My review: Mariner of the Seas Aug. 9-16, 2009

Quips, quirks, and biases

One of the great things about cruise vacations is that, in many cases, they are what you make of them. Because of that, I always like to include this little introductory section where I describe where I'm coming from, as context definitely colors any review. This was my 14th cruise on Royal Caribbean, and 24th cruise overall. I've been "loyal to Royal" lately because I like their ships, have received competitive pricing, enjoy the C&A Diamond perks. I sailed on the Mariner in May when she went on her single Astoria Pacific NW run and was glad to be returning to her. I sailed this time with my father who just retired and is also a frequent cruiser.
This cruise was booked in early July, so about a month from the sailing date. I used that site for competing prices and found a travel agent that offered both a fare discount and prepaid tips on top of the military rate that my dad made us eligible for. I was a bit skeptical, but after talking to the guy over the phone, decided to give it a shot. Thankfully the booking was genuine, though those onboard credits … who knows until you’re there. Oh … and one other note … once we made the booking, my dad forwarded his stockholder information to customer relations for OBC. We found out, however, that the discount given to us by the agent was some sort of RCCL-based promotion and we had the choice of either $100 off the fare (the original offer) or $100 OBC with the stock. No surprise, we took the money-in-pocket option. This gummed up the booking for a few days so I learned a new lesson … I need to mention stockholder credit to the travel agent I’m using before just sending it along just in case the fare is coming from a promotion I’m not aware of.

Pre-Cruise

On my May Mariner cruise, we were forced to fly in day-of and, of course, United decided to lose our lone checked bag in Denver, leaving us with few clothes options (and fewer warm clothes options) for a few days until our bag caught up with us in Oregon. This time we were able to fly in the day before and we took the opportunity. Our American flight left Indianapolis with a connection in Dallas to LAX. There was a one hour, on-tarmac delay in Dallas because of a warning light that needed to be checked out, but we still made it to LAX by about 1 PM on the Saturday before the cruise. We collected our bags ($15 apiece, but now $20 I guess with American and I’m sure others soon) and went out to catch the shuttle I had booked online.

**Needless rant** OK … I’m sure this is unnecessary, but still … I HATE checked bag fees. I know they exist and I know the airlines are struggling to make a profit, but I still wish they would just add those fees to the fare. Of course, airlines are now at the mercy of the fare aggregators (like Kayak, Sidestep, etc), so appearing to have the lowest price is the goal. The side effect of this, of course, is also that people are bringing more luggage as carry-ons, including pieces that have no business inside an airplane cabin. American tried to enforce carry-on policies, the biggest seeming to be the 2 limit as many people tended to have a large bag, a smaller bag, then other handbags on top of that. All-in-all, carry-on baggage has gotten more ridiculous with each flight I’ve taken this year. Don’t even get me started on the mass of people waiting to board that block all other people (foot traffic, those already cleared to board, etc), which is, of course, made worse by the people AND their huge carry-ons ….. OK, it’s out of my system.

Transportation

With only two of us, a shared-ride shuttle seemed the best option for getting to our San Pedro hotel. Researching the two shuttle companies I’ve used in LA, I found that PrimeTime charges $16/pp from LAX to San Pedro while SuperShuttle charges $17/pp. Not really having encountered any differences between the two, I prepaid with PrimeTime. Upon receiving our bags (quite quickly by LAX standards), we went to the ground transportation area and found the shuttle representatives on the island across the street from the baggage claim. We waited perhaps 5 minutes for our shuttle and the one that arrived was full except for two seats right inside the door. All-in-all we won the shared-ride lottery … we were the last picked up and in the first group dropped off 30-40 minutes later in San Pedro. I made note that all shuttles appeared to have a sign stating that they would circle the airport only once before heading to a destination, so if you are the first on a shuttle, be prepared for a bit of a wait which is par for the course with shared-ride.

Lodging

I typically use Priceline and tried to get the Crown Plaza San Pedro for the usual $65 bid that wins it. I could not get it after a couple of attempts, however, so I went ahead and purchased a $70 3-star Hotwire hotel which I assumed and turned out to be the DoubleTree at the marina. Upon arrival to the hotel at about 2 PM, I was told by the desk that there were no rooms ready and that check-in was 3 PM, so kindly sit and wait. We sat and waited until about 2:40 or so and noted that others were getting rooms so I went up and was able to check-in.

