 things that don’t go well together – LaGuardia Airport and rain. We weighed our options – 1) go to LGA and pray or 2) rent a car and drive to the Rome flight. At 12pm, after verifying the weather radar, we decided to rent a car and drive to the city of brotherly love which normally takes an hour and 30 min.

 

 

"Insert story of Belt Parkway being flooded and closed (30 min delay), gridlock traffic on the Brooklyn side streets (30 min delay), Staten Island Expressway being flooded (30min delay), NJ Turnpike 10 mile traffic delay due to construction delays (1hour delay)"

 

Thank God for my blood pressure meds…

 

We happily arrive in PHL Airport at 5pm with plenty of time to check in, go through security, have a calming drink in the USAIR club and board our A330-300 to Rome.

 

Sad note – on approach to Rome we flew right past Giglo and the Concordia wreck.

 

 

After a nice Envoy class dinner, 2 movies, 2 mojitos, a nice glass of Port and a 3 hour nap, we arrived in Rome at 8:30am.

 

We were promptly met by the Rome Cabs driver (can’t remember his name) who drove us to Civitavecchia.

 

 

We arrived in 45 mins and dropped off our luggage. Upon entering the check in area we were given a #55 tag and told to show our online checkin sea pass to the young woman near the check in counter. When we showed her, she took the #55 and replaced it with a #1 tag. We were then 1st to check in and first to board the lovely Mariner of the Seas. We quickly went to the Windjammer for HSC, which was disappointingly little dry. We then set up our RCCL online wifi account access. Diamond perk - 30 mins free internet. One hour free is all I need to download the newspaper on my iPad and check on things at home and work. By then it was 12:30pm and we decide to check and see if your room was available. Since 900 people had gotten on in Genoa, the fire doors where wide open. As we approached OS1320 our suite attendant David from Jamaica, saw us and said of course your suite is ready for you.

 

Sorry didn’t take any pics of the room, but it the standard 2nd generation Voyager Class OS with the big balcony.

 

After muster drill, room service – 3 Vidalia Onion Tarts and an end cut Prime Rib dinner, the evil jet lag has caught up with us and we go to bed...

We were in 1320 in March...great suite!:D

Cruise ending, back to work depression day.

We enjoyed our 1st and only day at sea on this itinerary. That Mediterranean Sea water is amazingly blue

This is us coming up the strait between Corsia and Sardina

Another great evening doing our routine. Boy do I need a mudslide...

Ready for more :)

Day 8

We did express departure at 6:45am. No line. Met our Romecabs driver and were checked in at FCO by 8:15am.

A 2 hour delay for maintenance, as I always say – Maintenance on the ground - Good, Maintenance in the air – BAD!!!!, and we were on our way home.

Another sobering Concordia flyover...

...10 hours, a lost piece of luggage and we were home...

Overall another great RCCL Vacation. Hope you enjoyed the review.

Wonderful review! A cruise like this is on my bucket list!!!

Congratulations on the invite to dinner with Captain Flemming!

Who was the cruise director on your sailing?

Wonderful review! A cruise like this is on my bucket list!!!

 

Congratulations on the invite to dinner with Captain Flemming!

 

Who was the cruise director on your sailing?

Thanks - CD was Mercedes Fuentes

Thanks - CD was Mercedes Fuentes

Thanks - I will update the Current CD list with this info!

Mariner is NOT going to New Orleans...It returns to Galveston in November.

she is a wonderful ship since she was renovated a yr ago... she moves back to new orleans this winter. if they have a port left

Not if we have anything to say about it since we are on her from Rome to Galveston arriving in Texas November 18th:eek:

Mariner is NOT going to New Orleans...It returns to Galveston in November.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D

Thanks for the review - we leave on Saturday to do the cruise next week so this was really unexpected and welcome. Like you we were disappointed with the change of port re Tunis and were planning to hit the beach at Valencia - the beach you went to looks perfect but did they have sunbeds etc for hire?

Thanks for the review - we leave on Saturday to do the cruise next week so this was really unexpected and welcome. Like you we were disappointed with the change of port re Tunis and were planning to hit the beach at Valencia - the beach you went to looks perfect but did they have sunbeds etc for hire?

Yes - 12 euro for 2 and an umbrella.

Hi , many thanks for posting this review , we board Mariner in 10 days doing the same itinerary apart from instead of Cannes we do Corsica , a couple of questions , we are wanting to do our own thing in Barcelona and you mention being able to get a bus from the port to the town , is this bus easy to find ? Is it right outside the port and does it drop you off anywhere near the Colombus statue at the bottom of las Ramblas ? Are they frequent going back and forth , any info would be really appreciated .

Is the outdoor movie screen utilised ? We were on Liberty when it had just been upgraded and the screen was hardly used , we expected a few movies but there were many days when it just showed still pictures , it seemed a shame that it was there but wasn't utilised .

Many thanks .

Linda .

Hi , many thanks for posting this review , we board Mariner in 10 days doing the same itinerary apart from instead of Cannes we do Corsica , a couple of questions , we are wanting to do our own thing in Barcelona and you mention being able to get a bus from the port to the town , is this bus easy to find ? Is it right outside the port and does it drop you off anywhere near the Colombus statue at the bottom of las Ramblas ? Are they frequent going back and forth , any info would be really appreciated .

Is the outdoor movie screen utilised ? We were on Liberty when it had just been upgraded and the screen was hardly used , we expected a few movies but there were many days when it just showed still pictures , it seemed a shame that it was there but wasn't utilised .

Many thanks .

Linda .

The Port bus stop is to the left as you exit the cruise terminal. They run every 10 - 15 mins. It drops you off right at the Colombus statue at the bottom of Las Ramblas. As for the screen, they had an Andrea Bocelli special and football games, from what I can remember. There usually werent too many people watching.

Thank you so much for your quick reply , seeing as this is a port intensive cruise I am not expecting them to screen many movies as they assume most people get off when the ship is docked .

Thank you for the bus info , I have heard that royals shuttle is much more expensive , so will use the port shuttle .

Linda .

Since you dined with the Captain, you may have talked to the head Chef and gotten some inside info. We are waiting to hear if Mariner does already or will have soon (Before she returns to Texas) have the new updated MDR menu. Do you know anything about it???? THanks for the input!