ellcee

::yawn::
Man, this Windjammer breakfast doesn’t seem as good as...

Oh. Right.
::sigh::

Back to the present...
Disembarkation was even easier than last time, which was surprising because we didn't actually stay on the ship until 10 AM as indicated on our sheet. Around 9:15, a crew member was walking the hallway by Vintages that leads to Two70; he was informing the passengers there that all luggage was now delivered to the terminal, even for the numbers that hadn't been called yet. He was also rather firmly (but very politely; maybe he was Canadian? ?) asking that all passengers please disembark immediately. This seemed kind of odd to me given the printed schedule, but I had just read the comment here that there was a coast guard inspection / drill happening, so that was almost certainly the driver behind it. At least we were asked nicely to GTFO.
Ship to curb was 10 minutes, tops. We got a porter this time, but even without one we wouldn't have had much of a wait; the terminal was almost empty when we got off the ship and got our bags. Paid for our parking, got in the car, and we were back home in about 45 minutes.
 
And after getting home and finally syncing together my iPad, iPhone, and iMac for the photos, I was reminded of something very critical to do with any dedicated camera that doesn't have a GPS system in it for tagging photos -- make sure that the clock and location setting in the phone is accurate for where you're using it!
I never updated the clock on my camera since the day I got it, and it was still on Pacific time for all timestamps on the photos.The clock also drifted a bit, so instead of being exactly 4 hours off from Atlantic time, it was about 3 hours and 50 minutes. ? Took me a little while to figure that out, but it was easy enough to fix in the Photos app on my iMac.
So, I'm back to editing the photos that I didn't get done yesterday, and should be putting up the posts of our time in Bermuda tomorrow or at latest Saturday.

I didn't love my first RC cruise but I loved cruising. I had some other things going on paired with expectations. My issues were more about the extra costs that I wasn't aware of. I gave it another shot and am currently hooked.

I really didn't enjoy my first cruise, which was with Royal Caribbean. Why? Expectations were set too high...people kept saying how good the food was, how good the shows were, etc. etc. Got onboard and found the food just okay, and the entertainment just okay. Decided to give cruising one more try, after about five years, and again went with Royal Caribbean. Went with lower expectations, did more specialty dining (but aside from that just viewed the food as a way to get full, not a culinary experience), and skipped the shows. Have had a much better experience since then, and really look forward to my next one. 
People may say cruising isn't for everyone, and that's true. But also, cruising may be for you but your expectations were set too high, as mine were at first. 

It is finally my turn for a return trip on Mariner! 
Last time on Mariner was for the Double Dip to CocoCay Royal Caribbean Blog cruise.

Hard to believe that was over 7 months ago!

And this is why I will wait until last minute next year to book a Thanksgiving cruise..insane.
I know there's probably no chance to luck into this for next year (especially considering this is a price for a SOLO) but still..might as well since I have the travel flexibility and can drive to the port.
e! 
 

I know there has been a lot of back and forth about if The Key was really worth it. @Matt did a great job, pointing out why it wasn't a good deal for everyone.
So with all that being said, here's my reasoning for buying it.
The current price for The Key for our cruise is $16.99 pp/pd. That's the lowest I've seen on any cruise since The Key program started. I'm sure the price has to do with the fact that it's about 340 days from sailing and it's for Rhapsody, a smaller ship with admitted limited Key benefits. The total for our cruise with tax comes to $237.93.
We would have purchased Voom Surf and Stream for one device anyways. The current price for one device is $15.99 pd for a total for our cruise of $111.93.
So, with all that being said, the net cost, The Key minus the Surf and Stream for one device comes to $125.93.
I felt the benefits of The Key, besides Voom Surf and Stream, were well worth what comes down to $9 pp/pd.
With all that being said, I will probably put a Royal Bid in when it comes time to move up from our current JS to GS or OS. If I win, I will just cancel The Key and just add Surf and Stream.
Does this seem to make good sense? It did to me.