** Note: I’ve been unhappy in the past with Hotwire and room configurations as I’ve booked rooms for 3 (and paid extra for the third) and was still given a single king bed and charged for a roll-away. This time I booked a room for 4 (though it was only the two of us) as there was no increase in price (added 2 children instead of adults) and there was no way they were going to force 4 people into a single queen or king bed.

Our room was on the second floor overlooking the pool and next to the stairwell overlooking pool. The room seemed bright with interesting art. There was supposedly wired Internet available but it didn’t seem to work. The pool was a bit loud at times, as were the children and adults who liked to jump down the interior stairs. The room seemed clean, though in between my before-bed shower and morning shower my feet mysteriously got dirty, so perhaps the carpet needs a little attention.
The area around the marina seemed decent though there didn’t seem to be an abundance to do. We walked around the marina (to the left when you exit the hotel) until we reached the 22nd Street Landing which is where we had dinner. It was a little pricey but in line with the hotel and I had a feeling that this kitchen was probably better than the hotel’s “mystery” kitchen. Our food was very good and we watched the fishing ships come in and clean their catch.

**Note: The shuttle driver told us this was the best hotel in the area. I mentioned that I had stayed in the Crown Plaza before and he asked me if I had needed my running shoes. I said no, I only walked around the area in the day, which he said was a smart move. He also noted that there was a small turf-war going on in San Pedro along a few streets between rival gangs. Just FYI and passing along with no proof or personal experience.

To the ship

If you stay at the DoubleTree, make sure that you talk to the bellman about signing up for the complimentary shuttle to the port. The large rush seemed to be around 11 AM but I got on the first shuttle at 10:30. The shuttle was not at all full, and we arrived while there was still quite a bit of activity. We were directed to a small booth to get baggage tags, and then tracked down a porter for our suitcases. After that, we made our way through security (you need SetSail and passports out). This led to the check-in lines which we bypassed to go to the C&A priority line. We were checked in very quickly as we filled in our H1N1 flu declarations (ie, we are not sick or have been around people who were), and were then sent over to a gated waiting area for priority boarding (standard boarding required numbered tickets). Most people went to the far right when facing the area as there was an agent and door there, but we went to the far left which is where you actually board the ship once they move the gates. At 11:30, the gates were moved aside and we boarded the Mariner ….

Embarkation day

Early embarkation

As was stated when we checked in, we were let on the ship at 11:30 (documents indicated that boarding started at noon). In the information sheet about the ship, it stated that the Windjammer would be opening at 11:30, however when we arrived at about 11:35, it was closed and we were told it would open in 15 minutes or so. When we came back around noon it was open, though only about 25% of the food was out and the manager was apologizing over the loudspeaker and asking people to sit tight for another 15 minutes or so for food to be placed out. This didn’t really happen as people started grabbing food as soon as it was set out, but I was surprised that the Windjammer was not ready when people boarded. I grabbed some of the traditional honey stung chicken (which was one of the first items placed out) and had a nice meal.

Cabins are closed to guests until 1 PM. Believe it or not, they really do mean everyone needs to stay out until 1, though many special people tried to get to their cabins to drop their luggage (as if everyone else wasn’t lugging stuff around too). Most landings had staff posted to keep people out of the hallways, but I sometimes find it frustrating how people start off arguing about what they should be allowed to do or that they just want to do whatever …. in my eyes, the price of early embarkation is lugging your carry-ons for an hour or so.

My single instance of “upsetting” service happened during this time and is very minor, but it made me mad, so here it is … we sat in the couch at Vintages on the Promenade with our bags at 12:40 or so to people-watch for a few minutes before we were allowed to go to our cabins. We had our bags with us, so obviously we were just hanging out, and were approached by a waiter at about 12:55 and asked to purchase a drink. When we politely refused, he stomped away, smacking the back of one of the nearby couches. I understand people having bad days so I never looked for his name or included him on the comment card or anything, but I’m glad to say that service only improved for the rest of the cruise.

Cabin

We booked an inside guarantee and were placed in 6509 which is an inside cabin at the very front of the ship. Some might moan about the location, but I found it to be very quiet except for the running children on the deck above (yes, when children run, everyone on the deck below can hear it). I also didn’t notice any disproportionate movement up front. It was a bit of a walk, but hey, that’s healthy right?

The cabin seemed to be kept in good shape. It felt slightly roomier than the inside promenade room I had had on my last voyage, probably because the beds fit better in the room. There was plenty of storage space for everything, and the cabin had what appeared to be a new safe. The bathroom included the Voyager-class and above standard shower door which I truly appreciate. Water was clean and the temperature control worked well … all great. There was a mini-bar with the usual sodas and candy that we left alone.

