Mariner - June 5th-12th (Part 1)

[bayview97]

First of all, I have read these boards a lot in the last year but only posted once a few months ago. There is a wealth of information and good advice here that helped us to prepare and enjoy our cruise. Some of the best advice we read was to wear a smile, have fun, and don’t let little things ruin your day.

 

 

Pre-Cruise Stuff

 

 

This was only our second cruise and first one with our children. Two sons age 20 and 14 and our 16 year old daughter. After a lot of research, we decided on the Mariner because it had received good reviews, was a relatively new, huge ship and offered a lot of diversions. We felt it would provide something for everyone so we went ahead and booked it last August. We used an independent travel agent for the cruise only through the internet. I was a little leary of doing this at first with someone hundreds of miles away but in the end was very satisfied with her price and service.

 

 

A few weeks ago, we sat down with our children and had a “cruise chat”. At my wife’s suggestion, we asked for their questions first instead of talking to them immediately about general cruise topics. This was a good idea. They were a little surprised but started asking questions about a wide range of things such as activities, ports of call, muster, food, drinking and gambling age…etc. After questions, we first pointed out that very few people get to cruise. We also pointed out that we would be guests in foreign countries and to be respectful of others, especially those who are less fortunate than us, and to leave them with a good impression of Americans. We stressed personal safety, especially in ports where they would likely be approached to buy drugs, or consume alcohol or worse. We mentioned personal hygiene (i.e. frequent hand washing) on and off the ship and to wear a 30SPF or higher sun block during the day. We also talked about packing as minimally as possible. If you have teenagers, you know that your time is limited before you start getting blank stares so we purposely limited this discussion to about 20 minutes.

 

 

The Trip to Port Canaveral

 

 

We flew from Nashville to Orlando on Saturday and rented an SUV from Budget for the drive to Cocoa Beach. I was really glad we flew in a day early and rented our own vehicle. It allowed a little more flexibility for dining options and visits to local merchants for last minute purchases (i.e. pop, beer, lanyards…etc.) We stayed at the Comfort Inn and had a suite with a nice ocean view. The property is a little dated but was clean and our stay was fine.

 

 

Debarkation

 

 

We dropped the SUV off at Budget about 10AM and boarded their shuttle to Port Canaveral. The Mariner is one impressive sight as we drove up to the dock. It really does dwarf the Disney and Carnival ships there. There was some traffic and it took us about an hour to get into the terminal. We checked all our luggage except for one carry-on and were on the ship in less than twenty minutes.

 

 

Once on the Ship

 

 

Our staterooms were not ready yet so we explored the ship and took pictures. We visited the dining room and located our tables. Our youngest was celebrating his birthday so we asked the maitre d' for a birthday cake that night. We also visited the Spa and made reservation for a mother-daughter massage on Monday. Also made reservations for Chops on Wednesday night

 

 

The rooms were ready by 1PM. We had adjoining balcony rooms on deck 6. The boys were in one room and my wife, daughter and I were in the other. The rooms appeared to have lots of storage space but as expected, our teenage daughter quickly occupied a lot of it. Both rooms had Pullman beds that lowered from the ceiling directly over the head of lower bed. The bottom of the Pullman rested about three feet above our heads in the lower bunk and I thought this would be awkward but it was not a problem.

 

 

While waiting for muster, I made reservations for the Labadee Waverunner experience through the TV in our room. This was an easy process, but somehow I ordered 5 wave runners (3 Adults and 2 Children) instead of the three. Later, I headed to Excursions desk and they immediately refunded the two we could not use. You have to be 16 with a valid drivers license to drive one so my two youngest would be riders. I had tried to book this tour prior to leaving on this cruise but slots were not available online. Don’t worry, there was plenty of availability as tours were scheduled every fifteen minutes when I booked through the TV.

 

 

We met our room steward, Stacia from Trinidad-Tobago, just before dinner, pre-tipped her $20 and mentioned that if she took care of our family, we would take care of her at the end of the cruise. I requested she empty the fridge and asked if my wife and I could have bath robes. She said she would have to ask her Supervisor, and then returned with the robes shortly after dinner. She was such a nice person and made a point that if we had any special needs or were not satisfied with anything about the room to let her know. I know it’s her job, but she seemed very interested and sincere about making our cruise a pleasant one.

 

 

We proceeded to dinner where we were seated at a table for six. Our Waiter, Sudhir (Sonny) from India, and Assistant Waiter, Jerlyn for Colombia were both as pleasant as Stacia. The dinner was good and it was followed by the Head Waiter bringing a birthday cake to our youngest. He was a little embarrassed when they sang to him, but I think he expected something like this was going to happen.

 

 

The unpacking continued after dinner. We filled out our room service cards for breakfast and hung them on the door. We sat on the balcony, enjoyed the ocean breeze, had a beverage or two, and decided we probably would never cruise again without a balcony. Caught a little of the Parade on the Promenade, then headed to bed.

 

 

Day 2

 

 

Room service provided our wake up call right on time and our breakfast arrived shortly thereafter. After breakfast, went to pick up tickets for “Ice under the Big Top”. My wife and daughter went to the Spa, the boys to the pool deck, and me to the Casino. We met on the pool deck for sun, and entertainment. Wife, daughter and I bet on the races and won $7. I had 6-4 picked in the daily double, but it finished 5-4 and paid over $100. Oh, well.

 

After an afternoon at poolside, we got dressed for formal night and pictures. Wife and daughter headed to the production show after dinner and said it was good.

