Pleasantly Surprised

Item: Mariner of the Seas
Rating: 4.4
Author: toddashlee

Mariner of the Seas Cruise Review

toddashlee

Contributor Level: Third Mate

146 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 93

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

4 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 18, 2019

Ship: Mariner of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 9630

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

The Mariner was a great ship. The pizza was enjoyable, the buffet was better than other ships. The main dining was good but can improve. Entertainment was the most disappointing. And I don't know who needs to hear this is it keep your damn little kids out of the hot tubs!!! Every tub was filled with 5-11 year olds. Balmoral island was great, as well as the chill island cabana! I would take another cruise on this ship. Perfect day has great potential but the weather wasn't the greatest for us, would love to go back!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

We had a Jr Suite so we had priority boarding and it was awesome skipping all the lines!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

I say 4 she says 3 so go with 3.5. The main dining room was good but not great. The service was slow, I got tired of looking at my finished plate in front of me. Our time was 5:30 and we struggled to get done by 7 and it shouldn't be like that. It felt hot in the dining room also. The food was only room temp, never hot. The buffet was good and had lots of options! But gets crazy during breakfast, there needs to be more places to find breakfast. The pizza didn't disappoint!

Main Dining Room

3 out of 5

Service was slow, it felt hot, the food was always room temp. You could tell it was plated for 30 min before we got it. The quality was good with the exception of a few items.

Café Promenade

5 out of 5

The pizza was yummy!

Windjammer Café

4 out of 5

Good food, lots of selections!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Our daughter enjoyed the slides! The pools were cold but that seems to be the norm on cruise ships.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

I say 2 she says 3 so go with 2.5. Lame, the ice show was boring. The headliner show was a juggler which was just ok. The main signing show a former vegas stripper singing Motown. All the shows felt dated! The music was from queen and Elton john. Imagine a 80s ipod play list and that's it. Nothing modern. The band on the lido deck was good but played the same songs over and over again.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Everyone was very nice!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

This was surprising, it was very clean and felt updated and new. Never waited long for elevators either.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The walking closet doubled as a changing room and worked great! The bathroom was big, and we had lots of space in the room even after the couch pulled out into our daughter's bed.