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Just Back from 8/5 Mariner - Eastern Itinerary

GMoney

By GMoney,
in Royal Caribbean International

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GMoney

GMoney

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Hi Everyone - Just got back today from a week on Mariner OTS. Overall, things were great. Mariner seems to get lots of play on the boards, so I won't do a full review, but here are some random comments. I'd be happy to help with any questions too.

 

> This was our "free" cruise, using RCI / MBNA credit card points. We booked a balcony and got upgraded by Diamond Plus to a Junior Suite (thank you! :) ), so overall, I was very pleased with the value of my trip.

 

> This was my first cruise with super reduced luggage. Normally I bring a backpack and a carry on; now I've managed to get things down to just a backpack. Still had plenty of clothes, and travelling light makes life so much easier. Too bad all that storage space in the Junior Suite went to waste! :D

 

> Rented a car from Avis to get to Port Canaveral. We arrived at the Port C Avis at peak time (1pm), so there was a bit of a wait (under 30 min) for the shuttle.

 

> Once arriving at the port, embarkation was a breeze. There were lines out the door to clear security, but they went fast and looked much worse than they were.

 

> The ship looks great - nothing worn, dirty or old looking. The only problem was the very uneven air conditioning. Someone else mentioned this in a post a few weeks back, and boy were they right. In some public areas, it seems like the AC is non-existent. Stateroom AC was fine though. There were 8 out-of-service treadmills in the gym. :eek:

 

> There were 3600+ pax onboard, 900+ of which were kids. The kids were never really a problem though; the worst was just pack fo them roaming the arcade and sports deck, and running up and down the stairs. It's tough to get near the mini golf course.

 

> Captain Johnny was the master of the ship, and as everyone knows, he is gracious, accessible and entertaining.

 

> Our CD was Dennis Sciortino. Nice guy, decent CD - just very, very verbose.

 

> Concierge was Kevin from the UK. Really pleasant and outgoing. Never asked him for anything, but he seemed very accommodating and helpful to others. He leaves the ship and RCI permanently in about 6 weeks.

 

> Kevin had bartending help from Dexter, a competent guy who makes a decent drink.

 

> As usual, the Concierge Lounge was packed to over-capacity. RCI's action of inaction on this subject is disheartening. Why bother offering a perk and then make it next to impossible to take advantage of? For those of you working toward Diamond status and looking forward to your lounge access, think again. :(

 

> Carlos was the Loyalty Ambassador - very nice, helpful and competent.

 

> The itinerary was CocoCay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Our weather was perfect - bright sun, big rolling clouds, highs in the upper 80s / low 90s, and a shower or 2 at night.

 

> A Coast Guard helicopter landed at CocoCay to transport an ill / injured passenger to back to the mainland. Another passenger was taken off by paramedics at St. Thomas.

 

> In St Thomas, we did the Captain Nautica tour through RCI with Capt Kevin and Megan, who were great and very safety conscious. I recommend the tour, as you normally get 2 snorkelling stops because you are on zodiac and not a sailboat. Unfortunately on our day, we only hit Buck Island due to rough seas. Buck Island was PACKED with tours, and the snorkelling there is marginal at best, but it was cool to see the sea turtles.

 

> The pool was super-busy during sea days, but chair saving didn't seem to be too bad.

 

> The food was standard RCI cruise food - nothing better, nothing worse.

 

> We ended up at Chops 2 nights. No complaints, but Chops is really nothing more than glorified dining room fare. Still worth the $20 though.

 

> There was 1 excellent entertainer - comedian Troy Thurgill.

 

> We had a 10:20 am flight out of MCO and made it with plenty of time to spare.

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debshomespun

debshomespun

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Patrick: What was your trick to making the 10:20AM flight out of Orlando? Did you do self-debarkation? What time did you get off the ship? We now have a 3:38PM flight, as we didn't want to risk the 10:30AM flight for fear of missing it. We are renting a car for the return trip to the airport, there will be 4 of us. Glad you had such a good time. We will be boarding her in 3 weeks! Can't wait!

