Royal Caribbean
Mariner of the Seas
Western Caribbean

Deborah Sanders

Age: 42
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Number of Cruises: 3

We cruised Mariner of the Seas on August 28 - Sept 4, 2005. This was the BEST cruise ever! I can't say enough positive things about Mariner of the Seas and the wonderful vacation we had. This was my third cruise, but my first on a Royal Caribbean Voyager-class ship. I had concerns about vacationing on such a large ship with 3000 passengers but in all honesty, the ship was big enough that it never felt like 3000 passengers were onboard. This was the first cruise with our 2 children too. Our kids are 11 years and 15 years old. We did a lot of research in advance to find a ship that offered enough activities for kids. The Mariner of the Seas will not disappoint you! For the kids they have a video arcade, ping pong tables, inline skating, ice skating, miniature golf, face painting, Johnny Rockets dining, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, basketball and/or soccer court, jogging track and all the fun Adventure Ocean activities that are planned by the staff. We also were concerned about cruising during hurricane season and we were tracking the hurricanes for the month prior to our cruise. When Hurricane Katrina hit Miami on the Thursday before we left, we definitely were nervous and very glad that we purchased travel insurance just in case. We checked the Royal Caribbean website for Tropical Weather Updates and our cruise was not affected by Hurricane Katrina, although other cruises leaving out of Miami, Tampa and Galvaston were affected. We also had read that the cruise ships do a good job of staying away from the bad weather and keep you in calm water. We're happy to report that we had wonderful sunny weather for the entire week, although it did rain a few times at night. Nevertheless, we did have a very UNUSUAL weather experience aboard the Mariner! In the wee hours of the morning at 4:30AM on September 2, 2005 the ship's emergency alarms were set off by lightening. Everyone on the ship was awoken and it was a bit scary at first not knowing what was happening. Some passengers were in the hallways with their life jackets but most folks just looked outside the doors or stood on their balcony. We were on Deck 7 with a balcony, so we looked outside but couldn't see anything unusual. Within 10 minutes, the Captain came on the loudspeaker with an announcement that ome of the communication radar towers had been struck by lightening and set off the alarm. He reassured us there was no need to panic and everything was under control. Unfortunately, he could not shut off the alarm because it was a complicated process (the alarm needs to be reset in each section of the ship and it takes the techinicans time to do that.) Luckily, the captain did discover a way to quiet the alarm by holding down the Purser's announcement button so we heard crackling for about 2 hours through the room radio, but that was better than a blaring alarm. Everyone was calm and went back to sleep for the most part. I must say the crew handled this experience extremely well and I was impressed with how quickly the passengers were informed about what was happening. Even the woman who makes the announcements in all the different foreign languages got on the intercom and told passengers the situation. The lightening was truly a once in a lifetime event and by the next day everyone was talking and laughing about it. One of the passengers on another Royal Caribbean ship, Rhapsody of the Seas, happened to see the lightening strike the Mariner and took a picture. When we docked in Cozumel next to the Rhapsody, that passenger gave our crew the photo and the next day at the Captains Talk we all saw it. It was quite a photograph! Besides all the excitement with the weather, we also were thrilled with the great onboard entertainment. The ice show with George and Anna (guest stars from Russia) was first-class. In fact, it was so good that I watched it twice. The ice rink is on Dec 3 in Studio B and although it's small you'd never get that impression from the skaters. They are jumping and twirling like it's a full-size rink!

