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Mariner of the Seas Review : 12/6 - 12/13

Jasperdo

By Jasperdo,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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PART 1

 

My wife and I were on the December 6, 2009 sailing of the Mariner of the Seas to the Mexican Riviera. As a bit of a background, this is our 11th cruise, the last three being on Princess Cruise Line. Our last Royal Caribbean cruise was on thr Rhapsody of the Seas in 2001.

　

EMBARCATION

We were staying with my Mother in Anaheim, so we just drove to the cruise terminal. We arrived at 10:15AM. I drove up to the terminal building, and quickly found a porter for our bags. Then I parked the car while my wife waited in the line forming outside the terminal. By 10:30, the building was open, and we were smoothly checked in. We sat in the waiting area, and were on the ship by 11:20. We immediately went to the My Time desk on Deck 5 to make a 6:30PM reservation. (More on that later). Then we headed up to the Windjammer Cafe for buffet lunch. After that we wandered around the ship until the cabins were available.

　

STATEROOM

We were in a Superior Balcony Cabin, 6670. It is located on the port side of the ship, aft. This was our first balcony cabin. We always book the most inexpensive inside cabin...that way we can afford to cruise more often. But, we got such a great deal on a balcony (it cost us less than in inside on the Sapphire Princess just 10 months earlier), that we had to try it out.

　

The cabin was quite large, especially compared to what we're used to with an inside. There was plenty of floor space and drawer space. The closet seemed a bit small, but we stored the luggage under the bed, and that helped. There was a full sized couch, a good sized coffee table, and a large desk area. We had the bed in a queen configuration, and it was comfortable with plenty of floor space to walk around. The bathroom is typical cruise ship small, but was attractive and functional. We really liked the shower door. It was a round plastic door, which was much nicer than the shower curtains we're used to.The balcony had two plastic chairs and a plastic end table. It was plenty big for the two of us.

　

(A note about balconies in general. People say that once you've had a balcony you'll never go back. Although I did enjoy having a balcony, especially when we were arriving at Cabo San Lucas I will probably still book a cheaper inside cabin, unless I can get a deal similar to the one we got on the Mariner. I felt that the balcony gave me a limited view. I prefer being up on deck, where the view is much more expansive. And there were a few annoyances to a balcony. There was a mother and daughter in the balcony next to us, who loudly discussed personal matters that I didn’t want to hear. A couple of balconies down someone set up a speaker system on their balcony. And the smoke from people smoking in various balconies nearby drifted into ours at times. These were minor things, but they all added up. I did like the larger stateroom, however, But, I’m not really sold on having to get a balcony for every cruise from now on.)

　

THE SHIP

　

The Mariner of the Seas is an absolutely beautiful cruise ship. From the Royal Promenade to the Centrums to the pool deck, it had a 'Wow' factor that easily surpassed any other cruise ship we've been on. The layout was terrific, and it was easy to access any part of the ship. Large elevator banks with glass elevators handled the traffic most of the time. On occasion the elevators seemed slow, and could be overcrowded during certain busy times. But overall, they were very effective.

　

The heart of the ship is definately the Royal Promenade. It had the feel of walking along a pedestrian only European street. I especially liked the 'outdoor' seating and detail work of Cafe Promenade, the Wig and Gavel Pub and Vintages. At either end of the Royal Promenade were the Forward and Aft Centrums soaring 10 decks with glass elevators. One deck below, running the entire length of the Royal Promenade, was the Schooner Bar, the Casino and Boleros Lounge. The outside Promenade was also on this deck. I thought Boleros was oddly designed. It was split in two by the Centrum, and you couldn't see the band or the dance floor from the other half.

　

The Savoy Theatre is a very nice venue for the main production shows. Plenty of good comfortable theater style seats over three levels. The one minor gripe about the Savoy was the first row of seats in the upper balcony. They should be the best seats in the house, but there's a metal bar in front of them that cuts the stage in half. We found that the first row of seats in the middle level didn't have this problem.

　

The Lotus Lounge is the secondary showroom, and it had a pleasant Asian decor. It was a bit dificult to see things if you weren't sitting right up front. But this is typical of most secondary showrooms. I thought the disco, the Dragons Lair, was one of the more interesting public rooms on the ship. It's two stories, with a balcony on the upper level overlooking the lower level and dance floor. It had a terrific Medieval Castle look to it. Very impressive.

　

The pool area was very nice as well. There were two large main pools, side by side, with a number of hot tubs scattered around it. Plenty of deck chairs on the pool deck and the deck above it. There was also a section of tiered deck chairs overlooking the pool. The Solarium was a separate pool area for adults only. It was nicely decorated and a peaceful place to lounge, away from the hustle of the main pool area.

