A&L_Ont

Now that we have been off the ship for a day, Lisa and I put together our final thoughts on our cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly for us. We arrived at our mandated embarkation time which was 10:30 am. After passing through security and check-in we only had to wait until 11am when the ship was cleared and the new cruiser were allowed to board. For disembarking, we were fortunate enough to have a suite walk off. We met the concierge at the Schooner Bar at 7:40am, and he walked us to the gangway along with some of his other suite guests. From “binging” off the ship, to gathering our luggage, and clearing the facal recognition customs it took us approximately 15 minutes. All cabins were ready at 12:30pm. The sailing prior to ours was shortened because of Hurricane Ian and there were less guests on board. The cabin stewards had less cabins to prepare so the turn around was much quicker. Our cabin was an OS on deck 10. It was nice and centrally located. We were one deck below the pool and restaurants which took minutes to walk too. We only used the elevator to go to the lower decks. Some notes about the cabin. Our steward Lynn was a ninja. We rarely saw her and our cabin was always spotless. There was more than enough storage throughout the entire cabin. Once we figured out the light switches, it was all good. A few negative things we noted about the cabin are the following. The bed was hard, but that is a common theme on the ships. Mariner was built in the early 2000s and we think that some of our noted issues come with the fact that the ship is almost 20 years old. The safe was smaller than on the newer ships. There were only 3 outlets that we found in the cabin. Thankfully we brought our power block which allowed more items to be plugged in. In today’s electronic world, 3 outlets just is not enough. Being below the pool deck, we did occasionally hear people running on the deck above but that was a rare event. Our cabin was also located near the elevator bank but we never heard any noise from the hall.

That’s exactly what Lisa said. 😂

Owen and Sharon were excited to see us. Laundry and groceries were completed by 11:30 this morning and then it was some time for some yard work. It wasn’t until I was cleaning the pool that Lucy made an appearance. Do you see her? You think she got up for a rub? Nope, I had to go to her. You are here to serve, is the look I got. Either that, or leave me alone in the sun. 😂

Detroit from above on the left and Ontario Canada on the right of the river. Six days later it’s almost the same view as they day we departed. The flight home was uneventful, other than a long delay waiting for our luggage to come off the carousel. Everyone was waiting. With the colder nights the leaves have started to change and fall. The low last night was 46F last night here.

At Coco Cay I did the final time lapse of the cruise. The wind was strong enough to blow my camera over at the end, it happens quickly but you get the idea. Turn on the music and enjoy the song, to which this review was titled after. If you happen to have NHL 2021, you might recognize this song by the Arkells.

@Ocean Boy I think I know the one your mentioning. This one here. I’d love to explore them all. Here’s a video the this lighthouse. The one I saw is different. I took a photo of the location on the TV map. and thanks to Google Earth it is at the arrow. Thanks to Google I found this picture. and this one on YouTube.

We missed it somehow. They do sound amazing though.

and Canadian sports teams losing when it matters.

Miss T.S. left you and she seems to be doing fine.😂😂😂 That being said, you might be allowed onboard. 😉

Our sailing was the first week on Mariner that crew could go maskless. We maybe saw a few more crew masked than your experience. On Thursday morning we saw more wearing them. Late Thursday the Captain made an announcement that a percentage of crew have tested positive and that masks would be mandatory for them for a period of time. They reported 1 guest had tested positive. The crew on Thursday night and Friday were in KN95 masks.

What a great looking kid. Happy Birthday to this young man.

No worries. We were excited to meet you and enjoy the ride one way. We are now on the plane and soon ready to take off.

I might not bring you next time. 😆

Final thoughts will be crafted on the flight home and posted later.

LOL We sailed on the Island Princess on the Panama Canal. The blue floor mat on the balcony was always a Princess “thing”. We sailed on them exclusively until we sailed on Oasis of the Seas, and it was pretty much RC from there.

Me as well. So did the attendant at Barefoot. I spent most everyday with a rash guard on, short sleeve or occasionally sleeveless. I also spend a lot of the day chasing shade, but not everyday.

Here come the missed photos. Pickle ball is on the ship. Mini golf. Love the dune buggy. Lisa was not letting me take it home as a souvenir. @soremekun the closet thing I saw to a cruise duck was laying on the ground out front of the Cafe Promenade. Thankfully I didn’t trip over them daily. In the Tiki Bar… I found CLR. We passed by this light house early one morning. One for the bollard and line crew.

We have cleared security and are waiting near our gate. Uber was easy and took 40 minutes to get us here. Lots of time to spare for our 11:45 boarding.

Last view from the ship.

After 40+ cruises we decided to try a 5 day with ports that worked for us, in the limited time window we have. This is our cruise experience and it wasn’t a hassle to us. It worked within our time frames. I’m glad our vacation doesn’t have to fit your needs, but you sure like to express your opinion. We look at the positive and this is our vacation. When you sail next and do a live review I can’t wait to follow along.

We have arrived in port and are having breakfast. We are departing soon and will give you our final thoughts throughout the day. We plan on departing the ship around 8am. We are either taxing our unerring to the airport with a flight at 12:30 departure with boarding at 11:50.

Here is a bit of further suite departure information that we had in our cabin.

Just found out Owen made the rep ball team for next year. Update from last night, their hockey team tied their game 4-4.

We have had it. 😋

They tasted amazing. We are currently at Playmakers after we packed our stuff. Wings and a tower of rings have been ordered.