This cruise took a long time to fall in to place. With teenagers involved and family coming from different states - it was tough. It was my parents dream to have their kids and their grandchildren on a vacation together. The trip was to celebrate a myriad of birthdays from 16 to 80 as well as promotions, Master's Degrees, etc... My parents are experienced cruisers and lately have been spending their time on luxury liners. We knew that RC was a "step down" for them as far as luxury, but it was a great, well-rounded ship with something for everyone. I think my parents were pleasantly surprised! We traveled on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas to the Mexican Riviera over Spring Break. My parents booked a Junior Suite for themselves and got the rest of us upgraded balcony rooms. Our travel agent had the fore-sight to book adjoining rooms for our kids and us, which gave each of us each just enough privacy while still keeping us connected. The rooms were really quite nice. Plenty of storage space and, included with the balcony, lots of living space. My only complaint ( and its a big one) is how uncomfortable the beds were. My goodness! I thought that it was a backhanded attempt at booking more massage appointments. It took until noon of every day to be able to walk upright! Our stateroom attendant team was amazing. Very thoughtful and anticipated our needs. She became familiar with our family's comings and goings and would often wait to make up the room, knowing our kids were still asleep, even if the do not disturb sign was not in play.

The ship itself had no lack of activities for everyone. We rock climbed, ice-skated, laid in the sun, played mini-golf, trivia, bingo, "Name that Tune", read and enjoyed just doing nothing. The entertainment was top notch. The performances were varied and thrilling. We enjoyed a tribute to the Beatles one evening that had my 80-year old Dad dancing! The fact that there is an ice skating show on a cruise ship was amazing. Even more amazing was the tricks that were performed given the space restrictions of the much smaller rink. Very entertaining and intimate. One of our favorites! One of the things that most impressed us about the ship's amenities was that they were not simply advertised; they were all usable. We have traveled on other lines where amenities were advertised and just were unusable i.e. water slide was under construction. Games were old and missing pieces on the "other line". Here, they were new and intact. Everything promised was delivered.

While the food was above average in the dining room, I wasn't all that impressed with the buffet line. It was average. The dining room food and service shined. The food was pretty decent for being mass produced and service was exceptional. Our waiter, Manoj, and his assistant, Werner, were great. They knew our names and what we would like to drink by the second night. I had made a joke on the first night and told him that we would have a celebration each night. Each night, they brought a special treat to our table for the honored family member and sang to them. Each night before we left, the head waiter was sure to approach me with his little notebook and ask me what we were celebrating the next evening. I was quite disappointed with the specialty dinner we had in the Portofino. I had heard good things about the restaurant and it didn't live up to the hype. Several minor mishaps occurred, which compared to the great dining room service we had enjoyed, left us feeling a bit gypped. Our kids are 16 & 12 - however they chose not to take part in the Kid's Club activities. The weirdos actually liked spending time with their parents!!! Read more