MrsWhite831

When our ship was re-routed I scrambled to find something to do with our kids (6,6, & 8). I just couldn't stomach the $600 for the all inclusive passes. There seems to be not a ton of info on the port anywhere online unless you want to do Dunn Falls or the Blue Hole- which we did last Jan. I apologize if this is long but I don't want families to feel like their options are a pricey tour or staying on the ship because they're nervous.

After TONS of research and ignoring some mixed reviews I decided we should try Burwood Beach. There is a taxi dispatch station in the port with lots of vans. The woman kept telling us "no, no... no Burwood, we take you to Blue Waters", they wanted $20pp and then $10 each to get into the beach- 4 adults, 3 kids= $210. We had our hearts set on Burwood so we decided to try a taxi outside of the gates. We walked out of the port and crossed the street into the town. No-one approached us, no-one bothered us. There was another taxi stand. The woman wouldn't give us a price and said it was up to us to negotiate. She had a clipboard and was assigning cab companies in order and checking their "papers". A friendly man in a new looking tour van offered us 4 adults and 3 kids to Burwood for $80, roundtrip, so we agreed. On the way he started telling me about Blue Waters and how he swears that Burwood isn't a safe family beach and there wasn't even bathrooms etc... now, we've been on enough cruises to realize that Blue Waters was clearly giving taxis some sort of kick back per person, we're not stupid... So he tells us, that for the same price he will take us to Blue Waters, we will get bands with his phone number/name so they can call us when we want to leave and that it was safe and clean. We agreed. I was 99.9% sure it was all about the commission but I kept thinking, what if we went to Burwood and something happened- I would feel like crap.

Blue Waters was $10 per adult, $5 per child. It included beach chairs for each of us and use of their wifi. So for our family of 7 (with transport), we ended up paying $135 for the whole day. When we got there around 10am, there was only about a dozen people there. The water was clear and warm with a sandy bottom. There were drinks and food available but we never got any. The jerk chicken was $9.99 and I think the burger with fries was like $11. As the day went on, I saw a lot of people with buckets of red stripe. There was a family friendly beach DJ, a lifeguard, beach massages, hair braiding and a little store. My sister said the bathrooms were very clean. A woman was selling bracelets but that was the only vendor. We stayed a few hours- swam, got some sun, walked the beach and when we asked to go back, they had our driver there within minutes. We showed our ship cards at the gates and he was able to drop us off right in port. We walked back to the ship, had lunch and then returned to the port for some shopping :)

We don't leave for 3 more weeks but we had the same problem. Everyone wants to stop at the darn stingrays and we didn't feel like doing it for a 3rd time. After contacting several companies, I ended up booking a private charter with "discount excursions". There are 7 of us. The boat was $400 and we can pick the 3 spots that we want to go + it includes pickup and drop off at the cruise terminal. I will review it when we get back.

Having just returned from the Escape a couple of weeks ago, I can confirm you go back an hour in the Western Caribbean. They will place a little card in your room advising you to set your clock back so you will be on local time in Cozumel.

Thank you! That how it was when we were in Cozumel years ago, I'm not sure how (or if) daylight savings time will affect it, since our clock changes just 3 days before.

Except when they don't, and I've been on a couple of NCL cruises when they didn't. The most common itineraries where they don't always switch to local time are Western Caribbean and Canada/New England.

 

On Western Caribbean itineraries it happens because some countries observe Daylight Savings Time and some do not. Depending on the order in which the port calls are being made, switching to local time in all ports could result in the clocks being set ahead and back repeatedly on consecutive days, so they choose not to use local time in every port to avoid continual time changes.

 

I'm not suggesting this particular cruise will be one where the ship won't go to local time. I'm merely pointing out that they don't always do it.

My travel agent said the same thing, that we won't know until we get on board. I sent an email to NCL hoping they will know in advance so I can let this woman know for sure.

Thanks for the replies!

I guess private tour operators are aware of ship’s arrival time and would reasonably wait for its booked customers to disembark.

 

 

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Agreed! It's more an issue of the places that we're visiting closing early and affecting the tour.

We were re-routed to Cozumel on 11/8/17 on the Escape. Our itinerary says arrive 11am, depart 7pm. Will our ship time be the same as local time?

I'm trying to book a private tour and she wants to meet at 11am, which I'm not sure would be possible- trying to get off a boat with 4000 other people ;p

Thank you for the help!

