My wife, two sons (8 and 10) and I sailed the Mariner of the week of August 15th. I purposely waited several weeks to write this review to see what really stood out and what didn't. I have a feeling if I'd written a day or two after, it may have been different.
This was my sixth cruise, first on RCCL- This is the third for my boys and they are hooked, so it looks like we'll be cruising annually. We were excited about this cruise to finally sail on RCCL- our previous cruises have all been on Carnival, save one on Princess. I will primarily compare this cruise to our experience(s) with Carnival.
Overall we had a good time and enjoyed the cruise; no matter what, we try to have fun but there were some significant downers on this cruise that will prevent us from returning to RCCL.
Category D1- 6652 Mariner of the seas- Functional and spacious, well laid out, plenty of storage. Typical bathroom with actual shower enclosure, no curtain. Beds and linens not bad, but not great. Compared to carnival, bed uncomfortable. Kind of worn and dated, tube TV needs update, needs a pull-down for fourth guest. Side sleeping convertible fold out not great idea. Location great!