c-leg5

3 hours ago, IrishWhisperer said:

Yeah two days refund, two days FCC, and free booze for two days. Not very generous - hopefully they fix it by Sunday. 

Free AI in Vancouver for most people isn’t too bad but I see you live there so not so much appeal to you personally, unfortunately. I presume you are able to leave the ship? 
 

Do they have divers working on it?  We took a 7-day trip to Nassau once to fix azipods instead of our intended itinerary. 
 

Sorry this is your first cruise, unfortunately you have to go with the flow or abandon ship! 

On 4/23/2024 at 5:36 PM, c-leg5 said:

I would be interested in a review of Pitaya. We canceled our booking due to bait and switch. Disappointing as it looked interesting.

Apologies and correction - it was YaYa that changed the price on us NOT Pitaya. I have always got those two mixed up but I have never communicated with Pitaya. 
 

Packages for Pitaya are listed on their website. Yaya and Pitaya have similar packages listed.

On 2/18/2024 at 12:07 PM, BamaVol said:

We will be there mid-June on Enchanted Princess and have the same questions. We arrive at 7 and depart at 4.  I’m not sure what that means in terms of getting off the ship.  I know we have to be back at least 30 minutes before the ship departs.  Is anyone familiar with Pitaya Beach Club?  Looks good on Yelp or TripAdvisor, but you never know. I’m not sure if it’s PAYG or AI.

 

We are a family of 6 and the kids will want to swim.  The adults will want shade, a drink and a snack, as will the kids.

 

I am apprehensive of taxis.  Will there be any van type taxis that will hold all 6 of us?  I do not care to separate.

 

Also, can anyone tell me if I am likely to have a discrepancy between local and ships time?

20 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said:

Happens more than you know.  We have seen it happen 3 times and it is not a pretty sight…

They were on excursions or just got back to the ship late?

36 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I was just there a couple weeks ago and wasn't impressed. My least favorite excursion/destination of my whole cruise.  The staff was nice and they brought food and drinks to the beach chair/umbrella. The food was decent, but I just wasn't impressed with everything else. We left after only a few hours.

 

One issue, the ocean was covered on the bottom with seaweed, except for a little area along the edge. Down the beach it was cleaner. I know that wasn't a result of Nachi Cocum at all and they had no control of it, nature happens and nobody can control nature. The pool was ok.

 

The positive, I felt safe, as there was security at the entrance (gated with a staff member). It was quiet and not crowded either, which is a plus. The taxi going there was $5 more than the return taxi. I think $25 going there and $20 returning.

I am not sure from your report, apart from seaweed, what it was you weren’t impressed with if it was safe, quiet and food OK? Was it the pool and facilities?

Certainly sounds like you were overcharged by taxi but that wasn’t Nachi’s fault. Which pier were you at and what was posted on the board at the port?

Sargassum on that coast is unusual but I know there were reports of storms recently. 

1 hour ago, cruisemom67 said:

It is now $100, up to 4 people, waiting for you. Entrance is $13 p.p.

Has it gone up again since January? Last list I saw said $80 round trip.

Website says entrance is now $14.50. Have you been recently?

10 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

Totally wrong. Name ports in the Med that Voyager Class or Quantum class do not go to compared to other mass market lines like NCL, Princess and HAL only.

I am not an authority on cruising in the Med. I only use TA’s as a mode of transport from A to B. If I wanted to travel in Europe I would take a land vacation. 
 

However, my statement is totally correct regarding cruising from my example of Galveston. 7-day sailings used to alternate, eastern and western and now it is the same route week after week due to Oasis ships being unable to dock on the other route.
 

I would be surprised if this is the only area of the world experiencing restrictions. 

3 minutes ago, joepeka said:

True on all points for us as well. Costs more but you have dedicated transportation and you're in control.... mostly. Mechanical problems can always occur even with private conveyance. 

+1 that is what concerns me especially with some of the smaller companies. I guess you fall back on Uber and hope.

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we'll be there right before you with 5 people (June 1 sailing). 

Been there before the pandemic, at Blue Kay beach club. We really liked it then...

I hope they didn't change much or start charging a ton of money pp, but we are willing to try them again. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Pitaya or Blue Key? 
 

