Marc Van Niekerk

Not much mystery in mine.  Total lack of creativity and the mvannie of twitter and periscope is a legacy from when usernames could only be 7 charaters (thank you NOVELL)

Thanks for taking us along on this adventure!

New Cruise added to the list, Mar 26, 2021 Explorer of the Seas, 9nt Southern Caribbean

New Cruise added to the list, Mar 26, 2021 Explorer of the Seas, 9nt Southern Caribbean

New Cruise added to the list, Mar 26, 2021 Explorer of the Seas, 9nt Southern Caribbean

four cruises to add to the list:
Ovation June 5, 2020
Vision Oct 19, 2020
Empress Jan 23, 2021
Majesty Jan 22, 2022

four cruises to add to the list:
Ovation June 5, 2020
Vision Oct 19, 2020
Empress Jan 23, 2021
Majesty Jan 22, 2022

Argh!  I typed our departure date not sail date.  Fixing....

Yaaaay..see you there!  Well, actually I won't be there til June 5..but... ?
 

Day 7 / Day 3
Whats better than visiting Coco Cay?  Visiting it again a few days later!
This time I was a little more prepared and looking to take some photos of parts I had missed previously.  We also didn't have a Cabana so we knew the experience was going to be a little different.  Mariner docked back in again, but on the opposite side of the pier.  Thankfully this once again gave us a great view of the island from out balcony.

One thing we had learned from or previous visit was that the shuttles they had taking us ashore were easier to get into the rear facing seat at the back of the cart.  This also gave a neat perspective for photos.

Today we also used the tram once on the island to head to a beach area near the upcoming Coco Beach Club and check out the water there.  This also provided a nice view of the Beach Beds which were at this point uninhabited.


We placed our belongings on a couple of chairs and ventured into the water.  Unfortunately the luxury of the pool from a few days earlier had spoiled us and due to the recent churn from hurricanes in the area there was still a lot of sea grass.  We got in up to just past our knees but that was the extent of before we decided the pool was calling us.
We took a very short walk from the beach area to the pool and found two well placed chairs under an umbrella with a small table and near the stairs into the pool.
 
This was a Sunday and the cruise was populated with many young people and a few bachelor and bachelorette groups.  As a result the bar area of the pool was quite busy.

One other benefit of the location we had chosen was a very close proximity to the Snack Shack.  I really must say those chicken sandwiches are incredible.

For the record you MUST order the Shack Crispy Chicken.  The simple Crispy Chicken just isn't the same.

Pictures following are from another photo walk of the island.


Chill Island Cabanas


Island Tram

Up Up and Away

Straw Market

Harbor Beach


Wedding Pavillion

Mariner of the Seas

Coco Cay Pier and Entrance




Snorkeling Area Beach



Captain Jack's

Skipper's Grill

Island wildlife

Decorative Entryway's




That bring us to the end of most of our photos.  There are a few photos taken using my iPhone that I need to sort through and will post later.

Day 3 Continued
The sun had not quite set but the sky was showing some promise.




We then approached Pearl Island which was our destination for our next visit to Nassau, but more on that later (Day 6)


It was about here that the boat turned back toward the cruise port and directly into the setting sun.

Meanwhile on the Horizon we could see the departing Carnival Sunshine.

I think the overcast sky ended up being a bit of a blessing with even more dramatic contrast for the setting sun.

We grabbed a few Sunset Selfies.



Then the sun really started to approach the horizon quickly.







Meanwhile, we were back alongside the ships on the outside of Paradise Island.

And the sun reached the horizon.

Bathing the Atlantis resort in a golden glow

Back to the setting sun....




A great chance to see Mariner lit up in the dim light


and a last look at the setting sun


Upon return to the ship, Mariner was looking gorgeous all lit up.


We had missed our dining window so we settled for a quick bite in the windjammer before returning to our cabin where we found a cute frog waiting for us.

Up next is Perfect Day at Coco Cay.

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

Day 7 / Day 3
Whats better than visiting Coco Cay?  Visiting it again a few days later!
This time I was a little more prepared and looking to take some photos of parts I had missed previously.  We also didn't have a Cabana so we knew the experience was going to be a little different.  Mariner docked back in again, but on the opposite side of the pier.  Thankfully this once again gave us a great view of the island from out balcony.

