Need Advice...Adventure of Seas OR Mariner?

[Adventure Girl]

I have sailed on the Adventure of the Seas twice and absolutely love, love, loved it. I travel with a group of 10 women and we are getting ready to book our next cruise for the week of Nov 7th 2004. The problem is that we can't decide if we want to stick with AOS, which we know and love, or if we should try something new and go on the Mariner?

The Mariner of the Seas goes out of Port Canaveral, (Cocoa Cay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel).
The Adventure of the Seas goes out of San Juan, (Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas, St Marten that week).

We are worried about being disappointed on the Mariner. If you have sailed the Mariner, please share your thoughts on crew friendliness, food quality, on-board entertainment, etc. We know we love all of that on the Adventure....will we be disappointed on the Mariner?

Advice is appreciated.

Kimberly
Monarch of the Seas 4/02
Disney Wonder 11/02
Adventure of the Seas 10/03, 3/04, planning 10/04

[lmmn]

Have you considered Radiance class for a change? We were just on the Serenade. The ship is stunning. The Mariner will be very similar to the Adventure. I would first consider itinerary, and then decide the ship. If you're with the girls, you'll enjoy any of the ships.

Explorer of the Seas ~ 10/02
Majesty of the Seas ~ 1/03
Majesty of the Seas ~ 8/11/03
Navigator of the Seas ~ 10/11/03
Serenade of the Seas ~ 1/31/04
Adventure of the Seas ~ 1/30/05

[csk]

I have been on both and they are very similar, loved them both, I would chose the best port and iternary for your group, like stated on previous listing maybe change to the Radiance class, also been on those and they are great also, lots of good choices. Have a great cruise no matter what you choice is

[Family of 14]

The airfare would be the deciding factor for me. Much better rates to orlando than to San Juan for us. I am also looking forward to being on a newer ship. We did love the AOS though. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=1913020557&r=1913020557#1913020557"]Are you sailing on the Mariner 7/18/04?...Click here! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img][/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=4933032747&r=9113028567#9113028567"]or HERE! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img][/url]

Disney Wonder 3/2000 ~ Disney Magic 9/2000 ~ RCI Vision 2/2001 ~ Carnival Victory 12/2001 ~ Celebrity Millennium 3/2003 ~ RCI Adventure OTS 9/2003 ~ RCI Mariner OTS 7/18/2004 ~ RCI Serenade OTS 9/26/2004

[Vanilousky]

I LOVE THE ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS, THE MARINER IS NEW BUT, THE ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS HAS THE BEST ITINERARY...

<CENTER>[url="http://groups.msn.com/CrucerosDelMundo"]MY MSN GROUP CRUCEROS DEL MUNDO...[/url]
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/vanilousky"]MY WEBSHOPS PAGE....[/url]</CENTER>
Nordic Empress - 2/2001, Nordic Empress - 12/2001, Nordic Empress - 2/2002, Nordic Empress - 4/2002, Adventure of the Seas - 11/2002, Serenade of the Seas - 11/2003

[B]What Next?[/B]
[B]Adventure of the Seas Again 10/17/04...[/B]
[B]Empress of the Seas 11/15/04[/B]

[Adventure Girl]

Thank you so much for all of your comments. It is so hard to decide. I know that we will have fun no matter which ship we take.

Isn't the Radiance class somewhat smaller ships? Maybe in the 95,000 ton range and the Voyager class 138,000 tons?

Air fare is a consideration....almost twice the cost to fly to San Juan from where I live.

So hard to decide....I want to do both!!!!

Thanks again for the continuing comments...greatly appreciated.

Kimberly
Monarch of the Seas 4/02
Disney Wonder 11/02
Adventure of the Seas 10/03, 3/04, planning 10/04

[Family of 14]

I can't try both, go with something new. I don't think you will be diappointed. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=1913020557&r=1913020557#1913020557"]Are you sailing on the Mariner 7/18/04?...Click here! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img][/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=4933032747&r=9113028567#9113028567"]or HERE! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img][/url]

Disney Wonder 3/2000 ~ Disney Magic 9/2000 ~ RCI Vision 2/2001 ~ Carnival Victory 12/2001 ~ Celebrity Millennium 3/2003 ~ RCI Adventure OTS 9/2003 ~ RCI Mariner OTS 7/18/2004 ~ RCI Serenade OTS 9/26/2004

[Cruise Miriam]

Hi, was recently on both the Adventure and Mariner. Why not try something different and go wtih the Mariner, unless you really don't like the ports. I found the Mariner very different from the Adventure -- and I loved both. I was on the Eastern itinerary for the Mariner. Either way you can't go wrong, IMHO.

I've also been on the Radiance and would highly recommend that ship, too. It's my favorite and yes, it's smaller and I think more elegant.

Host Miriam
Community Supervisor
[email]ldrscruisemir7@aol.com[/email]

[NYCRUISR]

IMHO......I have sailed on the voyager class ships, Explorer and Navigator, and the Serenade, sister to the Radiance that everyone is also mentioning as a possibility. The Serenade was our first randiance class.

Until the Serenade out of San Juan to the Antiqua, Barbados southern route we had only previously done eastern or western caribbean. We like the southern itinerary better and so we will now do the Adventure to Aruba next winter. And yes...we are looking forward to being on a voyager class ship again. While the Serenade was a beautiful ship, we simply missed the promenade. We found the shopping area to be a bit too cramped for us. The photo gallery is at the end of the corridor and the traffic was heavy. The view of the ocean through the many glass elevators is beautiful but didint make up for the loss of the promenade and we also prefer the twin pools and larger pool deck. Therefore..

Our preference is to stay with the voyager class ships, whichever seems to be doing the itinerary we are looking for at the time. We just loved the southern caribbean this past April and so now we will try the alternate southern route. We are looking forward to visiting Aruba!

Again, only my opinion but you were asking so there it is... whichever you decide Im sure you will not be disappointed.

Carol

[Adventure Girl]

Well to give you the update since you found this post from April 17, 2004....my girlfriends and I decided to go with the Mariner....we sail on the Mariner the week of November 7th. Can't wait.

Now, we are beginning to plan for a Mediterranian cruise next June on Brilliance of the Seas. (Radiance class ship I believe).

[TexasTwoSteps]

We just returned from the Mariner a week or so ago and thoroughly enjoyed her. We had sailed on the AOS the previous year too. We enjoyed the shipe more than any fact of the posts not being as good as the Eastern route or the AOS ports. The cruise staff was great and tell Becky, "Hello Love", when you see her. We rated her the best cruise director we have had in over 12 past cruises.

[Adventure Girl]

TexasTwoSteps: I must have read another post that you made or something because I remember seeing someone write about Becky and "hello Love". But, today I was putting together the itinerary and details for my group and I couldn't remember Becky's saying, (of "hello Love"). Thanks for the reminder!

When my group sailed on the AOS last year we had Kirk Detwieller, who left AOS for the Mariner. He was fantastic. We are hoping he might return to the Mariner by the time we board in November. Do you think Becky would still be on the Mariner in November? Do you know if the CD are on a 6-month contract like other crew members? I realize that the CD is considered "staff" and not crew....but I was just curious. I've heard a lot about Becky and would love to meet her and experience her CD talents as well. Where is Becky from?

Thanks