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Masterful Mariner!

Foffie232

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Foffie232

Foffie232

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I just posted my first review through cruise critic and while my husband thought it was very good (he's biased, right?), I'm thinking it was too long. I just wanted it to be helpful to others. If at all possible (and you have a bit of time to kill.... like I said, it's long), please read it and let me know - I'm really curious to know if this is the type of review that is helpful to others. I enjoyed writing it and want to be able to provide information and help to others!

 

Thanks, everyone!!

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

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I just posted my first review through cruise critic and while my husband thought it was very good (he's biased, right?), I'm thinking it was too long. I just wanted it to be helpful to others. If at all possible (and you have a bit of time to kill.... like I said, it's long), please read it and let me know - I'm really curious to know if this is the type of review that is helpful to others. I enjoyed writing it and want to be able to provide information and help to others!

 

Thanks, everyone!!

 

Foffie, feel free to post it here, too! :)

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Foffie232

Foffie232

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Ok - but you've all been warned - it's very long! ;)

Mariner of the Seas

Western Caribbean

May 18-May 25, 2008

This was our first time on a ship larger than Enchantment of the Seas, so we had many new experiences and adventures on board and before that really made anticipating this trip nearly unbearable. My review will center mostly on the ship itself, with little on the ports of call.

We began our trip a few days prior at Disney World. It was the fastest whirlwind trip through the Mouse House I’ve ever done. We crammed so much into 48 hours that the drive to the port was so completely relaxed; all of my friends fell asleep while I drove. About the drive to the port: we rented a mini-van from Enterprise. They picked us up right on time from Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, we picked up the van, and were on our way within a half hour from the time they picked us up. It was great. On the drop-off side, we dropped off at the Enterprise location about 5 minutes from Port Canaveral. They had a courtesy shuttle to the port and we were on board in about 10 minutes.

Mariner is a beautiful ship. I had read about her from several other reviews on Cruise Critic and other travel websites. I was hard-pressed to find a negative review, so my expectations were quite high. In addition, this was our first cruise as Diamond members of the Crown & Anchor Society, so we were very much looking forward to that. Being a secret shopper at home, my critical eye was definitely tuned into Mariner once we boarded.

Having only sailed on smaller ships, one of the things that I was concerned about prior to our cruise was how a ship of that size would handle the crowds. Being that we were able to get on board so quickly, that the staff at the port were so well-prepared (you think they’ve done this before?), it definitely got our cruise off to a fabulous start.

One thing that I noticed right away as we made our way up to our room to drop off our carry-on luggage was the art aboard Mariner. The artwork – sculptures, paintings, and everything in between – was just phenomenal. It ranged the gamut in styling and medium. It was enthralling. Every time we climbed the stairs, we found something new to look at. Just walking down our hall to the front of the ship, we found many different types of artwork hanging and in shadow boxes. There was a little something for everyone’s tastes.

We had a Junior Suite in the center of the hump on the port side of the ship. If it is available, I highly recommend this room and location. It was very quiet and in a great location, literally right outside the elevators, and, as we soon found out, the Concierge Lounge. Our room steward, Sheldon, quickly came to introduce himself, to welcome us back, and to make us feel right at home. He always had a smile and really helped to make us feel right at home. One of the people we were traveling with was a diabetic and had syringes that she was collecting in a plastic bag so that she could dispose of the properly off the ship. Sheldon brought a sharps container for her and left it in her room during the turn down service on the second night without even being asked! That attention to detail really made an impression on us.

