Mariner of the Seas From Singapore 10/22/15- Complete Picture Review!

[gapearl]

I'm back from the Mariner.. and I can tell you it's really lovely as you said it is... Had a great attendant on Deck 8 (Xiao Ming) Did a croc for a towel animal one night. Food wise is okay, heavy on the Asian dishes.. Escargots one night only, though i requested for every night and managed to give me till the last night of the cruise.

 

There was definitely a difference compared to the cruises out of the States on RCL. One noticeable thing was the lack of Port Information. They had Port talks in the Caribbean where they tell you a lot about the Ports, but on this cruise there was none.

 

There was one thing that i wasn't happy at all was that the boarding at Marina Bay. I'm sure you received a Boarding Tag right? That screwed almost everyone up. Most people didn't even have it , coupled with the announcement that was soft, cause a crowd of chaos during boarding time.

 

But overall, Love the Mariner, the service and everything. Can't wait to go back.

 

Oh yeah... I just simply can't wait for my Oviation Cruise. Nervous...but i think it will quickly turn to excitement seeing the Oviation and what it has to offer.

 

I'm glad to hear you had a good cruise. I agree the food was ok, nothing spectacular. I never attend the port talks on any cruise, so I didn't notice that they didn't have any. They would have been very useful on a cruise like this for sure. I see boarding is still a mess in Singapore and wasn't exclusive to my cruise. It was pretty chaotic. They gave us a color card to board and you had to wait for them to call green, white, blue, etc. Sailing a new ship from Singapore will be a good cruise for sure. Have a great time on that one!

[peachesncream4u]

Hey Kim have you been on the Freedom? Do you have a review if so?

[gapearl]

Hey Kim have you been on the Freedom? Do you have a review if so?

 

Freedom of the Seas, no. Carnival Freedom, yes but that was my second cruise 6 years ago, I don't remember much and there's no review. If you have your signatures turned off, you'll see links to all of my reviews if you turn it back on temporarily. :)

[peachesncream4u]

Thanks! I'm new to actually being active on cruise critic, and am still learning. We will be on carnival freedom in June. Cannot wait! I love your reviews. Your personality shines through.

[blueangel74]

I don't think NCL has ships out of Singapore. Princess does and I think Celebrity does too. It was so awesome posing next to the tiger. They were very chill, just big lazy cats. The Marina Bay Sands was truly amazing. Definitely once in a lifetime at that price. Lol Dr. E came to the Magic almost as soon as I left. He was the assistant CD on one of my cruises a few years ago and is really awesome. It would be fun to be onboard with him again. Drag queens coming to the dinner table would have given me so much life on a cruise! :D

 

 

Thank you for the info on Princess & Celebrity. I will look into them. Every once in a while I think about taking a cruise on another line just to see what the difference is between them & Carnival. Royal Caribbean & Norwegian have been the two I have been looking at the most.

 

Dr. E made the most out of the cruise that Patricia tried to ruin. He kept saying Bye Patricia instead of Bye Felicia. LOL. Would love to be on another cruise with him as CD.

 

From what two of the ladies said at my table, the drag queens on the Magic cruise always cruise out of Galveston every year. They gave us all life. Can't wait to see them again on the Breeze cruise.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you for the info on Princess & Celebrity. I will look into them. Every once in a while I think about taking a cruise on another line just to see what the difference is between them & Carnival. Royal Caribbean & Norwegian have been the two I have been looking at the most.

 

I would encourage you to try other cruise lines just to see what they are like. We have sailed mostly with Royal but we have also tried Celebrity Silhouette once, NCL Jade once, and more recently MSC Preziosa (Yacht Club). All are alike yet different. I am still reviewing my cruise on the Preziosa, this the link to the review on the MSC Boards of the cruise critic forum, if you are interested - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2288693

 

Many thanks to gapearl for her awesome review too! You set a very high standard for cruise reviews!

