LIVE ABOARD THE MARINER: Jan. 30th, 2005 Western Route

TBRay checking in folks. This will be the "poor man's" version of a live "Radio" thread. No cyber cabin or GPS but I will try and give updates. Sorry I cannot even download all those great photos but like to give descriptive examples.

GOOD NEWS FIRST: Asking at the port one of the RCI employees said the reported cases last week dropped to 50 (as compared to 250 the previous week). The sanitation procedures are in full force and seem to be working well. One minor discomfort was the cabins were not open to the public until 3:00 PM yesterday (actually released at 2:45 PM) due to extensive cleaning. Nobody really had a problem with that and my wife and I both enjoyed some quiet time on the upper deck.

I also overheard a receptionist telling passengers that the ship is at maximum capacity so no upgrades were available. Makes me glad I snagged my choice of cabins a year ago (see cabin description below).

CORNER AFT BALCONY: We're in one of the infamous corner aft rooms (9690) and these rooms ROCK! Smaller balcony than our neighbors due to the cornering effect but a HUGE cabin for an E1. Our first balcony after seven cruises and it's very exciting. We even watched the ship depart from our private balcony and throughly enjoyed a room service breakfast this morning. :p

CASINO: I guess I'm just the lucky nickel guy because I've already won $200 last night. $75 jackpot on the nickel slots and a lucky $100 pull on "The Munsters" dollar machine (my favorite classic TV show) :D

Entered the slot tournament for this afternoon and it's exactly at the same time of the Meet & Mingle. So my DW will be trying to win the Aqua Mouse while I give a whirl at the slots.

CAPTAIN: Captian Johnny is aboard with Simeon Baker as Cruise Director. Tonight is our photo opt for the Captain's reception and it will be our first time meeting him. Heard many good things but our first sailing with Johnny.

STEADY AS SHE GOES: I know it's weather related as well as course but we had one of the smoothest sailings our of Port Canaveral EVER! You barely knew you were on a ship with only very slight movement side to side. We are current cruising at 19 knots and are approximately halfway to Labadee.

As I stated before I'm using the Cyber Cafe (still don't have a laptop) but will check in and give updates as needed. Fire away with any questions and I will do my best. My third trip aboard Mariner and she is still (IMHO) one of the finest ships in the entire world.

I'm so glad to hear that the number of people who were reported as being sick on last weeks sailing has dropped. I hope you have a wonderful week aboard the Mariner!

Lisa

Hey thanks TBRay for the update! Keep them coming as often as you can. I'll be on the Mariner in 2 weeks (can't wait) so any info you can give will be great!

Let us know about the weather, any shore excursions you take, the food, the service, and the entertainment.

Thanks for checking in! I love reading these live threads:) Looking forward to hearing more about your cruise!

Good to have you out there. Just got back yesterday (just before you boarded) so I'll be living vicariously through you. This may be sacrilege but I didn't find anything special about CAPT Johnny that everyone raves about. A great guy and good captain but the things the ship offered were better to concentrate on. Also Simeon personally drove me up a wall but the entertainment program was excellent. Enjoy the 1st formal night!

Bob

If it is the older Spanish woman she is pretty good but be sure you relieve yourself before the show starts. She goes non-stop for an hour with house lights all the way up and got all over a guy who had to use the facilities. :)

It was all in fun, of course, but I was sitting there about ready to explode. When the lights dimmed for a minute I had to crawl over 20 annoyed people to get out but when you gotta go you gotta go. I watched the rest of the show standing in the rear.

She was good but an hour was probably too long for this kind of act IMHO.

Bob

Wonde what happenned to Kird Deitweller(sic) he was suppose to be the CD on the Mariner, we had him last year and had booked again this year, but friends had to leave from either Miami or Ft Lauderdale, so we are on Navigator thought he was very good

Thanks for taking the time on your vacation to report in. I always enjoy reading posts from onboard. My family & I are greatly looking forward to our turn.

Thanks again

Supposedly Kirk Detwiler was just on board maybe even up until last week. There does seem to be some changing of the guard as far as employees, because our waiter Dwain is on Week One after being off ship for the past two months.

