fireclan

Coco Beach Club always felt like the 'adult only' venue as child pricing for beach club is pretty high.  I also assumed this was going to be a 'solarium' on Coco Cay.  I have not interest in paying for it.  Maybe someday it will be complimentary, if not, I'll find other options for my Perfect Day 😀.

My "other option" for PDCC is to stay on the ship !

Sounds like you got in the wrong line a few times @Petunia.  Glad you enjoyed your trip

I know a lot of people on this board say that they would never pay Disney prices, but having looked at both the new Royal ships and the new Disney ships and prices are not far off. And Disney includes a lot more onboard than Royal does. Adult beach is included at Castaway Cay.

I think an adult only beach would be a nice option but should be zero cost.
It's Ok to charge to go into an adult-only 'club area', but surely a 'free' beach would make sense????
#freebeach #freepizza #kidfree 🫶
 

This.

You might ask a TA for a quote to see if they see inventory that isn't on the website.  

We're going to need to see photos to verify that this even happened.   TIC

I would not go that far...but it is better than Cats.

I looked at Feb 2026 and was curious about suite prices.   🤣 COME ON NOW!!!
 

😬 Prices are NOT good anymore (and haven't been for a while, I know).  But life happens and we have an extra child (we swore no more, but sometimes life as a foster family is unpredictable and in July we said yes to a temporary teen and now he's permanently ours).  Thankfully my husband was on Liberty last week and got him booked into a single cabin at Next Cruise.  The original price they put the cabin on hold with was so high....but then when he went to book it the price had gone down $1k!!!  So still a crazy amount compared to what we paid, but we don't have to leave our new son home!
I emailed Crown and Anchor trying to get him added to our status.  I'm hoping they won't have an issue doing that.  And on Thursday we went and put in his passport application, so fingers crossed DCF did all the paper work correctly (I know he doesn't NEED the passport.  But we do prefer to have passports while cruising).
If you see a frazzled mom trying to avoid 5 kids, be sure to say hi!

My 8 year old twins saw a rule breaking 10 year old smuggle in a flask of apple juice. He was sneaking swigs behind the bean bag chair. 

Recently added a list of suite concierge email addresses as requested by a couple of people.
Anything else that may be useful just let me know. 🙂
Still working on the ability to filter which is coming soon.

Have you seen the video of what happened on voyager the other day? Hit by a rogue 70mph wind gust. Emptied the pools. Took captain about 5 minutes to right the ship. It was crazy! Not sure if this link will work 
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/6138993053/permalink/10161268681758054/?mibextid=S66gvF

I started cruising with RCCL on board the Song of Norway which was a great little ship.  I've now been on 71 cruises and enjoyed all of them.  When my first wife (who I lost to breast cancer) first starting cruising in 1976 we could only afford an inside cabin on a deck with oars!  Image our glee when we got to the ship only to find we had been upgraded free of charge to a cabin with a porthole .  Wow we thought we were in tall cotton, just two young kids enjoying a cruise and being able to see the ocean from our cabin.  We then knew we'd never again sail without porthole.  Imagine our glee when we got to the ship and discovered we'd been upgraded free of charge to a cabin with a veranda!  Well you can guess we always booked veranda cabins after that.  Then we got upgraded to a Grand Suite!  You can guess our last 30 cruises have been on Grand Suites.  I find it kind of sad that current and future cruisers won't know the joy of being upgraded as better cabins today are sold to the highest bidder.  I think RCCL made more money giving out free upgrades knowing cruisers were apt to upgrade to the more costly cabins.  There is something to be said for the "way it was."
Bill

Cruise day!

From the late 40's to the mid 50's, the Navy pier in Bayonne was also home to a second naval diving & salvage school...made famous by Men of Honor (most of which is actually not overly-dramatized and based off true events).
My first cruise out of Bayonne was in the old terminal (which I reminisce about as we drive past on our way out every cruise now), with the bus ride to the ship. I absolutely love the new terminal, very well organized.
I agree with @twangster -- even NCL's largest ships are really outgrowing the pier in Manhattan, so I'm not sure an Oasis class ship could dock there. Having lived in Weehawken previously and watching the ships turn in to those piers, it's a tight fit getting in and out.
Also agree with @BrianB -- probably the only downside is not getting the Hudson River sail out.

