5/10/2009

By JoeyandDavid

• May 17, 2009

Mariner of the Seas

Pacific Northwest

May 10 -17, 2009

This was my third cruise with Royal Caribbean, my 12th overall. I booked this cruise two weeks before sail date at that time I requested a small table for 2, second seating.

The embarkation could not have been more smooth. I arrived at the pier in San Pedro at approximately 11:55am. I was able to drop bags, check in and board all within 15 minutes of arriving at the port.

Once on board, knowing staterooms would not be ready until 1:00pm, I made my way to the dining room to check dining assignment. The Mariners main dining room is located in the aft section of the ship, and is divided into three levels, The Sound of Music on deck 5, Top Hat and Tails on deck 4 and the Rhapsody in Blue on deck 3.

I was to discover that I was given a seat at table #320 which is a table for 6, second seating, I felt was unacceptable. I was informed by one of the servers setting the dining room, that I could possibly request a change of the assignment at 1:00 pm. This is when one of the head waiters would be available to reassign me if possible.

Knowing I booked late, I understood there may be a chance my request may not be granted. I decided "nothing ventured nothing gained" so I parked myself outside of the entrance on deck four at 12:20pm, to wait for the opportunity, as it turned out it was good thing I did as the line began to form quickly, shortly before 1pm Mr. Dinesh Dogra arrived, being first in line he quickly informed me that basically he could not help me,

and I was out of luck, stating "we only have 11 tables for 2 second seating on this sailing".

When I asked what he would suggest what I do for dinner since I really did not care for dining with a large table and truly didn't enjoy buffet dining experience his response was "that's your choice I don't care what you do" Mr. Dogra's was very condescending which made for not exactly a great start to this cruise vacation.

After I booked this cruise , I called a friend Carmen "H", who has been on many cruises with RCI (73+) just to see if she might be available to book as well, she was.

Miss "H" was in line directly behind me and prefers to dine at a large table. When her time came to talk with this gentleman she simply asked if her dining assignment was in the section of one of her dear friends who is also a headwaiter on the Mariner and who was also expecting her to be assigned in his section. She was informed by Mr. Dogra that he was too busy to check and that he wasn't there for that purpose. In my opinion Mr. Dogra's guest relations needs work and should not be permitted to interact with guests until being sent for retraining in guest relations.

After the confrontation and being somewhat disappointed, Miss "H" and I agreed to meet later for a drink. Off we went to check out our individual staterooms.

My cabin was a category E1, #7216 which is located forward on this ship and included a balcony.

This cabin is spacious, clean, and in fairly good condition, although I discovered the heating system was not working properly and after informing my stateroom attendant of this fact, it was corrected in less than 90 minutes.

My stateroom attendant for this voyage; Mark Bonner who is from Jamaica.

Mr. Bonner's responses to my needs throughout this cruise was met on a higher level than original expectations. He was consistently able to quickly and efficiently keep my stateroom in a constant ready state. He should be commended for his professionalism and attention to details. Two big thumbs up from me!

Around 5:00 pm that first evening a wonderful gentleman; Merrick Saldanha another one of Royal Caribbean's excellent head waiters informed me that indeed he was able to arrange a table for two for me and in his section as well although he wasn't able to accommodate Miss "H" and her request for a large table at her friend's station (because her friend was not scheduled to work second seating) so she decided to dine with me. A big thanks to Mr. Saldanha, which provided a terrific win-win solution.

This being my first voyage on the Mariner I was presented with my chance to see what all the hullabaloo was concerning the Promenade.

The Promenade for those that aren't familiar is a wide corridor in the middle of the ship, it runs forward to aft on deck 5. This is where the ship conducts some of it's many activities including parades and musical performances, it also is the location for the onboard shops, the coffee café, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor, in addition to the champagne bar and the guest relations desk. There are cabins that are located over the area that will enable guest to look over the area I was told by many staff that those staterooms were soundproofed. Although, the Promenade tends to be a bit loud for my taste, I admit the concept is a 5 star idea!

The highlight for me on the Promenade is the wine bar Vintages!

Vintages is a delightful place that houses many excellent wines. There you are encouraged to "taste" a wine before purchasing, you are also allowed to purchase by the glass or bottle, they will store your unfinished bottle for you, if you so desire.

This particular cruise three of Vintages employees Gustad Irani, Alme Morrison and Lloyd Tan provided outstanding descriptions of the wines, and their service was exceptional.

This cruise had 3 ports of call Astoria Oregon, Victoria, BC, and Seattle Washington, there were also 3 sea days as well, personally I ended up treating this as a mostly sea days cruise only getting off in Victoria in order to look over the garden spot of British Columbia, we were told by the locals that Victoria was a community of retirees and gardens so as he put it "Welcome to Victoria.. the home of garden beds, newlyweds and almost deads!" Victoria was very Charming. And am looking forward to returning.

The Mariner has three specialty dinning venues that impose a surcharge. Portofinos' "Intimate Italian Dining" $20.00 per person, Chops Grille "The best steak on the high seas" $25.00, and Johnny Rockets $4.95.

On Wednesday I had my chance to try specialty dining. I chose Chops Grille, I will say I was quite pleased.

Thursday evening I was invited to dine with the Chief Engineer, Harri Kulmajarui a delightful man from Norway.

On Friday I received an invitation to tour of the bridge.

Formal Nights were on Monday and Friday while preparing for the second formal night the top button on my tuxedo shirt popped off. Not knowing what to do I went to guest services. Gaston Somonte one of the guest services officers went above and beyond the call , he found an emergency sewing kit and quickly dropped it by my stateroom. Talk about saving the day!

Due to the economy, RCL has under gone major cost saving measures including forgoing the grand buffet, the chocolate extravaganza. They have raised prices across the board, Pellegrino is now $6.95 a bottle and they are also charging $14.95 for a decent steak in the dining room they have also eliminated the chocolate on the pillow at night.

I truly hope this is not an indication of things to come.

Jeers

*To Royal Caribbean International's efforts in cost cutting and revenue generating by charging $14.95 for a decent steak in the dining room and for the removal of chocolates on the pillows at night. Please don't cut too many pennies!

Extra Cheers

* Mario Panganiban waiter whose station I eventually was assigned ensuring the dining experience was all it could be.

*Manuel Datayan assistant waiter whose attention to detail always ensured an exceptional dining experience.

What started out with bad customer service experience ended as so many do with great guest relations and the gaining of new acquaintances.

In General the crew of the Mariner try to please, and as with any organization you will run into a bad apple now and again.

Respectfully Submitted

5/15/2009