Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Live from the Mariner - 11/30-12/7 - Western Caribbean

SliderNc

By SliderNc,
in Royal Caribbean International

Recommended Posts

SliderNc "Live from...." Rare

SliderNc

Posted
Posted

First, I'll introduce myself.

 

My name is Gerald and this is my first cruise since 1995. My family has worked in the cruise industry for many years and I've been lucky to cruise through some of the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. I've been on some old great ships, but haven't been on a cruise in the past 13 years or so. I'm new to the true mass market cruise lines as well. My parents have continued to cruise while I went away to college and then joined the working class citizens brigade.

 

I'm pretty new here as a poster in the past few months since I hadn't been on a cruise and didn't have much to add since cruising has surely changed from the 80s/early 90s when I last cruised. However, I have enjoyed reading some other people's live from threads as well so I thought that I would put together a journal of sorts about my experience on one of the larger cruise ships afloat after not having cruised for 13+ years.

 

So sit back and relax and enjoy it. I'll start with yesterday's festivities and then on to this morning once we get on the ship.

 

Hope everyone enjoys this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mom2bcr

mom2bcr

Posted
Posted

 

So sit back and relax and enjoy it. I'll start with yesterday's festivities and then on to this morning once we get on the ship.

 

Hope everyone enjoys this.

 

I'm very excited to hear about your cruise!! DH and I will be on the Mariner Western on 12/14!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SliderNc "Live from...." Rare

SliderNc

Posted
  • Author
Posted

After spending the holiday with my girlfriend's family, we headed out two days early for Port Canaveral. It's about an 8 hour drive from Charlotte, NC and we made it into town around 8PM Friday night. No big surprises here since it's a straight shot for us.

 

Pre-Cruise Hotel

Both myself and Jenn travel for work quite a bit, Jenn more so then I do so we collect points, miles, etc for pretty much everywhere we stay. Once we had chosen this cruise, we started looking at our current point status at various hotel brands and ended up choosing the Residence Inn by Marriott which is right down the road from the port. I'll be making a separate review on this hotel on Trip Advisor when I return from the cruise. However, for the pre-cruise stay for us that don't live within a decent drive of the port, I would highly recommend this hotel. The rate was on par with other area hotels and the service was excellent. The staff all over the hotel was always happy to help with directions or recommend a good place to eat. They even have a heated pool/jacuzzi right next to a bar that is opened up until 10PM each night. There is no restaurant in this hotel, however, they do have a hot breakfast buffet each morning with the basics. It isn't gourmet by any standards, but it definitely fits the bill after a long night at Grills or Fishlips. Rooms are all suites and very nicely appointed. The beds are a little soft for me but Jenn thought it was one of the best beds she slept in.

 

Pre-Meet N Mingle at Grills

Our Rollcall group decided to hold a pre-Meet N Mingle at Grills last night to watch the Saturday ships sail away. Jenn and I arrived late as we were spending some time with family who lives about an hour north of Port Canaveral, however, when we got there, the party was in full effect. I think about 25 of us showed up last night to Grills to meet, eat and drink and watch the ships sale out of the channel and into the ocean. All I could think about was how good it will be to be on the Mariner, looking down at everyone at Grills as we sailed past. We didn’t eat any of the food at Grills with the group as we had a late lunch with our relatives that afternoon. However, the bartenders do have a heavy hand there according to Jenn and the LI Iced Teas were strong. It was a really nice night and great to finally put some faces to the posters on this forum. We ended up back at the Residence around 8:30PM or so and in the hot tub to finish relaxing for the rest of the night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SliderNc "Live from...." Rare

SliderNc

Posted
  • Author
Posted

We are getting ready to pack up and head to the port. Forgot to mention in the above post that the Residence Inn will let you leave your car for the week here and it costs $6pp round trip from the hotel to the port. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wenabre

wenabre

Posted
Posted

Gerald, can I ask you a big favour??

Could you go to the 9th deck and check out the door handle on cabin 9306 (starboard side) and let me know which way the open part of the door handle is facing. I know this sounds silly but the part of the handle that moves up and down and is not attached to the door will tell me which way the beds are facing. In other words are our toes or our heads facing the bow or the aft ? Thanks if you can. Have a super cruise, we will be on her in two weeks :D

Wenabre

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruising forever

cruising forever

Posted
Posted

Hi, this is Pris & Bucky and we're also Live from the Mariner!! We stayed at the Radisson where the shuttle is gratis, except for whatever you care to tip the shuttle driver. After Grills, we went back to the Tiki Bar at the Radisson and had way too many chilly snacks and then called it a night. We were scheduled to be on the 11:30 am shuttle, but were fortunately able to ride over earlier and were actually standing in line to have our Sea Pass photo taken at 11:25 am, 5 minutes before we were scheduled to ride over to the Port - whooo hoooo!!

 

Sadly, we're dealing with rain and winds up to 50 mph right now, but hey, we're on a cruise and that's what is important :) The ship is fabulous and it was fantastic sailing by Grills and waving - finally our turn!

 

We had a modest group at sailaway as it was pretty rainy at the time and our Roll Call of 95 Meet n Mingle is scheduled in about an hour, a sea day. Stopping at Labadee sounds iffy at best, but we'll see what happens next. We were so disappointed when the Space Shuttle couldn't land yesterday; that would have been so cool!

 

Sue: Call or email Crown & Anchor and they will give you the Entertainment lineup (that's what we did) as it could change from this week to next. I recall we have a Temptations Review (I think that's who it was; it was Beach Music, I remember that much LOL).

 

To the OP, we are on Deck 9 and I'll check your door handle if Gerald doesn't get to it for you :)

 

 

 

Got to run; happy cyber Monday all!

