Mariner of the Seas vs. Caribbean Princess

[cands61]

I'm having difficulty choosing between the two for our trip next summer. The kids will be 18 and 10. The only other cruise they have been on is the Disney Wonder. What they loved the most about the cruise was the wonderful shows, 24/7 food and Castaway Cay. What they disliked was the small pool area. Rock climbing and ice skating not a big draw. Any comments on which cruise ship may be more family friendly for us.

[jerseyjk]

From what you wrote "rock climbing and ice skating not a big draw" and "What they loved the most about the cruise was the wonderful shows, 24/7 food and Castaway Cay" I would recommend Princess over RCI.

 

I was on the Grand princess without kids and the Voyager with kids. For my kids the rock wall was a big draw. They loved it, but some observations from my perspective. The buffet on Princess always had one side or the other open 24 hours. The RCI buffet closed certain hours. Princess' buffet was better also.

 

Princess' private island Princess Cay was also a MUCH more enjoyable locale than Labadee.

 

Kids program was a HUGE let-down on RCI. My kids (14, 12 and 10) hated it and spent the entire week with us, which is fine, but I think they would have had more fun if the program was well run. Witnessing the kids program on Grand from a distance, it seemed to be well organized and always doing something.

 

Activities for adults were also better organized on Princess. That has a lot to do with the CD, but the CD on RCI seemed more interested in getting herself drunk than organizing passenger activities. I found the CD staff on Princess much more friendly (the asst CD on the Grand just sat down at our table for lunch one day and started talking to us. Very interesting person) and organized.

 

ShoreEx on RCI was disorganized confusion with only one staff member in the entire theater full of twenty or so excursions. Princess ShoreEx ran like clockwork with each tour in designated spaces, staff present to answer questions and direct people to where they needed to go.

 

Now I'm sure you will find others who would say the exact opposite, but for my 6 or 8 thousand, I would take Princess again in a second.

[jennat]

Here is the other side of the coin.....

I would absolutely say Mariner of the Seas. We have been on the Caribbean Princess and the Voyager (sister to Mariner), for me, there is no comparison. I felt like on the Car Princess, besides hanging out at the pools (and we loved the movie screen over the pool!) there was not a lot of things to do, places to go. On the Voyager there were things going on all over the ship and lots of "destinations" if that makes any sense. Personally (and I can see how others would disagree) I liked the open, huge spaces. I liked going to the 18th hole and having a drink while watching the guys play basketball of climb the wall (I know the kids can't drink, just an example).....going to the Pig and Whistle for Kareoke or sitting in the Crown and Anchor and looking at all the people in the pools. I liked the miniture golf and the in-line skating, not because I am a big golf or skating fan but because it was another choice of something to do. I loved having Johnny Rockets on board, to get "regular" food ;) . I love the three story dining room and the sandwiches and pizza from the Cafe Promenaude. Mostly, I just liked having "places to go" if that makes any sense. (Caribbean Princess has paddle tennis but no basketball (it made to much noise), they have a rather small putt putt place. The balcony rooms (and balconies) on the caribe deck are incredible. I can't speak for the private islands (hurricane Jeanne and all)....but for me, if I were entertaining two kids, I would choose RCL Mariner hands down and no contest. Now you have two completely different opinions....GREAT! That's why there is chocolate and vanilla!

PS I LOVED Castaway Cay but HATE the pool deck on Disney (the two kid pools at least!)

[mygirlscats]

We took our then 10 year old daughter on the Mariner for the Western Caribbean last spring. She absolutely loved it and we couldn't drag her away from the kids' club!

 

RCL lets kids of that age sign themselves in and out of the kids' program if you give your consent for that, so it gives kids that age some more freedom (made her feel terribly grown-up...although we added our own rule that she had to phone us before leaving the club so we always knew what was going on anyway!). She made heaps of friends...passed her once in the atrium intent on a scavenger hunt with the gang and she barely looked up.

 

Labadee was great...the kids' program is in full swing on the beach and your kids can stay with them or with you, whichever you prefer. They also had (extra charge) an area with water slides, ocean trampolines, etc.

 

RCL also does a free kids' dinner (with "the gang") at Johnny Rockets on formal nights, so if you want to dine adults-only they have a very fun and entertaining night of their own.

 

Also, the family pool on the Mariner is in a totally separate area from the adults' pool, so you have a quiet (read: no calypso band) and comfortable place to lounge.

 

We didn't skate or climb the wall either...but there was so much else to do I don't think we would have found the time anyway. Also, the teens' area was really good...they have their own room, of course, but they also have their own private deck space which is off-limits to kids and adults alike. The counsellors there host bbqs and they have an alcohol-free bar for the teens.

 

I haven't been on Princess, but the kids' program on RCL was better (for that age group) than the one we just did on Norwegian.

[jerseyjk]

We took our then 10 year old daughter on the Mariner for the Western Caribbean last spring. She absolutely loved it and we couldn't drag her away from the kids' club!

 

RCL lets kids of that age sign themselves in and out of the kids' program if you give your consent for that, so it gives kids that age some more freedom (made her feel terribly grown-up...although we added our own rule that she had to phone us before leaving the club so we always knew what was going on anyway!). She made heaps of friends...passed her once in the atrium intent on a scavenger hunt with the gang and she barely looked up.

 

That's exactly the type of experience I had expected but didn't get ... It just goes to show you that things can be a crap-shoot sometimes. My 10 year old was the one who complained the most. The reason was that her age group (voyagers) got grouped together with the next younger age group (explorers). I don't know if the counselors were understaffed, underpaid or undermotivated, but I watched the group on the sports court where 10 and 11 year olds were surrounded by 6 year olds. When asked how it went, she told me the little kids complained it was too hot, so they brought the entire group (6 - 11) back inside and cancelled whatever activity she had gone to participate in. After things like this happened a few times and it became obvious those two groups would be combined for the entire cruise, she gave up and never went back. It's all in the timing I guess, but this was a summer cruise and was loaded with kids. I would have thought they'd have been better prepared.