Family Review of Mariner of the Seas 3/23-3/30

[teese]

Our Family Review of Mariner 3/23- 3/30

Cast of characters:

Myself (49)

DH (54)

DS (16)

DD (12)

Ds (Sister, 44)

FF (family friend 48)

This is mine and my DH’s 4th cruise, the kids 2nd, my Ds’s 2nd and our FF’s 1st. Last year our family minus my Ds and FF went on the Jewel over Easter break and had a blast.

We flew down 3/20 after picking the kids up from school. We wanted to have a couple days in Orlando at the parks before catching the ship. Ds owns a timeshare week in Orlando and her and our FF drove down to spend the week before the cruise sightseeing, so we joined them there for the 3 nights before our cruise.

We woke up early Sun am to be one of the first ones to board the ship. Arrived around 10:30am. Ds and FF parked their car and went ahead in to the terminal. The drive from Orlando took about 50mins, my DH dropped the kids and me with the luggage at the terminal, and he left to return the rental. It took him about 25 very long min to return. There were several families waiting for Dads to return from dropping off their rentals and we all stood together watching anxiously for the vans to bring them back. It was actually funny, each of us would call our DH’s every 5-10 min to get an update on where they were and what they were doing. It was almost painful watching people enter the terminal while we waited outside. (You couldn’t enter until your whole party had arrived).

Finally he arrived around 11am, we were processed and onboard around 11:40am. Each of us had our jobs once we boarded. My Ds had to make Portifino Ressies, my DH checked our dining room table to make sure we weren’t in the little side rooms on deck 3. My job was to make a beeline to guest relations to get the ever important DECT phones. We used them on the Jewel and they made all the difference in the world for me personally. They were $25 per phone for the week and we rented 3 (myself and the kids). Last year on the Jewel they were $50 apiece because it was an 8 day cruise. The Mariner’s phones were smaller than the Jewel’s, more the size of an older model cell. I also set the limit on the kids sea passes, picked up the pocket size maps of the ship for everyone and had my sea pass punched so I could use the pretty pearl and silver lanyard I bought on eBay for this trip.

We all met in the WJ and had lunch. (I’m not going to review the food unless it had an impact on the kids and their choices). Suffice it to say we were full and happy when done with lunch.

Now it was finally time to see our rooms. This was everyone’s first trip with a balcony and we were so excited (actually my DH wasn’t nearly as excited as I because he’s way more practical and hated paying for them :o).

We had booked 2 D1s adjoining for ourselves and the kids on deck 7, my Ds and our FF booked an E2 8 rooms forward. It was a slice of heaven. The rooms were plenty large with tons of space for all our things. The door between the rooms was at the foot of the bed. It didn’t impact on the lay out of the room at all, and looked just like the rooms on the RCCL site just with the extra door. I know people in other adjoining rooms on other ships have reported smaller sofas.

One disappointing note, the room steward told us right away the balcony divider couldn’t be opened any more. We did call guest relations and were told it was a brand new policy and they would no longer open them for anyone or for any reason due to safety concerns. They were extremely apologetic. Ok, no biggie, time to move on.

We then checked out the ship. Ran into my Ds and FF who were giddy with excitement. Ate a small snack in the Promenade Café (actually just my DH, they had little egg salad sandwiches which he adores). I could tell we would enjoy this little place often.

The kids wanted to watch sail away from our balcony, fine with me. So I used the time before sail away and after the muster to force everyone to unpack their suitcase, there was much whining, complaining and begging to do it later (actually my DH didn’t give me any trouble, just those kids), but it was done when we went off to our early seating at dinner. This was my main goal for our first day, as last year I stayed in the room and unpacked because I knew the kids were beside themselves to get out there and see everything on the ship. But it was a bummer and not to be repeated this time.

The dinners were no problem with my kids even though I have a very picky eater (DD). She likes beef only, so the poor thing ate prime rib, steak and filets. Not a peep out of her all week. My DS was in heaven with all the seafood choices and enjoyed the chicken on the alternate menu one night. They both enjoyed the starters because they knew they could leave it if they didn’t care for it. DS sometimes ate several of these, he’s 6ft and thin as a rail, so I said go for it. DS enjoyed the desserts he chose each night, DD stuck to the ice cream, even though our waitress tried to cajole her to try something else. Oh, she did love the Flourless Choc. Cake, but who doesn’t like that?

After dinner we went to the 7:45 Welcome Aboard Show. All except DD who went up to Living Rm for their first official get together at 8:00. I had to put up with a ton of misery from both kids, because I insisted DS accompany DD and make sure she got up there ok. Neither was happy because he thought it was stupid he had to take her up and she didn’t want to be escorted, but it worked for me as she is also tall and looks older, like 14-15 and she’s very pretty and I didn’t want any older boys hitting on her. So they were given their marching orders and two fuming kids left. AWW…………… quiet bliss at last.

DS must have dropped her like a hot potato because he was back in 5 mins flat to watch the show. With much rolling of eyes and huffing and puffing he assured me she was where she was supposed to be and there were staff there, plus security in sight.

Turns out 1,188 kids were onboard, RCCL had decided to up the number of visual security, plus the kids were told the first night at their meet and greet what would and would not be tolerated on board in no uncertain terms.

We have very strict rules of what is allowed with dire consequences if there is a transgression so we had no troubles with either.

The Welcome Aboard show was fun and even DS enjoyed it, then he went to his thing in the Living room at 9P. My DH and I headed to Ellingtons for a couple glasses of wine and to enjoy that wonderful feeling of knowing the whole week is ahead of you. We talked about all the things we were going to do this week, all the amenities we were going to take advantage of and all the new things we were going to try out.

We had planned to meet up with Ds and FF to watch the parade, but we were so comfy we called and cancelled. No problem they had changed their minds too. Turns out only DD went with her new friends she had just met, she liked it and then headed back to Fuel. We headed back to our rooms about 11:30pm, the kids had already checked in by phone and were told their curfew was midnight. We settled in, they showed up and we all fell instantly to sleep.

This review is so long I’m going to take a break and have breakfast. Will hopefully post Day 2 later today.

[timmy1958]

Great review so far; looking forward to the rest when you get the time.

[teese]

Recap of kids evening activities:

To begin with my DS is a typical 16 yr old boy and I only get the basics from him. My 12yr old DD is more forth coming, I get more of the nitty gritty from her.

