Trip Review- Mariner- Jan 15-20

[aac1623]

This is my first review so sorry if this is choppy! My best friend and I (mid 30's) joined 2 other couples on a 5 night cruise to Cozumel and Coco Cay- our husbands couldnt come but we didnt want to let that stop us! We all had done previous cruises on different lines but this was our first on Royal. We are from Seattle so our first day was nothing but flights! Thankfully, our flight on the max-9 was swapped out for a 900 so we did not have to deal with that mess.... yet... our flight home was a different story! We spent 2 days at Universal, and since we were getting in late Friday night we stayed at a cheaper hotel by Universal- The Doubletree By Hilton at the Entrance to Universal. This is about a 25 min walk to Universal Citywalk though so we opted to uber over. We ate at Cowfish and it was really good. Food options for everyone. I had a bento box that had a mini burger, sushi roll (ate half in pic!), cucumber salad, sweet potato fries, and edamame. If you make a reservation you get to sit in a reservation only dining area and its almost like a speakeasy to get to it! The next day we moved hotels to the Universal Loews Royal Pacific. It is expensive but 100% worth it. We paid $400ish for one night but you get 2 days of universal unlimited express passes, which works for almost every ride except the newer Harry Potter one. You also get into the parks 1 hr early and you can take a water taxi boat straight to citywalk and back. We checked in early to get our express passes and they held our luggage until our room was ready, and off to the parks we went! The second night we ate at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium for dinner. We got the Chocolate almond bread and I had the braised short ribs. Honestly, I expected it to be great and it was good, but not great. I would pass on the chocolate bread. Next time I would skip dinner and just do their famous milkshakes! I did have a chocolate martini which was good. 

 

After our second day at Universal we rented a van through Avis at the hotel and headed towards the pier since our cruise was the next day. Avis was about $100 and more cost effective to transport 6 of us, plus we could grab our carry on drinks and wine and anything else we forgot without having to uber everywhere. We spent the night on Merritt Island at Cape Crossing Resort and Marina in a 3 bedroom townhome. This townhome was very nice and the price was really great, I want to say we paid $200-250. Everything was really clean and cozy and very spacious. 2 rooms had queen beds and the 3rd had 2 twin beds. We drove over to the port for dinner at Fishlips. The food was really good, it was noisy with a football game on. It didnt bother us but if you dont like noise then not the best place to be. I think they stop seating at 7pm too, but after 7 there were still a ton of people and they never rushed us out or anything. The next morning we drove to Avis by Port Canaveral and dropped off the car and took their shuttle to the port. From the townhouse to Avis was about 10-15 mins. 

 

We had a 10:30 check-in for the cruise. Dropping off our bags was a breeze and we were able to walk through security pretty quickly.  I took on 2 bottles of wine and 12 cans of energy drinks for our room. No one questioned anything or checked that we only had 2 per room (we followed the rules, I just had it all in my carryon!). Once we were on the ship we went straight to the windjammer and washy washy! Our rooms were not ready until 1:30- and for some reason our section of rooms did not have keycards out so I did have to go to guest services to grab ours. My friend and I stayed in a balcony room- 7322. It was right off the middle elevator, first room in the hallway. It was super convenient and we did not hear any noises while in the room. We did have to ask our room steward to convert the beds to twins, and by the time we came back from dinner it was done. Couple #1 stayed in owners suite 1622 and it was pretty big! The room was nice and the balcony was huge! Couple #2 stayed in jr suite 1244- it was wider then our balcony room but pretty much the same (the did have a bigger shower and a walk in closet though!) They did say at end of cruise it was not worth the extra money. They paid a little more than double what we paid for our balcony. 

[aac1623]

Overall our experince on the ship was good. We did a lot of the trivias at the bars (get there super early!), we watched karaoke, and tried to collect the free rope bracelets and the charm bracelets (charm bracelet total was $25 for the chain and 8 charms- also found out you do not have to go at the specified time. It was easier to go an hour or two later when there was no line!). We swam in the adults only area. The hot tub was always busy. Our favorite spot was the lounge on deck 14, it overlooked the main pools and was never crowded- we always found seats right next to the large windows. It was a great place to watch the bellyflop contest!

