Just back from Mariner (5/20-5/27); WOW!!!

[bambam2972]

Well we just got back from a fantastic week on the Mariner of the Seas!! What a great time!!! This was my 5th cruise, 4th with RC and my second time on the beautiful Mariner. Traveling was my parents, my BF and I. It was a cruise to celebrate a week off from work (hehe), and my BF's graduation from college. Here's how I spent my week... by the way, my mom (Tidal Creek) kept a daily blog going, so for those who did not see it, it is here: http://www.marinerwestern.blogspot.com/

 

DAY 1: EMBARKATION

I love Port Canaveral! They are so efficient! The only times we had to wait was when my parents parked the car, and for the photos! When we got to the main room of the terminal there were no lines, but we wanted to go ahead and start taking advantage of our platinum status, so we hopped in that line. After a 2 sec. wait, we were at the counter.

 

After taking our "getting on board" picture, and our security picture we found ourselves in Boleros. It felt like I never left the ship before, I knew exactly where we were and how to get to the Windjammer. Unfortunately because the rooms aren't ready (the fire doors were up til 1 pm), everyone else was there with their carry-ons. Needless to say it was a little crowded, but not too bad. We found a table for 4 fairly easily and enjoyed our first of many yummy lunches there.

 

After lunch, we headed to our room. My BF and I were in our first balcony, 7316.. ON THE HUMP BABY!!! WOO HOO!! LOL. I ran out there and looked out and almost screamed, it was fantastic! We went to check out our dining room table, which was in the "Rhapsody in Blues" room on deck 3, right at the foot of the stairs. We were at a table for 8 (more on this later). We went back to our room and quickly changed into our swimsuits and headed up to the pool. My BF and I set our things onto a chair and I commented that it would be the only time we would get prime real estate like that! :cool: After a few minutes in the hot tub, we headed over to the Solarium where I found my parents lounging on some chairs. We joined them and chatted for a while until our informal M&M with those we've been chatting with for the last year!

 

We met at the pool bar at 3, and distinguished ourselves with Mardi Gras beads. I ordered my first Pina Colada which was quite tasty. So you know, those of you who may look young they will probably card you. My 21st bday was in January and even though there was obviously no hole punched in my Seapass, they still asked for my id. Probably because youngins may use their older sibling's card to get drinks? Who knows, but I didn't mind because I always had it with my and just started handing it to the bartenders when I would order. By the way, it does say in the compass that photo id is required, though they never carded my 22 y/o BF. Oh well, like I said.. no biggie, but don't leave your id in your room just in case. Well anyways, after a little chatting, we headed to our rooms to grab our lifejackets and go to the muster. Boy where we surprised when we saw our luggage outside of our rooms already!

 

Went to the Muster Drill, which was easy. We did notice quite a few people still boarding then! :eek: After the drill we made our way back to the room, and went out on the balcony to enjoy sailaway. Let me tell you, this was the BEST sailaway ever! We've never really had a good view because the pool area was crowded. This time, we had our private balcony and enjoyed all the people at the ocean-front restaurants and little park waving at us and wishing us a "Bon Voyage!" That was amazing.

 

We then got dressed for dinner, and headed for the dining room. Every night some of the staff stood outside of the door and sprayed anti-bacterial liquid into our hands. We also found stations just about everywhere. I don't think I used the gel I brought with me very much just because these stations were all over in the places I'd normally use them (i.e., outside the Windjammer). We sat down at our table and tried to figure out who they would seat us with. Well... I don't know how they figure out table mates, but they did a great job this week for us! The other family and us clicked right away. They are also from South Carolina, and their daughter just graduated from college too, and their other daughter had another year to go like me. We always had great conversations and always ended up in or near the same excursions, totally by coincidence!

