twangster

Time to move indoors. Main Dining Room Seeing how this is a sea day, all the shops were open. The main logo shop has also received an update and is very modern and fresh compared to this shop on other ships. Down to deck 4. (Saving The Bamboo Room and Playmakers for later). The elevators retain the day of the week signs on the floor. Boleros Cigars for sale in the corner of Boleros in a humidor. Starbucks is opposite of Boleros but I'm going to give it a post of it's own. Through the casino to the Schooner Bar. Some of the selections available at the Schooner Bar

No cruise on a Voyager class ship would be complete without visiting the helipad. King of the World! So peaceful out here.

The rest of this deck area is a nice, quiet sun deck for those who don't want the commotion or noise of the main pool deck. Glass dividers break the wind. This feature has been used on other ships as they have been updated such as Liberty. New to Mariner in this area are cooling showers to rinse off when sunbathing in this area. Leaving this area and heading back towards the main pool deck you can look down into the adult only Solarium pool area. From here you can climb up to a small sun deck overlooking the main pool area below. The Sky Bar has been replaced with the Sky Lounge. New seating options have been added with full relaxation oozing out of them. Down through the Solarium to check out the Peak-a-boo bridge. As a cruise nerd I'm glad to see this was retained.

Mariner Dunes is new and placed on top of the deck above the new Panoramic Ocean View cabins at the front of the ship. This is easily one of the nicest mini-golf courses in the fleet.

Day 4 - Sea Day I woke to find the ship still in the water. It was weird having the aft view yet seeing no wake. As if the bridge realized I had caught them, a few minutes later we began moving. The ship is very smooth. I could see the initial thrust of water from the props spinning up yet I felt nothing to speak of. With that we were on the move. I spotted another ship and noted it was a yacht transporter. Oh the problems of the rich... "Lovey, just how will we get our yacht over there?" Breakfast in the Windjammer then I walked around the upper decks. I hadn't tried the slides or Skypad yet and found them in the cruise compass opening at 9am. I hoped by showing up right at 9am there would be no lines. I was right. You have to be dry for Skypad so I did it first. Skypad weighs you, you sign a waiver on a tablet and then they give you a wrist band with some letter and numbers written on it based on weight. The numbers instruct the Skypad operators how many bands and which type to connect for you, As you can imagine a fully grown man weighs much more than a child 4 decades his junior. Using the same strength of bands for both wouldn't work so by weighing you they can connect the correct amount of tension and strength of bands. You can just jump around or you can put on a virtual reality headset and play a game that requires jumping up and down. I opted for the 'Sports' game. After they strap you up while kneeling on the edge of the ump trampoline, you stand and they take up the tension so you are in jump position and then the game starts after some instruction in the VR headset. In this game large balls come your way and you need to deflect or block them by looking in that direction while jumping. One comes from the left, another from the right, one from below, one from above and so on. It lasts a couple minutes and then you are ranked. I was in the top 600! (545 I think of 5,000+). It was a workout! But also a lot of fun. After that I dropped my shirt on a chair and climbed the tower for the water slides. No lines. Perfect. I tried the right one first, then I climbed back up the stairs and did the other slide. A couple of kids were in the rotation but timing was perfect and I was able to go in the other slide as soon as I had finished the climb. The slides are similar but the first one featured a series of color bands lit by the sun that you zoom through that I preferred over the more solid appearance inside of the left slide. Both feature a clear section where you briefly see daylight and your surroundings before plunging back into the special effects while you turn, spin and descend towards the bottom. A great addition for sure and a lot of fun. Back to my cabin for a conference call. By this point we were doing almost 8 knots and making our back towards Florida. It was the last day! Really, so soon? I don't normally do short cruises and it was odd. "Wait, am I getting off... tomorrow?" Ugh. There was so much I wanted to see and try and take pictures of. I better get moving.

They have fresh water rinse tanks and a hose beside the dive shop. Tendering was easy, but they run on a cycle and how many tenders run depends on how many guests are trying to use them. I rinsed my stuff in the shower in the cabin then headed back. I didn't rush or try to time tenders perfectly, I just went with it. Depending when you reach the tenders and where they are in the cycle will determine wait time before departure. I was in my cabin at 11:30am taking the picture of the flat seas off my balcony, the picture of Mariner's bow with her name from the tender was at 11:57am, then the pictures of the lockers and straw market were at 12:08pm followed by the Black Beard sign was at 12:15pm. I puttered in my cabin, gathered my good camera, lens, hat, applied sunscreen, etc. I didn't try to rush back, I just went about my business and walked down to the tender when ready. No lines to speak of, a few people, but the rush tends to be 9-10am when people have finished breakfast and become focused on getting to the island.

