My Mariner Review-Jan. 2 Sailing

[berryhillmom]

My Review of the Mariner of the Seas! Jan. 2-8 Sailing.

 

Intro: We were five families taking our 9 Seniors on their

Senior Trip. With adults, our seniors, and their siblings we

totaled 25 people ranging from age 10 to 55. Of our group

there were about 13 who were first time cruisers.

 

Embarkation: After hearing about the recent problems

related to the NoroVirus I tried to prepare our group of 25,

that embarkation could be a nightmare. I heard about how

they sent our previous cruisers to the convention center to

wait while they did intense cleaning.

We arrived at the port at around 11:00 and there wasn't even

a line yet!! We checked in immediately and went to sit and

wait for boarding. It was 1:00 before they called the 1st

group to board which was little later than we've seen on

past cruises.

 

Upon boarding we immediately went to the Windjammer for

lunch. We were not allowed to enter our cabins until 3:00pm

which in the past we were in our rooms by 1:00 to 1:30. I'm

sure they are spending extra time cleaning because it has

been 3 or 4 sailings of NoroVirus outbreaks on the Mariner.

 

Our cabin: We always book interior cabins because it is

less expensive and we really don't spend that much time in

our cabin. We had a quad cabin. The room had a chair and

coffee table (which just gets in the way), a safe, a small

fridge, lots of closet space, plenty of shelves in the

bathroom and by day 3 I finally noticed the hidden shelves

by the vanity in the main cabin. You will have plenty of

room under the bed for your empty suitcases. The bathroom

is pretty small. The shower is also much smaller than we've

had on our Carnival cruises. No problem though, it gets the

job done.

 

The Ship: You will love the Grand Promenade. It is

beautiful! It is a nice place to sit and relax and people

watch! You will find the RCCL logo shop, a pub, the Cafe

Promenade where you get 24 hour pizza, sandwiches, and

cookies. Deck 11 is the pool deck. This ship has 2 main

pools and the Adult only pool. There were several hot tubs.

After 10 cruises, this was the easiest we've ever been able

to find lounge chairs on the deck. I don't know if the

chair hogs weren't onboard this ship or if they just have

so many chairs. We always took the spot on deck 12 where

you are looking down on the pool games.

 

Ship Activities: Our teens loved the rock climbing wall,

the ice skating, and the miniture golf. Other things

available were inline skating, ping pong, shuffleboard. Oh

and how could I forget the basketball court. Our teenage

boys spent a lot of time shooting hoops.

 

The Casino: We would spend our late nights after the shows

in the casino. We played Craps and Blackjack. I know that

on past cruises we would have trouble getting on the craps

table or blackjack table but this time it was no problem. I

guess their weren't very many gamblers on our ship! (smart

people) Our teenage boys took advantage of being able to

gamble at age 18 on a cruise ship. Back in Oklahoma you

have to be 21 years old at the Indian Casinos.

 

Entertainment: The 1st night was a group of 3 Motown

singers. They did a good job. The RCCL singers and dancers

performed the 2nd night and I personally enjoyed the

production. The 2 comedians this week were just okay.

Don't miss the ice show. It is a must see!!! It is free and you have to pick up tickets at a certain time. I forgot to get our groups tickets but we stood in the standby line and got in without any trouble. It still

amazes what they can do on the small rink.

 

Other things we found to be lots of fun: The Love and Marriage Show, The Battle of the Sexes, and do not miss The Quest!! (It is much

more fun if you can get a couple from your group involved!)

 

We went to karaoke a couple of times and had a blast. The guy from the entertainment staff was hilarious. He really made it a lot of fun! The only problem with Karaoke is you get the same people signing up over and over and they don't want to give others a chance. People...don't be rude and just sign up once. Give everyone a chance!!!!

 

Ports of Call: This was a special intinerary because of the

holidays. We went to Costa Maya, Belize, and Cozumel.

We took a taxi the Tropicante in Costa Maya. It is a

beautiful beach. Steve at the Tropicante will reserve you

lounge chairs for free. His prices for food and drinks are

very reasonable and he is a very friendly guy. I had a

massage on the beach for 25.00 for a whole hour!!! It was

awesome. Steve's workers will run a tab for you and you

just pay before you leave. They even set up the massage and

our kids did a banana boat ride.

 

In Belize we set up an excursion for our group of 25 through

Cave-tubing.com. We booked a combo tour of ATV/Cavetubing

for a price of 75.00 a person. This is a very reasonable

price compared to the ship excursion. You should book some

sort of excursion in Belize because this is not a port that

you just get off the ship and hang out. Even if you want a

beach day you have to take a water taxi to the beaches. The

ships Beach Break Excursion sold out by day 2 so I would

suggest you book that excursion early.

