c-leg5

56 minutes ago, Krazcruiser said:

What's it like now, I'll be at Paradise Beach first week of May 

The webcam at Presidente Intercontinental should be indicative of current conditions.

The one at the port doesn’t seem to be available currently. 

1 hour ago, Roswell_IcePrincess said:

Has anyone been to Turquoise Bay, specifically the over the water bungalows? How’s the snorkeling off the beach? How far from port? 

I have seen reviews if you use the search engine on CC but I am not sure I have seen any since cruising resumed only VIP lounger reviews. 

1 hour ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

I'd try to contact either Iberostar or the Westin since they have rooms and day passes.

The majority of the hotels on the island have day passes but they will be AI directly or via brokers. Some hotels have affiliated beach clubs.
 

Whether they would have a day room rate or expect you to book a room for the night is another matter.

Since the OP @kcrandy hasn’t returned to confirm what is most important it is difficult to make suggestions between hotel and beach clubs.

On 2/25/2024 at 6:50 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

They're also oriented so that you're facing away from the ocean /looking in towards the center of the ship

That’s what I find strange. Not sure I would pay that much for the location and view from these casitas.

4 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yeah, I know, but it was the only article that popped up about Royal not visiting Nassau -- and it was dated about three weeks ago.  Seems reasonable that that huge incident isn't yet resolved.  

They cancelled the excursion - not the port.

1 hour ago, asomante said:

We are visiting Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Coco Cay on Icon.

We are basically beach people that just like to hang out at the beach during port days.

We are thinking to stay on the ship one day and enjoy the boat while everybody is on port.

Is Costa Maya the port to do this or will we miss out on some great beaches?

Great beaches is another of those subjective things like food! 

If these are all new to you ports, Costa Maya is probably the best one to stay on board. You would need to take an excursion, or taxi, away from the port in Roatan and Cozumel to find a beach. 
 

Of those ports Costa Maya probably has the worst seasonal sargassum and has also had a lot of ships unable to dock this year due to winds.

On 3/12/2024 at 3:15 PM, Moondoggy51 said:

  Although the food was very tasty, I would say that the place was overrated and that a better time could have been had at the beach next to the port. 

where exactly is the beach next to the port? 
 

Has someone re-opened the “hole-in-the -wall”? I am surprised @crewsweeper hasn’t notified us of this if it is true! 

37 minutes ago, Cuckoo7 said:

We had only two complaints.  First, lobster nachos are actually not on the menu, so we asked how much they'd be.  We were told 25, but we were charged 30.  The server was apologetic but said his boss wouldn't fix it.

 

Also, the bathrooms are downright disgusting.  As Ace Ventura would say, "Do NOT go in there

$5 seems excessive but we have had $2 added to our check and was told it was a “kitchen” tip ( like Royal Caribbean’s “behind the scenes gratuity”). No big deal we just adjust the top accordingly. 
 

I agree about the bathrooms and have just had a discussion about this on another thread! However it has to be noted that since Krazy Lobster has taken over several lots there are several restroom locations belonging to them. Similarly there are different areas of the beach to sit some more accessible than others. It spans a wide frontage now. Most restrooms on the malecon leave a lot to be desired. Malecon21 has been one of the better ones.

3 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Jewels doing longer Galveston sailings next winter, I'm on 4 Cruises doing 9 and 10 niters. Was very pleased with the Rates, when I Booked they were cheaper then Serenade out of Tampa doing 6 & 8 Niters this Fall/Winter

Yes I would have jumped on them too but we aren’t cruising at the moment.

4 minutes ago, theotherchad said:

I inquired of the cruise director on his Facebook page as to whether there would be a lot of new crew, and his reply was that it was just the usual transition from those starting new contracts and finishing old ones. No significant change in the crew. 

 

I'm hoping that the crew will like us better than the Florida pax. A little healthy rivalry is fun! 😁

 

 

I wasn’t implying there would be a major change in crew just the fact they are catering to a different demographic. There will be differences but not as great as when the ship relocates from Europe for example.

Sailing from Galveston is definitely different IMO.

1 minute ago, theotherchad said:

I'm hoping that since the crew and staff will get a short break from the cones (what I'm told they call passengers sometimes), that they'll be rested and ready to be the happy, helpful folks we've always found them to be. 😁

I hope you are correct.

