Mariner of the Seas and Captain Johnny

Mariner of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Jerryh111

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 10, 2006

Ship: Mariner of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

We recently sailed on the Mariner of the Seas. The ship is fairly new and very well maintained. It's one of the largest and newest ships on the seas. In an effort to save costs Royal Caribbean has chosen to use rubber decking instead of the beautiful teak decking that seasoned cruisers have come to enjoy and expect on most other ships and cruise lines. It's really detracts from the overall look and feel of the ship. Also, with this ship being one of the largest and holding the most passengers, that "special something" is missing. Though the staff was well trained and extremely polite the personal attention was missing. Not their fault, but with the shear numbers onboard, unavoidable. The Mariner's Capitain, "Capitain Johnny" is quite a character. He makes most of the ships announcements himself, always ends in a joke and has numerous meet and greets throughout the cruise. He makes for a very memorable experience. The Mariner's dining experience was quite disappointing. Other than the optional, additional fee dining room which was excellent, the main dining room menu was not up to usual cruise fare. The menus were quite limited, food was not very tasty and the wait staff was very overworked. The staff tried very hard to please everyone, but with a 3 story dining room personal attention was not to be had The Mariner's Ports of Call were excellent. Only 2 full days at sea (one coming and one going) they made the best of the time alloted and locations available. Their private area in Haiti was beautiful. We went jet skiing for the first time. The Sea Trek staff was excellent and well trained. It was an exciting experience. The overall experience was excellent. Except for a few expectations that could not be met because of the size of the ship, the vacation was wonderful..