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Quick Mariner review - Oct.31 - Nov.7

Langley Cruisers

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Langley Cruisers

Langley Cruisers

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Well, seeing the recent negative posts about Mariner made me start this new thread, instead of tacking it on to an older thread. Hope you don't mind. Here is a quick review for you.

 

Pre-Cruise

 

We flew into Long Beach, California because of a killer deal on airfare. We researched it carefully and decided to fly into this smaller airport instead of trying to negotiate LAX. Brilliant! Cute and small airport, convenient, and completely stress-free. Took a cab to our hotel, The Rennaisance - flat rate of $23.00 for that. The hotel is great, no complaints except I would have loved free WiFi for guests; the charge is $12.95 each 24 hours.

 

We spent two days in Long Beach just sight-seeing and walking. We toured the Queen Mary (self-guided tour at your leisure, access to all areas for $25.00 per person). This was one of hubby's lifelong dreams and we were so glad to be able to tour her. She is grand.

 

We took a cab to San Pedro pier - very smooth on a Sunday morning - I think it was about $25.00? No problems. Embarkation had not started yet but we were able to check in and wait in the Platinum/Diamond area. No frills at this pier - just chairs, no coffee or snacks. No biggie.

 

Platinum/Diamond/Suite guests were given priority boarding and this was fantastic. We were among the first on the ship. As stated, the rooms were delayed by one hour due to the Coast Guard drill and while some complained, it was certainly not a problem for us. We ate in the Windjammer and enjoyed the offerings.

 

Cabin - balcony on Deck 9. Basic layout, full size couch, basic small bathroom. No complaints. Stateroom attendant was Xina from Costa Rica - 14 years of service and every ounce the professional and efficient attendant. We got to know her a little and it's amazing what the crew will tell you once they gain your trust. :p

 

Ship - Having sailed Explorer twice, Liberty, and Oasis, we knew what to expect. Overall, she looks great and the art collection seemed to be mainly "car" - themed. Pretty awesome. There was work being done during our week, including two days of work on one of the pools and it was closed, obviously, and the laying of new carpet meaning those stairwells were closed. No inconvenience for us; glad to see the work being done.

 

The passengers - we were actually surprised at the demographic here; honestly speaking, most of the passengers were older than us (late 40's) and there were only 150 kids onboard. Most of the guests were 50's, 60's and 70's, I'd say. There were a few young families, young passengers (20's), honeymooners. But as stated, we were surprised to see the older clientele onboard, much like our Canada/New England trip a few years ago.

 

Food/Dining- Subjective, I know.... but we had no issues here. The WJ has a large offering of goodies and of course, we never went hungry. Glad to see the larger selection of desserts there; for a time, it seemed they only had mousse cakes and Jello. :rolleyes: The omelet station is a plus; you give your order and then get a number. Worked out well.

 

DR food - again, no big issues, except that some of the items were not hot. We expected this as they serve thousands of passengers each day. We tried My Time Dining for the first time and let me say, whoever thought this up has perfected it on Mariner. BRILLIANT! We never had to wait, not once - we showed up 5 out of 7 nights at various times and were seated right away. It was awesome, and will choose this again next year on our Med cruise.

 

Chops Grille - We went there the first formal night. Service was wonderful, but we agreed we would not go back. To us it just didn't seem worth the extra money, but I absolutely understand that many people love it and would eat there every night. :)

 

Entertainment - Went to only a few of the shows, which were good. The musicians are amazingly talented, as always. The Quest - ooof! You can participate or just watch. Suffice it to say that by 11:30 pm, many pax have no inhibitions. Umm, yeah. ;)

 

Crew - I know this is subjective as well, but will give an honest opinion from first-hand observation. BEST OVERALL SERVICE on any ship!! The staff we encountered were smiling, friendly, knowledgable, and keen to please. The Windjammer staff were abundant, friendly, and accomodating. I know some who sailed with us on this cruise will say the service stank - again, I say it is subjective but we had no issues. We believe you get what you give; we always try to be polite and friendly to others, and it comes back to you.

 

Captain Per - amazing. He was by far the most approachable and personable Captain on any of our cruises. He truly seems to enjoy his job and his staff; he was everywhere! He even showed up at Quest! Great guy.

 

Now... we all know the ship is changing itinerary. The date for this is January 16 and some reviews I have read state that the crew is unfriendly and grumbling about this. Any change is difficult; this will be an adjustment for them, and in fact they will be serving an entirely different demographic when they go to Europe. However, the crew we encountered were smiling and friendly. If you have recently sailed Mariner and were not pleased with the service, I am sorry. :( Those whom we encountered were amazing.

 

Ports - Super quickly, we walked around in Cabo, took a ship's beach/lunch/shopping excursion in Matazlan, and went into Old Town ourselves by cab in Puerto Vallarta. The merchants will take either US dollars or Pesos. We found merchandise to be not only reasonable, but CHEAP! We were amazed at the prices. Bought a few things. The weather this week was sunny and hot in ports, cool the first and last two days.

 

Disembarkation - Platinum and Diamond members get Priority Disembarkation. I highly recommend this, even if your flight is later in the day. We were among the first off the ship (about 8:50 am - Express Walk-offs were called around 8:00) and the terminal was very managable at that time. Cab back to Long Beach airport was a flat rate of $45.00 - easy and smooth on a Sunday morning.

