Cabin Review

This was our fourth cruise with RSS but our first on Mariner. Our suite was spacious and light with a huge balcony accommodating a double lounger with canopy and side table and another large circular table with three comfortable cushioned chairs.

There were two tv's, a comfortable sofa, coffee table with interesting books and a dining table and chairs. Good desk space too. The vanity desk was well lit with large magnifying mirror. The closet had loads of hanging space, plenty of hangers, and drawers. The safe, as always in these cases, would have benefitted from an internal light. Plenty of space for shoes and bags including some wall hooks, which were extremely useful. More light in the closet itself would have been good. The hairdryer was disappointing, basic model and not very powerful with very twisted flex. Voyager had better. Bed was very comfortable with excellent linen. The stewardesses kept everything spotless. Bathroom had good rainforest shower and handset. Useful marble bench in shower cubicle. Mariner's refit is more than 12 months overdue, having been pushed back from early 2017, and it shows - carpets and curtains need replacing badly.

All the staff were excellent, polite, hard working and a credit to RSS. The captain is not a natural communicator but a brilliant sailor! The cruise director was very good indeed and was well able to deliver good and bad news. His, often more than daily, updates on ship matters were very informative. The ship was unable to dock in the Falkland Islands, a grave disappointment to UK guests, and this was handled well with alternative course and land excursions being deployed efficiently. We did feel that the more than 50% chance of not landing in the Falklands, should have been more clearly stated in the given itinerary by RSS.