dleighb

Dee, it was great to meet you on board. I knew you were on the Lamanai excursion, so as the sign in sheet came around, I took a peek at all the names looking for yours! We were the first to sign up for the UST. They didn't even have the sign in sheet yet. We boarded a little bit before noon. Our letter was delivered to our stateroom during dinner the night before. I promise I will get those photos to you. I need to process them first because they are all in RAW. Do you want my Lamanai pictures and the UST photos? I'm glad I tucked my camera in my wallet for the UST tour. My friends got some pictures of the galley during their galley tour. Wish we could have taken some pictures of those displays they had out. But, I'm super glad that that the captain said we could take pictures on the bridge, and that I was prepared! Sadly, I didn't get any good ones of the dolphins. Just a couple of the splashes they left behind and one grey smear.

 

My husband used his coffee card from the last cruise. He doesn't do the brewed coffee though, so he just took a punch for all his lattes. Finally finished it up this cruise.

 

We, too, were disappointed in having to change out Roatan for Costa Maya, but what else can you do? At least we finally got to Belize after missing that one last year. It took us two trips to do this itinerary, but we finally made it. I recommend to anyone taking a trip out of Houston to research possible alternate stops. I think if I had researched Costa Maya in advance, we would have done something different there. We were not terribly impressed with the Uvero Beach.

 

We enjoyed the food and service as well. So much better than the CB last January (which wasn't bad considering they were battling Norovirus). I'm starving myself now to try and fit back into my clothes after all the food we ate. We didn't even do any of the specialty dining rooms. Only a couple things on the menu were "meh". (The key lime pie we renamed to "key limeless".) I didn't even miss that I forgot my little bag of spice to help spice up bland food. We did sign up for the chef's dinner, but apparently, we weren't lucky enough to be selected for that. We weren't enthralled by the singers and dancers (good voices, but they didn't blend well all the time), but we really liked the comedian, the musician, and the illusionist.

 

All in all, it was quite an enjoyable trip. I am not overly fond of the Sunday-Sunday dates. I needed another day off work to recover by the time I got home Sunday evening. I was pretty worthless at work on Monday!

We boarded at noon in the second boarding group. I signed up for the UST first and then heading to the room and left my name and CT request on the DINE line. Both times, we boarded as early as possible and called as quickly as we could. I am thinking that either we are unlucky or maybe we aren't elite enough or maybe the chef looks at the fact I am allergic to nuts and decides that he can't cook without nuts.

Yes. Costa Maya was on the same day that we Roatan was scheduled. No compensation was given as we didn't lose any time actually on the boat. You sail from Houston and you take your chances. Just like sailing into Belize is always iffy as the weather can be too rainy or windy to tender.

 

Last year, when we missed Belize and returned a day early because of fog (official reason) or Norovirus (what most people believe is the real reason), we did receive a day's credit to our stateroom cost and a "we're sorry your cruise got screwed up" future cruise credit which we used on this cruise that also got screwed up. I'm pretty sure I am jinxed somehow.

 

Aside from the fog and the port change issues, everything else was very nice. This ship seemed in much better shape than the CB last year. The staff was friendly. The service was good. Food was much better than the CB last year. Not of fan of the singers and dancers, but the outside entertainment with the comedian, musician, and illusionist was really enjoyable.

 

Bottom line, fog happens in the Houston port. Hopefully, you won't have any issues, but if you do, the ship does work hard to try and ensure that you still have a lovely time. If you find yourself in Costa Maya and you like ruins, that tour is not bad. I think the catamaran snorkeling tour is supposed to be nice. And the Uvelo beach is probably fine for people who don't expect a crystal clear, sandy beach. And the port area itself has a nice swimming pool and chairs to lay out on. Just no real beach access.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

I have high hopes that we will be able to to this one day. We're now 0-2 for trying and making the chef's table. I'm not sure if we have some black mark against us or not. I'm getting a little tired of the "Unfortunately, you were not selected" letters.

