mariner...just back .....western route

[alli]

Hi,

just got back from the Mariner of the Seas ( western). I have all of the Cruise Compasses and would be happy to answer questions.

There are probably a lot of areas I can't help with, such as I don't have kids, didn't do any excursions and didn't play in the casino......however, maybe I can answer some others.

[10th Anniversary]

Share...Share...Share...

 

We will be sailing on her next week, Western route. How was the ship? How was the weather? What ports did you tender? How was the food and the shows? Any can't miss or must do's? Any should have missed or shouldn't do's?

 

Can you post the daily compasses?

[jules815]

Yes, please share! I'll be on Mariner next month (first cruise!), and although we'll be doing the eastern route, I love to hear what people think about the ship.

[OliverTheCat]

I am sailing Mariner next March and would love to see the compasses and would love to hear about adult nightlife...like what are things worth checking out and not checking out for us when we board?

[B-52]

We sail this July, 5 adults. Would love to get a hold of the latest compasses.

Also, you don't by chance have the main dining room menu's ??

 

Thanks in advance.

[RN7997]

I won't be doing Mariner, but I am looking into Freedom's Western route for next year, so I'd LOVE to hear your experience on the islands. The do's, don'ts, where's and how much.

Thanks

[time4u2go]

Did you tender or dock in Cozumel?

[Adventure Girl]

Hello to all of you excited Mariner cruisers....you are going to love the ship.

 

I've done the western itinerary on Mariner 6 times and the Eastern 1 time...which was just a week ago...I got back on May 7th.

 

On the Eastern Itinerary....we LOVED Coco Cay....it is just beautiful there....very relaxing, water was great, no hassel at the craft market...just a great place to relax and forget about the world. In St. Thomas we did a helicopter tour which was amazing...a lot of fun and great way to see St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola. In St. Marten we did the ship's Jeep 4x4 caravan excursion. It was a lot of fun....the excursion left at 9:15 a.m. and returned to the ship at 4:15 pm. The best stop was at Orient Beach. We walked the beach, found a great restaurant for lunch...with great sightings on the beach ;) and then did some rough roading on the way back to the ship. It was a lot of fun.

 

On the Western Itinerary....we always thought Labadee was just the best place on earth...until we went to Coco Cay....but still, Labadee is very nice. Mountains are beautiful, the beaches are fun, nice to walk around...and still a great place to relax. In Jamaica I always use a private tour company, A-Z Jamaica planners and hire a driver for the day. We have taken scenic tours, done the river tubing excursion, climbed Dunn's River Falls, gone to the Pottery factory, and had lunch out at The Ruins in Ocho Rios. This tour company is the best...they design private tours or offer their own suggestions. The drivers are friendly and we feel very comfortable with them. The river tubing was the best excursion we have ever done. In fact, I've done the river tubing with A-Z three times. Just loved it. In Grand Cayman, 3 times we never left the ship and 3 times we got off. We have only done 1 tour in Grand Cayman and that was the Submarine ride, Turtle Farm, and Hell tour. It was nice to see and do....but nothing outrageous or extremely exciting. In Cozumel we have always gone to Paradise Beach. This is a great beach...no entrance fee, clean, friendly, fantastic food, water sports for the day for on $5....Paradise Beach offers us everything we want. If you go, you must try the fresh salsa and chips....it is only $3.00 and it is a huge portion and oh so very good. We usually stay at Paradise Beach until 2 pm and then head over to Carlos & Charlies. If you like to party, you've gotta go there. What a wild place....many laughs were had there.

 

Things you should not miss on the Mariner of the Seas:

 

The ice skating show....you can get complimentary tickets on Monday at 9 am outside of Studio B....you must see the ice show...it is fantastic.

 

The Quest....if you are a first time cruiser, we can't tell you what the Quest is all about...you must see it to believe it....and PARTICIPATE! You will be glad that you did.

 

The Parade down the Royal Promenade....the parade is at 10:30 pm on Sunday and Saturday nights....it is fun to see if you have never been on a Voyager class ship before.

 

The Love & Marriage Game show....this is a lot of fun...it is usally on Wednesday night at 10:30 pm in the Savoy Theatre.

 

Dancing under the Stars....this is a Caribbean themed deck party on the Pool Deck at 11:30 pm to 1 am. on Wednesday night. They also have a pool side buffet that night at midnight.

