Mariner Of The Seas /New to Cruising Questions

[MrsPlumb]

Hi! Let me warn you - I am full of questions. We are going on our first cruise during November. We will be traveling on Mariner Of The Seas. Here are my questions:

1). Is there a way to find out how many nights we will have a formal night, what the entertainment on this cruise will be and the times of all events?

2). I have read that you can get ice tea and water without charge. Is that the only drinks - and is the tea sweet? And are you allowed to pack/bring drinks on board with you?

3) We booked through a travel agent and were not able to pick where we wanted our room. We got a balcony room on the 10th deck. After looking at the layout I see that we are below the deck with all eating. I sleep very light - will I be in trouble with noise in this room? (It is the last room on the side of the boat at the back end).

Thank you! (told you I had a lot of first time questions!)

[Marian]

I spent about a month selecting our next cruise and I chose Mariner also. From what I've read we both picked a wonderful ship. We've never been on Mariner, but we've been on Explorer twice and it was amazing.

There will be two formal nights, two informal and three casual. First and last nights are usually casual. Formal is usually held on an at sea day.

Each evening your room steward will put a schedule of the next day's events in your room. It will tell you what the night's entertainment will be and what to wear to supper. The time of your entertainment is scheduled around the time you eat supper. There are two performances each night.

Tea, regular water and coffee are free. At noon there is lemonade, I think. I don't remember the tea being sweetened but there will be sugar and calorie free choices. When you ask about bringing drinks on board, I think you mean colas, but you might also mean alcohol. I always smuggle diet coke on board and they've never given me any hassle. I'm pretty obvious about it. There are alcohol discussions on this site under the general questions.

Your cabin sounds wonderful. You will be under Windjammer and I imagine there will be a little noise from it. I wouldn't think it would keep you awake, but perhaps you'd like to bring a noise maker for some white noise. I have one that sounds like the ocean.

This site is set up to answer questions and share information. We're people who love to cruise, but it seems like everyone is especially happy to talk with first time cruisers. You are in for the time of your life! It is so wonderful that you got a balcony room. You will love it.

[Kim Umbro]

Hi there,
We were on the Mariner on August 14th and we had a wonderful time. The other family we went with also had a balcony on Deck 10 and their room was beautiful. No complaints about noise.
The shows on the ship were a lot of fun. The ice show in particular was very enjoyable. Get tickets for that as soon as u can. The cruise director James was hysterical and a fun part of our trip.

Have a great time