Review: Mariner OTS 4-NT Bahamas, 2/18/19-2/22/19

[NickinNY]

• Party: Myself (44), my wife (43), daughter 1 (14), daughter 2 (12)
• This was our 6th cruise, 2nd on RCCL (3 with DCL, 1 with NCL)
• First time on Mariner (previously on Allure)
• Additionally, we were traveling with my brother in law and his spouse

 

We chose this itinerary because we had time constraints which prohibited us from doing a 7-NT cruise this time.  We had been to Nassau several times before, but hadn't been to Coco Cay.  We knew Coco Cay was still under construction.  But we figured we'd be able to enjoy the Amped Up Mariner, particularly on the Nassau day when the ship was the emptiest it would be.  

 

We flew into Miami the day before, and stayed downtown at the JW Marriott Marquis.  It's a great hotel, with one of the coolest recreation areas I've seen in a hotel (full golf simulator!).  It's about 20 minutes from MIA Int'l Airport by Uber ($35.95 fare, in an Uber XL to accomodate the four of us plus our luggage).  

 

Monday morning - embarkation day - was a holiday (President's Day), so I feel like traffic getting to the port was lighter than it would have been on a work/school day.  But it took us less-than 15 minutes ($20.68 Uber XL fare) to get from the hotel to the port.  Very quick.

 

The porters' game is STRONG at the Royal terminal.  Yelling at each other if one guy thought the other guy had jumped his turn to grab some bags.  Our Uber driver told us they recently capped the porters' income at $80,000/year.  I haven't tried to verify that, but that's a decent wage, albeit for a tough job. We got to the port at about 9:30, and were inside waiting just before check-in by 9:40.  We had our set sail passes on cell phones and passports, which means we were on the other side of check-in and security within 10 minutes.  PRO TIP: You don't get sea pass cards until you get into your stateroom, so if you buy anything during the first few hours on board you just scan the barcode on the set sail pass at the point of sale.  Embarkation could not have been easier, or less-stressful.  

 

First impressions of the ship were that it is beautiful.  We had been on NCL's Epic in summer of 2018, and the Mariner is considerably more luxurious and pretty inside than the Epic.  The design elements almost feel like artwork.  Especially in the open spaces that span several different decks (like at the ends of the Royal Promenade).  It is noticeably smaller than other ships we've been on recently.  Particularly the Allure which is the closest comparison that we've sailed on.  But you can also tell it has recently come out of refurb. The ship is very clean, and still has that new ship feel (hardly any dings or scratches in the fixtures and walls, that kind of thing).  PRO TIP: If you like shopping, this is not the ship for you.  A scant few stores on the Promenade, selling the usual stuff.  The biggest retail emphasis throughout the cruise seemed to be on watches and liquor.  They were selling the Hennessy Pure White, which I am reliably informed is rather rare.  However they were sold out of their stock of it within hours.  They were selling Weller Special Reserve for $31/bottle, which is a very good price for an excellent bourbon.  

 

But that - liquor - would be a central theme of this cruise.  

 

We had rented a bungalow on Coco Cay, so we stopped by ShoreEx to select our unit.  We were the second group to do so, so we got a nice choice.  We also inquired about the All Access Ship Tour, and the Bottomless Champagne Brunch/Galley Tour.  Two of us ended up doing the All Access tour, and it was an awesome tour.  It's not cheap ($109/person I think?), and for that price maybe not even a value.  But you saw a lot of stuff, and the bridge itself was extremely cool (we also got a peek inside an officer's stateroom that was being cleaned as we walked to the bridge - very nice digs).  We had done the galley tour/brunch on Allure, back when it was still sort of invitation only, and loved it.  

 

Windjammer is as advertised.  It didn't have the sheer volume of food that you see on the bigger ships, for obvious reasons, and the food area got a little tight at peak traffic times.  But as usual everything we ate was at worst fine, and at best surprisingly decent.  PRO TIP: The employees walking around will make you lattes and things like that in the morning.  You just have to ask.  It's definitely more limited in scope than what you can get at the specialty coffee bar in the Promenade.  But it was better than the standard joe they offer at the buffet.  

