Just Back from the Mariner

[sshuttle]

Unfortnately, I just spent the last hour writing a review of our cruise that ended today, and something happened and it's all gone.

 

Any how, rather than start all over, if you have any questions, just let me know, I'll be happy to answer them. I had a 6 year old in the Adventure Ocean so I know a lot about that. Also, on our sailing date the rooms and luggage weren't ready until 8:30 for many people and we didn't leave until after 6:00 (instead of 5:30). Would like to know if anyone ever got a clear answer. Our cabin steward said they laid off people.

 

Any how, just let me know if you have a question. I'm going to cry now.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[m&m1]

I may be mistaken, but were you one who was travelling with your child and asking about letters notarized from the other parent? If so, did you need one?

 

Also, at what time could you board?

 

Thanks!

 

Cruise addict in the making

 

MOS June 6, 2004

[sshuttle]

Nope, that wasn't me.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[brianandtanya]

Well I hope the cruise was everything you wanted to be. I really would look forward to a review. I'm sure you worked hard on it and the read would be great!

 

Sea Ya when I Sea Ya!!!

"We can change the world in our minds, but only our actions will make the difference!"

 

"Best friends are like broken elevators...They'll never let you down!"

 

Mariner 0f the Seas Again 4/05

Mariner of the Seas 7/04

Enchantment of the Seas 09/03

Voyager of the Seas 04/03

Carnival Fantasy 09/01

 

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Honeymooning on the Mariner!

 

 

[mj]

What time did they start boarding? If your room wasn't ready until after sailing, that is unusual. Just curious, what did you like and what areas on your cruise could use improvement in your opinion.

 

Sovereign of the Seas 12-9-00

Explorer of the Seas 10-20-01

Carnival Victory 12-9-01

Fantasy 5-9-02

Voyager of the Seas 10-20-02

Carnival Triumph 11-9-02

Inspiration 4-27-03

Navigator of the Seas 10-25-03

Paradise 5-9-04

Mariner of the Seas 10-24-04

[sshuttle]

Sorry, forgot to answer second question. We boarded about 11:45. However, today leaving we didn't get off the ship until 11:00 and we weren't even the last color. Therefore, I don't know what time they started boarding today. I don't blame Royal Caribbean I blame Port Canaveral (which I live 15 minutes from) and intend to send them a letter. Their traffic set up is ridculous. It took my friends over an hour in line to be able to pick us up.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[emmy]

sshuttle,

Hope you had a wonderful cruise. Was on the May 16 sailing and were at the Cocoa Beach pier waiting for Mariner to sail by. We waited and waited and waited and no Mariner...we did see Carnival ship and Disney Wonder.

 

Later at our hotel we were able to see Mariner sail by in the distance.....so was the delay because of weather problems for some of the passengers?

 

Emmy

 

Mariner of the Seas ~ May 2004

Navigator of the Seas ~ May 2003

Sun Princess ~ April 2002

Enchantment of the Seas ~ April 2000

Nordic Empress ~ May 1998

Splendour of the Seas ~ April 1997

Star Princess ~ February 1995

 

Journey on the Jewel April 23 2005

[sshuttle]

Our room was ready about 4:00 with our luggage but other's was ready at 8:30. Many came to dinner without being able to change. We also left over an hour late which was strange.

 

My favorite things about the cruise:

The ship. It was beautiful and well laid out. Everything was always clean. We loved our dinner service and cabin service. The Cafe Promenade was great. All of the activies like golf, skating, and rock climbing were neat. Our favorite excursion, hands down, was the one we booked ourselves through grandcaymanexcursions.com. We went on the Stingray City tour and snorkling. It was great, onboard the Buccaneer. Not a lot of people and the staff were great. Highly recommend it.

 

The few things I didn't like were dining in the Windjammer on the first day (lunch). It was packed and we couldn't find a seat and we had all of our carry-on and it just was really bad. Then I couldn't find a Compass and there was no one around to help. They were out of them at the pursers desk. We should have gone to the Cafe Promendade, sat down, ate their food, and relaxed, much better idea. Also, I would have liked more hours open and more dinners avaiable for the Adventure Ocean.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

[cruisingangel]

It was not Port Canaverals fault that your luggage and room were not ready till late it was RCCL as they now have 1 room steward taking care of 40 rooms and the luggage. Sounds like they are cutting corners for some reason.

