ChristyLNDRN

We really enjoyed our day here.  Food and drinks were good, service was friendly and fast.  Luis and Alexis took great care of us all day.  We ate, we drank, we climbed the inflatables (note to self..if you climb to the top of the iceberg, what goes up must come down😳😂) we kayaked and paddle boarded and floated in the pool.  Stayed until about 2 then headed back to the ship. 
 

Day 4–Cozumel

This would be my 3rd visit to Cozumel, 2nd for Mike and 1st for the kids.  We just wanted an easy beach day.  Had previously been to both Chankanaab (2013) and Paradise beach (2006) but decided in favor of Paradise beach since I figured the kids would be occupied most of the day with the water toys. 
 

Loved arriving so early at both of our port stops.  We were docking just before 7. 

We had breakfast in the Windjammer and I believe the ship was cleared before 8.  A quick walk through the shopping area to the taxi area and we were on our way.  Taxi to Paradise beach was $15 and maybe 15 mins.   You can pay a la carte or go all-inclusive. You also can make a reservation ahead of time but with all the uncertainty these days I didn’t want to do that and have to worry about getting a refund.  We had no problems just showing up.  
 

We went with the all-inclusive plan. It was $186 for the 4 of us.  I believe that broke down to $58 for the adults and $35 for the kids.  Included all the food, drinks and use of kayaks, paddle boards and floating mats, chairs on the beach with umbrellas and use of the pool.   The inflatable water park was an extra $10pp which I paid for the kids and myself. 
 

Here’s a look at the menu to see which option would be better.  
 

We arrived at the resort by 8:30.  Check in just took a few minutes.  Zach is trying to see how many wristbands he can collect😂

We were given the option of starting out at the pool or beach.   We chose beach…and literally had the place to ourselves for almost 2 hours.  It was AMAZING. 

The time stamp on this last pic is 12:23!  Still not crowded!!

We did Hibachi for Christmas dinner last week on Mariner.  We were a party of 4 and were seated with a party of 5. No empty chair in between my son and the mom of the other party.  

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Looks like your son is a soccer player (recognize a kit bag anywhere).  Did he try out the Open Play Soccer at the Sports Court?  I'm just wondering if they had a decent turnout.  

 

We're on Mariner in July, so following along!

Yes, he plays on a club team and for his school as well…and just started refereeing games for the younger age brackets as well…it’s #soccerallthetime around here, although winter brings a little break which is nice for a change.  
 

Looks like the open play soccer was from 2-3 on both our port days, where we were either just getting back on board (coco cay) or still ashore (Cozumel) so he missed it.  He said the nets were always out.  We did see the adult soccer shootout challenge—he was mad he couldn’t participate!  Looked like there were maybe 10ish people there for that.  

Day 3 Compass

Day 3 continued…

Dinner tonight was at Hibachi.  I booked this pre cruise to make sure that we would have a reservation for Christmas dinner.  Kids have never been, even on land so I thought it would be a fun treat. 

Menu from the website:
 

We had a 6:15 reservation.  We were seated first along one end of the table, and were shortly joined by another family along the other end.  The restaurant is pretty small with only a few tables so be prepared to share unless you have a larger group. 
 

Included starters were Edamame and salad.  Kids (and mike) had no problem getting a salad without dressing. They all eat it plain, weirdos!  I have to smother it all in ranch😂 although the house dressing here was fine. 
 

Kids were better at chopsticks than me.   Luckily the also bring you a “Japanese fork” for less coordinated folks like me. 
 

We also ordered some sushi, as did our table mates.  Points to the kids for trying it for the first time, even though they weren’t wild about it. 
 

Next up, order your proteins and the show begins!  Suzy and I ordered chicken, Mike got scallops and lobster, Zach got  NY steak (of course) and chicken.  He said he wished he had gotten the beef tenderloin instead of the steak but everything was delicious.  The chef cooks fried rice for the table followed by all the various proteins. I won’t spoil the show (because I was having too much fun to take pics) but it was definitely an entertaining experience.  Kids actually rated it as their favorite meal of the trip.   This was definitely the one night I left dinner feeling stuffed silly. 
 

Oh, dessert, LOL.  We got the lava cake and mochi ice cream.  Also yummy!

Cruised around a bit after dinner to walk off some of the food.

Tonight we went to the 9:15 headliner showtime featuring GODDESS.  The lead singer Monique was a runner up on The Voice Philippines and X Factor Philippines.  She had an amazing voice!  We sat all the way off to the side section, front row.  No one sat anywhere near us. Seems like if you didn’t have to be front and center in the first few rows you could definitely space out. 
 

Called it a night after the show.  We all wake up early, so tend to crash early, and as previously mentioned there wasn’t a lot going on in the evening after the show.  Found another towel animal waiting for us…dog???

Tomorrow:  Cozumel—Paradise Beach!

2 hours ago, Presbycruiser67 said:

Amazing how small Mariner looks next to Symphony ...

Yeah there’s a *slight* difference!  We enjoyed the ease of getting around a smaller ship.  Harmony was probably our favorite overall cruise though.  
 

1 hour ago, lola2013 said:

I'm anxious to hear about Hibachi.  We are definitely planning that for our August cruise on Mariner.

Do it!  You won’t be disappointed!

Day 3 continued…

Today was a low-key day we spent here and there around the ship.  It started out a little overcast but soon cleared up. 
 

She’s getting more confident….

Personal hot tub

Typically a very short wait for the slides 

Boys tried out bingo (spoiler alert—they didn’t win😂)  this afternoon while girls spent some time at the pool.  Chairs were crowded but pool was not.   They bought paper cards for bingo—maybe 9 cards per game?  They should have spent $10 more to get the electronic set…that played way more cards per game.  They said every winner came from an electronic set.  Everyone was looking forward to dinner tonight—Hibachi!!!

1 hour ago, Kathscof said:

 

 

oooo neat Team USA hoodie!!

 

and yay penguins! 🙂

 

enjoying the review 🙂

Haha!  We are big soccer fans in this house.  Thanks for following😀

Day 3–Christmas at Sea

After the kiddos fell asleep last night I managed to sneak out a few small presents.  Sleepy kid pic below so you can see what the sofa bed looks like pulled out. 
 

It was looking like a beautiful sea day

There was gift giving with Santa in Studio B this morning.  Each kid got a gift based on their age range.   My kids got RCCL drawstring bags which was great, we use them all the time. Suzy said she saw younger kids running around with Pop-its.  The kids also each got a plate with a cookie and a hot chocolate on the way out the door.  I thought this event was a nice touch and the line was supervised for social distancing. 
 

We had breakfast in the dining room

this morning and also all agreed that we preferred the windjammer.  It felt fairly crowded and the food was just OK.  Kids both ordered chocolate chip pancakes.  What they got was Chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips covered in chocolate sauce.   It was too much chocolate even for them LOL.  

Day 2 Compass

That’s all for today!  Will do Day 3 tomorrow—Christmas at sea🎄

4 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Really enjoying this thread.   Happy to read about someone who had a fun experience.

Thanks!  We really did have a great time. 

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

coco cay looks great!  Looks like you all had a nice time!  

Loved Coco Cay!

End of day 2…

Zach was thrilled that there was a teen only boogie board hour at the Flowrider tonight.  This was a lot of fun. Line was short, and the sports staff were laid back and playing and riding with the kids.  Wish they did this more than once!

Mike and Suzy caught the production show “Gallery of Dreams”.  They said it was good, and the plot was a little confusing.  I will say that we definitely noticed far fewer activities scheduled, both day and evening.  This was probably one of the only negatives for us this cruise, but it wasn’t a huge deal.  We just found ourselves with a little more downtime than usual.  

Finishing up Day 2…

Cleaned up and ready for our first dinner in the MDR!

Kids loved the glass elevators 

We were on Deck 3 of the MDR at a 4 top near the middle.  Eka and Igusti were our waiters and they were beyond great.   Friendly, efficient service with a smile. Eka did tricks for the kids and one night gave Suzy a little origami bird.  By the 2nd night they brought the kids Shirley temples without asking and remembered our favorite wines.  Eka always brought an extra cheese plate for the wine without us asking and brought the kids fruit cups to start as well.  Eka insisted on cutting Zach’s meat a few nights and fed him his first bite with airplane noises…so funny😂.  Probably the best waiters (and the most fun) we have had in the MDR. 
 

There were always at least a few empty tables near us, I think more by chance than than design. 
 

Tonight for Christmas Eve there was a special menu rolled up in our plates with a ribbon. Wish I had taken a pic. 
 

Mike and I both had the Beef Wellington. Never had seen that on the MDR menus and it’s hands down my favorite entree I’ve had.  YUM!  Suz had the special Turkey entree, while Mr. predictable Zach ordered the New York strip from the everyday choices.  There were a few special desserts as well…we tried the spice cake as well as the Buche de Noel (sponge cake).  Kids went for the Royal chocolate cake.

Meals all week ranged from good to great. After dinner we found our first towel animal waiting for us…

Our cabin steward was Marilyn.  She was also very friendly and took good care of us. 

Day 2 Coco Cay continued…

By 1:30, we decided that we had had enough fun ashore. Kids wanted to try and catch some of the activities with shorter lines. 
 

Later at sailaway Symphony and Mariner had a little horn battle back and forth. Lots of waving back and forth!

As we pulled away, we noticed another royal ship that we had seen off in the distance all day sail in.  
 

Looks like it was Vision.  I read reports in other threads of a crew transfer so now this makes sense. 

Day 2, Coco Cay continued…

Next up we decided to explore a bit. 
 

Oasis Lagoon is just beautiful…note that these pics were taken at 9:15 am. 
 

I think this is Breezy bay at Chill Island.  Those cabanas feel awful close to the rest of the beach for the premium they command, but that’s just me.

A sneak peek at the beach club

And then South Beach with the Crew beach in the background 

The water was just beautiful here. 
 

Warm enough to swim!

Too windy for the balloon today!

14 minutes ago, wolfcathorse said:

do you remember who the captain was?

I don’t, I apologize.  I swear we used to get a handout with the compass that would have a little pic and blurb about the officers/captain but didn’t see one this time.   I find the announcements a little hard to hear at times, but he always had little bits of “did you know” at the end of his daily updates. 

Day 2 Coco Cay continued…

Windy and a little cool when we got off just after 8

We kept saying we couldn’t believe this was Christmas Eve!  

We took a quick walk over to Chill Island first 

You can have your pick of seats anywhere at this point!

Kids were anxious to test out the waterslides, so off we went.  Zach wanted to do the tallest one first of course. You can’t just get in line for that one—you have to stop at a desk and get a return time—like a Disney fast pass.  He got a 8:30-9:00 return card.  He went right at 8:30 and it was still about a half hour wait.  Suzy did some of the smaller slides on the tower with no waits at all.  
 

We got a few chairs by the wave pool—it was central enough that the kids could explore together on their own and come back and check in.  
 

They spent a lot of time in this little lilipad area as well

Here’s the other tower of slides.  It has a group raft slide, a tube slide where you can ride single or double, and a set of mat racer slides. Lines were surprisingly OK except for the group raft.  By the time we made our way over there, it was long and stayed long.  So we ended up skipping that one although they rode all the others except for one that dropped straight down I think.  I would def recommend hitting the raft slide early. There was a guard at the bottom of the stairs to this tower sending groups of riders up a few at a time. You also were given hand sanitizer each time you went up. 
 

Even with Symphony in port with us, I was happy with our experience, especially at the price point ($43 pp) we got on Black Friday.  
 

The snack shack is conveniently located right near the wave pool—it opened around 11, and we all grabbed chicken sandwiches, along with fries, mozzarella sticks, funnel cake and cookies. Free juice/water dispensers nearby as well right next to the shack.  There’s a few small bar stands around as well.  

51 minutes ago, CruiseMrB said:

I live in the same county as Port Canaveral - Brevard. And I watch the local & state Covid numbers carefully. 

• There is a HUGE difference in the Miami / Port Everglades Covid numbers and the Port Canaveral / Brevard County numbers. In fact, Miami/Dade county is almost an order of magnitude higher in cases per 100K than Brevard county.
• The Brevard numbers are breaking higher every day, in fact almost doubling in per 100K cases in 3 days. Not good.
• Port Canaveral is still better than the two ports down south in Florida, but it's gonna get pretty bad here very soon. Like in days.
• Orange County (Orlando) is spiking even higher than Brevard, but not as bad Miami/Dade yet

 

If you are driving to Port Canaveral, when you land back at PC, go to your car, get gas with a mask on, and get out of Dodge. Fast. This isn't a time to go see the sights (Kennedy Space Center, Orlando theme parks, etc, etc.)

 

If your flying, it's gonna be interesting no matter what. 

Thanks!  We actually got off yesterday and drove straight home for 14 hours with minimal stops.  But good advice for upcoming cruisers.   

Day 2–Coco Cay!

This was a new port stop for all of us. Woke up a little after 6 to see we were already approaching and Symphony was already docked. 
 

