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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.

One more day till Mariner. We always fly in a day ahead. About the sugar crash....this was our situation about an hour ago at baggage claim....

Sitting at the gate waiting for our flight. Pretty non-eventful trip to DTW other than the airport was completely packed through baggage check and security. It is never like that here! But then again, we usually don't fly out Sunday morning either so who knows. My kids informed us that they did not sleep at all last night. Lights were on at 3am when I woke up earlier. Pretty sure D9 is crashing. Should make for an interesting rest of the day. Currently debating what we should eat for breakfast before boarding...exciting times ?

thanks for that, that bag is about the same size as my wifes so i wont have the added expense of buying her a new one lol pickpockets are everywhere, even in our home cities so it's just about taking care and being alert. my wife usually puts strap over one shoulder around her neck with bag at other side to make it more difficult for bag snatchers, way i see it by doing it this way if they try to snatch her bag there's a good chance they will have to take her as well so its a win win situation ?

Others may have other ideas but, we have brought a small travel safe to use. We only take what we need off the ship in a bag and keep the valuables in the safe. It is not sturdy enough to keep someone that is completely intent on robbing you from the items but it works well enough to keep you from being robbed while you are in the water. It features a lock and a cable that you can wrap around your chair or something else to keep it from "walking away" while you are in the water. Its fairly cheap and is just enough to keep our cell phone, passports, a few cards and some cash. I secure it to the chair and cover it with the bag so it is not too obvious. You can use it on the ship if you like but we honestly do not carry anything other than our sea pass card if we are going to the hot tub or pool since that is all you will need onboard.

Woohoo. I cruised June, July and now August. I feel a repeat next year.

I think it's a matter of preference. I simply don't like large handbags, especially on vacation. I see many females carry a larger bag than I do. You have to be aware of pick pockets no matter what bag you carry. This is my go to cruise bag while walking around a port:

Following! And now that you and hubster will be Diamond, I can cruise with you. Just kidding (for all those folks who are pre-Diamond).

When we are on the ship, everything gets locked in the safe except the Sea Pass card. If swimming, the card goes in hubby's shorts because they have a zipper pocket. If we are just walking around, I put the card in my pocket. I'm not a lanyard person so I always wear shorts that have storage somewhere. My kids wear lanyards. If we are sailing a ship that has wristbands, most of my family will wear the band instead of carrying the card. When off the ship, we bring our wallets, passport, and sea pass card. It either goes in a waterproof drawstring bag or if we are just walking around the port, I might bring a small purse.

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!

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

So if you've been following these boards for a while, you will already know how much I love La Bamba when sailing out of South Florida. You probably have already heard @JLMoran, @tonyfsu21, and @bellemiche make similar comments. Be sure to to give them a try the next time you are in the area pre/post cruise. Their food is delicious, portions are huge, their margaritas are perfect, and service is wonderful! Here are a few photos to try to do them justice. House Cheese Dip and House Nachos and Cheese: El Patron Margarita: Kids Chicken Taco (Hard Shell): Chicken Quesadilla: Chicken Fajitas: Chicken Tostadas: And to finish it all off (even though we were completely stuffed), Fried Ice Cream! (Minus the Whipped Cream). Current situation: Food Coma

Looking forward to hearing (and seeing) all about your trip! Enjoy your dinner tonight!

Hey I would crash to if I had to drag all those suitcases around, can't believe you had that little girl do that That's our preferred hotel whenever we travel. I think you will be surprised by the breakfast!

Pretty uneventful flight into FLL. We are checked in and settled at Hyatt Place now as I sit here to update this. Everyone is either napping or relaxing. D9 seems to have picked up a second wind. First impressions of this hotel is that it is a decent pre-cruise hotel. I did not bother to scope this as there was nothing extraordinary about it but definitely more than sufficient accommodations for one night. The room sleeps 6. Two double beds and the sofa pulls out into another double. My only gripe is that the sink area is outside the shower area. I don't like that set up. Other than that, very spacious. The plan is to head out for an early dinner in a bit....La Bamba! ? Then we'll call it a night.

Cute.

We were on the Majesty and my husband keep asking for straws. They gave them to him.

One more day.

Oof! Sorry to hear that, but glad to know that you have it under control!