Muster Drill

I typically don’t write much about the muster drill, but I thought this one warranted reflection. I’ve had an intense summer job so I’ve not been on Cruise Critic much this summer and feel a bit out of the loop. However, we were told that we were the first cruise on the Mariner where passengers were asked to leave their life vests in their cabins and just report to their muster stations (which were printed very largely on the SeaPass).

I may have differing opinions on this than others, but by not taking the life vest, the whole thing seemed completely worthless. Perhaps it makes a difference because we were seated in a lounge, but no one paid attention during the entire drill. Seriously, everyone was chatting with traveling companions or on the phone during the entire drill, even when the cruise director or captain was talking. When it came time for a crew member to demonstrate putting on a life vest, our station’s crew member (who I was sitting next to), grabbed the vest, started to unhook it, then noticed that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE was paying attention to him and simply set the vest back down. I don’t know if it was different out on the decks or in different venues, but I know in the Lotus Lounge that the room was lost. No one wanted to or could control the room, and thus none of the passengers took it seriously. Personally, I felt this was a failure of this more lax program. Yes, it’s wonderful not to have to wear the vest or worry about tripping over it or hearing people blow on their darn whistles, but the cost seemed to be even more loss of attention at an important and mandatory event that already had only a tenuous grasp on people’s attentions as it was.

Ports

I know everyone really wants to know about the ports and tours. I only went on one tour, but I’ll give whatever info I can and what I heard around the ship.

Cabo

Cabo is the first stop (Tuesday) and it is a tender port, meaning there are not docking facilities for the Mariner. In other words, you must load onto smaller ships (or tenders) in order to get to land. We shared the port with Carnival Elation but there seemed to be plenty of tenders for both. It is a short trip to land in the tenders (5-10 minutes) and the bouncing wasn’t too bad though you might want to make sure you take seasickness meds if you are prone to getting ill with movement.

I don’t have the exact time in my head, but I believe that tendering started in between 9-9:30 AM. There are no tender tickets as you just board when you are ready to go. Morning tours usually had specific areas in the ship to meet and tender over. There was an announcement made about 11 AM or so that there was a glut of people trying to get off at once, so it seems like either before 11 or after 12 or so is probably the best time to get off without having to wait in lines.

Not in any rush, we ate lunch onboard (starting at 11:30) and tendered over at about 1. Huge surprise here, but it was quite warm with temperatures ranging between 100-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Without a tour booked we got off just to walk around the dock area which is very built up though a lot of construction seemed to still be going on. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Café for a pin for my mom’s collection as there were advertising signs and directions. It was about a 20 minute walk to the Hard Rock which was fairly busy with only a few employees selling merchandise (though I wasn’t going to complain about waiting in the air conditioning). We continued around the dock area and ended up making the complete trip to the public beach at the opposite shore from where our tender docked. This was quite a walk and along the way quite a few merchants, tour operators, and water taxi drivers were trying to solicit business (but nothing too aggressive). Once we reached the beach, we turned and walked back to the tender, probably a 30-40 minute walk. There were multiple shopping and food opportunities along this path. I took note of drink prices and didn’t notice any “deals” to be had further away from the tender area. The typical deal for drinks seemed to be 2-for-1 mixed drinks (like margaritas) and a bucket of 6 beers for about $8-10 that might or might not include chips and salsa. I was slightly interested in going to Cabo Wabo, but the road it was on was being ripped apart and with the heat, I wasn’t feeling adventurous.
We returned to the ship at about 3 and there was a small line for the tender back (we waited maybe 5 minutes or so). Returning to the ship you need to put your items through the scanner and walk through a metal detector. The metal detector seemed set very high as both my wallet and buckles on my sandals set it off. They appeared to be diligent about confiscating liquor for return the last sea day.

Word around the ship was that Cabo was the best stop at this itinerary to do watersports as it has the clearest water. It was also pointed out later that Cabo is the most “foreign tourist” oriented resort down on the West coast of Mexico meaning higher prices and less “authentic” surroundings.

Mazatlan

Wednesday’s stop was Mazatlan which has pier facilities for the Mariner to dock, though it is in an industrial area so passengers still need to board a trolley to get out of the dock area. The Mariner docked at around 8 AM I believe in Mazatlan.