 

If you like Martinis...you should do Martini Madness....this is on the 2nd formal night at 7:45 pm in the Vintages Wine Bar on deck 5. This is your chance to sample various martinis and bring home a souvenier glass and shaker. It is a lot of fun.

 

The Welcome Aboard show on Sunday night is 7:30 pm for all guests....this is a nice show to attend because you will get a sampling of all of the performances scheduled for the week.

 

Ellington's Lounge on Deck 14 is a great place for a pre-dinner cocktail as the view is incredible....you are at the highest point on the ship and it is all glass....so you can see the ocean all around you and the pool deck below. It is beautiful at sunset.

 

 

If you are interested, you can check out photos from my various Mariner cruises at http://community.webshots.com/user/usakcg

[Inshape]

I did Mariner in Jan Eastern and loved this ship so much doing it again in Oct but Western. The ship is beautiful. MAke sure you walk up the stairways to see the beautiful art. On his deck there is great art also in the hallways --so walk them too. Promanade our favorite place to side and have a coffee and afternoon snack(late seating allows time for this)in the cafe. Best pasteries! Shows were ok with the ice show a top notch show. Do not miss! Food was outstanding each and every meal. Usually what the wait staff recommends is the best--but order more than one entree to try more. I love vegetables and they do not serve enough of that...so ask and they bring veggies for the table! Great service! Not one complaint on this ship. The staff even in Windjammer serves you the beverage so you do not have to carry that with your tray. Helped a lot when i needed to carry trays for the kids. All together a great ship!

[alli]

So many questions, so little time ( I'm cooking dinner for the first time in a week) and sooo much laundry!

First of all, I'm not going to try and scan my compasses, they are covered in personnal notes that I kept in case I get around to writing a review. Also, it takes part of the charm away if you know all the daily activities ahead of time. In addition, some of the entertainment ( not the main shows, but the smaller venues change from week to week).

The ship looked great....brand new. She's large, but easy to get around and I never once found myself 'lost'.

Our weather was fantastic! Not a drop of rain all week. It was a bit windy on sea days, even on the balcony.

We had to tender every where but Jamaica. Labadee was easy. By the time we got off at 11 am, they had 2800 people on shore ( we waited till the rush was over). Cozumel was a nightmare for us.....we seemed to get on the slowest tenders and the tenders had to wait between ship and shore for the tender in front to unload. This has nothing to do with RCCL, the tenders were Mexican. This just showed what a great job RCCL did in Labadee .

The misses and must do's are such a personnal thing that it's hard to cover here. I'm going try....and add the adult nightlife as well.

If you're interested in doing the Chops restaurant or the Portifinos, try and make you're reservations the first night.....these fill up fast. We did dinner in Portifinos one night and certainly enjoyed...oh, and by the way they have lowered the cost to $ 15 a head. We tried to get into Chops later in the week and got waitlisted. Didn't get in.

You must see the ice show.....best show we've ever seen on a cruise ship.

We tried the other "big" shows and we not impressed.

I wish we'd been UP for the first night's parade in the promanade, but travel day put us in bed early that night and I had to watch it on the TV in the morning. I also wished we'd discovered the Horizon band in the Lotus lounge before Wednesday night ( they play dance music for us who remember the Beatles and Elvis).

I'm sorry, gotta go and finish dinner.....I'll post more tomorrow about the food and the restaurants.

[ciship]

We keep seeing conflicting reports of when formal nights are. Is Eastern vs. Western cruise have different formal nights? We will be on Eastern cruise in July and need to know when formal nights are. Anyone know for sure??

[jules815]

I think it's Monday and Thursday, but can someone confirm?

[ciship]

I think it's Monday and Thursday, but can someone confirm?

 

 

I've heard Monday and Friday and Tuesday and Friday......???????

[dagadget]

I am sailing Mariner next March and would love to see the compasses and would love to hear about adult nightlife...like what are things worth checking out and not checking out for us when we board?

 

Take good care of the ship my DW and I are going the week of the 18th. Maybe we will see each other in passing at Port Canaveral. Anyway have a great Cruise.

[ginrom]

Formal nights on the Eastern route are Monday and Friday. At least they were last month during Easter week.

[Cruisecrazycanuck]

Can anyone confirm the current captain and CD on Mariner. We head out next week and I am really curious. Cheers CCC

[Honeymooner3310]

Just off the Mariner as well.........