Edited December 29, 2015 by Iluvcruising2

[cruiserinsg]

How awesome is that! It's always fun to meet people from roll calls and I think it's so cool that people really take my travel advice and visit some of the places I've recommended. How did they enjoy the fish spa? Unfortunately I didn't visit the Chinese Temple in Chinatown. I honestly don't remember if I didn't know about it or if I did and just couldn't find it. I wish I had visited the Gardens by the Bay. The pictures I've seen from there are pretty spectacular. I was talking to my family and friends about this trip the last few days and kept telling them how super clean the MRT was (and that you can get a fine for eating or drinking on it) and how clean Singapore is in general. I certainly hope to return one day! Happy new year to you as well. :)

 

Must be great!!! hahaha. Steven was a character and we mentioned to him that he was in CC review. Ya, I thought that you probably missed that, it was 2 blocks down from the Hindu temple you visited.

 

Do come if there is another opportunity in future. Would be nice to catch up with you. :)

[cruisexlife]

Kim,

 

What happened to the travel blog? I would love to hear about some of your land adventures!

[blueangel74]

I would encourage you to try other cruise lines just to see what they are like. We have sailed mostly with Royal but we have also tried Celebrity Silhouette once, NCL Jade once, and more recently MSC Preziosa (Yacht Club). All are alike yet different. I am still reviewing my cruise on the Preziosa, this the link to the review on the MSC Boards of the cruise critic forum, if you are interested - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2288693

 

 

Thank you. I will look at your review. I met a gentleman in St. Thomas who was sailing on MSC Divina & he had good things to say about MSC. One of my friends sailed on Celebrity out of Miami. She was very happy with Celebrity.

 

Almost booked a cruise on NCL's Breakaway the year it first sailed but became interested in a repositioning cruise on the Carnival Conquest from New Orleans to San Juan.

 

My plan is to go on at least one other cruise line no matter if I have to drive to New Orleans or Galveston or fly to the port.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you. I will look at your review. I met a gentleman in St. Thomas who was sailing on MSC Divina & he had good things to say about MSC. One of my friends sailed on Celebrity out of Miami. She was very happy with Celebrity.

 

Almost booked a cruise on NCL's Breakaway the year it first sailed but became interested in a repositioning cruise on the Carnival Conquest from New Orleans to San Juan.

 

My plan is to go on at least one other cruise line no matter if I have to drive to New Orleans or Galveston or fly to the port.

 

Oh, if you are also interested in NCL and Celebrity, I have also reviewed my cruises on them right here on cruise critic. Links for you, if interested.

 

NCL Jade (we stayed in a non haven 2 bedroom penthouse suite, squeezed in 6 pax!)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139138

 

Celebrity Silhouette

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1952065

 

Both were good, but different.

[blueangel74]

Oh, if you are also interested in NCL and Celebrity, I have also reviewed my cruises on them right here on cruise critic. Links for you, if interested.

 

NCL Jade (we stayed in a non haven 2 bedroom penthouse suite, squeezed in 6 pax!)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139138

 

Celebrity Silhouette

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1952065

 

Both were good, but different.

 

 

Thank you very much. I have begun to read your MSC Prezoia review & I am enjoying reading your review, watching the videos you have posted & pictures you took.

[Iluvcruising2]

Thank you very much. I have begun to read your MSC Prezoia review & I am enjoying reading your review, watching the videos you have posted & pictures you took.

 

Thanks for your compliment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the review. I am still working hard on it. It takes a lot of effort but I enjoy it. I re-live my cruise while doing the review. And years down the road, when I read my own reviews, I get astounded - "you mean I was there?"

 

:):)

[lido deck larry]

OK - I'm breaking my silence, and coming out of my months-long CC posting hiatus to say this:

 

YES!!! ANOTHER GAPEARL REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

THE VIDEO IS AWESOME.... CANNOT WAIT TO START READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Thank's for your fun review.

[lido deck larry]

Kim,

 

Again - awesome, fantastic review.. you really put so much work into these, and it was a lot of fun following your adventure in SE Asia. And I'm just going to come out and say it.: You are by far the best review writer on Cruise Critic.. no one even comes close, in my humble opinion.

 

It sounds like the ports, shore excursions and your overall itinerary was amazing. You clearly chose some great things to do. Though, it sounded like the ship was a bit of a snooze fest. (Not your fault) but the review lacked the fun "characters" that kept popping into the review of your birthday cruise. Maybe you'll have better table mates, or you can convince your Mom to join you on the next adventure.