We decided to take a tour through the ship in this port, so we signed up for the “Artisans and Tequilla factory” tour. It was advertised as a 6-hour tour offering insight into leather-working and tequila with a stop in a small town, a stop at a tequila factory, and an authentic Mexican meal for $55/pp. The tour was to meet at 8:45, so we debarked the ship at about 8:30 and found our air-conditioned bus waiting outside. The tour took us out of Mazatlan to the small town of La Noria which was about a 40 minute drive through which the guide offered information about Mexico and the local area. Once in the town, we were taken to a leather shop where we were shown some finished saddles, belts, and huaraches and were given the opportunity to purchase a made-to-order belt embossed with a name for $10. We were then taken across the street to see huaraches being made and purchase them if so desired. Also for sale were leather masks (think wrestling) and small leather coin purses.

**Funny note: Four young ladies decided to take this tour (my guess is for the tequila) and I’ve never seen such ridiculous people in my life. Every stop prompted them to find something to send them running and screaming to the bus such as ants and believe it or not, a toad. I guess the tour description did not mention that this tour would not be taking place in a shopping mall and that there would be the possibility of NATURE.

After leaving the shop area, we were taken to the local church and allowed to go in and look at it even though we were wearing our touristy clothes such as shorts (many of the tours including churches noted that long pants were required to enter). Leaving the church we went to a tortilla factory where we were offered samples of fresh, still-warm corn tortillas. After that, we loaded back on the bus and made our way to the tequila factory. Cold bottled water was made available by the tour operators.

The tequila factory is was named Los Osuna and was actually on the same driveway as the canopy tours. Our guide gave some interesting information tequila and the process of making it. When we arrived, we were shown through the factory which seemed to be pretty much not in use at this time of the season though there were a few vats of agave being distilled. After walking through the factory and seeing the machines used, we were taken to a nice patio where a bar was setup with tequila shots, limes, and salt. The tequila was quite nice and you could have as many shots as you wanted. I did a few and purchased a bottle of the tequila for $30 (it is also sold in a booth in the shops by the ship but I was afraid to ask how much it cost there). I found out when I got home that this brand is not exported, so this was my only chance to get it.

After our “tasting,” we were taken to the newer resort area in Mazatlan for lunch at a place I believe was called La Spectaculaire which appeared to be a dinner/dance venue. The lunch was quite nice and consisted of a tamale, a taco, an enchilada, beans, rice, and dessert. Drinks offered were soda and beer. My dad and I sat with a couple from Arizona and they assured us that this really was quite good, traditional Mexican food (what do we know, we’re from Indiana ). I found the food to be very good and given that it caused no later problems, I was happy with the meal.

After eating, we loaded back in the bus and were taken to the Golden Zone for about 45 minutes of shopping before returning to the ship (you could stay and get your own transportation back if you wished). We cut through the shops to the beach and spent most of our time there. The vendors and taxi drivers in the Golden Zone were definitely more aggressive than in other areas and by the end of 45 minutes, I was ready to return. We were dropped off at the shops at the port and needed to load into the trolley to go back to the ship. They were again confiscating liquor but missed my bottle so I kept it instead of giving it up … and no, I didn’t drink it.

A few observations about bus tours:
Here’s my problem with cruise bus tours in general … you always get at least one person out of 40 who does not care about anyone else and try to make the experience worse for everyone else. Thankfully with my experience and skills I can instantly spot most of these people (perhaps a self-fulfilling prophesy, but who knows). The basic gripes however tend to fall into these categories:

1. The person who is always late or otherwise make everyone wait on him/her.
2. The person/people who decide to change seats in the middle of the tour, usurping someone out of the seats they’ve already claimed.
3. The loud talkers who make everyone on the bus listen to their in-person or phone conversation.
4. The kids who are being dragged along on the tour and would rather be anywhere else.

We were lucky enough to have one family take up all 4 positions which was a new record in my book.

The other problem with these tours, in my eyes, is that they always seem to be more about selling you stuff than showing stuff. We didn’t learn a whole lot about leather, but there was a lot we could buy. We weren’t show a lot about tequila, but there was stuff to buy, etc. I enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to those who would like a smaller-town experience and are interested in tequila, but it fell slightly short in the “education” department in favor of the “selling” department.

