Mariner – 3.5 days + 2 hrs of Amazing Fun!

[LuCruise]

A Few Hours Before Returning Home

 

Our flight wasn't until 8:30pm so we had the day to kill (or enjoy). I had asked on here for what to do for the day and got some great suggestions...rent a car to store luggage and go somewhere, store our luggage at the Miami airport and then go see something and return for our flight, day hotel, or just go to a mall with our luggage. I looked around and we decided to rent a day room. When selecting a place, I ensured that it was (1) close to the airport, (2) long hours, (3), nice pool, (4) somewhere to grab lunch, (5) within budget. The Pullman Hotel matched all of those.

 

When we got off the ship we grabbed a taxi and went right to the Pullman. We were able to check in for 10am. The checkout time was listed as 5pm and the website says check out times are fixed. But we asked if we could stay until 6pm and they said no problem, which we quite appreciated.

 

Next we went to our room, which was lovely and quite spacious. Our kids wanted to swim so they changed and we headed down to the pool. It's quite a beautiful pool with the waterfall, the shape, and the lagoon in the background. There are also really nice loungers with pillow type coverings. They also had clam shell type loungers. The hotel also offers towels by the pool which was quite convenient.

 

 

This is the picture of the lagoon behind the pool.

[LuCruise]

Killing Time and then Home Sweet Home

 

Even though we had a large breakfast and our tummies were quite full, it was near lunch time so we went back to the room to change and find lunch. No more free all you can eat buffets. We walked to the strip plaza near Hampton Inn and grabbed something at Starbucks. Then we did our 'USA Snack shopping' at Publix as there are always neat things that the US sells that you can't get in Canada. After that, we didn't want our kids to go into sugar withdrawal and so we promised them a treat, so we headed back to Starbucks (something to make the 'cruise over' not as depressing).

 

We were getting antsy at this time as there wasn't much else to do so we went for a short walk. DS and DH then went back to the room to watch TV and I took DD back to the pool.

 

The Pullman is a nice option too as they run a free airport shuttle every 30 minutes. Thus, we checked out and caught the 6pm shuttle. There were quite a few other people taking the shuttle as well. With our luck Air Canada was the very last drop off, but we made it in time.

 

The rest of the day was uneventful (which is a good thing when flying in an airplane). And boo hoo...it wasn't long before we were back home. It was a late night with our kids not getting to bed until 12:30am (which is late for me too!).

[LuCruise]

Photobucket Link

 

I tried another site to try and post pictures but it didn't work. Thus, here is the direct PhotoBucket link:

 

http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/luannef/library/Mariner%20-%20Aug2018?sort=3&page=1

 

Let me know if this works

[LrgPizza]

I can see all the photos and I don’t have a photobucket subscription. Weird.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cruiselover10]

Thank you for your excellent review. We will be on the Mariner on Monday, in about 52 hours but who is counting. We were last on the Mariner ten years ago so we are looking forward to all of the changes.

[LuCruise]

I can see all the photos and I don’t have a photobucket subscription. Weird.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks for confirming. Not sure why some cannot. I know when I'm at work, photos don't always work. Not sure if its the browser or a firewall.

[LuCruise]

Thank you for your excellent review. We will be on the Mariner on Monday, in about 52 hours but who is counting. We were last on the Mariner ten years ago so we are looking forward to all of the changes.

 

So exciting! Enjoy! The Mariner is great, and they did a great job on the refurbishment changes!

[LuCruise]

Final Thoughts

 

Mariner is a great ship and I love how they've limited it to shorter sailings. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have squeezed in (or even considered or thought about) a cruise for a week. For those questioning, the 4 days wasn't "too short". Sure, 7 days would have been nicer but we really didn't feel like we were missing out. It was an amazing 4 days.

 

Forgot to mention about the ice skating. My daughter wanted to try it, but it was only offered once at an unfavorable time; the last sea day from 5pm - 11pm. Well at 5pm is when we would return to our stateroom to shower and get ready for our 6pm dinner. Then dinner was followed by a show. On the last night, we had to return to our stateroom to pack. So it really didn't fit in. But otherwise, we did everything that was wanted, plus more with time to explore the ship and see all.

 

We've taken our kids on Allure. The one thing that stuck out on Mariner is the fewer food choices, but who really needs 7 choices of where to go for lunch...lol. We missed the Broadway show and Aqua show (and DreamWorks characters), and DS said he missed the zipline....BUT our DD commented that there was more for her to do on Mariner with the Sky Pad and waterslides and Laser Tag. DS too said he had a hard time deciding which one he likes better. (We have Symphony booked for next year so that will be a great mix of both - they'll be super excited when we tell them).

 

The service is fantastic, the decor is beautiful as Royal ships are, the food is great, the ship spotless (only thing I ever noticed was our balcony glass could have used a cleaning), the room is spacious, the ship really laid out, shows great, and many activities, and lines not long.

 

Usually I'm the one that is addicted to cruising, but when we returned, it was DH that was all of a sudden reading up about different ships and cruise lines, and reading cruise forum topics. AND...it was him that suggested we go again (outside of our current bookings). So....within a few days we booked 4 night on Independence of the Seas for December, but just the two of us this time. Comparing deck plans, the ship looks very similar to Mariner. Can't wait.

 

There really is nothing better than cruising. (Ok...well maybe Disney parks "tie" for best vacation but that's a completely different kind of holiday). I'll say too that we often look at other cruise lines but seem to return to Royal. I guess the crown and anchor points get you, but we know the amazing quality on Royal. So far..we've stayed loyal to Royal.

[DHLuCruise]

DH here.. My DW did a wonderful job planning as usual, and yes I'm now hooked. The last time we cruised before this, I had a super high stress job and didn't feel I was able to relax enough to really enjoy it. This time, I'm in a much better headspace and was able to truly appreciate everything about cruising. So yes, I was the one that pestered my DW to book us on IOTS in the first half of December.

 

Also, I was tempted to try out Carnival or another line -- but then we wouldn't get C+A points. :) Yes the loyalty program definitely does work!

 

Thanks for reading, my DW loves the trip reporting as much as the cruise itself. :)

[maryjaden]

Thank you for your excellent review. We are sailing on the Mariner on March and are really looking forward to this.