Let me begin by saying that I am a Diamond member and have sailed, almost exclusively with Royal Caribbean. This was our first cruise on the Mariner, and to the Mexican Riviera. The rest of our cruises have been in the Caribbean, including a nice cruise to the Panama Canal. A few observations and words of advise to others taking this cruise/route for the first time:

WEATHER--so, to be honest--I read many reviews about the sea days being cold, but attributed that to the time of year--most of the reviews I was reading were cruises in March and April. I have cruised in the Caribbean in March and April, and sea days can be "cool". We were scheduled to cruise at the end of June on Mariner, so I packed a "light" sweatshirt in anticipation of maybe a 70-75 degree sea day.....I was hardly prepared....60's and WINDY for the first sea day, second sea day started in the upper 70's but dropped to the 60's by afternoon, last sea day was cloudy and in the 50's. There was literally no one on outer decks. If you are a sun worshiper looking for warm weather for 7 days, this is not the cruise for you. Even the Solarium was cold--spent $120 on heavy sweatshirts at the gift shop. Live and learn. I did have a conversation with one of the waiters, and he said sea days are almost always cold on this cruise, regardless of time of year. Hmmmm, wish I had known that, since I live in Chicago, and I prefer to take vacations to warm climates. Hence the reason I have not yet done an Alaskan Cruise....

EMBARKATION/DEBARKATION-I have always found this to be quick and painless on Royal Caribbean. Have always boarded early. Waited awhile for luggage though this time. We have early seating and have almost always had our bags before dinner. Not this time, but that actually forced me to attend the sail away party, instead of unpacking first!!! Read more