My DD’s “Meet Up” was in the Living Room and she said it was jam packed. Then the Adventure Ocean staff began to scan their seapass cards. All the kids who were under or over age were tossed out and the remainder had an “N” written on their cards. This then signaled to the staffers they were teenagers and allowed access to Fuel, The Living Room and The Back Deck, but it was different from the older teens, and they weren’t allowed to mix with these older teens during scheduled activities. By this time they were moved to Fuel to play “Teen Quest”. She had a blast playing this, they divided themselves into teams, I quizzed her a little about it and it was all age appropriate, as opposed to the adult “Quest”.

She and her new friends then headed to the parade on the promenade and then back to the Living Room to play “Who Are You”, another ice breaker type of game. She had a midnight curfew and was back on time.

DS left us after the Welcome Aboard show and headed to the “Meet up” at 9PM in the Living Room. Same drill, checked seapasses and evicted any younger or older kids. They had something then written on their card, I forget what. At 10pm they played their version of “Teen Quest” in the Fuel, a little older version than DD, but nothing like adult “Quest”. Then he hung out till his 12am curfew.

Both kids loved Quest, met several friends and had a great time.

Day 2

DH and I ordered fruit plates and a pot of coffee for 7am. At 6:50 we got the call they were on the way and 7am they were knocking on the door. I get chilly very easily so I’d packed my super comfy robe and sat out on the balcony with our snack feeling like a queen for the day. We repeated this every morning except day 3, Labadee, we ordered a full breakfast that morning.

After our pre breakfast on the balcony, DH headed to the gym and I headed to the Promenade deck to walk. I walked each morning to ward off the guilt about all the deserts, cookies, ice cream, little sandwiches, cheese plates, not too mention those frozen drinks every evening.

I knew the kids were still sleeping, as they hadn’t called, so DH and I met for breakfast in the WJ. Met up with Ds and our FF, our DS finally woke and met us there too. The WJ was very crowded, more so than I ever noticed on the Jewel and the omelet station was soooooooo slooooooow. DH, Ds, FF and I decided to eat in the dining room for breakfast for the rest of the week.

When we finished DD was finally up and since she had ordered room service the night before for breakfast, I went down to check on her and be there when it arrived. Then we all headed to the first Bingo of the cruise.

This year the kids played free with a paying adult, meaning they got a pack of cards with one card per game. We thought this was great, DH and I played the free cards and the kids played a large pack each. If the small pack wins, it’s still eligible for the prize but the kids get the keychain and the money’s put on the adult seapass. Works for me! :o) The kids started negotiating immediately, could they have a percentage if they won, or an extra few dollars on their seapass, blah, blah, blah. In the end the point was moot as we didn’t win any $$. We did however win the raffle this day and received two passes to the Arawak Water Park on Labadee for the next day. Very nice. My Ds also won $350 on the last day in one of the games. Very very nice.

Oh I forgot, after breakfast DH went to pick up all the ice show tickets, no problems, just huge lines. But it moved fast and he was able to get the show we wanted. I did sit with people at lunch later in the week who said the tickets were all gone by the time they got there.

DH and I went to lunch in the dining room, DS had eaten too much at breakfast and decided to skip lunch, and DD wasn’t hungry because she ate such a late breakfast. So I checked that they had phone, watches and knew to be back by 5:15pm. Off they went not to be seen till right before dinner.

DH and I wandered the ship a bit, I spent some time reading on our balcony, and then we went to the C & A wine tasting. The best part was our table mates. Oddly enough, one couple lived 5 mins from our house. They had a son a year older than ours who went to the same school as our DS. They also had a daughter a year older than our DD who also attended the same school as her. Our daughters eventually met, became good friends on the trip and now call and email each other. Being in separate grades they actually rarely see each other at school. Our other table partners were also fun and made a rather ho hum event very interesting.

Now this is where adjoining rooms came in so handy. DH and I got ready for our first formal night first and then relaxed either on the balcony (me) or surfing the TV (him). The kids then came barreling in on time and showered and dressed each in one of the two bathrooms. We had bought a photo package and I had hoped to get pics taken before dinner, but we were out of time and did it after instead.

The formal dinner was very nice, we all enjoyed the food, and since we hadn’t spent that much time together, enjoyed catching up on what everyone was doing. Funny thing though, there were a lot of empty tables. Our wait team only had our table that night, the other 3 were empty. Also my kids like to order the frozen mocktails at dinner, so we ordered these for them most evenings.

After our pictures, my DD changed clothes and took off to meet her friends in the arcade as there was an air hockey tournament there for her age group. We didn’t see her again till bedtime. DS went to the show with us in the Savoy Theater, John Joseph and Johnny B. We all enjoyed them. My Ds and our FF passed on this and went to the casino for a while, they did quite well.

After the show DS went upstairs to check what was going on, we were all back in the room and bed around 11pm. It’d been a long day and tomorrow we were in Labadee.

[teese]

Day 3

Today we pulled into Labadee. We were on the port side and had a beautiful view of the little peninsula. We woke up early, my DH went to the gym and I stayed out on the balcony to watch Haiti pass by. I think this is the morning my DS went with my DH to the gym to work out also. We have a home gym and he likes to mess around in there. Those two decided to eat in the WJ afterwards and DD and I ate our breakfast in the room as we’d ordered the night before. I had to beat DD with stick to get her moving today. :) The cruise was beginning to take it's toll on her. What arrived for breakfast was somewhat different then what we’d ordered, but it was all good.

We headed over about 9:15-9:30am, no problem with the tender. As I’ve been reading diligently on these boards I knew to pass the beaches as you get off and I’d decided on Hideaway Beach. My Ds and our FF had left early to take the walking tour excursion, so we met up with them shortly after settling in.

We walked the 7-8min to the beach, when we arrived an attendant was there by the chairs and we asked for a nice shady spot. He put us under the palm trees right by the hammocks we tipped him a few dollars and were all set. Both kids took over a hammock for awhile, my DH settled in a lounge (He grew roots to this thing) and I went exploring. I found where the restrooms, showers, picnic area and buffet were, picked up our mats I’d presented and then DD and I head out to float in the beautiful clear water. DH remained on his lounge and DS had moved to one also (they do not put one toe in the water if the water's not at least 85degrees).

By this time my Ds and our FF arrived, got their mats and joined us. DH and DS still held down the fort in their lounges. :cool: The sun had been shining and it was nice and warm out. About 45min later the sun went behind the clouds, the wind picked up and the darkest black cloud formed over the mountain/hills. We began to get cold so we got out and decided to take this time to check out Dragon’s Breath Rock. It was a pretty walk, we saw those black sea urchins your warned about everywhere in the water over there. After taking some nice pictures we head back for lunch. Unfortunately the Arawak tickets we’d won were for 12pm, but the kids weren’t interested in walking back to do it. So we missed out. Actually I had forgotten about them until it was too late anyway, so I was glad they weren't disspointed. Unfortunately, if I'd paid attention to the time I could have given them to someone who may have enjoyed them.

