5/3 Mariner Review

[wblynch]

Thank you joyfulmarsh for your cruise review! We are anxiously waiting for our Mariner PNW cruise in just a few weeks. We LOVE the new itinerary! San Francisco is our favorite city so we are really looking forward to our stop there. In fact, would love to take you up on your dining recommendation offer. We would like to try one of the Italian resturants in North Beach. Nothing fancy or expensive, more family type would be best for us. What would you suggest? Thanks so much for any advice & info...we really apprecite it!

 

Looking foward to the rest of your review:D

 

For the REALLY good Italian restaurants in San Francisco you need to go to the Richmond District, just north of GG Park.

 

Clement Street used to be the hub. Haven't been there in a while so can't recommend any individually.

 

All I can say is once you've tried Clement Street, you will be spoiled for life.

[wblynch]

Great review so far...it almost makes me wish I didn't just change my sailing from 5/31 to 6/28.

I grew up in the Bay Area and didn't feelt he need to "go home" via ship, or visit any of the other cold ports, but your review would have made me reconsider hadn't I already changed it.

 

It's so nice to read some positive thoughts on this whole situation!

 

I agree. I'm starting to regret switching.

 

(just thinking about all the great food in San Francisco is making me homesick ... a little)

[Let'sGo!]

Thanks Joyful for your insight on the cruise. I have to confess we too thought about cancelling - we truly booked for the destination, not the ship.

 

But after thinking about it, we realized this would be a cruise where we could really rest. Our past cruises have meant getting up early to make shore excursions or get a deck chair! We figured with late arrivals in ports and no planned excursions, we can really take our time getting off the ship and with all of our OBC, we might even be able to make a spa appointment or two!

[joyfulmarsh]

I forgot to mention what we did in the afternoon on Monday, when we returned to the ship after our Coit Tower hike and trip home to pick up a few things.

 

Since where the Mariner docks at is in the midst great area to visit and walk around (Pier 39, Ferry Plaza, excursions to Alcatraz, etc.), it was no surprise that many many passenger went ashore to explore our great City. That meant that when we returned to the ship around 4:15 or so, and by then the overcast skies had also warmed up a bit, we found the Solarium quite nicely deserted. We decided to enjoy the Solarium hot tub!! There's something very serene (that feeling of knowing you are so blessed) about sitting so high up and seeing our lovely city before us and as a backdrop while we were soaking up the bubbling hot tub.

 

Now, even if you live in the Bay Area or the idea of "visiting" a port that is your city of residence in not appealing, well, here's an example of enjoying your city in a another way.......

 

And because San Francisco is a great dinning destination for foodies and with the Mariner scheduled departure not until 10:00PM, a great many passengers dined in the City and we found many dinning areas on the ship to be quite sparse came dinner time.

[joyfulmarsh]

We are spontaneous types who like doing our own thing, thus we have never booked any excursions. Knowing we were in for some cooler and wet Pacific Coast weather, we were near certain we weren’t going to leave the ship when it docked in Victoria.

 

But we did. We bundled up and put on our Mountain Hardware raincoats & hats and braved the line for the shuttle buses ($6.50 USD Round Trip) into Downtown Victoria. By the way, The Carnival Splendor was also in port (Their itinerary pretty much mirrored the Mariner’s). Combined with their passengers wanting to also go into downtown, the line for the shuttle buses was a bit of wait in the pouring rain. We walked around downtown and strolled through The Empress. DH enjoyed a couple of pints at a couple of pubs while I purchased a couple of souvenirs. With the pouring rain, there really wasn’t much to do and so we headed back to the ship soon after.

 

Seattle fared quite nicely for us. In advance, I contacted an old friend I hadn’t seen in over a decade and he was so delighted that we were finally visiting that he offered to pick us up from the Terminal and drove us around, providing us with a personal, guided mini-tour of Seattle (“Thank you Winston!!”) After, he dropped us off at Pike’s Market. By then the weather was also a nice combination of brisk sunshine and intermittent overcast, so it was also good walking weather to explore the Pike’s Market area and visiting the first ever Starbuck’s where DH had to pay homage.

