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Wow, you guys are right, doing a blog about the trip certainly does have its perks! I’ve been invited today (sea day) to go up to the navigation bridge for a tour and for pictures! Except a full post about that and the people that made this happen!

I wasn’t entirely truthful…. or that’s what Hubby told me when I first presented the idea of this cruise to him. The last time I blogged in March, while on board Anthem, I said the next live blog would be on Harmony in March 2019. At the moment, it’s only August… Here’s the backstory: It all started around April (@Skid, it was not as spontaneous as you thought), when Hubby let me in on an innocent fact. He said, “I took a week off in August while you and girls are still off.” My response, “What do you want to do during that week?”, but really, the gears already started turning and I’m thinking, “What cruise can I book that won’t break the bank (since we’ve already taken double the amount we usually take in one year)?” We tossed around the idea of doing a land vacation to New York or Chicago. I even went as far as to price it out and research things we could do with the kids there. All the while, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, a cruise is still better value. I consulted the kids in the land vacation planning and I was met with two responses, “Is there going to be a lot of walking?” and, “Why can’t we just go on another cruise?” Yes! I have raised cruise addicts…scary thought. With all the hype surrounding Mariner’s revitalization, my curiosity was piqued. I priced it out and the price was not as bad as I thought it would be. With that, I pitched the idea to Hubby. I was met with a firm, “NO!” Not because he doesn’t like cruising, but because this would be our 5th cruise (6th if you count the one that we treated my parents to) within a one-year period (we don’t live the @twangster or @Matt life), we are 211 days away from a Star Class sailing ???, and we just got off the Seaside two weeks ago. However, fittingly, as my title by @Matt would have it, I’m not called a “Stubborn Canadian Scorpio” for nothing. I continued to monitor pricing and air fare, and as luck would have it, somewhere near the end of May, both went down to a decent rate. Hubby, as I suspected, did not have any other ideas for a land vacation so he finally agreed, and I said, “YOLO, I’m Booking It!” The reality of it is that I am, “Blessed by God and Spoiled by my Husband”. Who is going? Hubby and I, and our two girls (D12, D9 about to be 10) Flight: Once again, we are flying out of DTW to FLL. Mariner leaves from Miami, but flights were cheaper to FLL and we prefer to stay there anyway. Our plan is to use Lyft Plus to get us to the Port of Miami in the morning. Pre-cruise Stay: Normally, we like to stay at the Renaissance (on 17th Street) but this time we have our kids with us and HYATT PLACE FORT LAUDERDALE 17TH STREET CONVENTION CENTER is better suited for our family. The hotel provides a free airport shuttle from FLL, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a complimentary hot breakfast in the morning. Anyone travelling with kids knows what a relief it is not to have to find food for the kids in the morning. In addition, the best part about this hotel, is that it is right next door to our favourite restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, La Bamba! The call of margaritas and fried ice cream is strong! I also discovered a really nice surprise when booking this hotel. There is a website, valuetrips.com, that discounts the rate at this hotel considerably. They act as a third party. They reserve and secure a great rate for you, you pay for it upon arrival and you will still receive loyalty points if you collect them. Their communication is horrible, but I knew this from reading online reviews. Upon securing the reservation with the hotel, Valuetrips should send you a confirmation through email. As per the reviews I had read, the email never came. About ten days after submitting my request online, I called the Hyatt directly, and my reservation was on file with them. They confirmed the rate that I secured through Valuetrips and everything worked out. I finally received an email from Valuetrips about a month after submitting my request. For anyone thinking of using valuetrips.com, be prepared to confirm the booking on your own but you’ll save a bit of money in the process. We saved almost $100 by going through Valuetrips. Itinerary: This 4-night Mariner sailing brings us to Nassau and Coco Cay. As usual, the ship is the destination for us. Last time, on Anthem, we missed Coco Cay and we asked the girls if they wanted us to re-purchase the excursions that we had planned. They declined. I also thought it would be fun to take them to explore the aquarium at Atlantis in Nassau, but they declined that too. If you ask my kids what they are looking forward to this week, the answer is simple (and cheap). They want to eat ice cream and pizza, have free reign over food in the WJ, ride the waterslides, and swim. So, we have no excursions booked and we will be roaming around with no set plans for this cruise. Cabin: We are booked in a JS up on Deck 11. There were no plans to upgrade this because of two reasons. One being that this is one of the new Junior Suites installed during the recent dry dock, so I know this room is new, fresh, and in good condition. Recent reviews and scopes have indicated that existing staterooms have not been refurbished with the rest of the ship, so I am happy with our choice here. The second reason is that this cruise is an extra for us. I wanted at least a JS to get the double C&A points (we are currently 5 points out from Diamond, so this will do it for us), and because Voyager class ships don’t have the same suite benefits as Oasis and Quantum class for GS and above, there is no real incentive to go higher for a 4-night sailing. Pre-cruise thoughts: - The most special thing this sailing will be my daughter’s 10th birthday. She has big plans. She wants to sleep in, check out the ship, swim a bit, go on the water slides, and spend time together as a family. She is the sweetest! I also think she is what finally convinced Hubby. Those of you who have children know that you cannot take one daughter on a cruise three years ago to celebrate her birthday and not have the other daughter want the same eventually. - Really looking forward to this sailing since it will be a return to the beginning for us. We have not sailed a Voyager class ship since our first cruise back in 2002. - We are booked for MTD. This will also be a return to the MDR since 2016. I have mixed feelings about this. More on that later. But again, keeping this cruise as low cost as possible, we will not be doing any specialty dining. - I am excited to be literally steps away from the Solarium. - It will be interesting to see what my kids think of this ship. They have now sailed DCL (which is similar in size to Mariner) three times and Anthem. This will be the first time that they can skate on a ship. - I cannot wait to check out the late night WJ offerings. - We purchased VOOM for 2 Devices again. - Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you. - When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply. It just makes for easier scrolling. - Lastly, I will do my best to bring the cruise to you LIVE through Periscope – you can follow me @LoveToCruise2002.

