crowds on the mariner?

[jeast]

I read that although this is an excellent ship, it can feel very crowded with the sheer number of people. What experience has anyone had with this?

[GMoney]

It will always depend on exactly how many people are on board, but in general, I don't feel crowded on Voyager class ships. Some times and places are busier than others - Windjammer @ breakfast, pool on sea day afternoons, photo area after dinner, theatre @ showtime - but the ships are so large and so well desgined that there is a good flow of traffic and I don't feel cramped, and there are plenty of places where you can find solitude. :)

[truffles2]

We felt the most crowded areas were the Promenade and the elevators. It was VERY difficult to get an elevator at prime times...had to get on no matter which way it was going just to get on!

[sweettxcruiser04]

We sailed the Mariner back in October 2005. I had been on the Rhapsody twice before. The mariner was beautiful and had more restaurants. However, the pool area was very crowded.

The main difference to me, is if you are going with a group, you have to make arrangements to get together or you wont just run into each other like you do on the smaller ships.

I say if you are going alone, go on a big ship like the mariner but if it is a large group, do a smaller ship.

[timesurfer7]

Hi. Just back from the Mariner a week ago. Did not feel as if 3200 people were there. Always able to find a table at the windjammer, waiting for elevators anywhere that there are crowds can be frustrating. What we did is if we were going up and there was an elevator going down that was empty we would catch that one. And of course stairs are always an option. The only time I felt the crush of people was during muster the first day. It is amazing how many people can be on one ship and you can still feel like you are relatively alone with your husband while strolling on board. Have fun and dont worry about a few people. If it gets too crowded try going to the chapel or to the gazebo area. There are always places where few congregate.

[glgolfer]

We've been on both the Navigator and the Explorer and felt less crowded on them than on some of the smaller ships. The only times we found that were too crowded were the Captain's cocktail party in the Promenade and the parades in the Promenade.

We found the elevetors to be crowded after the shows let out, but not too bad any other time. We just did what another poster said, Got on an empty going down and rode it back up. Worked for us.

Unless you have to/want to be in the sun all the time. the best place to be alone with a good book is in the Viking Crown Lounge overlooking the pool.

There is hardly anyone there anytime.

[OPSoccermom]

We were aboard during spring break, and had 3700 pax aboard (a record per the captain). Unless you were a pre-breakfast chair hog, it was just about impossible to get a couple of lounge chairs at the pool on sea days.

 

Also found the wait for elevators to be a little excessive and the promenade crowded at times. As I recall, getting a Windjammer table for breakfast on port days was hard.

 

Mariner is a beautiful ship, though, and the bars other the those on the promenade places didn't seem crowded. Also don;t recall the sports deck being that crowded despite all the kids on board.