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GMoney

GMoney

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Hi Debbie - Here's the timeline on what we did to get from Port C to MCO:

 

> 6:15: Ship docks

 

> 7:00: Self Debark starts

 

> 7:10: Took taxi to Car rental. We used Thrifty, which opens at 7am on Sundays. They operate a shuttle, but it doesn't start til 730, and likely stops at the Disney and Carnival ships that are also in port. The $17 bucks was worth it.

 

> 7:20: Arrived at car rental.

 

> 7:30: Left car rental for MCO.

 

> 8:15: Arrived at Thrifty MCO.

 

> 8:20: Arrived at airport via Thrifty shuttle.

 

> 8:30: Completed security and off to terminal.

 

Granted, things can go wrong, and your mileage may vary, but with the 1 hour and 20 minutes of cushion we had before boarding, there was time to absorb a few delays, and I was much happier leaving at 1020am than 355pm.

 

Best of luck and have a great cruise.

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GMoney

GMoney

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GMoney, thanks for the info. Do you know if they're still doing the karaoke contest with the finals in Studio B? I'm been on some past cruises where there were some very impressive passengers.

 

Hi SD - I can't say for sure; I'm sorry. Maybe someone else will know. I don't recall specific ads for Karaoke in the Compass, but I do recall people chatting about it.

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GMoney

GMoney

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Gmoney,

 

Which is the best side of the ship to have a cabin on Starboard or Port side?

 

 

Would like to have the views of the city from my balcony instead of the pier?

 

Hope to be sailing on the Mariner Dec 7, 2008.

 

You really can't go wrong with either side on this itinerary (with only 2 real ports), but if I had to pick, it would be port side, as it provides optimal views of St Thomas (assuming you dock at Havensight AND you dock with the bow facing land) and St Maarten.

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jjtt

jjtt

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Hi GMoney. Hubby and I leave this Saturday for our Sunday departure on Mariner. :D We are also doing the Eastern itinerary, this will be our first time at these ports. We have been to Coco Cay once before and really enjoyed ourselves.:rolleyes:

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Kruuzin

Kruuzin

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Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on her next Sat. We've done the 2 islands before, beautiful islands. We've never done CocoCay. Did you get off the ship. (I am having a senior moment and I can't remember if you wrote about it or not:confused: ). Glad you had a good time. I will have to remember about the AC. Pack light!!

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DonnaK

DonnaK

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Nice review! Thanks for sharing, gmoney!

 

We're sailing on Mariner in 2 weeks (western), and I'm very concerned about the spotty air conditioning. This could be a real problem for me.

 

Like the above posters, I'm also amazed that you can pack everything you need in one backpack.

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GMoney

GMoney

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Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on her next Sat. We've done the 2 islands before, beautiful islands. We've never done CocoCay. Did you get off the ship. (I am having a senior moment and I can't remember if you wrote about it or not:confused: ). Glad you had a good time. I will have to remember about the AC. Pack light!!

 

I did get off at CocoCay, but did not mention it in my comments, as I was just there 3 weeks ago on Majesty. Fortunately, there was a breeze on the island which makes for a much more pleasant time. The tendering process was painless. Overall, I think I was there from about 9am - 1pm.

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GMoney

GMoney

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Thanks for the quick review!! :)

Do you happen to remember what days the Crown & Anchor Welcome Back and the Platinum and Diamond parties were??

 

Thx!

 

 

The Welcome Back party was on Tuesday in the Lotus Lounge (smart casual dress requested), and I'm pretty sure the Platinum and Diamond was Friday at 745pm.

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GMoney

GMoney

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We are on the next Eastern run with thoes above, which couple of public areas were the warmest?

EW

 

I found the Savoy Theatre, Arcade and gym to be warmest (but the gym is always roasting on RCI ships).

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