Embarkation: Embarkation was really easy. We flew into LAX at 5:30am the morning of (there are not too many direct flight options coming out of Kaua`i and I didn't want to risk our luggage getting lost before the trip). We thought that we would hang out at the airport until around 1030 and then take a cab to the port because I had read somewhere that the RCI shuttle doesn't come until noon and I wanted to be on the ship by then. Luckily we ran into an RCI representative at baggage claim and they had us on the shuttle by 1015 for around $28 per person (there were only two of us). Once we got to the port it was pretty self-explanatory. There are numerous people there giving out information and telling us where to go or to wait until we could board the ship. We were on the ship by 1115. We headed straight for the Windjammer to eat lunch. I was immediately impressed by the open view of our surroundings and the quality of the food. I mean, it is a buffet, but I felt that the quality was very good, for a buffet.

The Ship: They were playing the World Cup Final in the Savoy on a huge projector so we caught the tail end of the game and then explored the ship. At first I was a little confused as to how to get to certain areas (since on some levels, you can't walk all the way through to the other side) but after the second or third day I felt like an old hand. The Mariner is a LARGE ship. It is also very nice looking. The promenade was impressive, although I was a little disappointed that there were only three or four actual stores. The ice skating rink was smaller than I thought it would be. The main dining room was VERY glamorous. We didn't feel that we needed to eat at the specialty restaurants since eating in the MDR felt special enough for us. The ship overall was very clean. My only complaint is that the elevators took forever. We usually ended up taking the stairs. I believe each floor of the ship has a theme in its artwork; we were on deck 8 and all of the art pieces involved bikes of some kind.

Our Room: We had an interior room, #8471, towards the aft of the ship. The room was tiny, but it didn't matter since we were only in there to sleep or to take naps. The bed was SUPER comfortable and the room got really dark so we slept like the dead (not to mention we were on Hawai`i time, so when people were waking up at 700am, it was like 400am for us.. needless to say, we looked really tired the entire time). Since the room was so dark, I usually kept the bathroom light on at night with the door shut so we could see it in case one of us woke up. They clean the room twice a day, and leave your cruise compass after the second cleaning. We had three towel animals: a penguin, swan, and elephant. Read more