 

Our waiter, Robert; assistant waiter, Barrington; and our Head Waiter, "Wonton" (can't remember his real name) were all fantastic! What I liked was that "Wonton" came up to our table every day and chatted with us and was very personable. He didn't just come up to say hi and stick around the last day for his tip. He was great! Robert learned our names and referred to us as his family for the week. He was so sweet and would also try to chat with us (though he was serving 20 people this week, so it was kind of difficult since he was always running around). He always gave good recommendations, and we were really sad to say goodbye last night! I started with the Tomato soup, and had the stuffed chicken breast, both were very very good! I can't remember what I had for dessert, but I know it was good, lol.

 

We quickly went back to our rooms and changed, then headed to the Savoy Theatre for the "Welcome Aboard Show". The Master was Captain Per Kristoffersen, who is so personable! Graham Seymour was the CD this week, but he was leaving at the end of the week, and I heard one of the cruise director's staff say that Becky was returning next week. It was very entertaining, with the singers & dancers, a funny comedien, and an amazing aerial artist. After the show, we went to the Schooner bar and played "Brain Teasing Trivia", which was so hard! I think we got 2 out of 10 correct! LOL. Then we headed to the game "Who wants to feel like a Millionare?" which was fun, we knew those answers! haha! After a little walking around, we headed to our rooms and went to bed.

[bambam2972]

So we woke up at the insane hour of 7 am :p, and headed up to the Windjammer. After breakfast we walked in the Cat. 1 hurricane on the pool deck.. okay, so it was quite hurricane force winds, but.. it was close! 45 mph!

 

We went back to our room and changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool. I again got good seats in the Solarium (obviously.. it was 8:30 at this point). I would like to mention here that at no point during the week did we see chair hogging! The only times we saw only towels in chairs was when the occupants were in the pool. You could tell because there wasn't a rediculously skewed proportion of towels to people in the pool like you can sometimes see. My BF got in the hot tub while I started my novel for the week. After a while I joined him, then got back out again while he went in the steam room. I never went in the steam room, or gym for that matter (in fact, I don't think I ever went near that area! lol), but he said it was very nice. After a little more laying out, we headed to the Schooner bar to try the morning trivia.. and got about 8 of 20. Pretty good, but not enough to get the keychain! haha, 4 cruises on RC and no keychain so far! :p.

 

After trivia we headed to JR for lunch with my parents, which was very good. After lunch we went to Ellington's for our M&M. Of the 70ish that signed up, about 20 or so came. It was okay, because the ones that came were the most active in the roll call. But we still missed those that did not make it who were active in the roll call. I think it's hard to make it to a 1 pm event on a sea day because that's prime nap time!

 

After a fairly quick M&M we headed back to the pool because on of our fellow CCers was participating in the belly flop contest. He didn't win, but it was still fun. In fact, some skinny kid one, imagine that! lol.

 

My BF and I headed to the Rhapsody in Blues dining room at 3 for a wine tasting. This one of the first day (of the Western route anyways) is the only one where you can use your C&A coupon. The wine tasting was a lot of fun, and we tried some good wines. We're both still new at the whole wine thing, and what goes with what food, so we found it both fun and educational. After stumbling back to our rooms (hey, we tried about 7 wines.. and aren't huge drinkers), we flopped on the bed and fell asleep until it was time to get up, get showers, and get ready for dinner.. tonight is formal night.

 

I can't remember what I had for dinner that night, but I know it was good. :o I wish I had written some notes throughout the week! oh well... We went out to the promenade to get champaign, but by time we got there it was gone. We still listened to the Captain introduce everyone and of course cheered for the head chef (how do they always get more claps than the Capt?)

 

We went to our rooms to change again, and headed to the "Pure Energy" show with the singers and dancers. The show was very good, and really amazing how they can change so quickly in a tight space on a moving ship! We also saw the adult comedy show that night at 12:15 and it was very funny! Of course right after the show we headed off to bed... tomorrow is Labadee!