Lunch was good and we enjoyed everything. We as in everyone but the picky eater (DD). But she never complained, just ate a roll and maybe something else. The tip I read several times on the boards to go around the left side of the buffet was right on the money. There was no one on that side and a longish line on the right.

When we’d finished eating we decided to head back to see if the parasail excursion we’d bought for 2pm could take us early, and Ds and FF had a kayak excursion to get to.

So we headed out, DH and DD decided to catch the tram, DS and I walked to see if we could get some nice pictures, which we did.

It turned out there was room for the 1pm trip. Now this is a little outside of my comfort zone, but the kids wanted to go and DH had done it years ago in Mexico and wanted to try it again. I hate to be the chicken, so I signed up too.

The boat ride out was the thrill ride for the day. There was enough wind and waves that we were having a blast. The parasail part was smooth and quiet, just like flying. We all loved it and would do it again in a heart beat. The two guides were hysterical, when the first 2 riders were up they pulled out a “Parasailing for Dummies” book and started arguing about what to do next. It was hysterical. They also pulled a few more tricks that made the trip fun.

Back to the ship, there was no line for the 2pm tender. After showering we adults relaxed until dinner, the kids took off.

After dinner my DH, Ds, FF and I just wandered the Promenade, shopped and bought a couple things, and ate some ice cream. My DH ran into a very rude woman in line at the logo store. Very annoying then, but funny now. He was in line to check out next, there was a longish line and he’d been in line a while watching the other shoppers. Just as the lady in front of him was finishing, this other lady comes out of nowhere and asks if he’s with the lady just finishing up. He said no, so she actually pushed her way in front of him. He said “Pardon me, I’ve been in line here and I saw you as you were shopping”, she then said “No, you must have seen my daughter.” He decided to be the gentleman and let it drop. I saw the whole thing and was glad he didn’t get into it with her, she was a nut. Also she was about my age, and I saw her walk out with her daughter who was about 12. I wouldn’t want to burst her bubble, but one could not pass for the other. Any whoo the employee at the register thanked my DH for waiting patiently.

This and two other incidents were the only bad behavior on the ship and they were all involving adults. Not kids as you might think with such a large number on board.

The kids spent the evening with their group upstairs. Actually DS was in the room when we turned in around 11pm, he was watching a movie.

Tomorrow was Jamaica and we have the canopy tour booked. Now this is light-years out of both me and my DH comfort zone.

[teese]

Day 4

If it’s day 4 then it must be Jamaica:

I woke up this morning like before to sit on the balcony and enjoy my now predawn coffee, as we were moving west into a later time zone, but staying on ship time. So it was dark at 7am when our coffee and fruit plates arrived. We enjoyed watching the dawn sky, but not the sunrise as it was sort of behind us now. I guess the aft cabins got to see it.

Same routine, DH to gym, I walked, yada yada yada. Kids are decidedly moving slower in the morning. Had to beat both of them with a stick this morning. DS actually asked to be awakened early so he could go with his dad to the gym. I woke him, sort of, there was some muffled cries of ”please let me sleep”, so I did. My DH, retired military, can’t understand this sleeping in stuff, but he let it pass with a just a little grumbling.

Finally we’re off to our excursion. Since the kids are moving slow, there was a lot of last minute madness trying to meet the excursion at the appointed time. Again my DH hates to be even close to running late, so this adds to the tension in the air. We get to the tent at the end of the pier where all RCCL tours are to meet. Then wait around with our fingers in our ears for about 20-25min, until someone starts to call out for different excursions. My DD was knocked literally aside as a very uptight female passenger rushed to follow the crowd to her excursion. I have no clue how the atmosphere in the “don’t worry, be happy” capitol of the world became so electrically charged. Finally we made it to the bus, only to wait another 20min.

Now, have I mentioned this is the zip line Canopy Tour? What was I doing when I booked this and how did I talk my DH into doing it? Even my Ds and our FF thought we were nuts. We pull out of the lot and the guide passes the waver around for everyone to sign. Why didn’t I see all these warnings somewhere on the website when I signed us up? We had to sign off that we would be able to stand on a 3x3 platform 500 ft in the air, unaided and not throw up! We’ve left the station folks, I turn around to check out the other excursionees, and my DH and I are the oldest there! As I mentioned before I hate being the token chicken, so I signed on the dotted line that heck yeah, I won’t throw-up up there, no one said anything about not wetting myself. There were at least 6 other horrible, hair raising things I signed off that I could do without fainting. I’m a vain woman and I refused to stand up and appear puny in front of all those hearty looking people on the bus.

Well, let me tell you the ride up the side of the mountain was as harrowing a ride as I’ve ever taken. After a while I quit looking and decided I’ll just concentrate on what that wonderful tour guide was saying and put my life in God’s hands. There was nothing I could do. We were literally within inches of sliding off this sorry excuse for a road, down the side of a steep drop, to the valley far, far below.

Finally we arrive at the top of the mountain. My kids are having a blast, my DH is looking a little green. That ride up the side of hell and the horrible things we said we could do was taking its toll.

We get the safety talk, the guides appear serious and competent. They’ve already gotten us in the gear so we’re ready to go. Now do you know what we do next? Walk (more like climb or scramble) halfway back down that mountain. I kid you not. I think we climbed for hours. (ok, maybe 30mins).

Now it becomes very obvious OSHA does not live here. We are on this path down the mountain, that has a drop off to nowhere and there’s a single rail or rope between you and oblivion. You scramble under and over fallen trees, some people are slipping on the wet wooden rails that are dug in to help form the earthen steps.

Finally we reach the first traverse. It’s truly hundreds of feet up, and you do stand on a small wooden 3x3 platform before you are told to just step off. Now to be fair, as soon as you get off the path and step onto the larger platform, a guide clips your safety onto a line and from then on you are always hooked to a safety. But let me tell you, it took me two seconds to realize that this would keep you from dying, but if you slipped off you were going to end up with a lot of stitches.

I’m sure your wondering how I took the kids on such a trip. Well first off nothing scares these two. They are young, nimble, thin and physically coordinated, none of which I am. Believe me I’m in far more danger of falling off than they are. They think this is the best thing they’ve ever done and they haven’t even done the first traverse yet.

So I watch carefully as the people in front take their turns. No one hesitates, heck they didn’t even squeal one little bit. My DH goes first, the kids next, and I went last. I’m sorry to report, I jumped, but I was not quiet. I screamed. LOUD!