 

NEXT: Observations & Miscellaneous

[Tesanrick]

Thank you so much for your posts Joyful. We are sailing on June 7th.

 

Can you comment on how "rough" the seas were? My daughter, age 9, does tend to get seasick, and I've heard that this sailing can be rougher than the Mexican Riviera which we have done several times.

[joyfulmarsh]

Thank you so much for your posts Joyful. We are sailing on June 7th.

 

Can you comment on how "rough" the seas were? My daughter, age 9, does tend to get seasick, and I've heard that this sailing can be rougher than the Mexican Riviera which we have done several times.

 

Hi there! Thanks for reading.

 

My best guess is that it could be rough, more so depending on your Stateroom location. I originally booked a hump Inside on Deck 8, knowing that this was the exact same Stateroom from our Adventure of the Seas cruise in which my-prone-to-seasick DH was able to handle (no seasickness on that cruise). However, we were upgraded to an Oceanview on Deck 7 near Aft for the Mariner and that may have contributed to DH's motion-sickness, which I think was pretty bad. You definitely feel the motion more depending on your location. In speaking to another couple, they too felt their upgraded Stateroom contributed to their seasickness.

 

In advance, I did purchase the Sea-band bracelets for DH and Guest Relations do provide pills upon request.

 

Surprisingly, the last two sea days were not rough--motion-wise! Even as you look out to the ocean, the wave would seem rough, but because we were sailing with the current, it felt relatively smooth. However, if this was the last two sea days of the Mexican Riviera, it's been said that would be much more rougher due to not sailing with the current.

 

Have a lovely cruise, Joyful Marsh

[bartelbee]

Sorry for jumping in here (We, too, were on this cruise--thank you, joyfulmarsh, for offering wonderful suggestions for S.F beforehand) but I've been hesitant about writing my own review, given the unhappiness of so many of the 4/26 cruisers. I've been both a beneficiary and victim of itinerary changes so I know how cheated they must feel. Each time we stepped out on that cold deck, we thought of them, so unprepared for the change. I wish RCCl would offer compensation, but historically, it doesn't seem to be something any of the cruiselines do. I'll keep my fingers crossed for them.

However, we had such a good experience and this thread seemed so positive (thank you again, joyfulmarsh) I felt compelled to add to it.

Let me first state that we would NEVER willfully choose these ports. We're beach/water lovers and that's why we cruise. However, when they offered the upgrade and generous OBC/FCC, I talked my husband into keeping the booking. I figured I'd probably never again have the chance to see these ports and we had the vacation time anyway. As an added bonus, my sister decided to join us at the last minute since the rates were so good and she didn't have to pay much of a single supplement, so we were all prepared for the adventure.

Embarking took a while--there was a bi-annual coast guard inspection that morning so the ship wasn't cleared at its usual time--but it meant we were able to go straight to the cabins and drop off our carry-ons. The pool was warm enough for swimming so we took advantage of what we suspected would be our only chance to swim. The first sea day was brutal--cold, windy, cloudy--so we prefer to forget that.

We'd been to San Francisco, and it was chilly, so we just strolled over to Pier 39 to watch the sea otters and then grabbed a beer at a place overlooking the water where the bartender entertained us with stories. We, too came back to an empty ship and went up to Ellingtons for the 2 for 1 margaritas (they were offered several times during the curuise so watch your Compass) The view was spectacular. Going under the Golden Gate was incredible and sailing back out again at night was literally breathtaking. We stood at the top front of the ship in the wind and rain with about 20 other people and did the collective gasp as we just about cleared the bridge.

In Victoria, we waited on that stupid shuttle line for 40 minutes in the rain for the 5 minute drive to town and found a pub (after S.F. we decided to have a beer in every port.) The bartender came over and quietly asked if we were cruisers and had the ship been to Mexico. Apparently, they had quite a few cases of scarlet fever and were worried about adding the flu to the mix. Once we reassured her that we hadn't, things warmed up and we had fun playing pool and the various bar games. BTW, the shuttle back was much quicker.

