My Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of The Seas

Alan & Lil on The Tender with the Mariner in the background

This is my second time on The Mariner of The Seas and my 87th cruise over all. With all these cruises under my belt, I feel that I have a good Idea of what makes a great cruise vacation.

My wife and I departed on July 12, 2009 from the Port of Los Angeles on Royal Caribbean’s  Mariner of The Seas. We were very excited to be on the Mariner again and were looking forward to a great vacation at sea. We sailed away from the dock at 5:45 PM and headed south from LA to Mexico in the crystal blue Pacific Ocean.

We Unpacked and settled into our stateroom.  We headed to the dinning room at 555PM, as we had first seating dinning. Royal Caribbean has instituted a “As You Like it Dinning” as an option for people that don’t like  early or late set dinning times. This option gives you the choice to come to the main dinning room at anytime between 6PM and 8:30PM and you are seated as if you were at a restaurant. I personally like the fixed seating at the same table, waiters and people at my table all week. We were seated at a table for 6 with two other couples. One couple was from the Chicago area and was also in the cabin next to us we discovered. The other couple was from Big Bear California. Really very nice people and we had a great conversation at dinner. But that’s what dinner on a cruise ship is really all about. Meeting new people, great food and great conversation. The food was excellent, which was nice to see that Royal Caribbean had not cutback on the quality of the food during these trying economic times.

After dinner it was off to the Savoy Theater for the welcome aboard show. We met our Cruise

The Parade on the Mariner of The Seas

Director Abe who gave us a rundown of what to expect during the upcoming week. Then we were entertained by a juggler and a comic, who were both very good. The evening ended with a great “Welcome Parade” on the Royal Promenade. So for the first day, things looked pretty good.

Since we had travelled with Royal Caribbean on more than 24 cruises, we are considered Diamond Plus members in their Loyalty program, which is the top tier of the program. Along with being in the top tier brings some perks, such as a special on board coupon book. Now it’s been 18 months since our last Royal Caribbean cruise and we were expecting the same perks in the coupon book we received in February of 2008. Well they have decided to change the coupon book and take away a lot of the “Perks” that they gave to their best customers. This did not make much sense to me. Why would you take away perks to your best customers. Things such as a free 8” X 10” photo is now gone and replaced by a 20% off coupon on a special type of 8” x 10” photo. Gone also is a free 30 minutes of internet usage, replaced by a $10 off coupon for internet usage. At a ridiculous $0.55 per minute (OUCH!) you will use that $10 credit up real quick, as the internet connection on this ship is so slow, you could finish the novel War and Peace before you could send your email.

Gone is the “Ship Shape” program. This program got people involved in the fitness activities aboard the ship. You would earn Ship Shape dollars for participating in the activities and you would then be able to redeem them for “Ship Shape” gifts at the end of the cruise. A really great program that I really was sorry to see it eliminated as I was on the ship that they started the ship shape program back in the 1980’s. I guess the one thing that Royal Caribbean eliminated that I was really sad to see go was the Mint and Saying on the Pillow at night. Did I eat the mint every night, no, but It was like a warm fuzzy that I had come to expect on Royal Caribbean ever since we sailed on our first cruise on the Song of Norway in 1978.

To be continued……..

Royal Caribbean New Ad Campaign A Real “Dud”

 

At Sea on Royal Caribbean

You have probably seen the new Royal Caribbean commercial called the “Nation of Why Not?”  This is the new ad campaign for Royal Caribbean. I cannot tell you that who ever came up with this campaign should be FIRED! What a DUD! It is so bad that I have to change the channel every time it comes up on my TV. It looks like a really bad Magic Kingdom commercial. If this what Royal Caribbean thinks will get people to sail on their ships, well they have another thing coming. 

The past campaign was “Get Out There!” Now that was a great campaign as it showed that you could do anything on a cruise vacation. A real upbeat campaign. It made you say “That looks like FUN!” 

But now the powers that be have come up with this terrible campaign that is driving people away from the brand. My advise to Royal Caribbean, dump this campaign and regroup and come up with something GOOD! After 37 years in the travel industry, I think I know what I am talking about.

Royal Caribbean Creates “Youth Zone” On Oasis

 

Oasis of The Sea

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line will introduce the “Youth Zone” on it newest ship, The Oasis Of The Sea debuting December 12, 2009. The Youth Zone will be one of the 7 “Neighborhoods” on the ship. The Youth Zone will include, Kids Avenue and Central Boulvard which will connect various themed play areas. And Adventure Ocean Theater, a theater just for kids. Plus a first for Royal Caribbean a Nursery for infants at least 6 months old and toddlers.