And I loved it. Plus after my initial verbal outburst, many others joined in. I had sounded so silly, how could anyone do worse. Now I thought I can do this, no trouble.

The next traverse was at a steep downward angle, and this was a problem and it scarred me to death. If they didn’t stop you, you ran smack into a tree at 35mph. But the pressure was on so I dutifully stepped off after watching my family do it with no problems. I liked it, especially since I asked the guide and he said there were no more like that.

Now another straight traverse and I’m having a really good time now. The kids are having the time of their lives, and DH is just as happy as I am.

The next traverse turns out to be a controlled repel about 30ft down. People are screaming this time. I look at the guide who told me we wouldn’t have anymore downward traverses, he tells me it’s not, it’s a repel. Ha Ha. My DH went first and I think he had a religious experience based on what he yelled. My DS was next, and he’s his usual stoic self. Now DD went, I knew it was bad because she let out the littlest peep, which is not her style. So I’m next, and let me tell you it is very hard to just step off and drop down, much harder that traversing. I know I screamed because all the people on the bottom yucked it up, but those still on top were very quiet and very still with huge wide open eyes.

Shortly after I jumped, a lady refused to go. Now I almost jumped up and pumped my arm in the air. I wouldn’t be the wimp on this trip, if I chickened out, I’d have company. They had her step aside and when everyone else was done, they talked to her a little and she finally went. But after this it was all easy horizontal traverses, one really long one, but it was nice because you got to look around a bit.

Okay the trip is over, I decide it was a ton of fun and would do it again, much to the kid’s relief, now I’m not sure about DH. He’s not actually said yes, but not no either. Like I said earlier, he’s the practical one and studied their equipment, and how they handled the safeties the whole time. So it wasn’t all fun and games to him, it was serious business.

I need to stop for sustenance. Will try to finish day 4 tonight.

[teese]

Day 4 continued…….

Once back on ship, we all showered, checked in with my Ds and our FF who were just back also. We all headed to the WJ for lunch. Then the adults headed for naps and the kids chilled out in their room and rented a movie. We were exhausted and tonight was a big night. The ice show, Win a Cruise Bingo, The Love and Marriage show then the pool party up on deck.

Dinner was in the dining room, kids ate very well, so did the adults, we were all hungry. After dinner we changed into comfy clothes for the evening activities. Actually the kids and DH changed every night back into shorts. But this night I did too. DD ran up to do the inline skating at 8pm and then joined us for the ice show at 9pm.

DS decided he didn’t want to see the ice show and headed upstairs to play capture the flag. Only to find for the first time that something was cancelled due to low attendance, probably everyone was at the ice show or dinner. He met us in the Savoy after the show to play Win a Cruise Bingo. DD left to meet her friends upstairs and we didn’t see her again till after midnight, although she did check in by phone at the appointed time.

Didn’t win the cruise, but after an obscenely short period of play there was a stander, who then yelled BINGO the next number called. His wife jumps up and hugs and kisses him, they’re jumping up and down. Man do you feel cheated when they do that. Turns out it was a BONGO, he didn’t realize we were playing a certain pattern (I forget which, maybe the big X), he had a regular one line BINGO. I’m sure they were very disappointed. But I was very tickled to have another chance. Unfortunately we didn’t win or come close.

Next was the Love and Marriage show. Ds, FF, DH, DS and I thought it was a hoot. A few hysterical moments, actually felt sorry for the groom who named the brides grandma as the trouble maker in the family, only for him to find out this was to be broadcast on the TV for the rest of the cruise (Grandma was in her cabin resting). Got to feel sorry for the newbies.

Lastly we head up to the Deck Party. There was a buffet that we sampled, the soft tacos were very good and they had a couple of type of hard ice cream that my DH was happy with. The DJ was very good and teens and tweens were having a blast. They were doing all kinds of line dances, looked like fun.

Turns out my kids weren’t there. DS was with his friends hanging out on the fringes, eating and talking. DD was up at the putt putt, fooling around and just hanging out. We all met back sometime around 12:30-1am. Thankfully we had nothing planned for tomorrow, our day in Grand Cayman. Except a couple of spa ressies and Portifino’s. Yeah!!!!!!!

[teese]

Day 5 Grand Cayman

My DH and I decided to take this day off, and didn’t book any excursions. Last year on the Jewel we did this and loved the quiet port day on board. Plus this had the added benefit of being anchored out and looking at a pretty island instead of in port looking at the old aluminum pier like in Jamaica.

The kids slept in, DH and I have very early daily schedules so we rarely sleep in, and once I wake on the ship I just have to jump up to check out the balcony. It was again very dark, today DH did his thing after coffee, I hung out on the balcony, was very lazy, showered late and read till the kids woke. They were so late getting up, we skipped breakfast and just waited a little and went to early lunch in the WJ. We had ressies at Portifino’s tonight and knew we needed to be very hungry, I remembered the portions we larger than the dining room when we went last year. So we had a large, early lunch.

After lunch we head up to the Putt Putt, and played a round. A nice course, in great shape, well maintained.

After lunch DH and DS went to watch “Spider Man 3” in the screening room and DD and I headed to the pool. At first the water seemed cooler than I’d like, but we got used to it, then DH joined us and we tried out the hot tubs for awhile. About 2:30pm we headed to the room to get ready for our spa appointments. I had booked a port special, 20min scalp and neck, 20min shoulder and back and 20min foot and ankle massage for $99. It was heaven and well worth the extravagant fee.

I had made an appointment for DD to do the teen pamper spa thing today at 4pm. It was a fruity facial, glow makeover, fabulous hand treatment (their names), and a spa gift. 60min for $50. She loved every minute. Another teen and DD with a youngish spa employee sat in the Salon in full view of everyone, so no worries with them being in a treatment room alone. There was also no sales pitch. The gift was a bronzing powder and very nice powder brush. Now my daughter isn’t allowed to wear makeup, but does fool around with it with her friends here at the house, so she’s had some fun with it since we’ve been home. They did go over proper skin care etc. which is a good thing for them to start thinking about if not doing.

While we were at the spa the guys worked out in the gym. We met in the room and leisurely got ready for our 6pm ressies at Portifino’s. We ate early so DD could join us as she’s 12.

We made reservations for Portifino’s on this night so as to miss a formal night in the dining room. We went to both formal nights last year, but just didn’t feel like it this year. Dinner was delicious as it was last time. My DD (picky eater) had Caesar Salad, Penna Pasta with Marinara Sauce (instead of the beef ragu) as her starters, the Grilled Fillet Mignon for the entrée, and the Flourless Chocolate Cake for dessert. The rest of us had no trouble making our choices, and all was delicious. It took in excess of 2 hours to dine, but by this time DD was in the groove of these longer dinners. I was never worried, but others have posted questions on this so I thought I’d comment.

