This was our first cruise.

I took my 17 year old daughter on this cruise as a graduation present. It was the best vacation we have ever taken. The Mariner of the Seas is a beautiful ship. It's very clean and well taken care of. Every day you will see people cleaning the glass elevators and shining up all the the brass everywhere.

Our bus got to Port Canaveral around noon and the check in process went very quickly. We were on the ship and in our room by 1:30. We found the room to be larger than we had expected. Nice size bathrooms with a nice shower. We opted for the balcony room (which I highly recommend...worth every extra penny). We spent time out there every day, usually at night watching the waves and looking for wildlife. I would recommend bringing along a pair of binoculars. It was especially nice at night to be able to leave the balcony door ajar and listen to the waves all night. Our stateroom attendant cleaned our room twice a day. At night there was always a fun animal made out of towels awaiting us on our bed as well as chocolates!! He was very pleasant and went out of his way for anything we wanted. In your fridge you will find soda and nuts. We asked that these items be removed (the cost was ridiculous 1.75 for a can of coke and 5.00 for a bag of nuts). We did not bring any soda along but we did purchase some when we went ashore and brought them back on. Read more