Kimmy0303

Ship- Mariner of the Seas

Deck- 8

Stateroom # -8647

Portside

Aft

Quiet stateroom.

This was a inside connecting stateroom.

There was a chair instead of a loveseat.

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My Aunt and her friend are cruising with you. I've been following to see how their cruise is going. They booked so they could follow one of the bands playing on this trip.

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What Broadway show is on Freedom now?

Once Upon a Time was the show on Saturday night.

What night was the key lime served?

I believe it was Thursday night.

We just did the same thing on our cruise. You can officially switch rooms after leaving port. They will give you a new room key at guest services.

We were scheduled to disembark at 8:45. It was after 9:00 when we did and then over an hour in line for customs.

Thanks for answering my question. Have a fun cruise Kimmy!

You are welcome. Have a great cruise yourself.

Beautiful weather for the final two days. We spent them by the pool. It was difficult to find a seat due to all the saving of chairs. They sat empty for long periods of time.

All in all this cruise was good. The first few days the bartenders did not seem very friendly or motivated. It was a challenge to get a drink. It did improve around day 3. I'm not sure what was happening, but it noticeable.

We had planned St. Maarten to be at Orient Beach all day, but as we were ready to get off the ship the captain warned us of blockades on the French side roads to protest their taxes. He said we might get stuck over there, so we took a water taxi to the beach and rented chairs there. The kids jet-skied, we shopped a little and had some Caribbean jerk chicken and shrimp creole. The weather was nice for the most part, although it did rain a little.

The seas were rocky again as we left.

Onboard as well. Hope you don't mind that I add a few random thoughts.

 

Mattresses in the JS are fine. Nice pillow tops

Internet is adequate for simple posting. They installed some of the high speed equipment, it should be up and running soon

Kummlewreck sandwiches served in WJ bar on Saturday. Nice and rare.

Drink specials offered yesterday. Both the 10 drink punch card for $65, and the two sea day pkg for $115. Both of these included tips.

 

Kelly Goodrich still in Schooner bar every night. Tribute shows at 10 PM and are packed.

 

 

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Don't mind at all. Mattresses are comfortable, which I was worried at first because people were saying they were hard.

We've ate most of our meals in the main dining room and they have been delicious. The favorite appetizers have been escargot, scallops gratin and crab cakes. The horseradish encrusted salmon is amazing! Desserts are just so-so, therefore I've been skipping them for the most part. The key lime pie is very good and the white chocolate mousse was light and delicious

Sorrentos is nice for a quick breakfast on port days. We've ordered room service for an afternoon snack and most of our breakfasts from there also. We brought some small candy bars to add to our tip for room service and they have been received very well.

Were the seminar and coupons and freebies worth your time and effort? Just curious because we'll be on the Freedom in 3 weeks and 1 day (yeah baby!) for our first cruise and were wondering about the best things to do and those to skip.

It was an hour long and we missed the sunshine on the pool deck. It did get you to the front of the line to get off the ship, which was nice. And the taxi's were waiting for us. And they had a raffle, which you had to be present to win. So for a few lucky people it was well worth it.

You can get the coupons from all the hecklers on the street. It did inform us of a lot of freebies and raffles. I don't like to plan my day around that kind of stuff. My MIL and her friend loves it though.

In my opinion the best thing to do is hang around the pool, walk around the entire ship on Deck 4 (it's gorgeous and almost deserted), the ice show, Love and Marriage and Quest (for a laugh) and the ice show. They have tons of seminars and sales which ear up your time and are basically sales pitches. .

We do notice the vibrations, but mostly when we are sitting somewhere like the dining room or the Arcadia theater.

These prices were posted on the ship (FOS) this week.

We arrived in St. Thomas a few hours early (9:00 am) since we missed Coco Cay. We had went to the port shopping seminar, so we were given stickers for priority to debark first and there was a line of open air taxis to take us into town to shop ($4 pp). We were given lots of coupons and freebie vouchers for the stores.

After shopping we took another taxi to Magen's Bay. This was $8 pp and our driver stopped for a few photo ops along the way. He also shared some information about the island. We asked him to come back and pick us up and he ended up staying and waiting for us. Magen's Bay was $5 pp to enter, chair rental was $7. The had a restaurant and bar service on the beach. Drinks were $8 for frozen and $6 for a rum punch. You could also rent floating mats, kayaks and SUP's. No jet ski's allowed.

We spent three hours here and headed back to the ship. The water and beach were beautiful. A little crowded though.

Following as I'm on Freedom may 1 eastern Caribbean. Little nervous about the seas

This is my third cruise and this is by far the rockiest voyage I have had. I've heard several other cruisers say the same thing. I think it's the time of the year. May should be better seas!

Did you ask that the dividers between the balconies be opened? If so, were they willing to do it?

We asked to have the dividers opened and they did open them for us. They could not open them for a few days because of how windy it has been though.

We are I deck six with two adjoining balconies and an inside room. All are clean and comfortable. Randy is our room steward and is doing an awesome job. He's always friendly and helpful.

We were unable to go to Coco Cau due to the high wind and waves.

Our rooms were ready when we arrived on the ship. We explored a little and then headed to the Windjammer. We found a seat fairly easily and ate our lunch. We wandered around a little more until the muster drill and then headed to the pool deck for the sail away. It was very windy and chilly up there and we did not last very long.

We decided to purchase the premium drink package since three drinks cost us $40. My son is getting his money's worth for the cruise. I will probably break even, but I will have to really try. I tried to cancel my drink package on day 5 and was told I missed the cut off for cancellation.

We are on the last few days of our Eastern Caribbean cruise heading back to Port Canaveral. I've cruised with RCCL three times and have always enjoyed it. Our group of seven include myself (52), DH (48)), two DS (23 & 16), MIL and her friend (69), and my son's GF (25). Four of our group are first timers. We have been enjoying ourselves, but the weather has been a bit cooler and very windy. The seas are a bit rough. Several people onboard have been seasick, to the point that bags were taped on the staircases just in case.

We arrived in Orlando on Saturday night and stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport. We stayed there before and it is very nice. There are a few restaurants and a store within walking distance. Cocoa Beach Shuttle picked us up at 11:00 am and we made two stops to pick up additional passengers. We were at the port by 12:15. The price was reasonable, $264.50 round trip with gratuity included.

Embarking went well. The only complaint I have is that the Crown and Anchor Gold priority line was empty, but we had to stand in a longer line to check in because only one of our reservations showed us as Gold members. Each of our rooms had a Gold member in it.

We are in Freedom of the Seas now and the drink package was $55 + 18% gratuity when booked on the ship. This was the package below the ultimate.

Chocolate Praline Bar on lunch menu in MDR. I LOVED it, but couldn't find it anywhere else. It was on the Tuesday and Friday menu, if I remember correctly.

Horseradish encrusted salmon

Chocolate praline bar ( only available in MDR at lunch)

Just saw this:

http://www.******************.com/2015/01/22/deck-deck-drydock-changes-royal-caribbeans-freedom-of-the-seas

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We used them last April and reserved them prior to our cruise. They did take a walk on couple. That couple was transported to us at one of our stops and joined the tour late. I highly recommend Bernard's!

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