Mariner of the Seas 5/10 Review

[Victory748]

I've seen a couple of these so I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

 

We were booked on Carnival Splendor for almost a year. Then the swine flu came around and changed all our plans. We decided that what worked better for us was to cancel the Splendor and get credit to be used on a future cruise, then book on the Mariner at the low prices that were available. Carnival wasn't offering the great OBC and future cruise credit that Mariner was, unfortunately.

 

Embarkation was extremely smooth. I think we had to wait behind only 2 people before being called to the desk to go through our paper work.

 

We had a deck 2 ocean view. It was small, but that is what I have come to accept when cruising. It works and other than getting dressed and sleeping we weren't in the room much anyway. Our room steward was nice. We didn't see her much but our room was always taken care of and we always had ice. If we had needed more, she left her card with a number we could contact her at.

 

The food in the Windjammer was good. I'm a pretty picky eater so I stuck to some of the more simple things. The staff in there was most excellent. They were usually at the table asking me what I'd like to drink before I even realized that I forgot to pick myself up a drink at the drink station. The others in my group enjoyed the sushi that was there starting at 6:30. We'd sometimes go for a pre-dinner snack (then still eat all our dining room dinner...shh!).

 

Speaking of dinner, we enjoyed most of the food there. I did think one of the steaks I ordered was a bit dry, but the next night I had a different cut of steak and it was one of the best I've ever had. We requested late seating and there were 3 cruise reservations to be linked together. Unfortunately 1 reservation got the late seating, and the other 2 were assigned main seating. When we went to have this changed on the first day, we were told to just show up that night at the late seating and it would be taken care of. Well, when we got to the dining room that night we waited and waited and waited for them to find a place for us. Once they did, they told us that was just for tonight and to come back the next morning to get our new assigned table. That was a bit aggravating, but in the end it worked out and we got a good table with a good waiter and assistant waiter. I read one review where someone wasn't allowed to order 2 lobsters. 2 people at our table got seconds but they did say that they were running low. Our head waiter was also the most visible we've seen before. He came around every night to talk to us.

 

Activities on the ship - since we didn't do any lying out in the sun (although we did see some people out there when the sun came out!) we did a lot of things around the ship. 3 of us did the digital scavenger hunt, 2 of us rock climbed, we did a lot of trivia (woohoo Tribond winners), the juggling lessons, we played putt putt, table tennis, dodgeball, basketball, and ice skated. I'm sure there is something I am forgetting.

 

Shows - we attended the Welcome Aboard show, the Love and Marriage show (still hilarious even after you've heard all the questions before), Quest, the ice skating show, and the last night show. Missed the magic show, the ventriloquist, and all the Broadway type shows. 2 of my group went to the late night comedy show and enjoyed it too.

 

Ken Rush was a good CD and Capt Johnny was funny as well. He always got a chuckle out of me at his noon announcements.

 

Ports:

Astoria - it was a bit of a bottleneck getting off the ship here. I got off in less than 5 minutes having a room on deck 2, but the rest of our group was up there at least another 40 minutes. Once we got off we just walked along the river front. There was a trolly but it was an hour round trip so not many people would have been able to use that as a form of transportation. From there we found a brewery where we tried a beer sampler tray of about 11 different beers.

 

Victoria - we got off in the morning here and walked into the downtown area to see the Parliament building. Then we went back to the ship to meet up for Whale Watching. Prince of Whales was the company we used and they picked us up at the pier. It was COLD. We did elect to sit up top and they let us wear warm jumpsuits, but it was still cold. I think the people below had a heater so it was an option for us to be down stairs, but it felt more adventurous upstairs. Unfortunately we didn't spot a single whale. We saw a couple of porpoises and they took us to an area that they knew sea lions stayed. It was definitely disappointing to pay as much as we did and see nothing, but we knew that was a gamble when we booked. Maybe next time. Going to the Prince of Whales website shows that they saw whales the day before and every single day since our day. We were just unlucky!

