My flight from Denver to Orlando left on time at darn close to midnight. By 5:30am I was sticky with Florida humidity, enjoying 80+ degrees and watching lush palm trees sway in the breeze as I waited for the hotel shuttle. Facebook had already begun their "Dallice is in Orlando" marketing campaign:
By 6:30am I was beginning my 90 minute nap on my friend B's bed at the Marriott - feeling very grateful she got to Florida 2 days ago with the girls and had room for me to recover briefly before we departed for Port Canaveral.
Need a bit more of an intro? Sure!
B is a long time dear friend. She is organized, smart and practical. Her daughter is the reason for this adventure. Almost 20 now, M chose this ship as her birthday bucket list item. M invited her friend, C. B invited me. The 4 of us were bound for the Mariner of the Sea - a Royal Caribbean cruise ship featuring a surf pool (the Flowrider), regular pool offerings, casino, theater, nightclub, shopping promenade, dining options of all descriptions and tons of other things to keep 3800 passengers fed, watered, entertained and happy. The trip was for 5 nights and made stops at Haiti and the Bahamas.
Getting going...
So here's some background. Cruise ships regulate alcohol onboard. It's not included in the price but you are able to bring a couple of bottles of wine and some soda with you. We stopped at the liquor store near the hotel - a place that I'm sure made most of it's money selling to departing cruise passengers! Two bottles of wine later, we were ready to Uber to the cruise terminal.
Getting aboard was easy. Passports and vax certificates were checked by the lovely Paul and we made the "muster station" safety briefing as our first stop. Then lunch. It was noon, Monday.
The girls did their thing, B and I got acquainted with the ship and by late afternoon we had State Room access plus luggage has arrived.
Things were going swimmingly and I think we got a bit over-confident about our ability to understand how cruise-life worked.
Dinner. It appeared via the app that there were 3 main dining rooms with seatings at 5:30 and 8pm, then something called My Time too.
B and I rocked up to Main Dining Room on Level 5 at 5:30 and were subsequently told we were assigned to Level 3 - "See it on your Sea Pass?" (A Sea Pass is the ID card, room charge card, state room door key.) At Level 3 we were then told we didn't have a reservation and to come back at 6:45 for My Time dining.
Unable to figure out where all this info was or how to reserve dinner, we asked... And must have looked lost, pathetic or both because they just found us a table instead!
Dinner was lovely. Staff were attentive and kind, tables were nicely set and the ambiance was good too. I'd say nicer than most restaurants but not anything close to Frasca or Jill's - (Boulder CO references, sorry.)
Now lets talk drinks "packages". Our naivety starts to accumulate here! Included in the trip is coffee, juice and water at meals. For sodas you buy a soda package. $13.99/day/person gets you a refillable cup and can dispense all the Coke and Minute Maid products you like all day long.
For the non-drinker who wants to feel a bit more like a drinker, there is the mocktail package at $36/per person/day. And if you really want to celebrate all day long there is the alcohol package. Only $105 per day PLUS a mandatory 18% gratuity. That's like $620 for the cruise. (It's a $350 cruise!)
At the bar outside, B opted to buy the alcohol package for herself and 2 soda packages for the girls. But here is where it got iffy. Really iffy! The barman informed her that if 1 person in the room buys the alc package, the other automatically is charged for the non-alcoholic package and if one gets the soda package, so does the other. Technically since one girl was under each of our room reservations (under 21 years old) that meant all of us would need to purchase, or none of us. Seems wrong, right?! A manager was called and that manager confirmed the "policy". We left the bar, disgruntled.
The girls had already completely consumed their smuggled-in liquor (that's a story best told in-person rather than blogged) and they were looking for/itching for more alcohol before hitting the night club with new friends at 11:30pm.
With just about 3 hours sleep total last night, it came as no surprise to anyone that I took an early night while B headed to the comedy club with them. Preloading was underway. LOL
Kids are complicated. Do you say No and understand they'll find other ways to get it, or do you insert yourself and attempt to monitor the situation? Don't know. Luckily it's none of my business!
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