Puerto Vallarta

I’m sad to say that I don’t have a lot to write about PV. We had planned to go to the Dreams all-inclusive resort for the day in Nuevo Vallarta for $43/pp, but I had a bad headache this day necessitating mucho ibuprofen and making me think that perhaps mixing that with copious all-inclusive drinks may not be the best idea. Instead we just got off the ship, walked around the port area, and returned. The taxi drivers and vendors were once again aggressive and there was a decent amount of shops right off the ship with traditional Mexican items like tequila, leather, hats, and vanilla. On the other side of the ship there was a Walmart and Sam’s Club visible that looked fairly walkable though you had to cross what looked to be a very busy street. The biggest raves I heard on the ship about tours were the dolphin ones offered in PV. This was the stop with the longest time available to do activities off the ship.

Dining

My Time Dining

Since we booked so late, early dinner was filled. We took late seating but figured we’d look into MTD on the ship as our gratuities were supposedly prepaid and because my dad was extremely reluctant to start dinner at 8:30. When we arrived onboard and found the WJ closed, we headed to look at our assigned table on deck 5. On the way out, we spoke to Gary, who was in charge of MTD. Upon speaking to him, he urged us to sign up for MTD if we were leaning towards it as he only had 20 spaces left (only 420 MTD spaces) and figured that many other people would also be trying to get into MTD. We filled out the prepaid gratuities form and he switched us on the spot, giving us a reservation for 6:15 that first night.

So the question is, I’m sure, how was MTD?

Well, I found it to be a mixed bag. Let’s start with the positives. We were able to keep a standard 6:30 reservation each night, and Gary immediately recognized us whenever we came up to his podium. We found the service to range from good to excellent, spending a few days with different waitstaff though they all seemed to work the same area every night. For those of you who wish to have tables for two, that seemed to be the primary function of MTD as there were many set up (though for some tables you might as well be sitting with other people as you are close enough to them to eavesdrop on their conversations and snatch food off of their plates). If you come to the table at the right time in the waiter’s rotation of order-taking and serving, you can also eat much faster meals … a few nights we were in and out in 1-1.25 hours.

There were some negatives with MTD though. The first night we sat at a table for 6, then afterwards constantly were assigned tables for 2. We probably could have rectified this by requesting bigger tables, but evidently few people want to eat with strangers. Another problem was the line that would form to “check-in” for MTD. On some nights there seemed to be several hosts while other nights it seemed that Gary was in charge of checking the computer, printing a seating assignment, taking guests to their table, and then handing them menus. Even if that process only takes a few minutes, it meant that if two parties were ahead of you, you were standing around for what seemed like an irritatingly long time to be seated. There were also some faults in service a few nights where it seemed like our orders were held until the waiter took the orders from people who arrived 10-15 minutes after us, which meant at some points we’d be sitting with empty plates in front of us for 10-15 minutes.

**Pet Peeve: Those of you who have read my reviews before know my dining room pet peeve, but I’ll reiterate it just because I like ranting sometimes. In this age where people are hyper-sensitive to using hand sanitizers and are otherwise germophobic, WHY IN THE WORLD do people insist on twirling their napkins above their head when the waiters dance through the dining room? I mean, all you are doing is FLINGING YOUR CRUMBS at other people using a napkin sling. In understand “getting into” the situation, but isn’t clapping enough? Oh well … with MTD we did manage to avoid most of the dining room “shows” (one thing that RCCL truly has over Carnival … only a few routines as opposed to every night).

**Interesting side note: We talked to Gary about the seemingly laborious process of MTD and he flat-out stated that in six months or so he believed that all dinners in the dining room would be MTD. I’m not sure how this would work with tips and timing, but I thought that was interesting.

Food Quality

I’ve been a bit of a nay-sayer on RCCL’s food for a little while and I suppose it will continue though with a caveat. I think the food is very good considering how mass-produced it is. If we want to compare it to the “glory days” of cruising, then of course belts have been tightened. On a few nights in the dining room I wasn’t sure what I wanted to order for a main course while on other nights I had to pick-and-choose. For the “lobster” lovers the fisherman’s platter made an appearance on Friday night, the last formal night, replete with a tiny tail and a few scrawny shrimp (that were well cooked, however). Desserts tended to be disappointing in the dining room in my opinion though there had been a few improvements along with a cake dessert suspiciously similar to Carnival’s chocolate melting-cake (though unfortunately not offered every night like on that other line). I’ll reiterate my RCCL dessert rule:

**The Jiggle Test: If you tap your dessert and it jiggles (and is anything other than Jello), immediately discard the dessert so that you don’t offend your palate with the mushy, gel-like substance that RCCL sometimes fills desserts with instead of a cream-based mixture. Cheesecake should not jiggle. Chocolate cake should not jiggle.