OK, a few things here @Lovetocruise2002. 1. How did you ever make it two whole weeks between cruises?? 2. As much as we all love cruising, keep in mind that a trip to NY could have resulted in meeting @JLMoran, @KathyC aka KathLuvsGH, us and other locals...no group cruise necessary! hehe. A trip to Chicago may have gotten you guys home cooked jerk chicken, curried goat, stuffed red snapper or gumbo at @Sweety!!! That, I'm sure, is better than any specialty restaurant! 3. Happy birthday to the big one oh!! 4. Happy sailing and be safe.

OK @Matt...that's it! I'm putting up my Royal Caribbean Blog magnet next cruise. Enough of this incognito stuff! Hubby always says it is a more true experience to see what service is like even if they don't know you're blogging but I want some freebies ? Hopefully, it doesn't get stolen lol......

It would've been so awesome if you came to NY!! Other locals you could've hung out with Ken Jarvis, Cruise Life Rick, Jose Pena (but he's on a cruise right now) we would've had a blast!!

What!!!!!! No Chicago. I'm hurt. Can't wait to read about Marnier. I am on her next August.

I'm on a month after you. Probably not worth blogging or scoping...

Keep checking. Holiday menus from last year on Indy. Price was higher but you got more. For example Whole Maine Lobster was included. Champagne included as well. I'm surprised it's sold out already. Maybe they are trying to create a demand market for it.

I was so jealous of all of this months cruisers and staring at my sadly 150+ days out countdown clock when I turned to my husnamd and asked if he wanted to go to the Bahamas for a weekend. One call to the travel agent and I now find myself checking out the mariner at the end of Sept instead of waiting until Jan for anthem. Yea for cruising! Sounds like I need to figure out this periscope thing to pass the time until them ?