The Oasis of The Seas is going to be the World’s Largest Cruise Ship at 220,000 GRT and will carry 5400 passengers.

Royal Caribbean Brilliance of The Seas – A day at The Panama Canal

 

One of the Mules that Pulls the ship through the Locks

Alan at the Midpoint at the Gatun Locks

The Brilliance of The Seas exiting the Gatun Locks

The Brilliance of The Seas at anchor in Lake Gatun

Approach to the Gatun Locks

 This past January my wife and I took a fascinating cruise thru the Panama Canal on Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of The Seas. This is a wonderful ship and a great cruise for anyone that loves cruising. The day we began to  transit the canal started early in the morning just before sunrise. Our pilot arrived at our ship as the sun broke the horizon. We then picked up our two tug boats that would help our ship into the locks.  The total transit took about 3 hours. The pictures below are my “Photo Blog” of our experience through the Gatun Locks on the Caribbean side of the canal.

If you have never been on a Panama Canal cruise then you have never experienced the excitement that you feel as you approach and then transit the canal. It does get hot during the day, so take a lot of sunscreen along so you don’t get burned.

If you have never been on a Panama Canal cruise then you have never experienced the excitement that you feel as you approach and then transit the canal. It does get hot during the day, so take a lot of sunscreen along so you don’t get burned.If you have never been on a Panama Canal cruise then you have never experienced the excitement that you feel as you approach and then transit the canal. It does get hot during the day, so take a lot of sunscreen along so you don’t get burned.

Art Auctions on Cruise Ships, worth the Time?

 

Cruise Ship at Port in Mexico

If you have traveled on a large cruise ship in the past 10 years, you have probably experienced the Art Auctions at Sea. There has been many articles written on this subject over the past 10 years, some good and some not so good. I have sat in on many of these Art Auctions on cruise ships and I have actually enjoyed it. I have learned some things about the art work and artists and enjoyed the company of the other passengers attending the auction. 

 

Some of the articles that have been written on this subject have taken to task the value of the art work that is up for auction on these ships. One person interviewed said they spent $73,000 on artwork that was later appraised for $10,000. I really have a hard time believing that someone would actually spend that kind of money on an art auction at sea. Who in their right mind would spend that kind of money without doing their homework prior to the auction. It is always buyer beware! Know your product before you buy anything. If you are going on a cruise and want to bid on some art, then make sure you know what that art is currently selling for before you bid on it. If you have no idea what that piece of art is worth, then don’t bid on it. It is that simple. I have no sympathy for anyone that throws money around buying things they know nothing about and then complain about the purchase. 

I know animation art very well. I know what a framed piece cost, so if I were to bid on a piece of animation-art on a cruise ship, I would know what a good price for that piece is and what a ridiculous price is. Plus, I would never buy an expensive piece of animation art on a whim. 

So if you are sailing on a cruise ship in the not to distance future, and you find yourself attending one of the Art Auctions At Sea, sit back and enjoy the view  out the window, enjoy the company and the narrative on the artwork and sometime you many even get free Champaign. But never make an Art  purchase on a whim and if you do bid on something, know what you are doing. And remember to “Have a Great Cruise!”

Are Cruise Ships Getting Too Big?

 

Relaxing on Royal Caribbean

This past week I have been reading up on Royal Caribbean’s new ship the Oasis of The Sea. This engineering marvel will weigh in at 220,000 GRT when it debuts in December of  2009. It will tower over the sea 16 stores. It will host 5200 people every week for 7 night Caribbean cruises out of the Port of Miami. The Oasis of The Sea will be the World Largest Cruise Ship ever built.

I am looking forward to seeing this ship. As a veteran of 86 cruises and 30 of them on Royal Caribbean, I am questioning if cruise ships have gotten too big? With more than 5200 people on board, will there be quiet places to relax? Will there be places to meet new people and make new friends? Will there be massive lines for everything? Will you need a segway to get around?

I love a smaller ship after sailing on all size ships. The reasons I like the smaller ships, you are able to make friends with the crew and passengers much quicker on a small ship. The walk from your cabin to the pool or anywhere else on the ship is much shorter then on the large ship and the smaller ships are able to get into some seculded ports that are not available on the large ships. But there are lots of pluses for sailing on a large ship and that is why the cruise lines keep building them.

The jury is still out on what people will like and dislike on the Oasis of The Sea, but I am sure the Royal Caribbean will do a “Royal” job on this new vessel.