[bambam2972]

oops, forgot to mention that during dinner on Day 1, we had to turn around to head back to port due to an injury. We later found out someone broke their leg playing basketball.. how sad!! That must be terrible! What's weird is that in Dec. while on the Elation we ALSO had to turn around and go back to port due to a "medical emergency", which we later found out was actually some "genius" who had smuggled on drugs.. idiot. I just thought that was weird that 2 times in the last 6 months we've had to return to port! lol

[bambam2972]

We woke up early again today to watch my first sail-in! Well besides the 2 times we've turned around to head back to PC of course! :rolleyes: We've always slept in, so it was really cool to see us approaching this beautiful peninsula! We headed up to the windjammer for some breakfast, then back to the room to change into our swimsuits and apply sun screen.

 

Capt. Per made the announcement that the tenders would start about 30 min. early so we said "well, lets go ahead and get over there now". So we got on the tender and got off on the beautiful beach! We went to Dragon's Breath Point first, before it was "too hot" (though it was hot, even at 8:45am!) It was really amazing to see and hear! We also saw the zipline from there, which is up and running. It was available to book in our "Explorations!" booklet in the room, but I'm not sure if it's online yet. It is $65 with 6 tours. We were told before we got there (because we mentioned that we were interested) that you need running shoes to participate, but when we watched, we noticed some people were barefoot, probably because they took their sandals off. But so you know... it may not be a bad idea to wear tennis shoes. We didn't go, though, because it was booked solid. Oh well... we'll just have to go back I suppose :p.

 

It was okay, because we got our floaty mats, our delicious Labadoozies, and had a great time. We headed to the BBQ around 11:30ish, which was very good. We layed in our chairs for a while (there are folks there who will bring you chairs and set them up for you.. for a tip of course). and went back our mats, then went back on the ship around 1. My BF and I went to the pool for a while when we got back.

 

After a quick shower we went ice skating. We've both skated before (in fact, he used to play hockey so he was doing his fancy stops and what not), so we were confident, but the ice wasn't in great shap. This is understandable since I'm sure there's no Zamboni down there, but so you know, be careful if you're not a confident skater. Helmets and pads are available, though. The skates were surprisingly sharp, so that was nice. Also remember that you need to wear pants.

 

We headed back to our room and changed for dinner. Dinner was great again... I think I had the scallop risotto and chicken marsala tonight.. but it may have been the next night. Why oh why didn't I write down what I had?! lol.

 

After dinner my BF and I went with my parents to Ellingtons and enjoyed some "Caribbean Coolers", which was the drink of the day, and very good! The show was "Ole ole", which didn't really appeal to either of us... we're really into the comediens more.

 

We headed off to bed, and slept with the balcony door open, but both curtains closed so it wouldn't get too humid. OH! By the way... the new bedding.. fabulous! :D

[bambam2972]

We again woke up early to watch sail-in. We booked Peat Taylor, and were told to meet 15-30 min. after docking. I printed off the confirmation, which said to go through the terminal, but when we got there we weren't really sure which building was the terminal??? But we asked someone where Peat Taylor was and they pointed to a tent. I walked up and Peat Jr (aka PJ, aka repeat lol) was there. I asked for his id per the email, and he chuckled as he pulled it out. This led me to believe that no one ever actually askes them for their id. Oh well... We were also told before hand that we would be on a bus for 15, but were instead led to a van. So the 4 of us plus Peat went on the "VIP" tour. This was very nice, and I highly recommend him (as does about 90% of CC, right?) We first went on the tour of Ocho Rios, which was very nice. We stopped in the Fern Gully to walk through a part of the rain forest. So you know, we did drive by this one boy who was doing back flips in the street to earn tips for his sick mother.. I'm not sure if the story is true (for all we know it could be!), but either way we didn't not have extra money because we brought just enough to pay Peat plus his tip. We felt really bad! So just so you know, if you go on this.. maybe bring a few ones to give to this little guy if you go by him. Even if his story isn't legit, whats a few bucks?

 

We stopped a few times for photo ops, then headed to Dunns River Falls! WOW! This was incredible! We were pretty nervous because, well.. it looks kinda scary, but it was so much fun! PJ did warn us about the merchants in the market area and said to just go through the entrance, and do not talk to them or even open our hands. Just walk briskly through (if we walked through at all.. which we did not). We stopped a few times in the falls for photos, and had a great guide. This was so much fun!!!