Glad to see the Escargot is still on the menu for formal night #1. Probably the only place on earth I'll eat snails is on board ship but I love the little things. Yum!

Didn't even place in the slot tournament this afternoon :( . Lightning did not strike three times. A $30 jackpot on the nickel machine was all I had to console me. ;)

My DW went to the art auction to receive her free print and somehow ended up with a painting. Thank God is wasn't the $46K Salvadore Dali. :eek: She doesn't even remember the winning bid but "thinks" it was $95. Ms. Impulsivity there.

Outrunning the low pressure system as we head further south and the water is just getting bluer and greener all the time. I had forgotten just how pretty it was down here. My DW is currently sleeping on our balcony and enjoying the peace and quiet.

And a room steward dropped off a plate of chocolate goodies to our cabin. The memo with it said it was a perk for being a Diamond level C&A member which is REALLY nice since we are only Platnium. They tasted good. :cool:

And one lucky employee gets to staff the Cyber Cafe to clean the keyboards after EVERY use. For all the bad comments I read in the past couple of weeks this Cruise Critic is very, very impressed with the staff's vigilence.

Off to the Cafe Promenade for my afternoon pizza fix (we are late diners) and then some balcony time.

CRUISE ON!

TBRay, we sailed Mariner last April,wish I was on her now,and I totally agree with you. She is jaw-dropping awesome and will be tough to beat,by any other ship. I know exactly what you mean,talking about your "smooth sailing" away. Our entire 7 days was that way.You literally had to go outside to see if you were really moving. It was incredible. Keep the postings coming.I love to read about our lady.Have a wonderful cruise.

TBRay, so exciting to read your posts. We'll be on the Mariner for the first time in April, also sailing the western route. How's the speed in the internet cafe? Do you have a package of minutes? Can you tell me the price?

Sounds like you've been pretty lucky in the casino so far and the week is just beginning.

Looking forward to more of your trip...

Sounds like you and Mrs TB are having a good time and it is only Monday. We were on the Mariner Jan 9-16th Eastern and had a wonderful time. Simeon Baker was the CD on our cruise also, he has been on the Mariner for a bit now. Capt Johnny was sick the first part of the week so he was not as visable as he usually is...We had such a blast that we booked same itinerary (we do love St. Maarten) for Nov. 27th. Keep those daily updates coming, you are giving Radio a run for his money:) . Hope your luck continues in the casino. We won on the quarter machine and $1.00 Wheel of Fortune...Jill

TBRay -

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your vacation to share your experience. We will be boarding Sunday as you disembark and reading Radio's and now your posts gives me butterflies everytime! Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your cruise!!!!

please.... I know it's a lot to ask... but can you find out the names of the skaters in the show? Last year they were listed in the program...

Thanks for the info. I was on the Mariner last June and am getting ready to board her on Feb 20. Can't wait.Keep the info coming. Great Ship

Hey TBRay ! I Love your trip reports ! You are a great writer too...Keep it up !

Thanks for the updates.....

Keep up the great work ! I will be tuning in Daily ;) ;)

TBRay Fan !>>>>>>>Radio

hey TBRay thanks for the reports i will be checking them daily, since i will be boarding her on feb 6th. i hope you have a great time and keep up the great reports.

Hi Ray

We just got off, we had a very subdued group of passengers. The crew was taking it easy while we were there, but getting ready for you all. They told us we picked the wrong week. Have a great time. Say hi to Gus in Boleros for me, tell him Joycelyn said hi, trust me, he'll remember me.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. You are making people forget who this cat Radio was.

Just one question? Could you share with us your boarding experience - time of arrival and when you were on board.

Thanks for the updates!!

Good to have you out there. Just got back yesterday (just before you boarded) so I'll be living vicariously through you. This may be sacrilege but I didn't find anything special about CAPT Johnny that everyone raves about. A great guy and good captain but the things the ship offered were better to concentrate on. Also Simeon personally drove me up a wall but the entertainment program was excellent. Enjoy the 1st formal night!

