Just off the Mariner - any questions? took the kids age 3,7,10

[gkeep]

Hello - just off a wonderful trip on Mariner of the Seas. Thought I would focus on kid related stuff. We cruised with our three kids, ages 3, 7, and 10. So thought I may be of help, as there wasn't much that I could find for myself before hand.

 

We had connecting balcony staterooms on deck 8. We used the twin beds with one pulldown bunk above them for the kids to sleep in. My older two used the kids club alot and really enjoyed it. My 3 year old only went and stayed two nights without "fussing" about it. We did two ( out of three ) of the Adventure Ocean dinning at Johnny Rockets and the 3 year old went with the two older kids no problem. After eating they go back up to the kids club. He played and had a great time. The rest of the time he wouldn't go. He went in two other times, but cried for mom and couldn't be comforted. There was no charge for these dinners, but the Adventure Ocean lunches in the windjammer were available for $7.95 a kid. ( covers the two hours at lunch noon-2pm).

 

One thing I didn't like was that they didn't offer any pagers. I know they had them in the past, not sure whey they didn't have them now. So they can only call the room. If my 3 year old is in the kids club, I am not going to be sitting in my room. Fortunately, we checked on him frequently and twice picked him up when he was having problems, and then returned to find messages on our room phone after the fact.

 

There were not a lot of kids on our trip, and the kids club numbers were pretty low I think. The 6-8 and 9-11 year olds were together most of the trip. They were all in the middle age group room. There were never more than probably 10 kids per age group, often less.

 

When my 3 year old was having problems, they went and got my son or daughter to try and help him adjust. I was told a number of times on this board that they would NEVER do this, but they did it without a problem, multiple times. I never asked them to, and they were happy to do it. They even allowed my daughter to come and help my 3 year old in the bathroom. He has no problem with accidents, but generally needs help with taking pants off and on. He left his shorts and underpants at the door to the bathroom! We only know she helped because she told us, not them.

 

Of course, YMMV, I assume they were lax because of the very few children in the kids club.

 

There is lots I could write, but will try to wrap it up. We did the pirate ship Buccaneer Queen in Cabo (GOOD), and Randis happy horses in Mazatlan ( VERY GOOD), no planned excursion in PV. The older kids wanted to stay in kids club all day that day. We just did shopping.

 

We used an umbrella stroller on ship for the 3 year old, very helpful and rarely a problem with putting it places.

 

The kids ate with us in the dinning room, traditional style main seating, except for the 2 kids club nights. They ordered off the kids menu as they are picky eaters. Generally had pizza, hamburger, french fries, chicken tenders, steak, and cheese raviolis. They loved the kids brownies for dessert and ordered ice-cream to go with it. They had chocolate milk and a fruit "appetizer" waiting for them every night ( after the first). We had to request a plastic cup for the 3 year old - they didn't have any in the dinning rooms and had to go somewhere else to get them. On our previous cruise with the kids they had plastic cups with lids, not so now. We also had them bring up the kids food when it was ready, and they would generally finish a while before ( usually around 7pm). They would go back to the room and change then head up to kids club.

 

My 10 year old was allowed to check herself and her brothers in and out as needed. This was very helpful for sending them to kids club, though we usually had them stay until we picked them up.

 

Lots of things for the older kids to do on board, not so much for the 3 year old. The older kids tried just about everything, ice-skating, roller bladeing, rock wall, mini-golf, ping-pong, swimming, etc. They watched a couple of the shows with us, but our dinner was at 6pm, and so our shows were usually at 9pm or later. They loved the ice-show! There were movies playing, but they were always at odd times, and conflicted with stuff like dinner.

 

Happy to answer questions, I will check on and off for the next couple of weeks!

[PHXscuba]

I appreciate the kid-friendly review. We are going on the Mariner next fall with our four kids (ages 5-14) and you answered several of my questions about food and the kids' club.

 

We are considering a couple of the same excursions you did. I feel like I know a decent amount about Randi's Happy Horses, but can you give me some more info about the pirate ship in Cabo? Did you book it through a broker? What kind of transportation -- did they pick you up at the tender or elsewhere? What did the kids think of it? Was the water warm enough for them? Did they feed you anything or should we eat lunch before we go? It sounds like more fun than the traditional snorkeling excursion.

 

Thanks for the info and review...

 

PHXscuba:D

[riverhawk]

Hi...we're on the Mariner this Sunday and can't wait. We are bringing our 8 and 10 year old daughters. Questions:

 

If I understand you correctly, you would eat dinner and then your two older children left the dining room by themselves to go to the kids club?

 

How did you keep in contact with your older kids when they checked themselves out? How did they know where to find you?

 

Thanks!

[jlp20]

More of a geek question, can you recall the brand of TV in your cabin (Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba etc)?

