Mariner of the Seas

dmanwi

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 22, 2006
We did a 3 night cruise on Mariner of the Seas in mid-July and had a great time. I thought I would provide some feedback and things we learned.

We left our Condo in Orlando around 8:45am and stopped for gas prior to returning our rental to the Budget location. At the Budget location you can return your keys off to the side of the counter. You don't need to wait in the longer line where people are checking in for their rental. Make sure you have your contract handy as they will want it. There was a short line of 5 people and the counter staff was friendly and efficient.

The shuttle came quickly and took us to the Port. I did tip the driver and while doing that the porter from the port staff rather forcefully suggested a tip for him as well. Against my better judgement I tipped him but I didn't want my bags to get 'lost'.

We must have been in the port facility around 10:30 and checking in went really quickly. We sat down just as they were starting to call the first groups for boarding. 10 minutes later our boarding group was called and we were on-board. We went up to deck 11 and sat by the pool for a while before heading down to Windjammers.

Here are some quick comments about the cruise. Two adults, 19yo, 17yo and 14yo.
  • Rooms were clean and comfortable. Three people in a room was a bit uncomfortable but two was fine.
  • Cigarette smell was obnoxious in the areas near the casino and on the outdoor decks. The port side was particularly bad.
  • On boarding day one pool was being re-filled so the pools were really crowded. One group of boozers in one pool but we didn't see them the rest of the cruise.
  • We ate in the main dining room at 5:30 every night and enjoyed it very much. Ordered multiple deserts and appetizers and enjoyed a variety of new dishes.
  • The buffet was good for lunch and dinner but there was very little variety from day to day. A longer cruise would have been bad. Maybe they rotate more on longer cruises.
  • No beverage package and we were fine. We brought on board water bottles and did drink them because there was no water out to drink except at the meals.
  • At Nassau we walked 20 minutes to Junkaroo Beach. The beach was crowded but the water was nice.
  • The kids did the slide one time and the mini-golf. No interested in the VR ride, or Flowrider.
  • We never made it to the Escape Room (costs extra) or the Laser Tag either.
  • We did enjoy the poolside movies a few times and the soft serve ice cream.
  • The ice show was good. The singing/dancing show was pretty bad and I fell asleep and we left early.
  • We skipped another show because it was later at night and we wanted to get up early for Cocoa Cay.
  • We enjoy eating dinner earlier but it seems like snack stations and many activities favored the later seating times. I wanted an evening snack around 9pm but Windjammer wasnt open until 10:30. The night we did go down there the food was mostly just leftovers from lunch.
  • Cocoa Cay was really nice and we enjoyed it. We rented mats and snorkel gear. We saw fish but were not adventurous enough to go out very far. Two kids got stung by jellyfish which hurt but it was gone by nighttime.
  • The lunch at Cocoa Cay was the best lunch of the whole trip. Tacos, burgers, fresh mango, and so much more. It was the best lunch of the whole trip. They also had brownies which were awesome. Why can't they have this sort of food in Windjammer?
  • Snacks at one of the huts was mozzerella sticks and funnel cakes was a nice surprise.
  • The deserts and bakery in Windjammer SUCKED. I mean really really really sucked. No really SUCKED BADLY. Can I make that any clearer? The cinnamon rolls lack flavor or frosting. Cakes were boring or this gelatin filled garbage with no flavor, cookies were hard and dry. I don't get it at all. Buy a bunch of Krispy Kreme and throw those out there and it would have been much better that what was served.
  • The deserts served in the Main Dining Room were much better and I made up for calories in the main dining room. I tried two deserts a night and got to try things I don't normally get at home.
We received a late debarkation (25) and went down to Windjammers to eat. It wasn't terribly crowded. Leaving the ship was really quick but a lot of walking to get down to immigration. Immigration was using facial recognition so you just needed to look at a camera while you were walking and it gave you a green light. I saw a line of people who didnt get the green light or otherwise had to wait in a longish line to be manually screens. Our luggage was waiting for us and we walked out to find the shuttle. The shuttle area was chaos but we luckily made it onto the first shuttle that arrived just as we were walking up. At Budget there was only a couple people in line and we were on our way fairly quickly. The kids wanted to stop at Ron Jon Surf Shop so we stopped there before heading back to Orlando.
 
We did a 3 night cruise on Mariner of the Seas in mid-July and had a great time. I thought I would provide some feedback and things we learned.

We left our Condo in Orlando around 8:45am and stopped for gas prior to returning our rental to the Budget location. At the Budget location you can return your keys off to the side of the counter. You don't need to wait in the longer line where people are checking in for their rental. Make sure you have your contract handy as they will want it. There was a short line of 5 people and the counter staff was friendly and efficient.

The shuttle came quickly and took us to the Port. I did tip the driver and while doing that the porter from the port staff rather forcefully suggested a tip for him as well. Against my better judgement I tipped him but I didn't want my bags to get 'lost'.

We must have been in the port facility around 10:30 and checking in went really quickly. We sat down just as they were starting to call the first groups for boarding. 10 minutes later our boarding group was called and we were on-board. We went up to deck 11 and sat by the pool for a while before heading down to Windjammers.

