We (my mother, father, and best friend-17) arrived in Los Angeles a couple days early before our trip. This is our fourth cruise on RCI and our second on the Mariner. We stayed at the La Quinta at LAX and found it the perfect location for everything we wanted to do. The Friday we flew in we visited the Santa Monica pier, Rodeo Drive and Hollywood. Unfortunatly for our group of tourists, the Hollywood sign was covered up from protestors and we missed out on what we were most excited about. Hollywood and Beverly Hills were relatively close to our hotel, Disneyland was about 40 minutes to our south-east, and the cruise port was about 30 minutes away to the south.

We left our hotel with a few hours to spare before we were to board the ship. We rented our car at LAX through Enterprise (quick pickup!) and then dropped it off at its San Pedro location. There was a shuttle prepared to bring people to the ships and it was very convenient. By the time we dropped off the car, took the shuttle to the ship and logged in, we were ready to get on the ship. Our room wasn't ready until 1:30 so we had extra time to lay in the sun and get aquainted with the ship before we could settle in. About this time my friend and I ditched my parents. We were thankful that we both were prepared with bathing suits and we used a public restroom to change. There were plenty of seats and the weather was clear and comfortable. Our room was on the port side of the ship close to the elevator centrum. No noise, very accessible to all other amenities of the ship. We were on the sixth floor so it was a haul up the 11th where the Windjammer and pools were, but we were very close to our dining room and Royal Promenade.

Food- My family has been very lucky with dining arrangements. RCI does a great job matching up families by age, which is good when travelling with teenagers. We always eat in the dining room as a rule. We were at a table in the Melodies side room off of deck 3. We were very close to a window and had spectacular views while leaving ports of call. We became very familiar with our waitors Yogit and Christopher. After the first night, the waitors knew well enough to have our beverages waiting for us and a seperate basket of bread waiting in front of my friend and I. We always enjoyed the food at the dining room. Very exquisite, and small portions so often I would have more than one option. The waitstaff was very attentive and comical. Our tablemates were an assortment of older couples from Scotland, Arizona and an older family from Canada. The first night we were very skeptical as to whether we would keep our table, but by the end of the week we were all very close and were sad to see each other go. The food at the Windjammer is great as well. My friend and I utilized the buffet almost every day for lunch and every night for a second dessert. The best was the taco bar after twelve. Very delicious tacos, very appropriate for the Mexican Riviera. I suggest you hunt out Orhan's section. He'll bring you ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, the frozen yogurt on deck 11 was amazing. We just wish it was open more. Ice cream is available from 12-9, and use the machine on the left. The ice cream has less water so it comes out thicker and tastes much better. All other food venues were just as great and we found no problems with any of the food. There's a great variety so even my picky friend could find something she really enjoyed. Read more