After reading on CC about all the cutbacks recently on RCL & other cruiselines I have to admit I was curious to see if I was going to actually see any of the "trickle-down" effect on our Mariner Of the Seas Cruise to the Mexican Riviera. My Wife-mid 30's)  & I (35) have been on 5 Cruises in the last few years on different lines(Princess,Carnival). We thought we would try RCL & one of the new ships since they decided to move the Mariner to the West Coast. This would be the largest ship we had been on so far so we were quite excited.Here is my take:Same day Flight to LA from Vancouver was fine-Easy to find Rep at LAX-Bus Ride was quick but hot-No A/C for some reason. Oh,well,we wanted a warm vacation & it started right at the airport in the Bus.Arrive at the Pier around 11:30 am-checked in right away & waited about 30 mins before our number was called. Bit of a wait to get your Security Pic then another line for the customary Ship Photo which we skipped.We made it to the Windjammer at 12:30 as we had to wait until 1pm for our Cabin to be ready.Had some lunch which was ok & headed back to the Cabin & checked out the "hump" balcony STBD side.Cabin- Fine for the 2 of us. Bed not as comfortable as Carnival but fine nonetheless. It was nice to have the extra space between the Bed & balcony window for storage of bags etc.. . The bathroom was standard but having a shower door that actually closed instead of just a curtain was nice. We did not see our Stateroom Attendant, Tyrone until 3 days into the cruise. He must be a busy person. He was nice enough & always kept things clean & tidy which was good. He did seem a bit annoyed though,when we forgot to put out our door tags noting the room could be made-up or that we were in the cabin & did not want to be disturbed. I sensed he had lots to do in a short amount of time so wondering if Guests are in their cabin is fairly important. (mental note for next cruise-put tags into your door! make attendant happy:) We gave him our last bottle of Wine & some extra cash for a job well done!Food- The food was ok. Not spectacular but ok. I had ordered the "Chops" steak on the last nite & it was actually pretty good. The extra charge did not really bother me. The standard Chicken,Seafood type of fare was presented good also.Windjammer Cafe food selection was good. The scrambled eggs actually tasted like eggs(unlike the powdery mess on Carnival). Regular fare like Burgers,Hot Dogs,etc.. were ok but mostly cold everytime I came by to "fill up". We hit Portofino's one night & were also happy with the food & dessert-(try the sampler dessert-you can't finish it)We decided to do "My Time Dining" which was quite convenient. Just show up between 6 & 9pm & you are in. Funny thing was that we ended up everynight at the same table with the same Waiter & Assistant which was nice. The service was fine & very efficient in my opinion. Our Waiter "Assu" had done the Alaska run for 4 years & knew Vancouver quite well so it was nice to talk about local stuff with him. He seemed to be very happy & enjoyed his work. He has worked for 12 years for RCL which is quite long apparently. He seemed to be running around alot & be very busy but seemed to always have time to chat for a few mins about our day which was nice. Good service for breakfast in the Dining Room also.Ship-The Ship was massive. It took a few days to get our bearings but overall the layout was OK. Our Cabin was AFT STBD close to the elevators & stairs & pretty much everything was right there as soon as we walked out of our cabin. Did not really use any of the Shops on the Promenade but had a look in the Shops to kill some time occasionally. We mostly spent time outside in the Solarium to grab as much sun as possible. It was pretty packed out on the deck but if you want a bit more peace & quiet ,then the Solarium is the place to go.

Casino -took our money every night we went so no luck there. Also would be nice to not have to handle coins all the time. Paper tickets much nice. There was also a lot of older machines there which were quite boring to play.

Activities-Did not really do any of them. Watched the Belly Flop Competition which was funny. All other events did not interest me. Read more