This site is a private site owned and run by Matt Hochberg. He deserves the credit for creating it and evolving it into everything that is great about it. There is not a charter that we all agree to when signing up but out of respect for Matt and all he has accomplished I would not introduce a non-RCCL brand here. I still have 9 RCI cruises left mostly in 2018. I'm not going to avoid booking future cruises with RCI. They've only lost my exclusivity, it's still a great product within the cruise industry. I doubt I'll blog those cruises though. It's a lot of work and promotes a company that returns no value. In other words the pay sucks ?

Just wait, I'm, going through my sea day pictures now. I'll post some of the new venues soon. It's too bad they couldn't get to the cabins for some TLC. However who spends much time in their cabin on a ship like this?

The dive master pulls a rope that has a floating "diver down" flag attached which is quite common in high traffic areas. On the surface a co-worker stays close on a jetski and tracks us by that float. In case an errant guest on a jetski were to approach they would keep them at a distance. If a diver has any issues the surface crew can render assistance as well. Several of the full time island crew are life guards but also dive masters themselves. They take turns doing multiple duties. Vision class ships don't have an on-board dive shop so when they call on Cococay the dive masters from the island run the dive. While the food and beverage team from the ship cater food and bar service on the island, other island functions fall onto the full time island employees. Beach umbrellas, jetski and kayak rentals, lifeguards, diving, snorkel rentals, etc. The last fish in the rock was a large puffer fish, one of the larger ones I've seen. The problem with a GoPro is the lens is a partial fisheye for a very wide angle perspective but even 3' away you lose a lot of detail.

Day 3 - Dinner Wear Your Best night. This replaces 'formal' night. Some dressed up, some didn't. That's the point. Dress as you see fit. Moroccan Spiced Ahi Tuna After dinner I realized i hadn't been to the pub yet. There I found a Scot in a Kilt playing guitar music. He was pretty good. Pub menu A quick speed test to see how Voom is doing. That latency is a killer. Definitely not O3b but good enough for general internet use. Eventually it was getting late and time for bed so I went back to my room. We had reversed course and went in the direction towards Nassau before changing course, then idling and floating still in a deeper area. Here we spent the rest of the night not moving very much. I think the point was to get away from the heavily used shipping lanes between Nassau and Florida.

Back on the ship it was time. Kraken Lavaflow.

Quick side note - the area to the right of the floating bar and in front of the beach loungers is sandy and the sand extends quite far out. Most of the time you can walk out and at low tide it's knee deep way out there. This is the area where lemon sharks are known to swim. They appear to be harmless and will swim away if you approach them. Borrowing some photos from the next stop here a few days later when I snorkeled in this area: As hard as I tried i could not keep up with them. And there are some jellies: The water was just deep enough to snorkel.

Day 3 - Continued After the dive I headed back to the ship to change and get my good camera. The seas were very flat and looked beautiful in the sunshine today. @Boston Babe - note the scooter parking to the left. This is right where the tenders operate from now today. In the coming phots you can see how the area is pretty sandy and I'm not sure a scooter would do well in it. This remains the map they are using for Cococay. I've seen people ask about lockers: The straw market: By this time lunch was served: Lots of fresh fruit. Ice Tea, Lemonade, Fruit Punch and water are included. Cookies and other desserts. Not far away is a bar with a large covered area to escape the sun if you need to. One of the trams to get around. They had a ballon toss and other family friendly activities going on. The new pier under construction.

