We just returned for our first cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship and I have real mixed emotions about the cruise. The Mariner of the Seas is a beautiful ship and our cabin was comfortable. I will admit however, that there were a few things that I missed with Royal that I enjoyed with Carnival. I missed the robes that we always had in our cabin with Carnival and I know it sounds silly, but I always enjoyed the free goodies that Carnival has in your bathroom when you get to your room. I was just shocked to find that I like the food much better on Carnival too. I was very disappointed in the food on the Mariner. I really liked eating on the Lido deck with Carnival and on the Mariner the only places that you could find food was in the Wind Jammer and Jade Cafes and the Cafe on the Promenade. Getting an ice tea was a real ordeal. I did find Johnny Rockets and there food was the best we had on the ship. I also liked the way that the staff at Johnny's danced and entertained. We didn't find that in the formal dining room. When speaking with one of the waiters he told us that they used to be able to have fun in the dining room but that someone had just hit the STOP button and ended all that. The wait staff sang an Italian song on the steps one night and it was fun, but I found the wait staff to be more formal and stiff then they were on Carnival. I got the impression that it wasn't because that was what the staff wanted but what management thought was appropriate.

We had a blast in Jamaica. If you decide you don't want to pay for a ship excursion let me recommend Mark Morris. He was wonderful. He spoke excellent English and was very, very knowledgeable. We took our 16 year old with us and Mark talked a lot about the island history and it's people. I think my son learned more from him then he ever could from a text book. He took us tubing the White River and then to Dunn's River Falls. The tubing was the funnest thing we did on the entire cruise. I would highly recommend Mark. You can reach him at mark@markstours.com. We had sixteen people in our group and his van was spacious and comfortable and I felt like his fee was very reasonable. He was well worth the money.

My last concern on the Mariner was the tripping hazards. I know this sounds strange, but I saw people fall down all the time. Some people that we were with even ended up in the ships infirmary and I saw several others that did too. Down on the second floor by the conference rooms there is an area between the two elevators that has a small step that is extremely hard to see. I saw several people fall there. Also in one of the lounges there are hard wood floors that have a hard wood step. It's all the same color and is extremely difficult to see. One of my friends fell so hard that she hit her head. She wasn't seriously hurt but she was very embarrassed. When we brought these concerns to the crew of the ship they just think it was a big deal. If it's you that sprains your ankle the first day it can be an extremely big deal. Read more