The evening entertainment in the Savoy Theatre was just as spectacular. We liked the rotation between comedy and dancing, as our kids preferred the comedy and liked how the entertainment was comedy one night and then dancing/singing the next. The shows are Las Vegas style with high production values. There are huge lighted sets, multiple costume changes and a live orchestra. The comedy was hilarious and we enjoyed all the jokes (well, most of them.) The Cruise Director, James Andrews, was a lot of fun too. He's got a ton of energy and spoke to us every night before the evening entertainment. We especially liked his segment on the last night, "Top Ten Things that Passengers Ask Us." It was hilarious, but I won't spoil the fun and give away his jokes. James Andrews is the livliest Cruise Director that I've met and an all around nice guy. I spoke to him a few times throughout the cruise and you could tell the pride he has working for Royal Caribbean. Plus, he truly wanted everyone to have a good time. The ports of call on our cruise were good, although Cozumel was the best in my opinion. We had more time in Cozumel and there was more to see and do, plus the souvenirs were priced right. We picked up lots of T-shirts for $4 each and these were the heavy cotton, quality shirts too. We were not impressed with Ocho Rios and probably would not go back. There was so much begging and pushy sales people, it really got annoying. The Jamacian vendors would put things into your hands and say "How much you give me?" and when you tried to give it back or say "no, I'm not interested" they wouldn't stop. There were especially bad around our kids who had never experienced this behavior before. They would put necklaces on my 11-year old daughter and then tell her to give them money. I had to intercede constantly and take the merchandise off her and give it back. We went to Dunn's River Falls that day, which was fun and then we went to the shops and beach at Margaritaville (which is right next to the dock.) If you go to Jamaica, be sure you don't walk around aimlessly because the street vendors and taxi drivers will drive you CRAZY. My recommendation is to see Dunn's River Falls or hang out at the beach at Margaritaville. The store keepers at Margaritaville do not hassle you and it's like a mini-mall in Jamaica. We made the mistake of walking around before our excursion and I don't recommend that! We also enjoyed seeing the StingRays at StingRay City in Grand Cayman. If you have kids, that's definitely going to be a highlight for them.

In Cozumel, we went to Chankanaab National Park, which was a 10 minute $10 taxi ride from the Cozumel Cruise Terminal. You can find out more at www.cozumelparks.org.mx . We like to snorkel and swim, and at Chankanaab you can rent snorkel equipment on the beach and spend the entire day. We didn't book an excursion through the ship because we wanted to spend more time snorkeling and the excursions onlyl allow you 2 to 3 hours. We were in Cozumel from 10am - 6:30pm, so we wanted more time. It costs $12 per person for admission to Chankanaab, but it's a small price to pay. There are also dolphins, sea lions, sloths and toucans that you can see there. Plus, there are restaurants on the beach and snack bars. And best of all, there were not any street vendors selling their stuff and being pushy. Except a few gals on the beach who are doing hair braiding, but there were not pushy. We're guessing that because it's an admission-only park, that most of the street vendors go elsewhere. Regarding the food on the Mariner, we were in heaven! It was fine dining everynight and our wait staff treated us like royalty. You can order as many entrees as you want, and my husband and I each ordered our own entree and then one to share, so we could sample more of the wonderful selections. We had read some reviews before our cruise from people that complained about the food, so we thought maybe the quality had gone down since our prior cruises, but that is NOT TRUE! The food is spectacular and I told our Head Waiter that I was surprised anyone would complain about the food. We tried most of the fish selections like Sea Bass, Grilled Swordfish, Mahi Mahi, Salmon, Scallops etc. And the desserts were amazing too, we had Cherries Jubilee, Baked Alaska, creme brulee, warm chocolote cake and key lime pie. Our rooms were larger than we remembered from our previous cruises, another advantage of going on a Voyager-class ship. We had adjoining rooms on Deck 7 with balconies. If you're traveling with older kids, this is definitely the way to go. We could shut the door at night, but keep it open during the day and it felt like an even bigger stateroom. We came home last night (Sept 4) so this review is fresh in my mind. I'm on Cloud 9 and had the best vacation of my life. I bought the DVD that they sell onboard called "Cruise in Review" and I've already watched it. I'm planning to show the DVD to some friends and get a group together for our next vacation on the Freedom of the Seas in 2006. If you have any questions and would like to contact me, I will do my best to answer all inquiries. You can email me at debsand@comcast.net. Bon Voyage and have a great time on the Mariner of the Seas!

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