Day 3 - Cococay Certified Scuba Dive The certified scuba dive was on sale a couple months before sailing for $11 off so I jumped at it. It is single tank shore dive but it's inexpensive and it's always good to keep current by diving often. After we arrived from the tender it's a short walk to the dive shop. There they match you up with the equipment you previously identified. I brought my mask and snorkel but didn't want to pack my big scuba fins for just one dive so I requested fins from them. The tank, regulator and buoyancy compensator were all included as well. They had defogging spray on hand. They locked the shop while we were diving so we were able to leave anything we needed to inside. We all prepared our own gear and then our dive master brought us to a picnic table to go over the dive profile and confirm hand signals. We were assigned dive buddies even though we would stay in a close group. Next we put on our BC's and carried our fins and mask over to the beach. We waded in waist deep and put on our fins and mask. From here they have a couple of Jetskis with floating baskets they towed behind them. We slid on and grabbed a rope to be slowly pulled over to the dive site away from the snorkel area. There our instructor verified we had appropriate weight and could control our buoyancy before signaling for us all to submerge. Soon we began to see various marine life and our dive master led us along the route she had outlined in the briefing. Maximum depth was around 37 feet which is nothing. Visibility was good and there was little to no current. We had been advised we might see nurse sharks but there were none on this occasion. After the dive the Jetskis returned to pull us back one by one to shore. I did not wear a shorty but had brought my full rash guard which is a lightweight lycra material good in case of jellies or accidentally brushing against coral. Some of the women wore shorty wet suits. It was a very easy dive and for the money well worth it. We were done by 10am so it left lots of time for people to join back with family and still have ample time to enjoy Cococay. Condensed video here:

Day 3 - Cococay Cococay isn't very far from Nassau so with an 11:30pm sail away from Nassau it's pretty easy to get there on time. I woke to this. Not bad. On Mariner you can't use your cabin TV to review your SeaPass account so I used the free Royal Caribbean app to keep an eye on charges. So far, so good. All charges are as expected. My Certified Dive excursion through Royal comes with the added benefit of a dedicated tender boat transfer before the general tenders start running. A pier is under construction but for now, smaller tender boats transfer guests from ship to shore. It's been this way for decades. The new pier will be change all that... soon. A note about the a certified dive excursion: On day one I found a letter in my cabin explaining I needed to stop by the PADI Dive Center on boarding day by 6pm. That's easy to miss on boarding day. They need to see your C-Card and ask a few questions such as how much weight you need, what equipment you need and sizes. Only then do you get your actual excursion ticket. Having done that my excursion ticket said to meet at 7:45am in the Schooner Bar. Here our dive instructor from the onboard PADI 5 Star dive shop met us and we signed a waiver. Before 8am we headed down to a waiting tender. Normal tenders start at 8:30am and from deck 4 I could hear some people complaining "why do they get to go first?".

At 11pm the Bahama Breeze Pool Deck party commences. Mariner features "Late Night Snacks" in the Windjammer from 10:30pm to 12:30am. A few ships have dabbled with this concept on a limited basis but Mariner has it consistently so I wanted to see what it is all about. On this occasion it was burgers and hot dogs, roasted chicken, Cous Cous, tortilla and fajitas. This was shortly before it closed so I'm not sure if I missed more that might have been available earlier. I observed around 15-20 guests digging in on this quick stop after midnight.

I took a number of night shots from different angles. Some are long exposure to blur the reflections in the water. The first one is a normal exposure. I tried experimenting with zooming during the long exposure on some. I can't decide which I like the most so here are some of the best ones.

Off to The Bamboo Room to sample some of their unique cocktails: Here is 'On The Run" served in a plastic pouch with handles so you can carry it around the ship. Next to Playmakers. Playmakers participate in Diamond Happy Hour for those Diamond or higher in the Crown and Anchor Society. We were here in Nassau until 11:30pm and with it now being dark I wanted to get some night photos of the ship so off I went to grab my camera and head off. The promenade aft while I was on my way out.

They had a table setup with some specialty dining menus: Jamie's MDR Breakfast:

I spent the afternoon working then went to dinner. I saw a kids menu so took a picture for any parents wondering what the MDR is like for kids: Adult menu: Wedge Salad: Forgot to take pictures of the remaining courses but the Beef Tenderloin was good.

