teddy

We did the Tulum Ruins and Beach Break.....instead of shopping, we went to a beach for lunch after the ruins.  I'm guessing yours is similar other than not going to the beach.

Here's how our excursion went on the Mariner (according to the Cruise Planner, Mariner excursions are an hour shorter than other ships due to ship departure times):

We met in the main theater as per directions on our tickets.  There, different excursions received different color stickers (to put on your shirt) based on which excursion you were going on.  We debarked as groups and immediately boarded a ferry to the mainland (we never left the dock).  On the way to board the ferry, we had to go past a K-9 which checked any bags people were carrying.

The ferry took about 45 minutes once it left the dock.  When we arrived in Playa del Carmen on the mainland,  there were people standing there with signs for each excursion.  Look for the Tulum/Fifth Avenue sign.  We saw it while standing with our group.

Once everyone was assembled, we were led to the buses.  The ride to Tulum was about an hour.  In addition to the bus driver, we had two tour guides with us.  When we arrived in Tulum, we moved as a group until we arrived at the big structure overlooking the water.  Along the way, one of our guides told us about the different things we were looking at.  He was very knowledgeable and shared a ton of info with us. Once we climbed up to the steps to the edge of the water, we had approx 30 minutes to make our way back to the bus by ourselves.  It was plenty of time to get back, and we even had a chance to pick up some souvenirs.  The tour guides were very firm about the departure time, and told us if anyone was late, one of the guides would wait, and the late party would have to pay for a taxi back to port.  Things went very smoothly.  My only regret was I wish we had more time at the ruins.  There is so much to see, and being part of a group, you move only as fast as the slowest person.  There is a lot of walking, so wear comfortable shoes.

Once back on the bus, we went to the beach.  Your excursion would go to the shopping area.  When we got back to the port in Playa del Carmen, one of the guides took us (as a group) right to the ferry to insure no one missed it.

Definitely contact the Department of State to get clear instructions on applying for passports.  As mentioned above, the local agents don't always understand all the rules, especially if they haven't seen your particular set of circumstances.  We dealt with this when my wife applied for a US passport last fall.

Story time.....my wife was recently naturalized after being a resident alien for 40+ years (she's Canadian and we live in Maine...it's kinda like Canada here anyway).  When she got her US citizenship, she received the naturalization certificate that proves US citizenship and was told to bring it when she applied for a passport.  When she went to fill out an application for passport at our town office, they said they couldn't accept it.  No one at the town office had processed an application with a naturalization certificate before, so they didn't understand it was valid.  This was no big deal for us since she has a Canadian passport and could have used that on our cruise.....but in your situation, a lack of knowledge on the part of a passport agent can really screw you.

We went to Tulum on the RC excursion the first week of February.  We felt very safe.....I had no concerns, and I'm one of those people who has a history that makes me.....for lack of a better word...paranoid.

As with everywhere, you should always be aware of your surroundings.  

 

Vision - Oct 10-14, 2019

Adventure - Jan 18-26, 2020

I second the Cafe Promenade....we found coffee there at all hours.

My wife and I literally only drink coffee and water, no matter where we are.  We are also early risers.

On embarkation day, we carried the ceramic coffee cups around with us.  The next morning, we saw paper coffee cups in the Cafe Promenade, but they were kind of flimsy.  We bought travel coffee cups on board.  On the Mariner, they were $12.99 each with 20% off the second one.

It was nice to get topside to watch the sun rise with an insulated, covered coffee cup.



 

3 hours ago, Fuzzywuzzy said:

Betcha it looks nice in July.

I eat my lunch out there in the summer.  Great way to recharge for the second half of the work day.

I would always see the ships there...mostly in fall and never had any desire to go on one myself......until my wife got me on a cruise last month.  Now we have two more already booked. 

This is my view from outside work.  Nice in summer, cold and raw today.

Across the water is where the cruise ships dock in Portland, Maine.   The area looks like this off-season.

I'm really missing sitting on the pool deck in shorts.

On our recent (and first) cruise, we booked an ocean view and had our bid accepted on a balcony.  The balcony was nice, but when we booked our next one through Next Cruise, we decided to go with an interior to save money.  The cruises are cheap enough, but airfare adds as much as another person in the room.  

This past week, we booked a second cruise and went with a guaranteed interior.  Again, cost of cruise + airfare being a major factor.

One thing we both agreed on after having a balcony was that not having it wouldn't have lessened our experience.  We were only in the room to sleep/shower/change.

All that being said, I suspect going to a suite will be like when we went from dial-up internet to broadband...there will be no going back. 

We sailed on Mariner Jan 30-Feb 4 (our first cruise ever).  We booked an Ocean View (9214) and received the upgrade email.  We bid on an Ocean View Balcony.  Minimum bid $100 and we bid $120.  
 

A week before sailing we received notice that our bid was accepted.  We were put in room 8294.  Starboard side, just forward of the "bulge".  Nice room for our first cruise.

Available on Vision now.  

We just bought it for our October 10, 2019 sailing.  $19.99

We went to Tulum on February 2nd of this year while on a Mariner cruise.  There is a 45 minute or so ferry ride to the mainland along with a bus ride (that's closer to an hour) to Tulum.

We booked through Royal Caribbean, and the tour group consisted of people from our ship and Brilliance of the Seas.  We were a little behind schedule getting back to the ferry to Cozumel, but the tour guide told us not to worry because we had all booked through Royal, and they would not leave without us.  The all-onboard time was 6:30 pm, and it was close to 6 by the time we got back aboard.  It was a little nerve wracking.

The group was large, and we could only go as fast as the slowest people.  At times we felt "herded".   I wish we would have had more time at the ruins.  There is so much to see. 

In talking to our cruise-savvy table mates at dinner the next night, they told us that third party tours can sometimes be better because there are less people and more time to see what you are looking at.  That being said, I would be nervous going that far away from the ship on a third party tour.

We are headed back to Cozumel on Vision in October, and as much as we'd like to go back and see more, we will be staying on the island.

 

Sunrise over Cuba on Feb 4th of this year.  It was the last full day of our first ever cruise.  

We were headed back to Miami from Cozumel.  

Edited to add...on the Mariner..

On 2/7/2019 at 3:11 PM, tiny260 said:

I explained this in another thread, depending on your departure conveyance (Driving/flying, etc.) you will provided a colored, numbered tag for your luggage (That has to be put out the night before by 11pm), when they are put back out they are organized by number, so you will not have to sort through thousands of pieces of luggage, just go to your number and then they are relatively easy to find. I'm getting old so I still grab a porter to help, but that is up to you.

I'd like to emphasize this.

Here's my experience:

Our first cruise was Jan 30-Feb 4 on the Mariner.  I STRESSED over debarkation unnecessarily.  Against (what I thought was) my better judgement, we put our bags out the night before with the tags supplied attached.  In the morning, we went to the Windjammer for breakfast then to the Cafe Promenade for coffee while we waited for our luggage tag number to be called.  Our time was 830.  

Getting off and getting our bags was such a simple process.  Our luggage was in the terminal at the numbered section that coincided with our luggage tag.  Facial recognition made the CBP interaction seamless.  We were outside with our luggage in less than 10 minutes.  We were at the Miami airport before 10 am.