Sometimes there can be a period of readjustment when a ship changes location and this has certainly been reported when new ships come to Galveston. I am sure all will be good and the crew will do their best - just go with the flow.
 

You asked on another thread about differences when sailing from other locations. The converse is true when a ship changes home port and crew have to adapt to the new predominant demographic. 

11 minutes ago, theotherchad said:

 Yeah, I think you're right. By the way, interestingly, the cruise we're booked on is the first Mariner sailing out of Galveston after some time spent sailing out of Port Canaveral, but there does not seem to be a booking available for a repositioning cruise between Canaveral and Galveston. They are just going to sail without passengers in the 4 day gap between the last debarkation in Florida and the first embarkation on our island. 

Yes they will do that sometimes too. In order to sail between two US ports they need to visit a distant foreign port, often one of ABC islands. Sometimes they decide to just do a short non-revenue cruise instead.

Often the first or last sailing of the season can be a unique length or itinerary to adjust to the timing of the regular season and can be interesting dates to watch.

1 minute ago, theotherchad said:

I do think we are seeing a huge increase in hotel capacity. The biggest challenge is the distance from the airports to the port. However, being close to Houston, I don't think infrastructure is a big issue, as Houston is enormous. Cruise activity is a blip on the radar for a city of 6-7 million. 

Lack of easy transport options and imposed two-night stay in Galveston are problems that have been discussed for ever by people considering flying into Houston to cruise from Galveston. 
 

Galveston obviously has other tourist attractions, conferences and festivals and often hotel prices on the island reflect this and at a weekend especially they often impose a 2-night minimum stay. People can stay easily off the island but that isn’t always what someone unfamiliar with the area wants.

Obviously it is possible but it is an added hassle compared to other ports. I just think to appeal to a wider audience obstacles need to be minimized.

I was using the word infrastructure loosely to include lodging, transport (from the airport and locally), parking, food venues etc. - just general supporting services

1 minute ago, theotherchad said:

I am sure that for the 7 day Oasis sailings, that's a factor, but we're on a 7 day (the only one) on the Mariner, a Voyager class ship. Same ports. Grand Cayman is tender only anyway and we've hit those other ports several times for Voyager Class Galveston 7 day sailings in the past. 

The one Mariner sailing is an anomaly and yes they could have done something more exciting possibly. 
 

Radiance had some good longer options for a short period last year. There are are options occasionally but the are indeed limited. 
 

We had a great repositioning Galveston to Bayonne 2022 and Voyager San Juan to Galveston 2023 booked but they are few and far between.

4 minutes ago, theotherchad said:

In years past, Royal, when sailing out of Galveston on 7 day cruises was rotating which ports were on the itinerary for western Caribbean cruises. There were about 7 or eight options in the western Caribbean. Now, it's hard (impossible, lately) to find a Western Caribbean itinerary that goes anywhere other than Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan.

 

I enjoy those ports but I would also like some variety without having to fly to another port. What happened to the Georgetown Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios/Montego Bay/Falmouth Jamaica, Progresso Mexico, etc stops?

 

Does anyone know why Galveston sailings are almost entirely (with the exception of some Bahamas, etc Eastern Caribbean cruises which are almost all 8 or more day cruises) limited to only 3 cruise ports these days? 

Because with the bigger ship those are the only ports it can go in the time. It could possibly do a cozumel/ Falmouth itinerary but only 2 port stops and only one different port. It could possibly do a Nassau/ Coco Cay.

10 minutes ago, marshalltp said:

Nachi Cocom, Mr. Sanchos, Paradise Beach, Isla Passion, Del Mar Latino

All regularly recommended day passes but none of them have access to hotel room. 
 

Mr Sanchos might be closest if you rented a villa but $$$.

Whilst many repeatedly say how easy it is to transfer belongings, my transfer wasn’t so easy and I “lost” three hanging items. 
 

I prefer to do B2B in the same cabin.
 

IF I was unable to book this at sometime in the future I would either pack my hanging items, or at least group them in a hanging garment carrier with a cabin label on them.

1 hour ago, WirelessRoute said:

family of 4 was on board MSC Seashore. We decided to head over to Buccanos

for the day. Caught a taxi from punta lagosta Port

 Cab driver charged us $20. Oddly on the way back it was $10 not sure why there was a pricing discrepancy.

Glad you enjoyed your day a Buccanos.

