My boyfriend and I went on the Mariner this past week. It was our 5th cruise together, 4th with RC in the last 2 years. We have sailed previously on the Disney Wonder, Majesty of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, and Freedom of the Seas. Embarkation was very smooth. This was my first time sailing out of Miami and it went better than expected. I think we were on the ship within 20 minutes of arriving at port. We got there around 11:30. Rooms weren't ready until 1. We got a great deal on an ocean view balcony guarantee as we are Florida residents and were given a spacious ocean view balcony. The room was in great condition. Furnishings were worn but still good. It was my first time with an ocean view balcony and I absolutely loved it. The balcony was the perfect size, much larger than I expected. We were close to a service elevator/stairwell/closet and I was a little concerned we would hear a lot of noise from it. I was pleasantly surprised that we rarely had troubles with noise, even with a room next door to an infant. We have always enjoyed watching movies in our cabin on past cruises and were disappointed not to see any dreamworks movies. We went to windjammer for breakfast and lunch most days. The food was average, everything from the carving station was very dry. Not a whole lot of variety from day to day. The seating areas were busy, so I would recommend eating early meals if you can. We got pizza from cafe promenade which was always great, but there was almost always a line of 5+ people regardless of the time of day. We got nachos from Playmakers which were good but cost extra. We went to Chops for lunch on the final day. The steak was fantastic but the gruyere tater tots were under seasoned. The food in the main dining room was always good. Our server was Alili and she was excellent. Very knowledgeable and passionate. I would highly recommend requesting her. We really enjoyed the solarium for relaxing by the pool without being bothered by noisy kids. There are an abundance of deck chairs around the upper decks, so while you may not be able to get a seat right by the pool, you can at least work on your tan nearby. They played movies out by the pool at night and we found that sitting up on deck 12 offered a better view of the screen as there are so many obstructions with the hot tubs on 11. I would be cautious up there at night though as we noticed people around us smoking cigarettes and marijuana. I can't fault the crew really as we never reported it. We spent a lot of our time in the casino playing slots. We didn't win anything overall but we had fun. I do wish they'd have more space to give non smokers room to breathe, but it's a smaller ship so it's understandable. We stayed on the ship in Nassau for the most part as we really don't care for that port. We went out for maybe 45 minutes and were so irritated with being heckled by locals that we just went back to the ship. The ship was in Nassau from like 7am-midnight which would be appealing to people who want to go to clubs, but we didn't care for it. The prices of drinks were comparable to those on the ship and we felt much safer on the ship. We went to South Beach on CocoCay for a couple hours and went back to the ship. I can't wait for the renovations to be finished so the ship can dock there. The beach was nice but we did overhear that a few people were stung by jellyfish. I really enjoyed the pool area on the ship while everyone was out on their excursions. We woke up early on the day at sea to try out the water slides and my boyfriend tried the flow rider. The water slides were pretty slow, so I didn't go more than once. My boyfriend loved the flow rider. We played mini golf and would definitely suggest heading up there if you're looking to get away from crowds. There were only a handful of people on that part of the ship and there was plenty of seating. We enjoyed the ice show but would definitely suggest getting their early to get a good seat. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the show and we got there 15 minutes before and got 2 of the last seats. We did self assist departure as we prefer to beat the crowd and were on our shuttle to our car 25 minutes after leaving the room. Overall I think this was my favorite cruise with Royal Caribbean so far. I would absolutely recommend it.