 

Bob

 

Bob,

 

I am so glad to hear that there is someone else who feels the same! On our Mariner cruise Captain Johnny was sick part of the time (as Jill has mentioned) and not as visible, but when he did show up I could not see what was so impressive about him. Did not strike me as terribly charismatic, witty, or bright. I attended the Q & A with the captain and the senior crew on the last day, and when he was asked what time zone we had entered when we sailed east of Florida, Captain Johnny did not know. Now, I am far from being a mariner, this was my first time in Florida (let alone east of it) and I grew up in a foreign land with no concept of time zones -- but even I knew the answer to this question and I found it hard to believe that Captain Johnny didn't know it (especially since I had seen it mentioned in the Mariner's own Compass a few days earlier --Atlantic Time), Anyway, without getting too picky, I am glad to have found a fellow heretic.

 

Maybe, if the rumors are true and Capt. Johnny will be Captain on the Freedom of the Seas, and maybe, if I win the lottery any time soon and sail again with him on the FOS, I, too, will discover his draw. In the meantime, it was nice to get some validation to my minority opinion.

Thanks one and all for the kind comments. It fires "me" up that people actually read this stuff. We are currently about six hours away from Labadee and have broken out into clear sky and a beautiful half moon rising over our balcony. :D

We are skipping the ice show this cruise. Sorry if I don't get their names but I will try if possible (they might be in the Cruise Compass). It is a wonderful show but we've done it so many times now (5 or 6?) that we will opt for something else.

Internet is still $0.50 a minute but thankfully we have some C&A coupons for free access time. Slow but usable. About like my dialup at home (for comparison).

Did the Captain's Gala with the obigatory photo opt. His message from the Promenade was well received and he had a few good jokes along with some basic information.

As with the Cruise Director, a Captain won't make or break my week. I can't really say anything good or bad yet about either one mainly because I just met them yesterday. All I know is the ship is sailing smoothly and the activities are equally smooth. No complaints here.

The first formal night dinner was wonderful. The traditional Escargot along with beef tenderloin. My DW found it to be a little too rare for her so she asked for the Salmon instead and they immediately brought her another entree. And not one to let good beef go to waste, I ended up with 1 1/2 Tenderloins. :cool:

I always forget to mention the dinner desserts but tonight was the Mariner Souffle (sp?) with the hot vanilla sauce poured over it. Probably my favorite dessert of the entire week. And for people worrying about their diet they seem to have increased the number of sugar free selections in the Windjammer. I had sugar-free vanilla layer cake today and it was virtually impossible to tell it from the real "sugar" version.

I'll post after returing from a solid sunburn at Labadee. We stayed cloudy and indoors most of today so I expect virtually the entire ship to enjoy some shore time tomorrow (later today?!?). Somehow I forgot my suntan oil in the hurried up packing but thankfully the ship's store had plenty in stock.

Met LOT's of Cruise Critics this trip. We are EVERYWHERE. Cruises are just plain more fun when you know a whole bunch of people. We've even seen some crew members we knew from previous trips (and other ships).

Talk at you Tuesday afternoon.... :rolleyes:

Wonderful review and please keep it coming.

Oh, the next time you go down for your pizza fix, would you be kind enough to have a choc chip cookie and think of me. What I would do for a cookie right about now.

We are cruising in Sept, after reading your review, can hardly wait.

Good luck in the casino during the rest of the week and I hope you win big.

TBRay...Thank you for taking the time to post! I think those of us with cruises pending in the immediate future enjoy the "live" reviews the most (IMHO). We will be boarding on 2/13...did you see the horseraces at the pool? Can you tell me how much they auctioned off for? The "owners" race is on the last sea day... Thanks again for the posts!...nick:)

TBray.......Thanks for updating us here on land...I am sailing on that girl in April but going to the East and my question is did you see anything about a Alcohol drink card?.........and are the pools open when you get on ?

Thanks

Terry

R.I.

Thanks TBRay for the continued updates. Sounds like everything is going great so far. Let us know what the weather/temp is like in Labadee. Is the ship at full capacity?