brookeq

That stinks.   I hope you have a great anniversary cruise.  Next year is our 20 year anniversary.   I told husband.  We are definitely planning a trip that we want.  

We went to Little Divi Bay Resort (before the hurricane).  You can see my review in my signature (carnival breeze link).  

It is a time share place but lets cruise ship guests visit.  No cost to get in.  You pay for chairs and umbrellas.  And have access to nice clean bathrooms, a small store, and a few food choices.  (you cant use the pool ).   There is also a rental stand with snorkel stuff, jet skis etc.  We did some snorkeling there and had a good time.  

Just find the taxi stand for Little Divi.  

Cabs aren't regulated on Roatan and aren't the most reliable.  Your best bet is to  use a tour company.  They have transportation to Bananarama.  Our first trip we used Island marketing.  We ended up with our own driver.  So that was nice.  

Last month when we went we hired a private driver thru Rony's and did a few things and then hit the beach.  i think he may also have a regular tour that goes to Bananarama.  

Governors beach will be less crowded.  Maybe no people at all.

Also when you get off the ship head to the right.   You can get a good photo of the ship with the water.   

On 5/8/2019 at 10:37 AM, indy71 said:

Is there any way to view these falls without jumping or sliding in them? We’re a bit too old for that. Lol! Mom and me-65 and 87! But we do enjoy pretty scenery !

Its not like the falls in Jamaica where there is a walkway beside them.   You have to hike a good bit (across the river and then up the mountain).  Then you have to jump or slide down most of them.  Some have ladders but they are wet and steep (they scared me more than jumping) 

On 5/14/2019 at 3:50 PM, mook1525 said:

Is there a music on the boat? 

There was not.  You may be able to ask for some (or bring your own).   

we didn't have the notepad or pencil on our cruise last month (the magic)

Cabs are not a reliable form of transportation here.  Its best to hire a driver from a good tour company.  We hired a private driver this last cruise since we did a few other things before heading to the beach.  The cruise before that we used Island Marketing as our "taxi" and went to Bananarama for the day at the same beach that the cruise lines take you to. 

As someone said before, Half Moon Cay is for Holland America and sometimes carnival.  So that wouldn’t likely happen.  And I like it for a nice beach day and wouldn’t want slides and things there.  

I could see doing more things at amber cove.  ESP since there isn’t really a beach area.  

Ages 9-11

Ages 6-8

Kids club ages 2-5

That should be all of the fun times.  I have the kids club schedules if anyone wants to see them. 

Cozumel fun times 

Roatan and Belize fun times 

Here are the fun times from our day at grand cayman 

12 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Thank you so much for the recommendation!  I just contacted them for my Breakaway cruise in August.  Looking for something fun to do besides a beach break, or typical touristy thing....

Nice!  I hope you have a great time.  🙂

There were cucumber sandwiches on the magic a few weeks ago.   

They also have a selections of better teas to pay for.   Under $2.   

We just used Ronys and I just posted about it a few days ago.  I think my post is a few down from here.  Rony's can take you to Manawakie which is less crowded than Boddens place.   We had a great experience there.  If you go to ronys site and choose option 4 (private tour) and scroll down he lists all of the options you can stop at on your tour.

They don't have a website.  Cruise critic doesn't let me mention the name of the social networking site that his business is on.  Starts with an F.   Once on there just search for Fishing with Pedro.  Message them and his wife Anet will contact you.  🙂

Here is the last sea day fun times.   The fun times I posted above are for the last sea day.    I need to find my port day ones.  I set them aside somewhere...

20 minutes ago, pyropoodle said:

I LOVE your 80's costumes.  I just now read through your review because I'm having an unusually slow day at work, but boy am I glad I did! it was great. we are taking this exact cruise in like, 658 or so days..no idea (New year's 2020 into 2021, so it's pretty far out there, but it's never too early to take notes)

 

Can I ask, what are your kid's age differences?  I have an almost 5 year old boy and an almost 2 year old girl and she has recently learned how to have amazing tantrums because my son is so good at them. 😛

 

I'm taking her on her first cruise the day she turns 2 so I can offload them into the kid's clubs and have a break.  we haven't had any kind of vacation since I found out I was pregnant with her, so momma needs a cruise!