After 2 "beach excursion" days in a row I promised DH a non-beach day in Cozumel. We have 3 kids (6, 6 & 8). It's our 3rd time in the port (did jeeps to Punta Sur and Chankanaab on previous trips). I'm pretty sure we are going to hire a driver. I'm thinking we will do San Gervasio (DH requested ruins and I'm too nervous for Tulum travel time with the littles) and the KaoKao chocolate factory tour. Are those good family choices? What else could we add to this type of day? I've been on cruise critic and tripadvisor for weeks and feel like my research is taking me in circles.

Thank you!!!

Has anyone heard anything from NCL about when they may be adding Falmouth excursions to their website? Since we got the word that we are officially re-routed there last week I have been searching for excursions and not coming up with much. Just wondering if anyone else had called or emailed with the same question. Thanks!

Bumping this up.

We just did the sting rays in January and that was already our 3nd time. We want to snorkel and maybe do that Starfish Point. Acquarius is not available the day we dock (our ship was just re-routed). Anyone have other suggestions?

I will be in jamaica on September 6th just wanted to know the price for the blue hole and white water tubing, also if it is safe for a 4 year old to do both excursions.

We only did Blue Hole were told it would be safe for our 5 year olds. It's not that it was un-safe but there was a LOT of climbing at Blue Hole. They obviously didn't do any of the jumps but there were several spot that included walking a slippery rock ledge/cliff. The guides were very nice and I appreciated the help but there's something about handing over to a teenage guide to walk a cliff that made me nervous.

We are a family of 5 who has done the family OV twice and we've never gotten an upgrade opportunity :( Maybe you will have better luck!

We are the 11th too! When did they officially announce the 4th? Maybe we should hear sometime this week.

They haven't officially announced the 4th yet, we're still waiting too :( OP learned it through a phone call.

Just got off the phone with NCL...the November 4th sailing on Escape is the Western itinerary.

 

Roatan

Harvest Cay

Costa Maya

Cozumel

 

We're very excited to sail this route!

Thank you for letting us know. It was hard knowing that sailings were adjusted riiiiiight up to us. We're happy to sail anywhere but I'm a planner and need to get those excursions set up, with 3 small kiddos to entertain. I wonder when our MyNCL will be updated...

That was my thought too. We're on the Escape 11/3, so we're a big group/ship to relocate!

And if you are going during Fall/winter.. it get's dark early and the pools and beach will close at the first sign of dusk.

Depending on the date, sunset could be before 5pm.

Thank you! I hadn't even considered that!

Hello! I have been reading reviews of both the Melia and the BC Hilton day pass and still can't decide which is best for us. It's DH & I, another adult couple and our kids 6, 6 & 8. We aren't big drinkers and would just use the day to relax. We are on the NCL Escape in November and have 12-7 as our port hours. I thought that maybe the hours offered for a day pass would help sway my decision. Is 1 a better choice for the late afternoon? Like, are things closing up earlier at 1 or will it be a pain to travel from the Melia during early evening etc...

Thanks, I appreciate it! We might try the pizza at Sapphire then but stop at G.G. just for some drinks.

Hello! Based on the reviews/posts we're going to try Sapphire Beach this cruise. Is there a place near the port that we would be able to stop and grab snacks/drinks before going? Will we have a problem getting on the beach with our own food?

Our kids are 6, 6 and 8 so I don't want to chance them getting hungry-whiny ;p

May I ask about splash academy for the 4.5 yo's? Did they use it, like it? We're taking our nephews for the first time in April on the getaway

 

 

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Our 1st trip on the getaway the twins had just turned 3. They liked the club but needed a little encouraging to go. This time half way through dinner they were *begging* to go. They have prince/princess night, Pirate night, superhero night, jungle night and they had circus day where they perform in the big theater for the parents. If you're nervous or hesitant you can request a pager, which is actually a tiny phone thing where they will call you if the child wants to leave. On our ship there was maybe 20-25 kids in their age group (3-5) but I don't think they were ever all there at once.

I think I was on this same cruise (Jan 10-17). And I agree with everything you said. Especially about the disembarkation. It was a total mess. I can understand why they only had one gangplank open (the weather), but the process just didn't seem organized. They were directing lines to go here, and then changing them, just didn't seem to have it together. Did you see any of the Cuban refugee rescue? We were also in a family oceanview and could just look out our window and see what was going on.

