Finally, a review of Mariner thanksgiving cruise

[SMB]

FYI: This is a short review of the Thanksgiving Mariner of the Seas Cruise. It does not include the best story of the trip which I’m afraid would have gotten lost in the review. Thus, I have created a separate thread for the story. It is a good one, so look for it and enjoy.

Well folks, I guess if I were a true cruisecrazy, I would have written this review earlier, but you know how life seems to catch back up to you as soon as you step off the ship!

Thanksgiving Mariner of the Seas Cruise

This was our first time on a RC cruise. In fact, the wife and I have only been on one other cruise with Holland America (which we both give high marks) so all remarks are in comparison to Holland America. My in-laws were also along for the ride and they are avid cruisers (12 so far on various lines – they like Celebrity and Radisson the best).

We arrived at Canaveral at 1:30 and had very little wait for checking in and processing. This was most impressive considering the huge crowd waiting to get on ASAP. We had the cheap inside stateroom which was rather small. With the beds pushed together, you could not get into bed without crawling from the foot. The room was much smaller than our Vandam cabin. The in-laws, however, had a balcony cabin and it was much roomier. You could have 4 people in the room and it still felt comfortable.

I won’t expand on the numerous reviews that gush about the beauty of the ship. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. The ship was sold out for the holiday week, but in most cases you did not feel like you were on a ship with over 4,000 people. The only areas that were crowded were the elevators (can’t really be helped) and the main pool deck. There were lots of kids on board, but I’m happy and frankly surprised to report that most were better behaved that even some adults. The Solarium is a fantastic retreat from the noise and activity of the kids in the main pool. RC has done a fine job of trying to appeal to kids while still having plenty of “adult†activity and areas.

The staff was terrific with the rare exception of lunch and breakfast service in the main dining area. Our cabinwoman Carman was ALWAYS on our hall. I kept asking her when she slept. The dinner waiters were very nice and friendly. They quickly became accustomed to the quirky ordering of our family including my propensity to order multiple appetizers and entrees. The food was not as good as on Holland America. On HA, there were usually at least two to three fantastic dishes per night. The Mariner usually only had one really good dish. The worst meal was Thanksgiving. There was no Pumpkin Pie (my wife is still bitching on that one) and the Turkey was sliced/processed Turkey roll. With the majority of cruisers being Americans, I would think they would serve “real†turkey for Thanksgiving. The best dishes were usually lamb. We had a fantastic dinner in Portofino’s with a steak that melted in my mouth. The food in the windjammer buffet was good food… much better than on Holland America. Unfortunately, this was one place on the ship were you were VERY aware of the crowds.

The entertainment was significantly better than on Holland America in terms of its variety. The shows varied in content so significantly each night, that there was never a feeling of “repeating†the experience. The ice show was the best… very impressive. There was a good bit of falling in our show, but with the rolling ship and small patch of ice they were using, it was a miracle any stuck their landing. The worst part… I’d even say painful at times… were the “big production†shows put on by the ship regulars. Nice costumes, impressive sets, good choreography, but the “talent†sucked. Probably the best show was the Beatles tribute band. Wow, it was like the Fab4 were still together.

The trip sucked. The weather was terrible. It was cold, wet, windy, rolling seas on day one. A few hours of sun on Ocho Rios (were you could see nothing snorkeling because of the churning water) was all we saw for the next 2 days. The rain held off long enough to go rafting along the Martha Brae in Jamaica (I recommend the trip), but the waves were so high that they were washing over the docks in Grand Cayman – so we didn’t get off the ship that day either. I was beginning to get depressed. It was too cold, wet, and cloudy to be outside. Thank God Mexico was sunny. We had sun for only half of the last day also, but I still got in one climb on the rock wall (my first & last). I guess this means we will have to try the western Carib. again.

Disembarking was very smooth.

Overall, I think that I would like to try some other cruise lines, but RC was better than I hoped and I would sail with them again.

SMB :cool:

[JoeyandDavid]

SMB Thanks for posting your insights to your Thanksgiving Cruise aboard Mariner of the Seas.

Sorry the weather "sucked" but glad you found RC to your liking....

Thanks for posting :grin:

[rogue]

Nice review. Sorry to hear that the weather was bad,but nice to hear you liked RCCL. The Voyager Classships are quite impressive. :smiley:

[sailingrose]

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to my trip on the Mariner in 3 weeks. Glad to hear you enjoyed the ship and the service was good.

[GottaCruz]

SMB,

Thanks for sharing your review. The Fab Four show sounds great. Sorry to hear about the weather and all . I look forward to hearing your "best story " of the trip. Cheryl

[KeithnRita]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us!

[Shari2]

Thanks for the great review, SMB!

[Mebert]

SMB,

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and sorry about the weather. I hope that it's much better the next time you go.