 

Seattle - we got off the ship a little before noon and got onto a shuttle without a wait. They dropped us off at the monorail/space needle. We took the monorail, then we walked to Pike Place market. We walked around there for a bit, then went to find an Indian restaurant that 2 of the guys were desperate to eat at (our waiter had recommended it to them). Yes, you can find Indian food in Dallas!!! The rest of us found some food back at Pike Place market. When we took the monorail back to the space needle. The line was short to go up the space needle so up we went. Unfortunately once we got to the top, there was a long line to come down. We were a bit worried about being late back to the ship so we did a short walk around the space needle, then went back down. Wish we could have stayed up there a bit longer as the sun was shining and the day was becoming so pretty. We then grabbed the second to last (maybe last) shuttle and got back to the ship.

 

Our cruise critic group had arranged a slot pull which was a lot of fun. Everyone put in $9 and we each had 3 spins on the $1 Elvis slot machine betting max credits. After the first half of our group went we had doubled our money! Unfortunately after that we hit a dry spell and no one won. But we all still walked away with $18 and it was a lot of fun.

 

All in all, we had a really fun time. Anyone have any questions? And thanks for reading this far!

[VikkiGarcia]

Thank you...we sail 6/14...can't wait!

[yogimax]

Thanks for sharing!

[Merion_Mom]

I've seen a couple of these so I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

 

We were booked on Carnival Splendor for almost a year. Then the swine flu came around and changed all our plans. We decided that what worked better for us was to cancel the Splendor and get credit to be used on a future cruise, then book on the Mariner at the low prices that were available. Carnival wasn't offering the great OBC and future cruise credit that Mariner was, unfortunately.

 

Embarkation was extremely smooth. I think we had to wait behind only 2 people before being called to the desk to go through our paper work.

 

We had a deck 2 ocean view. It was small, but that is what I have come to accept when cruising. It works and other than getting dressed and sleeping we weren't in the room much anyway. Our room steward was nice. We didn't see her much but our room was always taken care of and we always had ice. If we had needed more, she left her card with a number we could contact her at.

 

The food in the Windjammer was good. I'm a pretty picky eater so I stuck to some of the more simple things. The staff in there was most excellent. They were usually at the table asking me what I'd like to drink before I even realized that I forgot to pick myself up a drink at the drink station. The others in my group enjoyed the sushi that was there starting at 6:30. We'd sometimes go for a pre-dinner snack (then still eat all our dining room dinner...shh!).

 

Speaking of dinner, we enjoyed most of the food there. I did think one of the steaks I ordered was a bit dry, but the next night I had a different cut of steak and it was one of the best I've ever had. We requested late seating and there were 3 cruise reservations to be linked together. Unfortunately 1 reservation got the late seating, and the other 2 were assigned main seating. When we went to have this changed on the first day, we were told to just show up that night at the late seating and it would be taken care of. Well, when we got to the dining room that night we waited and waited and waited for them to find a place for us. Once they did, they told us that was just for tonight and to come back the next morning to get our new assigned table. That was a bit aggravating, but in the end it worked out and we got a good table with a good waiter and assistant waiter. I read one review where someone wasn't allowed to order 2 lobsters. 2 people at our table got seconds but they did say that they were running low. Our head waiter was also the most visible we've seen before. He came around every night to talk to us.

 

Activities on the ship - since we didn't do any lying out in the sun (although we did see some people out there when the sun came out!) we did a lot of things around the ship. 3 of us did the digital scavenger hunt, 2 of us rock climbed, we did a lot of trivia (woohoo Tribond winners), the juggling lessons, we played putt putt, table tennis, dodgeball, basketball, and ice skated. I'm sure there is something I am forgetting.

 

Shows - we attended the Welcome Aboard show, the Love and Marriage show (still hilarious even after you've heard all the questions before), Quest, the ice skating show, and the last night show. Missed the magic show, the ventriloquist, and all the Broadway type shows. 2 of my group went to the late night comedy show and enjoyed it too.

 

Ken Rush was a good CD and Capt Johnny was funny as well. He always got a chuckle out of me at his noon announcements.

 

Ports:

Astoria - it was a bit of a bottleneck getting off the ship here. I got off in less than 5 minutes having a room on deck 2, but the rest of our group was up there at least another 40 minutes. Once we got off we just walked along the river front. There was a trolly but it was an hour round trip so not many people would have been able to use that as a form of transportation. From there we found a brewery where we tried a beer sampler tray of about 11 different beers.

