Mariner of the seas review with comparison to past cruises with Carnival

[cruisefromafar]

My wife and I travelled on the Mariner together with my parents on 10/04/09. This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean, and third in total (previous ones with Carnival). Prior to our cruise, I researched cruisecritic to try and understand the difference between the Carnival "product" and the RCCL "product". Though most member's opinions I've read said the differences weren't too great, I have to say that our cruising experience with RCCL's Mariner of the seas was far superior than with Carnival. We had a great time with Carnival, but our cruise with the Mariner OTS really turned us into cruising addicts. It was simply wonderful.

So, after this somewhat lengthy prelude, I'll start my review. Where relevant, I'll try to compare it with our previous Carnival experience.

Embarkation:

A breeze. Got to the port at approximately 11:20, found a porter with luggage tags right away, and in we went to the terminal. There were no lines at all. I think we were on the ship in less than 30 minutes. Much better than Carnival (though on different embarkation ports, so somewhat hard to compare).

The ship: All 4 of us agreed that the best word to describe the ship's décor would be elegant. Classic, not gaudy, and very pleasing to the eye. If I had to compare it with Carnival Conquest/Valor, I would say that Carnival's décor is much harsher on the eye, but that's a matter of taste.

Staterooms: my wife and I had a large ocean view stateroom. The room itself was lovely, and housekeeping did a great job. Unfortunately, no chocolate on our pillows at night :-( . My parents had a balcony stateroom. I can't really compare our stateroom with Carnival, as we only had inside rooms on Carnival. I can say that I prefer the closing door in RCCL's Shower than Carnival's curtain. On the other hand, I did find Carnival stateroom colors and furniture to be nicer than RCCL's.

Food: This, in our opinion, is where Carnival has a distinct advantage. We had dinner in the MDR (late seating). Though food was generally good, we did feel that Carnival's MDR offered more choice, better preparation and, if I remember correctly, more dishes (though that may have changed due to the economic crunch – I have no idea). Regarding the windjammer, we really felt a difference between sea days, where food was of good quality and variety, and port days, where we could feel the windjammer food quality dropping significantly. Service on the windjammer was good. We also ate at Chops and Portofino. Both were excellent, and worth every penny. To my Surprise, as someone who is not a big fan of Italian cuisine, I enjoyed Portofino more than Chops.

Ports of call: We didn't book any of the Ship's tour, but had organized private tours independently in Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.

Cabo San Lucas: our least favorite port of call. The town itself is nothing special. We hired a glass bottom boat, and went to see the arch and the sea lions. This was quite a nice experience, but other than that, we didn't find this town of any particular interest, but we were more than happy to send time onboard. Tendering was easy and hassle free.

Mazatlan: We booked a private tour with Mazatlan Frank. Our guide was one of his colleagues, and the tour was quite nice, just the 4 of us in a minivan. A great way to explore this town.

Puerto Vallarta: again, we booked through Mazataln Frank. Again, this was a good choice, and this was by far our favorite port.

Entertainment: the Ice show was excellent. On the other hand, the nightly shows at the theatre were nothing special (Carnival's were much better). However, the great thing about Mariner is the wealth of entertainment options. We didn't have a single moment of boredom. I do have to say that with regards to things to do onboard, our experience with Mariner was superb. I was somewhat worried prior to the cruise, since I sometimes found myself board on Carnival, which describes itself as the "fun ships", but I do have to say that Mariner was, in this aspect, Far far better than Carnival. The various bars and venues offered a myriad of entertainment options, and the servers at the various bars didn't try to "push" drinks as hard as they tried on Carnival. I enjoyed my pool time on the Mariner much more than on Carnival, but I'd have to admit that it is mainly due to better weather than on my Carnival cruises. I do have to say that there were considerably fewer announcements on Mariner than on Carnival, which we all felt was very good. I hate it when a bingo announcement interrupts my noon nap by the pool. It didn't happen on the Mariner.

Casino: we did feel that a 6$ minimum on BJ is a bit high. Carnival had 5$ minimums. We did like the fact that Mariner's Casino is located below the "main" deck, and not open as on Carnival Conquest class ships.

Debarkation: quite easy, though we didn't like the fact that on the Mariner, non US citizens had to wake up early and queue for immigration to process us, but I guess that's not RCCL's fault (correct me if I'm wrong here…)

To sum it all up, we truly had an excellent time on the Mariner, and we are looking forward for our next cruise, which, as any vacation, is too far away J.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

[MrPete]

Now you have more of a selection when it comes to future cruises!

[cruisingator2]

Very nice review. Thanks for posting.