Warning - this ended up being a little looooong. Sorry!
Tom,
My wife and I just returned from cruising Oct. 1-8 on the Mariner OTS.
It was fantastic.
---- brief digression ---- For those of you who regularly monitor this
news group, it was I whose mother passed away the week before the
cruise. This turned out to be a great way to relieve the stress and
wind down, and I would like to thank those of you who sent their well
wishes.
---- now back to the cruise ----
I found the Mariner to be a great ship - it was my first time on a
Voyager-class ship, and it was quite a treat. It is amazing to look
down the Royal Promenade and realize that it is afloat in the Atlantic.
I never felt crowded on the ship, although as another poster mentioned
the immigration process in St. Thomas is a pain. However, as long as
you are not among the very first in line, it goes VERY quickly. Those
who wanted to be the first off the ship had to wait in a line that
extended the entire length of the Royal Promenade. I chose to mess
around for half an hour, and then got in a (much shorter) line and
breezed through.
The ship itself was in great shape, has lots of things to do and see,
and was quite enjoyable. I would say that the artwork was too strange
for my taste (a hundred toy Volkswagens glued to a board?), but
all-in-all the ship was tidy, attractive, spacious and well equipped.
I have heard occassional complaints about the food on RCCL, but I found
it to be very very good. The tenderloin was perfect, the lobster was
cooked perfectly - some of the best I've had, and I honestly did not
have any meal onboard that was not top-notch (okay, I did have biscuits
and gravy from the buffet in the Windjammer that had too much heat-lamp
time). We did eat at Chops one night, and it was exceptional. Since
the food in the dining room was so good, it's up to you to decide
whether it's worth the premium, but it was very good. We did not eat
at Portofino's. We even enjoyed the food at the Windjammer, which
ranged from chicken to pasta to roast beef to sushi. All quite good.
I found the service to be excellent as well - especially our waiters,
who were friendly, remembered our names and preferences, and were
attentive without being obtrusive. One night someone had made mention
of banana cream pie (don't know why). Well, on the next-to-last night,
when the menu only offered one dessert (this is the only time that
happened), the waiter had an extra banana cream pie delivered to the
cabins of everyone at the table. Nice touch - okay, she certainly knew
that tips would be awarded the next night, so it's no mystery - but she
was very good nonetheless. Our stateroom attendant was average.
I enjoyed the on-board entertainment. The two comedians were funny.
The ventriloquist was fantastic (okay, I know what you're thinking - "a
ventriloguist? please"). His name is Ronn Lucas - you've seen him on
TV, and he is, in my opinion, the best ventriloquist I've ever seen -
and he gets audience members involved and it's pretty funny. The RC
Singers and Dancers were good (not great), okay some of the female
dancers were a little chunkier than you normally find on Broadway,
but..... this ain't Broadway! There was a group that does a tribute to
The Temptations - they were very good at it. And the ice show is not
to be missed. Make sure you get in line to get the show you want. Of
course, the various lounges on board have entertainment, salsa bands,
piano players, reggae, all pretty talented. I never heard a steel
drum, which was a disappointment (just sounds Caribbean to me),
although they did offer steel drum lessons one day.
As for the ports of call - our itinerary was the Eastern Caribbean (you
didn't say which yours is). So it was CocoCay, St. Thomas and St.
Maarten. I'm not a huge fan of the private-island thing (I think it is
largely a way for the cruise line to find another day at sea where they
get ALL of the profits), so CocoCay was not my favorite - but as
private islands go, I have no problem with it. Beware that the
swimming area in front of the most popular beach area has strong
currents, and is very rocky on the bottom - make sure you have water
socks or shoes. I got some good iguana pictures - there are lots of
them! We spent most of the day on St. Thomas ferrying to and from (and
spending time on) St. John. If you're into unspoiled beaches, St. John
can't be beat, since it is mostly national park. We enjoyed it a lot -
the water was beautiful, the beach great, when swimming you have nice
soft sand under your feet. Unfortunately the process of going to and
from (and spending time there) will take up much of your day. Back in
St. Thomas we went up the tramway and had a bite to eat and a
Bushwacker. Not a bad way to end the stay, if not a little touristy
(and pricey at $18 per person for the ride up). In between there was a
little shopping, but the shops close at 5, even though the ship didn't
leave until 8:00 (even though the itinerary says 6:00) - we didn't have
much time for that because we were in St. John. In St. Maarten, we did
the America's Cup Racing Regatta - a fantastic excursion. We were the
crew aboard Stars and Stripes (by the luck of the draw), on which
Dennis Connor won the America's Cup in '87. Recommended. We took a
taxi to Marigot to see the French side - this was a mistake, and I
would not recommend you waste your time and money. The exchange rate
made lunch over there very pricey, and most of the shops were closed
(90%). We basically took a cab over, ate, and took a cab back. A
waste of time, IMHO. Spend your time on the Dutch side in your
favorite pursuit.
We did not stay in a suite - sorry, can't help you. We decided on a
Promenade cabin - actually a neat little hybrid spot. They adjust the
lighting in the Royal Promenade to approximate the time of day - a nice
trick that works. And this is a good people-watching spot. The cabin
was pretty tiny, however.
As for embarkation / debarkation - Royal definitely has their act
together. My only complaint was with regards to the transportation
from the Orlando airport to the pier, which we bought from Royal. It
was very organized, but we sat and waited for a bus for a long time,
and then it finally loaded, and then it drove over to Terminal B and
loaded more, and the bottom line is that it was two hours from the time
we landed until we left airport property. Very annoying. It wouldn't
kill them to use MORE buses, even if they're half full. I saw Disney
transportation buses drive by about twice a minute!!! But once at the
pier, we were on the ship in a matter of minutes. No delay whatsoever.
On debarkation, we were the third group off the ship (out of 24), and
so we were once again back on the bus within minutes. Very efficient.
Overall, I think the ship is great (it's the newest of the Voyager
class), the service was great, the food was great, the entertainment
was great (and I didn't even mention the rock wall, miniature golf,
rollerblading track, movie theater and on and on), and I would
recommend it highly. Of course, it's just my humble opinion, and YMMV.
Jon
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