The biggest drop in food quality in my eyes really seemed to be in the WindJammer. I ate several lunches there and was just underwhelmed every time. The salad and fries were fine, but the burgers and hotdogs had their traditional weird tastes and textures and the rest of the food seem to vary very little and was overcooked and under-seasoned. I know that’s what you get with buffets, but I was still less than thrilled. Breakfast in the WJ still offered an egg station (except on debarkation day) that was well-run and appreciated.

Service

As I mentioned before, service in the dining room was good to excellent. The same was true in the WJ as most of the waiters were very quick to clear plates and offer to fetch plates. Only on one morning did everyone seem to be walking around as if they were in daze making me get the feeling there had been a crew party the night before. I did feel that the greeters for the WJ seemed less enthusiastic than the ones I’ve encountered on other ships.

Lunch in the MDR

Lunch in the main dining room was only offered on sea days and seemed to be a fairly popular affair. In my eyes, the best bet was the “get in line and select your ingredients” chopped salads as I loved loading my salad with fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. The menu options were mostly fixed and there didn’t seem to be a beef hamburger on the menu, only a turkey burger.

**Introvert warning: Lunch in the main dining room is open seating in that you don’t have a set table but the waitstaff seats you to fill the tables. Evidently this was a horrible idea to many people as EVERY TIME my dad and I were seated at a table, the other already there would stare at each other for a second, put down their napkins, and then get up and leave or request a private table. Seriously, this has happened to me about 4 of the last 6 times I’ve gone to lunch in the MDR and I find it a tad aggravating. I’m assuming it’s nothing personal, but either people need to be more vociferous that they want a private table or the dining room needs to somehow explain how seating works. I’ve not eaten in the MDR for breakfast in several cruises but I’d imagine that the same ratio would hold.

Chops

My first experience in Chops was on the Brilliance a few years ago and it was less than worth the cover-charge. I was reluctant to go again, but I like visiting a specialty restaurant once a cruise and Chops was the only restaurant available on the last night due to a Portofino wine event. Thankfully, Chops this visit was excellent. I strayed from beef to have the halibut and found it to be an extremely well done, if small, portion. My dad had a NY strip that was also perfect as well as a baked potato that he’s still raving about. By the end of the meal it was hard to fit that too-decadent mud pie but I managed (good thing I had a small fish portion ).

Café Promenade

The café is always a great snack stop on the Promenade with breakfast items in the morning, cookies, sandwiches, and pizza (though I find RCCL’s pizza bad enough that I haven’t touched it in three cruises). Free coffee is also available at the other end of the café (ie, self-serve) and there was also a station setup for self-serve water next to the cookies. The café (especially the back part) seemed to be a hangout for the older teens in the evening as it offered free food and the illusion of privacy (though their conversations would carry).

Staff and Crew

Except for the one small incident mentioned earlier, I thought that almost every crew member I encountered on the Mariner acted both professionally and friendly. I never felt pressured to buy drinks and as I observed others, bartenders didn’t seem as disinterested as I’ve seen in the past to fill soda card orders.

My dad and I both enjoyed the cruise director’s staff members we encountered in our multiple trivia encounters. Our favorites were Laura from Canada and Sara from New Zealand as both kept the games interesting even when there were few players. We got some time to talk with them and both had some very interesting stories about their time with the company, how they’d gotten there, etc.

The cruise director was Abe and I enjoyed what he brought to the stage. I didn’t see him quite as much as I saw Ken Rush in May, but Abe seemed approachable and honestly enjoying his job. The captain was Captain Per and it was quite obvious that he had a sense of humor as well.

Shows

As usual, there was only one Welcome Aboard show between both dinners which is a pain considering the amount of people who want to attend strains the capacity of the theater. The acts were a juggler and RCCL staple Ivan Pecel (who I still find hilarious) and a comedian who was successful in driving me from the theater. That same comedian gave an adult show later in the cruise that I had heard was better but his humor was not exactly my cup of char.

There were two production shows and quite frankly I skipped both of them as I’ve finally cruised enough that my threshold of entertainment for these “variety” shows has dipped below what it takes to motivate me to attend. One thing that I’m interested in with Oasis is the production of a cohesive show (Hairspray) … that kind of theater I’m definitely more interested in than random dancing and singing from Broadway and then pop that has existed on just about every cruise I’ve ever taken.

