Freedom of the Seas - Jan 17th 2016 sailing

[Clarea]

I can't keep up with where these ships berth. Luckily we have Patti and Bob. Port Canaveral only gets hand me downs as well. Still a year away from having time to go sail the new ships.

Not true all the time. PC got the newest and best Voyager class ship, Mariner, right out of the shipyard. Stayed there for at least 5 years.

[poncho1973]

Not true all the time. PC got the newest and best Voyager class ship, Mariner, right out of the shipyard. Stayed there for at least 5 years.

 

My very first cruise ever was Mariner out of PC.

[John&LaLa]

Not true all the time. PC got the newest and best Voyager class ship, Mariner, right out of the shipyard. Stayed there for at least 5 years.

 

Did not realize that. Mariner was our first Royal (I don't count Empress, it kept us away for years). Laura still says it was her favorite.

[Clarea]

Did not realize that. Mariner was our first Royal (I don't count Empress, it kept us away for years). Laura still says it was her favorite.

One of our favorites too. Got to sail with Captain Johnny 3 times. Miss that ship. I'm hoping when Ovulation goes to Asia maybe they will send Mariner back to the US.

Edited January 28, 2016 by clarea

[John&LaLa]

One of our favorites too. Got to sail with Captain Johnny 3 times. Miss that ship. I'm hoping when Ovulation goes to Asia maybe they will send Mariner back to the US.

Laura did it B2B2B, I joined for 3rd leg. So I guess she sailed 3 times with CJ as well. [emoji6]

It left the next year. Round the Horn.

 

I'm not sure I want her back, she's been defiled by the China updates

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Clarea]

Laura did it B2B2B, I joined for 3rd leg. So I guess she sailed 3 times with CJ as well. [emoji6]

It left the next year. Round the Horn.

 

I'm not sure I want her back, she's been defiled by the China updates

We were at Fishlips eating, and got to watch Mariner leave PC for the last time. Had a Monarch cruise the next day.

 

They can fix her up in dry dock.

Edited January 28, 2016 by clarea

[jules815]

One of our favorites too. Got to sail with Captain Johnny 3 times. Miss that ship. I'm hoping when Ovulation goes to Asia maybe they will send Mariner back to the US.

 

Our first cruise and favorite as well. Sailed on her 3 times from PC, and once from LA. I would love it if they'd send Mariner back to us.

[audome78]

Mariner was our first B2B. LOVED everything about her...had a great time on turnaround day in PC. It was cold ( 40 degrees and windy in late February), but we had a blast touring the ship with no one around.

 

Freedom is our ship of choice ( 8x now, and 9&10 coming up in March) and we obviously enjoy her a lot. But Mariner was a real gem- wish sh'ed come back to PC.

[coast2coast]

Mariner is probably my favorite as well, and I think it might be due to the AWESOME waitstaff we had. We sailed on her 4th cruise (I think) back in '04... my DD's 1st cruise. She was 4 at the time and the waitstaff (especially in the dining room) doted on her like crazy. One of my favorite all-time cruise bands, The Stingrays, was on this trip as well. We liked her so much we went back for a family cruise with my brother and parents in '07. Going on Freedom for the 2nd time this summer, but I think the Voyager class ships still hold a special place in my heart. The Explorer certainly "WOWED" me back in '02 after a cruising dry-spell of 18 years.:)

[BoxerLuver]

The dining room was typical. The food was hit/miss and the hits were awesome. The misses were meh. The staff on the whole was really nice, except we had a weird experience one night. We do MTD and must have come at a weird time. They told us we could either wait 60 minutes for a table in our usual area or have immediate seating in another area. We chose immediate. We were completely ignored for more than 10 minutes after being seated. No water. No bread. No "we're swamped, I'll be over ASAP" or anything. Just ignored. We had no idea who was covering that area. Finally, I flagged down a random waiter and got some water. Another 10 minutes and nothing. I saw the head waiter and flagged him down. He came over and apologized, got us some bread and menus, and said he'd correct it right away. He went to the waiter, who had been at a nearby table about 15 times since we sat down (we didn't know him by name, so we weren't sure whose table it was) and the waiter came over, said "I'll be with you soon" and oddly shook my hand??? I'm not sure why? He eventually back came over, was 100% disinterested, took our order, and that was almost all we saw of him. He didn't seem to have many tables, nor did he seem busy, but he wasn't good. Another couple sat down next to us and we watched it happen all over again. I told them we experienced the same and pointed out the waiter and assistant. They got proactive and started flagging them down. They told us they didn't sit in their normal section because the wait was too long. Sounds similar to our story.

