This is a magnificent ship! We have cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and believe us; Carnival is NOT in the same league with Royal! Last fall we did the Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory and it compares as a row boat would to a cruise ship. Believe us when we say that the service on Mariner was significantly better than on the Glory. Without the TACKY color arrangements! In addition, believe it or not, the food was better on Royal Caribbean! We have read the reviews that complain about the RCCL food and frankly, we don't get it. Our service in the Rhapsody in Blue dining room was equal to any five star restaurants and the food was OUTSTANDING!
Embarkation: We arrived at MCO at approximately 10am and were on the bus by 10:35. Once at the pier in Pt. Canaveral we were aboard in 15 minutes. Contrary to the Carnival process which took over an hour.
Stateroom: AWESOME!! The room was spotless and the service was perfect. Not only was our suite properly serviced, we were given the appropriate treatment that suite dwellers deserve. RCCL is top notch in this area.