Leaderboard

That reminds me of an incident MANY years ago. My very young (at the time) nephew somehow got a crab in his swimming trunks who latched onto a testicle. Needless to say, the poor chap (now a grown man with a family) still gets asked to recount that harrowing story. I still shamelessly giggle even though it was NOT funny to him at the time !

Did someone say spaghetti bolognese???

Junior Suite Room Tour: There are 4 JS that were added in on Deck 11 during the latest dry dock. Really happy with our choice here. The cabin and all furnishings and cabinetry are all brand new. For those of you not on Periscope, here's the link to the Room Tour: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkJOUDF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MW5BSkVRQk9ZblZKTPJ4EgsrNCH6pR_ZOyLjaIrSqjMM8-s2ThA9b6yT1Af9

??? As per your request...

MDR Dinner Night 1: Mushroom Soup: Delicious! French Onion Soup: Caesar Salad: Spaghetti Bolognese: Kids Chicken Nuggets: Fish & Seafood Mash: this was quite good, but a bit cold. Prime Rib: Hubby said this was not good as it was quite dry. Warm Hazelnut Chocolate cake: Key Lime Pie: Overall impressed with the food in the MDR tonight. Service with Jonathan was outstanding. That was a nice surprise! We put in a request to be seated at his table every night. We'll see how it goes. Off to see the ice show now.

Smart women know never to weigh themselves AFTER dinner! ?

Kathy, that is EXACTLY what I was fighting. Flying in bad weather, getting nervous. He just didn't want to put a burden on me with walkers, wheelchairs etc. The ports of call on Equinox I've been to, hubby hasn't but he has a comfort level Grandeur. As you can see we booked on many more cruises, the next one we fly to will be for his birthday Nov 2019! Sooooo, doing my happy dance, I just booked the Grandeur!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2 Nassau: No plans to get off the ship today. Getting ready to head off to Deck 12 to check out the slides. We had breakfast in the MDR today. I found myself missing CK this morning. There is a sit down menu for breakfast but also a small section of cold cuts, bread, and fresh fruit. Here is the menu. I actually forgot to take food pics ? We ordered the Express Breakfast. It was ok. The best part was that we did not have to fight the crowd in the WJ.

Ice Under the Big Top was one of the more entertaining ice shows that I've watched. I did not scope it but the clown scene was one of the funniest! Make sure you make an effort to watch this one if you sail Mariner. For those not on Periscope, here's a short scope from the show. Oh, and my kids absolutely loved it! D9 wants to meet the cast and get autographs. I told her to put that on her Genie list for March ? https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkI0uzF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MU9kSnJweWFFenBLWP91lSskLgRxbpkJkzFV44GOx-Vm4L3FqQzZSvbgT1gq

For those who have not sailed out of Miami, it is beautiful! One of my favourite ports to sail from.

Speed test with VOOM for @twangster and the rest of the tech people who are curious.

Dog House on Deck 11:

arrive early, grab a cold adult beverage and find a seat in the promenade for some class-A touristy people watching and some food. after a bit of that, relocate up to the pool deck, grab another cold drink and more people watching. Once room opens up, drop off carry on's, back to the pool deck for another.... it's a vicious cycle but someone has to do it! ?

Here are some photos Hubby took during sail away from Mariner today, August 13, 2018.

Well nothing compares to Oasis class but this ship definitely has an Oasis class feel to it with the new additions. IMO, it is perfect for the first time cruiser who wants a taste for cruising. We are having a great time so far. No complaints. Thank for following along. Today D9 turns 10 so it's all about swimming, slides, and Sorrento's pizza. ?

Let me first say that I'm glad we have some environmental rules that we didn't have in the early decades of the industrial revolution. We should not have the Cuyahoga River on fire. We should not have industrial sites abandoned with highly contaminated soil left behind. We should not have smog blocking the sun in our cities. We should be able to breathe the air, drink the water, and walk around without having to dodge huge piles of waste and trash. We should have sanitary sewers to separate sewage from runoff. There should be regulation on the use of fertilizers. If, as a society, we want to encourage walking or bike riding rather than driving a car, that would be great. However, things have gone way too far. We have politicians and activists flying from city to city on private jets to tell us to not drive our cars. We have gone from paper to plastic back to paper bags at the store. We have low emission electric cars that plug into a wall to charge a car when there is no reliable source of electricity that is renewable. We have mass transit forced down our throats for hundreds of millions of dollars that no one rides (Cincinnati is an example). The Holy Grail is the Climate Change movement...which is the biggest redistribution of wealth in history, and even if man did have an effect on the climate, it is minuscule. If anyone thinks they will rid the world of plastic straws and then leave us alone they are wrong. It's not just cruises either. It's everything we choose to do (right down to the number of children we have). There is too much money in it for these people. At some point we have to tell them to get bent. This is it. Save the straws. Just make sure you put them in a trash can when you are done with them.