In Seattle, you have to go through immigration--outside the ship. You have to get off (no one even glanced at my passport) and wait until everyone else has cleared the ship before you can get back on again. Knowing we'd have a wait anyway, I talked my husband and sister into the Underground Tour. We walked to Pioneer Square (the old part of the city) but it's a bit of a trek, so if you're thinking about it, you might want to explore public transportation. The tour was fun, entertaining and very informative.

Afterward, we went across the street to the Merchants Cafe for our obligatory beer in every port. While we were there, the manager there came over to entertain us with stories about one of the original owners, Madame Lou. Don't know if his stories were true or not, but he was also very entertaining. The fun thing about our impromptu pub tour was that we got to experience a different slice of life in each port. I loved it.

As far as onboard experiences, we were the crazy people bundled up on the deck, determined to get our fun in the sun, sparse though it might have been. Our stubborn determination paid off. Returning home, the wind wasn't nearly as bad, and the last day, we went up to the top forward deck, dead in the middle, and while the sun was intermittent, I actually came home with a bit of a tan. BTW, at least one of the pools was heated and while it wasn't Caribbean-warm and stepping out was a nightmare, if you keep a towel/robe/blanket near, it's doable.

The crew was wonderful. They were grateful to have a somewhat happier passenger base this time around (unlike the cruise before us, we had foreknowledge and most of us were there willingly.) They were scrambling with all the changes, though. Menus had to be switched around (formal nights are always on sea days) which also means a change in uniforms, recommendations, etc. Everyone wanted Main dining so Late was empty. Our poor wait staff had only 1 table of 8 and 3 never showed. I think this was the norm--by the end of the cruise we had 7 people waiting on the 5 of us.

I'd heard complaints about the concierge but we had none. The food trays were consistently stocked, the coffee machines were always ruunning and the drinks flowed freely. Maybe it's because there was less of a crowd to deal with but it was easy to encourage the staff to just sit and chat with us, which I found to be an extra perk, since they're usually so harried and busy.

Our final perk came as we were sailing back home. We'd planned to do the whale cruise in Victoria but the rain nixed that idea, so imagine our delight when we went out on the balcony for the sunset and noticed a plume of steam, far out in the water. A minute later, we saw a tail, and then a fin. If you've ever been whale watching, you know that it's often as good as it gets. Just as we were happily discussing how cool it was, we saw a commotion in the water below. Seconds later, a whale burst out of the water with what in hindsight seemed like a startled wail, did a 180 rotation of his body and sailed away. We're still saying "wow!" Our theory is he must have been dreaming and narrowly missed getting hit by the ship. All we know is that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. So definitely bring your binoculars and keep on the look-out.

Debarkation was the fastest I've ever experienced. We walked right off--no lines, no complications.

I could probably go on, but I've hijacked this review long enough. All I really wanted to do, like joyfulmarsh, was to assure those of you who decided to sail that you made the right decision.

[akcruz]

bartlebee, let me be one of the first to say WONDERFUL POST. So glad you had a good time and happy you came here to post about it.

[VikkiGarcia]

Thank You both! We look forward to our 6/14 sailing!

[joyfulmarsh]

I am so glad you posted and that your experience mirrored ours. Because it's all relative, still, I'm glad that my experience and description of the weather was not far from yours. Again, I'm a cold weather wimp! :rolleyes: Kudos to your fortitude in braving the elements to enjoy some intermittent sun!!

 

I am so delighted to hear of your whale sighting. I could be jealous of you guys, but instead I am happy for you guys for getting this rare opportunity!!

 

Cruise in good health & spirits! Joyful Marsh

[joyfulmarsh]

Thanks Joyful for your insight on the cruise. I have to confess we too thought about cancelling - we truly booked for the destination, not the ship.

 

But after thinking about it, we realized this would be a cruise where we could really rest. Our past cruises have meant getting up early to make shore excursions or get a deck chair! We figured with late arrivals in ports and no planned excursions, we can really take our time getting off the ship and with all of our OBC, we might even be able to make a spa appointment or two!

