This was my 5th cruise and the first time not on NCL, so some of this review will be a comparison of RCI and NCL. I took the Mariner of the Seas out of Los Angeles because I wanted to try another cruise line and living in Southern California made it easy to just drive over and get aboard. The price for a solo senior passenger was only 50% of double occupancy on this particular cruise so I would have had to pay several hundred $ more for the same type of cabin on the Norwegian Star, which I have sailed before and know to be a smaller, inferior ship. I went solo but my husband and son and daughter-in-law were outside at the Acapulco restaurant at Ports of Call waving goodbye as we went down the channel so that was a nice send-off.

I had been reading some really good things about Royal Caribbean and I must say there was no mistaking this ship for one of NCL's. Two of the cruises I took on NCL were on their best ships - the Jewel (transatlantic) and the Pearl (Alaska), but there is a night and day difference between even those ships and the Mariner of the Seas. In the first place, the MOS is 50% larger, although it doesn't really feel like it. Holding many more passengers than either of those two ships (about 3200 on this particular cruise), I never had the sense the ship was crowded. There were just no lines. The deck plan on MOS was designed so it doesn't really seem that far from bow to stern because it's broken up into thirds. For example, the Promenade only runs about the middle 1/3 of the length of the ship. The ship is really easy to navigate. Another thing that is nice on the MOS is you can actually go right up to the bow of the ship and have your Titanic "I'm flying" moment. On NCL, the forward deck is off limits to passengers.

The Windjammer Cafe wraps around the whole back of the ship so you can eat your meals overlooking either side or aft over the wake. The quality and variety of the food at the buffet was quite good. One nice thing is they have waiters who have responsibility for a certain area of tables and they will bring you your made to order omelet, juice or water, etc. Apparently most of the passengers preferred the dining room for dinner because the Windjammer was rarely full in the evenings. I only ate in the dining room twice. Once was when we were in Mazatlan - it was casual night (wear something Caribbean) so not too dressy. The 3-level dining room is magnificent and the service was impeccable. The salad was fresh, the food was hot, and I enjoyed the surroundings. I had opted for My Time Dining which means you eat on the highest level (Sound of Music Dining Room - deck 5) and you can show up any time between 6 and 9 or make a reservation earlier in the day for the specific time you want. I think this is actually better than NCL Freestyle, since you can still do first come first served OR make a reservation just to be sure you don't have to wait. You can either eat with strangers and make new friends or eat with the group you are traveling with. There are tables of all sizes. Read more