The dining room is a three-tiered room with live musicians on the landing between the second and third floors in the center of the room against the back wall. This touch was something we had never experienced before and thought it was just a wonderful addition to our already wonderful dining experience. Speaking of which, the wait staff in the dining room blew us away. We were very concerned that the quality of the staff would suffer on a ship so large, but we were completely taken aback by the wonderful service we received from our waitress and assistant waitress. In fact, my husband and I agreed that out of all of our past cruise experiences with dining room staff, this was the second best we had ever received (the first best was the head waiter who went completely out of his way to go above and beyond the call of duty, spoiling us completely rotten on our very first cruise – we haven’t forgotten you, John Susa!!). The food on board was great. I was especially impressed with the scallop risotto. On previous cruises, the scallop risotto was always my favorite, but they put half pieces of scallop on top of the risotto. This time, I received 4 LARGE scallops on top of the risotto. This may be common practice on larger ships, but nonetheless, it impressed me. I was also a fan of the lobster tail. That’s an offering that we hadn’t experienced in our past cruises either. The wait staff knew our needs and our desires within a day and never missed a beat. We found out later in the week that our assistant waitress was leaving the ship after being on board for over 8 months and wasn’t returning to the cruise industry any time soon, but she never once showed her excitement (which we found out on the last night only after some probing!) or skimped in her service on board. She was absolutely wonderful.

The Windjammer and Jade areas were considerably larger than we were used to. There was concern about the accommodation of the 3500 passengers on board in these areas on days at sea, but the staff handled it extremely well. We waited in line MUCH less on board Mariner than we did on the smaller Sovereign-class ships. Entering into the Windjammer/Jade area was always two waiters/waitresses handing out anti-bacterial wipes to each and every passenger than entered. They were taking many steps to eliminate the threat of the noro virus, which was a nice thing to see. With Mariner’s size comes increased preparedness for the volume of passengers. It was handled extremely well. The food in Windjammer was good for a buffet. They had many offerings and in particular at breakfast, an omelet station that allowed you to place your order, they gave you a number, and then return when your number was called. This left the area very open and clear for others to get to the buffet stations without forming lines. We didn’t eat at the Windjammer a lot, but each time we did, we enjoyed it tremendously.

The concierge lounge was another favorite place of ours to hang out in the evenings. With second-seating dinner, by 5PM we were ready for our snacks in the concierge lounge every night. The attention to detail in the concierge lounge was amazing. Paulo and the other waiters always had our drinks ready for us when we walked in. They were extremely attentive, making sure that our glasses were always full, that our hors d’oeuvres were plentiful, and that we never had to want for anything. The concierge Allan was also fantastic. He came up to us on several occasions during the week to see if there was anything he could help us with and also to offer up some great conversation. We learned a lot about Mariner through him. Extremely helpful!

Another thing that blew us away aboard Mariner was the ice show. We got tickets through the concierge for Ice Under the Big Top. We had seen the ice skating rink during open skate the day before and were so enthralled by how very small it was. How can they possibly perform anything worthwhile on such a small skating surface? Much to our surprise and delight, the performance was phenomenal. Not only were they performing on an ice-rink 1/8 the size of a regulation rink, they were performing stunts and spins and flips that the pros do. This is definitely a must-see item if you’re going on a Voyager or Freedom-class ship: DON’T MISS THE ICE SHOW!

One thing that resonated throughout the ship was the special crew on board. I never thought that the captain of a cruise ship could be so interactive with guests and with the crew in public areas until I met Captain Johnny Faevelen. He was funny, engaging, smart, and overall just charming. His enthusiasm resonated throughout the entire crew on board. Cruise Director Drew Devine was the best cruise director we have encountered thus far. He was always visible and each time we saw him, took the time to stop and talk or take a picture. When he opened the final show by playing drums with the band, he was amazing. He has a musical background and we couldn’t believe how great he was. Coming from a musical family myself, his skills were definitely put to good use here. Katie, the Bingo lady, along with the entire Cruise Director’s Staff, was so intent on making sure that we were welcomed on board as part of the family, it made for a very pleasant experience. They would stop on the Promenade or in the hallways and greet us, talk to us as if we had been friends forever. It was a very welcome and homey feeling to be on board Mariner with this particular crew.