 

TexasAnn, I took the change in itinerary in the same stride as you've now come to feel. Seriously, you've already scheduled the time off and with no need to set an alarm clock for an entire week, what bliss??! Do enjoy that spa!! You may want to wait until the last two sea days for some great combo special pricing. Some services when as low as $99 by the end of the week.

 

Have a lovely cruise, wherever Mariner will take you! Joyful Marsh

[joyfulmarsh]

Background: We’re 39 (me) and 50 (DH). We’re fit, active, spontaneous, open-minded types who have had one prior cruise experience—The Adventure of the Seas (Southern Caribbean) exactly a year ago the same week as this Mariner sailing. Home is downtown, San Francisco!

SFO – LAX: We flew morning of cruise departure on Virgin America, which had a crew delay, but I think that worked to our advantage (more at Embarkation).

Transfer to San Pedro: Thanks to my LA area friend, Jason for giving us a lift to the Terminal.

Embarkation: Due to Virgin flight delay, we didn’t arrive at the San Pedro Terminal until nearly 1:30PM. Apparently, there would have been some wait and hassle had we arrived earlier based on a current review by harvschmarv: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=54694 The entire process was over in under 10 minutes. Every area (security screening, check-in, etc.) was just a matter of walking right up (no wait). I walked up to the check-in area designated for Deck 8 (my original reservation), only to be told that they didn’t have my reservation. I didn’t panic, because instinctually, something told me we may have been upgraded. Even after she handed over our Sea Pass (which she found in another area), we still had no clue what kind of Stateroom we would encounter. And to our delight, we were upgraded to Deluxe Oceanview with Balcony, Deck 7 Aft area. We portered all our own luggage (2 pieces each) and even with a case of water, it was all manageable. And by the time we stepped onboard, our Stateroom was already available for us to drop off all our luggage.

Deluxe Oceanview w/Balcony Stateroom: WOW! We joshed that we now cannot go back to an Inside.

Stateroom Attendant: He was fine and provided the standard Royal Caribbean friendly customer service. However, I just couldn’t help thinking that he and along with his colleagues all seem tired, but still tried to smile through. As repeat cruisers and realizing we hadn’t received a couple of things we would’ve as repeat cruisers, I asked him about it and his reply was that, to his knowledge, the Stateroom that we are now in was in fact supposed to have sailed empty and thus he didn’t expect us. So due to the change in our Stateroom and an unknowing Stateroom Attendant, we didn’t receive some notices, such as the change in date and time of our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle invite. We suppose it all got delivered to our original Stateroom on Deck 8.

Crew & Staff: All provided great customer service and were always at a ready with a greeting and a smile.

Windjammer & Main Dinning Room: Windjammer is, well, Windjammer and everyone will have their own opinions on the subject. It’s never going to please everyone, but as for myself, I was able to stick to healthier selections whenever we dine there for most breakfast and a couple of lunches. The MDR was available for breakfast and lunch while at sea. This we’d enjoyed, as we’ve been fortunate to share dinning tables with people we liked and enjoyed talking to. There were no particular standout dish for me in the MDR. More then anything, it was the company of our table-mates that made dinnertime great. We had Main Seating at a table of six adjacent to the Captain’s Table near the center. We met Canadians Father & Son and another couple from San Bernardino. We truly and thoroughly enjoyed all their company had a great time hanging out even when we ran into them outside of dinnertime. It got to be playfully competitive between DH and Canadian Son as to who had the bigger appetite and who had the most dishes racked up. It was just a great group of people that got along and it became conducive to silly humor and practical jokes.