I would be interested in a review of Pitaya. We canceled our booking due to bait and switch. Disappointing as it looked interesting.

Blue Key has had very mixed reviews since restart. Opinions there would be interesting too but not as appealing. 

1 hour ago, petuniaflower said:

Going with a group currently of 14, what is the likely we can all sit together for dinner in the MDR, and do we request this in advance?

What would be the point of a table for 14?
 

As stated two tables for 7, or 6+8, would be much more comfortable for conversation depending on group mix -  age, couples, families and you can always change seats and tables from night to night. The larger the group the louder the noise - the more difficult it is for you and everyone around to hear each other.

4 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Currently Quantum class ships cruise to Alaska while Voyager class ships up to Oasis class ships cruise in the Mediterranean and Europe. RCI would still have a significant presence in these areas in the future even if their fleet no longer had smaller class ships. 

They may well be “in an area” but choice of ports is undoubtedly smaller.

Galveston already had limited 7-day options and this is now reduced even further. This in turn reduces the attraction of B2B sailings.

1 hour ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

How a business chooses to market themselves is their decision.

Indeed they do. No one said otherwise.

20 minutes ago, WeBeCruisinMon said:

Has anyone used or heard about using Cruise Driven or Cruzin Transportation for a transfer from IAH to the port and back? 
Or is there a company you’d recommend? Private transfer for 2 adults and 2 kids (need car seats).

thanks! 

Recommended shuttles are discussed regularly on this forum, both private and shared shuttles. Or the cruise line shuttle.

I don’t recall those two but there are several FB only companies which seem to have appeared recently. Their limited method of contact and lack of transparency regarding liability insurance and business licenses concerns me. Car seats that are age appropriate for your children are something best discussed directly with the company concerned.  If your children are old enough you can use travel seats. 

12 hours ago, GaTechCruiser said:

What about some of the other Resort for a Day Options?

We generally find resort for a Day more expensive. We usually check several brokers and hotels direct. Sometimes prices. Times or inclusions differ.

1 hour ago, GaTechCruiser said:

We will be in Cozumel on July 4th, with our 17 and 11 years old daughters.  My 17 year old loves swimming in pools, especially with deep ends.  My husband does not drink, so no need for AI option.

Looking for best option for pool and beach day.

Which option has the best pool for my 17 year old to enjoy swimming?

Paradise Beach, Nachi, Mr. Sanchos? or should we look at one of the Resorts for a Day options?

Allegro looks like it has nice pools, anyone been there recently?

What about some of the other Resort for a Day Options?

I am not sure any of the hotel or beach club pools are very deep.

My feeling is Allegro facilities are better for younger kids but I haven’t been recently or since Barcelo took over. With teens I would probably choose Paradise Beach unless it is a really busy period. Summer is quieter season in general although of course children’s facilities will be busier because of off school.

1 hour ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I agree as each dining selection is managed by stateroom number, and said "in theory" you could go to MTD non-res line.  But I have no experience indicating you can do that.  I also indicated that notifying the servers in advance should be done.

 

We are on the same page.

+1!

I probably should have quoted @katmigordon.

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What ever the count is reported, you have to know that there are many more cases onboard that are not reported. Some people just don't let the cruise line know because they don't want to be quarantined to their cabins.

11 hours ago, Beachin2 said:

No doubt about it!

IF you have Noro you will want to be confined to your cabin voluntarily. 
 

11 hours ago, Beachin2 said:

Depends on the extent of the outbreak.  Can't sanitize everything in a few hours and the B2B passengers generally resist being run through a sanitizing fog.😁

B2B passengers will be delayed reboarding if numbers are high enough for thorough cleansing.

14 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Dining times are coordinated by stateroom number and if you have selected one of the fixed times your stateroom number is registered with that time. My understanding is you cannot also reserve a separate time under MTD as your stateroom would not show on that registry.

 

In theory I guess if you notified your servers ahead of time that you will not be there on a given day you could go to the MTD no reservations line, but you would wait there for an available table after you arrive, so your time would not be reserved.  

 

In that same manner if you reserve time in a specialty restaurant you should notify your servers of those days as well so they know not to expect you at your planned seating.

You cannot routinely chop and change between traditional and MTD but there have been reports where someone has taken a late shore excursion and has made arrangement to dine later on a one off basis by notifying in advance. 
 