Being an avid scrapbooker, I am a huge fan of the professional pictures taken by the photo staff. I spent a large amount of money at the photo center purchasing photos, but also talking with the photo staff. The way they handled the photos on this ship was amazing: each room had a photo folder so that you could collect your photos during the week and then decide at the end of your cruise which ones were worth buying (I bought most of them). One thing that the photo center offered that I had not seen on other ships were packages at discounted prices. From Sunday-Tuesday of the trip (the first 3 days), passengers were offered the opportunity to purchase packages of photos (6 6x8 pictures, 8 8x10 pictures, etc.). They even had combination packages with the different sized photos they take. These packages cut the costs substantially from the individual photo prices. I bought 4 or 5 photo packages and from then on, the photo guys would see me around the ship and continually joke with me to see if I wanted to purchase more packages. The staff there was extremely friendly and by the third day greeted me by name when they saw me. These personal touches – greeting me by name – really helped to make this cruise one of the best I’ve ever taken.

Our ports of call were Labadee, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, and Cozumel, all of which were beautiful. It was our first time at all of them except Cozumel. We did excursions at Labadee (wave runners) and Ocho Rios (lazy river) and absolutely loved both of them. I was petrified (wimp!) at the beginning of both excursions, and by the end, I was an expert at both the wave runner and paddling down the lazy river (not that one needs much expertise to sit in an inner tube….). I highly recommend both excursions; the staff that helped us at both ports was very patient and understanding and we had a very good time doing both.

All in all, our trip on Mariner was fantastic. I wracked my brain trying to think of some constructive criticism for this ship and/or its crew and I came up empty. This cruise was just amazing. I’m definitely sad to see her go to the west coast, but I feel she is worth crossing the country for.

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johnnyb78

johnnyb78

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lol, i love it, very good review, wish we were able to go on her one more time before she leaves the east coast....btw it was a very good length review, nowhere too long, i think there are one or two reviews i have read on cruises that were over 100 pages!

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Let'sGo!

Let'sGo!

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A great read Foffie!

 

I'm one of those making the trek "cross country" to board Mariner on the West Coast. Though our cruise is a year away, it's reviews like yours that renew my excitement. Thanks!

 

Ann

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Foffie232

Foffie232

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Thanks, everyone! I was just reading back on it (and all of your comments) and realized that there was just so much that I left out of this cruise. This was our first 7 nighter so there was just so much. I probably could have extended this review quite a bit longer :) Just a few left out tid bits:

 

We went to Chops and it was fantastic. We had scheduled our Chops reservation on the second formal night with our friends. Our friends (not frequent cruisers) showed up to Chops in shorts and flip flops and, as I had told them they would, were asked to go change. When my friends decided not to, my husband and I had dinner by ourselves and it was lovely. The personalized service that we received at Chops on Enchantment was slightly better (only because we had a more interactive - read: rambunctious) crowd, engaging the waitress to be more... WOW. However, the service at Chops on Mariner was definitely up to snuff. The food, naturally, was fantastic, and the Chocolate Mud Pie was too much to eat.

 

The spa was beautiful. We went there - my husband for a massage and me for the spa taster - and both services were fantastic. That was the most relaxing facial/massage pampering I have ever experienced (and I spa often). The atmosphere at the spa was just relaxation from the moment we walked in. As is my usual only complaint is that at the end of the services, it's a giant sales pitch that we could all do without.

 

If you have any questions or thing of anything else I've left out that you'd like to know about, please let me know! I'm happy to share!

 

Thanks again!

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chynnabow

chynnabow

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i was on the mariner the week you were on and i couldnt agree with you more. the mariner was a great ship. we were on the liberty ofnthe seas last year and i have to say the mariner was a much more homey feeling ship. everytime i read about the mariner it makes me want to go an her again, that was the best week i have spent ia along time. thanks for bringing back some great moments while i was on this beautiful ship!!!:D

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Clarea

Clarea

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We were on the same cruise and agree 100% with your review.

 

We had been on Voyager twice before and loved it both times. We were thinking that nothing could beat the Voyager cruises, but I have to say that there was something very special about the crew of Mariner. There was a special pride they took in the ship, and it made this cruise outstanding. It was like they knew they were the best crew in the fleet, and they intended to keep that distinction.

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