2005 President's Week CC Group Cruise aboard the Mariner: $25pp Deposit coming Due Soon!

[Sailfish]

This is just a reminder that anyone interested in joining us on the Cruise Critic Group Cruise aboard the Mariner during Presidents Week 2005 (sailing out of Port Canaveral on February 20, 2005), and you want to take advantage of the reduced deposit of $25pp, you need to do so soon.

The Mariner that week will be doing an Eastern Caribbean Itinerary calling on Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten, with three relaxing days at sea.

For more information, please go to the Group Cruise Message Board, scroll all the way down until you come to the February 20, 2005 Presidents Week Mariner Cruise forum. You are also welcome to email me at [email]suzi95628@yahoo.com[/email] if you have any questions.

Suzi
President's Week Group Cruise Leader


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[Sailfish]

Her is an easy link to the stateroom price list and payment schedule for this cruise on Cruise Critic:

[url="http://www.cruisecritic.com/interests/groups.cfm?ID=52"]http://www.cruisecritic.com/interests/groups.cfm?ID=52[/url]

Suzi


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[Sailfish]

A few people recently emailed me asking for more specific information about the ports of call and questions concerning the group, so I thought I would follow up with a post for all interested parties to see.

The President's Week 2005 Mariner will be calling on ports in the Eastern Caribbean. We will be departing Port Canaveral on Sunday and call on Nassau in the Bahamas the next day on Monday. Our ship will only remain in port from 8am - 2pm. The next day is spent at sea.

On Wednesday, the Mariner calls on St. Thomas and on Thursday, she calls on St. Maarten. The ship remains in port all day both days. The final two days of the cruise are spent at sea.

As I work in education, we get the week of February 20, 2005 off. We are looking to fly out to Orlando the Friday before the cruise to check out the theme parks. We sailed aboard the Navigator last year and had a great time. These Voyager Class ships have so much to offer, that during our Western Caribbean itinerary we barely scratched the surface! I am really looking forward to our three days at sea.

In an other email I recently received were questions concerning being a part of a group. While it's true that it is being sponsored by Cruise Critic, you are not limiting yourself to participating with the group. It's your vacation. People can pretty much go about their own business and do their own thing. You can select your dinner seating and with whom you prefer to dine. In the months coming up to the cruise, I would hope people would register for the Meet & Mingle party and go online now and then here at Crusie Critic. But no one is going to pressure you to do so.

The biggest advantage of being part of a group is the reduced group rate. Depending on the number of people who sign up to go, the amenities the cruise line will offer us and the reduced deposit amount are also perks not available to individual bookings. That's it. There are no strings attached, and no will force you to participate in "group activities." I know this was a big concern of ours as well.

Another concern someone had was regarding the rates. Unfortunately, those low post 911 prices seem to be a thing of the past. All 2005 sailings, it seems, have gone up considerably. The cost for an inside cabin is $895, up about $200, and I'm told prices could go up even more. It's a combination of supply and demand and fuel costs, I'm sure. Suffice it to say, the cruise industry is rebounding and costs associated with travel are higher across the board.

One last thing; if you are a Platinum or Diamond Crown & Anchor member, don't forget, you are entitled to a balcony C&A discount - $100/cabin if you are Platinum and $200/cabin if you are Diamond. We are Diamond C&A members, and got $200 off our E2 balcony. With the discount, a balcony was only $30pp more than an Outside cabin.

Hope this helps answer some of you questions.

Suzi


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[Sailfish]

Here is a link to some questions I had concerning our itinerary and the answers I got from Cruise Critic members who recently cruised aboard the Mariner:

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=408097554&m=649107241&r=490106441#490106441"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=408097554&m=649107241&r=490106441#490106441[/url]

Enjoy!


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[CoachTerry14]

I am going on this cruise...it will be a blast! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

[img]http://joanod.users.fl.net.au/helm.gif[/img]

[email="terrygbennett@yahoo.com"]terrygbennett@yahoo.com[/email]

[Sailfish]

This is just a friendly reminder that the $25pp deposit will expire tomorrow - Friday, April 23, 2004.

We will continue to accept reservations through Spetember 2004, however, after tomorrow, it will cost you $250pp to book this cruise.

Good luck!

Suzi


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[Sailfish]

Today is the last day to call in your reservation with the $25 deposit. Our cruise will continue to take reservations through September, I am told. However, after today, you will need to put down the $250pp deposit.

Good luck!

Suzi


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas

[MAXCAT]

Do they offer single accomodations?

Explorer of the Sea - November 2001
Nordic Empress - November 2002
Serenade - October 9
Trip was great...now looking for another.....

[Sailfish]

As you know, rates for singles tend to be very high. The single rate for a category Q inside cabin is $1615pp, where as the double occupancy rates for the same category is $895pp. Pirces include port charges and government taxes.

Unfortunately, the cruise line considers this a "holiday" sailing, so prices are higher this week compared to the week before and the week after. I would not count on prices going down, as many school dictricts across the US have this time off, but if they do go down, our agent at Crucon has said he would lower our rates.

Hope this helps.

Suzi


05 July 2004 Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas

21 November 2004 Cruise Aboard Carnival's Pride

20 February 2005 Cruise Critic Group Cruise Aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas