LIVE - B2B Mariner 5/7/22-5/23/22 - ABC! 🎶 Easy as …um, Bermuda?

[aring75]

Playmaker’s is a sports bar. On each table, there is a schedule of upcoming games which will be aired throughout the sailing. 
 

[aring75]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

No, it hasn't.   There is only a few books in there.  Same thing on all the ships now.  Odyssey was the worst.  I suppose they expect us to bring our Kindles...but I am a real book person, and drag along my own in my luggage.  Old fashioned I guess.  

Thanks for posting island lady! That’s too bad. Do you think they would allow people to leave books behind for future cruisers? Or is it more that they don’t want books being handled by multiple people?

[island lady]

Hello aring75....neighbors to our starboard side. 

 

We are also on deck nine on port side.  

 

Enjoying your review and enjoying the cruise.  🙂  Rare single leg for us...fitted this one in during a "dry spell" in our spring remodeling.  😉 

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Thanks for posting island lady! That’s too bad. Do you think they would allow people to leave books behind for future cruisers? Or is it more that they don’t want books being handled by multiple people?

 

Could be all of the above...but my thinking is that too many "chair hogs" were using them as "props" with cheap bags and lots of towels.  😉 

[Biker19]

11 minutes ago, aring75 said:

On each table, there is a schedule of upcoming games which will be aired throughout the sailing. 

I guess USFL isn't popular enough.

[Mary&Jim]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

No, it hasn't.   There is only a few books in there.  Same thing on all the ships now.  Odyssey was the worst.  I suppose they expect us to bring our Kindles...but I am a real book person, and drag along my own in my luggage.  Old fashioned I guess.  

Thanks. I guess I will just take my e-reader. I also prefer books though. We were on the Odyssey last month...nothing! 

[GEORGIEGIRL]

8 hours ago, aring75 said:

I also wanted to mention for anyone following along who will be on a future 8-day cruise, you can bring up the information for this cruise in the app. That means you can see Daily Planner activities, menus, events/shows, etc.

 

When you open the app, you may need to pull down the itinerary menu at the top. 
 

 

 

Then choose the “change ship/dates” link at the bottom.

 

 

 

You can choose this ABC cruise (5/7-5/15) or the Bermuda cruise next week (5/15-5/23).

Thanks so much. We will be joining you all this Sunday for the cruise to "Bermuda". Looking forward to seeing you all then.

[aring75]

Main theater show tonight. 
 

 

 

We missed the 7:00 pm show and we would have had to rush through dinner to see the 9:15 pm show, so we didn’t see this one. 

[aring75]

Dinner tonight was “dress your best.” 
 

[aring75]

I started with the escargot. 
 

 

 

I had the lamb chops. These were good, but a little fattier than usual. 
 

 

 

Mark had the chicken cordon bleu. He said it was “okay,” but he’ll probably order something else next time. 
 

[aring75]

Had the Royal chocolate cake and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Yummy. 
 

[perfect match]

13 hours ago, aring75 said:

 

Also. The bacon is always too thin. Too crispy. Not very flavorful. So please explain to me. Why do I always order it?? 😩

 

It’s like I’m expecting surprise bacon. Like one day they are going to have thick sliced applewood smoked bacon and it’s going to make my whole day. 
 

But, as cruise bacon goes, this morning’s bacon was not too bad. 

I really should be on this cruise with you! I love my bacon 🥓 thin and crispy! If the bacon 🥓 isn’t thin & crispy, I’m not even putting it on my plate!

 

I also love ❤️ both of your itineraries. The ABC islands are my favorite ports in the Caribbean. We haven’t been to Bermuda yet, but it’s on my list of places I really want to go. I looked at both of these sailings, but the timing simply didn’t work for us. Guess it’s another virtual cruise for me.

[aring75]

Have some more photos of the evening entertainment and Day 4 cruise compass. I will post tomorrow. It’s midnight and we have to get up early for an excursion! 
 

Night night all!!

[aring75]

1 minute ago, perfect match said:

I really should be on this cruise with you! I love my bacon 🥓 thin and crispy! If the bacon 🥓 isn’t thin & crispy, I’m not even putting it on my plate!

 

I also love ❤️ both of your itineraries. The ABC islands are my favorite ports in the Caribbean. We haven’t been to Bermuda yet, but it’s on my list of places I really want to go. I looked at both of these sailings, but the timing simply didn’t work for us. Guess it’s another virtual cruise for me.

Sounds like cruise bacon is a Perfect Match! 😁 I know. I’m terrible. 😂

 

This will be our first time to Bermuda. I will let you know what we think for sure!

 

 

[cruisegirl1]

14 hours ago, aring75 said:

Thanks for posting island lady! That’s too bad. Do you think they would allow people to leave books behind for future cruisers? Or is it more that they don’t want books being handled by multiple people?

I suspect  it is OK as Harmony has put books and games back in the game room.
 

Plus, multiple people handle buffet tongs and that doesn’t seem to be an issue. Far fewer will handle a book. 
 

m

[aring75]

Time to play catch-up!

 

We missed the theater show for Day 3 so we headed over to the Star Lounge on deck 5. There was a Battle of the Sexes game show getting ready to start. 
 

Ordered an espresso martini in honor of @Cruisin_FL_Girl and her sister. 😁

 

 

 

 

It was ladies vs. gents in a battle of epic proportions. In the end, the women came out ahead, but just barely. 
 

 

[aring75]

After the game show we stuck around for karaoke. Always a fun time. 
 

Headed to bed around midnight, but had to be up by 7:30 to get ready for our excursion in Aruba. 
 

 

[aring75]

We met on the pier at 9:30 am. We were directed to follow the walkway along the harbor to where the catamarans were docked. 
 

We boarded (probably 30-40 of us so plenty of space to spread out) and headed out to the SS Antilla shipwreck. The plan was to first snorkel in and around this area. However, it was VERY windy today. Probably 75% of people got in the water and then got back out after about 10-15 minutes. The current was so strong, plus, visibility was not very good. We stayed here for a total of about 30 minutes. At that time, everyone was back on board and pretty much gave up on the shipwreck snorkel. 
 

We headed to our second snorkel spot which was only about 5-10 minutes away. 
 

This area was much closer to the beach and it was easier to swim. 
 

 

 

 

You could jump off the side of the boat into the water or ease your way down the stairs. 
 

 

 

We stayed here for about 45 minutes of swimming and snorkeling. They opened up the bar and a short time later served lunch consisting of BBQ chicken and ribs, macaroni salad, beans, corn on the cob and soft rolls. 


 

 

 

Anyone who wanted to return to the water had another 30-ish minutes of swim time. Then we packed up and headed back to the marina. 
 

All-in-all this was a good tour. The windy weather was a bummer, but that was no fault of the crew. They all did a good job and were very friendly and helpful. 
 

[aring75]

Cruise Planner - Day 4

 

 

 

 

 

[aring75]

We received this info last night regarding testing B2B cruisers for Bermuda. 

[lola2013]

Your Aruba tour looks like fun.  There is nothing like a catamaran sailing.  We are doing the ABCs next year on Celebrity.  Excursions are not yet available (strange at the 9 month mark); hopefully they will work with the same tour provider!
P.S. lunch looks yummy 😋 

[aring75]

After our tour, we realized we were extremely tired. Decided to just shower, relax for a bit, then just do a casual dinner in the Windjammer. 
 

It was Caribbean night. The meat patties  were delicious. They had chicken or beef. 
 

 

 

They also had banana bread which was very tasty. 
 

 

Met pop-up piano guy in the elevator as we were leaving the buffet. 
 

[aring75]

Watched the sun slowly set over the water. 
 

 

 

Then grabbed a couple of Café Promenade cookies and sat out on deck feeling the cool nighttime breezes. 

[aring75]

Woke up this morning in beautiful Bonaire. 
 

 

 

It is an easy walk down the pier and into town. 
 

There are a few shops right at the end of the pier. 
 

 

 

But then you can turn left and follow the sidewalk into the main shopping area. 
 

 

 

[aring75]

After about a 5 minute walk, you come upon the outdoor craft market. 
 

 

 

 

They have multiple vendors selling everything from natural Bonaire salt products to flavored ice. 
 

 

I got a little too much sun yesterday in Aruba. I found a vendor selling aloe vera gel. It feels great on my sunburn.