-Formal nights were Monday and Thursday

- The Captain just got on and was Sven Peterson s/p? and the cruise director was Becky ?

[DrSeuss]

Thanks Alli for an excellent post. Is the ice show on every night? Do you know what time it is on? We have booked the late diner, Thanks :)

[Adventure Girl]

Formal nights on the Western itinerary are Monday and Thursday

 

Formal nights on the Eastern itinerary are Monday and Friday

[ciship]

Formal nights on the Western itinerary are Monday and Thursday

 

Formal nights on the Eastern itinerary are Monday and Friday

 

Thank you Adventure Girl!!!!!!!!

[alli]

The times for the ice show on the western route are Wednesdays at 7pm and 9pm and Thursdays at 5pm and again at 7pm. Although we had early dining ( first time in nine cruises and NEVER again), we opted for the 7pm on Wednesday and went to dinner in the Windjammer/ Jade that evening. Made for something different. The Jade had table clothes on the tables and the food that night at Jade was quite nice.

I still have to get around to talking about the food on board.....but can you figure, I have to cook dinner again tonight! Where is my chef , my waiter and his assistant???? oh, yea, they're on the Mariner.

[loisann]

We just got back also Sunday, had a great time, great ship. Wednesday night is Rock something where you can sing with the band. A hoot, better than karaoke.

formal night is monday and thurs. lobster is served on friday night when you're in cozumel

 

Nordic Empress 2000

Sovereign of the Seas 2000

Sensation 2001

Imagination 2001

Victory2001

Triumph2002

Pride2003

Glory2004

Fastasy2005

Mariner of The Seas 2006

[alli]

The following statements are just my personal opinions ( with a couple from my husband thrown in as well).

The food on Mariner is nothing to write home about. It was pretty much hit or miss in the dining room. I don't eat meat and eat very little chicken, so I stuck to the fish and shellfish options. The first night I had an herb encrusted fish dish that was quite nice, the cod served on another night wasn't very good. The lobster was quite well done, while the garlic shrimp was tough and not great. The last night I had a pasta and smoked salmon dish that was kinda gross. The grilled salmon on the alternative menu was constantly good. My husband stuck to the MEAT! Again very hit or miss as to the cuts, the fattiness and the flavor.

The salads, while a good portion, were very uninteresting and the dressing followed that same route. You can always get a Cesar salad from the alt menu.

Apps seemed to be pretty good. Crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, escargot, hummus, etc, etc....maybe order a few of these instead of a main course.

Everyone raved about the chilled soups, but I found them a bit sweet for my taste buds and the hot soups seemed a bit salty.

Desserts were a complete failure. Over sweet and very unimaginative. Actually, we thought a new pastry chef was in order as the breads were boring as well.

Windjammer is just a buffet.....nothing special there at all. Jade had some interesting things once and again. Anyone who thinks the sushi in Jade is served with fresh fish needs a lesson in the restaurant business.

We ordered room service every morning and it arrived hot and on time....thankfully I brought my own coffee pot and coffee as the stuff they delivered to the room was like road tar. The coffee ( seattles best) they served in the Cafe Promenade on deck five was pretty good.

Vintages ( wine bar....again deck five) does some interesting snacks between five and eight pm and then serves yummy chocolate strawberries late evening.

Portofinos had some nice dishes. It should have some nice dishes at the extra cost of $15 per person. We found the service to be a bit cold ( not the food, the service).

Johnny Rockets.....went cause we had the coupons for being gold members. I'm not a fast food girl....hell, I;ve never been to a JR before and I've never been to a Mcdonalds either. The chick sandwich was okay and my husband 's burger was good.....but I don't get the thrill here. I actually watched 2 overweight kids sit at the counter and order 5 baskets of fries and onion rings. I thought that was gross!

All in all, I felt the food on RCCL rated poorly against the other lines I've sailed on.

[cruiseblue]

Yes, please share! I'll be on Mariner next month (first cruise!), and although we'll be doing the eastern route, I love to hear what people think about the ship.

 

Jules, I was on Mariner of the Seas just two weeks ago (April 30 - May7. The ship is absolutely gorgeous. Here are my pics, East Caribbeane route.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndfeeji/sets/

[DrSeuss]

Thanks for the ice skating reply. Another question - if you want to miss formal night and go to Portofinos do you still have to dress in formal wear or just smart?