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I have never seen a $5 craps table on RC. Then again I usually dont pay much attn to it since the odds limits are crazy low, maybe 2x?

@Cactus527 yes, during the parties it is pretty loud. We are seldom in the cabin during those so no worries for us. If you go to bed before 10 I would say it isnt for you.

Our second cruise on Mariner (this one Costa Maya/Cozumel) since late August, and it was another fantastic trip. Some random observations: Had the 10:30am checkin, we were on board not long after 11. Our August cruise was in a Jr Suite so it seemed like we saw a lot of our stateroom attendant. We hardly ever saw this one but it worked out fine with the once a day cleaning. Voyager class promenade view interiors continue to be our favorite 'budget' cabin. I know there are strong feelings to the contrary, but we like them. And for whatever reason this one (7591) may have been the quietest cabin we have ever had on a cruise. My wife said 'never again' to an interior (tho she will be in one June next year lol), but she doesnt mind the promenade view interior at all. Motion was fairly significant first day then calm until the last night. Captain warned us once the ship got close to turning north back to Canaveral it would get rough and he wasn't lying. They distributed bags in all the public areas which we have never seen before (this was our 8th or 9th RC cruise). It kept the wife up but not me, which she of course commented on) Maya Chan was incredible, getting there not so much. As many commented, that port has pretty pushy vendors. It was our first time there, we found our way out eventually. The ride there took longer than it should have, our driver acted like it was his POV, slowing down much more than necessary (IMO). The guy on the ride back did not, at all. We did Fury catamaran in Cozumel and really enjoyed it. Bought a shirt and a magnet when getting back and got on the ship. MDR was ok, service was quick. Im not a 'big portion' guy, but the portions were really small this time. Curiously small. The food was pretty good tho and the servers were great. We ate there 3 nights. We ate breakfast in the MDR and that continues to be among my favorite meals. We ate in WJ twice because we (basically) didnt have a choice. I am not a buffet guy but the food was ok. The knifefight/thunderdome aspect of it is what I dont enjoy at all. Izumi was not as enjoyable as past visits but good nonetheless. Chops was very good. Bar service was occasionally busy but the drinks seemed better this trip. The Gold Rush at the Tiki Bar (I know thats not its official name) was the best drink on board so long as they had Buffalo Trace, not quite as good with Wild Turkey but still a good bourbon drink. The Viking/Crown Lounge is still our favorite place on board a Voyager class ship. We spent quite a bit of time there and really enjoyed it. They made a passable Old Fashioned so long as they didnt muddle the fruit as requested. I will miss Mariner after her repositioning. As I have said many times, she is the goldilocks ship to me.

@OasisQueen I got the unsuccessful email today around 5pm. Oh well, good luck on yours!

@OasisQueen our bid still shows 'submitted'. Boarding tomorrow fwiw.

@OasisQueen no change at all. Still showing submitted with the option to cancel or change

We are saving Alaska for that 35th anniversary. We went there on our 25th on Celebrity and it was the best trip we've ever done.

we have a bid for a cruise leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow and it shows 'submitted'. Looks like we still have the option to cancel fwiw. This is our first time bidding through royal up (or whatever its called now).

I just checked pricing on an 8 day Southern Caribbean on Adventure in a JS that I booked February of this year. The price has doubled. I know it being a JS changes things a bit, but goodness. This is the free market. When the market will bear it, it will be done. I booked 5 cruises in pretty rapid succession over a few months end of 2022 and first of 2023. The second of them is Mariner in a couple of weeks. The August Mariner cruise was amazing, I saw none of the issues many have reported. The pricing on all of them is/was great to ok. We started cruising RC later. I had a plan mapped out to reach Diamond (some will think that absurd, I'm a mark for status programs) in 2027 before our 35th anniversary trip. I think RC is getting ready to kneecap that so its no longer a deal. They are pricing me out though. I have enough airline miles socked away that the wife and I can fly pretty much anywhere. I have hotel points for rooms. We love cruising but at some point will sit it out a while and see what happens with pricing.

we were on Mariner last month and the performance was frankly stunning (in a relative sense). I was able to connect to my work VPN, log into my desktop (notoriously sensitive to latency) and do some work that popped up. I was very impressed. we will be on her again later this month, during which time I hope I dont need it but may.

