My name is Gemma. I'm currently a student studying Hospitality Management. My interests vary but inc...
My name is Gemma. I'm currently a student studying Hospitality Management. My interests vary but included TV, Musical Theatre, Dancing, Watching Football and Traveling.
Member since:29.03.2005
Reviews:5
Members who trust:1
This was my first cruise and I was DREADING it! I hated the thought of being confined to one ship for 14 days; I thought I would have been bored stiff! I was also terrified that I would be seasick. I was completely wrong; I have never had such a great, fun-filled holiday and seasickness......what’s that?
Before I start we were on a back to back cruise, which means even though we were on the same ship for two weeks, it was classed as two separate cruises.
Also on the ship, to pay for things you use something called a sea pass card, which is like a credit card. You then pay this off throughout the week. This means you don't have to carry money around the ship.
The Ship:
Mariner of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s new ships, released in 04. She is Voyager class and the second largest ship in the world. Her size is amazing; I was speechless when I saw her! The size is unimaginable. She is in great condition as well.
There are 15 decks of entertainment, food, activity and accommodation. This includes an ice rink, rock-climbing wall, 9 hole mini golf, golf simulators, inline skating track, full-size basket ball court and volleyball court, spa, a HUGE gym, the largest at sea casino, 3 pools, 6 Jacuzzis, Royal Promenade shopping area (this is longer than two football fields!!), library, cinema room, a five-level theatre, a nightclub, show lounge and more!!! One thing I can say is I was definitely never bored!!!
The Booking:
Last year we booked through First Choice travel agents. We used the air Royal Caribbean offered. It was Britannia and was brilliant! The aircraft was lovely, the staff were very pleasant and Royal Caribbean had paid for all drinks, so the whole
flights drinks were free! This year we have booked our own air as it does often work out cheaper and we booked the cruise ourselves. We did have to make a change this year as my friend couldn't go so we had to change a name, this was done quickly and efficiently with a charge of £20, which is quite cheap compared to other companies.
Our room:
Last year, due to money constraints we had two separate cabins, an outside and an inside. Both cabins were very spacious and did me and mum perfectly. The rooms were cleaned twice a day, and we always came back from breakfast to our beds made and we always went back to our cabin at night with the sheets turned down, a chocolate on our pillow and towel animals adorning our beds! In these rooms you only have a shower; you have to have a suite to get a bath. In the room you have a fridge, safe, TV, ice bucket and drinking glasses. I found the room extremely comfortable and it was pleasant to be in.
Food:
There are plenty of places to eat food. These include 3-tier dining room, Johnny Rockets fast food, Windjammer buffet, Jade oriental buffet, Portifinos Italian, Chops Grille steak and Promenade Cafe. Me and mum didn't personally use Portifino's, Chops, Jade or Johnny Rockets, but they always had people in, and we heard plenty of good comments. For these ones there is a cover charge $20 in Chops and Portifinos, and $3.75 in Johnny Rockets. We generally used the Windjammer buffet for breakfast and lunch; it offered a huge range of food to suit all types of tastes. My only complaint.....no baked beans!! We ate dinner in the dinning room; we sat the second seating as there were two seating offered, one early evening and one late evening. The food in the dining room was delicious; you had a set menu each night and could pick what you wanted off this! It offered a range of food for different tastes, including vegetarians! My favourite meal of the week would have to be the lobster and prawns!! They did a beautiful roast garlic soup, and the warm chocolate pudding was dessert heaven! There is also Cafe Promenade, which is open 24 hours a day and you can get pizza, sandwiches and cakes!
Bars -
There is a huge variety of bars on the ship. You have the two pool bars, the adult pool bar (no one under 16 allowed), Dragon's Lair nightclub, Boleros salsa bar, Schooner Bar (popular for a sing-along), the Lotus Lounge (bingo, karaoke and evening entertainment held in here), Ellington’s, Champagne Bar and more. We mainly used the pool bars with their waiter service.
The Staff:
Everyone was so friendly!!! Our room attendants introduced themselves straight away and were extremely friendly and did anything we asked! Our waiter was so good and friendly, that in the second week we had our table changed so we could have him again (the waiters are rotated so they are working in different areas each week). This table change was done very quickly and efficiently. The entire bar staff were extremely friendly and would do you any drink you desired. I couldn't get used to how much they would help you if they asked!
Embarkation/Disembarkation:
This was very quick! We were on the ship by 4pm; our flight had landed around 2pm. After the first week, we did have to get off the ship to go through immigration but this was done within about 20 minuets. As we were only getting off the ship to do this we were the last people off the ship (around 11am) but tea, coffee and pastries were provided for our refreshment. Disembarkation was very smooth, and we collected our luggage in the morning before we got on our coach.
Ports of Call:
Week 1 Western Caribbean:
Labadee, Haiti - this is Royal Caribbean Private Island and is beautiful! A must if you are a beach lover! If you enjoy lying on the beach you can hire floating mat for the day for $10, if you enjoy more of a thrill you can hire a wave runner, there is also an inflatable water park and you can go kayaking! There is a train which travels round the area to take you to different parts of the island. Food is also provided on the island, and you must buy a Labadooze! That drink is gorgeous. On Labadee you can use your sea pass card to pay for everything.
