Mariner of the Seas back in service

Mariner of the Seas completed nearly a month of drydock work at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport and welcomed guests back on March 17, 2026 as it resumed sailings from Galveston. (cruiseindustrynews.com) (cruiseindustrynews.com) The most-visible work included repainting water slides, resurfacing pool decks, installation of a new FlowRider water pump, added rentable pool casitas, and rollout of RFID “Wow Bands” alongside reported audio-system and stateroom tweaks reported by passengers. (royalcaribbeanblog.com) (royalcaribbeanblog.com) Mariner previously underwent a major $120 million Royal Amplified transformation that completed in June 2018, a large-capex modernization that added new attractions, restaurants and staterooms to the Voyager-class ship. (prnewswire.com) (prnewswire.com) Royal Caribbean has slotted Mariner for short 4- and 5-night Western Caribbean sailings from Galveston including Cozumel and Costa Maya, a 10-night Western Caribbean departure on March 31, 2026, and a planned repositioning to New Orleans for weeklong itineraries in November. (cruiseindustrynews.com) (cruiseindustrynews.com) The ship is a 2003-built Voyager-class vessel with published passenger capacity figures cited around 3,138 and a gross tonnage commonly listed at about 138,279, details that underpin its use on high-frequency short and mid-length Caribbean rotations. (cruiseindustrynews.com) (cruiseindustrynews.com) Grand Bahama Shipyard — where the work was done — is mid-way through multi-hundred-million-dollar upgrades to expand dock capacity and has long-standing ownership/partnership ties with Royal Caribbean, enabling quicker turnarounds for the line’s regional refits. (grandbahamashipyard.com) (grandbahamashipyard.com)