 

Last comment: You mentioned you're starting to like land vacations as much (if not more) than cruises. Why do you think this is? I find myself in the same place right now with travel - I can explore far more on a land vacation on my own itinerary, although each type of vacation has it's own merits.

 

Again - thanks for writing, you have a true gift for it.

[xerenthar]

hi gapearl. long time listener, first time caller. when are you coming to DC? we should get a pre-cruise drink!

[crusinpsychRN]

The infinity pool pictures got to me. At first I thought it was a pic from the ship and some lady is floating in the water...Very nice pics.

[cjdixon4]

How in the world did I miss this "gapearl" review? Man, am I late...LOL!

I SOOOOO love your detailed vacation adventures, both written and photos. Can't wait for you to chronicle your next sailing! ;)

[cjdixon4]

Gapearl, I'm SOLD on a trip to Singapore now that I know they've got Garrett Popcorn. I'm from the Chi, home of Garrett's "drugs"...can't live without the stuff! LOL :D

[gapearl]

Happy new year everyone! After working, going home for Christmas, working some more, getting terribly sick the first week of the new year, back to work again, updating my travel blog, and getting ready to head to the beach this weekend :D, I've been off CC the last few weeks. I hope 2016 has been treating everyone well. :)

 

Thanks! I'm new to actually being active on cruise critic, and am still learning. We will be on carnival freedom in June. Cannot wait! I love your reviews. Your personality shines through.

 

This site can get VERY addictive. I love reading reviews. It helps to pass the time between my trips. Thanks again so much for the nice words and have fun on your Freedom cruise!

 

Thank you for the info on Princess & Celebrity. I will look into them. Every once in a while I think about taking a cruise on another line just to see what the difference is between them & Carnival. Royal Caribbean & Norwegian have been the two I have been looking at the most.

 

Dr. E made the most out of the cruise that Patricia tried to ruin. He kept saying Bye Patricia instead of Bye Felicia. LOL. Would love to be on another cruise with him as CD.

 

From what two of the ladies said at my table, the drag queens on the Magic cruise always cruise out of Galveston every year. They gave us all life. Can't wait to see them again on the Breeze cruise.

 

I looked at Princess to Alaska but the price ain't cheap so I don't know about that yet. I would love to try them, Celebrity or NCL, but price always brings me back to Carnival. I should book that Breeze cruise with you, Dr. E and the drag queens this year. That would be unforgettable to say the least. :p

[gapearl]

I would encourage you to try other cruise lines just to see what they are like. We have sailed mostly with Royal but we have also tried Celebrity Silhouette once, NCL Jade once, and more recently MSC Preziosa (Yacht Club). All are alike yet different. I am still reviewing my cruise on the Preziosa, this the link to the review on the MSC Boards of the cruise critic forum, if you are interested - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2288693

 

Many thanks to gapearl for her awesome review too! You set a very high standard for cruise reviews!

 

I don't know much about MSC at all so I'm interested in reading your review as well. It's nice to switch it up and try something different, but I can definitely understand and relate to people having a favorite cruise line and wanting to stick to what's familiar. I appreciate all of your kind words throughout the review and again for your assistance you offered me beforehand as well.

 

Must be great!!! hahaha. Steven was a character and we mentioned to him that he was in CC review. Ya, I thought that you probably missed that, it was 2 blocks down from the Hindu temple you visited.

 

Do come if there is another opportunity in future. Would be nice to catch up with you. :)

 

It's a shame I missed it. You're definitely a gracious host and asset to the many cruisers leaving from Singapore. CC is lucky to have you. :)

[gapearl]

Kim,

 

What happened to the travel blog? I would love to hear about some of your land adventures!

 

I updated it over the last few days with pictures from my Nicaragua trip last year. I'm going to continue to dig through my tens of thousands of travel pictures :eek: and post more this month from some of my other trips.

 

OK - I'm breaking my silence, and coming out of my months-long CC posting hiatus to say this:

 

YES!!! ANOTHER GAPEARL REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

THE VIDEO IS AWESOME.... CANNOT WAIT TO START READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey Larry! I certainly hope you enjoyed reading this one! :D

[gapearl]

Thank's for your fun review.

