MO & LO on the go!

We did Mariner in May and it was a good ship.  It was only a 4 night cruise and wasn't too bad.  We have been on spring break cruises before and 9 night cruises.  Mariner was somewhere in between with its partying.  We aren't partiers and found the crowd just fine and enjoyed our cruise!  We were docked next to Navigator at a port and I would say Navigator looked better on the pool deck.  The water ride looked awesome!!!!

We tried specialty once.  It was nice and fancy but for the extra money we didn't feel like it was all that much better than MDR.  We really like the main dining room where the waiters get to know you and what you want and expect.  By day 2 or 3 they know what to have when you sit down ready (drinks, etc).  They also will pay attention to things you like extra of (breads,sides, etc),  We feel more pampered in the main dining with the extra attention you get from building the personal relationship with the waiter and asst waiter.  The food is usually really good too!  We value the personal-ness a bit more than the better food (but again the MDR is very good).  We would rather put the money in to shore excursions, escape rooms, other activities, etc and experience those since the MDR is usually VERY good and the experience for us isn't that much better in specialty dining.  Just our thoughts and opinions...

Agreed!  love the personal feel of having the same waiters everynight!  We will walk through the "mouth jammer" in the evening watching people grab hotdogs, burgers, pizza and can't believe people choose that over MDR food!  

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

Put phone in airplane mode then go back to settings and turn wifi on and connect to ship.  You might have to make sure you have wifi calls turned on too in settings.  You also have to imessage to text (both devices have to be apple...send and receive devices). 

If you connect to wifi and THEN put phone in airplane mode it will turn wifi off also...so make sure you go back in to turn wifi back on and connect to ship wifi

Put phone in airplane mode then go back to settings and turn wifi on and connect to ship.  You might have to make sure you have wifi calls turned on too in settings.  You also have to imessage to text (both devices have to be apple...send and receive devices). 

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

Why annoying?  I get the crowded...last cruise on Mariner we were in the overflow bar outside and next to the lounge but it wasn't too bad.  Met some nice people

Some replies were posted in link above.  I copied my reply and posted it here too...
 
We did a turtle swim, cenote, and beach.  Not sure if its the same cenote but this was the best excursion we have ever done!  and we have done 2-3 dozen.  it was very clean, water crystal clear, and fun.  You don't really get to snorkel like you envision you would in the ocean.  Its not real expansive.  Some of them you can then "cliff" jump in to, which was fun.  Not the one we went to in Cozumel though because you went down a hole to the cave.  Heres some pictures of the one we went to.




 

Bring snorkel gear and you can snorkel for free.  Or rent some...great snorkeling there!  They have wave jets you can rent and kids can be passengers.  I have a video of the wave jets you can see to decide if you'd like it.  Or you just hang out on the beach like any other and just relax!

Hopefully you get to experience this same cenote!  Enjoy!

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

Some replies were posted in link above.  I copied my reply and posted it here too...
 
We did a turtle swim, cenote, and beach.  Not sure if its the same cenote but this was the best excursion we have ever done!  and we have done 2-3 dozen.  it was very clean, water crystal clear, and fun.  You don't really get to snorkel like you envision you would in the ocean.  Its not real expansive.  Some of them you can then "cliff" jump in to, which was fun.  Not the one we went to in Cozumel though because you went down a hole to the cave.  Heres some pictures of the one we went to.




 

Edit: didn't realize how old this OP was...ooppsss sorry
 
We did a turtle swim, cenote, and beach.  Not sure if its the same cenote but this was the best excursion we have ever done!  and we have done 2-3 dozen.  it was very clean, water crystal clear, and fun.  You don't really get to snorkel like you envision you would in the ocean.  Its not real expansive.  Some of them you can then "cliff" jump in to, which was fun.  Not the one we went to in Cozumel though because you went down a hole to the cave.  Heres some pictures of the one we went to.

 
 
 

...and people will be hitting it hard!  People learn the hard way on day one that they need to pace after that ? 

Bring snorkel gear and you can snorkel for free.  Or rent some...great snorkeling there!  They have wave jets you can rent and kids can be passengers.  I have a video of the wave jets you can see to decide if you'd like it.  Or you just hang out on the beach like any other and just relax!

We tried specialty once.  It was nice and fancy but for the extra money we didn't feel like it was all that much better than MDR.  We really like the main dining room where the waiters get to know you and what you want and expect.  By day 2 or 3 they know what to have when you sit down ready (drinks, etc).  They also will pay attention to things you like extra of (breads,sides, etc),  We feel more pampered in the main dining with the extra attention you get from building the personal relationship with the waiter and asst waiter.  The food is usually really good too!  We value the personal-ness a bit more than the better food (but again the MDR is very good).  We would rather put the money in to shore excursions, escape rooms, other activities, etc and experience those since the MDR is usually VERY good and the experience for us isn't that much better in specialty dining.  Just our thoughts and opinions...

We tried specialty once.  It was nice and fancy but for the extra money we didn't feel like it was all that much better than MDR.  We really like the main dining room where the waiters get to know you and what you want and expect.  By day 2 or 3 they know what to have when you sit down ready (drinks, etc).  They also will pay attention to things you like extra of (breads,sides, etc),  We feel more pampered in the main dining with the extra attention you get from building the personal relationship with the waiter and asst waiter.  The food is usually really good too!  We value the personal-ness a bit more than the better food (but again the MDR is very good).  We would rather put the money in to shore excursions, escape rooms, other activities, etc and experience those since the MDR is usually VERY good and the experience for us isn't that much better in specialty dining.  Just our thoughts and opinions...

I'll stick with the MDR too. I used to sail with Disney and everybody was saying "Oh, you must go to Palo's!.....Palo's is well worth the price, trust me!.....Palo's must be experienced!", etc, etc. (Mainly from the Disney Suite Snobs who lowered themselves to speak with me). You would think it was going to be one of the finest meals you'd ever have. So I tried it. Mistake. It was Olive Garden with nicer napkins. Cost me $120.00 with a couple drinks for 2 of us. And that was years ago. Plus I was required to wear a tie. Not gonna fall for that kind of hype again.

 

We tried specialty once.  It was nice and fancy but for the extra money we didn't feel like it was all that much better than MDR.  We really like the main dining room where the waiters get to know you and what you want and expect.  By day 2 or 3 they know what to have when you sit down ready (drinks, etc).  They also will pay attention to things you like extra of (breads,sides, etc),  We feel more pampered in the main dining with the extra attention you get from building the personal relationship with the waiter and asst waiter.  The food is usually really good too!  We value the personal-ness a bit more than the better food (but again the MDR is very good).  We would rather put the money in to shore excursions, escape rooms, other activities, etc and experience those since the MDR is usually VERY good and the experience for us isn't that much better in specialty dining.  Just our thoughts and opinions...

I have never done any specialty dining. I love the classic MDR experience (knowing my waiter, trying different foods, etc....) and I cant see paying for food when great food has already been paid for? I will admit ive been accused of not having a discernible palate. Im not a foody, and food is fuel to me. Just my two cents....

I will not pay extra for dinning. I have had it as a bonus for booking the cruise and we went to Chops, but pay extra? No way!
We have done all the other dining for breakfast and lunch, but stay with the MDR for dinner.
I like the MDR.