 

I was not super impressed with the food. We usually ate breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer and it was good for a buffet. Dinners we did in the MDR. We had mytime dining but did have reservations and never had to wait for our table. Our waiters were excellent but the food was just ok. The first night I had the NY Strip steak and it was really good. I had it a few nights later and it was not as good as the first night. One night, I ordered the lobster mac and cheese main for a side and I am really glad I did not choose it as a main. It was not normal gooey mac and cheese and there were only 2 tiny pieces of lobster. I am not a picky eater at all, but I could not eat that lol. We were celebrating a birthday and each night our waiter would bring him a little napkin duck, they were so cute! The last night they brought 2 napkin swans that made a heart. 

 

We tried out Johnny Rockets and it was just OK also. Our favorite thing to pass the time was watching the Flow rider people. We had a few couples on board that were really good and they were always showing off their skills! We attended a few shows... the ice skating show was my favorite. It was amazing to watch them perform on a slightly rocking boat! We also watched the show on the second night (cannot remember the name) it was a musical and I didn't really understand the story line. We went to the Love and Marriage gameshow and that was great!  

 

I had the paid wifi but no one else in our group did. We used the app for messaging and we got notifications to work for a bit but then they stopped working. Just had to get used to checking regularly. My notification always worked and I think it was because I had the paid wifi. I could call home but our room didnt have great service so I had to step into the main areas. 

 

Lobster mac and cheese

 

VIew from Deck 7 looking down

 

Lounge 14 view (forgot the name of this lounge)

O

[aac1623]

Cozumel was our first stop. I have never been to Mexico so I had done alot of research. We booked an excursion through Royal for a Mayan Cooking Class. I dont remember the exact name but it was about $50 per person. It didnt start until 2:30 and we were docked at 7am. We decided to walk around the shops for a bit. There are a ton of taxi drivers and people trying to sell you excursions. We talked to one taxi driver and he agreed to take us for 4 hours to wherever we wanted for $25/person ($150 total- cash only). He took us to the other side of the island to a private beach club (Playa Punta Moreno). It was early and we were one of the first ones there which was a little scary at first! we ordered drinks and food. For two drinks and ceviche app it was about $60 USD. The area was nice with hammocks, lounge chairs, tables and chairs but we couldnt go more than 5 mins without someone coming by trying to sell us stuff, or a little band playing a song and not leaivng until we tipped. I had heard of this but I assumed since we were at a "beach club" it would be different. I think it was worse at the beach club then just in town. Our driver waited until we were done (about an 1 1/2 hrs) then took us to the downtown shopping area not near the port. Pretty much every shop had the same things. I asked him to take us to Los Cinco Soles store because I read that was the best vanilla to get. After that he took us back to the port and we went to our excursion. A lady walked us across the street to a little restaurant and we were the only ones. Later a couple came to eat but it was such a nice "private" like experience. There was only one other lady on our same excursion. The chef had us watch a video showing what we were going to make and why it is important to Yucutan culture and then half of us made guac and the other half made Sikil Pak (the brown stuff in the black bowls). We shared it all though! Although I am not a picky eater it is hard for me to venture out and try things I am not familiar with. We got to make our own tortillas with beans inside and try different seasoning blends. They brought us 3-4 different drinks and I think we had 5 or 6 courses (maybe 7)- it was alot of food and everything was very good! Probably some of the best food we had the whole trip!! I would 10/10 do this excursion again, especially for the price! Once we were done we headed back to the ship just in time for it to pour rain. Apparently we brought the WA weather everywhere we went on this vaca...

 

Cozumel from the boat that morning:

 

Beach Club:

 

Our boat next to Wonder (I was a bit jealous!)

