Grits53

My one and only Valor cruise will be just before the dry dock. Dang it! :( But we will enjoy the cruise anyway. We chose it for the ports, not the ship. (It's probably a good thing that we won't have a Guy's Burger on our cruise.....)

Someone posted on another page that there is no longer a "mini mall" in the original big blue terminal where Carnival ships dock in Montego Bay. Is this true, or is she referring to the other pier?

Thanks to each of you for the quick responses!! :)

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Grand Turk?

One of our cruise partners hates tender boats, so I am asking this question for him. Do you tender from any of these ports? :)

Thank you!

Since Galveston is within our driving distance, we have cruised on the Magic several times. Love that ship and hate to see her go!! The only thing she is missing (to me) is Guy's Burgers, which I assume will be added during her dry dock. You are very lucky to be changing from Valor to Magic! (I am excited that Breeze is replacing Magic, though!)

Thanks for the tips! Sounds like Money Bar is the place to go.

First, let me say that I have visited Cozumel over 20 times, including 3 resort stays, so I am fairly familiar with the island. My friend and I will be going for a resort stay in Sept., and she wants to snorkel for her first time. I want her to be able to see lots of coral and marine life, while doing an "easy" snorkel from shore. My first thought is Chankanaab for this, but I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a better place to snorkel from shore in Cozumel? Since we will be there for a week, we will not be rushed to get back to the ship. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I recommend Chankanaab Park in Cozumel for snorkeling. It is a beautiful park, with some of the best snorkeling anywhere, as well as other things to do that are included in the admission price. If you go to their site online, you can usually find discount coupons for admission, as well as info about what the park has to offer. In Progreso, you can take the free shuttle bus into town to shop. There are also quite a few shops right on the pier beside the ship. Bear in mind that the pier at Progreso is very long, and the free shuttle is the best option if you want to go into town. I totally agree that the water at Cozumel is 100 times better than at Progreso!! You'll see!

Omg, thank you for alerting us to this! Please let us know if you find any more out, especially if even the taxis aren't accepting dollars. I wonder why???

This post is 2 years old. I assure you that the US dollar is accepted all over the island now. We just returned from a week's stay in Cozumel the first of June 2015.

We have toured with Gerry with Cozumel Driver For A Day (Which I think is booking through Tours Plaza now) twice and with Leo, from the same company, once. They are great! Their vans are always clean and comfortable, unlike some taxis, that are dirty, small, and uncomfortable. You definitely need to see the "other side". It is beautiful! They will give you a great, personalized tour of the island, while keeping you safe.

We just returned from a week long resort stay in Cozumel. Due to delayed flights, we missed our plane to Cozumel and had to take one to Cancun, then made our way to Cozumel via taxi and ferry. The taxi ride from the Cancun airport to the ferry at Playa del Carmen was $100 one way and took about an hour. Taxi's are not allowed to drive up to the ferry, so you have to walk through their maze of stores for about 3 blocks. Ferries run every 30 minutes, and the trip from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen takes 30 to 45 minutes. The ferry terminal is probably a 15 minute taxi ride from the cruise terminals. You see the ferries docking near the cruise ships, but that is for ship's excursions only. There is no way I would make that trip on my own from a cruise. I wouldn't even want to do it again from a resort stay. I have been to Cozumel over 20 times, and I have yet to see or do everything this slice of paradise has to offer. Why waste all that time traveling, when you could do something awesome in Cozumel? Besides, if you are delayed on the mainland while venturing off on your own, your ship will NOT wait for you. I advise you to do a resort stay, if you want to explore Playa del Carmen & Cancun.

I just checked Cozumel Insider, and the current weather says they are having heavy rain and calm seas. Like they said, this disturbance will be long gone by the time you cruise. But if you want to check the webcams and current weather at Cozumel, google Cozumel Insider and click the Island Information tab. We just spent 7 days there last week. Rain or no rain, I wish I was there now! (It's raining here anyway!) Have fun!

For non-Lido folks (like myself), I recommend Magic. We love all the things on Deck 5 that the Freedom does not have.... Ocean Plaza is a comfortable place to hang out and listen to live music or play trivia. The internet area is next to Ocean Plaza, out in the open, a pleasant place to catch up on your email or social network. The outer Lanai deck, also on Deck 5, is never crowded. There are two big hot tubs on each side of the ship, and they are rarely crowded. The Seaside BBQ on sea days is a good lunch option. We find that we spend most of our time on Deck 5 on the Magic. Serenity Deck is nice, too. You can have lunch at the Italian place for free, but there is a charge for dinner there. For these reasons, I would choose the Magic.

I've been on many cruises, on 7 Carnival ships, (including the Triumph several times), and the debarkation process is basically the same every time. You must leave your room early, in order for the room stewards to clean, change out bedding, and have it prepared for the next guests before 1:30. Although we have a designated area to wait in now, we had no problem when we were not Platinum. The most comfortable places to wait would be on Lido or Promenade or in the show lounge. There is plenty of room for every person on the ship to wait comfortably. However, if you don't like it, you can always do self debarkation and be off the ship before 9:00. Or choose another cruise line.....

For what it's worth, I have been active on almost every roll call on all 21 Carnival cruises I've been on. I was the organizer of the meet & greet on several of those. But I have not attended a meet & greet on the past several cruises. Why? Well, I am just not into the whole drinking, partying thing, and I am uncomfortable in large groups of people that I don't know. I just like to relax and enjoy the cruise with my husband, rather than having to attend organized roll call events that might not fit in with my plans. But I still enjoy talking to people on the roll call and giving out suggestions or advice as needed or requested.

Thank you, Marshhawk. We were there the first of March, and you can still climb all the structures except the main "Pyramid of the Magician". :)

We have had that aft wrap on Magic before, and there was a noise issue from the door to the bar slamming in the lounge below, EVERY time a waiter went to fill drink orders. We did get help with this from guest services, but it might have been a temporary fix. (This was 2 yrs. ago.) We LOVE our aft wraps and always try to get one on Empress deck. But an aft wrap with a little noise beats a standard balcony any day.

Sounds good, to me! We love the Magic, but we also love Guy's Burgers, which she does not have. So a chance to cruise on the Breeze would be great! (We are limited to cruising out of Galveston or NOLA.)

What's the point in voting, when this decision has already been made? We have never used the drink coupon, because we don't go to brunch. We will, however, use and appreciate the water. I would use a non restrictive drink coupon (for a non alcohol beverage, since I don't drink alcohol). But I am happy with the free water, which will keep me from having to carry it on. I am Platinum, so I guess I will get both.

I've been to Uxmal 3 times and loved the fact that I was able to climb the one pyramid (not the main one, but the other one) and go into the rooms or chambers in other structures. We will be taking two children (ages 12 & 15) to Uxmal the first of March, and I am hoping they will be able to climb and touch the ruins. Can anyone tell me if this is still allowed? Thank you.

Thank you, PacificMountain, and my apologies for taking this long to respond. I was not notified of your post and just happened to see it today, while searching for more info. We will be visiting Uxmal again with two of our god-children, ages 12 & 15, the first of March. I am hearing that they no longer allow you to climb the one pyramid that has been open for climbing in recent years. Can you tell me if this is true? Thank you!

Having toured Uxmal 3 times already, it is easy to say that it is my all time favorite Mayan ruins site. It beats Chichen Itza hands down! We will be taking our god children, who are of Spanish descent, to Uxmal on a cruise soon. I would like to find a good book about the history of Uxmal. I can find plenty of "guide" books on it, but have not found one that appears to tell its history. I have searched Amazon and ebay. Can anyone recommend one, please? Thanks.

There is no way to predict the likelihood of any particular weather event weeks and months in advance. But I can say that I've experienced dense fog on Galveston Island in January and February throughout the past 20 years I've spent time there. Cooler air temperatures combined with the water temperatures leads to foggy conditions during those months sometimes. Cruise ships have been delayed coming into and leaving Galveston before.

 

I wouldn't worry about it very much because there is no way to plan on it. If you're delayed boarding because the ship cannot dock then you'll have to make some plans to pass the time until boarding can occur. Or you could be onboard and not able to leave for awhile, which won't affect things very much at all.

Thanks, Jeff. The part that would worry the parents is if our arrival back in Galveston was delayed. Hopefully, in that event, we could use our cell phones to call them.

I know that it's impossible to predict fog this far out, but I am wondering if it is more likely at that time of year? (I don't normally cruise during the winter but couldn't pass up this 5 day on the Magic.) Not that fog makes any difference to my husband and me, but we are taking two children with us this time. I need to know if I should prepare their parents for a "likely" fog delay... You know how non-cruising parents tend to panic about things like that. :rolleyes: Thanks.

I haven't had the privilege of sailing on the Breeze, because we like to drive to port, which limits us to Galveston & New Orleans. However, we absolutely love the Magic, which is a sister ship to the newer Breeze, which has even more options than Magic does. (Guy's Burgers, for one!) So I would say that the Breeze would be your best bet. One of the things we love about this class of ship is the deck 5 midship Ocean Plaza, which is a great location for trivia games, a live band, and dancing. Another good feature is the open deck on 5, which wraps around the ship and has two big hot tubs on each side of the ship.