 

 

 

 

Poncho, Thanks for the great review! We sail Eastern Route at the end of February and have MTD. I was wondering if you could tell me approximately where in the dining room this happened, as the wait staff generally remains in the same area from sailing to sailing and we definitely want to avoid this situation. We always request a table for two.

[dinosaurdem]

How did this thread get to be about Mariner?

[mac_tlc]

One of our favorites too. Got to sail with Captain Johnny 3 times. Miss that ship. I'm hoping when Ovulation goes to Asia maybe they will send Mariner back to the US.

 

Mariner was always one of our favorites too. Have sailed her 4 times, 3 with Capt. Johnny out of PC also. Miss the motorcycle.

 

Still have enjoyed our FOS trips. Seems like we always end up at PC, so we are looking forward to Oasis arriving in November.

Edited January 30, 2016 by mac_tlc

[Clarea]

How did this thread get to be about Mariner?

It's John's fault.

[John&LaLa]

It's John's fault.

 

Isn't everything. :o Just ask Laura. :rolleyes:

 

Actually it's the OP's fault. Poncho said he missed Navigator and I added that it was back in FL. It morphed into Mariner after that.

Edited January 30, 2016 by John&LaLa

[legaljen1969]

My very first cruise ever was Mariner out of PC.

 

I LOVED Mariner. It was our first multigenerational family cruise. My little niece talked about it for ages. She would always ask my father "Papa, when are you taking me on the BIG BOAT again?" LOL

 

Let's not get into the ship/boat debate. She was only 2 years old.

[legaljen1969]

One of our favorites too. Got to sail with Captain Johnny 3 times. Miss that ship. I'm hoping when Ovulation goes to Asia maybe they will send Mariner back to the US.

 

Oh come on. Don't send the Ovulation to China. They are already overpopulated. :)

[Clarea]

Oh come on. Don't send the Ovulation to China. They are already overpopulated. :)

I wonder if Ovulation will come with the correct iPhone stations?;)

[poncho1973]

Poncho, Thanks for the great review! We sail Eastern Route at the end of February and have MTD. I was wondering if you could tell me approximately where in the dining room this happened, as the wait staff generally remains in the same area from sailing to sailing and we definitely want to avoid this situation. We always request a table for two.

 

As you walk in (upside down from my attachment) the main doors, take a left, follow the path around towards the kitchen and big staircase. This was the last sunk down section along the railing overlooking the 2 lower floors.

 

There is a big 8-10 seat round table, a couple of 4-tops, and a bunch of 2-tops in that area. We were below the waiter's service area.

 

I've marked it in red.

[SoALcruiser]

Thanks for posting your review. Quite entertaining.

Mariner was our favorite ship , too, until she left PC.

Then Freedom trumped Mariner .

I am not happy that Freedom is leaving PC.

Happy cruising, all.

Kaye

[BoxerLuver]

As you walk in (upside down from my attachment) the main doors, take a left, follow the path around towards the kitchen and big staircase. This was the last sunk down section along the railing overlooking the 2 lower floors.

 

There is a big 8-10 seat round table, a couple of 4-tops, and a bunch of 2-tops in that area. We were below the waiter's service area.

 

I've marked it in red.

 

Thanks so much!!!

[Woodmnky]

Thank you for posting a bit about your trip.

 

By chance do you recall what menus were offered on which nights in the dining room? I have seen conflicting information about this and am trying to plan our nights at alternate restaurants.

[BoxerLuver]

Poncho, Did you have 1 or 2 formal nights? I found a recent set of Compass and thought I only saw 1 formal night. Thanks

[poncho1973]

Thank you for posting a bit about your trip.

 

By chance do you recall what menus were offered on which nights in the dining room? I have seen conflicting information about this and am trying to plan our nights at alternate restaurants.

 

I'm going off the corrected menus in this thread (the quoted part has been altered from the post it quotes) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=37348217&postcount=13

 

Night 1 - we were in Sabor

Night 2 - we were in Chops [formal]

Night 3 - Pimiento - her:chicken marsala/me:tiger shrimp

Night 4 - Basil - her:miso cod/me: orecchinette pasta

Night 5 - Jasmine - her: fisherman's platter/me: snow crab salad [formal]

Night 6 - Pomodoro - both: lamb shank

Night 7 - Shiitake - her:shrimp goyza/me: chicken caesar

 

 

Poncho, Did you have 1 or 2 formal nights? I found a recent set of Compass and thought I only saw 1 formal night. Thanks

There were 2 on this Sunday-Sunday cruise. As noted above, Monday night (at sea) and Thursday (Jamaica) were the formal nights.