Day 5 / Day 1
Today was turnaround day and since this was our first B2B it was a new experience.
We purchased The Key for our first leg at a sale price since it included VOOM usage, priority lines for FlowRider, as well as embarkation lunch and special disembarkation meal.  We knew all along that the priority disembarkation wouldn't be used.
Breakfast was served in the main dining room on deck 5 and this was also the staging area for the disembarkation.  The menu was a slightly modified MDR breakfast menu and included Salmon Benedict.  This was a very enjoyable meal in a much more relaxed atmosphere than the usual Windjammer breakfast on disembarkation day.
The directions for consecutive cruisers had been delivered to us and as we had the same cabin it really couldn't have been easier.  We left all our belongings exactly where we had unpacked them and that was that.
Our cabin steward for the first leg had informed us that he would not be with us for the second leg as his contract was ending and he was returning home to his family until his next contract.  We made sure to leave him his gratuity on night 4.
From the MDR in the back of deck 5 we headed to the Star Lounge at the bow of deck 5 which was the designated location for consecutive cruisers.  There we were joined by about 15-20 others who were returning aboard.  After a short wait, the Loyalty Ambassador and another crew member came around to give us our new seapass cards and explain the process.  Once the ship was near 0, we would be escorted to deck 4 to exit the ship and be scanned out with our old seapass cards.  We would them visit with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and wait in a lounge area for the ship to reach 0 passengers.  Once that was completed we would be escorted back onto the ship where we would be required to scan in with our new cards. 
Everything went exactly as described and was even easier due to the Facial Recognition system in Port Canaveral cruise port.  After a short wait in the lounge we returned and headed directly to the Solarium to enjoy the quiet ship to ourselves.
We were back on board the ship by approximately 10:15.
After an hour, we started to notice people walking through the Solarium and surmised that general boarding had begun.
One item to note is that the letter we received indicated that we would have access to our stateroom before the general call.  We found that the doors to the corridors were closed but I was able to open them and we could return to our cabin where I wanted to change to swimwear to get some time on the FlowRider.
This come back to one of @Matt's pieces of advice that the best time to use some of those features is on embarkation day when people are still getting their bearings and possibly not dressed for the activity.
This hits most of the highlights of the day.  Not a day that I took photos but as with any day on a cruise it was very enjoyable.

Day 4, Perfect Day at Coco Cay
Apologies for taking so long to get more posted, it has been some busy times since returning home.
The good news is that by taking some time to post more photos it allows me to relive the trip.
 
I will begin by saying that the first glimpse of Coco Cay post renovation was very exciting.  We have been here several times before and only missed it a couple due to weather but the renovated island is seriously impressive!  Due to our aft balcony we had a fantastic view!

I will also state for the record that I forgot to change the ISO setting on my camera from the sunset photos the night before (NEWB move!) and the sun was so bright it took me a while before I was able to review them on the camera to see the error of my ways.  As a result things may be a little grainy and overexposed.  The saving grace is that a few days later I will be back at Coco Cay to do it all over again!
When we exited the ship there were carts at the ready to whisk us down the pier to the island proper.  This is something we greatly appreciate due to the fact that my wife has very bad knees.  It allowed us to save some time and energy.  I will also note that some of the carts have ramps and space for strollers and wheelchairs which is an incredible plus for those who need such special accommodation.

Signs abound on the island to help you find your way and the paths are paved with specifically colored pave stone to aid in navigation.

From this point we elected to walk becuase there were no shuttles waiting and we were impatient to get to Oasis Lagoon.  In hindsight we could have waited to again save some time.  IT was hot already before 8AM for this Canadian.
Along our walk was the entry to the Thrill Waterpark

and our path was along Sandy Lane which was paved in red.

This took us past Splashaway Bay

and to Oasis Lagoon where Up, Up and Away loomed large over the chairs.

We were looking for the Oasis Lagoon Cabanas which were over the bridge and past the Swim Up Bar which at this hour was pretty quiet.


In fact, the whole pool area was very quiet still.

We reached the cabana area and our attendant gave us wristbands and led us to our cabana.


The cabana amenities are fantastic.  We found several chairs,

a sofa with towels, a table with an unlocked and lockable cubby in it


as well as  cooler filled with ice cold water.


The view from the cabana was rather nice but no direct line of sight to the pool.

On the table were menus for food and drink



as well as a call button to page your cabana attendant.  I pressed this before it was explained to me and I was surprised just how fast they responded.