The show on another night was the magic of LaRaf. I had seen these guys in May and thought it was a decent show. As I watched this time I wondered just how many drinks I had downed in the concierge lounge in May because this time, the show was horrible. A PowerPoint played while people took their seats and it featured spelling errors along with font choices so horrible that some of the information was rendered unreadable. Unfortunately the show was no better and felt more like a guy who invites you over to his apartment to show you tricks he just bought off of eBay. Every single one of them was easy to figure out, and Larry and Rafael just didn’t seem to be very enthusiastic. Comments like “we just performed for the Queen” (which I assumed was probably the name of their cat or something) only made my eyes roll even more.

The other specialty act was Mosaic, which is an acappella group of guys. I must say that their show was extremely impressive and received quite a great reception from the crowd. Sitting on the far side of the balcony, I found it interesting that a large number of officers snuck in to see the group perform so interest had obviously been stirred. This show was definitely one of the entertainment highlights.

The one certain entertainment highlight on a Voyager-class or above ship, though, is of course the ice show. Mariner’s show is called “Ice under the Big Top” and was once again excellent. There are about four shows offered: one on the first formal night and others throughout the week. No tickets are needed as it is first come, first serve. The costumes are fun and the skating was very good with some stunts that were truly amazing. The special guests were a quick-change act which was good but perhaps less exciting than the ring act I’ve seen on several ships.

**Side entertainment: Every venue, including the ice show, had announcements stating that the saving of seats was prohibited. This, of course, was ignored because there were many special people onboard who are exceptions to this rule (and I’m not talking about holding a seat while someone goes to the restroom here … I’m talking about two people trying to hold down a whole row). Here is my description of what I saw without having any idea what “really” happened. There are three ladies: Lady A, Lady B, and Lady C. Lady A shows up at the show and claims 6 seats for the two of her party that are there in the first row along the side of the rink. Lady B is sitting in the second row and, as far as I know, is a stranger from Lady B. Lady C is sitting in the section facing the front of the ice. As Studio B fills, for something like 20 minutes, Lady A explains to people that come down to the seat that they are reserved … after all there are 4 empty seats, ending on the main aisle, in the first row along the ice … pretty attractive to everyone. The lights go down and the people in Lady A’s party still have not arrived. More people come into the area which now has no or very few seats together, see those empty seats, and are still shooed away by Lady A. By this point, people are sitting in the stairways and the lights are dimmed as the show has started. Lady C gets up from her seat, crosses the gap to the side section, and tells the couple sitting in the aisle that they should sit in the empty seats as there is no seat-saving allowed. At this point Lady A says that the seats are still hers. Lady B, behind Lady A, then gets into it with Lady C and both scream and point at each other with Lady B jabbing her purse into Lady A. Lady C eventually goes back to her seat, but Lady B is still screaming at her across the ice and making gestures (remember, the show is also going at this point). A minute or two later security arrives along with a large male waiter and they talk to each lady individually (and take their SeaPass cards, I think). After about 5 minutes of back-and-forth with security, the ladies are allowed to stay and the people in the aisles are given the empty seats that still haven’t been filled 10 minutes into the show.

So what can be done? Does RCCL need Seat Patrol positions as well as the Deck Patrol ones? For some reason, passengers on this cruise seemed to run hot and self-centered. In a completely different situation at the same ice show, two ladies were trying to reserve the entire row in front of where I was sitting. People tried to sit there and were sent away. A waitress came up and said told the ladies that there was no saving of seats, at which she was told that they were part of a party of 35, paying a lot of money to the company, so she could mind her own business. Of course what happened? The rest of their party was sitting elsewhere so after shooing people away for 10 minutes, the ladies then went to join everyone else, leaving the row open. Just fly-on-the-wall observations but the way people act and treat other people always fascinates me ….

The Farewell show featured Ivan Pecel again along with a new comedian, both of whom I enjoyed. I also enjoyed Abe’s video about “his” cabin. I wished that the sales pitch for the Cruise in Review DVD were a bit shorter, but that’s the price for going to the last show.

As for other entertainment, sorry to say that I didn’t really attend any other live music or performer events. My dad was less than enthusiastic about the singers in the Lotus Lounge. The parades are fun but not worth lining up for more than an hour ahead of time as some people appeared to be doing (I’ll admit that parades of any kind are not really my thing anyway).