We didn’t want to watch the production show, I’m sorry to admit it, but it’s not our thing. So we went down to make our guess in the Spot the Fake Amber Contest. We had no plans to be there for the drawing but wanted to see if we could spot it, we did. Kid disappeared for a while only to show back up because the main teen activity was to meet up and go to the production show they didn’t want to see. They headed to the room to rent a movie, and order some room service munchies. DH and I went to the promenade for a little ice cream and to check out what junk was on display. Brought ice cream back to the kids, DH watched one of the movies, I read in bed till the movies ended about 12am, and we went to bed. They had used they’re C&A coupons for BOGO on the movies. They each picked a different one and watched it in separate rooms. At this point DS wouldn’t be caught dead watching what DD watches and DD thinks the movies he likes are stupid guy stuff. Glad we had the coupons.

I believe this was the night my Ds and FF went to casino and won $400 playing Black Jack. Between that and her BINGO winnings, they practically wiped out the seapass bill for the trip.

I forgot to mention that we bought the soda package for each of the kids. I had cautioned each of them repeatedly to never drink their drink if it was out of their site for even a minute. They were to forget it and get a new one. I don’t know if they used it very much, but I didn’t care, I don’t know all the kids on the ship and would rather be safe than sorry.

That’s it for today. Will finish tomorrow. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would run on this way.

[crusinmama06]

Loving the review so far!!!! I seriously laughed when I read the part about it obvious that "OSHA doesn't live here" HAHAHAHA

 

You wouldn't get ME up there! So you are less chicekn than me. :D

[teese]

Crusinmama06-I have all the 12-14 and 15-17yr old compasses, but my scanner is down. Could I send them to you snail mail so you could post them online?

[crusinmama06]

Crusinmama06-I have all the 12-14 and 15-17yr old compasses, but my scanner is down. Could I send them to you snail mail so you could post them online?

 

Yep, email me bmediamom@comcast.net and I will send you the address.

[teese]

I've emailed you thanks again.

[teese]

Day 6, Cozumel

 

Friday we arrived in Cozumel at 10:00am. All 6 of us had booked the Xcaret excursion through the ship. We were to arrive in front of the Savoy Theater on deck 3 I believe, I might have that wrong, any whoo we were where we were supposed to be at the appointed time and then headed out to the ferry for our 30 min trip to the mainland.

 

The ferry is a fairly large catamaran, with nice seating, relatively clean restrooms and a snack bar. It has huge windows all along its sides, but they’re plexiglass and seemed to be etched from the salt spray. Any way they are nearly opaque. I had read on these boards about the rough ride over and that people do get sick. I have a feeling having no real way to see outside plays a huge part in this. Also our excursion tickets had printed on them “ROUGH SEAS, PILL ADVISED” So I decided on nondrowsy Dramamine as the nondrowsy Bonine completely knocks the socks off of the kids and I, even if we take only a quarter tablet. So I gave each of us (not DH, he’s a retired Naval Officer and has never experienced seasickness) a quarter of a pill. 5 min into the ride both kids are asleep and my head is nodding away, so much for nondrowsy. About 20min later I wake up to the sound of gagging, coughing and general throwing up. Turns out the seas were pretty rough and several people near by were truly suffering.

 

The crew of the ferry was trying to help those passengers and it looked like they had handed out small seasickness bags. No sooner had I finished looking around and the boat slowed and we pulled into the dock. I know those poor souls were relieved.

 

We exited, walked with our guide, (it was a fairly good hike, must have been hard on the ones who were just throwing up), to the bus. It was a short ride to the park and we were there.

 

Xcaret is an “Eco-archeologicalPark”. That’s from their website. It seemed to have a ton of things to do, snorkeling in a protected lagoon, rivers in caves to swim in, dolphins, a zoo type of arrangement, an aquarium etc. The excursion would return to the ship around 6:15pm. It seemed like a relaxing, fun day.

 

It didn’t turn out that way.

 

When we arrived the guide, very nice man, gave us an overview of the park, took us to the restrooms, and then another guide led us in to the starting point which are the river caves. Everyone starts here and it leads to the rest of the park near the beaches. They have an ingenious way of transporting all your beach gear, bags, towels etc. They give you a large duffle bag that you put everything in, then you securely lock it shut and they give you the key and you carry this attached to your neck. When you finish the river, everything’s there waiting for you.

 

Here is where I find out the water temp is 65 degrees! :eek: That is freezing cold people, and since your still reading this, you know DH and DS hate cold water (cold water is defined here as anything below 83 degrees). Now this unhappy state of affairs is possibly due to the fact that we have a heated pool and whenever the pool is in the 80 degree range we fire up the heater and bring it to the more comfortable 85 degree range. We also keep it covered with a thermal blanket so it stays warm once heated.

 

DH gets in because to do otherwise would be unmanly;) DS is speechless and looks at me with an incredulous expression. How could his mother, the consummate obsessive/compulsive planner have missed this vital fact in her research. (Actually, I had heard the water was cold on the boards, but they said it was chilly, not a freezing 65 degrees cold). Since his mother, little sister and Aunt have gotten in DS has no other choice, to do other wise would appear wimpy. :rolleyes: DH will do ok as he just doesn’t like cold water. DS though, usually freezes into a stiff board, turning an unseemly blue. So the only course of action is to get through this river as fast as possible. So off we go at breakneck speed trying to reach the end of this thing. I did insist however that we stop for the two photographers (who by the way are in wet suits) and get pictures of us all. I love scrapbooking and have my priorities.

 

The pictures turned out the best of the cruise, everyones eyes were open, and had great smiles. All except DH, he has fairly poor eyesight and we’d just bought prescription goggles for him and he could finally see clearly while swimming, unfortunately they made him look like an unusual marine mammal in the pictures (I can’t name which one as he’s reading this report also:) ).

 

We finally reach the end and collect our stuff. Since we raced through the whole thing I kept fairly warm and liked it.

 

Now everyone’s hungry and we go to check out the restaurant both tour guides highly recommended for lunch. It’s a little bit of a hike, but in the direction of the snorkeling lagoons so no biggie. Guess what, it’s an all you can eat buffet, (not exactly what someone who’s had way too much food already needs), and the real kicker, it costs $29.99 per person. :eek: That’s dollars, not pesos. There is no way we are spending $180 total for lunch, so we get out the map and ask a few workers around where to get cheap food, like a sandwich. Turns out it’s practically all the way back where we exited the river. So trudge back, eat and head back out to pick up snorkel gear. This is where Ds and FF leave to explore on their own.

