Thus spake "Jon" :
>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.
But everybody HAS TO BE first off the boat. That's rule of cruising
that must not be broken.
>
>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 was wary of our Rhapsody cruise, but was very happy with the food.
>
>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.
But the Dutch side doesn't have Orient Beach. :-)
>
>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!!!
Are you sure you weren't seeing the Disney Magic Express, which takes
people to the resorts? They generate a lot of traffic. Used to be
Mears. Actually it's Mears running the Disney busses, including those
for DCL.
> 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
--
dillon
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