We had the great pleasure of taking the October 11 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Mariner of the Seas. As a little background, this was our fourth cruise with Royal Caribbean and our sixth cruise overall. This was also our second cruise on the Mariner with the last time cruising out of Port Canaveral on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Along for the cruise this time were myself, a forty-something economic consultant, my lovely wife, our 13 year old daughter, 9 year old son and my mother-in-law and father-in-law, who were on their second cruise and first on RCCL.

Embarkation - Grade: A

Instead of parking at the pier, we dropped the luggage at the ship around 11 am and spent some time visiting with one of my brother-in-laws who lives near LAX. We left our cars at his place and he dropped us all off at the ship at about 1:30 pm. By that time, the departure hall was virtually empty and it took us less than 10 minutes to complete the paperwork and to board the ship. I guess the Port never expected to host a ship as large at as the Mariner as they had to use temporary scaffolding and ramps to reach the ship's 4 deck where you enter. Read more