Mariner of the Seas Review

Mariner Christmas Cruise

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Mariner of the Seas

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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2012
Cabin: Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Embarkation: We arrived around 1pm and parked at Galveston Park N Cruise. It was advertised as being right "across the street" from the cruise terminal and so doesn't provide a shuttle. In reality, it was a 3-4 block walk. The traffic around the terminal was crazy and I didn't want to make DH navigate it, so we walked and hauled our stiff. Next time, I'd pick a parking location with a shuttle. Once we arrived at the terminal, luggage drop-off was a complete zoo. Disembarking passengers were tying up the porters and it took a good 20 minutes to find someone to take our luggage inside. At that point we went to the check-in line and it was crazy long. We decided to go get something to eat and come back, hoping it would improve or at least that we wouldn't pass out from hunger while waiting to board (DH is diabetic, so this is a serious concern). We returned around 2pm and found the line was even worse. It took us two hours to get through the line, check in, and board. We had just enough time to drop our carry-ons in our cabin before being rushed off to the muster drill. The drill was held up by all of the people behind us in the line who were still waiting to board. This wasn't their fault, but it was hot and miserable standing around for 30 minutes waiting for the drill to begin.

Cabin: We decided to splurge on a balcony cabin. The cabin itself was a good size and had plenty of storage. We found the bed and pillows uncomfortable (too soft for our liking). Our room attendant was great, aside from an unfortunate incident on the last morning when I emerged from the bathroom partially clothed to find him changing the sheets. I am someone who can laugh such things off, but I think he about died from embarrassment. The wind was terrible on our sea days, which limited our use of the balcony. It was nice to have, but I could go back to an OV or inside and not miss it.

Sea day activities: This was our first RCL cruise. We'd cruised Alaska with Princess and wanted to try another line for comparison. We thought RCL would offer more activities, which may be true but, at least on this cruise, they were focused on families. Tons of kids were aboard, so I get that two adults sailing alone weren't the main focus, but we didn't find there was much of interest for us to do on the sea days. We aren't big drinkers and don't gamble, and those were the main adult-focused activities. We enjoyed relaxing in the solarium and walking around the ship, which was decorated beautifully for Christmas. We went to the nondenominational service on Christmas day, the ice show (which was great) and watched a movie poolside, but beyond that we didn't find any activities we wanted to participate in. By contrast, when we sailed Princess we often had to make a tough decision about which activity to do because there were several of interest happening at the same time.

Cabin Review

Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin D1

Location was forward, so we walked a lot, but the cabin was very quiet. The only time we heard our neighbors was when we were on the balcony at the same time. There was plenty of storage and the bathroom was an acceptable size.

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