I love Mariner. Going on her again next month. My wife mentioned the mattress as a negative in the JS we had but I didnt notice it.

We arent what I would call 'frequent' cruisers (2 last year, this year, 3 next year). The things you mention are certainly applicable. - I watch my amex for offers. The last few years I have gotten $500 back on $1500 spend with RC and 25k Membership rewards points on $1000 spend. This is fairly esoteric and maybe not an answer to your question but it mitigates the expense for us - Live 'near' cruise port. Canaveral is a 5.5 hour drive for us. We stay near MCO night before cruise. It seems each drive gets longer fwiw (which probably has more to do with age than anything) - Focus on older ships for our itinerary. We have Allure and Utopia booked, but mostly we go on Voyager and Freedom class ships - Think through on board spending. We have always gotten DBP and UDP, but starting next year we will start analyzing that closer. They are pricing us out of some things. - We 'replaced' land based vacations. I used to take 3+ trips to vegas yearly along with multiple Biloxi trips and another land based trip a year. Ironically enough, I got priced out of that and with what I am seeing from RC there is a decent chance I get priced out of this after next year. - I have tons of PTO that I will never use, and I can work remotely so long as I have decent internet. Starlink really helped with this. It's a very valid question. Seeing others who do double digit cruises a year and I wonder how they manage. These are some of the things we have done to support our comparatively light cruise schedule.

I hope this water is more sanitary than that water must've been. But it probably isnt.

Pardon my ignorance but why did I think this was going to be "included"? And yes I know that is absurd for anyone paying attention.

@Tcarr Really sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I hope treatments will be met with success. Prayers to you and your family and hope you have all the care and support you need. The extra stress of getting the cruise seen about is something you don't need, @Matt advice sounds solid and he would now. Best wishes and positive thoughts are in your direction.

Crazy that Izumi has availability, that usually goes quickly. We were on Mariner a couple of weeks ago (great ship), and ate Chops 2x and Izumi once. Izumi was full full, Chops was first night but not last night. We are on her again next month. We have decided to eat MDR every night. It was good enough and the cost of specialty dining has reached the tipping point for us.

This was never an issue for us on 6 or so previous cruises. Then a couple weeks ago we boarded Mariner and the agent said my wife had a stop when they scanned her stuff. Another agent had to come help her, they put my wife's middle name on her seapass card. They called her by her middle name (I guess many cultures use that second name more than Americans) which we got a kick out of. It was a more annoying issue during disembarkation. When scanned, we held up the line while the agent had to find someone to tell them what to do. I reached out to their social media team after I got home. They couldnt explain why this issue was raised after multiple cruises with exact same info. They also couldnt guarantee it wouldnt be an issue for our cruise on Mariner later this month. They said they put a note in our booking regarding it. They weren't as authoritative as they typically are with issues, but their social media team has always been aces for me so we will see what happens.

@JFCruise yes, that is it. I looked thru pics thinking I took a pic of it but I guess I didn't. When I saw the description of it I fully expected what it sounds like you got. This was a neat looking wafer type thing (no Rice Krispies) layered with a peanut butter cream type drizzle in a criss cross pattern. I hate I didn't get a pic of it, but it was very very good. And I would've never guessed.

Yes, Drew Thomas was the guy we saw. His PG part of the welcome aboard show was great. I hate we didnt make the 18+ version. I should've specified we did NOT see Gallery of Dreams this cruise. I have seen it a couple of times previous. I don't think we made it to the Star Lounge a single time.

We saw several jellyfish at cococay but didnt interact with them thankfully. No sign of sea lice that I could tell (not an expert at all on that). This was a great itinerary, we really enjoyed it.