As an aviation geek my intention today was an experience in a 737 simulator open to the public in Nassau. While I was at the hotel in Miami I got a call. A bulb had blown in a projector. Being in Nassau they don't have access to resources like we do in the U.S. so they had to cancel my reservation. Fortunately because of my double dip I had already booked a second appointment during my Enchantment visit to Nassau. I have a projector in my home theater and have gone through this myself. Just like they did, I had a spare on hand from Amazon and just like me, their Amazon spare bulb lasted 10 seconds. I totality felt their pain - been there, done that. In their case it was costing them money. In my case it was just annoying and I ordered a bulb from a real projector outlet instead of Amazon. 'No problem' I told them and they were super nice and apologetic about it all. They assured me it would be fixed before my Enchantment stop a few days later. That left me without an excursion. Since it was a weekday I decided to work. Gotta pay for these cruises... After a few hours of work I needed to stretch my legs and I was hoping I might get some pictures in the AMPED adult only solarium without interrupting any fellow guests. On my way there... Pool deck surfer dude: Saw the ice cream machine on the pool deck close to the Windjammer so adding that here as well. Flowrider in action. The Solarium is for adults only. It has it's own pool and hot tubs, plus its own bar. The pool area is open to the sky but there are also covered areas for those who want to stay out of the sun. I noted the cubby holes on the wall where you can put towels, shoes, etc while in the tub. Another great addition instead of using a longer or chair to put your stuff on even though you aren't using that lounger or chair. Some of the solarium is similar to other ships albeit with a modern and fresh color design. However they have also added these new beach bungalow type beds. Very nice! Wow! Super great upgrades to the solarium. I hope they continue this on other ships getting ready to be AMPED. Of course just off the solarium forward port side is the door that leads to the Peak-a-boo bridge mentioned earlier, or you can just step out onto a small balcony/walkway to look around outside. The new solarium updates should be a big hit.

My intention was to head to the Windjammer for breakfast but the morning sunrise and pool deck caught me eye. They've done a really nice job with the upgrades. If the rest of the ships scheduled to get AMPED turn out as well I can see myself spending a lot of time of Voyager class ships. Once again I checked the free MarineTraffic.com app and saw we were approaching Nassau. Breakfast can wait, down to deck 4 to catch the lighthouse as we enter port. Not the best lighting or sunrise but what can you do? The scope of our arrival into Nassau: https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BRJjeQLwdRGw My stomach was letting me know it's time for breakfast. The entrance to the Windjammer has been updated in a style somewhat similar to Harmony. Hand washing stations were installed instead of just having hand sanitizing stations. Very fresh and modern, another upgrade I like.

Day 2 - Nassau Our arrival was slated for 8am. I woke early and saw the making of a sunrise. I hadn't even thought of visiting the sports deck the day before so I though there might be some photo ops with the sunrise and lack of other guests. Walking around I noticed how they really amped up the LED lighting around the ship. The viewing seats for the Flowrider for example: A light rain started from a small rain cloud we passed under so I took cover up by the Diamond Lounge outdoor sitting area. They've done a really nice job on the sports deck and I was looking forward to trying a lot of it.

Wandering the ship I came across The Bamboo Room. I'll add more pictures later but wanted to see if I could find @CruiseLifeRick's photo on the net. Found it! @mpoole3 tried to bribe me with an offer to remove it but rest assured, I left it in place. I spent some time exploring the ship and planning how I might take some pictures on another day. I noted in the Diamond Lounge they had removed the bar from within the lounge. Two waiters were serving drinks from a pantry service bar down the hall. It felt pretty awkward standing around waiting to place an order for 20 minutes so I left and used by diamond happy hour 'coupons' at the pool bar. The Viking Crown Lounge had a private party - the wedding party that boarded today I presume. I'm not sure where the time went but it was getting late. I checked the MarineTraffic.com app for our position. At nearly 1am we were approaching Freeport getting ready to make the turn into the shipping channel towards Nassau. With that, day one was complete. Time for bed.

I noticed in the app that the ice skating show was tonight. Normally held later in a cruise I guess with the short 3/4 night cruises they've placed it on night one. I'm not a huge figure skating fan. However I'm always amazed how they can perform as much as they do on a small sheet of ice on a ship, moving in the ocean. Amazing. Spinning around hanging on a rope in mid-air with skates on. Wow! It's a fun show where in some parts they skate right up to the railings and lean over almost into your lap. Having scored a front row seat is was pretty cool. I always try to make it to the ice skating shows on the ships that have them and "Ice Under the Big Top" on Mariner did not disappoint. On this 4 night cruise it was also available later in the cruise on another day (day 4, sea day, 3pm)