I assume you took a taxi from within the port area? There should have been a board displaying rates. It sounds like you were charged for a van and 4 person/sedan rate on return? 
 

It is one of our favorites although we did boycott it for a while on cruise ship visits due to their unfair pricing policies for cruisers compared to land visitors but now fees are consistent we would visit on land and cruise visits.

I am surprised it was so busy as I didn’t think it was so popular with cruisers since they lost/sold part of their land to Islands beach Club and stopped many of the cruise line excursions. Are they still offering snorkeling/ diving excursions to cruise ship groups? Perhaps it was busy because it was presumably Spring Break? It is definitely much smaller than it used to be - we used to enjoy the loungers on the terraces which are probably no longer there if we aren’t round the pool. The beach area has always been very small and the water can be rough - I assume the blue umbrellas in your photo are at Islands?

I was surprised at your comment about the restrooms after your visit to Krazy Lobster the day before where you didn’t mention the facilities. To my mind their is no comparison to what I have found at multiple restrooms belonging to Krazy Lobster and Buccanos! I cannot remember if Buccanos has heated hand dryers or paper towels? Could that have been an option for turning off the faucet? It’s been a while since we were there so I don’t remember but as restrooms in Mexico go I would say Buccanos is one beach club  with better facilities than most. You are correct the derelict hotel next door (destroyed in a hurricane) was from that era but whether the faucets at Buccanos are original I have no idea. 

43 minutes ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental-locations/us/tx/galveston-0618.html?mcid=yext:245709

 

Website says they are open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays.

I called and confirmed as well.

They have a shuttle that goes every 30 min to port but employee on phone mentioned 

it all depends on staffing and that wait times could be 45+ min.

Sounds like things are beginning to improve which would be good.

13 minutes ago, PG_traveller said:

I arrived in Galveston two days before my cruise, which left on a Sunday. I rented a car and intended to just drop it off on Sunday, because as you said their website says they are closed on Sundays. But when I arrived at their location their were tons of people there! Dropping off, renting cars and ... they even had a shuttle taking people to the cruise port! I wish I would have known that in advance but I had already pre-booked an Uber. Anyway, if you need to rent or drop off on Sunday I would call them because they were definitely open.

Good to know it is certainly needed.
 

I wonder why they don’t advertise it - makes no sense?

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

In Canada it is provincially regulated but I know that Ontario has it.  It covers failures of travel agencies, cruise lines and airlines.  It protects anyone regardless of residence who was booked through an agent in that province

Thanks,  I have been reading up.
 

I assume this is TICO? It certainly seems to cover some of the gaps in the differences. Good to know.

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

In Canada it is provincially regulated but I know that Ontario has it.  It covers failures of travel agencies, cruise lines and airlines.  It protects anyone regardless of residence who was booked through an agent in that province

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Or they can book usa rates thru a canadian TA and get canadian protections??!!

Does this require booking in Canadian$?

28 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There are also other North American jurisdictions that offer basically the same protections as the UK consumer laws yet still offer all the benefits of booking through a North American agent.

Good to know, again not something you hear much about or see widely discussed. Are you referring to Canada, or the US, and would this protect bookings from UK?

I am not saying people booking from UK wouldn’t like, or appreciate, the booking flexibility, as @Tin can confirms,  I am saying it isn’t as simple as, “one size fits all” and they need to understand what they are doing and the differences and not get carried away in the euphoria. 
 

It isn’t as simple as just “booking a cruise with a US agent”. It will work for some and not for others. Obviously, ideally, people would like the advantages from both systems. 

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

And when was the last time you heard of one posting how their "consumer protections" actually helped them.  

How many UK posters do you see on this section of CC that would be reporting their experiences? Whilst it is probably OK for most, let’s not get blasé about it. It’s probably akin to insurance, some people take a risk and some people don’t. You don’t need it …..,  until you do.

Sometimes timing and circumstances matter.  Easy to say from your position selling cruises in US market but like everything else people need to step back and consider if it is right for them.

From personal experience there is a bigger picture.

22 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I understand that their are consumer protections in UK that are not in the US... That being said we see on this board all the time residents of the UK bemoaning the fact that they can't access price reductions. This thread is about price reductions. 

Definitely something to consider but people have to understand and do their research to see if it is good for them personally. 
 

Some things look good on the surface but people have to see if it is good for them.