TLDR; Mariner still has it, great ship and a great cruise. This is my first trip report and I tend to ramble so apologies in advance. Travel/Embarkation (TLDR cake) We drove to Orlando from NW Fla. Stayed at the Comfort Suites Orlando Airport. Good stay, unremarkable. Used points to book, felt safe, clean, shower hot, included breakfast was ok. This was our first cruise in a Junior Suite. We were parked and in the suite lounge area in minutes, and tho I didnt check exact time it felt like we boarded very shortly after our 10:30 check in. Absolute breeze. MDR (TLDR breakfast was amazing dinner was hit/miss service was good to great and attentive the 2 nights we ate there and for breakfast) We ate breakfast every day there. It was really good, and often great. we tended to get there at or shortly after opening I had the express breakfast (2 scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, wheat toast) 4 days, the market vegetable bowl 1 day (it was not as good as Harmony last year) and the best was the omelet which I inexplicably waited until the last day to have. The wife (who is decidedly not a breakfast person) had the cheddar cheese grits with bacon which she enjoyed). We ate here first two nights. The southern fried chicken is an abomination. I advised my wife not to get it, but there was nothing else that interested her. The only thing worse than the way it looked was how it tasted. As a life long southerner I am personally offended they call this 'southern' fried chicken. I had the spaghetti bolognese first night. It looked at tasted JUST like hamburger helper spaghetti. Here is the thing, I don't mind hamburger helper spaghetti. It was hot/fresh, and took me back to middle school where the lunch room spaghetti tasted just like it. The peanut butter wafer/cookie thing for dessert was shockingly great. Description is not good and it looks basic, but it was amazing. One thing I need to mention. EVERYONE noticed my wife didnt eat the chicken and asked her about it. She was polite and didnt say it was terrible. Both servers and the head guy offered to get her something else. Second night in the MDR we had the beef tenderloin and it was pretty good. Hot and cooked as we ordered. Mashed potatoes were good, not great. Portions were noticeably smaller but that is fine with me. We don't tend to eat huge portions and the servers always asked if we wanted more. we were in/out in an hour or so both nights. Never felt rushed nor like it was taking too long. I will strongly consider eating in MDR every night on our Mariner cruise in Oct based on our experience here. It was solid if pretty unremarkable. Specialty dining (TLDR, good sometimes great) We ate lunch in Jamies on embarkation day and it was ok. I did it mainly to have a calm lunch and it was that. I was not worth fifty bucks plus additional tip. We ate Chops 3rd night (Labadee) and it was pretty unremarkable. It seemed very busy. The steak was not as seasoned as I recall. I always get my steak rare and the filet I received fit that bill. Not much of a char and it was rare. Jamies was 4th night (Falmouth) and it was also unremarkable. Wife had Lasagna which she enjoyed and I had the chicken parm. Service and food was good not great. Izumi was 5th night (sea) and it was very very good. Food good, chef good, service and everything. I have eaten at Izumi on Harmony, Independence, and Mariner 3 times and this seems to be a pattern. The Izumi on Mariner is very good. Chops was 6th night and was as remarkable as the first visit was unremarkable. Steak was rare but had a great char, and was seasoned perfectly. Maybe the best steak I have ever had on RC. Fantastic visit. Excursions (TLDR terrific) This was our first visit to Labadee and it was great. We had a beach bed on Adrenaline Beach and the service was great. The drinks were very meh (something I will touch on later) but the view was nice and the bed was a nice base. we were in the water and saw some people wander into the bed area and make themselves at home. If you ever wonder what would happen if you tried that, they did not stay there long). We did the Chukka/Good Hope Estate excursion thru RC in Falmouth. I considered cancelling due to a number of reasons. We went and I am glad we did. It was a chill day by the pool area there. We climbed the water fall and went down the water slide. I didnt take enough cash on this excursion, but the gift shop area took cards. We got a South Beach bed at CocoCay and thats it. Absolutely perfect day (pardon the pun). I will have a hard not doing that the next few times we go there. Just a great beach day. Calm, quiet, amazing. The crispy chicken sammich is curiously great. My wife only like Chik fit A chicken sammiches, but she got one and was blown