One thing we had learned from or previous visit was that the shuttles they had taking us ashore were easier to get into the rear facing seat at the back of the cart.  This also gave a neat perspective for photos.

Today we also used the tram once on the island to head to a beach area near the upcoming Coco Beach Club and check out the water there.  This also provided a nice view of the Beach Beds which were at this point uninhabited.


We placed our belongings on a couple of chairs and ventured into the water.  Unfortunately the luxury of the pool from a few days earlier had spoiled us and due to the recent churn from hurricanes in the area there was still a lot of sea grass.  We got in up to just past our knees but that was the extent of before we decided the pool was calling us.
We took a very short walk from the beach area to the pool and found two well placed chairs under an umbrella with a small table and near the stairs into the pool.
 
This was a Sunday and the cruise was populated with many young people and a few bachelor and bachelorette groups.  As a result the bar area of the pool was quite busy.

One other benefit of the location we had chosen was a very close proximity to the Snack Shack.  I really must say those chicken sandwiches are incredible.

For the record you MUST order the Shack Crispy Chicken.  The simple Crispy Chicken just isn't the same.

Pictures following are from another photo walk of the island.


Chill Island Cabanas


Island Tram

Up Up and Away

Straw Market

Harbor Beach


Wedding Pavillion

Mariner of the Seas

Coco Cay Pier and Entrance




Snorkeling Area Beach



Captain Jack's

Skipper's Grill

Island wildlife

Decorative Entryway's




That bring us to the end of most of our photos.  There are a few photos taken using my iPhone that I need to sort through and will post later.

Day 5 / Day 1
Today was turnaround day and since this was our first B2B it was a new experience.
We purchased The Key for our first leg at a sale price since it included VOOM usage, priority lines for FlowRider, as well as embarkation lunch and special disembarkation meal.  We knew all along that the priority disembarkation wouldn't be used.
Breakfast was served in the main dining room on deck 5 and this was also the staging area for the disembarkation.  The menu was a slightly modified MDR breakfast menu and included Salmon Benedict.  This was a very enjoyable meal in a much more relaxed atmosphere than the usual Windjammer breakfast on disembarkation day.
The directions for consecutive cruisers had been delivered to us and as we had the same cabin it really couldn't have been easier.  We left all our belongings exactly where we had unpacked them and that was that.
Our cabin steward for the first leg had informed us that he would not be with us for the second leg as his contract was ending and he was returning home to his family until his next contract.  We made sure to leave him his gratuity on night 4.
From the MDR in the back of deck 5 we headed to the Star Lounge at the bow of deck 5 which was the designated location for consecutive cruisers.  There we were joined by about 15-20 others who were returning aboard.  After a short wait, the Loyalty Ambassador and another crew member came around to give us our new seapass cards and explain the process.  Once the ship was near 0, we would be escorted to deck 4 to exit the ship and be scanned out with our old seapass cards.  We would them visit with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and wait in a lounge area for the ship to reach 0 passengers.  Once that was completed we would be escorted back onto the ship where we would be required to scan in with our new cards. 
Everything went exactly as described and was even easier due to the Facial Recognition system in Port Canaveral cruise port.  After a short wait in the lounge we returned and headed directly to the Solarium to enjoy the quiet ship to ourselves.
We were back on board the ship by approximately 10:15.
After an hour, we started to notice people walking through the Solarium and surmised that general boarding had begun.
One item to note is that the letter we received indicated that we would have access to our stateroom before the general call.  We found that the doors to the corridors were closed but I was able to open them and we could return to our cabin where I wanted to change to swimwear to get some time on the FlowRider.
This come back to one of @Matt's pieces of advice that the best time to use some of those features is on embarkation day when people are still getting their bearings and possibly not dressed for the activity.
This hits most of the highlights of the day.  Not a day that I took photos but as with any day on a cruise it was very enjoyable.

Holy smokes. What a thread!!!!  Looks like you had a great time, and the photos are over the top, amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. 