CHOPS, Portofino & Johnny Rockets: I’d booked the Specialty restaurants around having previewed the menu from previous Mariner sailings weeks prior to ours (they pretty much stick to the same Dinning Room menu from week-to-week or Monday-to-Monday, unless there’s a change in a particular Sea Day which impacts which evening will be formal). So I had known in advance to not book the Specialty restaurants on the two formal nights and knew that Thursday and Saturday were the two good nights to dine at CHOPS and Portofino. We had thoroughly enjoyed Portofino from our previous Adventure of the Seas cruise and knew we would absolutely do again on the Mariner. We dined at CHOPS first on Thursday night and of course it was well worth the surcharge. We received excellent service and the appetizers were all delicious. I especially enjoyed the lobster carpaccio, the shrimp & crab cake and the fish trio (more like sashimi). DH and I shared the Filet Mignon, veal chop and a t-bone. It was all good. We dined at Portofino on Saturday and once again, the food was terrific and for DH, preferable to CHOPS. We shared a handful of appetizers including the beef carpoccio and fried calamari among others. We also shared the seafood linguini and veal. All excellent. We dine at Johnny Rockets for lunch on Friday utilizing our coupon from the Crown & Anchor book. Fries, Onion Rings and a Double Cheeseburger!! Vitamin G. That’s GREASY goodness!

Entertainment: Again, this is relative and while we consider some to be good, they were not great. The Ice Show had great performers making do with a small space. The production shows had singers with great range. Ivan Pecal (Juggler) was entertaining and funny. The first comedian wasn’t so comedic. Although another comedian, Derrick Cameron came on the ship later in the week and it turned out he was the same comedian from our previous cruise a year ago—with nearly the same comedy material. LaRaff (Illusionists) performed the same tired old illusions that are standards from any other illusionists’ repertoire. Their music upped the cheese factor exponentially. Jay Johnson (Ventriloquist) was the best entertainment of the week. His comedic materials were all funny. Otherwise, as always The Love & Marriage and Quest Games were always good for some laughs!!

Gym & Spa: DH brought onboard our active lifestyle and committed over 90 minutes to the gym each day. I, on the other hand, was in vacation mode and felt that I had earned a respite from my normal daily workouts! Since I won a $50 discount toward a spa service, I did utilize it for a Hot Stone Therapy Massage. It was a great way to wile away 75 minutes. At the end, she did asked if I was familiar with the Elemis line of products. I thanked her and said that I like to stick to the brand I currently use. The subject was closed and there was no pressure to buy their products.

Disembarkation: Our color and number were called and we just walked right off. Easy.

Transfer to LAX: Many thanks to our kind dinner tablemates from San Bernardino for giving us a ride to LAX.

LAX to SFO: Virgin America flight delayed. Surprised??

Our Health?: Good, Thank you!

 

Joyful Marsh

[Merion_Mom]

Background: We’re 39 (me) and 50 (DH). We’re fit, active, spontaneous, open-minded types who have had one prior cruise experience—The Adventure of the Seas (Southern Caribbean) exactly a year ago the same week as this Mariner sailing. Home is downtown, San Francisco!

SFO – LAX: We flew morning of cruise departure on Virgin America, which had a crew delay, but I think that worked to our advantage (more at Embarkation).

Transfer to San Pedro: Thanks to my LA area friend, Jason for giving us a lift to the Terminal.

Embarkation: Due to Virgin flight delay, we didn’t arrive at the San Pedro Terminal until nearly 1:30PM. Apparently, there would have been some wait and hassle had we arrived earlier based on a current review by harvschmarv: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=54694 The entire process was over in under 10 minutes. Every area (security screening, check-in, etc.) was just a matter of walking right up (no wait). I walked up to the check-in area designated for Deck 8 (my original reservation), only to be told that they didn’t have my reservation. I didn’t panic, because instinctually, something told me we may have been upgraded. Even after she handed over our Sea Pass (which she found in another area), we still had no clue what kind of Stateroom we would encounter. And to our delight, we were upgraded to Deluxe Oceanview with Balcony, Deck 7 Aft area. We portered all our own luggage (2 pieces each) and even with a case of water, it was all manageable. And by the time we stepped onboard, our Stateroom was already available for us to drop off all our luggage.

Deluxe Oceanview w/Balcony Stateroom: WOW! We joshed that we now cannot go back to an Inside.