　

The Sports Deck had the signature rock climbing wall, as well as a full basketball court, miniature golf course and in-line skate track (which never seemed to be open). The Mariner Dunes miniature golf is open 24 hours, and is a lot of fun to play a round or two. On sea days it can be very busy. However, we used it while docked in Mazatlan and had it all to ourselves.

 

One other thing I really liked about the Mariner of the Seas was the artwork. I'm usually not a big fan of cruise ship art pieces, but this ship had a number of very interesting things that I really liked. The forward Centrum had old airplanes that seemed to be flying through the clouds. The aft Centrum had an odd looking piece of sculpture that changed color and really caught your eye. There were numerous statues of people like basketball players and camera toting tourists. The entrance to the casino had carnival lights, a muscle man, snake lady, and a cowboy and cowgirl. Dragons Lair had beautiful stained glass windows. All the stair wells has interesting works of art. Each cabin deck had a different theme. Our's was trains. There were even some fanciful figurines that you cranked and watched them move. Very creative.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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How was the food? Did you have a steak in the MDR? Last time we were on this ship it was really, really bad. I'm hoping it's getting better (not great, but something to look forward to, at least:).

My wife had the steak in the MDR one night. She said it was good. You can also order the steak from Chops in the MDR. I believe it was $14.95 extra.

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going2thesun

going2thesun

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We'll be on the Mariner 2 wks from 2day! How formal are formal nights? we want to pack less- is a suit necessary for the guys? We don't want to be way underdressed, but we want to enjoy lobster! Thanks for the review. I'm vowing to review when I return because I know how much I appreciate it when someone does...;)

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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We'll be on the Mariner 2 wks from 2day! How formal are formal nights? we want to pack less- is a suit necessary for the guys? We don't want to be way underdressed, but we want to enjoy lobster! Thanks for the review. I'm vowing to review when I return because I know how much I appreciate it when someone does...;)

Formal nights weren't overly formal. There were some tuxedos, but most men wore a suit. I did see some men just wear a collared shirt with no tie. And there was one guy with a tee shirt. I would say a suit isn't necessary, even though most men did wear one.

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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Hello,

 

How was the entertainment? Do they still have the Disco party and the Quest?

 

Thanks:D

Yes, the Mariner has both a 70's Disco Party and The Quest. The Disco Party is Tuesday night at 10:30 on the Royal Promenade. And The Quest was Thursday at 10:45PM in Studio B.

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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Hello,

 

How was the entertainment? Do they still have the Disco party and the Quest?

 

Thanks:D

Yes, the Mariner has both a 70's Disco Party and The Quest. The Disco Party is Tuesday night at 10:30 on the Royal Promenade. And The Quest was Thursday at 10:45PM in Studio B.

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GlenandVal

GlenandVal

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We'll be on the Mariner 2 wks from 2day! How formal are formal nights? we want to pack less- is a suit necessary for the guys? We don't want to be way underdressed, but we want to enjoy lobster! Thanks for the review. I'm vowing to review when I return because I know how much I appreciate it when someone does...;)

 

we will be on this ship in 3 weeks

 

right after you get off have fun

 

we re cruising on the 24

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GlenandVal

GlenandVal

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We'll be on the Mariner 2 wks from 2day! How formal are formal nights? we want to pack less- is a suit necessary for the guys? We don't want to be way underdressed, but we want to enjoy lobster! Thanks for the review. I'm vowing to review when I return because I know how much I appreciate it when someone does...;)

 

we will be on this ship in 3 weeks

 

right after you get off have fun

 

we re cruising on the 24

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debi56

debi56

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For my time dining, do you have to have a reservation?

Also if you do then can it be made that day. Hopefully you can do different times each night?

I am on a vacation, I don't want to be worrying about watching the clock.

With your last three on princess then you know their any time dining is just that. This will be our first Royal cruise.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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How was the food in the windjammer? I've heard very mixed things...thanks!

The food in the Windjammer wasn't bad, but I thought it wasn't as good as on Princess. We never went hungry, though. There was a good selection of items every day.

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Jasperdo

Jasperdo

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For my time dining, do you have to have a reservation?

Also if you do then can it be made that day. Hopefully you can do different times each night?

I am on a vacation, I don't want to be worrying about watching the clock.

With your last three on princess then you know their any time dining is just that. This will be our first Royal cruise.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

I'll be discussing My Time Dining in the next part of my review. But to briefly answer your question...you don't need to make a reservation, but it does seem to help. And, yes, you can make the reservation for different times every night. The My Time Deck is open during the day to do that.

 

On Princess, we did Anytime Dining on our last 3 cruises. Princess devotes a lot more dining room space to it than RCCL.

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