 

Pris & Bucky

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruising forever

cruising forever

Posted
Posted

The door handle on cabin 9306 faces to the right.....it's a great location, appears to be either on or just off the hump about a dozen cabins off the Centrum elevators. We are directly across on the port side on the hump so it was easy to check!

 

Slick: Yes, decorations are going up all over....the big tree is up in the Promenade, but it looked like it wasn't quite finished. There are also smaller trees throughout. It's looking very Christmas-y :)

 

PS The sun is out, too!

 

Gerald said he was going to report in on the Meet n Mingle, so I'll leave that for him ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wenabre

wenabre

Posted
Posted

Glad to know that the sun is out for you.

Thanks for checking the handle for me...its what I was hoping for, that means we a sleeping 'feet first'. I know it sounds silly but if its wavy, I sleep better that way.

I am glad that the decorations are going up. Its quite 'Christ-massy' here with snow falling and people having already put their lights up and our Politicians are acting like most of them are going to be on the 'Very Naughty List :eek:'

this year.

Have a great rest of your cruise:)

Wendy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruising forever

cruising forever

Posted
Posted

The weather was absolutley beautiful in Labadee today. We went to the very first beach on the left after you get off the nice sized tender ferry boats. The water had a little chill to it, but just enough to make it feel not like bath water and you were used to it right away. I don't think I saw any clouds in the sky the whole day!

 

Gerald and Jenn did the wave runners and said it was fantastic! We opted to come back on the ship for lunch - be advised that the Windjammer was closed for lunch, so it was eaither go to the Dining room or go to Johnny Rockets. We opted to gather up our Platinum (free) Johnny Rockets coupons and headed up topside for a great burger and milkshake lunch. If any of us printed out the milkshake coupon a while back, the regular waiter had never seen it, but the Supervisor okay'd it to be used in conjunction with the Platinum coupon.

 

Another of our CC friends, Campbell is doing the PADI certification program and the first "dive" was this afternoon in one of the ship's pools - to get used to using the equipment. So if you plan to do that, be aware that is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

 

We have had a great experience thus far - everyone we have encountered seems to be genuinely interested that we are enjoying ourselves :)

 

Time to go and shower up for dinner - tomorrow, we've booked our only thingee through the ship, a day pass at Sandals' all inclusive. Then, perhaps a stop back at Margaritaville on the way back to the ship. My liver will need to dry out after that LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mom2bcr

mom2bcr

Posted
Posted

- tomorrow, we've booked our only thingee through the ship, a day pass at Sandals' all inclusive. Then, perhaps a stop back at Margaritaville on the way back to the ship. My liver will need to dry out after that LOL

 

Glad to hear the weather is cooperating!!!

 

I'm eager to hear about your experience at Sandals. DH are trying to decide b/w Sandals and Beaches.

 

Do you happen to know if it is Sandals-Ochos Rios or Sandals-Dunns River Falls?

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

Posted
Posted
The weather was absolutley beautiful in Labadee today. We went to the very first beach on the left after you get off the nice sized tender ferry boats. The water had a little chill to it, but just enough to make it feel not like bath water and you were used to it right away. I don't think I saw any clouds in the sky the whole day!

 

Gerald and Jenn did the wave runners and said it was fantastic! We opted to come back on the ship for lunch - be advised that the Windjammer was closed for lunch, so it was eaither go to the Dining room or go to Johnny Rockets. We opted to gather up our Platinum (free) Johnny Rockets coupons and headed up topside for a great burger and milkshake lunch. If any of us printed out the milkshake coupon a while back, the regular waiter had never seen it, but the Supervisor okay'd it to be used in conjunction with the Platinum coupon.

 

Another of our CC friends, Campbell is doing the PADI certification program and the first "dive" was this afternoon in one of the ship's pools - to get used to using the equipment. So if you plan to do that, be aware that is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

 

We have had a great experience thus far - everyone we have encountered seems to be genuinely interested that we are enjoying ourselves :)

 

Time to go and shower up for dinner - tomorrow, we've booked our only thingee through the ship, a day pass at Sandals' all inclusive. Then, perhaps a stop back at Margaritaville on the way back to the ship. My liver will need to dry out after that LOL

What milkshake coupon?

 

If you are talking about something on the Johnny Rockets website, it is for land-based restaurants only, and specifically NOT for onboard use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruising forever

cruising forever

Posted
Posted

Merion Mom: A few months ago, RCCL sent me some sort of survey and the coupon was available at the end of it as a gift for my taking the time to fill out the survey. I can no longer check the specifics on it because they accepted it and I no longer have it. That's all I know :eek:

 

mom2bcr: I'm pretty sure it's Sandals Dunns River Falls, but will know for sure in a little over 2 hours - meanwhile, the sun is shining brightly once again and we're having a pleasant ride into Ocho Rios. Breakfast should be here any minute, so I'll sign out for now.

 

Oh, Gerald said yesterday he hadn't had a chance to sign back on here yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruising forever

cruising forever

Posted
Posted

We are in a JS cabin on the hump on Deck 9, practically a stone's throw from the Concierge Lounge and were able to get a signal from there, but still opted for Cyber Cabin at $100 for the week of unlimited use. It's a bit slower, but no worries with the unlimited use. Odd, though, as I had read (I think here on CC) that Cyber Cabin was no longer available, but we certainly have it.

 

Oh, by the way, Captain Per has his wife and 2 young children on board this week; they are too cute!

 

Grand Cayman was a bit rainy today. In fact, we heard people say that Captain Marvin's wasn't able to go out to see the stingrays. Such a shame for those who had never done it ;(

 

Tomorrow is Cozumel and a day at Nachi Cocum for us. Hope the weather is good !! I can't believe this cruise is nearing an end already.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...