Not what I said nor implied. I am simply using peoples justification for banning straws here, and applying the same reasoning to cruising. ...... Here's some info on Harmony of the Seas :(one of the worlds "cleanest" cruise ships) -burns as much as 66,000 gallons of the most polluting diesel fuel a day -emits more sulfur than 2 million cars -more particulate emissions than thousands of city busses Air pollution from shipping(all kinds) accounts for about 50,000 premature deaths in Europe alone........so yeah, tell me again about how banning those straws on your next cruise is really helping the environment....doesn't anyone else see the irony of this??! It shouldn't be even a discussion or debated. I rest my case....point made!

Great photos but I prefer container pictures.

Love the decor of the WJ: Drink package prices on board: The "get out of the WJ; make room others" call came in at 12:15pm. While it is super crowded here, it still flows better than Anthem. Hubby and D12 are still eating so we're still here ?

It's cruise day!! Headed off to feed the kids and then hoping to grab a Lyft to the port in about an hour. ?

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.

Hi Laura! I am still trying to listen to the Podcast. I think we would have been fine with Equinox but this is all so new to us I wanted him to feel comfortable. We are leaving in two weeks on Summit and now I plan to do Equinox when she comes out of drydock. By then either he’s walking again or we will have a Comfort level. so sweet of you to reach out and again I plan on listening to the podcast.

Deck 12 Sports Activities: ? All hubby Sky Pad: Requirements for Sky Pad. So many people were surprised by the shirt and dry requirements ??

Maybe the ice needs to go back to the gym to train more and learn to fight better.

One of the huge hidden pollutants of the sea is noise pollution. https://www.sonicsea.org/film That being said, I'll be the guy on the pool deck selling black market plastic straws for $1 a piece. #ultimatestrawpackage

So true Matt. I assured him he would not be a burden traveling to Miami to me. People do it all the time, I just want to do what he's most comfortable with. But the Grandeur has a special place for us so maybe that's what we should do.

At the end of the day, you will be on a cruise ship and having done a few winter cruises from the north, it's still a lot of fun! Certainly better than being home and cold!

Tip time...if you do not have your heart set on getting off the ship, then stay on. Barely any lines this morning. Kids have already swam, gone on slides, climbed the Lucky Climber, all with little to no lines and crowds. Now they are playing ping pong with no one around. Pool crowd: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkLu5jF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MXlwSmRZcnlkTXF4V-UMsaTQMSL0Xm-UHWHQkWBApUiyKLxJX8QZc4x0gfn1 Slides: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkLvJjF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MWRqeFhuQXllcGpHWvDD25g5QBjwSrcrGrinmTaU-smcNXai_uYl7dYGnzVc

You're welcome. We are gathering lots of ship photos today and will try to post tomorrow or Thursday. Stay tuned ? I passed it along that Ms. S wished her a happy bday ? ^^this. As usual, you said it way better ?

Do you mean the panoramic suites on Deck 12? And yes those are brand new too. The room is surprisingly spacious. I expected it to feel not as wide as it is. Not sure how the square footage compares but it even feels slightly bigger than the Junior suite we had on Anthem. The balcony also feels a bit deeper. Also, regarding the menus, @PRC had posted in a FB group that they have a 7 night menu that they rotate through in no particular order. It may not be your Night 1 menu. If you scroll through the FB insiders posts to the beginning of July when he was on, he posted all 7 menus. However, the menu for dinner is posted on screens outside all the dining rooms in the morning, so you could check and move stuff around. D12 is a huge pasta fan. She already said that she might be getting that again this week.

Only the best medicine to treat that angry hangover. A good greasy breakfast with a cold soda will take care of that crap

I do get the irony in this and I agree. We have recycling here but lately they have stopped (or banned) glass. The reason? It gets into the cardboard and the recycler can't make enough money. So from what I see, again, money is at the root. They don't separate anything anymore, just dump in into the truck and I guess dump it at the recycler. All we have is one big bin for everything. I remember using paper straws waaaay back in grade school when they used to give us milk everyday, they didn't work too good back then. Not sure they will do any better now.

I got the spaghetti bolognese twice in the MDR. It's surprisingly good.