away. Bar/service (TLDR meh) I think this is the first cruise I did not get value from the DBP Only a few bars had Buffalo Trace, most were out of it The quality of the drinks was wildly inconsistent. I always try to stick to ordering certain drinks from certain bars, but based on the person making it there was not telling what you might get. This went for tenders at the same bar. Some would make drinks differently leaving out ingredients. Club soda for example. Gavin in the Schooner Bar was my far the best on the ship. I was sitting at the bar waiting when he came back in from not being there a while and several people broke out into applause. The Viking Crown Lounge remains one of my favorite spots on any ship we have been on. Just a great spot Entertainment (TLDR high and low) This to me is where the Voyager class ships fall far short of the Oasis class. Gallery of Dreams needs to be replaced The comedian was hilarious in the welcome aboard show. I really wanted to make the adult show with him but we didn't. Ice under the big top was really fun to us. I think I have seen people say otherwise. Nothing to be said about the skaters that hasnt already been said. Amazing talents. Trivia in the Schooner Bar was fun Cabin (TLDR wonderful) As mentioned earlier this was our first time staying in a Junior Suite. I got a great price on it, and figured the only benefits would be priority boarding (not a huge one for us) and double points. I was wrong. The closet was astonishing. The extra room and the 'side' window that was great for extra light changed how we used the cabin. Some afternoons instead of hanging out elsewhere we would nap in the cabin. The only thing worn on the ship I noticed was the balcony railing. It looked like it was sanded then left. Almost seemed too uniform to be wear. It was this way as far as I could see both ways on deck 9. this will almost certainly change how I approach booking cabins in the future, it was that enjoyable. I cannot say we have ever had anything below a good steward, but Levy was great. The best we have ever had. 9558 was quiet, clean, in great shape. Accessories First time with a sound machine and we LOVED it. The cabin was quiet but this made it seem more so. cordless fan was great. Too bad I am an idiot and didnt take a micro usb cable to recharge it. So once it was past initial charge it was a paperweight. It worked great for that. Magnetic hooks are must do. It seems like each cruise we find more ways to use them European outlet adapter. Great, yes, get one for these older ships Packing cubes, meh whatever. Maybe we just dont know how to utilize Assorted Motion. The water was pretty churned up and the first 3 full days the ship moved as much as I have ever felt on move. We didn't get sick but I understand many did. I had some pretty crazy videos of water shooting 10 feet in the air out of the pool. They postponed the belly flop contest because of it. Fellow passengers. It seemed we noticed more Brits on this trip. Fewer kids. I heard many complaining about the behavior of other passengers but didnt notice any myself. As always, we met several wonderful couples and had great conversation. Sorry for the length and scattershot nature of this. If you are still reading and couldnt tell we love Mariner. We never felt crowded, the sea views are great, the value it there, and we will see her again in October. Brad

I booked a Mariner cruise we are going on next week about a year ago. I booked an August 2024 cruise on Adventure as soon as they opened. The prices have been a one way street since. This Mariner cruise in particular was before the prices went nuts. I keep a fair check on pricing and its nuts. At least out of Port Canaveral. Like others have said, if you want to go I'd book as soon as possible then reprice if possible.

we are boarding Mariner next weekend, I will be interested to hear about this. I thought about Jamie's for that meal, the MDR might be a better option if available.

I have said this in a few other threads, cruising offered great value last few years and I have upped our number each year. Other vacation options (Vegas) nickel and dimed me to the point I stopped going. Is average pizza the straw? Probably not. I havent eaten there the last few cruises I have been on. But removing one of the few included dining options on Freedom class and below certainly won't help matters.

I have never purchased travel insurance and never needed it. Reading this thread I just purchased an annual policy from Allianz. We have 5 cruises booked in next 14 months and typically take non-business flight/trips a few times a year in addition. I just got the basic one, which appears medical is the big selling point of that one. I hope we don't need it (obvs) but if we do...