Mariner of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,332 reviews

First time cruisers on Christmas cruise

Review for the Mexican Riviera Cruise on Mariner of the Seas
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growingVegas
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Dec 2008
Traveled with children

The cruise was great as expected after reading multiple reviews here. Getting on was easy. They made us give all our luggage to the porter (that's where the tip story starts). Then on the last day you have to have all your bags out in the hall by 11p.m. and you see them next morning on shore. So, make sure you have "carry on" packed both times. First day I didn't see my bags till 4 or 5 p.m. and that was fine, because I had everything I needed (except the flip flops). It's pretty warm even on the first day. Two out of 3 days in Mexico were really hot, one in Puerto Vallarta being ridiculously hot, but we still loved it.

Day one we were walking around the ship and getting familiar with all the wonderful amenities. Now, being first time cruisers we also decided to be frugal cruisers and the only things we spent extra money on were soda cards for both kids, couple of souvenirs and tips. Keep in mind that there's only 4 kinds of soda - coke, sprite, diet coke and ginger ale. but our kids only like coke and sprite so they were happy. I'm pretty sure my older one would spend less if she drank a la cart, but for my 10 year old it was definitely worth getting, because even at midnight she was making trips to promenade cafe and getting her Sprites from bars.

We were totally ok not eating at Johny Rockets or other "pay extra" restaurants. And we didn't even order drinks on the ship, only in ports. You get so many calories in from eating all day here and there, that I really didn't feel like having more calories from alcohol.I couldn't even eat the free frozen yogurt by the pool. I tried it once and it was really good.My kids were eating it all the time.

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