Marc Van Niekerk

Continuing on, I realize that I didn't discuss itinerary.  Both sailings are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.  The 4nt (first leg) has us embarking on Monday, a Sea day Tuesday, Nassau Wednesday, Coco Cay Thursday and back to Port Canaveral on Friday.  Our second leg omits the sea day an visits Nassau and Coco Cay in that order.

For the first visit to Nassau, we have scheduled a sunset cruise.  We figure this will give us a nice opportunity to see Nassau from a different perspective since we have been there so many times.  In Coco Cay we managed to snag a great deal on an Oasis Lagoon Cabana.  We have never had a cabana so that will be a nice experience.

2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Have a fun B2B! Does this mean you're getting a total of 3 days in Coco Cay (2 on the first leg, 1 on the second), or is each leg only doing a single stop?

Unfortunately, we only have 2 days at Coco Cay.  Real time, it is presently Day 2 and we are at sea coasting to Nassau.

Sea day is  a great way to relax though.

We began out vacation a day before as @Matt always suggests, and took advantage of the day in the Port Canaveral Area to tour Kennedy Space Center.  It was an interesting visit, but I'm just not sure it was worth the cost.  We booked our admission in advance and feel that the $52 USD admission was a bit high for what we experienced.  It was interesting but not blow your mind.  I managed a few photos on the bus tour but the 2 hour wait was longer than the tour itself.  The highlight was probably the Apollo/Saturn V Center where you can experience a simulation of the launch as well as tour an arena where a Saturn V rocket is on display.  The bus tour also took us past SpaceX and their launch facilities as well as the massive Vehicle Assembly Building.

Redstone Rocket

Space X Launch pad

NASA SLS Launch pad

Transport Crawler

Cralwer Path

Orion launch abort module

Vehicle Assembly Building

Apollo / Saturn V Control Room

Saturn V Rocket

Atlantis Pavillion

This is our first ever back to back cruise, our first as diamond, our first cruise on Mariner and out first visit to the newly renovated Coco Cay.  We chose this cruise for the ship and the chance to visit Coco Cay since it seems EVERYONE has already had the opportunity.

We managed to get the same aft corner balcony for both legs of the cruise so that is a definite bonus.

I will try to keep this up as we cruise but I am also trying to focus on relaxation.  

I will begin at Day 0 in my next post.

A couple to add,

June 5, 2020 Ovation of the Seas

October 19, 2020 Vision of the Seas

This would truly combine two of my passions, cruising and motor sport.  I will have to dig in more!

We have done the RCL excursion to Atlantis a couple times and both times it was a water taxi that took us over. Enjoyed it pretty much. Walked through the aquarium exhibits, visited the beach and one of the pool areas. Water taxi drops you at a marina with shopping and you walk in to the resort area with a guide. Afterward you are on your own to make your way back to that same area to catch a water taxi back to the cruise port. Hope that offers some answer to your inquiry.

10 minutes ago, Matt said:

Spoiler alert: At that price, you're going to love it.

Pretty much agree considering that now that same cabana is going for $799 which is still a bargain compared to other prices I have seen reported.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

First noted on Empress so I inquired some more here on Majesty.  Powdered or "bulk" scrambled eggs are a thing of the past.  They were having trouble with the product turning black upon cooking so the fleet has standardized on fresh eggs being used for scrambled eggs, in fact for all egg purposes, only fresh eggs are used.

This is a very interesting note.  Any idea how long this has been the case?

6 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I'm looking forward to your assessment of the Oasis Lagoon cabanas - We have one booked for our "girl's trip" in early December (yep, the one we snagged for $309 - hehe)

56 minutes ago, Matt said:

You got a much better deal than I did.  

I'll be curious how I like them, or more to the point, how different it is from the other cabanas.  My working theory is they are all the same, it just happens to be a question of where you want to spend your time (beach, pool, or waterpark).

Similarly looking forward to @Matt's review.  WE are booked for October in an Oasis Lagoon Cabana.  Will be our first ever cabana and we managed to snag it for the bargain price of 299 which is close to what we have spent on beach bed or bungalow at Labadee.

On 8/17/2019 at 11:39 AM, twangster said:

Tipping is always a good idea for Diamond happy drinks as the bartenders get nothing for serving one.  A benefit of good tipping is great service and the bar staff have taken care of us night after night.  I'm going to miss that too.

Thanks for the advice.  As a newb to the Diamond ranks, what is the usual tip in such a situation?

One thing I have experienced (but my MEI agent John helped deal with) is that if you book at NextCruise and get the deferred OBC if you re-book a better deal at a later date they will (try to) take away the OBC.  Not sure what happens if you took the immediate OBC but that may be the better option.

That is why i LOVE this board!  Thanks!

4 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

You can find them at Crown and Anchor Society website.  Here is the link.  http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/benefits/diamond-members/

I understand, but this is a broad strokes description.  I am looking for the sheet found in your stateroom upon embarkation that gives details such as BOGO drinks, VOOM Discount %, etc.

Here is the one I have from EMERALD.

We have recently achieved Diamond status and are preparing for our first cruise at that status.  I'm curious to see if anyone can share a recent benefit sheet from on-board.  I know the general discounts but I am looking to see the specifics.

Thanks in advance

Thanks!

Here are some screen shots for the curious 

It appears the itinerary updates are flowing out to the RC App.  I just checked a couple different Majesty sailings for June and they show a mix of Nassau / Coco Cay / Costa Maya / Cozumel to fill in the gaps.

19 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Pajamas...true story lol.

Literally, we have done the same thing.

14 minutes ago, joshvc said:

For us, the math works out, because we'll down 2-3 of the coffee per day on vacation, juice at breakfast, and plenty of soda and mocktails along the way.

I had forgotten the juice at breakfast!  That is the fresh squeezed from the Windjammer, right?

I am looking at the cost effectiveness of the Refreshment Package which for an upcoming sailing I can get for $20/day with the Memorial Day Sale.

I'm sure the details are here somewhere but my searches have not been very fruitful....

Can anyone help with the cost of the following without a package:

Soda

Specialty Coffee

Bottled Water

Virgin Cockatils (Pina Colada, etc)

Thanks in advance!

44 minutes ago, markm said:

Its been a few years since I cruised but have they changed their policy on making payments on your sea pass cards? I too have always selected credit card payment, however ion the past during the cruise I've gone to guest services and paid down some of the charges in cash. My original question about paying some of it in Erous was because all the port we  hit use euros but not at the origin UK. Changing back into US dollars here in the States is a lose lose

Didn't quite understand that from your original question. 

I haven't used my cash to pay down at guest services, however I do believe that is still an option.  

From our experience it can depend upon how you answered some questions in checking in.

We are from Canada and there is a question at the bottom of the online check in asking if you want RCL to charge your credit card in USD or use their exchange rate to convert to your credit card currency (in our case CAD).

I have gone to Guest Services on-board to confirm my preference (mostly because our credit card gives extra cash back for USD spending).

21 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Wish I could see your pics!  For some reason I cant see them again in either Chrome or IE....so weird....and only at work....but doesn't happen to anyone else's blogs...

 

Must be the bot factor!...ha

 

Enjoy!

Any chance you are behind a firewall blocking IMGUR?  I believe @twangster hosts his photos there.

Just now, SpeedNoodles said:

Yeah, my Oasis Lagoon Cabana also has the letter "G" on it.  I'm really looking forward to the reports coming back from people going to the island over the next month or so.

This would likely support that the letter is a grouping for the cabanas and not an assignment. Our Oasis Lagoon is G as well