I was on this past sailing that got rerouted. We docked around what I want to say was 8am or so and the all aboard time was 5:30pm. Not being able to research, we did the Uvelo beach excursion. (We had already done the ruins on a previous cruise.) If you want a pretty beach, this may not be your thing. Lots of sea grass and such. Snorkeling was pretty good although a bit murky. Drinks were what you would expect from an "all you can drink" place. A bit watered down unless you tipped well.

 

The good excursions booked really fast, so if you do find yourself rerouted, figure out what you want quickly and jump on it.

As I look through the fog to see the blurry lights of the port terminal, I assure you, we are still in port. Depending on what time we leave will determine the itinerary.

 

Better luck to you next time JF!

Yes. We are fogged in. Captain says maybe 4am. Not sure whether or not we will have an itinerary change or not. Won't know until we actually sail. I was on the Noro ship that returned early last year. Looks like I am destined to overnight on these cruises out of Houston.

Princess says check in is from noon to three. But I feel like last time when we arrived at noon there were already hundreds of people waiting. Is noon when the port actually opens for luggage check and security screening or should we get there earlier?

 

I wouldn't normally worry, but we're trying to sign up for the Ultimate Ship Tour, and I hear you can only do that at Guest Services on arrival and that it fills up fast, so I want to be as close to the front as possible!

Thanks for the wonderful review, andy.capitan. We will be on this cruise next week. Looking forward to it now!

 

Side note, I poked around your website and looked at your pictures from Hurricane Katrina. They look very similar to the pictures I have from my grandma's and my aunt's homes. They lived in St. Bernard, and pretty much lost everything. Now I understand why you are a Saints fan! Shame they didn't make the playoffs. I would have liked to have seen them on the MUTS screen!

I'm going to admit to being one of those people who sit at the end of the row and don't move down (but I don't glare at people when I have to get up either). I'm 5 feet even and if I don't sit on the end of a row on the sidelines, I can kiss seeing any part of the show goodbye. If I get there early, why should I have to miss out on seeing the show because I was moving into a worse seat for the convenience of someone else who got there after I did?

 

As far as rude people, there are rude people everywhere in all walks of life. There are rich and entitled, and you will will find them on the upper cruise lines and poorer and entitled that you will find on the lower cruise lines. Society in general is becoming an entitled society and forgetting about proper behavior.

 

I wish that there were still nights where everyone would dress in formal/semi-formal attire all over the ship, or at least in the dining rooms and theatres, but I know those days are gone. So, I try not to let it bother me and simply enjoy dressing up for myself. My husband wears a tux, but even he starts to think he won't do that as fewer and fewer men are doing so. Essentially, enough people complained about formal nights and the cruise lines caved to keep the business. If enough people complained about people not in formal attire, the policies might change again. Such is the nature of business.

 

I wish the OP the best of luck in finding a cruise line that will cater to their preferences, but I have a feeling that rude people will be encountered everywhere.

We usually call Discover before our trip and tell them we will be traveling out of the country. We've never had a problem with them stopping our card during a trip. However, we also travel with another card just in case. Also, since Discover isn't quite accepted worldwide yet, it is nice to have a backup.

Now that I've caught up on the 8 pages, thank you for your informative post. We will be on this cruse in four weeks, and I enjoy seeing previews of what is to come. Hopefully this one won't be cut short due to Norovirus and/or fog again!

 

P.S. Completely agree with your comments about the Saints. I just don't know what has happened to my home team this year. Hoping for good things in tonight's game!

Thanks, everyone! My parents will be on the ship for 26 days, so I may get my dad two of the soda fountain cards. He doesn't care if it is fountain or a can, and he usually has two drinks with dinner. I'll hope that he can use it in the MDR and maybe I'll double check that when I purchase it.

My parents are taking a cruise with HAL in April. The last cruise they took was on Princess and for $7.00 or so a day, I was able to buy my dad a basic soda card that covered his diet sodas that he likes to drink throughout the meals. He said it was so easy because once the servers knew he had that card, he didn't even have to show it anymore, they just had his two sodas ready when they saw him.