Super cool to watch as we approach

One of our traditions is to get treats from Cafe Promenade each morning and have them on the balcony.  And then maybe Windjammer for 2nd breakfast, Hobbit style. 

Looks like someone brought some choc chip pancakes back to the room from the windjammer

Ship was cleared right at 8, so off we went.  We all had Thrill Waterpark passes so we wanted to get there fairly early before lines got too bad, especially with 2 ships in port.  
 

Day 1 Compass

12 hours ago, akcruz said:

We are scheduled for this same itinerary in Feb, still trying to decide if going, thanks for taking the time to do this.

Good luck!  I know it’s a tough decision with all the craziness going on right now. 
 

12 hours ago, DevonfromAcme said:

Definitely no FlowRider!  Enchantment is one of the smallest and oldest ships in the line.  Much more of a traditional cruise experience and not much to do for kids. 
 

That one is probably best saved for a couples cruise for you and your husband. 
 

 

Thanks!  We have been known to sneak away for a kid-free cruise from time to time!

Day 1 continues…

We were eventually able to drag the kids away from the activities and back to the room to clean up for sail away and dinner.   We headed to the helipad for sail away…quite windy and cool but not crowded. 
 

We headed over to deck 4 outside to get out of the wind.  The captain made an announcement that we would be sailing by a rocket booster that had been recovered earlier.   Pretty cool!

Dinner tonight was at Jamie’s Italian. This is becoming something like a 1st night tradition for us.  Menu:

For apps we got the crispy squid, ultimate garlic bread and bruschetta. 
 

Kids shared a plate of pasta…the Pomodoro I think.  Mike got a small plate of the Carbonara while I got a small plate of the truffle tagliatelle. 
 

Entrees:  Salmon, Chicken, Short Rib, and Chicken lollipops off the kids menu for Suzy.   I think this was the only time they ordered an entree off of the kids menu…wow that is some serious progress for my formerly picky eaters!

Dessert:  3 brownies and 1 tiramisu.  You know it is was good when I only stopped to take one picture:

She’s giving me side-eye for suggesting she doesn’t have to finish every last bite!

I think there were only like 3 other groups at Jamie’s.  It was pretty empty.  It was also pretty delicious!  
 

Hilariously, I have no idea what we dad after dinner!   I *think* we hung out on the pool deck for a bit.  I wanted to catch the 10:15 show in the theater tonight (comedy) but wine and full belly on top of not much sleep means no one made it up for showtime tonight!

So that ends day 1…I will post the compass tomorrow when I have better light.  Still on the road, a little less than 3 hours to go.  We normally wouldn’t make the trip in one haul but have been very lucky traffic-wise and have been making great time.  Plus we miss those cute kitties and want to sleep in our own beds!  Much more to follow. 
 

Next up:  Coco Cay!

Day 1 continues….

After checking out the room, kids were excited to explore.  First up, Skypad.  You can jump with or without a VR headset.  Zach chose with but said it wasn’t very good.  Suzy chose without.  
 

Next up, Rock wall

Zach from afar while Suzy went back for another go on the Skypad.  
 

There were minimal to no lines at this point, so boarding day was a great time try everything!

And of course, back to the flowrider…Suzy gave it a go!

One of Zach’s better runs for the week

5 hours ago, mrpayroll said:

We were on Mariner early December. Looking forward to your journey. 

Thanks for following along!

4 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Yes, Baltimore.  Nice port, nice ship.  Do it!

Hmmm….but does it have a flowrider?   I’ll never get the Z-man on a ship without one🤦‍♀️😂

3 hours ago, jstuartys said:

This is awesome!!!  We just boarded today and so far our experience has been pretty similar. Looking forward to reading more. Maybe we’ll just copy you. Haha

Have a great trip!  If you happen to run into Johnny, who is one of the sports staff and works at the flowrider, skypad and rockwall, please tell him Suzanna listened to the song and loved it!  He will know what you mean LOL.  He’s from Kenya, such a nice guy.  Was super sweet to Suzy all week.  

2 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Following your fun review.  My friends, family and I are booked on Mariner for August... eight nights to Bermuda and CocoCay.  I sail solo so no suite in my future (pricey when you have to pay double & no need for the extra space...that's my story and I'm sticking to it)...but so happy you were able to score that for your trip.

Can't wait for the rest of the review.......

Susan

That sounds like a great itinerary.  Have done 3 cruises to Bermuda…love it there.