Momto5

Spent time in Barbados a few years back and loved Dover Beach by St Lawrence Gap. Hoping to spend some time there when we stop in Barbados.

Are there still chairs for rent? I remember a small grocery where you could get Banks beer. As well as restaurants on the beach. Is there transportation we could hire to and from the port for 20 or so people? 

55 minutes ago, Carolina Girl 99 said:

 

What would you consider good dining deals? Did they offer prices below what could be pre-purchased in the cruise planner?

For my 4 night Mariner trip in Feb 2020- I can book Chops for $42.99, Jamie's for $39.99, Izumi for $49.99, Izumi Hibachi for $45.00 or the UDP for $99. My son's birthday is on the last day of our trip and I would like to do a specialty for that night, but would wait to book if I can purchase cheaper once on board

It was around 70 pp for two dinners. Choices were Chops, Jamie’s or Izumi sushi not Hibachi. We chose Jamie’s and Chops

Night 3 was our “formal” night last week. Some very dressy, most moderately dressy. Some still casual. More photo ops. But it wasn’t advertised-just noticed when I went to Promenade to grab a snack. Quick change for the kids and I!

On 3/16/2019 at 5:51 PM, firefox247 said:

Is Mariner still doing late night buffet?  I've heard conflicting things on it.

Not sure-I know the last night there were snacks in Windjammer listed. Prob because hot dog place closed early that night though..

2 hours ago, SAmome said:

Thanks for the info Momto5. 

 

If you had to pick which of Jamies or Chops to dine at a second time, any recommendations?

 

Did you check out Izumi and see any dining for sushi or is it strictly hibachi?  We have UDP which translates to 3 night dinner package but hibachi is excluded.  

 

Is there a particular night that dining room meals were better than other nights?  If we are shut out of making 3 reservations we may do regular dining one night even tho have UDP.

 

Thanks.

 

 

That’s a tough one! I really liked Jaime’s. The app and dessert planks are amazing! 

But you could do steak one night and fish/seafood the second at Chops, so I’d vote Chops! Don’t be afraid of the size of the rib steak-the flavor is sooo good!

8 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

I love your great attitude about the college kids on board. Your screen name implies a certain level tolerance for shenanigans!

Thanks! They were a great bunch-was a bit nervous when I saw them pouring into the ship but I was pleasantly surprised. And my 17 yo boy was quite happy lol

4 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

Did you make reservations for any of the activities ie: sky pad, escape room etc?

I reserved SkyPad for 4:30 one day. Did this through cruise planner pre cruise. Laser tag we booked onboard. Same day-easily. College kids still at the bar I guess lol.

My kids are teens so they did SkyPad and flowrider with the teen group. Flowrider had maybe 10 kids for 45 mins. Lots of riding time!

24 minutes ago, ElectricBallroom said:

I’m getting on Mariner on Monday, as well. 

 

May I ask when you learned that Coco Cay was cancelled? As of today, it still shows on my itenerary. The whole reason we decided to try RC again, and take this cruise, was the “private island”. I’ll be severely disappointed  if it’s cancelled. 

They sent an email but they had the wrong email for me.. it was sent about three weeks before we sailed. 

Apparently it was a critical week in pier construction and wasn’t safe for passengers. 

Cococay was cancelled due to the construction of a bridge from the pier. We received one days cruise fare as refundable OBC

7 minutes ago, Kmad0202 said:

What time did you board the Mariner? Due to flights, we will be at the port pretty early and just curious as to what time they will actually start boarding. Thanks.

We arrived to the terminal at 1030, were on the ship before 11. It’s easy if you have online check in done 

1 minute ago, jrljel said:

Oh NO!  So is next weekend Spring Break also??? I sure hope not!

No just this cruise was I believe. You may have college spring breakers but not over 1000.. 😬

I disembarked Mariner this morning. Here’s a quick overview:

The Good 

Specialty dining at Jaime’s and Chops was great. They have good dining deals the day you get on.

We had a balcony with a connecting interior on Deck 9. Everything was in good shape in both cabins

My kids didn’t participate in a lot of Teen club activities, but were able to do SkyPad and FlowRider during protected teen club time. 

Entertainer in the British Pub is amazing!! I think he enjoyed the energy of the college kids on board. Ice show was great as well. The Quest was extra funny with the large college group (more on them later)

Embarkation and debarkation (plus parking) a breeze at Miami’s new Terminal A. We lined up for self walk off at 6:15 and we’re driving out at 7:15, 20 mins after we got off the ship 

Less Good:

Windjammer food was repetitive. Main dining room 2/4 nights was underwhelming. Apps and desserts good but mains meh.

Missing Cococay was a bummer. But we were well compensated with refundable OBC. Paid for our tips, internet and specialty dining.

