This trip was my mother's first cruise and we wanted to show her why we love cruising so much. She has mobility issues and our accessible Jr Suite was amazing for the space and set up though it had a ton of wasted space. Stateroom 1608.
The overall experience was great and she had a fantastic time, however being experienced cruisers, we found the crew on the new Mariner to be very inexperienced, not knowledgeable, and new to their role. I am not sure if this is because this is a new market for the staff spending 4-5 years abroad or that they are brand new. The $120M update is very noticeable and they have done an amazing job with the public spaces. The ship looks great! The new additions to the promenade are great with exception to the Bamboo Room which is so small and unappealing that not one person was in there anytime we walked by – bad location in my opinion - outside Oasis Class locations makes sense.
There were many other major disappointments. The stateroom attendant never introduced himself, though I did speak to him once in the hallway. Staterooms were not touched in the recent $120M update and still are old and basic. The MDR staff seemed to be completely out of sync on the first evening and the meal took over two hours and food had to be sent back. We never received our desserts or coffee before we had to leave. Upon our complaints, they did rebound and provided exceptional service the next two nights.
Huge cabin with great accessible bath and a huge walk in closet with changing area. There is a lot of wasted open space in the stateroom and the TV is very small for the room. This is an old room that still functions with nothing special from the new updated ship.