Mariner of the Seas: Sanitation Record & Health Report

Let's talk about the Mariner of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's 2003-built Voyager-class workhorse that's been shuttling passengers around since before most of us had smartphones. This ship has been busy lately—New Orleans is basically its home base with 26 sailings, plus it's splitting time between Galveston and a surprising European stint out of Barcelona. A 2018 refurb kept things from feeling too dated, and honestly, the health inspection numbers back up the idea that this old girl still knows how to keep herself clean. A 93 back in April 2025 climbed to a perfect 100 by June 2026, which is the kind of trajectory that makes a ship look like it's actually listening to its inspectors instead of just hoping for the best.

That improving trend matters more than the raw average here. Sure, the all-time and 5-year averages sit at 96.5, edging out the fleet-wide average of 96.7 by a hair on the low side and matching right around the fleet median of 98—not thumping the competition, but nowhere close to slumming it either. What actually earns Mariner some respect is that it didn't just maintain a decent score, it fixed whatever knocked it down to a 93 and came back with a spotless 100. Two inspections is a thin sample size, so don't go carving this into the history books as bulletproof, but for a 20-plus-year-old ship still hauling over 3,100 passengers a sailing, that kind of correction is exactly what you want to see. We don't have outbreak data available for this one, so we can't vouch for its record there one way or the other—file that under "known unknowns" rather than a green light or a red flag.

Who it's for: budget-conscious cruisers who want the classic Royal Caribbean mega-ship experience—rock climbing wall, ice skating, the works—without paying newer-ship prices, especially if you're sailing out of New Orleans or Galveston and want something with real deck space (139,999 tons across 15 decks is nothing to sneeze at). Who should skip it: anyone chasing the flashiest, newest tech and dining concepts Royal Caribbean offers—Mariner is a Voyager-class veteran, not an Icon-class showpiece, and it looks its age even after the refurb. If sparkling brand-new is your priority, this isn't your ship. If a solid, improving health record and old-school RCI energy is enough, hop aboard.