Mariner of the Seas, Western Med Journal Aug 25th - Sept 1st 2012 - Very Long!

[pscruzinboyz]

Hi Mike, I warned Marion that you were sailing on the TA! :D

 

Only one Diamond Lounge but it is the same for both D & D+ and it's in the same place in the Viking Crown as the DL is on Liberty. It has an outdoor seating area too.

 

Most probably won't be used on your TA if the numbers of C&A members is anything like it was on the Liberty TA.

 

No mention of Concordia and didn't think to look to be honest.

 

As for specialities, yes IMHO well worth it. The guy who seemed to be in charge in Giovanni's (can't remember his name, will have to ask Patrick) was fantastic. No, there is no outdoor seating on Mariner at either Giovanni's or Chops.

 

I think the service in Chops was great too, as was the service all over the ship compared to Liberty.

 

You are going to have a great time on Mariner.

 

Thanks Peter, we will book...especially since we will be on for 16 nights this time. We have never been disappointed in any of the speciality resturaunts. Have a great week!

 

Mike

[peteukmcr]

Here's a sample of the artwork on Mariner, IMHO some of the best of the ships we've sailed on. Forgot how good it was.

 

[Galveston Cruiser]

Thanks for the great review and photos.

Brought back memories of our TA last year.

We are looking forward to seeing the upgrades on the Mariner from last year.

We are on her 29 days starting October 20th:D, bringing her back to Galveston for the winter:)

[yankee 1]

I think you have said it all Pete, nice review, we was also on the Mariner at the same time.

 

The staff where the best, food was good and we had a lovely time, but i have never cruised before when English was the second language because it was 80% full of Italians, they even had there own game shows!

 

And friday!! :( what can you say, what a difference a day makes, but we did have brilliant weather up until then, so i found a quite spot and read my book.

[Gordo]

Pete - thanks for another great review. I wish there was a way to tag another member so we would receive an email whenever the member posted a cruise review.

 

It has been so very enjoyable each time we have followed along.

 

On a separate note - Did I read on CC that your partner's last name is O'Halloran? If so, please let him know that you may have connected with a possible relative as that is my maiden name. Would love to connect off-line sometime.

[gambee]

Cool pictures thank you for sharing them with us, I really enjoyed them. :)

 

That funicular looked scary, reminds of the one in mocerrate in Bogota, Colombia.

[peteukmcr]

I think you have said it all Pete, nice review, we was also on the Mariner at the same time.

 

The staff where the best, food was good and we had a lovely time, but i have never cruised before when English was the second language because it was 80% full of Italians, they even had there own game shows!

 

And friday!! :( what can you say, what a difference a day makes, but we did have brilliant weather up until then, so i found a quite spot and read my book.

Interesting when the majority of passengers whose first language isn't English isn't it? Loved how Mercedes mentioned that whenever she provided info, when translated by the international ambassador, it took twice as long in Italian!

 

As for Friday, yes, that was a day to remember, I wandered around taking photos of the ship and artwork and also read too.

 

Pete - thanks for another great review. I wish there was a way to tag another member so we would receive an email whenever the member posted a cruise review.

 

It has been so very enjoyable each time we have followed along.

 

On a separate note - Did I read on CC that your partner's last name is O'Halloran? If so, please let him know that you may have connected with a possible relative as that is my maiden name. Would love to connect off-line sometime.

That's correct, he'll probably see this anyway, interesting if you have relatives in Ireland.

 

Cool pictures thank you for sharing them with us, I really enjoyed them. :)

 

That funicular looked scary, reminds of the one in mocerrate in Bogota, Colombia.

Glad you enjoyed them, not sure if the funicular appeared more scary to me than the 5 minute cable car ride!

[Verfai]

Great review as always Pete!

Nice that you where asked to have dinner with the captain...I am curious, do you have any clue why or how you guys where picked? Where you amongst other high tier C&A members or something else like that? It is a great picture moment :D

[peteukmcr]

Great review as always Pete!

Nice that you where asked to have dinner with the captain...I am curious, do you have any clue why or how you guys where picked? Where you amongst other high tier C&A members or something else like that? It is a great picture moment :D

Thanks for kind feedback. As for being picked the restaurant manager said they work their way down the list from Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald, Platinum.