We preceded to relax for a while and take advantage of the pool area.
We did press the button intentionally to order the island specialty Coco Loco as well as lunch which was prepared at the Snack Shack and delivered to us.

I will add that the food was incredible and certainly lived up to the hype from those we had spoken to who had visited the island before.
After a very satisfying lunch, I set out on a little photo safari around the island to see some of the other changes while my wife took full advantage our our shady cabana to relax and read.
By this time the pool was much busier but not what I would consider crowded.  I will also add that a DJ plays poolside and you could definitely hear that in the cabana area.


The beach areas were fairly populated and the floating bar was too.

The Beach Beds were along the Tram Route near where the construction was ongoing for the Coco Beach Club and looked quite comfortable as well.

Chill Grill received some attention too since we were here last with fresh awnings paint and food selections.

I made my way around the island and found a great view of Mariner at the pier 

as well as a pretty gazebo where weddings are held.


Daredevil Tower in the water park is certainly what I consider on of the defining landmarks of the island

There are ample locations to get wonderful photos of the ship


and I managed to grab a quick shot of some people on the Zip Line

That pretty much ended my photos for the day.   I returned to the Cabana and we visited the pool a couple more times before heading back to the ship around 4:00.
This blog will pick up with a brief description of our experience with turnaround on the Back to Back before I return with more photos from our second day in Nassau and an excursion to Pearl Island.

I AM NOT TO BLAME FOR THE 45 DAY EARLY START!  Just putting it out there! ?
Cannot wait to follow along!  We chose next December to take our family of 14 on a star class sailing.  Around the same time as yours.  You are going to love star class.  It will be very hard to go back after this.

Enjoy your cruise!

@JLMoran I looked it up before I answered you just in case I pulled the answer out of my bottom.
https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/the-serious-eats-guide-to-ramen-styles.html

Nope, but if you have anyone with more than a little hair on their heads who is even a tad picky bring your own.

It's cruise day! It almost doesn't seem real as I've never waited for a cruise for a year before. Yesterday was spent traveling. We had a non eventful, mid-morning flight from Salt Lake City to EWR. I've only flow into Newark once before and that was a connection to MIA for my first solo cruise. We're staying at a Springhill Suites that, minus the soft goods, seems to not have been remodeled since 1983. One thing about staying so close to the airport that kind of surprised me, there was nowhere nearby to eat! After taking an Uber over to a giant mall in Elizabethtown where we found an Applebees, we came back to the hotel to rest up for cruise day. I was planning to be at the pier around 10:30, but now have some time to relax. I got an email from Royal saying that there is a coast guard drill scheduled today, so boarding is delayed by two hours. I can't remember this happening on my 24 previous sailings, but I've been through several coast guard drills as a crew member. It's going to be a longer, more hectic day than usual for the crew, I hope our fellow passengers take it a bit easy on them. I'll update more once we get onboard and I have some pics to share. I'm looking forward to see how Vroom is compared to Carnivals wifi.

Hello! This will be my first attempt at a live blog, and it just seemed right to do it here as opposed to CC. The Blog and podcast have been instrumental in my return to Royal Caribbean. I've been on 4 prior RCI sailings on the Viking Serenade and Rhapsody of the Seas, the last one being in 2007. I was convinced to sail this itinerary by @twangster's wonderful Snowbird Migration blog last year, and have been addicted to all of your awesome Live Blogs. I'll be sailing with my mother, and have been waiting for cruise day for about 367 days, but who's counting? I've taken much of the advice that I learned here and have pre-purchased most everything except Vroom. I'm kicking myself for not buying the Deluxe Drink Package before this last weekend, as it did go up slightly. Two weeks ago my Royal Up bid was accepted for a total of $150 for a Large Balcony cat 1C from a standard balcony. Today is my last work day, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep for the next 72 hours! I'll add more as soon as I get off work.

Ginger ale/ginger beer worked, was able to watch the show with no problem. (well, apart from having to run to the men’s room a few times for the expected reason after drinking so much fluids)
Show was great, as expected. Cast looks like it’s all the same as last year, with the possible exception of the leading man. Couldn’t stick around for the final number post-bows, had to get to dinner so we weren’t late for putting our suitcases out. Speaking of...

