More Mariner of the Seas 8-3-08

[t34babe]

To add to my fellow passengers' comments , let me say that this cruise was GREAT!!! All of you who are eagerly anticipating your time on the Mariner, trust me, you will not be disappointed!! I highly recommend the kayak, hike & snorkel in St Thomas with Ecotours, it was fun and very educational at the same time. Steer clear of the Marigot Yachting & Shopping in St Maarten however--it does not live up to the description in the brochure. Despite a formal written complaint to the Explorations desk by several of us on the tour, no one :cool: responded to our concerns.

CocoCay was excellent, we rented wave runners and had a blast.

The Mystery Dinner at Portofino's was a hoot, not to be missed! and Captain Johnny & staff are wonderful.

I personally thought the entertainment was as good as any other cruise that I have sailed on. The Platters (not the Temptations as listed in one post) were not the original group, save Herb Reed, but all did a great rendition of their hits. Juggle boy was really funny as was Michael Dean Esterman, the comedian we picked up in St Maarten. Pure Energy (the '80's tribute) was good too. We also attended one of the "Enrichment" workshops on board (sunburn drove us indoors that day) and met Kim Mitchell, a wonderful UCLA professor who led us in a creative writing workshop. We were not overly impressed with our wait staff at dinner, so we spent a lot of time in the Windjammer/Jade buffet for dinner, but found the food to be very good and the convenience priceless.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that I can, this is definitely a "not-to-be-missed" ship. Despite 3600 passengers on board, we never once felt crowded. Getting on & off ship was very easy, RCI truly has this down to a science at Port Canaveral. Happy cruising!:cool:

[cruisindoggie]

Glad you had a great cruise. Port Canavarel is the best kept secret in the cruise industry. I only wish there were more ships from this port.

 

P.S.

 

We love the Mariner!

[raytownlady]

thanks for posting the remarks about the excursion in St. Martin, we were considering this for our upcoming cruise on the Liberty, thanks to you, we'll try to find something else.

[t34babe]

Glad to help! When we met on the pier to go on the tour, that is when we were informed that due to bridge work on the island, we could not take the "yacht" to see the homes as listed in the brochure, but we would be doing a coastal tour instead. We were offered a refund at that point or a chance to change our minds, but what could we do? No tours are left at 9:00 on the day! So we decided to go, big mistake!!! It was 30 minutes to Marigot, 2 hours to shop at an open air market (not the shopping we were expecting!) then another 30 minute ride to meet the motorized catamaran which also doubles as a snorkel boat.