 

Mariner of the Seas 5/16/2004

 

[sshuttle]

I agree with you about day 1 and the luggage and room problems, totally. Our steward told us that they laid off 25 people (house keeping, I'm assuming) and another passenger said he heard the same thing. However, he asked staff about it and they denied it. I'm inclined to believe my steward.

 

The port is responsible for the traffic problems though. Royal Caribbean is the only terminal in port canaveral that does run their own terminal it's done by Air and Sea. Disney does their own and Carnival does their own, for what that's worth.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[EydieG]

I have a question about the cruise director. I have been reading about one that everybody seemed to like but they say he will be leaving in May. We are on the Mariner in 3 weeks. Does anyone know who the CD will be and if he or she is a lot of fun or just so so.

Thanks

[sshuttle]

Kirk Detweiler was ours. Honestly I really only saw him on stage a few times introducing the acts. I heard there was a very funny video though with him that they show on the last night at the farewell show.

 

The assistant cruise director was the BINGO caller and he was hysterical. I went just to see him he made me laugh so hard.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[mafig]

I'm confused Does this mean you were not allowed into your cabin until 4:00 or so and others until 8:30? Or does it mean you were allowed in but the room was not made up, ie. beds unmade, used towels, bathroom not clean? I guess either way it was not a good experience for you and not a good first impression either.

[sshuttle]

I kept checking on our cabin throughout the afternoon. At about 4:00 it was all ready and had all but one piece of luggage in it. Our steward apologized several times. I learned later that in other areas (including my sister's) the cabins were not ready (clean sheets, towels, etc.) and had no luggage until 8:30. The Captain made several annoucements regarding the luggage and cabin issue and the late depature over the loudspeaker.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[vancom]

We are headed out in mid-June on the Mariner, and sad to hear that service may suffer. Any other areas in which you noticed delays or problems other than the tending of cabins--in the dining room, etc? Although this is our fifth cruise, we finally convinced our parents to give cruising a try. Hope RCCL/Mariner works out any staffing issues by then!

 

 

Vanessa

[briternik]

What time did they start letting people off the ship? Thanks

[TomCat32174]

I would think that RCCL will not want to willfully let people go when they know that the next week it will be another full week. It could be that when the ship was going through inspections, it was discovered that some memebers were wanted for drugs, ect ect. It is not uncommon for things like this to happen especially when it gets near the holidays and summer vacations.

 

 

Until Mariner of the Seas

 

 

Navigator of the Seas 11/03

Explorer of the Seas 11/02

Royal Majesty 12/95

Costa Riviera 8/89 & 12/89

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GET OUT THERE!

[sshuttle]

There are a million reasons and we could continue to speculate, but the bottom line is, regardless of the reason, RCCL is responsible for the readiness of the ship. I appreciated the personal letter from the Captain and the free cocktail hour, which he attended. Things got better throughout the cruise.

 

As for when they let people off the ship, around 8:30, but that was expedited departure which you have to sign up for and carry you own luggage off the ship. It took a long time. Take their word for it, and find somewhere comfortable to sit. They do you give you a list of the order the colors will be called so you do have some idea. You must be out of your cabin by 8:00.

 

By the way, several of us commented today that as we left the ship we saw lots of cabins completely made up and ready for the next guests.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[Sunbird]

We were on the 5/16 sailing in our cabin 1:00PM no problems what ever. Sailed on time etc,etc.

[mammallama]

Thanks for the information. Sounds like you had a grreat time. I think we will, too. I love Key West. What was the private island like? Did they have a BBQ on the beach? Did you tender?

[Adventure Girl]

SShuttle: Thanks so much for the information. I am sailing in November on the Mariner and we have booked the same excursion in Grand Cayman on the Buccaneer Catamaran. I am so glad to hear that you liked it.