Meet and Mingle

We had a fairly sedate M&M as we barely made it past the 25 cutoff. I'm guessing maybe 15 people attended the event and there were so many prizes that maybe 3-4 people didn't win something. This event was attended by the M&M organizer and one of the cruise director's staff.

Crown and Anchor

Being a diamond member, this cruise I received my coupon book and access to the concierge lounge. The coupon book, as many have reported, was close to worthless. I believe I redeemed my free coffee drink coupon, my internet coupon, and my "spin to win" coupon and that's it. All other coupons were either uninteresting, had no relevance (Alaskan cruise-tours only), had ridiculous restrictions (20% your 2nd bottle of wine over $100) or were BOGO (wine, milkshakes at Johnny Rocket's after paying the cover charge). These coupons were quite a change from the nice, old books I received on my PNW Mariner crusie where they had old books and left all of the goodies in (free photo, etc). I was surprised, however, that we received a very heavy, nice RCCL tote-bag as a C&A gift, especially considering we I did not receive a gift on my May Mariner cruise ... not sure if this is using up the inventory or a reinstatement of perks.

As for the Concierge Lounge, it was ever-so-crowded before first dinner, when a majority of the guests onboard appeared to be eating. Long lines and no seats were common as an alternate venue was not opened up for this sailing. After 6:00 the place quieted down so that's when we made our appearance before our 6:30 standing MTD reservation. The crew working the conceirge lounge, however, were obviously working hard at pleasing as many people as they could.

There was a platinum and above party on the second formal night with the standard drinks, dancing, and comments.

Upsell

There were occasional announcements on the loudspeaker for Bingo, but I didn't notice other sales calls for the shops or standard Inch-of-Gold. There seemed to be more opportunities to spend this trip though as a caricature artist and a generic "build a bear" have been added to the Royal Promenade. I suppose this is just a taste of what Oasis will be like with even more opportunities to "make your cruise vacation even more special." Art auctions were packed and evidently there were still healthy lines for Johnny Rocket's and Ben and Jerry's.

Debarkation

Debarkation offerings were both express (walk off with your bags) and traditional (put your bags out the night before and pick them up off the ship). We opted for express departure which was scheduled to leave around 8:15 on the last morning. This offered plenty of time for breakfast at either the main dining room or the WindJammer (though no egg station the last morning). Express departure people were to wait in either the Schooner Bar or Casino and of course people started lining up early. By 7:45 or so it was standing room only with new-parking in the middle of the hallway instead of heading towards the "back" of the line. Debarkation started on time though it was the usual mess. Without anyone watching or enforcing the line, side-lines formed from shorter routes cutting off those who had been waiting as they were supposed to. There were the usual amount of pushy people shoving their way through the line and counting that no one would say anythign to them. As I mentioned in an ealier post, one lady send her daughter weaving through the line, then followed with the bags saying "I need through to catch up to my daughter." She the proceeded to hold up the entire line because she had packed her SeaPass ... typical.

We were off quickly, however, with customs taking only a cursory glance at our declaration ... not like with the Monarch's old terminal where you had to stop at a desk. We were at the curb by 8:30 or so (debarkation actually started at around 8:05, even while still calling for international people to check-in). There is an island in the middle of traffic to pick-up shared-ride shuttle as both SuperShuttle and PrimeTime have representatives at the pier (no need for a reservation).

This will be a little wierd, but I actually booked our departure out of Ontario Airport (ONT). Flying out of any closer airport was about $100/pp more and I booked a SuperShuttle shared-ride van there for $70 for the two of us. This evidently did not sit well with the driver, however, as he was visibly upset at having to take us to ONT and started questioning when we had arrived as if one of the other drivers had turned us down to take a more lucrative jaunt to LAX. After waiting for 20 minutes or so, our driver loaded some passengers to John Wayne Airport and we departed. Since we had to go to Orange County first, our little excursion to ONT ended up taking about 1.5 hours, though thankfully we had plenty of time with our flight. So I guess my advice is, make sure you book an afternoon flight if you are going out of ONT and be prepared to have a sour driver.

Parting Words

OK ... finally at the end. This was a nice cruise with some interesting stops. The Mariner is a great ship and has a friendly, outgoing crew. If pricing worked out I wouldn't mind doing this cruise again as there seemed to be plenty to do both on land and on the ship.

My next review will probably be my Rhapsody adventure in Australia/New Zealand over Christmas and New Years though who knows what will happen in between. Thanks for your patience with my review, I know that it's what you would call very long and scattered, but I hope you enjoyed the ride.