I was on the 3-15 October Mariner cruise, and at the risk of "beating a dead horse", I feel compelled to endorse several of the comments made by other passengers.
The observations about the poor and slow service at Compass Rose are accurate. However, the restaurant staff should not be blamed; they should be commended for doing the best they could under trying conditions. We too were served by Prenay on several nights; he excelled in spite of being responsible for too many tables. Other servers in CR likewise were responsible for too many tables. Even a bigger problem causing this poor service were large numbers of passengers from the 70 person TA Cruise Connection group descending on CR at the same time- putting additional stress on the restaurant staff. This poor service is a RSSC management problem that needs to be fixed by RSSC management- it is not the fault of those who served us.
We too took precautions to avoid COVID. We are fully vaccinated and boosted; we took a COVID test before boarding. We always wore masks except when eating- whether in the hallways, in the laundry room or on buses for tours. We almost always took the stairs and did not go into the theater except to pick up tour tickets. In the few times we used the elevator, we made sure we were the only two in it. Not all were as cautious. We were in the definite minority of those wearing masks. While the crew wore masks wore masks at the beginning of the cruise, this requirement ended a few days after we departed LA. We observed excessive coughing that got worse as the cruise progressed. I mention this because I believe the number COVID infections emanating from these cruises are understated. A couple we know contracted COVID on the cruise and were quarantined. My spouse contracted COVID upon return- as did the other passengers who wrote on this blog. I have no doubt there are other non-reported COVID cases.
My spouse and I have many nights cruising (mostly on RSSC) and have half a dozen cruises planned with RSSC over the next few years. While we are RRSC fans, I write this note to put in perspective, albeit from my point of view, some of the legitimate issues and problems that occurred on this cruise and need to be highlighted, addressed and most importantly fixed.