 

I see on the gifts page for HAL that I can buy a $50 soda fountain card. Does anyone have an experience with this? Is it something that gets swiped or deducted? How much are sodas? Are they included with the meals (I haven't found that to be the case on many cruise lines, but they are all different). Is there another option that's more like a drink package but non-alcoholic? He really just drinks Diet Cokes.

 

Trying to figure out what would make a good Christmas gift, and he still talks about how great a Father's Day gift the drink package on Princess was, so I thought covering his drinks on their upcoming cruise might be a good option.

 

Thanks!

Sunshyne4ever, we just did our volcano hike with Al on Saturday. I was glad to read the review here from you before I went because when he introduced himself (I had booked with Thenford Grey), I knew I was in good hands! Like his slow group, I took 3 hours to make it to the top, but at least I made it down in two hours. Here I am five days later, and I am just starting to get the full use of my right leg back (it was bad to begin with, so naturally it is taking longer to work itself out), and it looks like I might lose my right toenail as a result of only buying a hiking shoe a half size up instead of a full size up and then trying to go quickly down the mountain so as not to be a complete slowpoke. *sigh* My own fault there. Luckly, I wasn't on a cruise for this trip or I would have been a nervous wreck about getting back to the boat on time and then the rest of my cruise would have been pretty miserable because I was so sore. But it was a great experience and Al was fantastic. I don't however feel the need to do it again should I find myself in St. Kitts again. I think lying out on the beach would be fine!

RDC1, are you talking to me? I have never disputed that that there was a fog warning issued for Friday evening/Saturday morning. In fact, had a warning not been issued, I would be even more irritated about the whole situation than I currently am. It was eclue who said that Captain never predicted fog for Friday night. Although the announcement I heard last Tuesday from the Captain stated that the port might be shut down from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon (which I personally tended to believe would be unlikely) and that we were racing back to make it in before the port shut down on Friday. Now, maybe the Captain misspoke and meant Saturday instead of Sunday which would actually make far more sense to me.

I learned that I could get Bigelow Darjeeling steeped in a pot holding two cups with my breakfast in the dining room every morning. There was no charge for that. I don't know if I could have gotten the same thing in buffet or not as I never tried it. I don't know if I could have gotten other tea flavors. Probably. I just heard someone order Darjeeling one morning, and it sounded good. Then I just stuck with it.

 

I don't know if I could have gotten it at other times for no charge, but probably not. And certainly not at the IC without a coffee card.

eclue, you obviously did not hear the same announcement Tuesday evening that our group of six did (or any of the other passengers that we talked to who all through a fog warning that would close the port for Friday - Sunday was a bit ridiculous). We heard that the fog was to roll in Friday evening and close the port Friday evening through Sunday, so we were going to try and make it back before the port closed Friday evening.

 

Plus, if fog was predicted only on Saturday evening, then why did we return early due to fog as it would not have affected us entering the port Saturday morning?

On our way back home Friday, my group and I created a parody of "The Love Boat" to keep us entertained on our drive.

 

WARNING: Read no further if you don't have a sense of humour and/or were sick on board (as I do sympathize with those who being sick probably had a miserable few days).

 

Some of our rhymes aren't great and our tempo is a little off, but we sure did laugh a lot while we created verses, so I thought I would share. And sadly, I couldn't figure out how to work in the fact that everyone entering the dining room looked like evil geniuses rubbing their hands with Purell. I tried, but "I couldn't find anything that rhymed with "Evil Genius Sanitation Shuffle" which is what we nicknamed that look.

 

 

 

The Plague Boat

 

Noro, it's coming for you

Come on board, spores are everywhere.

Noro, a cruiser's nightmare.

Go Away, please get out of our hair!

 

Code Alpha sends the staff running to and fro

Salt and Pepper gone from the table three days ago

Buffet cluster commences

as staff now must serve the food.

 

Roatan, we bid you ado

Belize, we're not going to you

Noro, Captain says it is fog

The guests, do they really not have a clue?

 

The Plague Boat soon will be docking in Houston now.

