Review Of Ocean View Stateroom | Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)

There are many types of room on the Mariner of the Seas, and if you are looking for a review of Ocean View Stateroom, you are at the right place.

Anyway, after our Check-In at Marina Bay Cruise Center and clearance at the immigration, we proceeded to board the Mariner of the Seas. As we stepped out of the building, the big ship loomed high above us. It was so big that I couldn’t capture the whole cruise in my non-wide lens camera.

I was impressed by the cruise’s humongous size up close. Then, I felt green with jealousy at those who managed to book a room with balcony. The balconies look so good. I can so imagine myself chilling out in the private space with a book and drink. So if you have the chance and money, get the rooms with balcony! :)

Mariner of the Seas 3 - travel.joogo.sg

 


About The Room


Accommodation Type: Ocean View Stateroom (twin bed) on Mariner of the Seas, Deck 2
Duration: 5 nights in December 2015
Price: S$804 per person (nett)
Website: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/cruise-ships/mariner-of-the-seas

From Twin to Double Bed

We changed rooms within our travel party. And so instead of a double bed, they room was set up in a twin bed configuration. When we arrived at our room, our stateroom attendant came knocking to brief us on certain things and got to know that we’ve switched rooms.

review of Ocean View Stateroom

Then after understanding our needs, he transformed our twin bed into a double bed!

Compare the 2 photos and you will see that there are 2 extra side tables in the double bed room! And the side lamps became in a much better position than it would have been in a twin bed room — at our side instead of above us.

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 1 - travel.joogo.sg

Two, Three or Four Pax?

There were 2 boards on the ceiling which looked like they could be dismantled/opened up. We wondered what they were for. There was a ladder in the cupboard, and we also wondered what it was for. Then we put the pieces together and got a revelation!

This room can also be transformed into a triple or quadruple room!! Pull the platforms from above to become bed frames, and attach the ladder to them. You can then sleep up to 4 people with 2 double-deckers. Amazing.

Even though the room is good and comfortable for 2 people, it might be a squeeze for 4. 4 people to fight for one toilet. There might also not be room space for luggage or space to lay out much personal belongings on the toilet or powder table. My guess is that they will remove the sofa and coffee table in the room to make space.

Corridor

This is our corridor on the last night, when people put out their luggage for porter service. Read my other post for useful information about the Check-Out and Departure.

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 8 - travel.joogo.sg

Special Occasions

One particular room along our corridor caught our attention when we passed by it the first few times. We couldn’t help but wonder why this particular room had a special decoration on their door. Then one day, we happened to walk by the room while it was being made up by the stateroom attendant. The room door was open and we peeped in.

Woah! Special pillow case and lovey-dovey decoration.

We later learned from the stateroom attendant that it’s a purchased anniversary package. You can also purchase during or prior to your trip packages or decorations for other events like birthdays, honeymoons, etc. [Will be writing a separate post for people who like to celebrate or surprise their loved ones on board.]

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 4 - travel.joogo.sg


Review – The Good and Bad


THE YAYS!

Ocean View I yelped at the ocean view when I first entered the room. The big circle window somehow reminded me of the cruises in the movies or shows I watched. It was nice to have an ocean view, even though it was an inferior cousin of the balcony view. Beats better than having no view! :P

One thing to note, it could be troublesome to open and close the curtains all the time. For those who are not diligent enough, the curtains might remain close at all times. The curtains have to be closed, because near to each port destination, we were able to see other ships (what if they have binoculars!?). And at each port of call, we could see people walking away from the cruise to the terminal.

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 5 - travel.joogo.sg

A mini living room: A single seater sofa and a coffee table. This table proved to be useful for our room service orders. However, with me taking over the powder table, Mr S only had this space to put his things. :P

It’s not caught in a picture, but there’s a curtain separating the bed and this “living room”. A pseudo wall for night owls and early sleepers staying together in the same room.

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 6 - travel.joogo.sg

Awesome service: For each room, there will be a stateroom attendant assigned. And he will take care of your room needs for your whole journey. The one who was assigned to us was Mingbo. Mingbo is from China and we spoke Chinese to him and I think somehow that made for a better connection. But I could tell he is friendly and provided great service to everyone under his charge.

He had been in this line for 5+ years, and that’s not easy, considering his workload. He had to make up the rooms twice in a day, once in the morning and another turndown service in the evening. And not only that, if he meet any of the guests in the corridor, even in the midst of cleaning up the room, he had to smile and friendly small talk with them. *Phew*

“Turndown service refers to the practice of staff entering a guest’s room and “turning down” the bed linen of the bed in the room, preparing the bed for use. – Wiki

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 7 - travel.joogo.sg

Towel Art: During the turndown service, there are sometimes towel art. I think this is a sweet gesture. The first time we had it in our room was the swan. Then the second time was the elephant and I burst out laughing! He took Mr S’s sunglasses and put it on the elephant! It was totally comical to me. :D

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 2 - travel.joogo.sg

THE HMMS…

✘ Small Bathroom: Bathroom is important part of the room to me. So I was extra disappointed at the bathroom. The door, toilet bowl, basin, the whole toilet (excl the shower area) felt like the airplane’s. Small, compact and budget. Room for only one person to move around.

✘ NO Toiletries: I was reading up on some blogs prior to the trip and saw that toiletries were provided. Hence Mr S didn’t bring shower foam and I had enough for only one person. Alas, because of the room grade, there were none for us. Just a soap bar and one wall pump for the shampoo in our stateroom.

Thankfully, our helpful stateroom attendant went to get one tube of shower foam for us. He even topped up a more premium looking set for us when he saw that we were finishing our tube. He had to run up to the upper decks to get these stocks.

These different sets of toiletries gave me a distasteful sense of the stark upper-lower class divide.

Mariner of the Seas (Room) 3 - travel.joogo.sg

✘ NO room slippers I might be anal about this. After I shower at night, I want to slip into room slippers and not dirty outdoor slippers before I get on to the bed. The floor is definitely dirty from our shoes and that of the stateroom attendants.

We couldn’t find any room slippers. So we had to again ask the stateroom attendant for them. And he brought 2 pairs of Royal Caribbean room slippers, and they were of good quality!

✘ Inconvenient Deck: There are different facilities on the different side of the deck. And you should choose to be on the side near the dining for convenience, and on the opposite side, if you want quietness. Moreover, Deck 2 is not a connecting deck. That means, in order to go to the other side of the ship, we had to go up the “bridge deck” and then up and down to where we want to go. So it seems like we are always travelling up and down.

In Conclusion

 

This review of the Ocean View Stateroom shouldn’t necessarily affect your decision of whether to book a cruise trip with Mariner of the Seas. It should instead help you decide if you would be comfortable in an Ocean View Stateroom or better off with other room types. :)

Here are a few tips for booking a room for your cruise trip.

What type of room would you prefer?


Bookmark this page >> Comprehensive Guide to Mariner of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) as I update it with links of useful tips and navigation around the cruise.

Travelled in December 2015  | Trip is fully paid by us and in no way sponsored.



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