Good or Bad

This cruise was a partial charter for Spring Break Party Cruise. Over 1000 college spring breakers on board. They were noisy, they were drinking and having fun. I personally thought they brought great energy to the ship. They were respectful and I spoke to several who were surprised to know the other passengers had no clue they would be cruising with this group. They crowded the pool bar, but would often defer to me when it was their turn first. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but others will feel differently and Royal should at least warn people so they can decide whether they want themselves or their children to be exposed to a large group of college kids. 

Happy to to answer any questions!

I board Monday with three teens 14, 15 and 17. I’ll post one!

We are also on the Mar 11 sailing and I’m pretty unhappy. I booked this sailing as a surprise for my kids. CocoCay was supposed to be a “free” beach day where we could use our drink packages (refreshment for kids and deluxe for me) and enjoy a free beach day, loungers and lunch included. Now I’m looking at approx 200 minimum for the same beach day (transportation, loungers, drinks, lunch). So probably no beach for us. 

I cancelled another cruise on another cruise line that went to Cozumel and Key west to do this one. Thinking it was a better bang for my buck with CocoCay. It was apparently changed Feb 22 with NO communication to me. Found out today, here. Too late to change to another RCCL cruise, and way after final payment to change to another line.

Does Mariner always return to Terminal G? Trying to plan for our cruise in two weeks. We are driving..

My family did the same cruise a few years ago on Explorer. Chilly first sea day, then it got warmer with mild seas. 

En route to St Martin part way through my husband came back to our aft cabin and commented that there were barf bags out in public areas. That night one of our kids randomly vomited. Moderate seas for sure!

Trip back up the sea was like glass! You

just never know!

Oh yes! We met you at the Molecular Bar and at Mindy and Phil's the last formal night!!!

I thought we might have met you at Mindy and Phil's! Seems like so long ago-four weeks, but with all of this snow and frigid temps I am ready to go again!

Great review-thanks!

We were on the same sailing and found the same issues with the crew, a lot of new crew members who seemed "lost". The Captain was great, I agree!

We may have seen you at the Molecular Bar as well. We were a large group of 22, and we had pre dinner drinks there a few nights. Definitely the first formal night. On the second formal night, we were all dressed Gatsby style, but we ended up at the Martini bar that night. We also met Mindy and Philip and they were great!

Yes, you can open them all. I would like to caution you, though, as it will take away some of your privacy with everyone walking willy-nilly back and forth. You'll have to keep your curtains closed if you want any privacy at all, especially getting dressed. We did it once, and I found it very annoying.

I had thought of that. It would be nice if they were easier to open, so they could be opened for sailaway, cocktail hour etc, and closed in between. Don't ask for much, do I-lol!

Good to know we have options!

I have a group of eleven couples with adjoining balconies on the Silhouette. Can we open that many partitions? I was thinking we might be able to do one or two, skip one etc. But it would be great if we could do them all!

Please note that we have twice had a wonderful time on the Fury and will be returning again on April 7th.......not to discount your experience but they are highly rated on Trip Advisor for good reason.

I second this. We went last month for the second time with our four kids and could not have been happier. It was even better the second time around. To the poster that was thinking about Royal's champagne cat excursion, take into account the numbers on those cats. There were 18 people on the Fury and it was great.

We were able to move our almost 12 yo son to the teen program on Royal two yrs ago and we were also allowed to move our almost 9 yo from the 6-8 to the 9-11 group to be with her sister last month on Glory. They said they almost always did this if it was close to their birthday when we asked on Glory.

Just be respectful, explain your reasons. They did say if she was not doing ok, they would move her back down.

We were just on the Glory with four kids, our girls are 10 and almost 9. They allowed the almost 9 yo in with her sisters 9-11 group, which was a big help. However she was not allowed to go on any of the scavenger hunts since she was not 9, which occurred every day. She did end up staying during these and doing something else.

Compared to RCCL, I found the hours more limited and they seemed to do less. But overall it was fine and the girls enjoyed themselves.

I was annoyed that an hour or more per day was devoted to a "Build a Bear" type activity that was for a fee. this could have been done once, not every day!

The most important thing was that my girls liked it and they did.

Hi everyone-thanks!

I did not get the names of the Martini Bar bartenders. We spent more time in the Molecular Bar, sorry.

We did the ship excursion to St. John. You choose St. John Walking tour or St. John Guided Shopping. The ferry leaves steps away from the ship, off the same dock. Then when you get over, they ask who really wants the tour and who just wants to hit the beach. They have taxis waiting for you to get to the beach. They tell you when to be back and you are off. We had about 3.5 hours on our own. It just felt safer-what if the ferry breaks down and you are not on a tour and can't get back to the ship?:eek:

Thank you for your review. We will be on the Silhouette March 3rd and can't wait. Great to see someone who has a couple of small things go wrong and just shrug it off. Never understood how people can go on vacation and when things don't go perfect, let it ruin the rest of it for them.

You will love it! And I agree: there will be bumps along the way-it's part of the story!