 

Mayan Cooking Excursion:

 

Sikil Pak:

Edited January 29 by aac1623

[aac1623]

Our last stop was Coco Cay. We did not have anything planned except to relax! We heard the other boat coming in was huge and to get off the ship quickly to find seats so we did. We got off probably about 8:30, rushed to Chill Island, and found front row seats right by the water. There really was no need to rush unless you wanted seats close to the water. There were plenty of chairs back 5 or 6 rows all day long. The water was nice and calm and very clear. I'm not a fan of swimming with fish and there were some big ones that were not scared to come right up! I brought a sit'n'float floatie and blew it up to sit out in the water. Couple #2 went to rent snorkel equipment and they were already sold out for the day, they ended up buying a set for $40. They found a "shipwreck" with a bunch of fish and 2 stingrays swimming in our area. Some of us ventured over to the pool, which seemed colder then the ocean. It was crowded mainly by the bar. There were lots of little nooks to sit at. There are a ton of little shop stands ran by locals who live on Berry Island. Most of the stuff is pricey so get your souveniers from Cozumel lol! I bought 2 hats, a hoodie, a crop top, and a crewneck and paid $200....eek! You can barter with them a little but I was never good at bartering! I feel like the food was better on Coco Cay then the ship (I know its the same food/chefs), maybe it was the beach vibes! 

 

On our way back to Port Canveral we did have to stop at the Miami port for a medical emergency but that only put us behind 1 hour so not too bad. Disembarking was a bit crazy. We decided to keep our luggage with us and walk off around 8am. We caught the Avis shuttle back to rent another van and head to Disney Springs for the day until our evening flights back home. I'm sure I missed alot so feel free to ask any questions! 

 

Coco Cay Pool

 

Chill Island Beach

 

[T_Bird]

Great review, thanks!

[Nadey]

I enjoyed your review. I have not been on this ship. Did you have any problems using the Avis rental place in Port Canaveral we are going to be stopping there on a cruise in April and this was the only rental car that still had cars available near the port. Just wondered if they were good on picking you up and dropping you off, we plan to drive to visit friends while the ship is docked for the day . Thank you. 

[aac1623]

23 hours ago, Nadey said:

Did you have any problems using the Avis rental place in Port Canaveral we are going to be stopping there on a cruise in April and this was the only rental car that still had cars available near the port.

The Avis rental was a breeze! When we got off the ship around 8am there was a van waiting for us . We pretty much filled the van so once we got everything loaded he left and drove to the rental lot (about 10 mins). Our rental was waiting and ready to go when we got there. I am preferred (I think you can make an acct for free on Avis) and all my info is attached to my app (CC and license) so the counter to grab keys took 5 mins. I believe another Avis van was right around the corner to pick up more people when we left as well. If your ship is just there for the day I'd call to make sure a van will still be there. IDK if they just plan for embarkation and debarkation days or port stops too. There was about 3 guys working the counter both times we were there (before and after cruise) and it is a small lot so I was surprised to see so many employees - which was a plus!

[Nadey]

Thank you so much for your reply

[MichaelCMTX]

We're on Mariner in September.  Can you confirm they have the Coke Freestyle machines?

 

If you do the soda package, once you have them and then don't.... it irritates just that little bit.

[aac1623]

17 hours ago, MichaelCMTX said:

We're on Mariner in September.  Can you confirm they have the Coke Freestyle machines?

 

If you do the soda package, once you have them and then don't.... it irritates just that little bit.

I believe they had at least 2. One was on the 5th floor next to the ice cream parlor. I don’t remember where I saw the other. There may have been more that I didn’t notice. You did have to have the soda package cup to use them! 

[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for the review!  Will be on the Mariner in a week 🙂

[MichaelCMTX]

5 hours ago, aac1623 said:

I believe they had at least 2. One was on the 5th floor next to the ice cream parlor. I don’t remember where I saw the other. There may have been more that I didn’t notice. You did have to have the soda package cup to use them! 

 

Adventure had one on the Promenade and one on either side of the Windjammer.  I don't care so long as they're on board, it gives me an excuse to get in a few steps and stair climbs. Plenty of times I went from the Solarium to Deck 5 for refills.  

 

Thanks for the assist. 👍

[VirginiaIsForCruisers]

On 1/31/2024 at 10:57 PM, MichaelCMTX said:

We're on Mariner in September.  Can you confirm they have the Coke Freestyle machines?

 

If you do the soda package, once you have them and then don't.... it irritates just that little bit.

They have two on Deck Five midship and two in Windjammer, one on each side, so sometimes one is blocked off.

[theotherchad]

Any notes on live music onboard other than in the main theater?