Wade doesn’t seem too happy being on hallway patrol when he knows I’m keeping Cathy company in the Solarium.
Sorry dude, you drew the short straw. Again.
Dinner was good, glad they had some relatively lighter options tonight. Just got the goat cheese and tomato tart, battered cod with curry, and no sugar added profiteroles. Cathy got Caesar salad as usual, spaghetti bolognese as an off-me I request, and royal chocolate cake. We said goodbye to our table-mates and our wait staff, and gave the latter their envelopes before heading up to tick off Wade with hallway monitor duty.
Ship is shimmying and bouncing again, hopefully won’t have a repeat of last year’s experience all the way forward, in the dark, on a rocking and rolling... ???
 
 
Kidding! So far, so good.

It's actually common. I eat a ton of Japanese food (there is an excellent Japanese restaurant across the street from my home) - there are no set ingredients besides a base few. After that people use what they have.

Yup, She’s a Geisha. ?

I probably did but the picture made me want it now!

I probably did but the picture made me want it now!

Cruise Summary
Originally booked for a 5 night to Cuba once that cruise was altered and Majesty fares became so attractive it was hard not to book more cruises on her. 
She has a great crew and I really appreciated having time on board to get to know many of them.  It was interesting to see how positions like bartenders and wait staff move to different areas between cruises.  Certain areas maybe more lucrative in terms of volume of drinks served so to keep it fair the beverage staff move around the ship.  The main theater for example is slow compared to the pool bar.  Schooner Bar can be very popular and so on.
The beverage staff know pretty early early in a cruise if it will be a good one for them.  The vibe changes between cruises and each drink served has gratuity applied plus people often tip more.  They like being busy not only since they make more money but also because it makes their shifts go very quickly.  When it's slow the time drags and a shift seems to go on and on.  
This truly is a great thing about B2B and B3B bookings - getting to know the crew and having them recognize you around the ship.  It really makes you feel welcome.  I wasn't the only guest doing multiple sailings.  Some of the guests were completing their B3B when I boarded for my first and others were starting their B3B during my last.
Majesty is an older ship and in places she shows her age yet she has a great crew that makes up for it.  With her move to New Orleans I may need to keep an eye on her to see what aligns with my calendar.  

...and main course, tonkotsu ramen.
?

Day 2
Day 2 is a sea day and kind of a lazy one.  We started with breakfast in the windjammer, followed by his and hers pedicures,.
The windjammer on Mariner is quite nice and wasn't too busy when we arrived.
Afterwards we made our way once again to the Diamond lounge for a little quiet time, and ten to our cabin to enjoy our balcony.  I took some time to start this blog and try out the new notebook I had gotten.  This is our first trip with the new notebook and the key is that it is powerful enough to process photos ant small and portable enough to carry in my camera bag which is only advertised to carry a tablet.  It is performing admirably.

Of course, the view from the balcony was not hard to take either!


Finally the time rolled around to 1PM, the reserved time for Key guests at the Flow Rider.  During the 1 hour session I was able to ride 3 times which is pretty good for that span of time.
There were some younger people there showing how its done.

When my turn came up, I tried starting on my own for the first time.  I have use d the FlowRider on several cruises before and always started with staff helping me.  It all worked out just fine and I was able to get going for several seconds on my first try.
I will upload videos of the first two runs later (VOOM isn't exactly cooperative right now)
On my final try I had a good run and my wife was taking still photos from start to eventual fall.



One note about FlowRider on Mariner compared to other ships is that they have riders lining up across the top of the FlowRider and call the next person down as the current gets started.  On most other ships people have been lined up beside.  Also the staff were making first time riders do a Boogie Board session before stand up.  Riders who had done that first run were given blue wristbands.  I somehow managed not to be made to do the Boogie Board on my first try, then on my second since I didn't have the  wristband they wanted me to do boogie.  I explained that they had already let me do stand up and they just gave me the blue band and let me continue stand up.
That was most of our activity for the Sea Day.  I did manage one more run on the FlowRider before our dinner reservation at Chops and the time spent in line for one turn was about an hour.

 

All I was thinking was ... the other day, I misjudged how close I was to the ATM and hit it with my sideview mirror. ? 

....and claustrophobia kicks right in. I'll stay here.
Very cool, though.