Just Back From Mariner of the Seas - Very Impressed!

[Weegl]

Let me say at first that we have been loyal DCL customers for 3 straight summer vacation cruises - once on the Wonder and twice on the Magic. Since the Magic was on the west coast, plus the fact that prices have been escalating for DCL, we elected to try the RCI Mariner of the Seas this summer.

In short, it was a wonderful experience that we will likely repeat in the future, instead of sailing on DCL again. The ship is simply awesome, with so many activities and public areas to choose from. Keep in mind that it is nearly 60% larger than the DCL ships. Here's some of the highlights and where I thought it was superior or inferior to our DCL experience:

food: dining room, room service, Johnny Rockets were all very good...I thought generally better than DCL. The specialty dining did not compare to Palo's...not sure we would do those again when the dining room food was so good.

service: pretty equal across the board...all crew was generally cheerful and very helpful.

kids program: my kids loved it, but I wish they had extended hours like DCL. I loved the activities and it seemed that when my kids were there, they had more to do than on the DCL ships. Not as many kids in their age group though, perhaps there would be more as the summer season progresses.

spa/gym: incredible gym on the Mariner - as good as my club at home. Spa was very nice, although I did miss the rainforest.

cabins: we good adjoining cabins for roughly 1/3 - 1/2 what it would have cost us with DCL for the same grade. They were quite nice too...slightly smaller than DCL and didn't have split bathrooms...but had more storage room and was laid out quite nicely.

deck space: plenty of room up top on the Mariner, but kids missed the slide and split pools. I missed Quiet Cove, but still had a nice time around the family pool. I also missed the ice cream/fruit station and snack bar in the pool area on DCL.

Overall, it was a great trip and the entire family had a wonderful time. For the price difference, I am sold on the Mariner as a great and desirable alternative to DCL.

Hope this helps some folks who might be comparing the 2 cruise lines.

 

[tchoney]

I'm very happy to hear your comments. My family just returned from the May 28 sailing to the Mexican Riviera on DCL, and it will probably will be our last. Among other things, our boys are getting older and don't really care about the disney characters. They found the activities to be rather boring, which led us to help keep them entertained. In fact, when my 8 year old was asked what his favorite Disney Character was, he responded, "Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo!"

If you don't mind me asking, what TA would you recommend booking Royal Carribean through?

 

[Weegl]

By the way, my kids are 7 & 6 and, although they missed seeing some of the characters, the putt/putt course, ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, expanded game room and other activities made up for the lack of characters!

I shopped alot of Internet cruise discounters (cruise.com, vacationstogo, expedia, cruise bros., etc.) and settled on itakeatrip.com. Then I booked via phone with them.

I'd just shop around if I were you.

 

[tropicalgirl]

We also have sailed both the Wonder and the Mariner. My kids loved the Mariner more. They had a great time on the Wonder, but had a better time on the Mariner. There seemed to be more to do during the day. My kids aren't big on the clubs, so they loved to be able to roller blade, mini golf, ice skating and rock climbing at their finger tips.
I did miss the split bath and the slightly larger cabin, but that was minor compared to all the pluses that the Mariner had to offer.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Thank you for your comparison.

 

[HIHO...HIHO]

How do the cabins compare? We had a verhanda room (cat. 5) on the Wonder and loved it! Do you know how the prices compare for the verhanda rooms?

 

[ashtravel]

My family has sailed on the Magic 4 times and the Mariner over Thanksgiving. It is time to plan our next cruise and my 9 year old twin boys have requested the Mariner with no hesitation. They liked the Magic but loved the Mariner. I have to agree there seems to be a lot more to do on the Mariner , although I will always love the Disney line. RC usually offers some good last minute deals if you are willing to risk it . The prices are always lower for RC over Disney. They also offer military discount if you are retired are active duty.

 

[my3kids]

Royal Caribbean as of May 1 will not let any travel agencies sell their cruises at a price different from what they, themselves, are selling it for. If you shop around, it is basically the same price wherever you look. I booked with www.cruisequick.com who sell A LOT of RCI cruises. We would be given a Master Card gift card to use however we saw fit...bills, fun, grocery, so pretty much like a lower price or a cash rebate. These were equal to 12.5% of the cruise fare. Those were eliminated as of May 1 for any new booking. If you look around you can catch group space or some other RCI authorized promotion. I'd still recommend www.cruisequick.com because they are GREAT. You'll probably pay the same price with any agency though. (For any other cruises other than the now price controlled RCI, cruisequick.com will almost certainly be the cheapest.)

 

[Weegl]

For comparison, we paid about $2400 for a Deluxe Balcony room on the Mariner and booked it about 7 months out. The similar category on DCL for a 7 nighter (cat. 5 or 6) was (and is) about $3500 for the same time of year.

Our balcony on the Mariner was great and compared favorably to the one we experienced on the Magic.

 

[CurtS]

Weegl, thank you so much for the comparison. We've been debating on RCCL or DCL for a western Carribean cruise and it sounds like RCCL has a lot of the same amenities as DCL for a lot less. I'm glad your 6 and 7 year olds had a good time--that was a big concern for us--we have children who range from 5-13 by the time we sail and we weren't sure how well they'd take to RCCL in lieu of DCL. Did you happen to notice many teens on board or if there was a separate teen area?

Curt

 

[my3kids]

Yes, all RCI ships have a teen area.

