Greg's Royal Caribbean Western Caribbean Cruise - April 2005

Royal Caribbean Mariner Of The Seas

April 24 - May 1, 2005

My wife and I had a great time on this cruise! I'll compare this cruise to the previous 7 night cruises we have had on the Disney Magic. This Royal Caribbean cruise was our first non-Disney cruise.

 

Our cabin worked out good. I actually preferred to just have the shower in the bathroom as we never use the bath anyway. It was slightly smaller than DCL but nothing that made a major difference.I liked the view for a change, its something that you can't do on other ships. There was no noise from the promenade that we noticed. Though when they do the parade you'd most probably hear that. But we watched it from the wine bar downstairs.

 

The only shore trip we did was dunns river falls. RCCL aren't as well organized as Disney. Disney take your whole group off the ship together, RCCL let everyone get off and find their tour group themselves shoreside.

 

I liked the way on RCCL you can book shore trips from the room on TV

 

OK, now to compare other things with Disney.

 

RCCL is very convenient for the parking at the terminal, its right across the street.(A little expensive at $10/day I thought)

 

Check in went smooth, we arrived at about 11:15 and there was already a line formed inside the building. By 11:45 the line was snaked out side and pretty long. We moved through fairly quickly and where onboard before noon. I'd rate the check in as good as Disney. But maybe I would have a different opinion if it was raining and I was in the line outside. Disney line everyone up inside the terminal, RCCL don't.

 

The crew were fantastic, I though the crew on Disney were good and it must be a Disney thing. The crew on this ship consistently exceeded our expectations. They were as good as Disney. The only criticism I could make were the servers in the main dining room. They seemed more rushed to me.  On DCL the server and assistant server actually felt like 'ours' if you know what I mean. On RCCL I could tell they where waiting on a lot of tables and just felt like a waitress. There was a guy who just seemed to do the bread rolls and another guy who sorted drinks out then the main waitress. Their service was a bit rushed and inconsistent. The way Disney do it was much better, they were a team and felt like they were "ours"

 

The rotation dining on Disney is a better concept than just one huge dining room. It feels more like an evening out if you're going somewhere different every night.

 

The food in the main dining rooms on DCL is better than the food in the main dining room on RCCL. The dining room on Mariner Of The Seas actually has 3 names. Its 3 tiers high and each level has a different name, at lunch and breakfast just the bottom level is open.

 

The buffet on Mariner Of The Seas was far better then on DCL, although at peak times it was a mob scene. I really liked the spicy stuff they had at the Jade section.

 

We never ate at Johnny Rockets I'm not sure I totally agree with the cover charge.

 

We did eat at Portofino, which was nice. Almost as good as Disney (but with a higher cover charge) Again, I'm not 100% sure I agree with the cover charge.

 

RCCL seem to have more ways on board of parting you with your money ;-)

 

The shops on board where better on RCCL, the whole royal promenade street thing is well executed. The duty free liquor was very cheap. If you pay $9:95 extra you can take you're purchases to your cabin. Nice if you like to have a pre dinner drink. I liked to sit in the bow window and people watch with a bacardi and coke while I waited for Nicola to get ready.

 

We really liked the wine bar on the promenade 'Vintages' It was really nice to get a cocktail there before or after diner.

 

The evening shows on Disney were better overall I thought, although there was one of the comedians (a black guy) who was brilliant. He had everyone in stitches. Also I liked the way it was organised on Disney. We were on second sitting for all the cruises we've done. On Disney I liked going to the show, having a martini or something afterwards then getting dinner at 8:30. RCCL have you do dinner first then the show. With Disney you get into the routine, its the same most if not every night. On RCCL they move the showtimes around, that how it seemed to me anyway. The personal navigator that Disney do is better that the RCCL one.

 

All in all it was a good trip. We stayed in Cocoa Beach for 4 nights before we cruised. That worked out well, it was just a short drive to the terminal from cocoa beach. After the cruise we had a week at Vero Beach which again worked out well because you're half way there from the cruise terminal compared to driving from Orlando.

 

I think I've covered most things. I'd recommend Mariner Of the Seas unreservedly. Some things where better on Disney, some better on RCCL.

 

For any non American nationals arriving at Port Canaveral there is a separate line for immigration. We have to have our fingerprints and a photo taken. There was one immigration line for us and it took ages. Several groups who had been called in a group color after us actually went through before us (because they where US citizens). We asked to leave the ship as early as possible when we checked in and again on the forms we filled in on the ship. It saved hanging around and didn't cut into the day as much.

 

If Disney had a ship that size just think what they could do LOL

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