 

We were planning on going tubing after lunch, but when we got back in the van we said that we weren't since we were exhausted from the climb. Also, at this point it was about 1, so after maybe an hour for lunch.. well, we thought it would be cutting it close for time. I'm sure it would have been fun and plenty of time, but we didn't want to risk it. He asked if we were sure and we said yes, so he dropped us off at the "Taj Mahal" shopping area, where we walked back to the ship and up to the WindJammer.

 

My BF and I headed to the Schooner Bar at 3 for some afternoon trivia, which turned out to be name that tune.. 50s and 60s! While we knew about 3, we weren't sure of the titles, so we just listened and enjoyed but didn't write anything down. BUT we did get a keychain for participating!! WOO HOO!! Our first keychains... for doing nothing! LOL. We joked about how we worked so hard on the other trivia games, but left empty handed and this time we did nothing but got the keychain! LOL.

 

We went to the Solarium bar (which was never crowded.. unlike the pool bar.. just a tip ;)) to get the drink of the day.. the "Planters Punch" which was very good! We walked over to the main pool and waited for the Salsa lesson at 4. This was fun, but for some reason we couldn't get the spinning part down? :confused: :rolleyes: Who knows why not! LOL.

 

We went back to the room to get showers and then went to the Lotus Lounge for the Welcome Back party. This was really nice with champaign, rum punch, and yellowbirds. I believe you can also order from the bar, but I'm not sure.. I just got the yellowbird. :) Waiters also came around with hors d'eourves. After this we went to dinner, which was a new Caribbean night menu. Yet again I can't remember what I ordered, but it was good. After dinner we walked around the Promenade for a while, then went to change.

 

At 10:30 we went to the Love & Marriage show which is always a hoot! Right after the show we headed up to the pool buffet. We looked around a bit, but decided we were too tired, and headed off to bed.

[bambam2972]

We woke up early again today to watch sail-in. Carnival Victory & Conquest were already there. For some reason, it seemed like it took an awful long time to get into position, so to speak, and to anchor. Maybe that was just me.

 

After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits, applied sunscreen and waited for the announcement that tendering would begin. We booked Stingray City & Snorkel through Moby Dick Tours. We were told that the tour began at 9:30 their time (10:30 for us), and to meet after 8:30 (9:30 for us). So around 8:45 or so we got in line for the tender, and made it over with plenty of time. We walked to the North Terminal (go out through the fence, and go right.. they were right there on the corner about a block away with their teal shirts on). We waited a few minutes, then headed over to the bus which took us to the Mariner. There we were greated by Larry and boarded the boat. Ron was also there to help, who works with Moby Dick, but is also starting his own company. Both were very professional and informative. This was a great tour with personalized attention. When we got to Stingray City it was pretty rough because of rain off to the right, but we hopped in and the water was not cold, which was good since the sun wasn't completely out. After holding, kissing, and getting a massage from a stingray (yes.. a massage, LOL) we fed them. That was so cool! We stood in the water and tried not to step on any of the little (actually big) guys, but it was difficult to stand straight with the waves. But it was fun and no one got hurt. :) Then we hopped back on the boat and headed to the reef to go snorkeling. This was my BF and my first time snorkeling, but they took the time to give a lesson. After getting the vest and all we were ready. I wasn't planning on doing any fancy diving, just skimming the surface and it was so much fun!!! When we were finished I asked why we hadn't done that before?? We saw amazing fish and coral life. My BF said he saw and eel, but I didn't.

 

After getting back to the Marina we boarded the bus and headed back to the terminal. They normally stop at Seven Mile Beach, but it had begun to rain at this point. We stopped at Senor Frogs across from the terminal. This is always a fun time but BEWARE!!! Prices are listed in CI dollars NOT US dollars, so the check was more than we thought it would be. By the time we were finished there it was POURING rain, so my BF and I headed back to the terminal while my parents went shopping for a bit. We would have gone shopping too, but.. you'd walk into the store dripping wet with the AC going and freeze..

