This was the first time to sail out of Galveston even though we live in Houston. We had left home a little early but got a phone call and an email saying the trip was delayed by fog. I dropped three people off at the terminal at 3:45 and a little over 2 hours we were on board. Some folks who arrived earlier spent a lot longer in line and were a little frustrated but in my opinion I fault the Port of Galveston Authority more than RCI, there was a lack of crowd control outside the terminal.

We loved the ports of call, the on-board entertainment was very good, and the food while not exceptional was very good. The service was very good and the staterooms and public areas on Mariner of the Seas was more than satisfactory for a ship that is going to dry dock in April. We were traveling with a group of 22 which my wife had coordinated and we did not have a single complaint from the group other than one stateroom not getting a Compass one day.

I had read some recent reviews about prior trips out of Galveston about a difficult debarkation but we were scheduled off the boat at 8:45 and within 30 minutes we were loading luggage in the car for the trip home, and drove in our driveway before 11AM. It could not have been easier. Read more