 

Overall - LOVED our week onboard. We are the kind of people who try to go with the flow and not complain. It just seems to take the stress off and I think, in life, you have to pick your battles. We chose not to pick any battles for the week. :D

 

To all who are sailing soon - enjoy Mariner!

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wwcruisers

wwcruisers

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LangleyCruisers -- we were on this cruise too. Thanks for doing the "heavy lifting" on the review (lol)! ;)

 

Definitely agree with your overall evaluation of the ship and crew -- we had a fabulous time! A few personal observations:

 

Food: Second seating in the MDR was very good -- had a great waitstaff. We also ate in Portofino's twice and Chops once. We thought Mariner's specialty restaurants were among the best that we've tried in the fleet.

 

Ports: We enjoyed our activities in all three ports, but our favorite was riding at Randi's Happy Horses (Mazatlan), followed by lunch at Victor's. After reading all the glowing reviews here on CC, we had high expectations for both -- and our expectations were truly exceeded! :D

 

Entertainment: We don't usually go to many shows, but we LOVED the ice show "Under the Big Top". The live music we heard around the ship was also quite good.

 

Ship: Very clean and well-maintained. Captain Per was great! We never really felt any ship motion until the last night, sailing back into LA.

 

Downsides: Only two real complaints:

 

First, we had a huge cruisecritic group (BooCruisers) on board. Our M&M was held in Ellington's (Crown Viking), but when we got there -- they told us we only had half an hour for it. We barely had time to do our gift exchange, and there were lots of folks that we did not get to meet until later in the cruise. If RC really values its cruisecritic patrons, I think they can do better. :confused:

 

Second, I really wish that we'd had your cabin steward, LangleyCruisers! Ours was the worst we've ever had, in nearly 10 years of cruising on RC. We did speak with the head of housekeeping about the problems we encountered, before we left. Otherwise, we found the staff to be excellent -- always a smile and greeting in the hallways. :)

 

So, OK -- there is a third "downside". This beautiful ship and her amazing crew are leaving us in less than two months -- with no replacement scheduled -- very sad! :(

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startwin

startwin

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What a great review! We've sailed on the Mariner twice - once with Captain Johnny and once with Captain Per - and found Captain Per so personable and approachable. Love the Mariner, and am so sad to see it - and RCI - pull out of the west coast. Apart from one miserable wine waiter, all crew were amazing on both trips.

 

Sounds like you got a great deal on the flights (out of Bellingham?) and hotel, too.

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Mary09

Mary09

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Thanks! We'll be on it next month. I'll try to keep your attitude. I find it hard to just grin and bear bad service but maybe I can at least laugh off any cold food! :)

 

I too never find the upsell restaurants worth the cost.

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jonbgd

jonbgd

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Thanks for the great review That is the way I remember her

While alot of people are sad to see her leave CA Im not.......Since Im leaving CA she is following me:rolleyes: I will be about an hour from her and we can cruise on her as much as we want to now without catching a plane :D

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Irishnana

Irishnana

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First, we had a huge cruisecritic group (BooCruisers) on board. Our M&M was held in Ellington's (Crown Viking), but when we got there -- they told us we only had half an hour for it. We barely had time to do our gift exchange, and there were lots of folks that we did not get to meet until later in the cruise. If RC really values its cruisecritic patrons, I think they can do better. :confused:

 

We also have a large CC roll call group on our 12-Dec-2010 cruise (123 currently), and this aspect concerns me.

 

Curious if they told you to vacate the area :(, or just packed up their items and left. Please provide more details, as we have activities planned for our roll call in this location immediately before & after the official Meet & Mingle.

 

TIA

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ASeaPrincess1

ASeaPrincess1

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Thank you for a positive review of my favorite Mariner.

I have sailed on her 4 times, twice with Johnny, twice with Per. Love both captains. Personable, fun, and very easy to talk to.

The staff, what can I say? I have never had a bad experience with any staff member. One in particular has been a sheer delight on three of my cruises.

While the food may not be "gourmet" as some put it, I have never had a bad meal on any RCI ship. My scale will attest to that fact.:eek:

Yes, I do love Mariner, and had planned on sailing her for many years.

Once I found out she was leaving, I had to book one more. I wish I could go more often, but somehow, my boss just doesn't understand.....:confused:

Yep, I'm gonna miss her. Guess I will try to get over to Galveston one of these days.............

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wwcruisers

wwcruisers

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We also have a large CC roll call group on our 12-Dec-2010 cruise (123 currently), and this aspect concerns me.

 

Curious if they told you to vacate the area :(, or just packed up their items and left. Please provide more details, as we have activities planned for our roll call in this location immediately before & after the official Meet & Mingle.

 

TIA

 

We were originally told that our M&M would be from 11:30-12:30, in Ellington's. When we got there, the assistant cruise director (Ricky Ricardo) told us that another group was booked into the space at noon, and we only had half an hour for an M&M that numbered over 70 people! You might want to talk to the CD, or whoever arranges the M&M's in advance, to find out exactly how much time your group will have. Good luck, and enjoy your cruise on this fantastic ship! :cool:

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Carguylee

Carguylee

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Well, seeing the recent negative posts about Mariner made me start this new thread, instead of tacking it on to an older thread. Hope you don't mind. Here is a quick review for you.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures!! We are booked on Mariner in Jan 2012

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