My Mini Mariner Review - The Hurricane Cruise

[Sandy Sails]

I'm sure you've already heard all of this but just in case - the August 30th "Hurricane Cruise" turned out absolutely fantastic! I'll try to be brief.

 

When we got on the ship on Sunday, the captain announced that we would be reversing the itinerary and instead of going to Cabo on Tuesday (the day Hurricane Jimena was suppose to hit there), Mazatlan on Wednesday and Puerto Vallarta on Thursday, instead we would be going to P.V. on Wed., Maz on Thurs and Cabo on Friday. BRILLIANT idea! Everybody made their phone calls to their private excursion tours to let them know and then we just relaxed and enjoyed the cruise

 

The captain had the ship head south about 120 miles west of the hurricane, then Tuesday morning cut to the east directly to P.V., just behind the hurricane. We had about 8-15 foot swells on a sunny Tuesday and they had to drain the 2 main pools for safety reasons - that water was really sloshing people around. But it wasn't too bad. There were barf bags available all along the stairwells - by afternoon most of them were gone...so I'm sure there were quite a few sea-sick people.

 

We "landed" in P.V. on Wednesday at noon and stayed until 10 p.m. - we were SO anxious to get back on land for awhile by then. The Los Veranos Canopy tour had a special Mariner bus to pick up about 18 of us so we got to enjoy that tour (SO fun). Then about 9 of us went to PiPi's restaurant for dinner (I think it's in the Malecon) - yum!

 

Thursday was another beautiful hot sunny day in Mazatlan - a bunch of us went to Stone Island for the day - again, so much fun.

 

Friday was Cabo. Our original Cabo Escape Fun Day didn't run on Fridays but they put us on another excursion called Cabo Eco Tour, which did the exact same thing - a catemeran that took you snorkeling and served way too many strong margaritas. There were other people from our roll call on that tour so we had a blast!

 

We ran into some people from the Carnival ship in Cabo - not only did they not make it to Maz and P.V., but they had to leave Cabo at 2 p.m. (versus us leaving at 5:30) - and we ended up passing them on Saturday morning on our way back to L.A. I guess the Mariner is just a faster ship. Needless to say, the Carnival passengers were not happy people. They received $50 p.p. onboard credit plus 25% off a future cruise that they had to take within 2 years.

 

That's it. We were just amazed how smoothly everything went. BTW, I loved the ship - beautiful and clean - and as big as she is, she doesn't feel that big - it rarely felt crowded. And the crew was wonderful. Oh, and the food was actually good! We ate in Portofino one night and then Chops on the last night. No comparison there - as good as Portofino is, it doesn't even compare to Chops. Chops has better decor, better atmosphere, better service, better food...you get the idea.

 

Thanks for listening - Sandy

[SurveyHand]

Thanks for the review, glad it all went so 'smoothly'.

 

Interesting how you described the difference in the way RCCl handled the hurricane versus Carnival, maybe that's one of these intangible differences that don't appear when people compare the lines.

[SRAFROG]

This is Barbara....

 

The hurricane cruise was just as Sandy Sails said. Fantastic! I secretly hoped

that the cruise would have gone north (dont flame me) because I have been to

Mexico 68 times. I cannot fly because i use a scooter. But I was glad to go

to Mexico again.

 

Mariner cannot go to Catalina, Ensenada is not deep enough for it and Capt Per

told us that even tho it costed RCCL more fuel, they made the decision to reverse

iterary.

[mechcc]

Thanks for the review, glad it all went so 'smoothly'.

 

Interesting how you described the difference in the way RCCl handled the hurricane versus Carnival, maybe that's one of these intangible differences that don't appear when people compare the lines.

 

Don't think that those that were on the Mariner Swine Flu cruise will agree with you. Carnival really did better on that cruise than RCL.

 

Glad this cruise was a good one.

[SurveyHand]

I wouldn't claim that line X always does a better job than line Y. In fact there are so many intangibles such as this that it makes very little sense to try to claim superiority of one cruise line over another of the same class.

[TuxedoMan]

Awesome review. Last fall we were on the Princess Crown, and were diverted due to a hurricane as well. Great experience for us also.

 

I guess it depends on the cruise lines ability to get their ports to allow the change?

 

One more thing of note, after a storm passes, the skys clear out so nicely, too. We have had a few hurricanes here in VA over the past few years, and leading up to the storm is iffy weather at best, but after it passes...WOW, very clear skys and nice weather.

 

Peobably the better cruise lines know that too.

[Kurbanfan]

Don't think that those that were on the Mariner Swine Flu cruise will agree with you. Carnival really did better on that cruise than RCL.

 

Glad this cruise was a good one.

 

You have to be kidding:confused: Cabo or rainy San Francisco:p That's a no brainer......

[akcruz]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. Going with a positive attitude always helps when things don't go as planned. We were on the ship 2 weeks before you and agree it is a beautiful ship with a great staff.

 

Thanks for the review! We were all thinking about you.

[PattyG12]

I wouldn't claim that line X always does a better job than line Y. In fact there are so many intangibles such as this that it makes very little sense to try to claim superiority of one cruise line over another of the same class.

 

why do people need to be so unhappy all the time? i think Sandy had an opinion of her own :eek: ... and she has every right to her own opinion. She felt that line X did a better job than line Y. Thanks for your review Sandy.

[wolfganghowell]

Any specifics to share about the ship? I'm curious about the nightlife options - Schooner, Pub etc. Thanks for your info and glad it worked out well for you. We cruised in front of a hurricane and the seas were like glass, bathwater, silk - name your description ;) - it was an amazing sight, especially since we knew what was behind it. I too am glad to hear RCCL being praised for handling a situation - all too often it seems we have people on the board complaining about RCCL goofed up and Carnival or Princess handled the same situation better. It may all even out in the end, but it's nice to give credit where credit is due.

[SRAFROG]

This is Barbara...

 

My philosophy is a cruise to nowhere is better than a day at work!

 

You are right, each situation is different and each cruise line handles

their passengers differently. However, on this particular cruise, the

people off of Carnival who talked to Mariner passengers were VERY MAD.

Carnival could have done the same thing.

 

RE the swine flu cruises, again, I wouldnt have cared where the ship

went. I have been to Mexico 72 times.

[Juli]

Sandy,

 

Thank you for writing this review! I am still working on my pictures from that cruise.

It was a FANTASTIC cruise and even with the crazy weather on Tuesday....it made for a BEAUTIFUL SUNSET!

 

Julie

[dirtgirl]

Thanks for your review, Sandy. It was a pleasure to meet you and Dan.;)