 

The time is now 2:30 and we have to be back at the front of the park by 4:00pm. So we still have time for some fun snorkeling.

 

DS is not going in again, and settles in a lounge chair to sleep off the remnants of the Dramamnine. DH gets in first as DD and I are struggling with the gear. We finally get in the water to find DH is getting out, he says he can’t find a single fish. Oh well, I tell DD lets just go out any way. He’s right though, the water is murky and we see nothing. But I notice other snorklers out farther in the more open ocean. So we paddle out, and begin to see some fish. Hurray! Maybe this won’t be a total bust.

 

We keep swimming out of the little inlet and see there is another inlet/lagoon right next to it. I also see some lines and a bouy type thing out here that we’d have to go through to get into the lagoon. I signal the lifeguard right nearby can we go through this, he signals go ahead. So we do, as I lift the lines to swim underneath I realize these are some kind of electrical cables. :eek: I dropped them so fast and pulled DD with me as fast as those flippers could go. Then I looked behind and noticed all the men working on something in that area, I guess OSHA doesn’t live here either.

 

Well we finally found a lagoon with lots of pretty fish and some coral. By now we had only a few minutes to look around. We eventually got out and met up with DH and DS. Packed up, rinsed off and headed out. As we walked we passed by the animal enclosures which were small but not cages. You know how the newer zoos make everything look like the animals are right there and you don’t see the hidden barriers, it was like that, so very nice.

 

We take the Dramamine again and head back, I hated how it made us so sleepy, but after the trip over I didn’t want to risk getting sick like a few others did.

 

The trip back on the ferry was a carbon copy of the trip out. We slept and woke up to vomiting and then docked a couple minutes later.

 

I’m going to have stop here and finish Day 6 later this evening if possible.

[gma5]

Love your review. We are going on this cruise in Sept. It will be our 1st W. Caribbean cruise. You have a wonderful way with words. I'm sure you kept daily notes on all you did.

Martha

[teese]

Day 6 continued…………..

More thoughts on Xcaret:

My DH and DS thought this was a bust. :( I think if you had more time to enjoy it you’d have fun. But I wouldn’t book it or any excursion that involved going to the mainland again. We felt like all we did was hurry hurry here and there. Also the ferry trip wasn’t pleasant for us and downright awful for others. Plus we found an all day excursion that arrived back at the ship so late left us running to the dining room to catch dinner. Lesson learned.

Moving on.

Tonight was the Fishermans Platter and since there were several seafood lovers we wanted to make the dining room tonight and not end up in the WJ.

So we ran back to our cabins and threw ourselves together. We had warned our wait team in the dining room we’d be running late and they said it would be fine if we arrived as late as 6:30, and we ran in just about to the minute.

After dinner we hit the show, a comedian named Judy Kolba. We all loved her, she had the best show all week and we weren’t the only ones who thought that as she received the only standing ovation that I saw. Her show was definitely G- rated which I appreciated with my 12yo in attendance. All the shows were clean, just the others had more instances of subtle innuendo.

My DH and I wandered the Promenade and had a little ice cream, the kids had taken off. It is such a treat to wander around just the two of us. I know you know what I mean.:D

Since it had been a long day we head upstairs to our room a little early. We were surprised to find both kids there, droopy eyed and watching the same movie in the same room! Turns out “Shrek 3” is acceptable to both and they’d never seen it. DH and I sat outside for a while relishing the balcony. With only one day left I was waxing nostalgic and dreaming of the next cruise. We eventually went in, I read in bed and DH quickly took control of our TV remote and surfed the channels for awhile. We all turned in about 12am. Tomorrow looked to be a busy day, the compass had a number of fun things listed.

[teese]

Our Final Day

It had been extremely smooth sailing this year, hardly any movement noticed on the ship. I would think anyone with a tendency for seasickness would find the Voyager class to be ideal. There was just enough sway to rock me to sleep every night in what must have been a couple of seconds. I never even had a chance to reminisce about my day, I turned off the light and next thing I knew it was morning.

This morning’s coffee and fruit plate arrived again promptly at 7am. We lingered over this a little longer than usual. We always ordered a pot and sometimes it was a short pot and sometimes a tall pot. This time it was the much nicer tall pot. I had packed my favorite International Delight flavored creamer in the individual packages and we used the last of it this morning. I think flavored creamers make coffee my first dessert of the day.:)

DH and DS left to work out upstairs, they would take their stuff and shower up there too. DD was still sound asleep so I went for a quick stroll, showered and waited for the others to return. When everyone was up and ready we all went to breakfast in the dining room.

The kids split to do their thing and DH and I head to the Savoy to check out the Captains Corner. I thought some of the questions were ridiculous and DH and I did a bit of eye rolling, but for the most part people had some interesting things to ask. The Captain was fun to listen to and graciously answered each question even the dopey ones, although he had a little fun with those people.

The first of the “Winner Takes All” BINGO was this morning directly after the Captains Corner. DS popped back for that, this time I did buy a regular set of cards. We didn’t come close and the Jackpot didn’t go, so it rolled over to the afternoon session. I have to mention the assistant cruise director, I only know her as Anna Banana the Bingo Queen, as that’s how she was always called. She was a ton of fun, even the kids laughed along with her antics. She’s British and I just adored her accent and funny little mannerisms. I think she’d make a fantastic CD.

DD had called in to say she was spending her day with friends at the pool, so she didn’t come with us to lunch. She had a blast that last day though. They hung out doing the pool and hot tub thing, participated in the line dance class poolside and watched some of the crazy pool games. She took advantage of the frozen yogurt machine up by the pool frequently, I think that and cookies were her lunch today. Then they hit the promenade in the afternoon and bought some “jewelry” from the stuff on sale, snacked on more cookies and pizza, and fit in some in-line skating.

Off to our final lunch in the dining room, DS and Ds joined us. The teens Back Deck was serving hamburgers and hotdogs, and believe it or not my kids don’t really care for them. Weird I know. I prefer to pass on that stuff now but not at their age. Go figure. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind I just think its odd, that’s all.:confused:

I wanted to watch the 1pm movie “Premonition,” I’d wrongly thought it was a Nicholas Cage movie, and I’ve always admired his oddballness. I wheedled and begged everyone until I got someone to go with me. (I hate to go to a movie alone). DS came along anticipating something interesting.

