My Vacation (Part 1 of 4)

We went on a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise from May 2 to May 9. The ship’s name is Mariner of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean. She (here I remember Insignia’s post on ships) is 1020 feet long and weighs 138,000 tons. She can take 3114 passengers. The ship has 1185 crew. There are 15 decks (floors). Our cabin was on the 10th deck.

This is our second cruise. Our first one was two years ago but only for 4 nights. We enjoyed it so much we decided to go again this year. On our first cruise, our friends advised us to take an outside cabin. They cost some extra money. But will have natural lighting and we can see the ocean from the cabin.

For this second cruise, we did not take an outside cabin. In our opinion, it is a waste of money. After all the activities, we come to the room only in the night to sleep. So, there is no need for natural light. At the same time, we are not going to be looking at the dark ocean all night. Here is a slide show of the ship.



There are plenty of foods available 24 hours. Everything is included in the ticket price except for alcohol. There is a main formal dining hall and an informal dining hall. You can choose where you want to eat. Formal dining hall does not mean you have to wear formal attire all the time. Formal attire required only on 2 nights. Waiters will serve food in the formal dining hall. There are 12 main courses to choose from each night. This includes 3 vegetarian courses including an Indian dish.

Informal dining hall has buffet system only. The cuisine includes American, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Indian dishes. There is a separate pizza parlor and a hamburger joint. Lots and lots of fruits, desserts, pastries, yogurt, and ice cream. If you are on a diet or a weight watcher, cruise vacation is not for you.

The ship has a swimming pool, a shopping mall, a gym, an auditorium (capacity 1200), a figure skating rink, video arcade, baby sitting facilities, children play station, a small hospital, and a chapel.

There are at least 6 professional entertainments each day and we can choose to attend any or some or all. They include music, dance, figure skating dance, and stand-up comedy.

As I said before everything is included in the ticket price. (Ticket price is also not that costly.) We have to pay onboard only for alcohol. If you don’t drink alcohol you won’t have to spend anything onboard.

Everyone should experience a cruise vacation on a luxury liner at least once in a lifetime. It is an unforgettable experience. With more than 4200 people on board, the ship looks like a small ultra modern town surrounded by water on all sides. Everybody is smiling and happy. Everyone leaves their worldly worries on the land before boarding the ship.

It used to be when relatives visit from India, they were taken to places like Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Niagara Falls. But the trend nowadays is to take the visitors on a cruise. Therefore, we saw lots of sarees and salwar kameez on board.

I have a few video clips about this ship. The quality of the video is not that good since it was taken in a digital camera (not meant for videos).

http://picasaweb.google.com/rajang716/OnTheShipVideoClip#

Stay tuned for the continuation.