bguppies

Just an idea of the kid friendly pools at Playa Mia.

Plus I think most f the cruiselines offer an excursion there if you don't want to do it on your own. (I would always do it on my own and save a ton of money, but some people fear taking the chance more than saving money)

Playa Mia for sure

Thanks so much for all the great info.

Luckily in January 2020 did another bucketlist trip where we spent a week in London (at the Tower hotel right next to the Tower of London with Tower bridge just outside our window)and a week driving around the Cotswolds. (and a super nice tour of Highclere Castle to feed DW's Downton Abbey fandom)

Sadly we skipped a daytrip by train to Edinborough and another to Paris as we were having such a great time in London with severely uncrowded tours of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Parliment, etc.

We are excited to get to see Greenwich and maybe we can carve some time to get to the British Museum, Portrait Gallery, etc. (the tours at the other sites were so in depth and behind the scenes, we stayed much longer at each instead of hitting multiple spots each and every day)

Thank you so much

Looking at doing the "Into the Mignight Sun" cruise on Viking the last week of June (in Norway) and the first week of July (Scotland/London) 2025.

Bergen - 6/23 and 24.

Geiranger - 6/ 25

Sea Day - 6/26

Lofoten (Leknes)- 6/27

Tromso 6/28

Honningsvag (Nordkapp) - 6/29

Sea Days - 6/30 & 7/1

Shetland Islands (Lerwick) - 7/2

Orkney Islands (Kirkwell) - 7/4

Edinburgh - 7/4

Sea Day - 7/5

London (Grenwich?) - 7/6 & 7/7

If anybody has any input about things to do in any of these port stops or the quality of these stops, we would be greatly appreciative of anyone's experiences with these ports.

Gonna take us a couple of years to save up for this trip, so we really want to ensure the best itinerary we can for a once in a lifetime cruise.(at least for us)

If anybody has any other tips about weather, daylight times, etc. those days at those ports would be appreciated also. (ANY input would be appreciated)

13 hours ago, gazingm42 said:

 

We were on the Vista in Late Oct 2022.  Yes it is 9am to 4am all the pizza you can eat.  One of the adult

kids was getting their share of pizza and the hours worked out great.

 

The softserve is still 24 hours, but some of the stations close late and you have limited spots, but there still ice cream 7 x 24.

Just did the Sunshine and Pride in the past few months and NO 24 hour soft serve.

Pretty soon Carnival will cut back Guys burgers to a couple of hours at lunch and the buffett in two hour windows at each meal.

The days of cruising your way and eating on your schedule are swiftly coming to an end.

On 1/18/2023 at 2:02 PM, kcmo74 said:

No idea on the pier, idk how to look that information up, or how to see what other ships are in port that day.

If you are on a Carnival ship (Princess, HAL etc.) you'll be at Puerto Maya pier.

If you are on RCL (Celebrity etc) you be at international pier. (literally right next door to Puerto Maya)

If you are on NCL or some smaller lines you'll probably be at the old pier downtown, which is a few miles north of the other two piers.

The two main dolphin excursions are both on the way to Nachi from either southern pier.

To find out the cruise schedules just use google and type in cruise port schedules and Voila....

(you can't link to any in here.)

The Island of Cozumel posts the schedules for the current week with the finalized pier schedule each week.

On 1/13/2023 at 7:05 AM, JohninDC said:

Book the dolphin thing as early as possible and then cab from there to Nachi.  If some in your group don't want to make the dolphin stop, they can cab separately to Nachi.  Taxis are well regulated on Cozumel (unlike the crooks in Philly! 😡).

Yeah let the people determined to do the Dolphin swim do that on their own first, as it will be closer to any cruise pier. (our group did that a few years ago. DW refused to lose one minute at her favorite spot in the world, Nachi,  for a dolphin encounter. LOL)

Then have the ones just wanting a fantastic beach day go straight to Nachi and you can have them set aside some palapas or loungers by the pool for the rest of your group arriving later from the dolphin swim.

Remember Nachi has a limit of 125 people a day, so make sure not to wait too long to book it. (Especially if it one of those heavy passenger days with multiple huge ships [Oasis, Mardi Gras, etc], or 10-12 average sized ships scheduled to be there that day)

Got some more on our trip in early December at Los Cinco Soles.

Price went up a bit since the last time we bought some, but what hasn't.

Still way cheaper and better than artifical vanilla in the spice aisle at the grocery at home.

On 1/15/2023 at 6:43 PM, mirage2u said:

There's more to do there than cozumel. We had a great time at the pool. I think we had to get 2 drinks or food to get free chairs for the whole day. Definitely something we would have done abyway. We also went to the avriary which was very cool. We are.going back in June with 2 kids (22mo and 15 years) and looking forward to the port.

 

They also have dolphin swim encounters you could do. Lots of shops and restaurants. Fish pedicures. I recommend looking at YouTube videos of the port to get a better idea.

In what dimension is there more to do in Costa Maya than Cozumel?

