Mariner of the Seas Cabins to Avoid

Want to know what are the best and worst cabins on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas? You’re in the right place!

Mariner of the Seas is a great ship with some fantastic cabins. However, there are some rooms that are a little noisy, in awkward locations or have obstructed views.

Read on to find out which Mariner of the Seas cabins to avoid, and how to pick the best room on the ship for your cruise.

How To Choose The Best Cabin

I’ve created a free checklist of what to look out for when choosing a cruise cabin. If you’d like a copy, just leave your email address and it will be with you right away.

Mariner of the Seas Room Categories

Mariner of the Seas is a Voyager-class cruise ship with 15 different cabin types to choose from. The Mariner of the Seas staterooms can be broken down into four categories: inside, outside, balcony and suite.

Inside cabins:

• Interior Stateroom – Sleeps up to 2 or 4
• Promenade View Interior Stateroom – Sleeps up to 2
• Studio Interior Stateroom – Sleeps 1

Outside cabins:

• Ocean View Stateroom – Sleeps up to 2 or 4
• Spacious Ocean View Stateroom – Sleeps up to 2 or 4
• Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom – Sleeps up to 4
• Ultra Spacious Ocean View Stateroom – Sleeps up to 6

Balcony cabins:

• Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony – Sleeps up to 2 or 4
• Spacious Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony – Sleeps up to 2 or 4

Suites:

• Ocean View Panoramic Suite (no balcony) – Sleeps up to 6
• Junior Suite – Sleeps up to 4
• Grand Suite (1 bedroom) – Sleeps up to 4
• Grand Suite (2 bedrooms) – Sleeps up to 8
• Owner’s Suite – Sleeps up to 4
• Royal Suite – Sleeps up to 4

Royal Caribbean’s suites come with not only more space, but also a huge list of extra benefits. You can see those here: Royal Caribbean Suite Perks.

When we cruised on Mariner of the Seas we stayed in an inside cabin, which was all that we needed for a short cruise to Perfect Day at CocoCay.

However, if you have the budget for it, there are some staterooms and suites which are much, much bigger.

Mariner of the Seas Room Sizes

The cabin sizes on Mariner of the Seas vary a lot. The largest suites are almost twelve times the size of the smallest staterooms!

There’s also some variation with cabins of the same type. Certain interior and ocean view cabins are 60% bigger than others. However, before you get excited about the possibility of booking a huge cabin, these are wheelchair-accessible cabins and so they’re only available for the people who need them.

If you do want a large cabin, there are some very big outside staterooms and suites to choose from.

Here are the sizes of Mariner of the Seas rooms, from smallest to largest:

• Studio Interior Stateroom – 106 sq ft
• Interior Stateroom – 160 to 256 sq ft
• Ocean View Stateroom – 161 to 276 sq ft
• Promenade View Interior Stateroom – 167 sq feet
• Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony – 198 sq ft
• Spacious Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony – 203 sq ft
• Spacious Ocean View Stateroom – 211 sq ft
• Junior Suite – 277 sq ft
• Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom – 283 sq ft
• Ultra Spacious Ocean View Stateroom – 328 sq ft
• Grand Suite (1 Bedroom) – 381 sq ft
• Ocean View Panoramic Suite (No Balcony) – 406 sq ft
• Owner’s Suite (506 sq ft)
• Grand Suite (2 Bedroom) – 547 sq ft
• Royal Suite – 1260 sq ft

Mariner of the Seas Deck Plan

When choosing the best stateroom for your cruise, the deck plan can give you lots of useful information such as:

• Where your cabin is located
• The size of your cabin and balcony in square feet
• What types of extra beds are provided e.g. sofa beds or Pullman beds

Click here to see Mariner of the Seas Deck Plans (opens in a new window)

Should You Pick Your Room Or Not?

When you book a Royal Caribbean cruise online, you’ll often see two prices, which look like this…

Royal Caribbean usually gives guests the choice to select their room for an extra fee. If you opt not to choose your own room, you’ll be assigned what’s known as a ‘Guarantee Cabin’.

Benefits of choosing your cabin number:

Choose your preferred location on the ship
Book two cabins next to each other
Avoid undesirable cabins

Booking multiple cabins

If you want interconnecting cabins that have a door between them, you will have to pay to pick your own room.

If you just want cabins next door to each other, you can opt to let Royal Caribbean choose your room and request that your cabins are nearby. However, there’s no guarantee that they will be.

If you have adjacent balcony cabins, you can ask your stateroom attendant to open the balcony dividers to create one large balcony. You do not need interconnecting rooms to do this. If you’re friendly with your neighbours, the partition can be opened, as long as everybody agrees.

Mariner of the Seas Cabins to Avoid

One of the main reasons why people choose their own cabin number on a cruise is to avoid ending up in one of the worst rooms on the ship.

If you choose a cabin that’s in a noisy location, a long walk from anything or has an obstructed view from the balcony, it can put a real downer on your trip.

Here are the cabins to avoid on Mariner of the Seas…

1. Noisy Cabins on Mariner of the Seas

2330 to 2358, 2578 to 2630: Cabins at the aft end of Deck 2 are the closest to the ship’s engines and so you may experience some engine noise and propeller vibrations in these cabins. They are also beneath the main dining room.

2240, 2233 and 2235: These cabins are right next to the Royal Theatre so you may expect some noise during performances and rehearsals.

2540, 3540 and 3240: These cabins are located right next to public bathrooms.

3600 to 3616: These cabins are beneath Boleros bar and so there may be noise until the small hours.

