lambstew

We walked there and back in June.

There is a baskin robbins about 3/4 of the way there if you need a pit stop!

No problem with receiving our double points for our cruise 6/18/22!

We took Go Port both ways for our cruise on the Mariner of the Seas - 6/18/22.

Our Orlando airport shuttle dropped us off right at the bus, went into the terminal to check in, got on the bus, and headed to Port Canaveral.

Coming back, we got off the boat around 8:45, got on the bus and we pulled into MCO at 10am.

We might have gotten lucky having the bus there and ready both ways.

Worked well of us, and would not hesitate to use them again.

Just wanted to highly recommend Woodwind for snorkeling tours.

We have done many excursions, and this one is by far the best organized and best run excursion we have ever taken.

It is a short walk once you get off the boat.

The things that set them apart:

Before you get in the water - they size you for masks and fins.  If you bring your own, they will defog your masks

They provide short and long sleeve snorkel shirts if you want to borrow one

They divide the boat into 5-8 people groups and they have a guide for each group.

The guide will show you different fish as  you go along

They drop you off uptide and let you drift back to the boat - however the boat is available to pick you up at any point if you need

The first spot was about 35 minutes of water time, and the second spot was slightly shorter

When  you get back on the boat - you hold onto a yellow rope and they come behind you and remove your fins, and hand them to you once you are back on the boat.

They have a wide variety of drinks available -  alcoholic and regular

They provided orange slices, a plate of food (noodles and chicken) and cheesecake

Just can't recommend them highly enough!

We just stayed at the Embassy Suite - Orlando Airport on TG Lee Blvd.

They have a free shuttle to and from the airport.

We took the Go Port bus from the airport to Cape Canaveral and the Embassy Suite shuttle dropped us off right next to the Go Port bus.  

The hotel has a free buffet breakfast and a managers evening reception with 2 free cocktails.

We enjoyed our stay there.

I believe it was deck 4 at Port Canaveral,  but in the port of calls (ABC Islands) it was deck 1.

My wife and I just got off the Mariner of the Seas yesterday, and my wife had your exact situation.

We submitted her card with her J&J vaccine (1 shot) and she got the booster a month before the cruise and we forgot to upload the new card with both shots.

No problem at the dock (Port Canaveral).  However YMMV

Really enjoying your trip report!  Thank you for going to the effort to keep us entertained and informed.

Does the Mariner have a movie theater?  We were on Serenade and loved going to the small theater.

Also, what movies are they showing.  I know they have an outdoor movie screen.

Thank you!

I cancelled a cruise early January, and it took a good 2 weeks to get the FCC email.

We have done Big Beards twice.  We signed up for the full day - and the first time, it rained really hard after our Buck Island snorkeling so they said they could not start the barbeque in the rain, so they refunded the difference between a full day and half day tour in cash.  Arranged transportation for us and took great care of us.  The second time, it was a full day, the snorkeling was great and the beach barbeque was great!  I highly recommend Big Beards. 

Is the ATM always in US dollars?  We are taking a transatlantic cruise from the US to France and I was wondering if we are short Euros if we can get them from the ATM?

TIA!

Thank you Biker19 - good to know!

is there a movie theater (other than the outdoor screen) on Anthem?  We were on Serenade and went to the movies several times.

When is the timeline for buying trip insurance?

We just booked a cruise for April 2020,  How soon do I need to line up insurance?

We obviously won't book airfare for 4-8 months.

Thanks!

I'm loving this review and the way you have told us about your experiences. It feels like I am almost there with you! But I am sorry it is coming to an end! You've inspired me to put this trip on my bucket list! Thank you for the review!

I hope you will have a great time!!

You will save $88

Bon Voyage!

Thanks Bob - you are a wealth of information!!

When will transatlantic cruises for March/April/May 2020 come out??

We were on Serenade last year and ordered two different packages - one vodka and one rum. Neither were in our room first day.

We went down to Guest Services and they said they would contact the bar manager and have them delivered asap.

Long story short, after mulitple visits to GS - we finally got the rum package on the 3rd day and the vodka on the 4th day. Luckily it was a 10 day cruise:*. But it was nice having it in the room!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help! I appreciate it.

Doesn't sound like there is an easy way, but I will definitely try the UK site!

Thanks again!!

I'm sorry if this has been asked recently, I did a search and could not find anything.

Say you want to book a specific aft balcony cabin, or the ben n' jerry suite, or a hump cabin on a specific ship.

Is there a way to see what cruises that specific cabin is available on. Right now, I open each specific cruise and look for the cabin. It seems like there should be a faster way. Thanks for your help!

We went to Tortola on Serenade this past April. Would love to go back. I looked for RCCL cruises that go to that port from now to 2019 and the search resulted in zero cruises hitting that port. Hopefully they will have a change of mind and revisit that port.

ocean dancer - thanks for the advice - I will give that a try!!

i cannot use google chrome but firefox seems to work fine. Although today, I was looking at a cruise and they are requiring a deposit before I can pick a cabin. i have never seen that before. Is that because cabins might be limited. I was checking Navigator - 9 day around 4/13/18. I had checked this cruise a few weeks ago, and it said no balconies available. Today is shows balconies available, but won't let me see where they are.

We were on Serenade back in April and we bought the vodka and rum packages. Neither was in the cabin first day.

We went down to guest services the first night and told them we were missing both packages. She said she would get with the bar manager and make sure they were delivered asap. After dinner the 2nd night - the rum package was there but no vodka. We went down again to guest services and asked about our vodka package. She said they would get with the bar manager and make sure it was delivered asap. We finally got the vokda late on the 3rd day. No apologies from the staff. Didn't ruin our cruise, we had a great time. In RCCL defense, I think these packages were fairly new and they probably didn't have a good system down. Hopefully they have worked out the kinks...