My husband and I have sailed twice on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, but really wanted to experience a longer cruise. We live in Central Florida, so the 10-night "Ultimate" Caribbean cruise seemed perfect for us.
Embarkation was fairly easy. We drove to Fort Lauderdale from our home on the space coast, and arrived at around 11:30 am. We parked in the big parking garage and took a shuttle to the ship. Our shuttle driver was a bit confused ... he reluctantly took us to the ship, but was expecting to take a load of people to the airport. Hmmm ... that makes no sense. Why would you park at the port to catch a plane? I think he was hoping for an extra tip from all of us. Anyway, once we got to the port we were on board in maybe 15 minutes.
We have always had a balcony cabin, but decided to book an oceanview this time. We selected a category 7 cabin on the third deck, and were situated slightly aft. The cabin was a decent size, and we liked the large porthole window and loveseat. This cabin was smaller than ones we have had on Mariner, but it was still sufficient for our needs. My only complaint about the cabin was the fact that we were so close to the waves. I suffer from motion sickness and when I looked out the window all I saw was water ... moving, surging water ... Good thing I wore my scopolomine patch! I didn't necessarily miss the balcony, and would take oceanview again if necessary.