FYI If you have already bought the drink package as I did...it went down to 42.00. I bought at 45. I canceled through somebody's great advise and saved like 50.00.

Off to the MDR for dinner tonight. Then we'll catch the ice show at 9:15pm. Other than that, not too many other exciting plans.

First they came for my straws, and I said nothing. Then they came for my plastic cups, and I said nothing. Then they came for my ocean cruises, but by then the internet had also been shut off to save electricity so I could say nothing. ?

Who knew straws could lead to such drastic measures. "We shall have straws or not cruise at all." LOL!

Can you get a straw at Johnny Rockets with a milkshake? That would be foolish to not give you one.

Lyft Plus from FLL to MIA $72.28. It took us about 40min to get to the port. Check in was a breeze. We arrived at the curb at 10:45pm, on board by 11am. There is a separate check in and waiting area for JS and above. I did notice that there are a lot of "visitor groups" on board today. Suites waiting area: tight squeeze as the day visitors were also here.

Following....oh boy....cruise day...my favorite! Just wish we were cruising too. We spent the weekend at Myrtle Beach instead.

Your nails look awesome! Oh and the food looks good too! ?

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

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....

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....

Sailaway from Cozumel took place during our dinner in CK. It was amazing to watch how the Carnival ship turned around as well as our ship. Dinner was great as always. For appetizers we chose escargot (yes again) and wild mushroom consomme. Our mains were the braised short rib for me and crab crusted flounder for mom. We both had creme brulee for dessert. After dinner we went to the showing of "Like Father" in the Aqua Theatre.

Suite Snobs! I like it. I need to find a name for us poor peeps who cruise down here:

Also LadyB you might want to look into the luggage tag holders they sell on Amazon. We bought some years ago and they work really well. The luggage tags you print off will fold nicely into the the holders which come with a small cable that attaches to you luggage. When ordering make sure you order the ones for Royal Caribbean If you are flying in just wait till after the flight to attach the cruise tags

We have our first ever JS on Mariner in October and I am absolutely LOVING the pictures! That room is SO BIG! ? Also - from that night 1 MDR menu, that grilled polenta veggie dish was one of my absolute FAVORITES from Adventure in February. We are only planning on doing night 1 in the MDR (in favor of Izumi and Jamie's the next two nights) so I'm really excited that that's the one on our menu!!!

Day 3 - Havana, continued... Around 7:30am and 30 minutes before schedule it was announced the ship was cleared by local authorities. On any future return where I don't have a morning excursion I'll be ready to leave early and hope for similar luck to beat the excursion masses heading off. Since I had an excursion booked through Royal we met in the Royal Theater on the ship along with other excursions. We were given a number to wear and received a free bottle of water to take with us. I had brought one from my cabin and I would end up being glad I had two for my full day excursion. Our meeting time in the theater was 8am but most of the group was there when I arrived at 7:50am. Shortly after 8am we were called to leave the ship. Immediately off the gangway but before entering the terminal there were the usual ship photographers there to take our picture with a Cuba back drop. Past this you entered the terminal and a small area to queue for Cuban Immigration. The lines were 4 or 5 deep but went fairly quickly. The ship held an information session on day one at 4pm that was replayed on RCTV. During that video they warned not to wait to be called, as the person before you walked on after being processed you proceed without waiting to be called. They simply looked at the completed VISA, looked at the passport and then at me before a series of stamps were made. Then they handed me my passport and off I went. No questions asked. Immediately after immigration is a security check point much like you experience on any day one boarding a ship at it's home port. Bags go through xray while you walk through a metal detector. Quick and easy. The cruise terminal is fairly modern inside and much what you would experience in many places with shops and a currency exchange inside. The only thing missing - air conditioning. This is the view back towards Cuban Immigration and the security checkpoint at the far end of the terminal. Currency exchange at the opposite end of the terminal. To the left of this is where we headed down the stairs into Havana or to meet our excursion booked through Royal. Currency exchange asks that only one in your party enter, other's can just stand near and wait. I presented (5) $20 bills and she looked it up in her computer and informed me it would be $87 CUC. Since I was on a full day excursion that included lunch I didn't think I'd need a lot on this trip. Down the stairs you can simply walk out on the streets of Havana or make the turn to follow the signs for Shore Excursions. This led me outside in the covered garage type area under the terminal where I found the typical lines for each shore excursion group. The wait here was longer than the wait for Cuban Immigration but wasn't that bad. It was already getting warm and you could tell it was going to be hot and humid today.

Where to start?...