 

I think we were lucky because there are never too many higher level European C&A members compared to the US on Mediterranean sailings. We know this because the Diamond Lounge is always quiet on all our Med cruises and on this sailing, I reckon it was the quietest we've ever encountered.

[villauk]

We had packed and sorted out our WOW cards, gratuities, customer feedback and so were all set for our last night onboard. However, only one slight hiccup was that although we had received notification of our pre purchase and payment for the late departure program when we boarded, we had not received any other details, including the special luggage tags I knew we needed so that our bags once off the ship are stored until we depart at a later time than of other guests.

 

A couple of phone calls, it was sorted and luggage tags sent to their cabin. Apparently when you purchase this option online and in advance, it is considered a 'shore excursion' and it is the responsibility of this department to advise Guest Services who issue the tags etc. This had not happened, so thank goodness I had kept the 'shore excursion' tickets and could give guest services all the info they needed.

 

Pete,

 

We were on Navigator the same week as you from Rome and we had exactly the same issue with the late departure. We had also pre-booked but for two separate cabins. One cabin received an envelope, but not all the tags and wrist bands were included. The other cabin received nothing and we had to visit Guest Relations to sort the issue. Just wanted to highlight that cruisers need to keep copies of their reservation as a shore excursion to show to Guest Relations. Additionally, when the second envelope was received, the luggage labels were all different numbers so we had to visit GR again to rectify (didn't notice at first because they were the same colour but different numbers?).

 

We also found that there were mainly Italians on our sailing which always means a very boisterous late dinner seating. Not a problem for us as we always book early seating as we have kids. Simone, our CD, did say at our M&M not to worry about arriving at the ice shows early as the Italians (she is Italian) are always late, so no problem finding a seat!

 

Great review.

[peteukmcr]

 

Pete,

 

We were on Navigator the same week as you from Rome and we had exactly the same issue with the late departure. We had also pre-booked but for two separate cabins. One cabin received an envelope, but not all the tags and wrist bands were included. The other cabin received nothing and we had to visit Guest Relations to sort the issue. Just wanted to highlight that cruisers need to keep copies of their reservation as a shore excursion to show to Guest Relations. Additionally, when the second envelope was received, the luggage labels were all different numbers so we had to visit GR again to rectify (didn't notice at first because they were the same colour but different numbers?).

 

We also found that there were mainly Italians on our sailing which always means a very boisterous late dinner seating. Not a problem for us as we always book early seating as we have kids. Simone, our CD, did say at our M&M not to worry about arriving at the ice shows early as the Italians (she is Italian) are always late, so no problem finding a seat!

 

Great review.

Thanks for your feedback and sorry to hear you experienced problems witht the late departure, this is the first time we've had issues, but it was good that I knew we should get instructions on what time we could stay in our cabin before we had to leave, where to leave any hand baggage securely and that we'd need different tags to the ones provided as normal by our stateroom attendant. Had I not known this I would have been confused.

 

I always keep any receipt/confirmations and summaries of anything pre-ordered so that I can show Guest Relations if necessary.

 

As for the boisterous late dinner seating, it wasn't only then, lunch in the WJ was amusing as was in places like the SNCF train station in Cannes, the noise was so loud I nearly got a headache! There were a couple of large extended family groups (on our deck actually) who took ages to organise themselves. Quite amusing to watch, but boy you needed ear plugs!:D

[gambee]

 

Glad you enjoyed them, not sure if the funicular appeared more scary to me than the 5 minute cable car ride!

 

My bad that is what I meant, no sure why I typed funicular, maybe it's because I read it. Although as a child in Colombia when ever we went in the funicular I was always petrified that the cables were going to snap and we would plunge to out deaths from there :rolleyes::D. lol

[Zaone]

Thank you so much for wonderful review and great photos! I am getting very excited just looking at them. Only 3 weeks till I board Mariner :)

[patch64]

On a separate note - Did I read on CC that your partner's last name is O'Halloran? If so, please let him know that you may have connected with a possible relative as that is my maiden name. Would love to connect off-line sometime.