 

Victoria - we got off in the morning here and walked into the downtown area to see the Parliament building. Then we went back to the ship to meet up for Whale Watching. Prince of Whales was the company we used and they picked us up at the pier. It was COLD. We did elect to sit up top and they let us wear warm jumpsuits, but it was still cold. I think the people below had a heater so it was an option for us to be down stairs, but it felt more adventurous upstairs. Unfortunately we didn't spot a single whale. We saw a couple of porpoises and they took us to an area that they knew sea lions stayed. It was definitely disappointing to pay as much as we did and see nothing, but we knew that was a gamble when we booked. Maybe next time. Going to the Prince of Whales website shows that they saw whales the day before and every single day since our day. We were just unlucky!

 

Seattle - we got off the ship a little before noon and got onto a shuttle without a wait. They dropped us off at the monorail/space needle. We took the monorail, then we walked to Pike Place market. We walked around there for a bit, then went to find an Indian restaurant that 2 of the guys were desperate to eat at (our waiter had recommended it to them). Yes, you can find Indian food in Dallas!!! The rest of us found some food back at Pike Place market. When we took the monorail back to the space needle. The line was short to go up the space needle so up we went. Unfortunately once we got to the top, there was a long line to come down. We were a bit worried about being late back to the ship so we did a short walk around the space needle, then went back down. Wish we could have stayed up there a bit longer as the sun was shining and the day was becoming so pretty. We then grabbed the second to last (maybe last) shuttle and got back to the ship.

 

Our cruise critic group had arranged a slot pull which was a lot of fun. Everyone put in $9 and we each had 3 spins on the $1 Elvis slot machine betting max credits. After the first half of our group went we had doubled our money! Unfortunately after that we hit a dry spell and no one won. But we all still walked away with $18 and it was a lot of fun.

 

All in all, we had a really fun time. Anyone have any questions? And thanks for reading this far!

Nice write-up, Victory. Thanks for sharing.

 

How far/how long was the walk from the Space Needle to Pike Place Market? Did it feel "short", "long" or somewhere in between? Was there anything to see/do in between the two destinations?

[Shmobo]

I can answer that about walking from Space Needle to Pike Place Market, it took us around 20 minutes. From the Monorail station is like 5 minute tops and going downhill..

 

Jen :)

[ASeaPrincess1]

Nice review. I always like to read about how others spent their time in the ports. It gives me ideas on what to do NEXT time I go!:D

I'm sorry you didn't see whales. It seems like the whales and the weather cooperated only AFTER we left!

Maybe next time, you could go to Butchart Gardens if that strikes your fancy. That was our day in Victoria, but I have to go back and finish seeing what I missed.

Thanks for your review.

[azdmelani]

Can I ask what cabin you were in? I will be in an oceanview on Deck 2 as well.

[billsrobb]

Nice review. Well written. I enjoyed reading it.

Robb

[rogeralan]

Thank you for the review. Have a question regarding Seattle. Were did you dock and was the shuttle to the Space Needle provided by RCI? Thanks again.

[thetwins]

Thanks much for the review! Wonderful! I have a *wishful thinking* question. Is the sushi in the Windjammer just the artificial-crab-leg and smoked salmon type, or are there actually some pieces with maybe raw tuna, etc? How about even the egg-sushi?

[Shmobo]

Thank you for the review. Have a question regarding Seattle. Were did you dock and was the shuttle to the Space Needle provided by RCI? Thanks again.

 

 

We were docked at Pier 91 and RCCL provide us with free Shuttle to go to the Space Needle

[Shmobo]

Thanks much for the review! Wonderful! I have a *wishful thinking* question. Is the sushi in the Windjammer just the artificial-crab-leg and smoked salmon type, or are there actually some pieces with maybe raw tuna, etc? How about even the egg-sushi?

 

What I saw were all rolls... no raw fishes at all!

[Victory748]

Thanks for pitching in the answers there Jen, I posted and forgot about it!

[Victory748]

Can I ask what cabin you were in? I will be in an oceanview on Deck 2 as well.

 

We were in 2308. It was a little noisy some mornings when we were pulling into port (anchor? something else?) but other than that it was just what we needed.

[azdmelani]

We were in 2308. It was a little noisy some mornings when we were pulling into port (anchor? something else?) but other than that it was just what we needed.

 

Thanks! I think we are a few cabins down from there, but on that side of the ship