My husband and I just came back from the July 30 Mariner of the Seas cruise to the Western Caribbean. We have been on many cruises, but this was our first with Royal Caribbean and we were very impressed with the Mariner and its staff.

First you should know that the Friday before our flight from L.A. to Orlando we heard from our travel agent about the outbreak of norovirus on the ship during the current cruise. We came very close to canceling, but we are glad we didnt. We took the red-eye flight to Orlando, arriving at 6:30 am and were greeted by RC staff and spent about an hour and a half waiting for other passengers to arrive so that we had a bus full. We were told that RC staff was going to spend an additional two hours cleaning up the ship because of the norovirus outbreak, and so they took us to the Radisson Hotel across the street from the pier. They gave us a ballroom with tables set up and served a buffet lunch (hamburgers, chicken, salad, etc.) We waited there about two hours, and I have to say that the experience could have been worse, and as promised, they put us on the ship by 2:00 p.m.

Check in was easy enough, with the lines moving quickly. The ship is amazing! Nothing prepares you for how huge it is, and the promenade was awesome. You forget you are on a ship, (no movement except for final day - so no Dramamine - took ginger root tablets instead and was fine - not drowsy, etc) . Read more