A ROYAL November: LIVE from Mariner/Liberty/Indy/Mariner OTS

[jam19872016]

Going to bed.

 

Only one day left and it's gonna be a perfect day. Or at least a very nice one.

 

Good night everyone.

[jam19872016]

Good morning.

 

The last day of the cruise hits a little different when it's really your last day

 

I don't think I'm going to spend much time ashore today in coco cay. Just grab some lunch and come back.

 

Too early for lunch so I'm not gonna head out just yet. 

[jam19872016]

I've not had great success with Loyalty ambassadors before. But the one on Mariner has restored my faith in the position.

 

Bit of a rocky start with the champagne issue but she came through for me this cruise making sure it was delivered without me asking and today she got me my block no questions asked. I'm used to being made to jump through hoops to prove how many points I have.

 

[jam19872016]

A little light breakfast to hold me over till the island lunch begins.

 

 

[Cherries Jubilee]

Even I’m sad that this review is almost over 😔

[tampadee]

I will miss your postings!  Thanks so much.

[jam19872016]

24 minutes ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

Even I’m sad that this review is almost over 😔

 

14 minutes ago, tampadee said:

I will miss your postings!  Thanks so much.

Thanks! I've enjoyed the cruise and posting about my trip. Sad too that it's almost over.

[jam19872016]

It's been overcast all day and now it is raining. I may end up not making onto the island today afterall.

 

Debating now on either playmakers or Johnny rockets for lunch if things don't clear up soon.

[jam19872016]

The rain did clear but it was very muggy now and I just didn't feel up to going on the island so it was time for a new lunch plan. 

 

Checked the buffet. Meh pass.

 

Went to playmakers but there was a riveting 0-0 match up that had the place packed.

 

Went by Johnny rockets and there was nobody there. A private serenade of Johnny Be Good is awkward borderline cringe so I decided to pass on that as well.

 

I landed on the doghouse.

 

 

I enjoyed it back in the room with one my squirreled away drinks.

 

 

[SummerBeee]

20 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I'm terrible with names. This is a short stocky guy mid 40s from Peru.

That’s him!

[jam19872016]

Just now, SummerBeee said:

That’s him!

Great guy. I don't have any more trips on Mariner so I hope I run into him again someday.

[SummerBeee]

3 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Great guy. I don't have any more trips on Mariner so I hope I run into him again someday.

Same, after 11 on Mariner in 1 year I’m sad none of the upcoming cruises are on her.

Before Mariner, Victoriano was on Grandeur out of Baltimore. A guest was excited to see him one day in the DL. 

 

I agree the menu can get really repetitive, especially when you are always on 5 nights or less. At home I basically eat the same thing every day. Now I’m finding myself doing the same on ships. My go to MDR is a large bowl of plain romaine with the herb crusted salmon. I bring my own dressing. There are a few deserts that I’ll order, the vegan lemon tart is especially good.

I only go to a specialty if I’m with someone and use my BOGO. 
 

Are you doing the UDP on your Oasis cruise in February?

[jam19872016]

At Playmakers for my final supper of the trip.

[jam19872016]

1 hour ago, SummerBeee said:

Same, after 11 on Mariner in 1 year I’m sad none of the upcoming cruises are on her.

Before Mariner, Victoriano was on Grandeur out of Baltimore. A guest was excited to see him one day in the DL. 

 

I agree the menu can get really repetitive, especially when you are always on 5 nights or less. At home I basically eat the same thing every day. Now I’m finding myself doing the same on ships. My go to MDR is a large bowl of plain romaine with the herb crusted salmon. I bring my own dressing. There are a few deserts that I’ll order, the vegan lemon tart is especially good.

I only go to a specialty if I’m with someone and use my BOGO. 
 

Are you doing the UDP on your Oasis cruise in February?

Mariner was my weekend ship when that was all I could get away for when I had a traditional job. Then it became independence. It was nice seeing the same crew again amd again especially the good ones like victoriano.

 

MDR is kind of a no go for me because of the late start time and then the line up chaos.

 

Then lately when I do get in the service is just too slow for me. A great waiter like victoriano picks up on my pace and adjusts service. Too often in the mdr it's a choreograph of serving everyone in a section at the same pace. 

 

I'm still debating on udp for oasis. I've never tried it on Oasis class and it is my last cruise before I transition out of cruising full time. But I don't know if I can get full use of it. I might just do the 3 plan and my bogo.

 

Edit: unless I find a good deal on it, which I doubt. Haven't see a good price on udp since capacity ramped back up.

Edited December 1, 2022 by jam19872016

[jam19872016]

Truffle burger $9.

 

 

Campfire cookie without the marshmallows $6.

 

 

The key to playmakers is to pace yourself. The food is very heavy but so delicious.

 

Now I start my intermittent fasting so I can do it all again for 15 days on Carnival Celebration 😆

[jam19872016]

I'm back in the room. All packed and ready to roll off the ship in the morning.

 

Gonna lay down and hopefully fall asleep soon so  not too tired in the morning. Intermittent fasting means no coffee in the morning 😬

[jam19872016]

Good morning.

 

We are docked already so I think I gonna go line up with the masses.

 

Last night was rough. I got a large amount of water in my ear the other day and last night I woke up in terrible pain from inside my ear. Had a hard time sleeping most of the night.

