CruisinBarb63

Ship -  Mariner of the Seas

Deck -  6

Stateroom # - 6504

Stateroom Category – Oceanview  

Starboard or Port Side - Forward

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – For the most part.  On port days, the noise while lowering and raising the anchor is pretty loud and there is a bit of shaking.  Honestly, other than on our late sailaway in Nassau (midnight), it wasn't a problem since we were up early on port days and on deck during sail away.  Someone who goes to bed early may want to consider the noise and shaking if you have a late port day.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No

Any other comments? -  The view from this cabin is wonderful with the large, round window.  The one thing we didn't know about in advance is the forward facing windows require the drapes to be closed at night so as to not disrupt the bridge.  That was disappointing from a looking at the stars perspective.  

Hi all!  I'm looking to see if anyone has a cruise compass from a 4 night on Mariner since the CD has changed to Ricky mid-January.  Thank you!

We will be doing a Victor Bodden tour next week.  I advised them my son can transfer to a seat so we may not have the vehicle with the lift but I will check it out if they do.

Take the later flight and book a day room at the Hyatt in the airport...best way to end your vacation without rushing or worrying about whether or not you will make your flight.

We love Bernards and also recommend Mailman.  The tour was very insightful and perfectly timed.  We got to Maho just before a line of planes were landing and stayed long enough to see a huge jet take off (and all the people who thought they could hang on to the fence roll into the ocean).  We got to the French side just off lunch hour so we were able to have a nice lunch at a patisserie with no crowds and shop the vendors without rushing.  The rum punch was plentiful and delicious.  Bernard's is a great way to see many parts of the island. 

Mom was on Allure last year after years of cruising smaller ships and other cruise lines.  She refused to make reservations in advance.  She also doesn't like to wait in lines (and the lines were very long for those without reservations according to her ).  Long story short, she saw no shows on her cruise and ate every meal in the Windjammer.  Her next cruise she was sure to make all her reservations well in advance.

The last time they did an increase, you had to be prepaid to be grandfathered in.  We have prepaid just in case.

Happy to be following along.  We have to wait until September 2019 to see this beauty in person.  Enjoy!

We will be cruising September 2019 and will need wheelchair accessible transportation that will be able to accommodate one wheelchair and six other passengers. We will arrive one day before our cruise so we will need transportation from MCO to the hotel in Cocoa Beach then port to airport at the end of our cruise (hotel will arrange hotel to port transportation).

Any suggestions? We are NOT looking for a shuttle. We've done that before without a wheelchair and the wait at the airport, even though we made reservations in advance and checked in before we got our luggage, was horrible. We are looking for private transportation that might even make a stop at a store for some last minute essentials.

Even if you are scheduled to go to New England and Canada, be sure to pack some Caribbean wear, just in case! You don't want to sit on a beach wearing jeans and a sweatshirt should you be re-routed south...it has happened.

Thank you for the great review! I will be taking my then nearly 8 year old son on Harmony next year and I enjoyed seeing a day on the cruise with kids format you presented. I am also a chronic planner and have been struggling as this will be his first cruise and our first possible interaction with Adventure Ocean (if he is interested, and I suspect he will be). I love your humor and story-telling manner. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and hope you enjoy the next as well.

Do you mean to say that if you get a drink package for the cruise ship, you get your drinks included on their private island as well?

Absolutely! Drink packages also work on any Royal Caribbean private island...Cococay and Labadee.

You get a resounding YES from me. We are in Western NY and have to fly to all cruise ports. As a parent who has to take what she can get as far as getting away alone with hubby is concerned, I would definitely love it! We are considering a weekend cruise out of Miami soon. Sitters are willing to take a day or two off from work but not a week. You have to do what you can until the kids can go it alone. Do I prefer 7 or more days...you bet I do. However, I am grateful for anything I can get for now.

