Pros: The ship is beautifully decorated. The art work throughout was truly enjoyable. Kudos to my cabin steward. He was great, however, I expected nothing less. (Stateroom # 7296.)

Cons: The airport pickup person was given the wrong airlines but correct flight number. Consequently, he was waiting for my wife and I at the wrong baggage claim area. After waiting for him for 30 minutes, WE had to search for him, as apposed to him realizing something was amiss. The initial check-in was total chaos. We arrived at the ship terminal around 11:30am and did not board the ship until after 4 o’clock. After check in, we were told to sit in a large room with approximately 500 to 600 other passengers, while we observed other passengers go from check in, directly to boarding the ship. Who is the brainchild behind having 2 Voyager class ships boarding and sailing from the same terminal on the same day? The terminal staff was totally overwhelmed. Why was there no express check in for loyalty passengers?

The food and the wait staff in the Sound of Music dinning room were far below previous standards on other RCCL cruises. On two occasions my order of salmon was overcooked. On any dinner order, the sides were bland and without any flavor. I would rate the food as worse than having lunch at your neighborhood buffet restaurant. I can remember when going to dinner and enjoying great food and being pampered with classy service on a cruise was just about the highlight of the day. Not so on the Mariner. Each night I had to ask for a refill of my water glass and had to refill our own wine glasses. Very much a "no-no" in upscale restaurants. I don' t know if the wait staff is over extended because of the high volume of passengers or they are new and need additional training. After traveling thousands of miles and anticipating a great cruise to exotic places, I expected nothing but the highest service from RCCL. Read more