Maybe if you don't leave the pier area, since Costa Maya has a pool (but no beach) and restaurants and shopping versus just restaurants (better) and shopping (better) in Cozumel.

The island itself has 10X more variety of things to do than Mahahual and a much wider variety of beach days than Mahahuial. Plus a larger, more developed town (San Miguel)  to explore than Mahaual.

Now Costa Maya does have easier to access, decent Mayna ruins closer than Cozumel.

I will give it that.

Been on the Western in December, January and February a few times.

Usually it will be warm enough to swim at those stops in those months. (you can google average temps at all your ports for the months you'll be visiting to make up your mind to your preferred water temp. I grew up further north and 70's in January/February seemed hot then. Now I've lived in Charleston, SC for 20+ years and 70's is barely above our normal winter day. 60's)

But I wll say, cold snaps still reach somewhat south.

One of our cruise from Tampa in Mid January, it was snowing in Tampa as we left and the temperature in Cozumel was 70 with very chilly waters. But that is the exception rather than the rule.

On 1/14/2023 at 8:06 PM, 1st4our25th said:

Nassau, Amber Cove, Grand Turk or

Cozumel, Costa Maya, Mahogany Bay 

 

Trying to decide which to choose for our 30th anniversary, our second cruise. We've only been to Nassau and HMC. Best beaches, excursions, etc. HMC set the bar high for us. Thank you!

I'd choose Western although I can find worthwhile things to do at most ports.

You'll have a difficult time finding any beach better than HMC. Gorgeous  clear water and

soft, sandy beach are tough to top. (been to most of the western and eastern ports and have none yet to equal HMC's combo of soft sand and clear water. Some have one or the other but not both. Closest might be Grand Cayman. Bimini in the Bahamas was close too, but the sand at HMC was slightly better)

I love Cozumel for the ton of options there and the wide diversity of beach days available to you there.From quiet AI beach day with limit on people per day (our choice, Nachi Cocum) to a similar beach with a more raucous atmosphere- Mr. Sanchos, a kids beach - Playa Mia, to a similar beach with a little bit of all of the above- Paradise Beach, to beaches on the wilder Atlantic side, smaller, closer hotel beaches, the rocky Money Bar, etc. etc. etc. (check the Cozumel board here for a ton of great firsthand accounts)

I also had a great time in Roatan (getting away from Mahogany Bay. Not a fan of the cruiselines created fake beach tourist trap areas)

Hired a driver beforew the cruise who took us to a few spots we wanted to see, then to a West Bay beach area that had fantastic snorkeling from the shore and gorgeous beaches. (again check the Roatan board in here for a lot of great firsthand info)

Depending if your cruise is during seaweed season or not in Costa May will probably dictate how your day will go there.

There is a nice pool in the fake touristy cruiseline area there. (but no beach area)

Most people take a short cabride into town (Mahahual) and spend a day at one of the beach bars there.

(again check the Costa Maya board in here for firsthand info)

To get more targeted information, it might help people guide your search by laying out what kind of things you'd like to do for excursions at the ports

Do you enjoy lazy beach days, All Inclusive drinking days, snorkeling or more active things, exploring Mayan Ruins, etc.

Our last two cruises in September and December they were repeatedly using the Library for private functions.

On 1/11/2023 at 6:54 PM, lucky1ns said:

What to do in Bimini?

 

It seems like kind of a chill place se we were thinking of doing the Resorts World Pool & Beach Experience. Any thoughts?

We did this excursion on our cruise. They have nice facilities and two nice, large pools and a gorgeous white sand beach with super clear water.

Unfotunately since it is a resorts world resort owned by Richard Branson (Virgin Voyages) they had a DJ who started playing current dance music non-stop around 10AM and even though we were down as far away from him as we could be, it was still loud down at our end. (walked to the bathroom and it was super loud down at his end)

Would have been nice to relax to some quieter caribbean music playing in the backround instead of thumping, loud dance music.

So if the music wouldn't bother you,  the facilities there are fantastic.

(some pretty good videos on you tube that walk around the facilities go you can see what they look like.)

17 hours ago, groundloop said:

Our Christmas cruise on Magic was our first as Platinum.  

 

Since we had an 8+ hour drive ahead of us we used self debarkation.  The notice we received said to be at the meeting point at 7:00 AM, we figured it'd be a good idea to get there a bit early and was there at 6:45 only to see a long line of folks with Platinum sail-and-sign cards walking off the ship already.  I must say, it was fantastic being on the road by a few minutes after 7:00 (except that our parade got rained on by I-75 being shut down near the state line).  

 

For those of you who have done this a few times, how early would you have arrived, and is it pretty common to be able to leave early when the ship arrives in port early?

It all depends on how early customs clears the boat for debarkation.

I've been on cruises where they have to repeatedly call the same handfull of people down to a bar to meet with a customs official and the boat starts debarkation a little late until those people check in with the customs official who gets onboard.

More often than not, it is on time or a little early.