Well I was way off base and it was a Sandra Bullock movie.:p I enjoyed it but DS huffed and puffed through the whole thing. He felt it was more of a chick flick, but he didn’t abandon me.

After this we raced up to the Savoy for the real “Winner Takes All” Jackpot BINGO. There were no freebies this time around, either with our special package deal or for the kids. Here’s one of our little oddities when we play BINGO. DH takes BINGO very seriously and we don’t want him sitting with us, he doesn’t want anyone talking or fooling around in the least. If you haven’t figured it out yet I tend to fool around………… a lot. :D So when the game begins he moves away from us, he’s happy because he’s left in peace and we’re happy cause we can be silly. We of course didn’t win but 3 different people split the $8000 jackpot.

DH and DS head upstairs to workout again, turns out DS really liked it and it doesn’t take any convincing to get DH up there too. I was ok with it as DH had been packing while I was watching the movie, I just headed back and finished up what was left. Or so I thought.

We did the prepaid gratuities and DH got them all ready in their envelopes. We like doing this because we don’t have to worry about having enough cash on hand. When we didn’t do this DH always had to get cash at guest relations at some point in the cruise. Now I try to do everything ahead to eliminate any standing in line on vacation, I want to spend every minute enjoying myself. One of the best tips I’ve read on the boards is bringing address labels from home and squeezing in your telephone # and the ship’s name on them and putting this on your RCCL luggage tags, saves a bit of hassle that last day when you really want to be having fun.

We had a very nice surprise Wed or Thurs night. They left a note and application forms in our stateroom to the effect that USAir, AirTran and a number of other airlines were added to their luggage valet service. Woo Whoo!! We were flying AirTran and filled those suckers out immediately. $80 well spent. Went as smooth as could be and everything showed up in BWI without a hitch.

Dinner was extremely nice, we loved our wait staff, Amalia from the Philippines was the waitress and Julio from Mexico was our assistant waiter. Very personable. Amalia has been with Mariner from the beginning. She told us 1 out of 3 of those working on board were the original start up crew.

During dinner we realized that we’d never been to the peek-a-boo-bridge. Since we heard it closes once it turns dark we ran up quick to take a peek. I thought it was neat looking in, there were 4 officers and 3 of them were looking very diligently through binoculars. I was impressed with how alert they seemed, then we noticed the radar had multiple contacts. So I peeked around forward and there were about 6 cruise ships heading out, crossing in front of us in the distance and coming up along our starboard side. These people were just starting there cruise. Boo Hiss! If you were one of those people and saw us all blowing raspberries at you, don’t take offense it was all in good fun. I hope you can’t lip read though.:o Kids disappeared upstairs to exchange contact info and enjoy the last night.

DH and I wandered around a while, you know how you do the last night, trying to drink it all in so your sustained till the next cruise. Then off to the show and a frozen umbrella drink. Kids had disappeared and we had to turn in the phones by 9pm so they had strict orders to drop in the cabin, not call from a service phone, at 10 sharp. Then they would get their curfew time. I liked giving them their curfew in the evening because I gauged it on how tired DH and I were (I never close my eyes unless they’re in the room and the bolts have been thrown on the door) and midway through the evening I get an update on who they’re with and what they’re up to.

Show was good, Drew Devine was a great CD, DH feels he’s the best we’ve had. They had a couple of their famous dumbest questions ever that were new to us. The show ran longer than I expected and we got to the room late. DS was there but not DD. :mad: So DS runs upstairs with orders to look for her and if he can’t find her then to stay there and call so we could come up and help search. He finds her in the arcade and gleefully informs her “Moms really mad at you and you’re to get back to the cabin.” She bursts in the door with a million excuses and says she was here but we weren’t, so she thought she’d stop back about 11pm. Well that’s the end of her evening and isn’t allowed to return. There’s much wailing and cries of anguish so this is a good time for DH and DS to put the bags out the door and then DH, I and DS make our escape. DD is left behind, DS leaves with his curfew time and DH and I make our last trip to the Promenade café for a little snackie poo. Had to have just one more little sandwich and maybe a slice of whatever chocolate heaven was to be had.

Finally we head back and find DD and DS in bed asleep. Nice.

We get in our PJs and I’m thinking we've finally got the packing thing down pretty good when we realize that we’d packed our disposable underwater cameras in the bags to be checked, plus DH doesn’t remember if all the large bottles of toiletries were packed in the carryon or the checked baggage. DH wants me to hold the door so he can drag all the bags back in, I’m not to keen on this cause I’m in my pajamas, DH is too and I’m really not to crazy about him wandering the halls in them either, but he’s a little grumpy and won’t change back into pants, so I give in.

I send a little prayer up that no one catches us and thankfully no one was out there. DH drags everything in, we find and readjust our packing and finally get it all back out, now I’m way ready for bed. We’re supposed to be in the first group off at 7:15am, uck. So we set the alarm for 0 dark thirty.

In the morning I have to get out my industrial sized stick to beat the kids into submission and out of bed. We had originally planned to eat in the Dining room for breakfast but I was concerned we wouldn’t have enough time. So off to the WJ. In hindsight we should’ve eaten in the dining room we’d have had plenty of time.

Trip home for the most part was uneventful.

Will post some final thoughts and then this tome will be finished.

[crusinmama06]

Thank you for confirming my fears about Xcaret. I had debated and debated that excursion. Now I am so glad we didn't go there.

 

And power lines in water. :eek:

 

Thanks for the awesome review!

 

So can you explain the Valet Program a little since we were never able to use it before. Do you just put your bags outside at night as usual?...then what time can you get off the ship?

[teese]

Michelle-As you probably know already the valet program will provide you with your boarding passes and luggage tags from the airline. I think it was Weds night (day 4) that we received the info and the forms to fill out. They asked basic things like the # of checked bags, Airline and flight number. The only requirement that I can remember is the flight had to be after 12:30pm and only 2 checked bags per person. When everything was filled out we had to bring it to guest relations along with our ID and I think copies of our flight confirmation.

 

Then the final day we received the boarding passes, white rccl luggage tags with instructions we would debark at 7:15am and the Air Tran luggage tags which were also white. Your boarding pass was also your luggage receipt. Now here is where it was a little tricky. The AirTran luggage tags and the boarding passes didn't have any of the same numbers. You know how you check your bags at the airport and they tear off the stub and the bar codes match, well not here. DH and I decided to take a leap of faith and went ahead and used the service praying it truly would work. But at the airport when we got to the gate we had the AirTran employee scan our pass and sure enough the bar code listed all our luggage as in the airport and checked.

This is a great service for $20 per person. I would think if you had a late flight it would be even better as you could do something fun without having to stash your bags while you were sightseeing.