 

We waited in the rain with no cover but our now heavy towels for a while. I didn't check exactly how long it was, but I'm sure it wasn't too long but felt like an hour because we were getting drenched. It really wasn't that big of a deal, though, because there was no lightning or thunder, just rain. The tenders really had a time getting to the pier though because of the rough waters. We boarded the really rocky tender and headed back to the ship. After a little while my parents got back to their room and said they waited in line quite a while because the line went all the way out the gate! :eek:

 

After taking showers we got dressed in our second formal outfits and headed to dinner. Right after dinner we went to the Lotus Lounge for the Plat./Diamond party, which was a lot of fun. We danced and drank a little. We were happy to see choc. covered strawberries because tonight was the Gala Buffet at the same time as another late night adult comedy show. We chose the comedy show, but still had the choc. covered strawberries :). We forgot to get tickets for the ice show, and didn't try to get in after it started, so we missed it (obviously), but our tablemates said it was really good. After the plat. party we went back to the room to change and take a nap. Our nap lasted until 11:50.. with 20 min. until the show!!! LOL, but we made it and it was really good. Graham was the comedien, and he is really talented!

 

After the show we went back to bed to get ready for our big day in Cozumel.....

[divaofdisney]

Great review!!!!!!!! Can't wait to hear more....sounds like you all had an amazing time!!!

[bambam2972]

We slept in until 8 today (hehe), and sort of watched sail-in. We actually saw Playa del Carmen since we were starboard side. When we went to breakfast, though, we saw Cozumel getting closer and closer.

 

We docked today at 10:00, and booked the Fiesta Party Cruise through the ship, which leaves at 11:30, so we decided to do alittle shopping beforehand. But it took a while to get off, so we hurried through the shops right there at the pier, then brought them back and rushed back down to meet at the pier by 11:20. We got to the sign and recieved our wristbands and waited for the party boat. The Carnival Conquest was in port today, and the party boat when to pick them up first (they were at the Punta Lagusta pier and we were at International pier), then we were on our way to Playa Mia. Once we got on board the drinks started flowing. I enjoyed my share of rum punches, and my BF was throwing them down to. We hopped in the Conga line, took our shot of tequila and went under the Limbo. This was one of the craziest things we did and was so much fun!!! The party boat consisted of a lot of LSU graduates, but people of all ages were having a great time! My parents didn't dance or anything, but still had a blast!

 

When we got to Playa Mia my BF and I went to get a kayak, which was really hard since we've never done that before, so we handed it in for a paddle boat... much easier! These as well as the chairs, floaty mat, water trampoline, and iceburg are included in the price. Motorized items like jet skis and the banana boat are extra, including the cash bar and a buffet lunch. Since it was a 4 hour excursion coming back to the port at 3:30, we ate lunch there, which was good. It started to rain quite a bit, so my parents went back on the party boat while Steven and I just got in the water. We went over to the water trampoline which was fun, but harder than it looks! We started to swim to the iceburg, but it was deep and I knew I'd be tired before I even made it to the iceburg, so we just swam back to the shore and got back on the party boat, which left about 15 minutes later. The party started back up again once we pulled away from the dock. We didn't dance this time around, but had a good time watching others. Enjoyed more rum punch. :D

 

The party boat brought us back to the pier and we got back on the ship. My BF and I took a nap, and woke up around 5 or so and went back to do some more shopping. We were in port today until 7, so it was nice to actually get some shopping in.

 

We took showers and got ready for dinner. Tonight was Lobster night!!! I've never had lobster before (not really sure why not), but LOVE shell fish so I knew I'd like it... and boy.. yum-o (any Rachael Ray fans out there lol).

 

After dinner we walked around the promenade a bit. We watched the win-a-cruise bingo, which my parents did not win :(. Then stayed for Quest!! How fun!! They put everyone in the audience into teams, and it was such a blast!! A fellow CCer was our team captain so that was fun! After the Quest we went into the Dragon's Lair, but left after a few songs because we were so tired from all the drinking, LOL.