I will make it up to everyone with a Mariner blog in a few days ?

With Cuba on my mind and with a goal of sailing some of the older and smaller ships in the fleet I booked Empress. With the current fleet it's hard to get any smaller. I'm supposed to get a glass block based on my current Crown and Anchor points accumulation so as I thought which ship to 'block' on, getting a glass block from Empress seemed like a really cool idea so I booked this cruise with that other goal in mind. It's a 5 night cruise: Day 1 - Embark Miami Day 2 - Key West Day 3 - Havana Day 4 - Sea Day Day 5 - CocoCay Day 6 - Debark Miami It's been a few years since I've visited Key West but I need to get some work done so I'm not sure how far I'll venture off the ship. For Havana I've a booked a full day excursion through Royal. I have an overnight cruise to Havana booked in September so I'm using this trip and excursion to discover and plan my next visit there for maximum cultural enrichment. I have many Canadian friends who have visited Cuba. They've been able to fly direct since, well forever. They've given me some ideas so this full day excursion should check all the boxes for an initial Cuba experience and allow me to better plan my next visit. I've missed a few calls on CocoCay this year so fingers crossed. Flights were booked through Air2Sea and I'm taking a dreaded red eye flight with airport transfers to the ship by Royal. I usually just take a ride-share but as a solo traveler the transfer isn't that bad from a cost perspective and it's for research so I know how well it works getting from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport to the Port of Miami and back. I had to work this weekend so the all night flight is an "efficient" use of my time, or so I keep telling myself to justify it. Not sure when I might sail Empress again especially since she does mostly Cuba runs at the moment so I've splurged and booked a junior suite. My first solo JS experience. At the time I booked it was a reasonable price difference. My red-eye departs at 1am local time and I haven't started packing yet. It's only 5 nights so not a hard cruise to pack for. However I better step away from the keyboard and get started.

For all you lucky people cruising this month. Have fun and enjoy a few cold ones for us that can't join you. August 2018 4 - hisfuzziness (Freedom of the Seas) 5 - SorsCode (Liberty of the Seas) 5 - CraftyCat05 (Symphony of the Seas) 9 - TbearRunningMom (Anthem of the Seas) 11 - hisfuzziness (Freedom of the Seas) 13 - Lovetocruise2002 (Mariner of the Seas) 19 - Bella (Oasis of the Seas) 20 - Sweety (Majesty of the Seas) 20 - jurrjurr (Mariner of the Seas) 23 - CruisingQueen36 (Anthem of the Seas) 24 - greenline627 (Adventure of the Seas) 25 - Traveler (Rhapsody of the Seas)

What gave it away? ?? Well at least I cannot be blamed for you booking her then ? Let me tell you, between @bellemiche and her blog, and scopes by @twangster and others last week and this week, it was so hard waiting two weeks!! One day...I have not completely ruled out the Anthem GC yet ? Thanks Raye! Will do! Have to...in for a 6 month dry dock after this so I really have to soak it all up!

Hello Brandi! I am not as experienced as many others on this board but I am a trusting soul so I do the following: On the ship I will leave my sea pass wrapped up clothes or something else at my chair when I am in the water. That imlcudes my phone when I have it out for photos. Everything else stays in the safe back at the room. For beach breaks, I do the same but make sure I have a good view of my "stuff" from the water. Last cruise on Saint Kitts we worked out a deal with other excursion folks to take turns keeping an eye on each other's stuff. Like I said, I am probably way to trusting so I may learn some tricks from others with this thread.

