My cruise on Mariner of the Seas

I have just returned from my trip to Singapore and Malaysia with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and had a brilliant time. The group of agents were lovely and we really had a great time together.

I was offered this cruise along with my colleague Erica to experience the Asia programme offered by RCCL so I was really excited as I have been out to the Far East before but never to these destinations.
I will cover the places we visited on my next blog but for now will concentrate on the ship.
We embarked Mariner of the Seas on the 23rd November in Singapore for a 4 night cruise.

The larger ships now depart from the new Marina Bay cruise terminal which is very spacious and modern but doesn’t have enough seating for the number of passengers and I would recommend you take refreshments as once you have checked in there is nowhere to purchase a drink whilst waiting to be called on board.
Luckily we had priority boarding so didn’t have to wait too long.
Mariner of the Seas is a voyager class ship which I have experienced before so I thought I knew what to expect from the ship but what I didn’t realise was that the ships are adapted for the different market and as they have around 95% Asian passengers on board the ship had a very different feel to it.
The signs on board were changed to Chinese although once inside the lifts it was English. This isn’t really a problem because even if you haven’t been on voyager class before they have computerised touch screens where you can find how to get to a certain area of the ship.

There was no need to reserve sun beds because they didn’t spend too much time out on deck so even on sea days there were plenty of beds at any time of the day. The pool area was lovely with a outdoor cinema screen and then a quieter solarium which was supposed to be adults only but there were children in the pool and staff didn’t ask them to leave. If you need to shade there is very little around the main pool so you would need to use the solarium.

The nationalities on board also have very different social interest to us Brits. They like to gamble so the casino was always packed but the bars and nightclub were empty. They also do not like broadway style shows so the theatre productions were changed. The first show we saw was more like a tribute to different stars which wasn’t really to my taste. The second show we saw was more acrobatic which was very good. We also saw the Ice-Skating show which was excellent.
They didn’t have a sailaway party on deck and Johnny Rockets didn’t have the usual dance routine by the waiters.
The dining venues were very popular especially café promenade and the windjammer which were both always very busy. The food in café promenade was the same as always with a good selection of sandwiches, pastries and cakes and of course pizza. The windjammer had a huge selection but again slightly different to other cruises I have been on as there was obviously a huge selection of oriental food. You could always have the usual burgers, hot dogs etc and a few other western themed dishes.
The BBQ on deck was oriental food.
The main restaurant had the same food choices as on other cruises but had a separate choice of Asian food which was very good as gave plenty of choice for everyone. The main dining room is a stunning 3 tier restaurant with the top 2 floors reserved for flexible dining.

We found we were choosing some of these options but the Asians were ordering hamburgers etc so I guess everyone was trying something different.
They also don’t adhere to the dress codes so on formal night we dressed in our cocktail dresses and suits and there were people at dinner in shorts and t-shirts. This however seems to be happening more often on cruises and is something the cruise lines need to address.

There was also the choice of paying a supplement for items on the menu such as lobster and fillet mignon.
we tried the lobster which was delicious.

The highlight of our dining on board was Chops Grille which I would highly recommend. This is a beautiful fine dining restaurant and probably one of the best meals I have eaten in a long time. There is a cover charge but well worth the money.
I ordered Onion soup, Salmon and Prawn Fishcake and Fillet Mignon but was too full for desert.

The crew on board were very friendly as always and really couldn’t do enough for us, especially our Jamaican bartender in Schooner Bar.

He remembered our names and which wine we liked every time and as we had the drinks package just kept topping us up. The fact that the bars were quiet did mean the service was fantastic as it was pretty much 121 service for our group.

As for the drinks package we were not sure if it would be worth it as we did have training sessions and time ashore but decided to purchase it anyway. This was the best decision we made. I had the premium package which cost $57 per day but this also included a better quality of wine to the select drinks package and prosecco, cocktails, spirits and bottled water. I have heard stories of people having the drinks package and then finding it difficult to get drinks as the staff not wanting to serve you but this was not the case and was quite the opposite.
If you book on the free drinks promotion you only get the select drinks package ( cheaper wine and beer package ) but you can upgrade on board for an extra £10 per day , definitely worth doing .
Overall I would say this is a good cruise and the destinations are fantastic. If you book a cruise out of Southampton it is mainly Brits so if you cruise from Singapore it is mainly Asian. This means you will have a more authentic cruise experience. You wouldn’t book a hotel in the Far East and expect it to be the same as a hotel in the UK so I guess this is the same with a cruise.
If you have been to the Caribbean, Europe etc and looking for something different I would try the Far East you won’t be disappointed.
Take a look at my next blog for more information about the ports of call.