 

The staterooms were available right on schedule. They hadn't made sea pass cards for the kids.  So my wife and the kids went down to the guest services desk to deal with that, while I went to the activities desk by the FlowRider to ask about reservations for laser tag.  No problem getting the sea pass cards made, but PRO TIP: the guy at the activities desk said the reservation system was down,  but I didn't need reservations for laser tag because they shuttle people through pretty quickly when it was open.  I was dubious about this, but honestly they only had laser tag available a couple times on this sailing, and we didn't get a chance to see if he had been lying about not needing reservations.  I don't know why they continue to take up so much space on the sports deck with a basketball court.  They just don't get used enough for the space they take up.  And it's not like the cruise lines make any money off three teenage boys shooting hoops or playing soccer.  Doesn't bother me, but just seems like an un-tapped revenue opportunity - which is anathema to the cruise lines.

 

We had room 1814. Deck 12, forward, starboard, family panoramic ocean view.  It's an accessible room.  We typically have not gotten crazy about trying to get a huge room or a fancy suite on cruises, figuring we spend very little time in our room - awake, anyway.  We do like a balcony, which this room didn't have.  But the fare for thhis room was so good that we decided to go for it.  Our girls are getting old enough that sharing a bed isn't optimal for them.  So the two-berth setup of the room presented some challenges.  But, the panoramic ocean view part made up for that.  The entire outside wall is windows that jut out over the edge of the ship. In fact, you can stand in the window and look straight down at the water.  It was kind of freaky at first.  Really cool.  The room itself had an abundance of space, owing to the accessibility requirements, I'm sure.  The bathroom was also large, although it had a musty smell as though it was damp all the time.  Accessible room means no edge or lip to the shower.  Zero depth entry, in swimming pool language.  There was a hallway from the stateroom door to the main part of the room, and a single free-standing closet that held about 20 items of clothes.  In fact the biggest drawback to this room is the astounding lack of storage options.  The staterooms on Epic had incredible storage.  This room was monastic when it came to storage.   The couch did arrange into a nice-sized bed, that our daugthers said was pretty comfortable, as pullout beds go.  

 

Other general observations:

 

*The Solarium is nice and big, relative to the overall pool deck.  We witnessed a near fight between two ladies one day, but otherwise everyone behaved themselves.  

 

*The running track runs through the loungers on 12.  So it's really only usable early in the AM.  I get the sense that's when the runners/walkers are out anyway, so that's not really a problem. But if you like to take your constitutional or jog in the midday heat, you're going to be tripping over people's feet hanging off the end of their lounger.  

 

*Typically we eschew the elevators for the stairs on cruises, as a way of both burning off some of the extra calories we're ingesting (it's a cruise), and avoiding the interminable waits for an elevator car that has room to get in.  For some reason, this cruise I never had to wait more than 30 seconds for an elevator, at all times of the day or night.  

 

*The public restrooms were similarly empty.  We used the restrooms on our deck, just outside the spa, as extra bathrooms.

 

*I was surprised at the relaxed attitude toward hand sanitizing on the ship.  You had to wash before entering Windjammer.  But you were not required to wash - or even use the Purell stations - before entering the MDR.  

 

*We made reservations in the MDR for each night.  Had a great service team (Jerome and Didit).  The food was standard cruise line food.  

 

*My brother in law and his spouse ate at Chops one night, and said it was a great value and experience.  PRO TIP: The seafood tower was a hit.  

 

*SkyPad was fun.  Definitely make a reservation.  You get about 4 minutes to jump.  I did it without the VR.  

 

*This was the first time we did the UBP.  I will never cruise without it again.  It was just nice not to stress about paying, and then not having that long, long, way too long list of drinks on your statement at the end of the cruise.  With the specialty coffee, and especially the bottled water, included, it was a tremendous value.  First day on board they were offering a buy one, get the second one at half price sale on it.  

 

