OK, we're going to escape from Peru and the Amazon for the moment and prepare for our
weekend cruise to the Bahamas in March with Juan and Mandy aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. It leaves from Florida's Port Canaveral and cruises to the Bahamas, stopping at Nassau and Coco Cay. I've never really looked at the Bahamas nor realized that they were so close to the U.S. coast. But then look how close Miami is to Havana and how many years it's been divorced from Cuba.
If you would like to see what the Mariner of the Seas looks like and see how much fun the older grandkids would have on the top level of this ship, watch the YouTube video,
Mariner of the Seas - Full Tour by CruiseIt.com. And tell them about the Arctic Zone: all you can eat soft-serve ice cream throughout the cruise.
 |
| Miniature Golf |
While Fernando is relaxing in the jacuzzi, the grandkids could play miniature golf. Even Louise and Silas can have fun here as the water isn't real or deep...
When the kids get hungry they could run over to the Dog House and pick up a hot dog, which, like the Arctic Zone, is included in the fare (complimentary they call it). Oh Oh. Where are the vegetables? Ketchup, onions, relish, and sauerkraut? Don't worry, there's plenty of fruit down in the Windjammer buffet on Deck 11.
 |
| Perfect Storm Water Slides |
But Deck 13 has all the activities for the big kids: a climbing structure like the one at the Boston Children's Museum, a basketball court so the kids can stay in practice, a climbing wall and a Sky Pad bungee trampoline like the one at the Carnegie Science Center. They even have some swings for Isabel. But the greatest attractions will probably be the Perfect Storm dual waterslides and the FlowRider surf simulator. A pair of grandkids can each choose a waterslide (blue or yellow) and race each other down to the finish. I'm assuming kid-hearted adults can do the same. Old people like Papi and me will watch and take videos...
Oh. And I completely forgot to mention the Laser Tag...
 |
| Lots of fruits and desserts for the kids |
While the kids are exhausting themselves and their parents, what are Papi and I going to do? Papi would say "go to the Casino" but I'd rather walk around the running track -- it's complimentary :-) or I could plan what I was going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner or I could go down to the Windjammer buffet and do a taste test. I don't know how I'm going to try every dish they put out. The kids would have a field day, of course, being able to see and choose their own meals. Naturally they would prefer the buffet to the Main Dining Room but for dinner I prefer formality and meat that hasn't been sitting around getting cold and overcooked.
 |
| Teatime scones and biscuits |
To prepare myself, I've been watching YouTube videos of Royal Caribbean cruises, of which there are a surprising number - maybe one for every person who's taken a cruise!
TravelTouristVideo has videos of the meals, both the Windjammer buffet and the Main Dining Room. They sailed on the Liberty of the Seas, not the Mariner of the Seas, but the menus look pretty standard. They had
a tea time as well as a lunch at the Windjammer but that might be reserved for the days the ship is at sea and not in a port like Nassau or Coco Cay.
 |
| Aged Prime Rib of Beef |
We don't have to prepare for the buffet because it is all there for the taking, but at the Main Dining Room they have "classics" that are always on the dinner menu, and specials of the day that are not. Below is one of the dinner menus and I might have to order two starters: the crispy calamari and the Caesar Salad. Fernando can have the Duck a l'Orange and I can have the Beef Tenderloin. If you want to see what a lot of these dishes look like, check out TravelTouristVideos'
Cruise Ship Dining Room Food - Dinner by Royal Caribbean. They liked the prime rib, lamb shank, rack of lamb and duck a l’orange (definitely meat eaters). Hopefully our cruise will have some of those. As for the desserts, they liked the Royal Cheesecake but not the Creme Brûlée.
If none of the entrees or desserts appeal to you in the Main Dining Room, you can hop on over to the Windjammer buffet, which has themed dinners (Asian, TexMex, Indian etc), a salad bar and lots of desserts (jello, cakes, cupcakes, mousses, cookies etc). TravelTouristVideos will take you on a tour in its
Royal Caribbean Buffet Dinner Food on Liberty of the Seas. And of course they also have a tour of
Royal Caribbean Buffet Breakfast Liberty of the Seas so that we can start our gourmandizing at 6:15 in the morning.
Stay tuned. We might actually get out of the dining room and off the ship in the next episode.
