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Mariner or Navigator?


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After reading so many amazing blogs on both ships I am trying to convince my husband to celebrate our 20th with a cruise. We started cruising in 2016 on Brilliance, found ourselves booked with the kids on Independence in 2017 and celebrated a friends 50th on Harmony in 2018! I guess we are hooked!

This blog is amazing and I love all the kind thoughtful comments which is why I am asking for help choosing which ship for 2020. Ports are the same, both offer 3 and 4 day cruises, we have never been to Miami or Port Canaveral. We are coming from Chicago so we really do not care what the ports are as long as it is warm!

We have always had balcony cabins but told my husband I would get an interior if it means we can do a back to back! We are not into waterslides but enjoy nightlife, I am 45 and my husband is 60. I love the new drink menus I have seen and will for sure have the drink package. I was sold on trying Mariner after reading those live blogs but twangsters current Navigator has me rethinking that. We are not specialty dining folks, we are just fine with the MDR. Any reason we should consider one over the other? Thank you! 

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I have done both...Navigator before being refurbished and Marnier after.

 

Both are very nice and both have been updated. If the prices and the  ports are the same, and you don't care about the better waterslide on Navigator, then I would just look at the rest of the features to see which one edges out the other. Both similar for the most part.

of course there could be some other things to consider as well...flying into Miami or Orlando and the prices difference and distance and hotels may factor in as well?

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Mariner is still a solid choice but the pool deck on Navigator is something else.  

Having sailed both I think the refresh was more extensive on Navigator touching more of her.  They took lessons learned during Mariner’s AMPING and applied that to Navigator.   In that sense Navigator has evolved more.  

I’m sailing both again later this year but if I had to choose just one I’d choose Navigator.  

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Also adding that Mariner will at times carry a higher Pinnacle load due to proximity to The Villages, a massive retirement community in central Florida once Mariner moves to Port Canaveral.  

The Viking Crown Lounge on Mariner will be overflow for top elite whereas it won’t be on Navigator and who doesn’t love sunsets from the Viking Crown?

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I was interested in this, too! While on Enchantment this past weekend we booked Mariner next February as part of next cruise. Looking today I saw the Navigator cruise. The stops are reversed - Mariner does Nassau on Day 2, CCC on Day 3; Navigator does CCC on Day 2 and Nassau Day 3. The other difference I noticed was that Mariner is in Nassau 9:30 AM - 9:30 PM where Navigator was 7 AM - 5 PM. I will talk to my wife this evening to see if she wants to switch....

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I would choose Navigator.  She has all the new restaurants that the newest ship, Symphony OTS, has (Playmakers $, Hooked $, El Loco Fresh).  You will have a great time on either ship. 

On ‎3‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 8:31 AM, twangster said:

They took lessons learned during Mariner’s AMPING and applied that to Navigator.

This makes me excited to hear what they have in store for Oasis AMPlification.  I am sure they learned a few additional things from the Navigator AMP that they will implement Oasis. 

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Another factor for me would be flying from Philly to Orlando vs. Philly to Miami. Flights on American Airlines should be available in a couple weeks, definitely within the 30 days that I can make changes to our Next Cruise reservation. By the way - we got no extra perks with Next Cruise. Exact same deal could have been gotten online, just lower deposit ($100/pp).

 

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I have both Navigator and Mariner booked in September.  At the moment Orlando is ~$50 more for flights compared to Ft Lauderdale on Southwest.   

Uber from Ft Lauderdale to Port Miami is ~$45. Uber from Orlando to Port Canaveral ~$60. 

Cruise fares are slightly different but in the end all comes down to fitting within my budget for both sailings so I’m going with it.  

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3 minutes ago, twangster said:

I have both Navigator and Mariner booked in September.  At the moment Orlando is ~$50 more for flights compared to Ft Lauderdale on Southwest.   

Uber from Ft Lauderdale to Port Miami is ~$45. Uber from Orlando to Port Canaveral ~$60. 

Cruise fares are slightly different but in the end all comes down to fitting within my budget for both sailings so I’m going with it.  

I just checked flights for the end of January next year and I could get R/T for 25K points per person to Orlando, Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.  Will probably stick with Mariner (Port Canaveral) for a little later arrival at Nassau and 12 hours in port versus earlier arrival and 10 hours on Navigator. We liked arriving in Nassau at noon last weekend as we could sleep in a little and still have 12 hours in port. 

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On ‎3‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 8:42 AM, twangster said:

Also adding that Mariner will at times carry a higher Pinnacle load due to proximity to The Villages, a massive retirement community in central Florida once Mariner moves to Port Canaveral. 

I Live Super Close To There And When I Went On Oasis In October. The Ship. Big Surprise. Was Mostly Older People. To Prove My Point More. As You All Know I Go On The Flowrider A Lot And On Oasis Class The Boogie Boards Most Of The Time Have A Inflatable Divider Down The Middle To Lessen The Wait For The Flowrider. Well Only A Few Hours Of Day Two They Had The Divider Up And I Never Saw It Again On The Sailing. So That Is My Way Of Telling If The Ship Is Filled With Less Yong People. And When We Got Off Oasis In October A Ton Of The Buses Are From The Village's. I Hope They Move The 10-11 Night Ship Hear To PC. They Would Make More Money If They Had It In PC.             

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  • 10 months later...
3 hours ago, Chloe7 said:

Trying to decide between Mariner of the Seas VS. Navigator of the seas for a Bachlorette weekend- age group 25-30's.

Would love some opinions! Thanks in advance ?

Flip a coin. I'd pick Navigator, but don't take that as a slight on Mariner. Both are great and have their advantages.

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We were just on Mariner and loved all the new options (first sailed her back in 2004). We also debated between the two ships as the itineraries were Identical. We decided on Mariner mostly due to having more options flying into Orlando and being familiar with Port Canaveral.

Navigator definitely got the better slides and pool area but Mariner got Sky Pad which was a lot of fun. Our only knock on Mariner would be the room which you could tell hasn’t been touched much through the years, but I imagine Navigator is very similar in that regard.

As others have said, you can’t really go wrong with this one. 

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