*They cancelled Coco Cay on our sailing.  Made the call to cancel it while we were in port in Nassau, and stayed overnight at Nassau that night.  Left Nassau at 5pm the following day. They claimed high winds were creating unsafe conditions for the tenders.  It was a bummer.  Some people we spoke with think it's a smoke screen while they're hustling to finish the renovations on Coco Cay.  Who knows?  I was on vacation, so I didn't want to get too bent out of shape about it.  The bummer was that we had a cool day lined up, and then we had to scramble.  We had been to Atlantis before, but my brother in law had not.  To be honest, we didn't have the best experience at Atlantis the first time.  And it's like $189/adult for the day pass.  But we figured there was a lot of stuff to do all in one place, so that was the easiest option for the next day, even though we would really only have from maybe 10 to 4.  PRO TIP: at least some of the Atlantis hotels are are partnered with Marriott.  So, to get around paying $189/person for a day pass, I booked a room using Marriott points, checked in early (was not expecting the room to be ready at 10am, really just wanted the wrist bands, but the room was ready, so we checked it out for a few minutes, the kids stole the toiletries, and we took off), got the wrist bands and were ready to go.  We got two wristbands included with the room, and paid $90/person for the other two.  So, what would have cost us the better part of $750 (I think kids pay less for a day pass, but rounding up) only cost us $180, plus 60,000 points for the room.  It wasn't "cheap", but it was a heck of a lot cheaper than it could have been.  

 

*But I'm done with Atlantis.  It's way too expensive. It's frankly not that nice of a resort, apart from the decor - which I admit is stunning.  We were technically paying guests of The Cove, and there was nothing made available to us in the way of pool or beach set up, at least nothing that wasn't available to anyone, except the Cove pool and cabanas and the kids weren't allowed in the pool and I didn't want to pay more for the cabanas.  There were five ships in port each of the days we were there, and so the place was just overrun with people.  No chairs by the pools.  The beaches were rocky and garbage-strewn.  The water was nice.  But the food options close to the water and pools aren't great.  It's a bunch of bratty Americans who aren't worldly enough not to think Atlantis is exotic and luxurious.  In fact, I don't need to go back to Nassau again in my lifetime.

 

*The crew on Mariner was great.  Very friendly, moreso than when we were on Allure.  In fact, this was the most-cheerful crew we've sailed with apart from the Disney ships, which is saying something. 

 

*We set the ship record in the Logo Trivia game, getting 59 out of 66 correct.  Just thought I'd toss that out there...

 

*It feels like RCCL is using the Mariner as a long weekend party ship right now.  Which is fine.  But there wasn't a ton of activities, compared to other sailings we've been on.  Not as much focus on kids stuff.  Not even as many shows or entertainment.  In fact I don't think I saw a member of the entertainment team until the 3rd day.  There was plenty of small act live music in the bars, and that was great. But again they seem to be putting most of their entertainment focus on the bars.  And are there bars on this ship - wow.  It really felt like more bars per capita than other ships we'd been on.  Again, I'm not complaining about any of this.  Just an observation.  Our 12 year old is the kind of kid who wants to be out there doing every activity she can find on a ship.  She was bored.  And not because she wasn't going to stuff.  Because there wasn't enough stuff to go do.  She spent an hour charting out how long it took her to walk up or down two decks versus take the elevator on our sea day.  So, when they say it's the ultimate weekend getaway ship, take it literally.  

 

*The silent party was a BLAST.  Easily my favorite thing we did on board, activity-wise.  You get a pair of wireless headphones that have two channels.  The DJ or DJs spin non-stop tunes, but you can only hear them through the headphones - there's no PA.  The headphones light up with a different color depending on which channel you're listening to.  If you take them off during the party, you hear people singing like they only sing in the shower, and whatever noises you make when you're dancing.  It was a ton of fun, and very entertaining.  

 

We enjoyed this ship, and this cruise, overall.  It affirmed for us that Royal is our cruise line of choice, and we intend to stick with it now that we've sampled a few different lines (we sigend up for another cruise next February, on the Harmony).  It didn't have the most entertainment or activities, and it was definitely focused on the partying.  But it's not like people were puking over the railings from drinking too much.  If this had been my first cruise I'm not sure I would have gotten hooked on cruising as a result, especially given my kids' experience.  But it was still a fun, relaxing vacation.  I was glad it wasn't my first cruise.

 

We took photos of the dailies, and I'll post them below.  Happy to answer any questions anyone has.

 

 

 

 

[j1d1]

Thanks for the review.  My family will be on Mariner for the 4 night cruise in May.  If you can post copies of the cruise compasses, that would certainly be appreciated.

[KatheWenz]

Thanks for the review.  We will be on the Mariner for a 4-night cruise in a few weeks.  Our last cruise was our honeymoon 25 years ago on a RCCL ship.  I had no idea what ship to choose but this worked with our schedule and flights to Miami.  So far I'm happy with the reviews and we are really looking forward to it!  I have not seen many positive posts about Nassau.  Many people don't seem to like it.  We found an all day excursion to Rose Island through a private company that got great reviews so we're hoping that this is a nice relaxing day and we can avoid the main parts of Nassau.

