Having sung the praises of RCCL for the last 20 years or so and being a veteran of well over 70 cruises I decided to take my Mother who was celebrating her 79th Birthday during the voyage on the Mariner of the Seas for a seven night cruise to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. She also wanted to see Singapore so I booked a Hotel for a pre cruise stay, which may I say was fantastic.

We boarded the Mariner on time and check in went really smoothly, great cruise terminal and Mum being a Diamond Plus member got all the pampering she needed from the shore side staff. On boarding it soon became apparent that the ship had been, what can only be described as 'Asianised'. So much so in fact that even the slot machines in the casino were in Mandarin!

We went to our cabin to be greeted by 'Shaun' our cabin steward who, may I say, was wonderful throughout the cruise. We had lunch in the Windjammer Café and were not impressed with the selection of food at all , in fact most of it was rice dishes, noodles and various gloopy meat dishes, However we thought it was because it was a quick turnaround and was only the first lunch. It was also like a 'Bun Fight'!!!! Read more