 

 

Day 3 – Labadee

 

 

Headed to the Windjammer for breakfast, then tendered to shore. We played on the beach until time for waverunners. After a brief orientation and safety talk, our guide asked who the speed demons were in the bunch and proceeded to set the order for the ride. On to the waverunners and off we go. They use a leader, 10 waverunners staggered about 100 yards apart, and a trailer who follows along behind the group. This tour is mostly an all out sprint following the leader’s path to a few stopping points. You are not allowed to pass or get out of line. At the first stopping point the leader asks if you or happy with your order or want to change position. Some did change because they were being held up by slower riders. You can go slow if you want because the trailer will always be last. Most riders though try to stay with the leader, which means you will be wide open most of the way. My boys and I loved this. My wife and daughter enjoyed it but chose a more leisurely pace (as did about half the pack) so we would wait on them at each stop. The ride takes about one hour.

 

 

After wave runners, we staked out a shady spot on Hideaway Beach, tipped a local $5 for bringing all of us lounge chairs and settled in for a beach day. Lunch was provided at different locations on Labadee. We ate lunch at one of the pavilions close to our beach. It was picnic style consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, chicken…etc.

 

 

With about an hour left, my wife, daughter and I headed to market area. The market was a lively place. We entered the Haitian flea market building first and were immediately swarmed by locals directing us to their stall of wares. Fortunately for me, I had read about this here and was neither surprised nor alarmed by it. I just smiled, politely refused and kept moving through the building. My wife and daughter were not comfortable at all, quickly exited the building and headed to other market areas where they purchased some items. I did see a wooden globe that I liked. The first fellow wanted $30 but said he’d take $25. As I had heard, negotiating is expected here so I offered $10 and he said no one would take that for it. The second fellow wanted $25 and said, for me, he would take $20…and so on. I rejoined my wife and daughter outside and as it got closer to the time for last tender, prices dropped. The globe was now $15 and as I walked away, it finally dropped to $10 and as quickly as I stopped to turn around, the price jumped to $12. I paid the man, got my globe, and as he passed the money to his associate, they conversed, smiled, then laughed. They had their money, I had my globe, and we were all happy.

[Ella2]

Great first installment...can't wait to read more! :)

[AlisonoftheSeas]

Can't wait for the rest! I will be on the Mariner next week!!!

[blueladybug]

Love your review. Can't wait to read the rest. Keep them coming!

 

Thanks

[TeriG2]

Anxious to hear more............ we leave next weekend!!

[ccrn]

We have also rented a SUV from Budget. We are a family of 5, with 3 kids ages 8, 8, and 10. I was thinking I should drop off hubby and the kids and the luggage off at the ship, and return the car by myself. Do you think it is better to do this, or for us all to take the shuttle from Budget.

Thanks,

Patty

[bayview97]

ccrn - It would be better to take the shuttle from Budget based on our experience. The vehicles are queued into two lines at the terminal, one for personal dropoffs, which are unloaded one at time. The other is for shuttles, buses...etc. and unloaded a lot faster. Another note was that we rented an Explorer or equivalent since that's what I own and drove to the airport. We got the equivalent, which was a Suzuki and was not as big. We were cramped but made it. The kids complained about not having space so on the return trip I requested and upgrade to something bigger. The only thing available was a 12 passenger van!!!. It was only $10 more. The kids made fun of me for being chauffeur but we were all a lot happier on the return trip.

[worldsbestcandles]

A few weeks ago, we sat down with our children and had a “cruise chat”. At my wife’s suggestion, we asked for their questions first instead of talking to them immediately about general cruise topics. This was a good idea. They were a little surprised but started asking questions about a wide range of things such as activities, ports of call, muster, food, drinking and gambling age…etc. After questions, we first pointed out that very few people get to cruise. We also pointed out that we would be guests in foreign countries and to be respectful of others, especially those who are less fortunate than us, and to leave them with a good impression of Americans. We stressed personal safety, especially in ports where they would likely be approached to buy drugs, or consume alcohol or worse. We mentioned personal hygiene (i.e. frequent hand washing) on and off the ship and to wear a 30SPF or higher sun block during the day. We also talked about packing as minimally as possible. If you have teenagers, you know that your time is limited before you start getting blank stares so we purposely limited this discussion to about 20 minutes.

 

What a fantastic idea! I'm not a parent, but I'm thinking of having a "cruise chat" with my BF, except he thinks he knows everything (even though he hasn't planned anything for our trip!) and only has an attention span of about 10 minutes before the eyes glaze over...:D

 

Seriously though, that is a great idea for taking children on a big trip out of the country....:)

[RoanokeVACruzn]

Thanks so much for the information. We leave on 7-3-05 and this really helps.

[Spicester]

Thanks for the great review! I haven't read much about the mother/daughter massage but I'm interested in doing it with my daughter in December. How did they enjoy it?

[bayview97]

Thanks for the great review! I haven't read much about the mother/daughter massage but I'm interested in doing it with my daughter in December. How did they enjoy it?

 

Both my wife and daughter said it was really nice. It lasts about 45 minutes and consists of: (1) a massage with hot oils and (2) time on a water bed. These take place in adjoining rooms. I asked my daughter and she recommends you go for it.:D

[bayview97]

Thanks so much for the information. We leave on 7-3-05 and this really helps.

 

Hello RoanokeVACruzn. You are welcome for the info and I'm happy to help. There is a "Part 2" of the review somewhere on this board if you are interested. By the way, I'm originally from VA and graduated from Va Tech (many years ago). Happy Cruising, I'm sure you will enjoy it!