Stateroom Attendant: He was fine and provided the standard Royal Caribbean friendly customer service. However, I just couldn’t help thinking that he and along with his colleagues all seem tired, but still tried to smile through. As repeat cruisers and realizing we hadn’t received a couple of things we would’ve as repeat cruisers, I asked him about it and his reply was that, to his knowledge, the Stateroom that we are now in was in fact supposed to have sailed empty and thus he didn’t expect us. So due to the change in our Stateroom and an unknowing Stateroom Attendant, we didn’t receive some notices, such as the change in date and time of our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle invite. We suppose it all got delivered to our original Stateroom on Deck 8.

Crew & Staff: All provided great customer service and were always at a ready with a greeting and a smile.

Windjammer & Main Dinning Room: Windjammer is, well, Windjammer and everyone will have their own opinions on the subject. It’s never going to please everyone, but as for myself, I was able to stick to healthier selections whenever we dine there for most breakfast and a couple of lunches. The MDR was available for breakfast and lunch while at sea. This we’d enjoyed, as we’ve been fortunate to share dinning tables with people we liked and enjoyed talking to. There were no particular standout dish for me in the MDR. More then anything, it was the company of our table-mates that made dinnertime great. We had Main Seating at a table of six adjacent to the Captain’s Table near the center. We met Canadians Father & Son and another couple from San Bernardino. We truly and thoroughly enjoyed all their company had a great time hanging out even when we ran into them outside of dinnertime. It got to be playfully competitive between DH and Canadian Son as to who had the bigger appetite and who had the most dishes racked up. It was just a great group of people that got along and it became conducive to silly humor and practical jokes.

CHOPS, Portofino & Johnny Rockets: I’d booked the Specialty restaurants around having previewed the menu from previous Mariner sailings weeks prior to ours (they pretty much stick to the same Dinning Room menu from week-to-week or Monday-to-Monday, unless there’s a change in a particular Sea Day which impacts which evening will be formal). So I had known in advance to not book the Specialty restaurants on the two formal nights and knew that Thursday and Saturday were the two good nights to dine at CHOPS and Portofino. We had thoroughly enjoyed Portofino from our previous Adventure of the Seas cruise and knew we would absolutely do again on the Mariner. We dined at CHOPS first on Thursday night and of course it was well worth the surcharge. We received excellent service and the appetizers were all delicious. I especially enjoyed the lobster carpaccio, the shrimp & crab cake and the fish trio (more like sashimi). DH and I shared the Filet Mignon, veal chop and a t-bone. It was all good. We dined at Portofino on Saturday and once again, the food was terrific and for DH, preferable to CHOPS. We shared a handful of appetizers including the beef carpoccio and fried calamari among others. We also shared the seafood linguini and veal. All excellent. We dine at Johnny Rockets for lunch on Friday utilizing our coupon from the Crown & Anchor book. Fries, Onion Rings and a Double Cheeseburger!! Vitamin G. That’s GREASY goodness!

Entertainment: Again, this is relative and while we consider some to be good, they were not great. The Ice Show had great performers making do with a small space. The production shows had singers with great range. Ivan Pecal (Juggler) was entertaining and funny. The first comedian wasn’t so comedic. Although another comedian, Derrick Cameron came on the ship later in the week and it turned out he was the same comedian from our previous cruise a year ago—with nearly the same comedy material. LaRaff (Illusionists) performed the same tired old illusions that are standards from any other illusionists’ repertoire. Their music upped the cheese factor exponentially. Jay Johnson (Ventriloquist) was the best entertainment of the week. His comedic materials were all funny. Otherwise, as always The Love & Marriage and Quest Games were always good for some laughs!!

Gym & Spa: DH brought onboard our active lifestyle and committed over 90 minutes to the gym each day. I, on the other hand, was in vacation mode and felt that I had earned a respite from my normal daily workouts! Since I won a $50 discount toward a spa service, I did utilize it for a Hot Stone Therapy Massage. It was a great way to wile away 75 minutes. At the end, she did asked if I was familiar with the Elemis line of products. I thanked her and said that I like to stick to the brand I currently use. The subject was closed and there was no pressure to buy their products.

Disembarkation: Our color and number were called and we just walked right off. Easy.