We would probably just go to  WJ under those circumstances as we would probably be tired.

we have always pre-notified the MTD desk when we have booked specialty dining but our recent experience on Adventure was that they weren’t interested.

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

This was out months ago, last November?  I forget when the allure became able to be booked april 2026. I reread your link and cant find a date. For sure it had to be written before royal dropped cruises end of last year.

 

I kept reading rumors before that too. Made no sense wonder would come here if harmony not selling better. 

The blog?

States 2024/01/25

5 minutes ago, buncosquad said:

We always use private shuttles, versus scheduled/public shuttles where you must be on their schedule and often picking up others.

 

Private shuttles pick us up on our schedule, and we wait for no one. Always point to point. They track our flights and revise accordingly. 

 

We always order airport to port area hotel for a day or two before cruise, hotel to port on embarkation day, then port back to airport on disembarkation.

 

Costs more, sure. However, the stress free travel is priceless.

Who are you using that will pre-book a private shuttle from the Tremont?

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

No, it wasn't. We did Blue Kay on our own a couple of times before the pandemic. We really liked it. I have been looking at cc to see if there were any newer reviews, and so far they are not promising. They probably raised prices as well. Pre-pandemic it was a reasonable $12 pp, with 2 drinks of your choice included. I guess we'll find out next month. 🙂

 

As for the Beach Escape ship excursion, I was just looking at the excursions for our upcoming Enchanted cruise to Costa Maya out of sheer curiosity. When I saw this particular excursion, I thought - for $50 pp with alcohol included, how bad could it be? Well, it had as many 1* reviews as it did 5* reviews, that's how bad. People's reviews said the beach they were taken to for this Beach Escape was horrible. It was not Blue Kay for sure. Oh, and the kid price is $45!!!! Ridiculous.

As I said above they have used Old Snr frogs in the past (especially if it mentions a pool) which is right next door to Blue Key and even bought/leased some of their land.  
 

There have been other locations which change from time to time so it would be interesting to know which location they are using recently. 
 

I think it is “only” open bar not AI so definitely not good value to me although it probably includes transport. Better options independently. 

On 4/18/2024 at 3:32 PM, little britain said:

 

Buy a return and don’t use the 2nd leg

Not good practice on a regular basis to book flights or legs you will knowingly not take, especially with one airline.

Be mindful of the consequences and as with anything be comfortable with the risks. 
 

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

just an FYI - Princess is offering the same excursion to the same beach, and it has as many bad reviews as good ones. Rocky shore lined with chaises so close to each other and the water that no one can even play in the sand...

 

 

I know you have been to Blue Key in the past. I didn’t think it was so rocky in that area of the bay?

The cruiseline “beach break” has had bad reviews on a regular basis. Usually it is the one in the old Snr Frogs but sometimes it is at one with shipping containers on the way out of town.

A long time ago they used to use Uvero (?) beach north of port but I haven’t seen that mentioned in a long time and don’t know if that still used.

1 hour ago, scubaslayer said:

 

I think this is where I am with it. First I would not complain about my servers on this, as they are doing their job. I mostly would just like to know in advance so my kid can plan accordingly. It isn't acceptable for her during her meal and I would like her to be able to escape before it begins and not miss out on her meal. I may not enjoy it but it is what it is. It just sucks if my kid is interrupted while eating and comes back to cold food. I guess I will speak to our server and see if we can arrange some sort of signaling so she can excuse herself at the correct time and it be less noticeable.

 

I am aware that some like it and Royal is likely to continue with it as they shift more from "fine dining" and acting more like a family friendly chain restaurant. As my kids get older we may switch lines but right now they want the slides and to act like kids and I'm all for that as long as it lasts.

Are you doing MTD?

4 minutes ago, KATHYMAC68 said:

How was the pool?

Was it safe to snorkel there? Someone posted that you’re in shallow water and the coral is high. They were getting cut up.

My daughter got coral burn many years ago when she was suddenly caught in a strong current. As posted above sometimes there is someone guiding you and I think there are ropes or something now so it may be easier to stay on course.

we have enjoyed the pool. It is away from the beach.

20 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

But you can cruise or drive home.  😉 

 

 

 

 

I see you edited your post.