 

Hi. Yes surname is O'Halloran, first name Patrick (doesn't get more Irish than that). My fathers family orginate from Country Clare in Ireland and I still have relations living there. Mostly in and around Kilrush. He moved with his father and brothers to Gloucestershire, England in the late 40's. The name doesn't crop up that often so it's always nice to hear from another O'Halloran.

[Iluvcruising2]

Great review! Many thanks!!

[dal_diva]

Patrick,

 

A fabulous review as usual. Will be wonderful to see you again.

 

d

[peteukmcr]

Patrick,

 

A fabulous review as usual. Will be wonderful to see you again.

 

d

LOL it's me who can't write anything briefly! Glad you enjoyed it though.

[peteukmcr]

Just remembered another thing too. On Mariner (and possibly on other ships too) if you prepaid your gratuities (especially if you've chosen MTD as you have to) you no longer get the pre printed slips to put in the gratuity envelopes at the end of the cruise.

 

You still get the envelopes, which is a bit like shaming you into leaving more gratuities, even though you've already paid up front. Anyway that's your choice.

 

Also I found out that any of the servers in the DL do not work exclusively in there on Mariner, they also have another shift to do in addition to that one, and ours was in the WJ in the morning. Their stint in the DL is only for 2 weeks as all other bars, so they rotate everyone after 2 weeks.

 

Beverage prices on Mariner, despite not attracting the 8% VAT that has to be charged on sailing departing from mainland Spain and that do not visit a non European port, were 13% - 16% more expensive than on Liberty departing from Barcelona in May this year. Not sure of this is just an across the board price rise or just the pricing on Mariner when sailing out of Italy.

[tahoemc]

Hi Peter, dropped in here after your mention on the Liberty TA thread. Another great review as well as the photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

Glad you and Patrick had a good cruise. Maybe someday our cruising paths will cross again.

[peteukmcr]

Hi Peter, dropped in here after your mention on the Liberty TA thread. Another great review as well as the photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

Glad you and Patrick had a good cruise. Maybe someday our cruising paths will cross again.

Hi Mike, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the compliments. You never know, one day we'll be sailing together.

[tahoemc]

Thanks for kind feedback. As for being picked the restaurant manager said they work their way down the list from Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald, Platinum.

 

I think we were lucky because there are never too many higher level European C&A members compared to the US on Mediterranean sailings. We know this because the Diamond Lounge is always quiet on all our Med cruises and on this sailing, I reckon it was the quietest we've ever encountered.

 

Not sure how they pick who dines with the Captain these days - probably changed since Julie and I dined with the Captain on Vision OTS on an Alaska itinerary back in 2006. At that time, us and the couple we traveling with were dining in the MDR late seating the first night, having a good time and yucking it up pretty good with the wait staff. As we were getting ready to leave, our waiter said he suggested to the maitr'd that we be nominated to dine with the Captain as he likes to dine with "fun-loving people." We said, yeah sure, we're nobody and this was only our 3rd cruise on Royal, there were lots of C&A with lots more cruises on board, blah blah blah. Woke up the next morning, a bit groggy from the adult beverages consumed the night before, and lo and behold, there was an invite slipped under the door. Our friends were also invited. To this day its still not clear how were were selected - we continue to "blame" our friends as we were celebrating our 25th anniversary on that cruise and they somehow managed to bribe someone somewhere to get us invited.

 

Anyways, as you noted, a unique experience. Our experience was slightly different as the dining room was already full when we walked in with the Captain, paused on the stairway for a group photo, and then escorted to the table. Treated like royalty start to finish. We still laugh to this day how it all played out.

[lauraapp]

Loved your review and pictures...will be sailing on the Mariner on the Nov. 2nd TA. Do you know if Mercedes (cruise director) will be bringing the ship back to Galveston?

[peteukmcr]

Loved your review and pictures...will be sailing on the Mariner on the Nov. 2nd TA. Do you know if Mercedes (cruise director) will be bringing the ship back to Galveston?

Sorry, I don't, I didn't get to chat to her that much.