Hi Brandi, welcome aboard! Feel free to ask away with any questions you and your husband may have. There is a wealth of knowledge here from many well seasoned Royal cruisers. You will find a combination safe, you set it, in a closet in your room. Plenty of room to lock up all your valuables. When we go on shore, we take our sea pass card, passports, cash and camera. Depending on the port all that stuff goes in my small backpack (non beach/swimming) or in our beach bag with the towels & sunscreen, etc. If we go on an excursion that involves a boat (snorkeling, scuba diving) we have a waterproof bag to keep our stuff in. We have been cruising since 2006 and have never had a problem with theft when we were off the ship. Our cell phones get turned off and live in the safe for the duration of the cruise, we don't sign up for the VOOM package to have cell service. If you are taking credit cards with you be sure to call them and let them know your travel plans, locations and dates. Nothing worse than trying to make a purchase and having your card declined and shut down! Hope this helps!

Oh I think he could find a way to use it up, lol.

Enjoy!!!!

YIPPEE !!! Excited to hear about and see Mariner. I know you will have a GREAT time.

I can feel your excitement, have a great trip!

We ADORE Coastal Kitchen!!! Yes, food is very subjective but IMO, Coastal Kitchen is just as good (if not better than) as any specialty restaurant. The MDR cannot even compare. We will book suites that include at least dinner in Coastal Kitchen if the ship has one. Not only is the food better, but, IMO, service is better and more personalize too. Yes, it is smaller, and that is why reservations is almost a must. From what I understand, the CK menu is fairly universal across the fleet now. If you take a look at @bellemiche live blog from Oasis, and mine from Anthem, there are CK menus posted and pics of some of the food: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/8867-oasis-of-the-seas-july-29-august-5/ https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5780-anthem-of-the-seas-march-9-17-2018/

Eager anticipation... Probably not. Belize is an amazing reef system. That's probably why scuba diving is so popular there. With that comes the need to anchor way out. Destroy massive amounts of coral reef to build a channel, harbor and pier - I hope not.

I just figured it out myself recently, it is a fun way to pass the time ?

I'm not sure on that one either, however, with a cabin that is sold out and the price goes down, you can still re-price it before final payment so....it might work with the cabanas. I would definitely do it over the phone, not online.

Yes, when I booked my cabana rental about 10 or 11 months out from last cruise in April, it was on sale for an unbelievable $255.75 for an over-the-water cabana. I have never seen the price go that low ever again, either when re-checking ahead of my cruise, or when folks post the prices they got in more recent posts. The units were priced at $395 when they first became available, but the cruise planner sale that gave that super-low price happened only a month or so later. If it hadn't dropped that low I'd never have booked it; but with everything I knew it gave and that crazy good sale price, it was a no-brainer when I knew it really "split" among the four of us. To this day, I don't know if that sale price was a glitch that they were forced to honor or they just weren't selling any and needed a boost. I'm actually not sure on this. If they're sold out and not at all listed, you're definitely out of luck. But I think I saw them listed with a "Sold Out" banner across the image as it got closer to my sail-away date. If that happened and you noticed the price was better, it might be possible to call Royal directly and tell them you want to cancel and rebook at the lower rate. I'd be a little nervous about trying that, in case someone else went on and saw the unit open up in the couple of minutes in between canceling and rebooking and managed to snag it before the rebook was done. But it might be doable.

I like my Belize tenders with plum sauce, but my son prefers BBQ.

Occasionally Sitka appears on limited itineraries. Sailing out of Seattle generally will call on Victoria which typically isn't offered on the one-way North/South cruises. Don't discount the Seattle round trip Alaska cruises. I've done both and enjoyed both very much. My pattern is Southbound, Seattle round trip, Southbound, Seattle roundtrip. 2020 is unknown. With more and bigger ships doing Alaska it is possible more ports or lesser used ports may become more common.

And it worked, thank you!

The fall? I am glad they are so specific.....

My ship in April 2020 is Oasis...the size of Harmony and it has now been chartered and I"m out of a cruise. I was going to try smaller to keep from getting chartered again but not sure what to do. I could never have imagined Oasis could get chartered! And unlike an above post I don't have the luxury of being able to group cruise. THAT said I LOVE cruising and will not give up on RC. Just going to use survival skills to try and pick my cruise ship better.