Here are some quick comments about the cruise. Two adults, 19yo, 17yo and 14yo.
  • Rooms were clean and comfortable. Three people in a room was a bit uncomfortable but two was fine.
  • Cigarette smell was obnoxious in the areas near the casino and on the outdoor decks. The port side was particularly bad.
  • On boarding day one pool was being re-filled so the pools were really crowded. One group of boozers in one pool but we didn't see them the rest of the cruise.
  • We ate in the main dining room at 5:30 every night and enjoyed it very much. Ordered multiple deserts and appetizers and enjoyed a variety of new dishes.
  • The buffet was good for lunch and dinner but there was very little variety from day to day. A longer cruise would have been bad. Maybe they rotate more on longer cruises.
  • No beverage package and we were fine. We brought on board water bottles and did drink them because there was no water out to drink except at the meals.
  • At Nassau we walked 20 minutes to Junkaroo Beach. The beach was crowded but the water was nice.
  • The kids did the slide one time and the mini-golf. No interested in the VR ride, or Flowrider.
  • We never made it to the Escape Room (costs extra) or the Laser Tag either.
  • We did enjoy the poolside movies a few times and the soft serve ice cream.
  • The ice show was good. The singing/dancing show was pretty bad and I fell asleep and we left early.
  • We skipped another show because it was later at night and we wanted to get up early for Cocoa Cay.
  • We enjoy eating dinner earlier but it seems like snack stations and many activities favored the later seating times. I wanted an evening snack around 9pm but Windjammer wasnt open until 10:30. The night we did go down there the food was mostly just leftovers from lunch.
  • Cocoa Cay was really nice and we enjoyed it. We rented mats and snorkel gear. We saw fish but were not adventurous enough to go out very far. Two kids got stung by jellyfish which hurt but it was gone by nighttime.
  • The lunch at Cocoa Cay was the best lunch of the whole trip. Tacos, burgers, fresh mango, and so much more. It was the best lunch of the whole trip. They also had brownies which were awesome. Why can't they have this sort of food in Windjammer?
  • Snacks at one of the huts was mozzerella sticks and funnel cakes was a nice surprise.
  • The deserts and bakery in Windjammer SUCKED. I mean really really really sucked. No really SUCKED BADLY. Can I make that any clearer? The cinnamon rolls lack flavor or frosting. Cakes were boring or this gelatin filled garbage with no flavor, cookies were hard and dry. I don't get it at all. Buy a bunch of Krispy Kreme and throw those out there and it would have been much better that what was served.
  • The deserts served in the Main Dining Room were much better and I made up for calories in the main dining room. I tried two deserts a night and got to try things I don't normally get at home.
We received a late debarkation (25) and went down to Windjammers to eat. It wasn't terribly crowded. Leaving the ship was really quick but a lot of walking to get down to immigration. Immigration was using facial recognition so you just needed to look at a camera while you were walking and it gave you a green light. I saw a line of people who didnt get the green light or otherwise had to wait in a longish line to be manually screens. Our luggage was waiting for us and we walked out to find the shuttle. The shuttle area was chaos but we luckily made it onto the first shuttle that arrived just as we were walking up. At Budget there was only a couple people in line and we were on our way fairly quickly. The kids wanted to stop at Ron Jon Surf Shop so we stopped there before heading back to Orlando.

Thanks, we have Mariner in Jan.

So overall maybe 8.5 out of 10 ???
 
I probably included too many complaints and am being too critical. It is a great ship and staff were really great. Extremely clean all over and very efficient. It was our first cruise so we have nothing to compare it to. Yes I even give it a 9/10.
 
I probably included too many complaints and am being too critical. It is a great ship and staff were really great. Extremely clean all over and very efficient. It was our first cruise so we have nothing to compare it to. Yes I even give it a 9/10.

I appreciate the "personal honesty" in posting complaints/dissatisfaction's. Your 9/10 indicates how minimal the "bad" really affected the cruise enjoyment. We enjoy DCL like most BUT refuse to $pend the $$$$s when other cruise lines prove to be a greater value. JMHO that one should simply accept the fact that there are differences and deal with them.
 


Thank you for this! We are booked next summer and we will have a 16yr and 13yr old.

Must be a buffet thing, I thought 95% of the desserts in Cabanas (just got off the Fantasy a couple of weeks ago) to be completely terrible as well. Lacked flavor and most of them seemed to have a weird jelli layer on top, but the main dining room was much better.
 
Did Mariner have other dining options? We will be on Allure in January and I read about Sorrentos pizza, Johnny Rockets being included for breakfast, Park Cafe, and I think one other included venue (our teenager will be looking for snacks high and low).
 
We only ate breakfast and lunch at Windjammers and dinner in the MDR. I think the MDR had breakfast but I am not sure on that. I also wasnt aware if breakfast was at Johnny Rockets.

The soft serve was free and open most of the time. There were hot dogs by the pool but it was only open 11-5 I think. There was also a place in the Promenade that had pizze, sandwiches, and bad desserts that was open most of the time.

Eating at 5:30 I really wanted a snack around 8-9pm but nothing was really open.
 


Did Mariner have other dining options? We will be on Allure in January and I read about Sorrentos pizza, Johnny Rockets being included for breakfast, Park Cafe, and I think one other included venue (our teenager will be looking for snacks high and low).
Boardwalk Dog House serves hot dogs and sausages and is complimentary. (deck six, aft)
Boardwalk Doughnuts is self serve and across from the Dog House.
Cafe Promenade is 24 hours and has small sandwiches and desserts. (deck 5 mid near Sorrentos)
Wipe Out Cafe has burgers and fries and is near the kid/teen zone and sports deck. (deck 15, aft)
Windjammer Buffet is also open most of the day from breakfast through dinner. (deck 16, aft)

So they should have no problem finding something to eat that's included!
 

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