The More the Mariner Cruise'05
This year we
went on a 7-day cruise aboard RCI's Mariner of the Seas
departing from Port Canaveral, FL October 2, 2005 with ports at Nassau, Bahamas;
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and Phillipsburg, St. Maarten then back to Port
Canaveral.
This one was christened "The
More the Mariner" tour by a member of our Cruise Critic Roll Call group. A bunch
of us even had
signs on our cabin doors to signify us as Cruise Critic members.
As is our usual we flew down a
few days earlier to get acclimated to the Florida weather and see some local
sights. We didn't make it to the Kennedy Space Center unfortunately but did go
to Ron Jon's. I know, not quite the same thing but Ron Jon's is
world famous and this is where it all started! We also ate at Dixie Crossroads
in Titusville (a well known local restaurant) and checked out a local sports bar
within walking distance. Hey, we always have to check out the local bar scene.
Saturday night before our
Sunday departure we got together with a lot of the Cruise Critic group we had
been chatting with for months. It was nice to finally meet them in person. We
met for dinner at Fishlips. It's a nice place down by the port near the cruise
ship terminals (the ships weren't back in port yet of course but we got the
idea).
After some minor delays we
finally boarded the ship. At first glance we were very impressed. As we boarded
on deck 4 went up the stairs to deck 5 and the Promenade. Overall we found the
Voyager class ship nice but almost too big. It has many different venues but
they're smaller than on the Radiance class ships. We made the best of it anyway
and availed ourselves of as much of the amenities as possible ;) Norma (and
Steve) had booked a Suite so we spent a bit of time there. Very nice
cabin. With 3100+ passengers we assumed it would lines and crowds everywhere but
it wasn't that bad. It was nice that we had met many others at Fishlips the
night before so we did run into them occasionally. There were kid "issues" on
board with many of them running around at all hours. Ralph was even knocked down
by some who just took off after. We did hear they got "reprimanded" by the
staff/crew.
The first port was Nassau.
We've been there and done that so we stayed aboard. The next port was St.
Thomas. We (Patti, Norma, Steve and I) had explored almost all of this island
before so we decided to take the ferry over to St. John. Besides there was a
Duffy's there too and it was supposedly in a tree! Once there we discovered it
had closed the week before. Oh well, we found Woody's just up the street. It is
a great place (see link below). After some food and libations we figured we may
as well check out the other sights. "Puffy" the bus driver drove us out to Trunk
Bay stopping along the way for us to take pictures. The beach was very nice and
the views are spectacular. We spent a couple of hours there then headed back to
the ferry dock for the ride back to St. Thomas. As we docked in Redhook, St.
Thomas it began to rain so we hiked up the street to Duffy's Love Shack to wait
it out. It let up so we headed back to Charlotte Amalie and did some quick
shopping before heading back to the ship. One thing about St. Thomas/St. John,
the bus/shuttle rides can get expensive. I think we ended up paying about
$40/person total for all the rides, so be prepared or try to negotiate. The
ferry was actually the cheapest at like $4.00.
The next port was St. Maarten
(or Sint Maarten or St. Martin). We had been here before but just stayed on
Front Street. This time we headed over to Sunset Beach Bar where you can watch
the planes fly into the airport. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's
really cool. They come in very low over the beach (see pix). The bar has great
food and drink too. After a few hours there we headed back to Front Street for a
little shopping then back to the ship. The cab ride was much cheaper here than
St. Thomas/St. John.
The last 2 days of the cruise
were at sea so we had some time to check out more of the Mariner OTS. We still
didn't see it all. We did check out the Dragons Lair (one of the "discos") and
discovered we must be too old. We all went to Chop's one night. Our friends went
to Portofinos the night before and found that doing the alternative dining back
to back is not the best idea. Since Patti and I are Diamond Crown & Anchor
members and Steve and Norma were in a suite we were able to enjoy the concierge
lounge. It is a very nice quiet place to sit and talk with friends while
enjoying free drinks and hors...finger food.
Overall it was a great cruise.
Although it rained off and on all week we made it in between hurricanes!
Next up, 11 day Serenade OTS through the Hawaiian Islands (and 5 sea days) October 06. Aloha.
~~~~~~~ LINKS ~~~~~~~ |
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Woody's Seafood Saloon | Duffy's Love Shack | St. Thomas/St. John |
Sunset Beach Bar | St. Maarten | |
Cruise Critic | Kroooz-Cams | Ship Parade |