Mariner of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,332 reviews

Mariner is fabulous, even years later!

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Mariner of the Seas
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babie22559
10+ Cruises • Age 40s

Rating by category

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Value for Money
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Additional details

Sail Date: Nov 2019
Cabin: Spacious Ocean View
Traveled with children

We sailed on Mariner of the Seas over the Thanksgiving holiday. We are a family of four, with kids ages 6 and 9. We had perfectly fabulous time. We really enjoy cruising and have been on several cruise lines, but we really prefer RCI. I’ve read some pretty bad reviews of Mariner; I really think those folks are grumpy. We sailed on Mariner 13 years ago. She is a little older, but still in great shape and provided a great cruise for us. I would be happy to sail on her again. We downloaded the app and checked in online before the cruise. We used Park Port Canaveral. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the bus, which was very unusual. I would be happy to use them again. If you make reservations online before, there are usually coupons. Checking in at the port was very easy since all the documents were already ready. We were on board within minutes. We arrived around 11:30 and went straight to the Windjammer for lunch. Yes, it was crowded, but we just go with the flow and don’t let it bother us. My husband just raved about the seafood stew in the Windjammer on the first day. There were huge chunks of lobster. Plenty of variety for everyone on the first day. We set off to explore the ship and find our stateroom. Great fun in the afternoon.

Service in General: We thought the service was really great all over the ship. Dining room, windjammer, stateroom attendant, in the casino, on coco cay, in other lounges… we never had an issue. Not sure waiters are “enthusiastic,” (as the survey asks) but provide great service overall. Someone was ill and needed to evacuate to the ER, so the ship went into the Miami port for a bit the morning of our day at sea. We thought this was great service for whomever was ill and it was a beautiful port to visit. We enjoyed it and hope whoever was sick is well.

Ship Activities: The kids loved the hammocks, climbing-thing, and Sky Jump on Deck 12, aft. We spent a lot of time out there. Our son did the water rides and didn’t rave about them ...which we kind of expected. We did the same water ride on the Harmony and it was very slow and actually kind of boring. Nothing can compare with the AqauDuck on the Disney Dream. If I was not so cheap, I would book another Disney Dream cruise, just to ride the AquaDuck. RCI needs to step it up with water rides on the boat, but this is a very, very picky complaint. Our son liked the rock climbing wall. If you can catch these things when they first open, the lines are a lot shorter. The hot dog stand should not be missed!!!

Cabin Review

Spacious Ocean View

Great cabin, Plenty of room, even for a family of four! Lots of storage space.

Port Reviews

Nassau

British Colonial Hilton, right by the port is ok if you have low expectations and just want to stay close to the ship. Food and drink were very hard to come by.

7 Helpful Votes
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