 

Thanks for reading Kiwi!

 

Kim,

 

Again - awesome, fantastic review.. you really put so much work into these, and it was a lot of fun following your adventure in SE Asia. And I'm just going to come out and say it.: You are by far the best review writer on Cruise Critic.. no one even comes close, in my humble opinion.

 

It sounds like the ports, shore excursions and your overall itinerary was amazing. You clearly chose some great things to do. Though, it sounded like the ship was a bit of a snooze fest. (Not your fault) but the review lacked the fun "characters" that kept popping into the review of your birthday cruise. Maybe you'll have better table mates, or you can convince your Mom to join you on the next adventure.

 

Last comment: You mentioned you're starting to like land vacations as much (if not more) than cruises. Why do you think this is? I find myself in the same place right now with travel - I can explore far more on a land vacation on my own itinerary, although each type of vacation has it's own merits.

 

Again - thanks for writing, you have a true gift for it.

 

Oh well hey again Larry! Lol I'm just noticing your second comment.

 

You are wayyyyy too kind! I really appreciate the kind words. Yes A LOT of work goes into putting one of these together, but it's so worth it. I love sharing my travel stories and inspiring people to go to new places and try new things while showing how big and beautiful this world really is. So thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to read.

 

The ship was a bit slow and not as much fun, but I went in expecting that it might be that way so I was not surprised. From what I understand that's not uncommon for sailings from Asia. I am taking my mom on the Bermuda cruise, but make no mistake- my mom and adventure do not go together in the same sentence lol. I actually scale back a lot when I cruise with her because I have to tailor excursions to what she will want to do. She's an inactive senior, so my preference of ziplining and rum filled beach days don't happen with her and are replaced with city tours. We'll have 2 1/2 days in Bermuda, so I have to start researching to see what I can plan for her, and then what I can plan for myself once I get her back on the ship. The best adventures I have are on my solo trips.

 

Cruises are absolutely a fun way to take a vacation, but you have to admit it all becomes the same after a while. My motto is God created this world way too big to not see it all, and I don't want to limit myself to visiting the same places over and over and going to the same islands and ports. I'm big on learning about other cultures, exploring new languages, and meeting people from different countries. I have open invites to Finland and Amsterdam from people I've met traveling outside of a cruise ship. I have coworkers from Brazil, Fiji, Dubai, Ecuador and the Philippines that have all invited me to visit their countries with them. Personally, I don't need 20 more trips to Nassau when there are so many other countries I have yet to see. I will always be a cruiser (already thinking of when I'll get to milestone on Carnival lol), but I will be more focused exploring more far away places while I have the chance. I wish Royal was offering the 3-7 day cruises from Brazil next year. I might would book one of those. Surely I wouldn't be bored on that one! :D

Edited January 14, 2016 by gapearl

[gapearl]

hi gapearl. long time listener, first time caller. when are you coming to DC? we should get a pre-cruise drink!

 

Hi there! Thanks so much for "calling" finally! LOL Actually I haven't been to DC in at least a year. It's been a while, but perhaps one day! That would be fun! :)

 

The infinity pool pictures got to me. At first I thought it was a pic from the ship and some lady is floating in the water...Very nice pics.

 

Thank you! The pool was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

[gapearl]

How in the world did I miss this "gapearl" review? Man, am I late...LOL!

I SOOOOO love your detailed vacation adventures, both written and photos. Can't wait for you to chronicle your next sailing! ;)

 

Gapearl, I'm SOLD on a trip to Singapore now that I know they've got Garrett Popcorn. I'm from the Chi, home of Garrett's "drugs"...can't live without the stuff! LOL :D

 

Hi Judi! Better late than never, right? ;) I love Garrett's popcorn! I don't have the chance to venture into downtown Chicago often to get any, but there's one in Planet Hollywood in Vegas where I find myself a lot, so I can get my "fix" there lol. I hope you're staying warm in Chicago. A friend of mine there sent me a picture of the weather forecast with -15 wind chills. :eek: I'll pass! Thanks so much for reading. The next cruise isn't for a while, but I'm sure it will sneak up on me. They always do.