Our  last cruise out of Tampa in early December was flying back from Costa Maya due to a forecast of heavy fog debarkation morning. We were docked already when I woke up to hit the bathroom at 2 AM. (instead of the usual 4-5 AM that the ships arrive back to port)

We went down to the theater (where the platinums were supposed to wait for priority debarkation) before 7AM and they had already taken the platinums down 15 minutes earlier. (luckily we were waiting for the disabled debark after checking our luggage.)

I'd say we have had maybe two cruises (ot of 15-20 ish) since we hit platinum that started debarkation late. Another couple that started a bit early and the rst were usually right on time. (7 ish)

5 ships in Cozumel is a light day.

Like c-leg5 already stated, WHICH ships are docked with you is what really matters.

5 Oasis, Excell size ships will easily outnumber passenger counts of 10 older, smaller ships.

We always do Nachi Cocum partly due to their 125 person limit and have NEVER seen them run out of loungers,

Agree with a kiddo, Playa Mia would be a much better choice but I can't comment on how crowded it gets. ( i know since the restart it sounds like Mr. Sanchos and Paradise Beach are packed quite a bit now.)

On 1/9/2023 at 5:56 PM, rnr4thatsme said:

Since the recent unrest in Mazatlan after the arrest of El Chapo’s son, has anyone noticed any changes to security on this coast, in particular Cozumel?  I realize Mazatlan is on the other coast, etc, but just curious if there has been any effect on the Cozumel area.

Cozumel isn't even on the mainland.

Best isolation from the cartels you can get in Mexico.

The island is 7 miles long and 1/2 mile wide.

Golf course would take up most of the island if they built one.

11 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Not on your sailing but just wanted to say we used stingray sailing before and they were top notch. Have fun.

Been with Chip from Stingray sailing 3 or 4 times now and you get a fantastic day with them every time.

(100 X better than an overcrowded ship excursion)

And like already stated start your own roll call to get the ball rolling for your cruise.

Also be careful with your group.

On our Sunshine cruise in September we were cruising with two other couples who had never cruised Carnival.

First night DW had warned them about the difficulty of naviagting to the dining rooms on Carnival ships and told them exactly how to get to the dining room before splitting up for the afternoon.

One of the other couples put in the dining request in the app when it opened at 5:20-30 ish.

All 3 couples got the message our table was ready. so we all started to the dining room from where we were at the time.

DW and I were pretty close so we got there in less than 5 minutes, but they wouldn't let us in to sit until all 6 members of our party were physically there. (even though DW was using a walker due to a knee injury) Which I couldn't understand, as many cruises as we did back in the days before YTD and we had to sit and wait at our table until all the tabelmates would arrive before the waiters would start taking orders. Why we couldn't just go to the table they had assigned us and wait there so DW could get off her bad leg.

Needless to say the 2 newbie couples did not make it down for a few minutes.

One couple got there 4-5 minutes later and again, they would not let us in to our assigned table since the other couple hadn't found their way down yet. (and now we had 3 out of 4 people with walkers)

The other couple finally made it down five more minutes later but we had just been notified they had cancelled our table and when we went to check with the staff, they said we had to reapply in the app and start waiting again. (now with 4 out of 6 people with walkers and no seats available to wait)

So if you have any flaky/flightly people who are horrible at making it to places on time or new cruisers in your group who might get lost, be careful with YTD.

The QR code you are supposed scan in the room hasn't worked on our last two cruises on the Sunshine (which hardly anything seemed to work on it) or the Pride.

And when we asked at Guest Services, were told on both ships to just call and have the poor person answering the phone to read the menu to us over the phone. (Carnival's customer service has gone to crap recently)

Worked poorly for us on the Sunshine in September (mostly the chat functionj) and decently for us on the Pride in December.(we didn't waste our money for the chat that cruise)

Nephew and his wife said it was completely non functioning on their cruise on the Sunshine the day after Christmas.  Couldn't make dinner reservations, message each other or see their folio or read things to do on the ship or see any menus.

So it seems certain ships have more trouble with the app (or their wi-fi) than others.

23 hours ago, cruisekrazykaze said:

We have 7 ships (total of 16k passengers) in Coz when we port over spring break. That is what drove me to book Nachi Cocum. Our family doesn't enjoy crowds. 

We have been to Cozumel 7 times now and been to Nachi 7 times and have yet to have a bad crowd experience. (only once did it seem like 125 people there and once we went and it was just us and a group of six German tourists from a RCCL ship.)

Plus we never get our money's worth in liquor  (as we aren't huge drinkers) but love the meals we get each time.

Hope you have a great day at Nachi.

On 12/29/2022 at 9:59 PM, KroozFoolz said:

And yet on Monday, January 23, 2023, only one ship scheduled for Cozumel.

Great day for the folks on that ship.

Only gotten lucky in one of the usually packed ports, when there was only two ships in Nassau. Great day.

On 12/28/2022 at 9:03 PM, CajunOyster said:

 

Nah, if it were Spirit or Frontier I'd agree with you.  But I think Southwest is TBTF.

 

I'm sure those of us old enough to remember, thought that exact same thing in the 70's and 80's about Pan-Am and TWA