 

I'm hoping some peroxide in the ear cam clear up whatever is going on in there.

[jam19872016]

On the shuttle back to my car.

[jam19872016]

In the car and in the road.

 

Googling my symptoms it seems I may have an ear infection. I sure regret not stocking up on antibiotics in cozumel now I'm not sure I have any.

 

I'll have a wrapup probably tomorrow I'm gonna lay down and rest for a bit when I get home.

[CruisinMama2003]

12 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

In the car and in the road.

 

Googling my symptoms it seems I may have an ear infection. I sure regret not stocking up on antibiotics in cozumel now I'm not sure I have any.

 

I'll have a wrapup probably tomorrow I'm gonna lay down and rest for a bit when I get home.

Thank you for taking us along on your extended cruise journey! Hope you feel better soon, glad this didnt happen at the beginning of the cruise, that surely would have been miserable!

 

Will you be doing a Live for the next one?

[mcgore83]

Loved your review!  Hope you feel better soon!

[jam19872016]

On 12/1/2022 at 8:10 AM, CruisinMama2003 said:

Thank you for taking us along on your extended cruise journey! Hope you feel better soon, glad this didnt happen at the beginning of the cruise, that surely would have been miserable!

 

Will you be doing a Live for the next one?

Thanks for following along.

 

I think I would have preferred it on the cruise where I could rest and recuperate instead of when I had people depending on me to be places and do things. But thankfully  after about 24 hours the pain started easing up and I'm almost 100% now.

 

I wasn't going to do a review because two of the most prolific live reviewers are already doing lives from the ship, and another top tier live reviewer is doing a review from another ship on the Carnival boards but I like doing them and I am with a casino group so have a slightly different perspective to add so I think I am going to do one. There will be a lot of reviews on the Carnival board lol.

On 12/1/2022 at 5:18 PM, mcgore83 said:

Loved your review!  Hope you feel better soon!

Thanks. I healed quickly and am almost back to 100%.

[jam19872016]

Wrap Up:

 

All three ships were pretty similar and had similar offerings. I will list some standouts both good and bad between the ships.

 

Dining:

 

Mariner had the best overall dining imho. Although windjammer variety was consistent, quality was definitely better on Mariner. I also enjoyed the complimentary hot dog stand when I wasn't feeling a buffet. Liberty had no equivalent and Indy had an upcharge seafood place.

 

Indy would rank last.

 

I enjoyed the unique option of Sabor on Liberty.

 

Public Spaces and Cabin:

 

I've disscussed in length my thoughs in Liberty needed some sprucing up.

 

Mariner could also use some love in the staterooms, although I have found that to be true in some cabins on all the ships around this age. I can't tell you how many times I've done b2b and had a cabin in great working order and then move to a cabin that is completely busted. It just so happened that all three cabins this time on Mariner were not in the best of shape.

 

Nothing major across any of the ships that should dissuade you from choosing them, just some observations.

 

Entertainment:

 

Mariner seemed to have the most overlapping entertainment with odd planning. For example, Love and Marriage at the same time as a deck party. Then the deck party the same time as a party on the Royal Promenade and Love and Marriage moved to 2pm on a sea day. Strange. The piano guy on Mariner did not seem real popular and I heard a lot of groans from people walking through, but I enjoyed him even if his singing wasn't the best lol.

 

My favorite is the way Indy does their 80's party in the promenade and then we all move to Studio B for the night club. That is always so fun and its the only ship I see ever using that venue as the night club. 

 

All Royal ships could stand to have better DJs at their nightclubs but it must be their intention to clear the clubs out by playing bad music because they all start off strong and then get progressively worse as it gets later. Literally, every single time.

 

Service:

 

Service across all three ships is what I've come to expect - good to excellent with a few opportunities. The opportunities are all related to dining in the MDR. The service is so impersonalized to the individual needs of the guest. I don't desire long wait times between courses while I wait for the tables around me to finish their conversations and eat their food. 

 

Internet:

 

Internet was less than perfect on Mariner but functioned well most of the time. Liberty really impressed me because I wasn't really buying into the Starlink hype. After sailing on Freedom with Starlink I found it to be slower than before the upgrade so apparently that is an issue specific to that ship.

 

Thanksgiving cruising:

 

I thought I was prepared for the Thanksgiving crowds on the ship. I sailed all summer and was prepared for that level of crowding. It was so much worse than anything I saw all summer. I would probably do it again if I had a casino offer, but I would never pay a premium to sail this time of year unless I did so on a cruise line that was not family oriented. 

 

Overall:

 

Overall I enjoyed all my cruises and would easily sail any of them again. At this time Indy is the only one I am scheduled to sail again but that could change when I'm in the market for a short cruise again.

 

Thanks everyone for reading along.

[Eastern flygirl]

Glad you are feeling better.  I live close to Pt Canaveral and sail the three ships often, so I enjoyed your perspective of your journey.  
When are you cruising again and what ships?  
Thanks 

 

[bt6799]

Sorry, I didn’t realize my groans from the Schooner were audible 😜

 

Thanks for the great reviews.  I’m with you on the holiday cruising-too many kids for my liking.  I like kids, but I leave mine at home when I cruise for a reason. We may try closer to mid-December next year.