We initially booked a 7 night RCI cruise for the summer(have since changed to a 9 night)

We booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom verandah suite on RCI for less than the cost of interior rooms on Disney for same week. We have since changed to the 9 night and have 2 verandah staterooms. For Disney, a week later so the prices were lower that week than the week we picked, for 2 verandah rooms for only 7 nights, the price was about $5000 more for Disney. Not insignificant.

 

[Weegl]

The teen area is also very impressive...they have two "lounges" and an entire back of a deck to themselves - no one under 13 or older than 18 can enter.

On our cruise, there was a very large number or teens cruising with us. My guess is that the date (we departed May 29) had alot to do with that as there were a number of them on their high school "senior trip" with parent escorts. It was well controlled by RCI and I observed RCI security "clamping down" on unruly teens...I even heard that one family was sent home because their teen did something bad.

I have to assume that there would be more smaller kids as the summer progressed and more schools were out in the north.

 

[Dean]

Have been on RCCL several times and the Magic. But we've never been on a Voyager class ship though we are leaving this Sunday on the Mariner as well.

 

[Niagara2]

We have done the Wonder and the Magic a few times each. Of course loved them. We have done the Voyager of the Seas and the kids loved the programing. As they get older the Disney kids activiites are getting a bit boring to them. We maybe will get one more Disney cruise in before we need to switch to other lines and itineries. Food, staff, cabins, activities were great on the Voyager class RCL ships. I really want to try Princess next.

 

[AnnaS]

Thank you for your comparison. I know my kids are also ready for a change after this one coming up and we love Disney and DCL.

Dean - please also post a report/comparison. Thanks.

I think if we cruise again, it will most likely be RC - unless we do Alaska or a Mediterranean (almost impossible).

 

[callahanjulie10]

We too were ready for a change after our 6th DCL cruise. We had done Magic -Eastern 4 times, Western-once, and a 4 night Wonder cruise. We decided on Mariner since it also left out of Port Canaveral and because my DD-13 was not satisfied with the kids programming on DCL for the tweens. I was quite surprised how much we loved Mariner of the Seas. My DD didn't really enjoy the programming on Mariner but had plenty to do ice skating and putt putting!
We found that everything was pretty much on the same level as DCL but I really missed changing dining rooms. The only thing that I didn't like at all about Mariner was that when you went to eat in the dining room for breakfast or lunch, it was the exact same menu EVERYDAY! This came as quite a shock for me the second morning when we went to the dining room for breakfast! We usually don't do buffets in the AM since I am not a morning person and prefer quiet and someone to serve me instead of going through a cattle line for food under a lamp!
Now that DCL has redone the teen area and is going to be redoing the tween area and getting an outdoor movie screen- I will be back!
We have stayed in cats 4,7,8,10,& 11 on DCL and loved them all. We stayed in a JS on Mariner and I don't think we could do anything less since we had friends in an inside and outside which we way too small! Because of this, the cost really is about the same for us.

 

[Buddy Bear]

For comparison, we paid about $2400 for a Deluxe Balcony room on the Mariner and booked it about 7 months out. The similar category on DCL for a 7 nighter (cat. 5 or 6) was (and is) about $3500 for the same time of year.

Our balcony on the Mariner was great and compared favorably to the one we experienced on the Magic.

Thank you for the report. I am most interested in the room comparision. We love the split bathrooms and think that the larger staterooms DCL has to offer will be another concern when cruising elsewhere.

Can you tell me your stateroom number. I am looking on the RC site and don't see a "Deluxe Balcony" class. We are a family of four and choose either a Cat 5 or 6 when sailing with DCL depending on price.

Thanks again

 

[SandraLee]

Anyone out there sail on one of the Radiance class ships? Jewel? Brilliance?

Those ships are the same size as the Magic and BRAND new. I'm holding out for my next cruise on one of those ships. I'd love to hear comparisons.

 

[ksjayhawks]

We were on the Mariner in March and really, really liked it. We will definitely go again.

There is ice cream at the pool areas. It is kind of tucked in by the doors.

If you want fruit, just go to Windjammers buffet and get all that you want.

There is also an adult pool area that is for those 16 and older.

I liked that fact that there were four hot tubs in the pool area--all good sized--as well as plenty of deck chairs. Didn't seem to see as much "chair saving" as we did on dcl.

My ds loved the tween area and activities plus the all night cafe that he and his friends could go to late night.

We did not book any excursions until we got on board and had no trouble. There were so many excursions that you could find something at every port. If you really, really want to do something, I would recommend booking, but we played it day by day and were not disappointed. Grand Cayman is the only one that I feel has limited excursions available. That will probably be a beach day for us next time.

Highly recommend rccl. Our neighbors have gone on rccl a lot--usually radiance class--and this was their first voyager class trip. They like both, though said the mariner offers more sports wise-ice rink, inline skating, rock wall, etc--and is definitely a bigger ship with lots of activities to do.

We had about 3500 on our ship (think capacity is 3800), but it didn't feel like it. The ship is so big and with so much to do, it doesn't seem crowded. I believe their newest ship will hold about 4300. Can't wait to go on it.

 

[minniemoms]

Does anyone do Princess? I heard they have dinning when you want it, no assigned seating times. Our friends have done Princess several times and loved it, but most of you mention RCCL. Want to do Alaska next year, and just wondering which was best.