Neesa

OMG, suites lounge packed. But joy of joys, Dudley is the concierge just love him! Dudley told us ship is at capacity, just under 1,000 kids.

Cabin 1804 @Lovetocruise2002 it's super tight. I liked the 2 bedroom aft much better. The views are gorgeous, but for the four of you, no way. Maybe just the two of you, but it's so so tight. Oh and the room attendant worst attitude, worst one we have EVER encountered. Hopefully he is just having a bad day. He was miserable. When I asked for my tea kettle he said no, I asked for ice he said later. The bathroom with the missing garbage is not getting one, he said it broke. What? Just a hole in the bottom shelf, to the floor.

Slow but I'm trying....

Slow but I'm trying....

Boarding was a bit chaotic but we agreed as a family to just pack our patience and count our many blessings. A decent amount of stressed families cutting in line pushing by but in about 20 minutes we were onboard. First stop muster spot. Then we explored a bit before our 1200 Jamie's lunch. As an aside we met eatsleepcruise bloggers Heidi and Don, the light from these two the most amazing and kind people. They, their friends and hubby all took pictures for each other. What a great couple. Jamie's, well we had to wait in line a very long line for the WindJammer before we would arrive. There was another couple and us, I was shocked and when we left it was just us! We don't do phones at the dinner table so I only have a pic of the dessert but every dish was better then expected. We ordered smaller portions of all of the appetizers just so good! Cabin 1804....drum roll please, yikes. We are so spoiled for sure. Couch was really stained, no ice in bucket, broken hangers and a missing garbage can. The bath and a half are so tiny after staying in the crown loft. The view is amazing. We see them and they see me, I have been floss dancing for everyone who looks up. Oh, Jamie's brought out a dessert with a candle, lit! I was shocked, All the servers sang and it was just so special. So long for now. Wifi slow having trouble with pics...

@Pooch3 adults, but it was incredible.

Checked in waiting in the terminal, we had secured a 1030 check in. Nothing special for suites this early as far as check in. Regular line but it was so short, there was signage but the personnel said they weren't using it yet because it was early. Lots of parking, great parking garage with plenty of spaces this early. Staff here seems tired, and avoids eye contact probably exhausted. If you engage them with a smile they are kind in response. No special waiting area for suites, keys, pins it seems. We asked and they said just sit anywhere, they will call us. No worries we are here, the ship is there, my car is secure, all good!

Thanks @twangster yes I booked it for all 3 of us. I appreciate your quick response. Have a great day!

We are here at the Hampton Inn Port Canaveral on 9004 Astronaut Blvd. Clean, close to port, hot breakfast and friendly people. Offers parking for cruise 25.00 per night and a shuttle to the port just 2 miles away, we are driving over but it has what you asked. Not many other amenities, just a place before your cruise. Oh we were lucky it was quiet too.

For today's birthday sailing I booked Jamie's for embarkation lunch. We don't have the UDP because quite frankly I wasn't that jazzed about the specialty dining on this ship for 5 nights. Can we order more then 3 apps and all share? Or is it one per person? Is it the same with the lunch offerings? Thanks so much, reservation at 1200. I figured better to ask late then not ask at all. Thanks everyone!

@Floski I just went down to check for particulars. 25.00$ per night to leave car here in their lot. They have hired a third party shuttle that leaves at 1045 and 1115. If you want another time you must make your own arrangements. They do have sign ups so they know how many are going and what time they prefer. I hope this helps.

@Floski We are parking inside the parking deck at the terminal. After a sailing we like to get in our car and go. This hotel has big beautiful spaces but no protection from the elements like hale, which sometimes are golfball size during raining season. I'm not a fan of the shuttle situation either, this hotel connected to the Home2 both offer the shuttle service which I can imagine will be super packed, almost everyone here is cruising today, I think 3 ships going out. 2 Royal, 1 Carnival. @Ampurp85I guess they are on it. I "clean" the room with clorox wipes and look around good. The floors today anyway are in great shape! Check in 1030, looks like a beautiful day!

I don't believe so. There is someone at the entrance of Bare Foot Beach with a clip board. When you get there they check your name off on the list and give you wrist bands. If they are in a balcony I don't believe they may access the suites beach. Grab a cabana on Nellie's Beach it's right next to Bare Foot for all to enjoy OR great incentive for them to upgrade their cabin!