 

In Cozumel, we took a taxi to Chankanaab State Park where

our teens did the Swim with the Dolphins. After the

dolphins we just stayed there and hung out on the beach.

This is more of a snorkeling place. Upon entering the water

it is very rocky and you must wear a life jacket. If you

want to snorkel and see some pretty fish this is the place

for you. If you want to swim and play in the water it would

be better to go to Paradise Beach or Mr. Sanchos beach.

These are places we've visited in the past. There is plenty

of shopping for you right when you get off of the ship.

 

The Dining Room: We were satisified with the food selection

and quality of the food, however the dining room experience

was a little disappointing. On our past cruises the waiters

would sing and dance for the guests. The first two nights

there was nothing:( We had several new cruisers in our

group and I wanted them to experience the fun we've had in

the MDR on our past cruises. Finally, one night the waiters

sang The Heart of Texas song. It is just my opinion, but I

think Carnival has RCCL beat when it comes to the MDR

experience.

 

The Windjammer: Always a good selection of food. Upon entering you do not have to stop at the first line. There is another section at the back with the same items. Also you will find a station for carved meats and another station full of desserts. We were always able to find a spot to sit. On the last day, during our fog delay....everyone was offered lunch in the Windjammer. It was very crowded that day, but we just went out on the deck to eat.

 

Debarkation: It is always so sad for a cruise to end:( We

chose to check our luggage instead of doing self

debarkation. On the last day we woke up to an announcement

that due to dense fog they Port of Galveston was closed.

The Captain said that once the port was opened it would be 2

hours before we docked. Because there were so many people

needing off the ship ASAP it made the debarkation a

nightmare!!! We arrived back at 1:15 and it was 4:15 by the

time we were in our car headed back to Tulsa. There was

nothing RCCL could do about the fog, but they need some sort

of a plan on getting people off the ship in a more orderly

way. They call luggage tag numbers, but they don't check

anything when getting off the ship.

 

I feel bad for the people who missed flights and had to find different flights. I hope people had purchased the insurance. We always purchase

insurance because I missed a cruise once because of severe

flooding at Houston airport and because of the insurance I

was able to fly to Mexico and meet the ship. Anyway that is

my plug for purchasing some sort of trip insurance...you

just never know!!!

 

Summary: The Mariner is an amazing ship and the crew was

very nice. I have read some reviews that bashed the

Mariner, but I think she is still in great shape.

 

We never heard of anyone on our cruise being quarantined for the

Norovirus, so hopefully they have gotten that under control. They were squirting our hands with sanitizer every time we

entered the dining room or Windjammer. By the last morning

I think they had ran out of sanitizer because the little

sanitizer machines were empty and the crew member told me

they were out. I just encouraged my kids to wash their

hands like crazy and to keep their hands away from their

mouths. We had a group of 25 and nobody became ill.

 

Like any vacation...It is what you make it!!! We had so much fun because someone from our group tried to be involved in the games. What great memories we made with our teens!!!! Just go with a good attitude and you will have a blast!!!

 

Wishing you a great cruise on The Mariner of the Seas!!!

 

P.S. I just previewed my review and I'm not sure why it set it up the way it did with some short sentences and some long...I apologize but I'm not taking the time to try and fix it.

[ARCruisinNana]

Thanks for your review. I'm looking forward to being on Mariner in March.

[Jimnbigd]

MDR waiters on RCI are definitely more subdued than on Carnival. On Carnival, waiters even get passengers dancing in Conga lines. Still, I prefer RCI over Carnival for the overall experience. I was on the Dec. 4 Mariner and sailing again March 25. I enjoy live music, and RCI has Carnival beat by a mile here.

[39august]

I also appreciate the live music in the dining room. And I hate having the waiters made to sing for the passengers one night. I think it is demeaning to them. To each his own on this. Glad the OP enjoyed her cruise. We will be back on MOS in Feb. after having sailed her on Dec. 4. Only this time, we will not self-assist. We are going to wait until the madness is over, and plan to be some of the last pax off the ship!

[trainnut]

Thanks for the great review! We're also sailing in March, and really looking forward to it. I have to agree with 39august, though - the "singing waiters" thing could go away. It just adds additional time to our dining.

 

Glad you and your group had fun!

[welshrich]

Great review, we are sailing on her TA in November from Rome to Galveston, I've got a 1400 flight booked so always get a little nervous when I read about debarkation issues

[gelo7]

Nice review.