6575, 6577, 6579, 6581, 6583, 6587, 6589, 6591, 6593, 6595 and 6597: These Promenade View Interior Staterooms are located directly above Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade. Aside from the fact that people on the promenade on Deck 6 and your neighbours can see right in, these cabins have also been reported as being noisy until after midnight as people gather, chat and sing outside the Sports Bar.

1248 to 1305 and 1548 to 1605: These staterooms and suites are located directly beneath the pool areas. This could mean that you can hear some noise from deck chairs being dragged across the floor in the morning. Early risers should have no problems here, though.

2. Cabins That Are a Long Walk From Anything

9465, 9467, 9469, 9471, 9473, 9475, 9477, 0479: These cabins are a really long way from the elevators. All cabins right at the back of the ship are far from the elevators, but this problem is made so much worse on Deck 9, because you have to walk right to the end of the ship and then go back on yourself to reach your cabin!

On the deck plan below, you would have to follow the red line to take you from the nearest elevator to your cabin. This distance is about 500 feet, which is a really long way if you struggle with walking or are carrying a child.

I accidentally booked cabin 9465 which is the furthest cabin from the elevators on the whole ship! I wouldn’t mind myself, but my five-year-old has a condition which means that she can’t walk too far without getting tired. I called my travel agent and they changed it for me with no problems.

3. Cabins with Obstructed Views

Aft cabin and suites: Aft balconies are the ones right at the back of the ship that look out to where the ship has been. On most cruise ships, aft balconies offer the best views of all. This is not so on Mariner of the Seas!

Due to the design of the ship, the aft cabin balconies aren’t at the rear edge of the ship. There’s an extra area between the balcony and the end of the ship. This means that steel structures partially obstruct your view looking out and completely obstruct your view when you look down.

Whilst the view from the aft balconies seems to be less than ideal, these cabins actually get great reviews online. One advantage of the aft cabins on Mariner of the Seas is that the balconies are much larger than standard balconies on the port and starboard sides.

If you do want to go for an aft balcony, I’d recommend choosing a corner one for the biggest balcony space and the least obstructed view.

This video shows a corner aft balcony cabin…

For more staterooms to avoid that aren’t specific to Mariner of the Seas, don’t miss this guide: 13 Royal Caribbean Cabins To Avoid.

Best Deck on Mariner of the Seas

Many people ask which is the best deck on Mariner of the Seas. In fact, there isn’t one deck that’s the best, but there are three decks that are particularly good if you want a quiet room that’s not too far from the action.

Decks 7, 8 and 9

If you’re looking for a nice quiet room on Mariner of the Seas, you can’t go wrong with Deck 7, Deck 8 or Deck 9. All cabins on these decks only have other cabins above and below them. This creates a buffer from the noise of the public areas.

Best Rooms on Mariner of the Seas

The best cabins on Mariner of the Seas are very much down to personal preference. For some people, the cheapest inside cabins are the best. Others prefer a spacious room with panoramic windows. Whereas for some cruisers, a balcony is an absolute must.

Here are some Mariner of the Seas rooms which you should look out for as they offer something special…

BEST INSIDE: Promenade View Interior Stateroom

It’s pretty rare for an inside stateroom to have a window. Although you won’t be able to see the sea, having a window that looks out over the promenade can be great for those who enjoy people-watching.

Even if you keep your curtain closed the whole time, you can make use of the window seat which is an extra area that standard inside cabins on Mariner of the Seas don’t have.

That makes these your best choice for a Mariner of the Seas interior room.

BEST OUTSIDE: Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom

The windows in outside cabins vary in size. On some ships, you’ll have just a small porthole above the bed. In a Mariner of the Seas ocean view room, however, the windows are usually very large indeed.

I particularly love the window in this Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom which is located at the front of the ship, high up on Deck 12. This cabin is also really big, even larger than the most spacious balcony cabins.

BEST BALCONY: Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

There are two types of Mariner of the Seas balcony room – standard and spacious. Whilst you may expect the spacious one to be better, and in some ways it is, I just don’t think that the extra space is worth the extra price.

In fact, with the spacious balcony cabin, you get only five square feet more space in your room and four square feet more space on your balcony. That’s not even enough room for an extra chair, so you probably won’t even notice that your room is any bigger.

Be sure to look at the price difference before you make the decision to upgrade to a spacious balcony.

BEST SUITE: Royal Suite

Of all the Mariner of the Seas suires, the Royal Suite is the best. On Mariner of the Seas, the Royal Suite sleeps up to four people and, at 1260 square feet, it is more than twice the size of any other suite on the ship.

Of course, a photo would never do this suite justice, but take a look at the video above to see what you can expect from the Royal Suite with its private hot tub on the balcony and baby grand piano.

Mariner of the Seas Versus Navigator of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas has a sister ship, Navigator of the Seas. These two ships are very similar and have similar itineraries, but depending on what you like to do on board you might find that one is better than the other.

Read more: Mariner of the Seas versus Navigator of the Seas

Find More Information About Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas Rooms

If you have a question about rooms on Mariner of the Seas, you’ll find lots of helpful cruisers in Facebook groups. Two groups which I would definitely recommend that you join are:

• Mariner of the Seas – Port Canaveral
• Mariner of the Seas – Royal’s Amplified Mariner!

Have you cruised on Mariner of the Seas? What did you think of our cabin? I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments below.

Related posts:

• Mariner of the Seas Water Slides
• Royal Caribbean Drinks Package: Is It Worth It?
• Royal Caribbean Junior Suite Perks
• Royal Caribbean Grand Suite Perks
• Royal Caribbean Ships by Age