We don't drink soda or sugary drinks, so the Freestyle machines do not get used by us. On Harmony last September we didn't even open our cups. The water bottles we would get, but the ship water is so clean that we have no problem drinking it. My hubs got the coffee card, we'll see how Serenade uses those punches compared to Adventure, and I don't do the specialty coffees enough to warrant one for me. I'll have a cup of coffee with breakfast and I'm good for the day. I enjoy herbal teas which are complimentary, and may even pack a few of my favorites from home. Fresh-squeezed OJ is so filling for me; I got a couple on Harmony and didn't eat most of my food as I felt like I had already drank a smoothie. My hubby will get smoothies/protein drinks in the spa when available, but not an option on our 12 night. So not even the refreshment package is worth it for me. On a different ship, may be worth it for hubby. Yes, I pretty much only drink water all day long. Will toss in a cucumber, some mint, or even lemon/lime slices every now & then. We both have GERD, I have a hiatal hernia, so unless I want my vacation ruined, I need to follow along with my regular routine.

I like to travel a lot and many times find myself in places ripe with pickpockets plus I hate sitting on a wallet soooo I went on amazon and for 15.00 I solved my problem I bought a front pocket wallet its super slim and goes in the front not the rear pocket which makes it way harder for you to become a victim I have heard of victims loosing there wallet out of there back pocket in crowds without even disturbing the zipper equipped pocket top using a very sharp instrument of some sort cutting the fabric plus most pants have a double wall pocket in the front and only single wall in the back I personally only buy shorts with zipper pockets for roaming these thieve infested areas and have purchased long pants called CIA which have zipper pockets all around and zippers to make shorts out of long pants or vice a versa while I am not thinking I am 100 percent pickpocket proof at the least I am making it really hard for them to make a victim out of me ?

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)

And I hope you have a fabulous time!!

Yes, if we go to the beach I don't bring a purse either. Everything just goes in our drawstring bag and the cards go in hubby's pocket.

I am always on the 5am flight. My family knows we are on the first non stop flight.

I didn't use it last time but I bought one of those waterproof lanyards that you can fit a cell phone in. I'm in NY and not very trusting.We left our stuff on the beach and I couldn't stop watching it. Next time I will probably use it. I saw others who had it and went in the water with it. Chase credit cards - you don't have to call anymore, you can enter dates through the website.

I must be getting old. I do not remember the last time I woke up at 3am to catch an early flight. It feels terrible! Note to self, this may not be a good idea in the future. Wonder if I should throw an umbrella into the suitcase....

Periscope is wonderful in that you can live it through others but terrible in that the more you watch, the more you wish you were going somewhere too ? Thank you for following along and don't hesitate to ask anything along the way. That's how we roll here ? @Matt...look...another one sailing Mariner before you lol I am honoured ? Too bad it's not tomorrow. I know...it's the dog's fault

First of all Congratualtions on breaking the Diamond barrier and also Happy Birthday ? to your girl! Her birthday plans soumd alot like mine usually are actually. Secondly your trip sounds eerily similar to mine except I didn't need to convince my hubby granted this is only the second cruise of the year. We were much more spur of the moment but the mariner is really sucking us all in at this point. I'll be following along to see if I can gleen anymore info for our spur of the moment trip on her at the end of Sept. But mostly I'll be living vicariously through you since waiting is just so hard! Looks like I really need to get on Pericope now ?

Well google tells me there is a company named Symmetry International Inc. that may have worked with RCCL in the past on design, that would be a solid chance who chartered (and would have the money) to take an oasis ship.

We don't go back until the day after Labour Day here in Ontario. It's more like "one last hurrah" before we go back ? Thank you for following along.

What a great way to start off the school year! Can't wait to see and hear all about your cruise on the Mariner! Have a great time!

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!

Typically charters tend to take a ship from shorter cruises and on small(er) ships. It is rare to see an Oasis class ship charter because they are 7 nights and it costs a LOT of money to charter one but it can happen. By a large margin most cruises operate normally so I wouldn't worry about. From http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/full-ship-charter-faqs/

Haha...are you being sarcastic? ? Honestly, not sure there will be anything else left to blog or scope about after @CruiseLifeRick is done this weekend ?

I just cancelled and re-booked VOOM today to save $4! Every little bit counts. Just made it before my cruise planner closes tomorrow lol.

I have historically felt this way, and it's why I have not bothered to look into the AmEx or Chase Sapphire cards.

I have always found it extremely easy to make reservation for this offer or the dining package. when I board there are always staff members trying to book you into the restaurants so I just go to them and book all at once, it takes 5 minutes then I head to the bar. saying that I normally have a drink in my hand already.

So - when we were on the Allure, the only two options we had were Giovanni's or Samba Grill. If we wanted to swap to Giovanni's from Samba (which we had little to no interest in as I'm not really a meat eater), we could just call the specialty restaurant and ask to have it changed.

Uhh...I bought that safe and accidentally locked it before setting the new password. The directions are easy but I have an issue with one of my hands so I messed it up.....oops.