I'm not sure of the room configurations but beware if you get a room with pullmans, your kids aren't old enough to use them so you and your wife will be sleeping in the bunks. Be sure to get a sofa bed.

Just an FYI...Myself and my 3 girls, 16, 18 & 20 shared an interior on Independence and we were just fine. If it were me, I would choose the one room for that kind of savings.

I've combed the internet trying to find out what may be next to cabin 6451 on Mariner. Any ideas? Has anyone been in that cabin?

I'm glad to see another live from you! It seems lately, I've been reading one great live to the next (just finished Radio's live). It's like B2B2B...I hope they keep coming! I've got 16 months until my next cruise.

Thank you for bringing us along!

I am a huge fan of eBags packing cubes as well. I use them for business travel so I don't have to check anything. It was also a huge help when I cruised with my three teen/twentysomethings in one room. We each had our own color and it made it so easy to know what belonged to who when we were packing and when we were getting ready daily. I'm sure it would have been a mess and our bags would have been overflowing.

This sale worked for me (they don't always). I saved nearly $100 pp on the Harmony CP Balcony rooms I have booked for September 2019. Others I know, the price was higher. It seems 2 people in a room saved more.

There is almost always a sale. With that being said, I have a cruise booked on Harmony September 2019 and this sale saved us $100 per person. Once you book, if a sale comes up that makes your fare less expensive (same ship, dates, room category), all you have to do it call and have them reprice it.

IF everything goes right? Out of Fort Lauderdale, which is 10 minutes from port, there would usually be no problem pushing it (easily made a 10:35 with time for coffee). But out of Orlando? The port is a minimum of 45 minutes drive...if there are no issues. When we cruised out of Port Canaveral in October, there was an accident that prevented a lot of the transportation from getting to the port. People for the next cruise were sipping their first drinks before our transportation arrived, and we were not alone. Luckily we had a day room at the hotel inside the airport and we were in no hurry to catch our 7:35pm flight. Others were not so lucky.

We will be sailing Harmony in 2019 and I did a lot of research before choosing cabins. I will share with a friend and my 23 & 20 yo dd will share. We chose Central Park balconies. We did consider an OV balcony and CP Balcony across the hall from each other but we all wanted to try the CP experience. There are a lot of included food venues...dining room, Windjammer buffet, Solarium Bistro, Park Cafe, Mini Bites, Sorrentos, Boardwalk Dog House...I may have missed one or two. You say your DS and DD would like soda and coffee so they would like the Refreshment drink package that includes all non-alcoholic drinks, water, specialty coffee and teas (Starbucks not included). The "regular" price is $26 plus 18% gratuity, per person, per day. Watch for sales as your cruise approaches. You can always purchase and if the price drops, you cancel the purchase and repurchase at the lower price. Enjoy your cruise!

There are a lot of generalizations here without even knowing what ship you are sailing. The smaller and older ships sofa sleepers are small. However, the newer ships, Harmony for sure, the sofa bed is a trundle so each person would have their own bed that is pretty much a twin bed, one at couch height and one lower. That being said, I sailed on Indy with my three teen daughters in an inside room with two bunks and they didn't like the bunks. They said they were uncomfortable and the ladders were scary.

Next up for us, connecting Central Park balcony cabins on Harmony!

Thank you for sharing your vacation! You did such a wonderful job I feel like I was there even though it has been snowing on and off at home ...boo! I am dreaming of our trip on HOTS September 2019. It seems so far away yet I know it will be here and gone in the blink of an eye. Again, thank you for sharing and for helping with my planning!

Just curious if anyone has seen the offer over last few months? Our final payment is due on 8/24 and trying to hold off til then to see if anything happens to pop up again :)

I've been watching for a while and haven't seen it. Our final payment is due 8/15 and I've been holding out waiting as well.

Thank you for a wonderful review. Hawaii has never been on my short list of places to go (unless it's on my way to Australia) but i definitely appreciate being able to see it thru the eyes of others. You photographs are spectacular. Thank you!