 

Hopes this helps. Teese

[teese]

I forgot to add, yes, you put your bags out as usual.

[crusinmama06]

Thanks! I am going to try this the next time. :D I always wondered how it worked as far as what TIME they would let you off of the ship. So that will work out great! :D And I won't have to worry about lugging kid in stroller with luggage.

[tooninsurance]

Hi Tesse,

I am in need of all the help I can get on cruising with a family. After reading this wonderful revue we are definately thinking of this line and ship for the kids. I am wondering if there are charges for the in-line skating and all the other things your kids did on the ship? I am also interested in what the was the amount you aloted your kids on there sea passes? We have 4 kids but only 2 are going on this cruise. They are 13 and 11 possible the 16 yr old may be able to come if not in a sport period. lol priorites lol We were very glad to learn about the DECT phones. Thanks for that tidbit. The place your husband ate the sandwiches is it included or did you pay for them? Also how much should we alot ourself for Ben and Jerrry's? LOL Again any help is so welcomed and anybody else please feel free to jump on and give much needed help. Also if you can think of any other line or ship we should check out let us know. Thank you.

Donna

[teese]

tooninsurance-There are no charges for any of the sporting type activities such as in-line, rock wall, ice skating, and putt putt, actually they didn't pay for any kid activity. Besides just using the before mentioned amenities the teens had putt putt tournaments, free throw contests, rock wall challenges and organized time for the teens only to use the skating areas. There were also organized ping pong, 3x3 basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, flag football, fooseball and air hockey tournaments, and soccer for both groups of teens. They had pool parties, scavenger hunts, teen karaoke, a few artsy things, dances, movie matinees, the list just goes on. The kids can't do it all there's so much. So this line truly caters to this age group.

 

We aloted $20 per day per kid, that sounds like a lot but the kids did things before the cruise to earn the right to have the cash on the cruise. They also were told what they didn't spend they could keep, and this made them think twice before they spent it. Both came back with at least half. So that gives you an idea of what to send. Half as much would suffice.

 

The Cafe Promenade is included in the cruise fare. I'm sure that was half the appeal. We snacked at Ben and Jerry's maybe 3 or 4 times. The prices seem to be the same as land based stores.

[teese]

Some random final thoughts:

Dining room attire: I only paid attention to what others wore the first night because we did “come as you are”, (with the addition of clean polo shirts for the guys and blouses for the girls). The guys had worn dress khaki shorts onboard and we girls wore capris, we just changed shirts and went to dinner. I was a little concerned as we always follow the dress code. But most were in shorts and T’s so that was fine. I never looked around after that as we were comfortable in our clothes and I don’t care what others are wearing. My kids have semi formal clothes already so formal night isn’t a problem. But I wouldn’t buy special clothes for kids for the one or two nights on board.

Curfew: We set curfew based on how late DH and I was willing to stay up. We never heard any complaints from the kids, I asked them why after we got home, and they said their friends always had to leave about the same time. So a huge thank you to the parents who reeled their kids in at a decent hour. It made my cruise a little more pleasant not having to put up with any complaints.

Excursions: It’s become apparent to me that the guys really don’t like a beach day, so next time we’ll book something more to their liking while DD and I enjoy the beach. If Labadee is the beach day, then I’ll book more things like kayaking and waveriders.

Adjoining balcony staterooms: I loved the adjoining rooms but a balcony for the kids is a waste if you can’t open the divider. Any time they spent on the balcony was in my balcony. So the only way around that is to try for those very few adjoining rooms that are an inside and a balcony on just a few ships. My guess is we’ll have to book super early to get those.

Ship photos: I had read a tip on the boards to buy the photo package on board. So we bought one that was 6-6x8’s and 4-8x10’s, total cost $109. Another poster had pointed out that to do this at home with all the outfit changes and different backdrops would be a huge hassle and expensive. I agree, a couple pictures just before or after dinner was easy peasy. We waited till the last day and picked out our favorites. They put all your pictures in a folder with your cabin number, so no trouble finding them.

Kid’s activity conflict: It always seemed some of the kids favorite activities were planned for 5pm. They could never stay for more than 15min as they had to shower and dress for dinner. I let them make their own choices and they always chose dinner in the dining room with us over the activity and a later dinner in the WJ. So not a biggie, but if I we’re ever sailing on a RCCL ship with the new anytime dining we’ll probably go with it if the kids are with us and then eat 6:30-7:00pm. The activities they missed were: Dodge ball, foosball tournaments, 3 on 3 Bball, and Wii game time.

Teen Dinners: They had group dinners in the WJ on day 2 and day 5. These are the formal nights, so if your kids don’t want to dress for dinner just let them eat with their friends in the WJ. DD had one friend who chose to eat every meal in the WJ without her family.

Teen breakfasts: The 12-14yo had teen breakfasts in the WJ on day 4 and 6. They met in the Living Room at 10am and then head to the WJ. All of their activities started at 10am except day 3 (Labadee).

The 15-17yo didn’t start their activities till 11am, and didn’t meet for any breakfasts.

Teen Girl must haves: I found that the small suction cup things for the bathroom were a life saver for my DD. She put her hair stuff, (which there is a lot of with her long hair), toiletries etc. in these which were stuck to the mirror as well as on the shower door and kept their bath organized. I put a couple suction hooks on her room mirror and she kept her necklaces hung up there.

An over the door shoe rack in their room kept all their doo dads off the desk, tables and floor. I hate clutter. Also a pop up hamper, they each had a day they each had to empty it into a suitcase as it filled. They also unpacked and repacked their own belongings, I had done this in the past and decided that I wasn’t doing it any more.

Ocean Adventure Staff: They had the same 2 people with the 12-14yo all week and they got to know the kids names etc. DS can’t remember if this was so in his group as he’s not good with the little details like DD.

Last but not least, our cabin attendant Vidon from India was just wonderful, very soft spoken and did a great job. I don’t remember making any special requests as everything always seemed just right.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. Writing this tale was like an extension to our trip and I enjoyed it very much.

[gma5]

Thank you for a wonderful review. My DH and I will be sailing on the Mariner in Sept. Your review will help us with our planning.

Martha

[tooninsurance]

We are also planning on a September cruise. Maybe we will see ya there.

[tooninsurance]

Tesse,

I am interested in the Hideaway beach you went to, was there a fee to get in that included lunch and beach chairs? And would you do this again? Thank you agian for all the help you gave me. We were worried we couldn't afford all the excursions and the fee's for all the activites for the kids. Someone had told us you had to pay rental fee's and etc....