Mariner of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,332 reviews

Mariner of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Mariner of the Seas
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kittymom65
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Feb 2007
Cabin: Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

2/3/07 Pre-cruise Left home at about 6:20 AM. Drove south from Dalton, GA on I-75. Got on I-16 East in Macon, GA. Got on I-95 South in Savannah, GA. We made a few stops for gas, food, etc. Got off I-95 South at the Flagler Beach exit, and drove down A1A thru Flagler Beach, Ormond By The Sea, Ormond Beach, and Daytona Beach. We stopped for a wonderful late lunch/early dinner at Shells in Daytona Beach (this is a chain of seafood restaurants scattered all over Florida-we love it). From Daytona Beach, we drove down US Hwy 1 thru several small Florida towns and into Port Canaveral. We arrived at our hotel, the Country Inn & Suites Port Canaveral around 6:30 PM. We had reserved our room at this hotel several months ago at a rate of $89. For the money, this hotel was great. It is pretty new, and is very nicely decorated. We had a large hotel room with king bed, and were very happy with our choice. We drove over to Ron Johns Surf Shop and to Walgreens to get a few things we had forgotten, and were in bed by 9:30.

2/4/07 Day 1 We tried to sleep in a little, but were just too excited to do so. We had the free breakfast at the hotel, and just killed time until we just could not stand it any longer. We drove over to the port about 10:30. The hotel offers a shuttle service, but we chose to just drive our own car so that when we got off the ship, we could just get in our car and go. We drove up to a porter, who took our luggage out of the car for us. I tipped him $5, but there are signs up that say that tipping is not necessary. We then drove back around to park, which is $12 per day, for a total of $84. We got a good space on the first level of the parking deck, got out carry-ons, and walked to the terminal. There was a line waiting to go thru security, but we waited only 10-15 minutes. We cleared security and went up to check in. We had to complete a form saying we had not been sick with any gastrointestinal illness in the past 3 days. There were only 2 families in line in front of us in the Set Sail pass line, so we only waited a few minutes. We checked in, got out Sea Pass, and waited for them to begin boarding at 11:30. We waited around 20-25 minutes and were on our way on to the ship. They made an announcement that due to bad weather in The Bahamas, we would not be going to CocoCay as scheduled, but instead would be going to San Juan, Puerto Rico. When we boarded the ship, we went immediately up to deck 11. We made our reservations for Chops and Portofino, and then had a nice lunch in the Windjammer. Cabins were ready at 1:00. We LOVED our cabin. We were in 7618, which is the center of the hump port side, category E2. It was small, but it was plenty big enough for the 2 of us, and best of all, we had a balcony. We were literally steps away from the aft elevators and stairs, it was a great location. When we entered our cabin, the first day's compass, the invitation to the meet and mingle, and our C&A coupon books were on the bed waiting for us. Our cabin attendant, Setho, came in to introduce himself. He was very nice, I did not catch where he was from. Muster was at 4:00. We watched sail away from our balcony. There were 3 dolphins playing in the water alongside the ship. After sail away, we checked out the ship. Got the first of many (for the week) ham and cheese croissants from the Cafe Promenade. The Super Bowl was being shown in Studio B (the ice rink) and most of the bars, as well as the stateroom televisions. We watched the first half and half time, then had to go to dinner, second seating, which was at 8:45 the first night only. We met our wonderful waitress, Monika, from Hungary, and her assistant, Alpay, from Turkey. Monika was great, we enjoyed her so much throughout the week. Alpay was very nice, but we did not see much of him, he had 3 large tables to help, besides us. We were at table 4 in the Top Hat and Tails dining room, which is a table for 4, but it was just my DH and I all week. For dinner that night, DH had the Vidalia onion tart, tuscan tomato soup, prime rib with baked potato, and tropical fruit salad. I had the Vidalia onion tart, tuscan tomato soup, shrimp ravioli with lobster and spinach sauce, and white chocolate fondue. Neither of us cared much for the onion tart, but other than that, the meal was excellent. We did not go to the show this night. The weather this day was cool, around 60 degrees, and very windy.

2/5/07 Day 2 At Sea We must have traveled thru the storms that were in the Bahamas overnight, because the ship was rocking quite a bit. It rocked me right off to sleep. We did not wake up until almost 10:00. DH went down to the promenade to get us ice show tickets, while I got ready for the day. Since it was so late, we decided to skip breakfast and go to Johnny Rockets when it opened at 11:30. Our server here, Manuel, was very good. DH had a double cheeseburger and peanut butter milkshake. I had a smoke house burger and cookies and cream milkshake. We shared the wonderful French fries and onion rings with ranch dressing that they bring to you. We used our C&A coupons, so the only charge was for the milkshakes. The meal was excellent, much better that our previous experience with JR on the Sovereign. The waiters all danced to "Staying Alive" while we were there. After lunch, we went up to the pool deck. The sun was out, and the temp was around 78 degrees, but it was still to cool for the pool, so we enjoyed some time in one of the hot tubs (there are 4 on the main pool deck). We also enjoyed a few cocolocos (we WERE supposed to be at CocoCay that day after all). We eventually moved into the solarium, out of the sun, so we would not get burned. We went back to the cabin and ordered room service, all of which was good. This was the first formal night. There were several different areas where you could have your picture made. For dinner this night, DH had lobster bisque (which he loves), roasted duck, and strawberry cheesecake. I had shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, filet of beef with mashed potatoes, and strawberry cheesecake. DH really enjoyed his meal, but my main course was just okay. After dinner, we went to Ellington's on deck 14 for a martini and some music. The band here was good, we enjoyed them. We decided to check out the helicopter pad, not a good idea since the wind was blowing around 50 mph, but we had our "king of the world" moment at the front of the ship. We did not see the show this night, either. Made it to bed around 12:30.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin E2
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