Ocho Rios, Jamaica - This was my favourite port. There is so much to do!! You can book a private tour or book an excursion through the ship. Me and mum decided to go horse riding, this was brilliant and well worth the money! We were taking for a ride along the beach and were taken right into the sea, and then we rode back to the ranch. This wasn't till the afternoon so in the morning we went to Island Village shopping area! This is a great place to visit, and Margaritaville is located here which is so fun! I would recommend the special margarita (unless you’re going horse riding later!) Another pleasant place to visit would be Dunn's river falls, unfortunately we didn't have time to go there, but we will definitely go there next time!!
Georgetown, Grand Cayman - We were the first ship to visit Georgetown after Hurricane Ivan and you could still see the destruction. They have done a great job to clear up though. Unfortunately our excursions, swimming with stingrays, was cancelled due to rough weather (where? lol), this was credited back to our account and we were offered another excursion. WE ended up visiting 7 mile beach, Hell (yes there is such a place!) and the turtle farm. Grand Cayman is lovely.
Cozumel, Mexico - This is my most memorable port because we went swimming with dolphins!!!! It was such an amazing experience. Once again we booked this excursion through the ship. As this excursion was a day long we didn't see much of Cozumel.
Week 2 Eastern Caribbean -
Nassau, Bahamas - Here we went to the famous Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island and it's huge!!!!!!!!!!! I was astounded! Then we went shopping. The Bahamas is a lovely place, but wasn't my favourite place. Compared to the other islands, it just didn't feel as nice.
St Thomas, U.S.V.I - This is jewellery shopper’s heaven!!! Beautiful jewellery at beautiful prices! Mum spent a fortune! This is a great place to get anything you may have forgotten at home, as there is a great little supermarket. St Thomas is the best island for duty frees.
Philipsburg, St Marteen - After you get on the port, the best bet is to buy a water taxi ticket, $5 for the day, this takes you to and from the port and the beach/shops. Me and mum didn't leave the beach, it was so beautiful!!!
Excursions -
The ship offers a huge amount of excursions and it can be difficult to choose!! You can book these on the ship or before you go on holiday, over the net. This is what we did and all our excursion tickets were delivered to our cabin the first night. When our excursion was cancelled, they informed us and credited our account.
Entertainment:
There were tonnes of things to do throughout the day, this included, hip hop dancing, bingo, pool games, sports games, card tournaments to name a few. Every night a cruise compass was delivered to your cabin, this told you everything which was going on thought-out the next day.
There are 3 main evening shows during the week, two in the theatre and one on the ice rink. These were AMAZING! I went and saw one of the shows twice. There are 2 showings of the show for the different dinner sittings. There is also 2 parades down the Royal Promenade, one on the opening night and one on the last night; these were very entertaining, colourful and popular!
As well as these there are 2 adult game shows through the week. The Love and Marriage game show and the Quest, both of these were very funny! The Love and Marriage game show is a game show with 3 adult couples, basically they are asked questions about each other and their life together! This can be very embarrassing and funny! The Quest is a show where the room is split into teams and they have to collect various items, this can include bras, laces, and even getting your guys into their boxers!!
Through the week there were also comedians, karaoke, sing-a-longs and dancing evenings. It would depend on what part of the ship you decided to spend the evening in!
Theme Nights -
There is two theme nights in the main dining room, a Caribbean night and an Italian night! The Caribbean night had the best jerk chicken and banana bread! Very yum!
There is also a pool party one night, with shows, limbo, buffet and a live band! And the must see of the week is the midnight gala buffet. This is a buffet in the main dining room, with ice, chocolate and wax sculptures doted along the buffet tables! They are beautiful, don't forget your camera.
For kids:
As me and mum didn't have any young children with us we didn't have any need for the kids club. They do offer them up to the age of 17 and they also offer in cabin babysitting. There is plenty to do for the children; we heard from one couple that once they introduced their children to the kids club they barely saw them!
All in all this was an amazing holiday. I haven't been able to fit everything that could be mentioned in here, I would be here for days if I had! This is a holiday I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat, from older people to young couples to people with kids! I can't wait to go again!
On that note, once you have been with Royal Caribbean once you can become a member of their crown and anchor club, this is basically their repeat customer club and very good! Me and mum got a free toiletry bag and a booklet of vouchers including things like free drinks, money off in the spa and so on!
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An excellent review. Full of lots of information answering many of my questions. I'm really looking forward to my cruise next year!
Thanks for a fab review
redridinghood 01.04.2005 22:08
great review, really took me back to my days working for P&O, loved every minute of it and saw such wonderful places. I long to cruise again................!
lora44 01.04.2005 18:28
An excellent review - had to be an 'E' - I never thought I'd wanna go on a cruise but I so do now! Lora x
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