ALWAYS FIND TIME FOR THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY TO BE ALIVE
Los Angeles, California
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Mazatlan, Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mariner of The Seas had a lot of firsts for Lady and The Pirate. As their third cruise, Mariner would be the first of a lot of Royal Caribbean ships they would book. As of this writing, Lady and The Pirate are one cruise away from a Diamond Plus status with the cruise line. If you've never cruised before, cruise lines allow cruisers to build status and give perks as one gets higher in status. Lady and The Pirate believe Royal Caribbean has the best perks for two reasons...free drinks, and a dedicated lounge area with free specialty coffees and snacks. Diamonds and above also have a dedicated concierge to assist them whenever needed. All cruise lines have perks for booking expensive suites, but Lady and The Pirate believe that other cruise lines, even though they do have their status perks as well, fall short of Royal Caribbean if for no other reason than the free drinks. At this point, Lady and The Pirate do not need to purchase a premium beverage package, a package that includes all the drinks they love, and a package that can run well into the hundreds per cruiser, per cruise.
Another first for Lady and The Pirate would be their first non-Florida embarkation and a first cruise off the West coast of the United States. Lady and The Pirate's friends, Mike and Jean, joined them and Mike drove to the cruise port the morning of the cruise. Los Angeles is about four hours from where Lady and The Pirate lived at the time. The drive to port would also be a first for Lady and The Pirate in that they had never driven to a cruise port, something they still have never done since. The usual schedule sees Lady and The Pirate flying into a port at least the day before embarkation. As a piece of advice, The Pirate recommends always doing that. You never know when flights might go sour on you.
As with the first two of their cruises, Lady and The Pirate would visit ports on this cruise that are highly frequented by cruise ships. They call this cruise a Mexican Riviera cruise and the three ports of call are usually always visited.
Notes on this cruise:
Lady and The Pirate walked to the bar, Cabo Wabo, to shoot a Cabo Wabo in Cabo. Say that after having a couple of Cabo Wabos.
One of the Lady and The Pirate's excursions took them to see cliff divers. The show was spectacular and The Pirate recommends it. Check out one of the pics below.
Mazatlan was eventually closed to cruising a few years after Lady and The Pirate visited. If memory serves, a cruise excursion fell victim to some crime and the port was deemed too risky. In recent years, Mazatlan reopened and Lady and The Pirate returned on a Princess cruise booked to see the Total Solar Eclipse in 2024. They write all about it below in their 32nd cruise.
