Mariner review- SEPT 16-23 2007....Our BEST cruise yet

[skyking]

Hello All,

 

We are home in bed after the BEST cruise we have had to date. I will post a full review after I stop swaying a little later tonight, but here is the quick one.

 

Day 1- We were onboard by noon to find all the food venues closed, due to a surprise health inspection...This did not bother us at all, but I heard a lot of grumbling from other passengers, again we did not care...We were on the Mariner:) SKY bar for the sail away was soooo awesome that I threw up for the first time in 4 years, and passed out before dinner. Was in bed by 9pm....OOOPS!

 

Day 2- Woke up at 6am to find another invite for the captains table under our door, thats three cruises in a row, of course we accepted...More on that later....Out of all my RCCL cruises this was the first time we made it to Cocoa Cay....FREAKING awesome, with perfect weather the whole day. We met in front of studio B for the Captains table, and all I can say is Captain Per is the BEST. We all closed down the dinning room, and did not leave the table until 11:30pm or so...The next day the Matre D told me he has never seen a Captain sit with a group for so long...He is awesome, and you will love him.

 

Day 3- Ate breakfast on the balcony, which I highly recomend to all. This was a pool day with some new friends.

 

Day 4- St Thomas was just ok, we drank a lot of local grogg...The onlyy complaint about the day is the ANNOYING taxi drivers...They seemed to jump out at you from everywhere, reminded me of Jamaica.

 

Day5- St Marteen- WOW WOW WOW...We rented a jeep right off the pier with another couple and had a great day...Went to Maho beach, drove around the island and ended up at Orient BEach where I took advantage of the NO clothes for the first time...It was fun!

 

Day6- Slept in and sat by the pool

 

Day7- This was just yesterday and it was the best day I have ever had on a cruise....WE DID A BRIDGE TOUR with the Captain, and again what a treat he is. I have a lot of pictures from the bridge including one of me in the Captains Chair, again will post those soon. Ate at Johhny Rockets, toook a nap, ate in the dining room, and then closed down the dragons lair. They started calling people off the ship at exactely 7am this morning.....

 

Again folks I am not kidding when I say this was the BEST cruise we have had. We did not see a cloud all week, the seas were the calmest I have ever seen, and the crew was very very happy. We were told that a new hotel director was onboard and that they were treating the crew wonderfully and moral was very very high. Captain Per is a true pleasure to talk to, and is now my favorite Captain. Dennis the CD was great, and was all over the place...He told me yesterday that this was last week starting today, he told me his replacement, but I forgot...I promise after my nap I will add more, and get my 200+ pictures on my site, the link is below...Again folks you are gonna love the Mariner Of The Seas. Feel free to ask away:) I love to answer:)

[skyking]

WOW..This is first, no questions???

[WeWant2BCruzin]

Wow that sounds Awesome.So how do you get an invite for the Captains table and a Bridge tour,my DH would absolutely love this.

[skyking]

Wow that sounds Awesome.So how do you get an invite for the Captains table and a Bridge tour,my DH would absolutely love this.

 

Somethings are still a mystery to me, but im sure it was just luck....The bridge tour was the highlight of all my cruises....You will love the pics....Will post them soon....Im exhusted.

[courtneyMC]

what category room where you in?

[skyking]

what category room where you in?

 

D1- 9642

[Frankiesmom]

Ooooh Yesss! Pick Me!:D I'll be sailing her next Sunday! My first time on the Mariner and in a JS-1394. Can you tell me about your time at Orient beach? We are planning on spending the day there also. And did you visit Chops or Portofino's or both and did you enjoy them? Could you tell me about the Dragon's Lair? And what was your favorite bar? I really like the Schooner and the Viking crown lounge;was there any entertainment in either that you noticed? And how was the main dining room food overall? Thanks for taking the time! So glad you had a great cruise-I was wondering what happened to you on that 1st day-glad to hear it was cruise-related fun!!!:D Angel

[skyking]

Ooooh Yesss! Pick Me!:D I'll be sailing her next Sunday! My first time on the Mariner and in a JS-1394. Can you tell me about your time at Orient beach? We are planning on spending the day there also. And did you visit Chops or Portofino's or both and did you enjoy them? Could you tell me about the Dragon's Lair? And what was your favorite bar? I really like the Schooner and the Viking crown lounge;was there any entertainment in either that you noticed? And how was the main dining room food overall? Thanks for taking the time! So glad you had a great cruise-I was wondering what happened to you on that 1st day-glad to hear it was cruise-related fun!!!:D Angel

 

Ok here we go:) Oriet BEach was just beautiful. One side of the beach is topless, and one side is full nude. There are plenty of chairs all over, but you will have to pay 7.00 to 8.00 for the day, some included a drink. Drinks at the bar were very cheap, 2.00 to 3.00 for a beer and some had happy hour which was 2 for 1. We ate at CHOPS and wow it was awesome as always:) Highly recomend it. Dragons Lair was pretty crowded every night, especially last night, great music and lots of dancing. We spent a lot of time in Vintages, and the Wig and Gavel, the pub had a GREAT guy who played the guitar and everyone sang along, great entertainer. Viking Crown had a band that played every night, but I forgot the name. We only ate in the dining room for three night, and I was very happy with what he had, very good quality.

 

Anyone who sais that RCCL is cutting back on bands onboard, I think is wrong, beause there was live music in every loungeevery night...The pool band seemed like they played all day while at sea, and they were also great.

[Frankiesmom]

Thanks Skyking! :D Sounds like we'll have a great time also! I was also wondering how you were so lucky to dine at the captains table x3! That would a real cruise hi-light for me! What kind of music was the dragon's lair playing? DH is really looking forward to the dancing. I am looking forward to the drinks and not having to clean up after anyone for a week! LOL. Can't wait to see your pic's. TIA Angel

[courtneyMC]

since you just got off, do you know what the 'entertainment complex' in the middle of deck two is? It's further back than the theater. Most of the rooms I'm looking at are close to that and i'm wondering what it is for noise/smoke concerns.

 

thanks!

[skyking]

since you just got off, do you know what the 'entertainment complex' in the middle of deck two is? It's further back than the theater. Most of the rooms I'm looking at are close to that and i'm wondering what it is for noise/smoke concerns.

 

thanks!

 

That is studio B which is the ice rink. It also hosts a few other events like QUEST...But it is smoke free, so you wont have to worry about that.

[skyking]

Picture of me on the bridge of the Mariner Of The Seas

 

[matt690]

Welcome home... good review, and I look forward to reading more.

 

We were aboard the Mariner several weeks ago and also had a great time. I am curious as to if you found certain things lacking in certain areas like we did. Was the poolside band called TandT Jewels? That was our pool band and they didn't play more than 2 hours a day, and they didn't know the words to the songs. Also, our other main complaint was in the entertainment dept. We thought there was really a lack of variety... singing shows every single night (except the night where the only entertainment was the iceshow). We had two comedians, but one only performed for 15 minutes on the final night. What entertainment did you have?

 

Other than that, I can't wait to read the rest of your review and compare it to my sailing on the Mariner!

[cruisinisforme]

Well it certainly sounds like you had an awesome time on the mariner again, glad to hear it. I can almost hear the excitement in your posts lol. Dennis told us he was leaving at the end of september, sad to see him go, he certainly made the ship a lot of fun.

 

Love your picture on the bridge!

[skyking]

Welcome home... good review, and I look forward to reading more.

 

We were aboard the Mariner several weeks ago and also had a great time. I am curious as to if you found certain things lacking in certain areas like we did. Was the poolside band called TandT Jewels? That was our pool band and they didn't play more than 2 hours a day, and they didn't know the words to the songs. Also, our other main complaint was in the entertainment dept. We thought there was really a lack of variety... singing shows every single night (except the night where the only entertainment was the iceshow). We had two comedians, but one only performed for 15 minutes on the final night. What entertainment did you have?

 

Other than that, I can't wait to read the rest of your review and compare it to my sailing on the Mariner!

 

Honestly I didnt really notice, since I have sailed Mariner a few times, we didnt even look at the show list, but I can tell you we did see one comedian who was sooo funny, I laughed the whole 45 minutes he was on stage and the Savoy was full for his shows. I am not sure who the pool band was, but they played a lot more than 2 hours a day and I know they knew the words cause I was singing along with them mon:) hehe

 

I have absolutely, not one thing to complaim about this cruise, we loved every second onboard, and I finally figured out how to have LONG cruise, go to sleep late and wake up VERY VERY early:) I was ready to come home, and felt like it was Saturday on Wednesday:)

[skyking]

Me and Capt Per

 

[rednancy1]

Your review and pictures are freaking awesome!:) Can't wait to sail on the Mariner in 2009.

[skyking]

Your review and pictures are freaking awesome!:) Can't wait to sail on the Mariner in 2009.

 

Thank you:)

[Frankiesmom]

HI again Skyking! I just got done looking at your pics! AWESOME!!!! Can you tell me what kind of music was playing in the dragon's lair? Thanks again for taking the time to share with all of us!:D

[QTMichele]

WOW! I'm so impressed with the pictures and you great comments! Our cruise on the Mariner was our best ever too! (Of course, we it was our first and only one, but who's counting? ;) )

 

Can't wait to hear more details and see more pictures. THANKS!

[skyking]

WOW! I'm so impressed with the pictures and you great comments! Our cruise on the Mariner was our best ever too! (Of course, we it was our first and only one, but who's counting? ;) )

 

Can't wait to hear more details and see more pictures. THANKS!

 

The pics are up on my webshots page:)

[QTMichele]

Thanks! Actually, I saw them last night. You looked like you had so much fun!

[kittymom65]

Great pics of Captain Per and Captain Tim!

The other pics were great also.

Looking forward to a full review