 

Did your kids go to the kids clubs at all?  

 

again, thank you for sharing your experiences and for being so real with your review of your family as well as the cruise.  You are doing a great job momma-ing and one day, your son will look back and remember all these things and love you all the more.

My kids are two years apart.  10 and 8.  We went on one when they were around your kids age.  The review would be in my signature.  The carnival dream link.   Not sure if the pictures will still work though.  On that cruise the kids loved the kids club.  a few years ago on the breeze they did the kids club.  My son now thinks he is a teenager.   And wanted to do what his teenager cousins did.   So he didn't go.  Amelia would have gone but she had a cousin her age to play with who wouldn't go in the club.   

We like to travel.  We do some trips with kids and some without.  When we have the kids a cruise seems to be the one that everyone enjoys the most.   It may not be an individuals favorite trip but everyone is happy for the most part. 

13 minutes ago, hard_eight said:

😆

 

As a Jag fan I do it. 🙂

 

To the OP, thanks for the review, less than a month out for us. Do you happen to know who the waiters were @ Alchemy?

There was a guy and a girl but I don't remember.  sorry.  I didn't get down there as much as I would have liked.

45 minutes ago, mook1525 said:

great review!!

 

how much was the fishing with Pedro?  I don't do facebook..what is the best way for me to reach him?

 

also, how big was the boat? how many people can board?

The boat we were on could probably hold one more  person comfortably.  So maybe like 5 people.    He has a bigger boat also for money but not sure how many that can hold.  Our cost was $375 for the whole day.   I am not sure how else to contact them.   He has a phone number but no email.   

We were in Cozumel a few weeks ago and I spent a lot of time looking for something new to do.  We have been to a few of the ruins sites, Chankanaab, Paradise beach, etc.  I wanted to do something different.   It would be our family of 4 (2 kids 8 and 10).  Cozumel was our last stop after 3 days of busy port schedules.   I wanted to do the Amazing Secret Underground River but we thought it would probably be too much for our family near the end of our vacation.

In my research I found out about a beautiful place called El Cielo.  It looked like an amazing beach area.  But you can only get their by boat.  The tour company I found had mixed reviews.   Somehow I stumbled upon Fishing with Pedro.   He takes you deep sea fishing, snorkeling and to El Cielo.   I contacted them on their page on social media site.   His wife handles the bookings and she was quick and very helpful with her responses.   

The cost is $375.  That is for just your family for the day.(family of 4)  So a private boat for the entire day.  They also have a bigger boat that holds more than 4 people.   That would be a different price. 

Pedro and Sammy took us out.  The boat was nice and clean.   The ride was enjoyable.  We trolled for fish on the way.   

We stopped in some deep water and fished.  If you look on his page most days people are catching some big fish (barricudas, mahi mahi, etc).  The current was a bit strong and nothing was biting.  Pedro worked very hard to try and catch some.  But no other boats were catching anything this day either.   

No worries.  He took us to shallower water and we started catching fish and my son was happy.  We caught some yellow tail, trigger fish and a few others.   Here are some that we caught.   

After fishing we headed to El Cielo.  

It was beautiful.  The water is shallow and clear.  The sand was so soft. 

There are a few friendly sting rays there that know the fishing boats feed them.   We snorkeled around with them a bit.   

(if you don't want them to come near you, just be noisy and they swim won't come even close to you).  

While we swam in the water Pedro prepared fresh ceviche with our catch.   We ate it on the way back and it was delicious.  Even my picky kids liked it.   He had drinks and other snacks too all day.   

We didn't do the snorkeling  since the kids didn't want to and we already did in Grand Cayman and Roatan.  So i can't comment on that part.  

But the kids declared it their favorite day of the cruise.  And my son is hard to please!   

When we got back to the marina they called us a cab (its about a 5 minute drive to the carnival pier)  but none were answering.  Sammy took us back to the boat in his truck.  Such great service.   Both Pedro and Sammy were so friendly and professional.

I would recommend this trip to anyone.   My daughter didn't fish but she loved the boat the ride.  I helped fish and sat out on the front of my boat and relaxed in the warm sun.   

It has something for everyone.  

Here are some pictures: