Just returned from our May 21-28th cruise on the Mariner, WOW what a fantastic ship! Just to let you know about my family, I am 42, my wife Katherine is 34 and our son Chase is 11 going on 25. We live in Ocala, Fl. so it's only a 2 hour drive to the port in Cape Canaveral.

(Pre-Cruise) We decided to take some of the stress out of our trip by leaving early Saturday and staying at the Radisson at the port and starting our vacation early. The Radisson offers a nice room, beautiful pool and tropical bar area with a nice buffet breakfast free of charge for the family. Another contributing factor in staying here the night before our cruise was the fact that they allow you to park your car there at the hotel for the week of your cruise at no charge so when you take into the consideration the fee at the cruise terminal for parking we basically paid $30 for the nights stay and got a nice breakfast and they shuttle you over to the port at the time you desire and pick you up after the cruise and return you back to your vehicle. I also want to commend the hotel for making these shuttle trips painless and very well organized, you reserve the time you want to leave for the terminal ahead of time so there is no mad rush for the shuttle and upon return it is a 1st come first serve basis to get back to the hotel, again this was VERY well done.

(Embarkation) This couldn't have been easier, we arrived at the terminal at 11:45am and were through customs and onboard the ship by 12pm with a warm cookie in hand and a glass of lemonade from the terminal. Read more