Stormy weather, the waves will make you more green.

Rub your hands with Purell

Sanitize ev’ry little thing.

 

And spew. Before it's too late

You're the only cruise whose guests they are losing weight!

Yes Plaaaaaaague!

Get the hell off, it's Plague!

they are able to predict fog several days in advance in the port due to temperature variations

 

Then why was there no fog Friday night/Saturday morning? They predicted it.

You know, I actually had a good cruise even with the frustration of losing 36 hours. Although now that I am back and reading through these threads, I'm getting more and more irritated. So I suppose I should stop. But it's sort of like watching a train wreck. You don't want to watch, but you can't turn away.

 

But, I'm telling you. I expect every cruise now to make a decision on Tuesday night, and if fog is predicted for the weekend, I expect them to return a day early. Can't wait to see what havoc that creates.

Actually, no. If we hadn't come in early, we still would have gotten in on Saturday. The predicted fog did NOT arrive Friday, it arrived Saturday afternoon. I would have been home by the time it arrived.

My husband could not drink the regular coffee. He was told that he could use his coffee card for the lattes and such offered in the dining room after dinner, so he got a coffee card. They never punched it for the lattes in the dining room, but they did punch it for his specialty coffees at IC. We'll be taking it on our next cruise and will see how it goes. We have yet to figure out if it was a good deal or not for him.

 

Dana

I think one of the main points of contention here is that some people (the group of which I fall in) would rather deal with known weather issues that cause delays or issues in changing flights and getting home while others would prefer to have their trip cut short on a possibility of weather issues because they can be guaranteed of getting home on time.

 

Because there are two groups here who have different philosophies on their travel arrangements and preferences, we will never see eye to eye on whether or not we believe the correct call was made. For those who don't believe that a weather prediction should influence the duration of the trip, we will feel lied to and like it was a dumb decision -- especially when the Norovirus was also on onboard and influencing the decision which was obvious to most of us even though it was never communicated as such thus adding to our frustration. For those who have no issues with a weather prediction causing a cruise to be cut short, they will see that the right call was made even though no fog appeared Friday night/Saturday morning and the trip could have gone as planned (had it not been for that Norovirus).

 

I will never believe that fog was the sole deciding factor in this decision. We might have skipped Belize because of it, but in the end we lost 36 hours because of Noro. And because it was so unbelievable that a trip would be cut short on a possibility, it rather overshadowed the last couple days (not to mention that rather rough storm that coated my balcony on Deck 8 in salty sea spray crystalline mix and laid out two members of our group with minor bouts of seasickness).

 

There were plenty of parts of this cruise that I did enjoy and I wouldn't even say that this was a Cruise from Hell, but of the five total cruises now that I have taken, this so far was the worst of the bunch.

 

And while I am sorry for those that couldn't sail on the ship last night, as of the weather forecast last Tuesday, they shouldn't have been able to sail out anyway, so their being stuck in port overnight really shouldn't come as a great surprise to them. I certainly hope that they don't get another fog prediction on Tuesday and have to come back early. That would mean they would only get one port at best. I should be thankful for the two that I did get. At least they were lovely.

Gee, this evening's fog correctly predicted days in advance.

 

Yes, this evening's fog was correctly predicted days in advance. However, Friday night's lack of fog was incorrectly predicted. I still maintain that making itinerary changes based on foretasted weather is ridiculous.

 

If the cruise ships begin to routinely base their itinerary changes on predicted weather events, then I expect to see a increase in unhappy passengers.

 

They predicted the harbor to be shut down for three days. Why didn't they tell everyone leaving on Saturday not to arrive until Sunday? After all, as of three days ago, the port was supposed to be closed.

 

And we certainly didn't arrive at 10pm on Thursday night because the harbor might have been closed on Friday evening. We could have had that last night and morning at sea. But when all is said and done, our cruise was cut short for Noro. Not for fog. I enjoy my sea days and evening as much as I enjoy my port, and I lost even that for something that never happened. Ah, but at least the true main objective of cleaning the ship was achieved, so I guess it was worth it.