luvabargain

We checked our bags in with the porter and quickly made our way through the Royal Caribbean section onto the Mariner of the Seas with no wait time. The first thing we did was to explore the ship. We went all over taking it in and then decided to check out our room. It was one o' clock and we were pleasantly surprised to find our room ready. We unpacked and then headed to the buffet area to find some eats. I had the taco and salad bar along with a couple of other items, and most everything I tried was good.

We're not big buffet people, but the lunch buffet was good, we enjoyed the taste and variety.

Monday August 13th - Day 1 - embarkation

WHOOP! WHOOP! It's cruise day! We took our time, didn't feel like much of the free breakfast, just a yogurt, but I HAD to have coffee. We walked to a nearby Publix grocery store and purchased two bottles of wine to take onboard.

we contacted Uber a little after 11am and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Port of Miami for around $8. This Uber driver was friendly and a little talkative, so it made for a quick pleasant drive.

There she is! HELLO Mariner!

We went back to our hotel and enjoyed the hot tub for a while. The had the bar opened to the poolside, so hubby got us a couple of drinks and we just relaxed for a while, feeling excited about our upcoming cruise the next day on the Mariner.

We had a couple of drinks at this Mambo place. My Mojito was ok.

That evening we went to a very nearby Mediterranean restaurant called Zuuk that was very similar to a Chipotle. It was decent, not something I would want to go to all the time, but again, not bad. I don't think Chad was all that impressed, so a bit disappointing for him.

We had the same female tour operator for the South Beach tour, we sat right behind her, and she turned out to be very friendly. We chose not to get off at any of the stops, it was late in the day and there was only one more tour bus behind us.

View from the bus - South Beach tour

Ocean Drive

Cruise ship going out to sea

We had a couple of drinks in the Bayside Marketplace, did some more looking around and then instead of walking all the way back to our hotel, we took an Uber back for around $7.

Bayside Marketplace area

Are you cutting and pasting this review from another application? If so, that's probably the cause of your font issues.

Thanks. I've thought of that too, but some I have copied and pasted and some I have written directly. It even looks different depending on which computer I'm using. So strange. I think the thing that bothers me the most is the run on words. I will correct them in preview, but once I hit submit they'll go weird again.

Anyway - I hope you enjoy. There are more reviews and trip reports now, but I had a hard time finding any recent before our cruise, I guess due to the fact it being in Asia.

We were in a cigar shop when we saw the hop on hop off bus pull up, so ran out and across the street to barely make the bus.There was no more rain at this time, so the rest of the tour was dry. Our new tour guide was a young lady who called us "my lovelies" and was a bit more rehearsed.There was only one leg left and then back to the Bayside Marketplace.We still had the South Beach tour to do, so had to wait for that bus to leave.

We had ice cream at the famous Azucar Ice CreamCompany. The ice cream was like any ice cream really, nothing outstanding, but a nice treat. Afterward we stopped by theCafe La Rica and had some spiked coffees. Mine had a strawberry liqueur. The coffee was yummy and the service excellent. We weren't hungry and so didn't stop for afull meal in Little Havana.

Azucar Ice Cream shop

Cafe La Rica

The bus for the city tour was finally ready to start and we were told that we couldn't use our app, that we had to have a printed ticket. No problem, I whipped out the printed one, and NOPE - that would not work either. Huh? They had to have a receipt specifically from the vendor in the parking lot. Chad ran over and got in line to get one, and same thing was told to other people trying to get on. Of course there was along line now. No promises that they would wait, although they did. This happened later to other people as well.

The bus traveled through different areas while the tour guide gave us a tour while we ducked and swervedfrom tree branches. I believe there were 10 stops, with stops in Perez & Frost Museums, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Midtown, Wynwood Walls (arts), Coconut Grove, Little Havana, Downtown. We would have liked to get off in the Wynwood Walls area, Coconut Grove areas, but we had started the tour later in the day, and still wanted to do the South Beach tour route, not to mention it was raining, so that was not a big motivator. We were content to listen to the history on each place and just enjoy the views. We were sitting outin the open on the top deck and could put earphones in to hear better, althoughthe guide was a few seats away from us. Every once in a while he would yell "trees" and we wouldduck. It was hot and muggy, but early onin the tour the clouds rolled in and before we knew it, it was pouring. The guide passed out rain ponchos, andseveral people decided to go below deck. We laughed and hooted and waited it out. It lessened up and quit all together after a while. We decided to stay on the bus through severalstops, but got off in little Havana. Wewere going to spend just 40 minutes there until the next bus arrived, but weenjoyed ourselves and stayed longer.

Our tour guide was great. I didn't catch his name though.

We could see the writing on the wall - AKA: the inevitable storm about to invade our space

A lot of laughs

Wynwood Walls

Pre-Cruise Day - Sunday August 12th

We slept in and it felt great not to have a specificagenda. That was hard for me, as I like to plan everything, but I knew our days ahead would be full, and Chad would need to breath a little, and have some say in the agenda. We had the complimentarybreakfast offered at the hotel, and then went to our room to plan out our day.