We got off on the 7th floor from the fwd elevators right in the midst of the craziness. People (mostly elderly, sorry to stereotype) were FLIPPING OUT on those of us getting off the elevator. "This is NOT the line, you need to go to the back!!"... "don't just stand there, we were already in line". All I was thinking was, "hey, I don't want to go home, I'm not trying to 'cut' you, we have a 7pm flight, relax".

We were dead asleep when the announcement came on so we didn't even look out the window (what was I thinking?? hahah). Our kids were so exhausted, I stood on the bed with a pillow over the little speaker so the announcements didn't wake them up. Definitely a cool little memory to have.

Is there free wifi at the park? And, can you snorkel right off the

beach?

There is wifi in the entrance area and at the dolphin experience section. The snorkeling is right off the shore. It's rocky and you have to go down metal steps to get in but it was great. Someone gave my husband a little piece of bread to throw in the water and there was literally 200 fish around my son- he was amazed.

Just wanted to report back in case this comes up in anyone's search some day ;)

Chankanaab was wonderful. It didn't feel crowded at all. We were actually able to find 9 chairs and 2 little palapas (sp?) together, no problems. We bought a few bucket of beer specials and the sampler platters everyone recommends. We had great massages- they were $35 for 20 mins and then BOGO- so my husband and I had a nice little couple's massage overlooking the lagoon for $35- crazy! My kids LOVED the sea lion show and the little shallow beach.

::two thumbs up::

I won't get into a full review but I wanted to add my 2 cents and say we had an awesome trip on the Getaway last week- me (32), dh (33) and kids (7, 4.5 and 4.5). We sailed at the end of 2014 and loved the ship so much we booked it again. After booking we found out that Nick at Sea wouldn't be there (it had been my kids favorite part), then the room service fee/food to room issues and quite a few bad reviews/complaint posts on here. I was a little nervous it wouldn't feel the same or be as good...

I can say 1st hand the ship is still just as great as it was last time. I was expecting crazy long lines with the beverage packages but was pleasantly surprised. As long as you weren't at the pool bar at noon on a sea day, I thought the waits were reasonable. The ship was still clean & shiny, (all but 1) crew members we met were friendly and busting their butts and kids club was still phenomenal. My oldest was in tears over the loss of Nick at Sea this fall and he never once mentioned missing it on the ship. Service in the MDR was a little slow for breakfast but for dinner it was great. I don't think that I had one bad meal and we never had reservations for anything. Also (random, I know)- I noticed the main dining rooms are not as freezing cold as they used to be. We actually brought extended family along (7- 1st time cruisers) and they all bought the future cruise deposit.

My only complaint was that out of 5 NCL cruises this disembarkment was a mess. The captain announced the port could only open 1 "path/exit" (I don't know the technical term) so we were warned it would be slow. Staff was there trying their best to direct but it was still a bit of a cluster due to hundreds of frustrated confused people in little hallways.

This time we tried the family ocean view category, which with *small* kids we actually found to be very comfortable with lots of smart storage.

I'm not saying NCL or the Getaway are perfect but as long as you're there to have fun with a good attitude you can still have a FANTASTIC trip.

I'm just off the getaway 1/17 my kids are 4.5, 4.5 and 7. We also sailed on the getaway when they were 3,3 and 5.

The kids club is fantastic. They have a certain theme each day and then base games, facepaint and crafts around it. My kids were never bored. Last time my twins were hesitant to stay being so young, this year they begged me to leave for 5 more minutes. My oldest son was devastated when we learned that the Nick characters wouldn't be there again (like- he asked if we could switch to disney instead, lol). Not 1 time in the entire week did my kids bring it up during the cruise. They didn't miss the activities at all.

The kids can order "picky kids food" in any restaurant at any time. We even had them bring chicken fingers and fruit out during the illusionarium dinner show. The kids menu is; chicken fingers, pizza, spaghetti, pj&j, mac and cheese, hot dog, hamburger. My other 2 ordered from the adult menu.

We have been to Chankanaab with more ships in port before and I don't feel it's much of a problem. Chankanaab is a HUGE place. There will of course be more people there in the beginning, but a lot may be on tours or just there for the swims with very little time for the ocean and they tend to weed out fairly quickly. :) I honestly wouldn't worry about it with this particular place.

...and thank YOU for your reviews of the park. When I was originally deciding where to go, I searched the forums for chankanaab and your reviews popped up. I love all of your photos and your daughter is so darn cute!