Transfer to LAX: Many thanks to our kind dinner tablemates from San Bernardino for giving us a ride to LAX.

LAX to SFO: Virgin America flight delayed. Surprised??

Our Health?: Good, Thank you!

 

Joyful Marsh

Remember the television show, Soap?

 

Jay Johnson was the ventriloquist brother on it. :)

[emspilot]

Thanks so much for your insightful, and upbeat review even with the short-notice change in ports. Just for those going on this trip in the near future, there is a great zip-line in Victoria at:

http://www.adrenalinezip.com/

Plus, they'll pick you up and you can avoid the long bus lines for the trip into town.

 

Did it a few years ago....a GREAT time!

[rubrrick]

Great report! We are looking forward to having the same itinerary on our 5/31 cruise!

 

We actually booked this cruise because of the itinerary. We were on the last Mexican Riviera cruise (4/19), and were with a group of wonderful cruising friends.

 

I feel bad for the 4/26 cruisers........as they got the short end of the shaft......if there is such a thing!!:rolleyes:

 

We give a report when we get off of the 5/31 cruise........and I bet......that I would like to do it again!!:D

 

Rick

[nukester]

Thanks for the review ...can you tell us what nights were formal..........

 

did capt johnny do a good job.....

 

john

[Guest nhrich]

Remember the television show, Soap?

 

Jay Johnson was the ventriloquist brother on it. :)

 

Yup, and he still uses "Bob Campbell".

 

From what I heard on the cruise (I also sailed 5/3), a good part of the reason for the rough going heading up to Victoria was due to lack of use of the stabilizers so that we could get back on scheduled after the late departure from SF.

[Guest nhrich]

Thanks for the review ...can you tell us what nights were formal..........

 

did capt johnny do a good job.....

 

john

 

Tuesday & Friday were the formal nights. Johnny was, well, Johnny!

[BEAV]

Thanks for the excellent review.

 

We are Bay Area residents and never tire of sailing in/out of San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge. For upcoming Mariner cruisers, you get double the fun with both sail in and out. Also, sailing out after dark (10:00pm in this case) is great also due to the lights of the City. Spectacular!

 

We are not particularly sun or warm weather cruisers to speak of, so we jumped at the chance to do the Pacific Northwest sailing and look forward to it.

 

We've been to Victoria several times and never tire of visiting there as well. If the weather is good (meaning not raining) when future Mariner cruisers arrive, I can recommend walking the short distance from the cruise pier into downtown Victoria vs fighting the crowds aboard the shuttles. The neighborhood is very nice and you can walk along the seawall which follows the harbor. When you come out of the port area, simply turn left onto Dallas Road and follow along the harbor. The neighborhood is a mix of residences, small hotels, cafes, etc.

[joyfulmarsh]

 

did capt johnny do a good job.....

 

john

 

Many Captain Johnny sightings during our cruise and he was very accessible.

[wolfganghowell]

Thank you for such a positive and upbeat review. Many could learn from your attitude of turning a "challenging" situation into an adventure.

[phtktz3]

We are on the June 7th sailing and we signed up for the murder mystery dinner before the itinerary change. When we booked it was on Tuesday evening in Portofino's but now I'm wondering about it due to formal nights being changed? Does anyone know if the MMD has been rescheduled to another night on this different itinerary?

[BEAV]

We are on the June 7th sailing and we signed up for the murder mystery dinner before the itinerary change. When we booked it was on Tuesday evening in Portofino's but now I'm wondering about it due to formal nights being changed? Does anyone know if the MMD has been rescheduled to another night on this different itinerary?

 

I know on the June 14 sailing, it's currently scheduled on the first night of the cruise, which I find a bit odd.

 

I think you can go to the RCCL website with your reservation number and go through the motions as if you were going to book the Mystery Dinner (even though you technically already have) and see what night they're currently offering it.

[KuffMUp]

I don't know if your "alternate" itinerary included Astoria, Oregon. If so, you will be sad to know we had absolutely wonderful weather the week of April 20, week of May 4 and we again had great weather starting the 14th. We do get a lot of rain in Oregon but that's what makes us so green!