Breakfast at the hotel

We were going to try and see things ourselvesby using public transportation, but we felt overwhelmed with getting todifferent places and trying to figure out what we wanted to see. We decided to do the Big Bus Hop on Hop off bus, so I went online and bought tickets that morning. I found a few different companies selling the tickets, one company was $40.50 each and the other was $44.10. I went with the first company, but my debit card wouldn't go through. I tried another debit card and same thing. I wasn't sure if it was my cards or if it was the company, so I just went with the other for $44.10 and it went through fine. That one said to either use the online ticket through the Big Bus app, or to bring a printed copy. I downloaded the app and printed out the tickets in the hotel business center - just in case. About 20 minutes later I got messages on my phone regarding if I had authorized use of my debit cards to this travel company. The bank had purposely declined the card because the travel company was located in England and it came up suspicious. I got that straightened out with no more issues from them.

Things were a little confusing with thebus. It said we could get on anywhereand we could use our printed ticket (I printed one out on the hotel computer) orwe could use the app and download the ticket. We decided to walk to the nearest hop on hop off point, and it wasseveral blocks and over a bridge away - farther than we expected.

Views along the way

The bus driver picked us up and weweren't asked to show our tickets. Thiswas the last segment of the tour route and it would be pulling into the BaysideMarket place area, which is where they start the tours. We got off there and discovered that the nextcity tour wouldn't be leaving for about 40 min., so we browsed through the malland even got some daiquiris to quench our "thirst".

The Daiquiri Bar - Bayside Marketplace

Daiquiri was ok, I've had better, especially for $12. Thankfully the pineapple was only for decoration - no pineapple juice inside. I hate pineapple.

The hotel gave us vouchers for a free drink from the bar, so we cashed those in immediately on the first evening - lushes that we are. Ok, so not really - this was my first alcoholic beverage in a couple of months. I had a sweet wine and Chad had a beer. Cheers!

Nightlife was hopping on Saturday night in Miami. We headed out to take a look at the downtownBrickell area and to get some dinner.

Dinner: We settled ona place just a couple of businesses down the sidewalk from our hotel called theBatch Gastro Pub. The food was ok,service was good. We sat outside wherethe music wasn't as loud, not to mention there was no room for us inside,anyway.

Food:

Chad: Boneless Chicken Wings/Truffle Fries

Melissa: Mac Attack - Gnocchi Mac, Aged Gruyere Cheese &"Dorito Dust".

I don't remember the Beer Chad wound up ordering, but I tooka pic of the menu, as it had a beer listed from our home town - Bend,Oregon. Of course, they were out of it -the waitress told us it was really popular.

We were ready to chill, so headed back to our room to justveg out and get some sleep.

I do not know why some of the posts have different fonts, run-on words, etc. It looks one way before I post, and then completely different after I post.

Once in FLL, we took our very first Lyft ride to Miami. The guy was about as friendly as a turnip and his car had stains and smelled, BUT we got to our hotel in one piece, so all was well. Ok, the driver had to drive around and around while we told him where to turn and how to get us to the front door. We - who had never set foot in Miami before (well, except for a connecting flight at the airport once. Does that count?).

After reading reviews here on CC and on Tripadvisor, I decided to book the Hampton Inn & Suites Brickell in Miami. I booked two nights for the 11th and12th. I was able to find a price for$120/night, and then I paid down with my points.

One thing that was weird to us, was that the elevator would not work for us. Other people got in and that's when we discovered we needed to use our room key card before pressing the appropriate floor button. Ugh! We have stayed all over the place in hotels,but never had to do this before. By the end of our stay we were pros and even helped others who were as clueless as us. It always makes you feel better when you're not the only clueless one.

A view from our room.

A view from another area of the hotel.

Sorry about your luggage. Have you seen the way that stuff is handled?

Yes, I have - but I was expecting it to arrive in better shape after only one flight. It's disappointing, but that's why I shop at Ross.

August 11, 2011

It's here! Vacationday. We started the day off fairlyearly, wanted to get to San Antonio with plenty of time to spare. We left the house shortly after 8am, Mickiwas driving us back since she recently moved to the area and was at home for acouple of days. We stopped for coffeeand then we were on our way. A couple ofhours later we pulled into san Antonio and drove around to a few stores forChad to look for a couple of things he wanted, and I stopped at the bank towithdraw some cash. There was a boutiqueI wanted to visit, so we popped in there and I found a dress style I waslooking for since the one I ordered didn't come in the mail on time.

This guy tried to sneak into my luggage while I was packing.

Micki dropped us off at the airport in plenty of time and wehad no line through security. We had abite to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant and it was good. Our flight wound up being delayed about anhour due to weather in FLL.

