It's time to sail on one of my favorite ships, Mariner of the Seas!
We're onboard for a 8-night cruise that visits a lot of ports, and this particular cruise has been a sailing we've been planning since last summer.
Mariner is based out of Port Canaveral, Florida, which is a little over an hour from our home. Because we had a lot of friends coming in for this cruise and staying near the port, we decided to start our vacation a day early and we stayed at the Cape Crossing Resort & Marina the night before the cruise.
It's not on Merritt Island (one bridge before Port Canaveral when coming on the main highway from Orlando), but it was perfect for our family, since they offer apartment style accommodations.
Mariner was sailing from Terminal 5, which is unusual. Royal Caribbean ships in Port Canaveral usually sail from Terminal 1, but there were 2 other Royal Caribbean ships in port today.
We had a 10:30am boarding time, so upon arrival we parked the car in the adjacent garage and then walked in to check-in. One difference between Terminal 5 and Terminal 1, is you pay when you leave the garage at Terminal 5.
The check-in process was easy enough, and we only had to wait perhaps 15-20 minutes in the waiting area before boarding began. They boarded everyone based on Crown and Anchor Society status, which was a nice change of pace.
Once onboard Mariner, it felt very familiar walking onto the Royal Promenade. It's a ship we've sailed so many times that it has a homely feel to it.
My first stop was the specialty restaurant booking kiosk on the Royal Promenade to make our dining reservations. I booked a 3-night dining package, and you always want to book dining reservations as soon as possible when you get onboard.
Next up was lunch in the Windjammer.
In addition to booking dinners, we also took care of a few other "housekeeping" duties, such as completing muster drill. We watched the safety video and listened to the ship's emergency alarm on our phone, and then just had to report to the muster station to prove we knew where it was. The emuster process couldn't be easier.
The kids wanted to expel some energy, so the next stop was to the hammocks, climbing area, and swings on the back of the ship near the sports deck.
At 1pm, Adventure Ocean opened for registration. Basically, you sign your kids up for Adventure Ocean and provide any necessary information to the staff. If your kids are new to Adventure Ocean, it's also an opportunity to meet the staff and see the play area.
Our cabins were ready at 1:30pm. We have two connecting balcony cabins on deck 7, near the forward elevators.
The cabins looked great, and it has just enough living space for us to enjoy.
Our first official RoyalCaribbeanBlog group cruise meetup was at the Bamboo Room to say hello to everyone.
The Bamboo Room is such a fun bar, and this was our first opportunity to meet new people that we've never sailed with, as well as see past cruise friends.
Our luggage was delivered to the room, so we unpacked all of our stuff before sailaway.
We headed up to Ellington's in the Viking Crown Lounge to enjoy sailaway. Our group had reserved the space there, and we had the perfect (climate controlled) view of sailaway.
While I prefer the conveniences of Terminal 1, being further back in the port meant a lovely view when we departed since we got to pass all the other cruise ships in port.
Dinner took us to Chops Grille.
We had a large group for dinner (12 in total), and the service was fantastic. The meal progressed nicely, and the food was terrific.
After dinner, we went to the pub for music. The pub singer onboard, Darla, came highly recommended from many other cruisers and she did not disappoint.
Tomorrow is a sea day, and we have a lot of fun activities planned to really get the cruise feeling going.
Stray Observations
The new drink package cups are also here on Mariner of the Seas.
I spoke with the hotel director, who indicated the ship is at 98% crew member staffing. All the bars and restaurants we visited have had minimal waits.
Here is the onboard pricing for the deluxe beverage package if you waited to book onboard. It's always a good idea to book a Royal Caribbean drink package online before the cruise.
