Quick review of Mariner Dec 17 Holiday cruise

[see sic]

Just thought I would post a few comments/observations about

my recent Dec 17th Christmas cruise for 10 days to the Mexican

Riviera with my parents:

 

Stops: Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Cabo S.L., San Diego.

(Christmas Day was at sea)

 

The 700 passenger Mariner had on board about 450-460 passengers.

For a holiday sailing, many crew members seemed surprised the ship

was not at or near sold out. I heard some crew say most holidays sailings are sold out. I don't know--have never been on a holiday cruise before.

 

Of the 460 passengers, I heard someone on board mention about

60 of them were UNDER the age of 20. The number of young passengers

seemed to be a big surprise to alot of passengers and crew--many said they had never seen so many young people on one Seven Seas cruise

before. But it was a holiday cruise and the kids were on their holiday

break, so I suppose it should be expected to see lots of kids.

They were NO PROBLEM and all of them were GREAT KIDS !! SURPRISE!!

 

The ship was decked out BEAUTIFULLY for christmas.. I was expecting

a very low key celebration, but it was anything but low key: The

ship had probably 30 to 40 christmas trees throughout the ship everywhere--not sure of the number, but it seemed everytime you

turned the corner, there was a tree. Garland everywhere. Christmas

music could be heard through the loud speakers at all times--for 10 days.

Imagine laying by the ship pool in Acapulco, and it is 96 degrees outside listening to Bing Crosby sing "White Christmas" GREAT.

 

On christmas eve, they closed the La Veranda restaurant for the

passengers and let the crew have their christmas dinner there.

There was a christmas midnight mass, and christmas morning mass.

Santa appeared in the main lobby and any passenger under 20

years old was invited to speak with Santa and got a wrapped

christmas gift---they looked like really good gifts, too--cameras

and such for the teens.

 

 

We had a butler, who was also great, but he seemed disappointed

we did not really have too much for him to do. We had very few

demands other than a couple of shirts to iron and a couple of

dinner reservations. The butler was eager to please.

 

The service was most times good to spectacular---espcially in the

Signatures dining room. What seemed to surprise me the most was the most simple parts of a dining room experience--like just getting a

refill of a glass of water was a very difficult task more than a couple of times--at both lunch a dinner. Not a real big deal in the big picture, but still surprising to me. However, what can I say--I still thought

everyone was friendly and great.

 

The ship is overall in good shape, but is starting to show some wear

and tear. Our Cat. B Penthouse suite had some stains on the carpet

and furniture and was starting to look a bit tattered. My dad--who never notices stuff like that--spoke up right away and said "GEEZ, YOU THINK THEY WOULD REPAIR OR FIX THINGS LIKE THIS MORE OFTEN." His comments surprised me, because I noticed them too, but I never

said a word---he spoke up first.

 

Captain Guillou (sp?) is a very friendly, approachable man.

 

The hallways of the Mariner where the staterooms were at has been

recarpeted in a very BEAUTIFUL deep royal blue color with gold

colored trim and gold Seven Seas logo in it. That was new

since I sailed the ship a year and half ago. I found it to be

very beautiful and rich-looking in design, and if this color scheme

is going to continue to be developed and spread thoughout the

rest of the ship, I think the Mariner is going to get even better

looking--I hope!

 

Anyone wanting a christmas cruise on the Seven Seas wont be

missing christmas--that's for sure.

 

Any questions about the ship, I will be happy to try to answer them for you.

 

thanks, see sic

[Dreps]

Interesting you mentioned the water refill problem in the dining room. I had the same experience on our 14-day Sydney-Auckland cruise. It was easier to have your wine glass refilled than your water glass. Not a big deal, but it should not happen.

 

------------

 

Eugene

[JoAnne B]

It's really surprising that the ship wasn't full. Whenever I've taken a holiday cruise it was sold out with lots of small children bedding down in the parents' cabin. Made for far too much stress on the system. On our last holiday cruise (not on RSSC) children ran up and down the halls screaming from early morning to late at night. One morning we were sitting in the buffet area and several little children were climbing on the tables and jumping off. Their loud squeals were intolerable in my pre-coffee status. Parents (and staff) were oblivious. Hubby and I looked at each other and vowed never to do another holiday cruise. And we haven't!

[see sic]

On our particular cruise, many of the 60 "kids" on board were in their

early to mid-teens. Very good, well-behaved teens--not running around

making loud noises or causing trouble.

 

Only a small number 20-30 were the under 12 group--and they were

kept very busy by the great "Kids Club" staff.

 

I "think" there was a special holiday promotion

for our Dec 17th Holiday sailing that for every paying adult, you could

bring a child along for FREE. That could have been the reason for

the large number of young people on board.

 

But like I said in my prior post, I never recall any incidents that made

me or my parents feel exasperated. The kids--young and old--were

all very well-mannered good kids---we were lucky!

 

The only thing that bothered me at times was the kids club

seemed to concentrate alot of their functions in a small

conference room which was right next to the library and computer

area on deck 6. Imagine trying to sit and read or relax in what should be a

very quiet part of the ship, and then there were kids running around

playing their games and making noise, running in and out of the

conference room. That was a bother to me. I think the kids club

should find some other place to do their activities, other than right

next to the library--of all places!

 

Oh well, on most of my past cruises, I find the inaction of

parents to discpline their children more of a problem

than the children themselves.

 

regards, see sic

[ssclbc]

I was on the Dec. 17 Mariner as well. I too was surprised by how few passengers were on the ship. My daughter was one of those in the kid's program. Of the 450 passengers onboard, 21 were from age 5-12 and 22 were from age 13-20. There was a kids under 11 sail free promotion. I agree it was unfortunate that the conference room was so close to the library, but RSSC simply doesn't have a dedicated kid's facility. I can't compliment the Club Mariner staff enough. They did a fantastic job of keeping the kids occupied. Every evening my daughter would get a Club Mariner schedule. The amount of time spent in the Club varied from 4 to 9 hours (longer on sea days). They did everything from watch movies, make Christmas and Hannukah crafts, have a private galley tour complete with cookie baking, a private bridge tour, a visit from Santa and even their own dinner in La Verandah on the first formal night. The only time I saw any horsing around was one day at the pool when there was a bit too much splashing going on, but several parents quickly stepped in the quiet them down.

 

I thought it was a great cruise!