@Moorea71We did RIU Aruba day pass, we did the family one but there is an adults only one also right next door. Amazing all inclusive experience food and alcohol included. Pool and beach, chairs, umbrellas, towels included. It was our second time there, 5.00 per person for the quick taxi ride over and the bell man calls a taxi for you back to the ship if one isn't waiting there already. We highly recommend from our experiences. The crowd was a nice one, nothing crazy. Resortforaday.com It was just on June 1, 2022 90.00 deposit and 300.00 balance at the resort. Worth every penny. The food had so many choices and the place was clean, food was fresh. I think it was on Palm Beach. Sand and ocean water was gorgeous. Theydid have a casino and spa for extra cost and it's on a boardwalk type situation so you can go for a long walk to explore other hotels. They had an understated security guard posted between the pool area and beach to keep out guests who did not pay to stay. Highly recommend at least the family side. It's expensive so not to many little ones that we saw. There was a little kids camp so maybe that's where they were at. Can you tell I want to go back?

Yes, it seems the contact form simply does not work, I tried a few times and immediately get back this is an auto response but someone will reach out soon.....crickets still waiting. The email above will yield a response of some kind I'm sure. I used to have good luck on social media but that too is not the case anymore.

@Lovetocruise2002 Well this is no intercontinental that's for sure. It's a clean Hampton with a pool, little gym and hot breakfast. About 2 miles from stepping on the ship. Definitely a place that gets the job done but no frills at all. There are a restaurant or 2 within walking distance. Good safe parking and decent area but again about as opposite as intercontinental as you can get as far as amenities, pretty much zero. But the staff here is sooo friendly!

Pretty uneventful drive over. Traffic slowed by the parks. Hotel clean, pool adequate and parking great. We checked out terminal 5 on our way here.

Optional masks on the Oasis & the Allure. (March & May) We were told to make sure we had them when we disembarked at the ports, especially Aruba last week. Not once did we need them, even in Aruba; my daughter & I put them on in the taxi ride from He!! when we were squished in the van with 10-12 people just for peace of mind, there was some sneezing and we were testing for our sailing the next week but in retrospect we were probably fine. We never wore masks anywhere else & while some did we were very happy it was a personal choice. They were not mandated anywhere on the ships, so it was all smiles all day long! Side note: Everyone seemed kind to each other no matter what their choice, I kept thinking all humanity should cruise; all walks of life with so many differences coming together & all sailing in harmony! What a beautiful journey, I yearn for that on land!

Since my introduction to participating in a live blog with @Lovetocruise2002 on her Star Class take over I'm going to document our family sweet 16 celebration cruise. Note: Daughter celebrating, me still scratching my head looking at baby pics thinking where in the heck did the time go? I had her when I was 40, so shocked and happy! Please be kind and don't do the math! Best thing that ever happened to me, after meeting hubby of course, married 30 years in August....together 32 years. Harmony to celebrate our Anniversary 01 August! Mariner of the Seas June 13-18, 2022 Cabin: 1804, it's been a 2X canceled cabin due to pandemic really happy to sail from this perspective. Bringing my motion patches just in case. VP Ocean view Panoramic Suite. Royal Up Bid: Royal Suite still pending, while that would be nice I'm perfectly fine trying out the cabin I have. Antigens negative yesterday, so happy! Stepping off the Allure last Sunday we all felt good but were just a little nervous, all for naught! Concierge contact and host Dudley! Yay, we met him on the first sailing of the Adventure out of the Bahamas back in June 2021. Our only request was a private table for the three of us in the MDR. There are no birthday decorations at all on board as reflected by the cruise planner so I am just bringing some small sweet 16 items to decorate the cabin. The Labadee cabanas are really high so we are just going to skip breakfast and go over early for some chairs in our hidden nook. Embarkation lunch at Jaimies Italian. We have never dined there. We are doing MDR for a change for dinner. Asked for a table off to the side as it usually gets really loud in there. Itinerary: Leaving out of Port Canaveral Terminal 5, Sea Day, Labadee, Sea Day, Coco Cay, Port Canaveral. A quick sailing, I will want to stay on for sure! I asked Dudley if I could bring him anything and he needed some laundry detergent and such, I purchased and packed to discretly give to him, I was so happy he felt comfortable enough to ask. It made me feel good to get something he needed. We are driving over from Tampa FL to Port Canaveral today and staying in the Hampton at Port Canaveral. With the sailing embarkation on a Monday Interstate 4 is never fun, but on a Monday just no! Would rather arrive a day earlier I'm just more comfortable because you just never know! Please be patient and kind, this is my first time doing this blog thing alone, I will try to channel my inner Sabrina to make it as fun as possible. Mariner here we come! Cabana prices are high! Last pic was me last week in Labadee, that is what I plan to do this entire trip....I love the water!

@Cruiser4Life yes, Junior is now on the Allure as the suites concierge! His partner was a young lady who seemed a nice partner for him but he was the one that was "working it" always I didn't see her or interact with her that much. I can't remember her name. He was up and about she sat at the desk working on the computer. The behind the scenes one I'm sure.