 

I'm surprised about the whole luggage and cabin thing on the first day. Must have been a fluke. (At least I am hoping). I only have the AOS to go by, and have never experienced what you went through on the first day.

 

Kirk Detwieller was the CD on the AOS when I sailed last year and he played the same video on the last night of the cruise....a video of him performing every job function on the ship....kitchen, cabin steward, captain, photographer, cleaner, etc. It was hysterical. I am so hoping that he has taken his vacation and returned to the Mariner when I sail in November.

 

Thanks again for posting your experience.

 

Monarch of the Seas 4/02

Disney Wonder 11/02

Adventure of the Seas 10/03, 3/04

Voyager of the Seas to Canada 9/5/04

 

"Girl's Getaway" on Mariner of the Seas 11/7/04

[sshuttle]

The private island was very nice. We went to a beach called "Hide-away Beach." It was very nice. There are rocks in the water though, may want to make sure you take water shoes. My son did the aqua park, he liked it, but one of us should have gone with him. My niece and sister did the parasailing and said it was incredible. There are three places to eat lunch. They had hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken (maybe ribs too??) with all the fixins. Very nice. There is a neat look out (Dragons point) and lots of great places to take pictures throughout the island. You do have to tender. It went smoothly, just be patient. Also, there are people everywhere wanting to carry a chair for you, they don't work for Royal Caribbean and expect a tip. All I had was a $20 and I told him I wanted $18 back ($1.00 a chair), he tried to get away with $15 but I held my ground. In other words, if you want help with the chairs, bring some singles. All the drink places only take your sea pass so they can't give you change.

 

Premier,Star Ship Magestic, 1990 and 1992

RCL, Monarch of the Seas, 5/1994

Disney Wonder, 5/2002

RCL, Mariner of the Seas, 5/2004

 

[bowsi]

I was on this cruise as well and must second the problems previously discussed regarding the rooms. Our room (8314) was not ready until after 4:00pm and we heard many other people throughout the week saying their rooms were not ready that day until after 7:00pm. Nobody had any explanation other than the letter from Captain Johnny saying this experience wasn't up to RCI standards.

 

It was a wonderful cruise, despite this first glitch and the terrible weather we experienced on Monday - cold, high winds, rain - ugh.

 

I plan on writing a more detailed review and will post as soon as I get through the mountains of laundry. I will say this - beware of the Catch the Wave excursion in Cozumel. It absolutely does not live up to the description in the excursion literature.

 

On a high note - if you are looking for somewhere different to eat that inexpensive and really, really good try Mona Lisa Restuarant across from the pier - it's a Turkish restuarant run by a really nice husband and wife team. We spent a couple hours there - good times!

[lucialilac]

briternik- We had express debarkation tickets which my husband got from the Guest Relations desk on Saturday morning. These tickets allow you to carry off your own luggage and leave the ship at approx. 7:30 am after the ship clears customs. FYI- On Sunday morning nobody asked to see our express tickets so if you walk to deck 4 with your luggage you can get off the ship. We were off the ship and in a cab (Tiffany Town Car service) by 8:05 am. We were at Orlando airport by 8:50 and Continental checked our luggage outside immediately. The debarkation process was painless and easy and if anyone has an early flight it is completely possible to make it.

 

Our cabin was ready when we arrived on the ship, but we were missing our bath towels. It wasn't a big deal because the room steward, Edna who is very nice, was well aware that our room needed towels and we had them two seconds later. We received all of our luggage well before our second seating dinner allowing us plenty of time to unpack and freshen up. We had a wonderful time on this cruise and I don't have one negative comment.

 

Mariner of the Seas 2004!!!

 

[wickwen]

I was wondering if you could tell me more about the activities offered by "Adventure Ocean" at night. We will be cruising on the Mariner in November with at least 28 family and friends.We will have 6 children using the camps. We are wondering if there is enough to keep the kids occupied with during the adult only shows? And my 10 year old is sitting here wanting to know are they activities "cool?"

 

Also, did you use the babysitting services offered on the ship? If so, how was it?

 

WooHoo Till I Cruise Again

 

 

Explorer 12/02

Pride 7/03