I've sailed on the Anthem for 3 Super Bowls pre-shut down. Although not a football fan, I still enjoyed watching some of it in the Royal Theatre where you could choose to sit on the side with other fans of your team. There were pretty good half-time type snacks along the back of the theatre (nachos,  hot dogs, burgers, etc) and, of course, bar service.  None of the commercials are seen, only the game, but there were giveaways of stuff during the commercial breaks. I found it to be sort of festive and fun.

Is this your first baby? You'll probably hear every peep even on the balcony. I generally didn't start ignoring mine until the third or fourth came along...

TLDR; Mariner still has it, great ship and a great cruise.
This is my first trip report and I tend to ramble so apologies in advance.
Travel/Embarkation
(TLDR cake)
We drove to Orlando from NW Fla.  Stayed at the Comfort Suites Orlando Airport. Good stay, unremarkable. Used points to book, felt safe, clean, shower hot, included breakfast was ok. This was our first cruise in a Junior Suite.  We were parked and in the suite lounge area in minutes, and tho I didnt check exact time it felt like we boarded very shortly after our 10:30 check in.  Absolute breeze. MDR
(TLDR breakfast was amazing dinner was hit/miss service was good to great and attentive the 2 nights we ate there and for breakfast)
We ate breakfast every day there. It was really good, and often great.  we tended to get there at or shortly after opening I had the express breakfast (2 scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, wheat toast) 4 days, the market vegetable bowl 1 day (it was not as good as Harmony last year) and the best was the omelet which I inexplicably waited until the last day to have. The wife (who is decidedly not a breakfast person) had the cheddar cheese grits with bacon which she enjoyed). We ate here first two nights. The southern fried chicken is an abomination. I advised my wife not to get it, but there was nothing else that interested her. The only thing worse than the way it looked was how it tasted. As a life long southerner I am personally offended they call this 'southern' fried chicken. I had the spaghetti bolognese first night. It looked at tasted JUST like hamburger helper spaghetti. Here is the thing, I don't mind hamburger helper spaghetti. It was hot/fresh, and took me back to middle school where the lunch room spaghetti tasted just like it. The peanut butter wafer/cookie thing for dessert was shockingly great. Description is not good and it looks basic, but it was amazing. One thing I need to mention. EVERYONE noticed my wife didnt eat the chicken and asked her about it. She was polite and didnt say it was terrible. Both servers and the head guy offered to get her something else. Second night in the MDR we had the beef tenderloin and it was pretty good.  Hot and cooked as we ordered. Mashed potatoes were good, not great.   Portions were noticeably smaller but that is fine with me. We don't tend to eat huge portions and the servers always asked if we wanted more. we were in/out in an hour or so both nights. Never felt rushed nor like it was taking too long. I will strongly consider eating in MDR every night on our Mariner cruise in Oct based on our experience here. It was solid if pretty unremarkable. Specialty dining
(TLDR, good sometimes great)
We ate lunch in Jamies on embarkation day and it was ok. I did it mainly to have a calm lunch and it was that. I was not worth fifty bucks plus additional tip. We ate Chops 3rd night (Labadee) and it was pretty unremarkable. It seemed very busy. The steak was not as seasoned as I recall. I always get my steak rare and the filet I received fit that bill. Not much of a char and it was rare. Jamies was 4th night (Falmouth) and it was also unremarkable. Wife had Lasagna which she enjoyed and I had the chicken parm.  Service and food was good not great. Izumi was 5th night (sea) and it was very very good. Food good, chef good, service and everything. I have eaten at Izumi on Harmony, Independence, and Mariner 3 times and this seems to be a pattern.  The Izumi on Mariner is very good. Chops was 6th night and was as remarkable as the first visit was unremarkable. Steak was rare but had a great char, and was seasoned perfectly. Maybe the best steak I have ever had on RC. Fantastic visit. Excursions
(TLDR terrific)