Pics as we were landing in Fort Lauderdale

I bought a brand-new suitcase, and this was my very first time using it. Needless to say I am very irritated at the state it arrived in. This is just one little picture. There are several more scrapes, tears, rips, smudges, etc., all over the luggage. :mad::mad::mad:

Ugh. I don't know if everyone else sees run-on words and sentences, but I do, and it won't correct.

So, a little background onmyself.

My name is Melissa and mytravel companion this trip is my husband Chad. We live in Texas, have 2grown children, a boy and a girl and we're in our 40's. We love our pets- 2 dogs and 2 cats- an old Cranky Beagle and one year old GoldenRetriever. We also have an older Persian girl kitty and a one-year-oldBritish Shorthair, he is the sweetest guy.

We love to cruise and have been on several, but not dozens like a lot of people on these boards. Prior to this cruise, we have only cruised on Carnival. It took some convincing to the hubby to try a different cruise line, because he likes what he likes and we've always been happy, but he reluctantly agreed, and inFebruary we booked not one but two cruises - one on the Mariner of the Seas forAugust 13th and one on MSC Seaside for August 18th. I will continue my trip report from the Seaside on the MSC Boards. I also will copy and paste my reports from the different ports of calls in the appropriate ports sections.

I go into detail - I'm sorry, I can't help it - I guess I'm long winded. I will be covering pre-cruise, between cruise, after cruise and ports of calls details. You can skip over the parts you aren't interested in, or don't read at all, whatever floats your boat. I'll also include a lot of pictures. That will be the difficult part - choosing just a few. I take a LOT of pictures. I just can't help myself.

I chose these dates for ourcruises for a couple of different reasons. Number one, they were the onlyconsecutive 2 weeks available in the summer for me to grab this year (we doleave bids at my work, so does hubby, but he's got way more seniority andflexibility than me), number two - the second week was over our 25thanniversary, so we were able to take our special anniversary vacation on ouractual anniversary.

I'll be posting bit by bitover the next few days, so bear with me.

We're you happy with the food on the cruise?

 

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It's hit and miss, but I can always find something I like. I find this to be true of all cruises I go on.

We did the Meet & Mingle on Seaside last week, just got off Saturday.

We boarded Saturday and had Sun/Mon as sea days. Late Sunday evening we received the Meet & Mingle invitation in our door slot. The invitation was to meet in the Seaview Lounge at 10am the following morning (2nd sea day).

We went and they asked for our stateroom # and checked us off the list. There was an immediate reception with the Cruise Director and the management staff. The captain was not present at our Meet & Mingle.

They had several different types of complimentary cocktails or punch and snacks. They gave a speech and introduced all of the management staff, then cut the cake and passed out the slices. They had everybody gather up for a group photo. We never saw the group photo, so I don't know what they do with it, but unlike past gatherings, we weren't given a copy.

After all that, we stayed a while and chatted with different guests. There were several who have a crap-ton of cruises under their belts and were such a wealth of knowledge. One couple was on their 161st cruise! If you're the one and are reading this - hats off to you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and information with us.

I don't think you'll have as enjoyable time if you just keep to yourselves, so even though it's hard to just strike up conversations - do it anyway! That's what most people are there for, they're just waiting for someone to break the ice. Everyone we talked to was enjoyable and super nice.

On the Seaside, the Marketplace buffet was open and packed.

I didn't take a tour, but English is the primary language on the ship.

I was on the August 18-25 sailing. We left our hotel around 11 and were making our way onto the ship at 11:20- not YC.

AMAZING!!!! We went to all of them and were blown away by the talent. I took pics and video of each one, of course it doesn't do it justice. I'll be posting a trip review soon. Just got off on Saturday. BTW - Timeless was not a Michael Jackson Tribute. We were told it was and everyone said not to miss that one in particular, but we saw no reference to MJ at all in that show. Maybe they kept the name but changed the show? We don't know, but it was still good.

I just wouldn’t wear shorts because the rules say no shorts after 6pm in any public area on MSC.

That's not true. Nowhere does it say no shorts after 6pm in any public area. If that were the case then the majority of the passengers would be in "violation". There were MANY who did where shorts in the MDR for dinner, and never once were they turned away. No one really seemed to care - I didn't, and of course my husband didn't. I didn't see anyone not dressed up nicer for elegant nights, but the rest of the nights were a mixed bag - you weren't out of place if you were dressed super fancy or relaxed in shorts.

White Night was huge on our Seaside cruise and many people dressed for Flower Power :')and some for Gatsby Night (Including me). I didn't know there would be a Pirate Night and I don't think many people did. Italian night was not as big a deal on the Seaside as it was on the Divina. The Entertainment crew was dressed for all theme nights. Bob

I also dressed for Great Gatsby night, it was fun. I noticed several ppl dressed for 70's theme, not so much pirate. The Italian night was the same night as White Night, and most dressed in white.