Biggest mistake was probably on our first cruise.  We had arranged air travel and cruise through a travel agent and flights were the same day as the cruise.  The travel day was so tiring and stressful due to weather and traffic getting the airport, finding our transfer from airport to ship, etc. that once cabins opened we went to our cabin and passed out, completely missing sail away.

We have used this service and it worked very well although the need to get to the ship early is one you will need to sacrifice.
We flew in to Orlando and stayed at an airport area hotel.  Because we had a group of 4 and arrived early in the day we did a short term car rental to allow us to do some running around and sightseeing.  In general you need to use the hotel shuttle to get to your hotel, this service does not actually cover that piece.
Once at the hotel things go as usual and in the morning you go down to the lobby where there is a representative from GoPort who will help arrange the transfer.  The buses they use are generally the large coach type.  They take passengers to all the different terminals on one bus and pick up a multiple hotels.  We visited the Carnival and Norwegian terminals before Royal.  We were definitely not early arrivals, the terminal was busy. If memory serves we did get there before noon.
Post cruise was the best part.  We exited the ship, had a porter help with luggage and then passed through CBP.  From there we exited the terminal and walked to the ground transportation area where there was a podium with the GoPort logo.  The took charge of our luggage and we were shown to the bus. After a short wait (until the bus was filled up)  we left for the airport.  At the airport we were instructed to keep our seats while they unloaded the luggage and then everyone exited the bus.  We had a relatively early flight (1PM) and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
WE loved the service in particular because we had some guests with us who were first timers with limited mobility.  The service was predictable and reliable and the overall cost was more than reasonable for our party.
Would I do it again? Probably and partially. On our last cruise we used their service back to the airport.  We were travelling just the two of us and I had enough points for a free hotel in PC proper.  We rented a car at the airport again, did our sightseeing and met up with friends.  Spent the night at hotel, drove to terminal in the morning about 9:30, dropped off luggage, drive to rental return, returned car and got the the port by 10:30 which was much more to our taste of arriving early.  The post cruise experience was exactly as before and we loved it.
 
Hope that answers some of your questions @Cruising_Woj and if you have any specific questions I would be happy to try to help.

Biggest mistake was probably on our first cruise.  We had arranged air travel and cruise through a travel agent and flights were the same day as the cruise.  The travel day was so tiring and stressful due to weather and traffic getting the airport, finding our transfer from airport to ship, etc. that once cabins opened we went to our cabin and passed out, completely missing sail away.

Biggest mistake was probably on our first cruise.  We had arranged air travel and cruise through a travel agent and flights were the same day as the cruise.  The travel day was so tiring and stressful due to weather and traffic getting the airport, finding our transfer from airport to ship, etc. that once cabins opened we went to our cabin and passed out, completely missing sail away.

Biggest mistake was probably on our first cruise.  We had arranged air travel and cruise through a travel agent and flights were the same day as the cruise.  The travel day was so tiring and stressful due to weather and traffic getting the airport, finding our transfer from airport to ship, etc. that once cabins opened we went to our cabin and passed out, completely missing sail away.

Thank you all! I decided to book a tour with RC!

I second the recommendation of @WAAAYTOOO.  We took an excursion to Tulum years ago during a cruise on Celebrity and thankfully we did book through the cruise line because we arrived back to the ship so late that they brought in the walkways directly behind our group's arrival and set sail from the port (at about 8:30PM)

Thanks all!  The RC excursion dropped to $78 per person with the Black Friday discount, so I went for it.  I wouldn't usually book an excursion for something we could potentially do on our own, but with such a short time window, and the price only being about $20 more per person than doing it on our own (without even figuring in the cost of a Lyft or Uber), I figured it was worth it.

Based upon our trip there on our own before a cruise and some feedback I have seen here, I would suggest that if there is an RCL excursion that may be your best option.  They cover the transportation, admission and from what I understand they give a bit of a priority to the bus tour around the site.  We spent 2 hours waiting in line for the bus tour which takes a large chunk of your time.  Also the RCL excursion will ensure you get back to the ship on time.

Camera envy is real. I was drooling over someone's Sony mirrorless camera, but had to walk myself back off the edge and remind myself my current camera is still very good.