 

We went to bed happy that the next day was a sea day rather than being back in PC..

[bambam2972]

Well we slept in a little today too since it was our last full day. We did finally make it to the dining room for breakfast, which was nice. My BF said he liked it better since the food seemed fresher, but I'm not a huge fan of breakfast in general so I didn't notice.

 

We went to the Savoy for Graham interviewing Capt. Per, and we could ask questions too. After that we played Bingo, which we did not win.

 

We went to the Windjammer for our last lunch, which was just as good as the others. We then tried to play mini-golf, but the wind was blowing so hard, you'd set the ball down and it'd go rolling away. My BF kept trying to count that as 1 :rolleyes: :p. After 2 holes we said "forget it", and went back to the room to change into our swimsuits and head to the Solarium.

 

We got there and went to the bar to get a yummy strawberry daquiri for me and a yellowbird for my BF. We looked around for a chair (again, little chair hogging), and a couple flagged us down and said they were leaving. I thought this was so nice! We sat down and tanned for a while, then hopped in the hot tub. I went back to my book while my BF went to the steam room one last time. The shade was moving, so when another couple with chairs in the sun left, we snagged those while we saw other people move from the sun into our vacated shaded chairs. :) It was really nice to lie there and read.

 

After a while we went back to the room to relax a little before getting ready for dinner. My BF was looking forward to this because it was Key Lime Pie night, which he asked Robert about everynight! LOL I had the Berry soup and the New York strip which was very good, and finished with the Brownie Maddness, I just don't care for key lime pie, but that's okay.. more for my BF! LOL. Robert brought 3 pieces for him (without my BF having to ask :p).

 

We handed out the tips and took pictures and said our goodbyes. We exchanged contact info with our table mates (I'm telling ya.. whoever matches table mates up did a great job this week for us!). It was sad to say the least. My BF and I headed to Vintages so I could use my buy 1 get one half off glass of wine, and we filled out our comment card. We filled out "excellent" on just about everything. I'm brutally honest, so it was an excellent cruise. I always try to give constructive criticism as well as singing of praises, but the only neg. thing I could thing of was the picture taking holding up getting off the ship in port. and for that matter it wasn't terrible, it's just that we wanted to hurry and get into port is all. Other than that it was praise, praise, praise.

 

After dropping the form in the box, we went to the Savoy for the Farewell show. We saw the aerial artist again, heard a number from the singers and dancers, and Graham sang one of my favorite songs (Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol) and did a great job! There was also a great comedien, who was hilarious, yet clean! We were amazed at how clean his act was, but I laughed so hard! That's always a nice relief.

 

Meanwhile, my dad went to Guest Relations to take advantage of our Plat. priority departure and received Beige 1 tags, which wasn't even listed on the schedule of departures. We sadly and reluctantly packed and set our luggage out. It was another early evening since we had to get up so early. We did sit out on the balcony for a while just listening to the ocean.

[bambam2972]

So we received the invitation for the private lounge, but since my BF is Gold, he couldn't go in. This makes sense because if every party said "oh it's just this one person", then it'll be packed and defeat the whole purpose. It didn't matter, we just stood to the side on deck four and about 7:15 they called Beige 1, even before the tours! (I think... yeah, I'm pretty sure only self-assist went before us) I said "wooo... I mean, boo I don't wanna go!" lol. But we left, and went through customs very quickly. Found our luggage fairly quickly and were in the car by 7:35! A new record for us!! There's always some lone piece of luggage that we have to watch the parade-o-luggage for, but this time.. they were all bunched together.

 

So we waved goodbye to the Mariner and got on 95 to head home. Come 1 pm I turned to my BF and said, "oh no, right now someone is walking into our room!" we just smiled and nodded.

 

It's nice to be home, though. Our cats are confused and our poodle is excited. I'm trying not to be sad that it's over, but happy that it happened.

