Royal Caribbean Cruises
Mariner of the Seas Cruise Review
Eastern Caribbean

Heidi
Age: 39
Occupation: nurse
Number of Cruises: 7
Sailing Date: April 2nd, 2006

Our group consisted of 5 couples--ages 39-50, some had cruised before, some had never cruised.

In a nutshell....We LOVED this cruise: the ship, the ports, the number of sea days...in fact, we have all booked again for next year.

We were concerned about the size of the ship thinking things might be crowded. The only time you really notice that there are 3500 people on board is when getting tendered off at coco cay and also when trying to find a chair by the pool on the sea days. It is possible, but you might have to search for awhile!

We tried the promenade cabins this trip: the inside cabins with windows looking into the promenade of the ship. This was a great place to watch the parades down the promenade--no searching for a space--you have your own seat in your cabin. You did have to be careful though in making sure that your curtain was closed before you got undressed, otherwise, the people in the cabin across the promenade got a free show!! Our cabin steward was great--and left us a nice towel animal every night!

The 3 story dining room was just beautiful--we had the best server: Joel and assistant Dorcus. Some reviews have noted that the food on board is just okay--but we all disagreed, we felt that the food and the service was great! Most of the group tried one of the specialty restaurants and those both got rave reviews despite of the surcharge added to your bill. My husband also liked Jade--the sushi bar.


At Cococay, we all rented waverunners for the excursion offered by the cruise line--well, all but the two of us that were stuck in our cabins with the flu! The rest of the group said this day was the highlight of their trip--a real blast! (thanks alot!!)

In St. Thomas, we chartered our own boat to St.John--the M/V Cinnamon Bay with Capt. Bob. He took us snorkeling away from the cruise ship crowds and then to a private beach. This day was just perfect!! You tell him what you want and he'll help you plan the day based on that days weather conditions--we all highly recommend him!! You can find his website at www.motoryachtcinnamonbay.

In St. Maartin, we did the 4x4 jeep tour offered by the cruiseline. This was a good way to see much of the island--spend some time shopping and then end the day at Orient Beach. It would have been better if the jeeps were equipped with a radio so the guide could point out all the sites. We would stop at a site, he would then explain what was coming up next and so on. It was fun... but I probably wouldn't do it again.

Probably our biggest complaint was that there just wasn't time to try everything, even with 3 sea days!

We would all highly recommend this trip!

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