[jonbgd]

Hi we dont have kids

So my question is did you hear much noise thru the adjoining cabin Im assuming you had a door between the 2

We just booked in to one and I am wondering about cabin noise if I should switch to one without a door for quiet

Im more worried about peopole hearing us than us hearing them:p

[deckgirl]

we sailed the mariner when she was in the caribbean and never heard a peep from our neighbor cabins. maybe it's the way the ships are assembled and put together.

a question for anyone on the mariner lately - is cap. johnny still the captain? he's one of the main reasons we'll sail the mariner again.:)

[adinap]

It was nice to meet you and your family on the ship! (Juliana says hello to your daughter!)

 

I traveled with my 5 and 9 year old, so I'll be happy to answer any questions as well.

 

We took a water taxi to Lovers Beach/Divorce Beach in Cabo,then took the same taxi to Medano beach and ate at Baja Cantina. I wish we could have done the Pirate ship.

 

In Mazatlan we also did Randi's Happy Horses, and had a blast.

 

In Puerto Vallarta, we took a taxi to Dreams Resort (all inclusive). The kids loved it, and had a a great time. We planned to do the Pirate ship, but it was not in service this week.

[gkeep]

We are considering a couple of the same excursions you did. I feel like I know a decent amount about Randi's Happy Horses, but can you give me some more info about the pirate ship in Cabo? Did you book it through a broker? What kind of transportation -- did they pick you up at the tender or elsewhere? What did the kids think of it? Was the water warm enough for them? Did they feed you anything or should we eat lunch before we go? It sounds like more fun than the traditional snorkeling excursion.

 

PHXscuba:D

 

 

There is a little story to this...

We originally booked the Margialante in PV, we booked through Johann and Sandra. There are some time problems with booking this as the arrival time a little late for the excursion. They assured me there would be no problem and that they would tell them to wait for us, and that they do this all the time, etc. I called twice and emailed twice trying to make sure.

I went ahead and booked, and was assured that if our boat arrived too late that we would be reimbursed. I really wanted to do this! A week before we left for the cruise I noticed that the pirate ship was no longer going that day - called and found out it had engine problems. They said they were trying to bring in another ship to replace it, and would let us know if a few days whether or not they would have to cancel.

Since I already was worried about making the tour on time, I asked if I could switch the tour to the Cabo pirate ship and be refunded the difference ( cabo is cheaper). I didn't want to have NO pirate ship tour as Cabo was our first port and PV our last. They were very nice and easy to work with. They had me my new tickets by email that night, and my refund within two days. I didn't follow up with the PV ship, but did see a very large pirate ship sailing out the evening we left PV.

 

 

Now for the tour we did take: it was fun for the kids. I think the other tour would have been a lot better. We tendered from the cruise ship to the port in Cabo, then we were instructed to take a water taxi to the pirate ship. We paid $2 a person for the water taxi. We actually didn't go very far, but to walk all the way around would have taken quite a while. We had the three kids and grandma and grandpa. The pirate boat was neat looking. It was a very casual and friendly atmosphere. Drinks were included - alcohol and sodas. There weren't very many on our tour, maybe 15 or so paying customers so we had lots of room to roam.

 

We sailed out down the coast for a while, then stopped to snorkel for a while. The tour left started at 11;30 and ended about 2pm i think. They had the equipment, one time use snorkles, re-used masks and flippers. The masks were kinda dirty. Sad looking lifejackets. The younger boys got in the water, but then wanted out, too cold and a little choppy. The guide fed the fish, so lots around. The water was a little murkey. Still fun. After snorkling, they fed us a simple meal of hot dogs, chips, fruit, and some kind of weird pasta salad ( none of us ate).

 

After we were on our way, they did a "family" name that movie song game, my kids won pirate head wraps. I say "family" because if you knew the answer, you yelled out tequila, and if you didn't get it you had to take a shot of a fruit juice watered down tequila. They wanted the parent to take the kid's shots.

 

They did a very short pirate show which was a preview for the night sailing. The workers were very nice. The ship was neat to see and sail on. The weather was gorgeous. Overall, my kids really thought it was great, but I just kept thinking the other one would have been better. The other boat is larger, has a show, shoots cannons, and has beach time. It does cost a little more, too.

 

I would do it again, as there are very few options for kid excursions. There are hardly any that we can take our 3 year old on, he LOVED this. Afterwords some of us took a water taxi back to the terminal area, and some walked back. It only took my DH about 20+ minutes to walk it.

[gkeep]

 

If I understand you correctly, you would eat dinner and then your two older children left the dining room by themselves to go to the kids club?

