Mini Review of Mariner of the Seas // Royal Caribbean Cruise Line // Three Night Bahamas Cruise
Several times a year, we plan dive cruises – that is, we cruise, and wherever we go, we scuba dive! This time, we cruised on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas on a three night cruise to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Florida. We’ve been cruising on the smaller ships like Rhapsody, Enchantment, and Jewel, and we like the layouts and smaller passenger to crew ratios. We stepped on Mariner, and within an hour or two, we were in love with the layout, the organization, and the many small private areas scattered around the ship.
Large Ship With Luxury Yacht Feel
We knew the ship was one of the largest we had been on recently, but were pleasantly surprised that although large, there were small private areas scattered all over the ship. In the Solarium, there were lounging beds for two. On each deck, there were small areas tucked away here and there for a luxury yacht-like feel.
I loved that the Windjammer buffet seating is spread out far more than other ships, and several repeating stations so you don’t have to walk all over to see the selections. The Windjammer also wraps around the stern, so there are great views in all directions, and nearly all the seats are “waterfront seating.”
Balcony Surprise
Our cabin had a wonderful surprise for us – we had booked a balcony, the furthest forward on the starboard side on deck 10. It turned out the end balconies have an additional couple feet of space! There is a bump-out, and a space about three feet by two feet yields an additional six square feet of balcony space. In cruise ship world, that’s a lot of extra space!
That area was simply perfect for hanging our dive gear out to dry, and storing dive gear without taking up a single square foot of the normal balcony space. We were amazed and thrilled.
Spa Treatment Experience
This trip, we splurged on spa treatments for both of us, the massage combined with facials. It was the best facial of my life, and one of the best massages ever. When we booked them, we had booked mine at 5:00 p.m. and his at 8:00 p.m.
We really wanted to enjoy cocktail hour in the Diamond Lounge. We swung by the spa, and before we could even ask, they asked us if we wanted to both have our treatments at 4:00 p.m. Fantastic – now we could start the relaxation earlier, and not interfere with our sundowners time or our dining schedule. We did miss a bit of the sailaway, but it was worth it.
Perfect Day at Coco Cay
We were worried that the trip to Little Stirrup Cay would prove a disappointment. Although acres and acres of man-made waters slides and pools is some peoples’ idea of a good time; we rather preferred the natural walking trails, the old parcourse, and the rickety observation tower.
It turned out that we were not horrified like we thought we would be by the “improvements.” I reasoned that if the water park lured anyone off the ship who normally would have stayed on board, that was good. They could not help but see the beautiful water and realize how gorgeous the Bahamas really are.
Would We Return to Mariner
In all, we can’t wait to get back on the Mariner of the Seas. I already booked a second trip on her – and we didn’t even have time to explore the entire ship! Head over to my blog to read more about our cruising experiences with RCCL on several different ships. Cheers! Kim
You Can’t Bring Toxic Sunscreen
But you can bring reef-safe Sunscreen and Mask Defog that’s safe for water, marine life, and for humans! Stream2Sea have the only reef-safe sunscreen tested on fish. Plus, it comes in biodegradable sugar cane resin containers, so it’s a double win for us and the environment.
No matter where you plan to dive, whatever you put on your body will eventually find its way into a waterway, river, lake, stream, or ocean.Paragraph
Here’s an easy way to do your part in saving our oceans. Do your research! Then order reef-safe mask defog, sunscreen and hair products at Stream2Sea.com, use my code “DeepWH” for 10% off. AD: affiliate links used.
What to Read Next
For the definitive, funny, research-laden account of how we reduced the weight of our gear significantly for easier travel, read this: How We Cut Our Dive Gear Weight by 38 Pounds for Travel
Here on the blog, a click on the “CRUISE” category will result in several articles. Here’s two fun, quick reads:
Cruise Ship Hacks // 19 New Dive Cruise Secret Techniques // Charging Electronics on a Cruise
Dive Gear Luggage // Worth the Expense? // Pros and Cons
21 Items That Landed on My Cruise Ship Dive Trip “To Do Next Time” List
