We had to leave Bermuda prematurely and sail the long way around a tropical storm, which meant for a rough and rainy sea day, but the crew did a good job keeping us out of harm's way.
Unfortunately, my husband tested positive for covid on the last sea day. (I tested negative and continued to test negative after we returned home.) We did our best to isolate in our cabin, even though we were never directed to do so by the ship's medical staff. Getting room service was a challenge (we found our later that the designated "red zone" where covid passengers are isolated was already completely full, so newer cases were left to just isolate in their regular cabins).
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Internet/computer outages at the terminal caused delays with people arriving to the terminal only to be placed into enormous queues backed up outside the building. Despite the delays and disorganization, we were still onboard in about an hour. We were not impressed with Terminal 5. We've boarded at Terminal 1 in the past and things went much smoother.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food overall was good, but not as good as we have enjoyed on prior sailings with Royal Caribbean. We usually ate in MDR for dinner and received excellent service from Clyde and team. We enjoyed the lunches in the Windjammer, where they offered some really delicious Indian dishes!
Bar service varied widely from one bar to the next, as did availability of certain types of alcohol, and drink prices are extremely high for what you get. Displayed bar menus and menus available on the app only show three to four drinks, so it's really frustrating if you like to browse a traditional menu or consider a complete list of offerings.
Izumi
5 out of 5
Lunch at Izumi was excellent. Really delicious sushi. Wassabi seemed a bit weak, though.
Sky Bar
2 out of 5
They were unable to serve drinks on their own menu because they didn't have the required ingredients.
Pool Bar
1 out of 5
I would not recommend going to the pool bar if you are looking for anything other than the drink of the day. They will pour drinks with the wrong alcohol and try to pass it off.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We enjoyed trivia and other activities, though we had to miss some due to scheduling conflicts.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The two production shows were ok. Often the music was too loud and drowned out the vocalists. No real story, just loosely connected music and dance numbers. Ice show was good, but not as good as shows we've seen on prior cruises. Some of the lounge singers were good, some were terrible (initiation really off).
The a-capella group they brought on toward the end of the cruise was excellent.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward Don was perhaps the best we have ever had. He was always around and very quick to address any needs or requests. MDR service was excellent as always.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Mariner is a great mid-size/smaller ship that is easy to navigate. It was very clean, though is showing some age. It is showing some rust and definitely needs some fresh paint and varnish.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We really liked our cabin in the front corner of the ship, starboard side. We found it really spacious and roomy, and we enjoyed our two big portholes. It was close enough to the elevators that we didn't feel ever fell like it was too far away. If you're booking a oceanview cabin, this is the one to book!
Ship tip
You will need the Royal app, which doesn't always work like it should. Scheduling events and activities doesn't always work like it should.
Bermuda is absolutely gorgeous and we wish our time in port had not been cut short due to the approaching storm.
Our diving excursion through the ship was abruptly canceled, but we were fortunately able to book diving independently. It required a 40 minute cab ride to the other side of the island, but we shared the fare with two other couples. The diving was excellent and we were able to catch a ferry back to the port area.
We were able to arrange our own scuba diving excursion through Stuart Cove's, which was excellent (though Nassau really needs more than one dive operator).
Again, we were not impressed with Terminal 5. One of our checked bags was placed in the wrong area, which made for a lot of unnecessary stress and worry. Other than that, we disembarked fairly quickly.
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