 

How did you keep in contact with your older kids when they checked themselves out? How did they know where to find you?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, we allowed our 10 year old daughter to take her and my 7 year old son up to the kids club alone. She was very good at getting around the ship, we usually asked her when we needed to know which way to go. I think it was from the third night on she did this.

 

We had rules - she was only allowed to go exactly where she was supposed to. The kids club or the room. She was to never check herself out unless we instructed her to before dropping her off , and where to go - which was like once or twice. The day we went into port I told them she was not allowed to check herself out, not a problem. We did not have contact with them after they left the table until we went to check on them at the end of our dinner which was about 7:30/7:45. Honestly, they NEVER wanted to leave the kids club. We would have to force them to leave every night to go to bed. Usually around 9pm.

 

This would obviously be something you would have to decide on for yourself, your comfort level, and your childs maturity/behavoir. She mostly just checked her and him "in" not out.

[gkeep]

More of a geek question, can you recall the brand of TV in your cabin (Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba etc)?

 

Sorry, I can't remember!

[gkeep]

Hi we dont have kids

So my question is did you hear much noise thru the adjoining cabin Im assuming you had a door between the 2

We just booked in to one and I am wondering about cabin noise if I should switch to one without a door for quiet

Im more worried about peopole hearing us than us hearing them:p

 

We didn't hear much noise, BUT I do believe you will hear more through that side than the non-door walls. My inlaws were in the room to our left, and the kids in the room to our right ( with the door). We could hear our 3 year old wake up crying in the night, and I could hear my DH snoring through the closed door on the last morning ( son and 3 year old changed spots early am, he wasn't feeling well). I say this because my mother-in-law is the LOUDEST snorer I have every heard and I did not hear her at all on this trip. Our heads were against their wall.

 

The sounds were muffled, not loud or anything. I am sure you will be fine. Everyday, daytime noises you won't hear at all. We only heard the loudest sounds at night, and they were mild.

[gkeep]

a question for anyone on the mariner lately - is cap. johnny still the captain? he's one of the main reasons we'll sail the mariner again.:)

 

Captain Johnny was still our captain, but rumor is that he is leaving very soon. We didn't know until boarding whether or not he would be on the ship. I had heard that the week before ours or our week was his last. But don't know for sure.

[PHXscuba]

Thanks for the info on the pirate ship. You're right about some of the excursions not being small-child friendly. I have found several things I'd like to do in PV, but few in Cabo, so the pirate ship might fit the bill.

 

Thanks also for the kids' club info. DH and I have cruised before, but this will be our first with the kids and I'm sure that will be the bulk of my worry.

 

PHXscuba

[mikeyy]

We're boarding the Mariner the end of Jan.2010 and the biggest question my kids have is there somewhere to get pizza 24hrs and what about ice cream (other than Ben & Jerry's)?

[Jiffymom]

did they allow you to open the balcony dividers between your cabins?

[gkeep]

We're boarding the Mariner the end of Jan.2010 and the biggest question my kids have is there somewhere to get pizza 24hrs and what about ice cream (other than Ben & Jerry's)?

 

I think the Promenade Cafe is 24 hours. They have pizza, sandwiches, and treats.

 

They have a soft serve station on the pool deck by the windjammer entrance. It took us a while to even notice it there. It is not open all the time. I think it opened about 10 am, don't know when it closed.

[gkeep]

did they allow you to open the balcony dividers between your cabins?

 

They did not - we asked first thing and our room attendant said they don't open them and haven't for a long time. There was some rule that she couldn't really explain. My 3 year old could go under the door though - LOL.

[gagne3452]

Thanks for the kid friendly information. we are travelling with our daughters 4 and 5, in 2 weeks!

[Love-to-ride]

This will be our first time sailing with RCI and have a few ??'s How warm are the pools and hot tubs? are they salt or fresh water? we leave in a month!!!! :)

[lisaflores]

When did Adventure Ocean open after dinner if you did not do any special kid dinner options?

[lisaflores]

When did Adventure Ocean open after dinner if you did not do any special kid dinner options?

[adinap]

The pools were all salt water (and warm - I would say at least 85 degrees) and the hot tubs were freshwater.

 

This will be our first time sailing with RCI and have a few ??'s How warm are the pools and hot tubs? are they salt or fresh water? we leave in a month!!!! :)

[adinap]

The pools were all salt water (and warm - I would say at least 85 degrees) and the hot tubs were freshwater.

 

This will be our first time sailing with RCI and have a few ??'s How warm are the pools and hot tubs? are they salt or fresh water? we leave in a month!!!! :)

[adinap]

They were open from 7 to 10 in the evenings (but not the first night).

 

When did Adventure Ocean open after dinner if you did not do any special kid dinner options?

[adinap]

They were open from 7 to 10 in the evenings (but not the first night).

 

When did Adventure Ocean open after dinner if you did not do any special kid dinner options?