 

Thanks again for all of the info.  Trying to soak it all in before we go!

[Ronaldo807]

From what I have seen, the bamboo room menu has a handful of cocktails that are listed at $14 which is above the drink package limit. Are those prices accurate? Did you have any of those cocktails referenced? and if so, were you charged the difference? Also, was the limit $12 or $13 for you?

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for taking the time to give this review. It is well written and very informative. I'm part of a group that met on the Brilliance spring TA some years ago and a number of us will be meeting in Miami in late March to do this 4-day cruise, so it was interesting to get someone's take on what to expect. 

 

You don't mention the evening shows, which is something we always try to schedule our evening around. Did you attend any?

 

Special aside to Doreen: Bring games … we'll have to entertain ourselves … I think we can rise to the challenge.

[NickinNY]

Thanks for the review.  My family will be on Mariner for the 4 night cruise in May.  If you can post copies of the cruise compasses, that would certainly be appreciated.

Will do.


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[NickinNY]

Thanks for the review.  We will be on the Mariner for a 4-night cruise in a few weeks.  Our last cruise was our honeymoon 25 years ago on a RCCL ship.  I had no idea what ship to choose but this worked with our schedule and flights to Miami.  So far I'm happy with the reviews and we are really looking forward to it!  I have not seen many positive posts about Nassau.  Many people don't seem to like it.  We found an all day excursion to Rose Island through a private company that got great reviews so we're hoping that this is a nice relaxing day and we can avoid the main parts of Nassau.
 
Thanks again for all of the info.  Trying to soak it all in before we go!

I’ll wager you’ll have a better time on a private excursion than at Atlantis. Have a great trip!


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[NickinNY]

From what I have seen, the bamboo room menu has a handful of cocktails that are listed at $14 which is above the drink package limit. Are those prices accurate? Did you have any of those cocktails referenced? and if so, were you charged the difference? Also, was the limit $12 or $13 for you?

The one thing I forgot to do was take pictures of the different bars and restaurants menus. I went into Bamboo once, to see if they made smoothies (they do not). I didn’t order a tiki cocktail there. And I don’t remember the prices. I’m sorry.

In general, I drank a few (fruity, frozen-y) “drinks of the day”, a couple beers, a lot of vodka/sodas, a couple Cuba Libres, a couple bottles’ worth of glasses of wine/Prosecco, and more Buffalo Trace than I’d like to admit. And there might have been a couple $2 charges on my statement for drinks.

I forgot: most of the time if I got a second (or third [emoji15]) drink from the same bartender they wouldn’t even swipe my sea pass card after the first time. I figured that was because they saw I had the UBP. I generally tipped $1 or $2 per drink whenever I got a bill, though.


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[NickinNY]

Thank you for taking the time to give this review. It is well written and very informative. I'm part of a group that met on the Brilliance spring TA some years ago and a number of us will be meeting in Miami in late March to do this 4-day cruise, so it was interesting to get someone's take on what to expect. 
 
You don't mention the evening shows, which is something we always try to schedule our evening around. Did you attend any?
 
Special aside to Doreen: Bring games … we'll have to entertain ourselves … I think we can rise to the challenge.

Sounds like a fun trip!

My brother in law went to the sort of revue show that he said was dreadful. He lives in Vegas so maybe he’s just used to Vegas-quality shows? We went to the Under The Big Top ice show and it was pretty good. Better than the ice show we saw on Allure two years ago.

We didn’t go to the headliner shows.
We try to go to a lot of trivia and game shows, but we were always too tired for the 11:00 start times on this cruise for whatever reason. But the magician/comedian shows on cruises are all basically the same, right? Embarrass a couple people in the audience for cheap laughs, make jokes about the food, the small staterooms, etc.

Schooner Bar was my favorite for hanging out. Just a nice atmosphere, good bartenders/servers, and a good location.

Boleros was jumping every night, but too loud for talking.

My goodness, I sound like my father....



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[NickinNY]

I forgot to mention that disembarkation in Miami was as easy as embarkation had been.

The whole thing about people carrying off their own luggage have to be off early is silly. How do you police that? Like, if you try to carry off your luggage later than that, what are they going to do? Take your bags? Not let you leave?


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