Great Cruise But Time For A Change
Great Cruise but time for a change |
1 of 1 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: WRIGHT, COVENTRY on 17th Mar 2010
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| Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Mariner of the Seas |
Sailed:
February,
2010 |
| Destination:
Mexico
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Age: 46-55 |
| Cabin: Balcony |
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Mariner of the Seas from LA to Mexican Riviera. This was a bargain and well worth every penny. It was my 5th cruise with RCCL and although I had a great time, there are a few negatives.
Check in at San Pedro was the quickest I have known, it took minutes and we were on the ship. The cabin was up to standard although the balcony doors made a racket when opening and closing them, something our neighbours didn’t take into consideration! The cabin was kept spotless by Errol. No toiletries as expected but we had taken our own anyway. We were on second sitting and had some great table companions. We ate breakfast in the Windjammer which was up to the usual high standards, although difficult to go wrong with breakfast. Lunch was in the Windjammer on 4 days, carvery not as good as usual, and the other 3 in the main restaurant, the salad bar is highly recommended. Dinner was in Rhapsody in Blue. Service was superb as always, but the food at dinner was somewhat disappointing. RCCL never seem to change the menu at dinner and the quality of food was below par, particularly the lamb and the Thai chicken (served lukewarm and tasteless). If this was your first cruise you would probably think the food excellent but I am comparing it to 4 other cruises with the same company. It wasn’t bad, just not as good as I have come to expect.
The entertainment team was led by a couple of Brits who were friendly and did a funny TV show each day. There was only one \"Broadway\" style production as there was a new company on board and they had to rehearse, the show they did was great. I did make the mistake of going to bingo on the last day, what a rip off. it cost $27 for 4 games and they must make an absolute fortune. There was one of the entertainment team, a large chap from perhaps the Caribbean, who was selling tickets and seemed to love himself and made fun of people’s accents, not funny.
Crown and Anchor members get a virtually worthless book of vouchers, I think one of the offers was 10% off a second bottle of wine over $50 - what a bargain! No free meal at Johnny Rockets, just a 2 for 1 milkshake offer. No free gift on the last night either, maybe that was an oversight, has this happened to anyone else?
Now for everyone’s favourite subject, smoking. I smoke, I do not want to annoy anyone else or make things unpleasant for them with the smell of smoke. All I ask for is one bar out of the many, with a little music to listen to that allows smoking. The no smoking policy on the ship has gone way too far. The only bar where you could smoke at night was, wait for it, the casino - they are not stupid! That was only for 5 of the nights, and the disco, great for chatting to new friends whilst listening to rap. Most bars had few people in them with little atmosphere, bartenders said revenue had gone down.
I hope I do not sound a moaner as overall I had a great time and am only pointing out a few things that caught my attention. My friend had never cruised before and thought everything was excellent. I will cruise with RCCL again but will perhaps try a different line to compare.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Breakfast was excellent, lunch in Windjammer was ok and dinner in main restaurant a little disappointing. | | Entertainment |  |
| The main Broadway style show was the only one we saw and we enjoyed it. | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| | Staff |  |
| Excellent, helpful professional staff. Special mention to Aurorio and Faustino in the restaurant, Albert John in the Windjammer and Errol the stateroom attendant. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| | Cabins | |
| | Overall Rating | |
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