Mariner of the Seas
The Mariner of the Seas, while a smaller and older ship, holds a special place in our heart as it was where we spent our honeymoon 17 years ago. I have been on the ship 4 different times in total. The first time it was with my new hubby, the second time it was with one of my closest friends, the third time was the four of us plus my parents and the fourth time was just the four of us. Each experience was different and yet fun for a variety of reason. This most recent time we were especially excited to go as it would be a departure from the larger ship that we had been going on with the kids. Also, we were looking forward to trying out the new menu in the dining room.
Part of the Voyager class, the Mariner of the Seas was built in 2003 and was amplified in 2018. It has the capacity of 3,807 passengers, which is half that of an Oasis class ship. While it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that the Oasis class ship offer, it still has a lot of fun offerings such as water slides, delicious specialty restaurants and bars, a spa, and many fun planned activities.
The crew on the Mariner was amazing. Whether it was the Main Dining Room servers, the Adventure Ocean staff, the cruise director staff or the bar staff, we were continuously impressed. When you have a great crew, that leads to happy passengers, which leads to a great experience for everyone.
One thing that disappointed us a bit was the nightly entertainment. We were disappointed not just with the quality of the shows but the sound design. This was true for the stage show that was on the second night as well as for the headliner the third night. Because of this, we didn’t go to any other shows and the ice show was never at a time that was convenient for us so we didn’t see it.
In my opinion, Mariner is a great ship for first time cruisers. It is a good medium sized ship and usually comes with a palatable price tag. For this cruise, we were fortunate enough to book a suite, which we found reasonably priced. While there is no star class on the Mariner, the perks that came with booking a suite were quite enjoyable, especially the daily Happy Hour. During Happy Hour, we were served with light apps and complimentary drinks. We could enjoy a drink there and take a drink with us to dinner. This saved us from incurring extra costs and we utilized this daily.
All in all, we had a great time on our cruise and booked another family cruise while on board. While cruising is expensive right now, we have found some great cruises that we are very much looking forward to.
