Anaheim, Hollywood, Long Beach and Mariner – Cruise_01

[carolynn38]

The earlier parts of this trip report can be found

here

but as this is the cruise part I thought it would be better to post on this forum rather than on the West Coast Forum, where the first part is located.

Well this was the day of the last leg of our holiday, the cruise on RCI Mariner of the Seas.. We woke quite early, finalized the mammoth task of packing and decided to have a small breakfast at the coffee shop in the hotel of coffee and bagels, well it wasn’t as if there was going to be a lack of food on the ship!

At about 10am, we got a taxi to take us to the port of San Pedro, about 15 mins away. I have to say I was relieved when I got the first glimpse of the ship in dock – when you book DIY I always panic that I may have got my dates wrong…….

As soon as we got out of the taxi, a porter came straight over and took our luggage, and then we were in waiting to go through security. The queue was only about 5 mins and before long we were checking in and getting our lovely gold seapass cards.





One of the suite perks was priority boarding, so we were led to the pink chairs, rather than the green ones. There was a RCI representative there who kept us informed over the next hour, telling us that boarding would commence one a few ‘missing’ guests from the previous cruise had been found, and the Coastcard had done what they needed to.

At about 11.15am we were ready to board, and I think we must have been among the first 20 to step on-board.



The actual structure to get you from the pier to the ship looked a bit shoddy, but it did the job. First job on board was to check out our dining room assignment whilst it was quiet, and see where our table was. We were on the ground floor, on a table near the window which was good.





As the cabins don’t open up till 1pm, everyone seems to head to the Wimdjammer buffet for lunch, so even though it was still early we decided to head over there ourselves before it got too busy. On the way, we took a few pics of the Royal Promenade before it started to fill up. Having already been on Freedom of the Seas, which is slightly bigger, we hadn’t noticed any huge size differences between the ships so far, even in here.







We had a wander through the main pool area and the adults only Solarium which is on the same deck as the Wingjammer.



One thing I had really loved on Freedom were the cantilevered whirlpools, and I knew Mariner didn’t have these, but I was just as happy to see the same size whirlpools in the Solarium area.

[carolynn38]

Finally we made it the buffer, and I was glad to see they had Honey Stung Chicken.



After eating, it did start to get busy and you could see people looking for tables, so we decided to leave and have another wander around. I also wanted to book a couple of Spa treatments for sea days, and these are the ones that book up the fastest,

Jacuzzi in the Spa



Casino





Before too long it was 1pm so we could go and finally take a look at our Suite. Wow, what can I say – much better than we thought. We had a bar area set up with water and fruit, a HUGE bathroom and a double balcony. There was also soooooo much storage, so even with all our luggage we would still have plenty spare.











After whopping for joy and having a good old look round, we found the ‘Suite Amenity’ pack on the coffee table, which included the coveted Concierge Key. Luckily, this was only a floor below us on deck 9 so we thought we would take a look.



This would prove very useful. It had a great coffee machine where we could make our own cappuccino’s, lattes etc (no cost) all day, and from 5pm – 8.30 it provided a free bar (inc champagne) and canapés – excellent!

[carolynn38]

Now we had planned a pre meet and mingle with some fellow cruisers we had met on CruiseCritic, so off we trotted to the Schooner bar – taking more pics on the way.







On the way, we passed another bar which made the strongest pomegranate marguerites – I would have to remember this place



Well I have to say this pre meet up was an excellent idea and it was lively to finally meet some of the people we had been chatting to online for the months prior to the cruise. I have to say they were such a great bunch, and may of them became good friends over the following week. Even though the ship is soo large, you do keep bumping into people, and by the last day we couldn’t go for 10 mins without meeting up with someone we knew or had previously met,

Before we knew it it was time for the muster drill, and the great news was that we didn’t have to wear life jackets anymore – I have to say this did take some of the fun out of it – but then again I don’t suppose it is meant to be fun!

After the muster drill, yet more pictures…





… and then it was time for sailaway. Last time we went up onto the main deck, but fancied something a bit different this time so went right to the front to the helipad – cocktails in hand.



Unfortunately San Pedro isn’t the most glamorous post to depart from – its essentially a cargo port, but it was nice to be finally on our way.

[carolynn38]

It was now starting to get a bit cool on deck as we hit the open sea, so we decided to take a look at Captain Johnny in the bridge before retiring back to the cabin to see if our luggage had arrived. One good thing about Mariner is that they have a viewing window so you can see what is happening. Tony was particularly impressed with the fluffy dice.





Thankfully once back at the cabin, our luggage had arrived so we were able to unpack and get ready for this evenings meal. Once spruced up, we decided to nip into the Concierge lounge for a few glasses of champagne before dinner. I have to say it was lovely in here, and we saw quite a few people we had already met in the meet and mingle, and also met lots of new friends. It was nice to be sat in a peaceful environment, being served champagne (no seapass card needed) and they also had the most delicious canapés – inc milk and white chocolate covered strawberries – my favorites!

After a few tipples, we headed over to the main dining room to meet our fellow table mates. It was a table of 8 and we were seated with a mother and daughter from Ireland, a couple from Las Vegas and a couple of ladies from California. Now I have no idea how they decided to put this table together, but we had such a laugh over the next week that we couldn’t have chosen better ourselves. Patti, one of the ladies from California was especially good fun and she kept us in fits of laughter throughout the whole cruise, and not just at dinner but whenever we saw her……….

The first nights dinner was very good, and although I had read reports that the food on RCI was declining, it was not noticeable here. After dinner, we headed over to the casino and both ended up having good wins at roulette, so we went to bed very happy indeed.

[Michelle]

It looks a lovely ship

A nice start, with lovely photos.

[huneybunny17]

OMG I've been waiting for this report for weeks! and you didn't disapoint me with this start. Your pictures are fab and your suite looks like a hotel room. Thank you. xx

[Guest]

WOW! That suite is amazing! Having been pretty squashed in an inside cabin on Freedom last month your suite looks very very impressive

I'm really enjoying this trip report - thanks!

[DIBBadmin]

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