This was our first visit to Labadee and it was great. We had a beach bed on Adrenaline Beach and the service was great. The drinks were very meh (something I will touch on later) but the view was nice and the bed was a nice base. we were in the water and saw some people wander into the bed area and make themselves at home. If you ever wonder what would happen if you tried that, they did not stay there long). We did the Chukka/Good Hope Estate excursion thru RC in Falmouth. I considered cancelling due to a number of reasons. We went and I am glad we did. It was a chill day by the pool area there. We climbed the water fall and went down the water slide. I didnt take enough cash on this excursion, but the gift shop area took cards. We got a South Beach bed at CocoCay and thats it. Absolutely perfect day (pardon the pun). I will have a hard not doing that the next few times we go there. Just a great beach day. Calm, quiet, amazing. The crispy chicken sammich is curiously great. My wife only like Chik fit A chicken sammiches, but she got one and was blown away.  Bar/service
(TLDR meh)
I think this is the first cruise I did not get value from the DBP Only a few bars had Buffalo Trace, most were out of it The quality of the drinks was wildly inconsistent. I always try to stick to ordering certain drinks from certain bars, but based on the person making it there was not telling what you might get. This went for tenders at the same bar. Some would make drinks differently leaving out ingredients.  Club soda for example. Gavin in the Schooner Bar was my far the best on the ship. I was sitting at the bar waiting when he came back in from not being there a while and several people broke out into applause. The Viking Crown Lounge remains one of my favorite spots on any ship we have been on. Just a great spot Entertainment
(TLDR high and low)
This to me is where the Voyager class ships fall far short of the Oasis class. Gallery of Dreams needs to be replaced The comedian was hilarious in the welcome aboard show. I really wanted to make the adult show with him but we didn't.  Ice under the big top was really fun to us. I think I have seen people say otherwise. Nothing to be said about the skaters that hasnt already been said. Amazing talents. Trivia in the Schooner Bar was fun Cabin
(TLDR wonderful)
As mentioned earlier this was our first time staying in a Junior Suite. I got a great price on it, and figured the only benefits would be priority boarding (not a huge one for us) and double points. I was wrong. The closet was astonishing. The extra room and the 'side' window that was great for extra light changed how we used the cabin.  Some afternoons instead of hanging out elsewhere we would nap in the cabin.  The only thing worn on the ship I noticed was the balcony railing. It looked like it was sanded then left. Almost seemed too uniform to be wear. It was this way as far as I could see both ways on deck 9. this will almost certainly change how I approach booking cabins in the future, it was that enjoyable. I cannot say we have ever had anything below a good steward, but Levy was great. The best we have ever had.  9558 was quiet, clean, in great shape. Accessories
First time with a sound machine and we LOVED it. The cabin was quiet but this made it seem more so. cordless fan was great. Too bad I am an idiot and didnt take a micro usb cable to recharge it. So once it was past initial charge it was a paperweight. It worked great for that. Magnetic hooks are must do. It seems like each cruise we find more ways to use them European outlet adapter. Great, yes, get one for these older ships Packing cubes, meh whatever. Maybe we just dont know how to utilize Assorted
Motion. The water was pretty churned up and the first 3 full days the ship moved as much as I have ever felt on move. We didn't get sick but I understand many did. I had some pretty crazy videos of water shooting 10 feet in the air out of the pool. They postponed the belly flop contest because of it. Fellow passengers. It seemed we noticed more Brits on this trip. Fewer kids. I heard many complaining about the behavior of other passengers but didnt notice any myself. As always, we met several wonderful couples and had great conversation. Sorry for the length and scattershot nature of this. If you are still reading and couldnt tell we love Mariner. We never felt crowded, the sea views are great, the value it there, and we will see her again in October. 
Brad

If gratuity is included by default on a service, there is no reason to feel awkward by not tipping any further

A previous post similar to this was a family with two older kids who did not want to sleep together on the couch that folded out. Could be the case this time, too.

A previous post similar to this was a family with two older kids who did not want to sleep together on the couch that folded out. Could be the case this time, too.

A previous post similar to this was a family with two older kids who did not want to sleep together on the couch that folded out. Could be the case this time, too.

80th Birthday today, will celebrate with two solo cruises in October. Family doesnt like cruising and friends would rather stay home and watch TV LOL!