 

 

Feel free to ask any questions. I have the compasses in front of me, and pictures are coming soon! Sorry that it's so long, but I know beforehand I wanted to read every little detail! :D

[Fitnessmaniac]

I really enjoyed reading your posts! We will be boarding the Mariner on Sept 2. (can't wait) We will be doing the Eastern though. We were on the Mariner in November. We too had 50+ mph winds! We had aft cabins. Unfortunately, I got pretty sea sick. :( :eek:

 

Did you feel very much rocking of the ship while in the hump cabins? Our next cruise on Mariner in Sept..we are at the hump too.

Thanks again for all the info. Take care. :)

[imae39]

Enjoyed your review and happy to hear all positive remarks.

 

Would like to know if Mariner still has the smart casual? Want to cut down on packing and DH having to take a sport coat and slacks besides his dark suit for formal nights.

[Elva]

Great review!!

 

I noticed a Mariner review a couple of weeks ago which said only people w/ carry-on size luggage were allowed to do self-assist disembark. I know you didn't do this, but did you hear any announcements to that effect?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write your review.

 

PS We're in Greenville!

[DJ1VIKES]

what time is early sitting?

[Eliot]

Looks like we'll be on the same cruise (9/2) and also in a hump cabin - we're in 9324 - how about you?

Cheers!

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

What a wonderful review, thank you!!

[Fitnessmaniac]

Looks like we'll be on the same cruise (9/2) and also in a hump cabin - we're in 9324 - how about you?

Cheers!

 

HI Eliot! We are in the first cabin right by the hump. Did you sign up for the mix and mingle? There's a whole bunch of us over on that board. We are looking forward to this cruise very much. Like I said..we did it last November..loved it so much..here we come again! :)

Be sure to go to the "Roll Call Forums" if you haven't already and meet the people that will be on this cruise. :)

[Buzbon]

Thank you BamBam2972 for the excellent review. It was so enjoyable reading about all of your activities. I'm looking forward to our Aug.5 Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Mariner. Buzbon

[bambam2972]

fitnessmaniac- the last 2 nights I could feel some movement, but not enough to make me sick. Just enough to lull me to sleep :).

 

imae39- There was one smart casual night, but it was also Caribbean night so of course many people had their flower shirts on. Those who didn't though were more on the casual side.

 

Elva- I did see in the information about leaving the ship that said the size of the bags should be carry-on (or something to that effect), but when I saw the self-assisters they had regular size luggage. I even saw a few with the large luggage. The only problem is that you have to wait for that elevator in the terminal.. BUT you don't have to wait for your luggage to appear on the conveyer belt.

 

DJ1VIKES- Early seating is 6:00.

 

 

 

And I did forget to mention one funny observation I had...

on Saturday my BF and I stepped onto an elevator and there were two kids in there, not sure how old they were but definitely looked under 10. Well they were standing right under the sign reading "Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by an adult while in the elevators". LOL. Now they weren't pressing all the buttons or anything, but I still had a little laugh to myself. :rolleyes: :)

[dmclc]

Great review!!!

We are booked for June 10th on the Mariner of Sea (Eastern), reading this review got us that much more excited for the cruise.

Thanks for sharing!!!

[Javalava]

Thanks for your review. I enjoyed reading about all your activities. We leave on Sunday. :D What felt like a forever wait, is almost here!!

[Toddcan]

I hated your review. Really.. it sucks. :p

 

Why? Well, I've been on 2 cruises before, so I know the anticipation of a cruise is a killer. We are not booked on the Mariner until March '08, so reading your excellent review makes the anticipation that much worse. Stop posting such informative and detailed reviews. I can't stand it now.

 

Seriously: Excellent job!

 

:o

[TSCOTT]

Excellent review. My next cruise isn't until May 2008, but I love hearing about the cruising experiences that others have had. Oh well, another year of vicariously through other people.

[Jenner9]

FANTASTIC trip report!!! I really enjoyed reading it. My first cruise is in December on Mariner and I cannot wait for it. I am looking forward to seeing your pictures if you are going to share!!!

[cappy09]

All I can say is WOW!!! August 12th can't come fast enough for me..Thanks for a great day to day review... :)