Craving A Cruise

I have a midship cabin near the elevators on my upcoming cruise on the Regal. I'm not really concerned about a lack of passenger staircase or waiting for the elevator. I would like to know is if there are any doors leading to/from the midship elevator lobby area or is it open to the corridors? The stairs used by the crew, is this blocked with a door or just open? I'm just concerned about the noise of closing doors or conversations by those waiting forever for the elevator.

There are no doors in any Princess elevator lobby to passenger cabins that we have ever seen. Its not noisy. Princess cabins are very soundproof for noise from the passageways etc.

Our concern about cabins in this area is not so much about the noise level, but rather the privacy level or lack of privacy since your door would open up to the lobby. Has anyone stayed in these cabins ? (I.e. B705 or B706 on Crown Princess or similarly located cabins) Any thoughts? Pros and cons.

Thank you in advance :)

Great photos and review! Thanks for posting :)

Getting excited about our upcoming cruise on the Crown Princess. I'm assuming that these two ships are very similar. Correct? And although, we sailed on the Grand many years ago, I had forgotten how beautiful this class of ship is.. . . .

Hello again!

....I burst out of the bathroom ready to conk some heads together if they were the ones making that racket, but what I discovered was Daughter J. jumping up and down and shrieking with joy. Guest Services had called and told her that she could meet Hiccup after the first How To Train Your Dragon ice show on Saturday. She was ecstatic, to say the very least. I have not yet emailed the corporate head honcho boss guy whose name everybody throws around here, but I can't currently remember (- Oh yeah, Adam, how could I forget?) but I plan to. And I plan to tell him that of all the good food, good service, fun entertainment, amazing piece of machinery/art that is this ship, and everything else we experienced this whole week, that one small gesture that probably meant little or nothing to them, topped it all for my special little girl. More than they will ever know. :)

 

Aaaaaaaw, this part brought tears to my eyes.

As the auntie of a child with autism, I completely understand how this special gesture made an impact on your entire family. Sometimes it's just the little things that turn out to be the BIG things!!! I hope that your sweet daughter "J" enjoyed the Meet n' greet and that you have photos to share with us.. :D:p

Continue on....as you were...back to the story....

~Karen

Great review! :) I read it all in one sitting and now sadly I am at the end of it. I don't know what to do with myself. LOL. ( Maybe figure out how to make one of those "Collins drink" like you had.;)...hmm.)

Your family is adorable and I have really enjoyed your honesty and humor! Us moms can be extremely hard on ourselves at times, but you girlfriend should be very proud, because you got SO MANY things right!!!! Glad you had a great cruise. Please keep the posts coming and don't leave us hanging too long...

We may still do the excursion as nothing else we reviewed seemed too worthwhile and we like the idea of snorkeling, banana boat, beach and there is a supposed to be a nice hike on the island and all for 45$. We are pretty active people and the idea of a city tour though one was well recommended by Mazatlan Frank seems a little lame for us. Thanks alot for your input, I guess it is also best to bring small change . Lots of 5$ and 1$ bills.

Hi again Douglash,

I just thought I should clarify my previous response to you about the Kolonahe Catamaran.

I didn't mean to sound negative about the trip, so I apologize if it came across like that. After discussing this excursion with my family, we all agreed that it was indeed a fun day! My teens really enjoyed it :) and would like to do it again. However, Dh & I would like to try something different next time.

I suppose our teens were completely oblivious to the fact that we almost missed the ship...:eek: LOL....Unfortunately, Dh & I were unable to really relax and enjoy the 2nd part of the day, once we realized that we were possibly going to get back too late and we better come up with a "Plan B" just in case we did indeed miss the Mariner.

Imho, It is a little risky booking something like this on your own. As I mentioned previously, we were the only cruise ship passengers on board... Which may tell you something...? I would hope that no one has missed the ship previously...

The El Cid Marina is a good distance from the port, so you will need to allow plenty of time to travel back & forth...... I believe the tour was supposed to be back by 2:30pm, but we didn't get back until about 4:15pm!.... Then we had to wait for a taxi...The Mariner's last "ALL ABOARD" call is at 5:30pm and we did not get back to the port until 5:10-5:15pm...:eek:

If you do decide to go, just keep track of the time. In hindsight, we probably could have tried to get back to the mainland on a different tour boat or private boat if we had thought of it. Of course, your excursion may run on time as scheduled and you won't face any delays..

Also, the catamaran docks off the island in deeper water, so you will be ferried to the shore in a small boat and will then have to jump out onto the beach. Getting back into the boat was a problem for several people in our group. This may not be a problem for you since you are "active", but I thought I should mention this fact since others are reading this post....

Let me know if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

Bon Voyage!

p.s. Yes, bring lots of small bills for the taxi and don't forget to tip the catamaran crew also.

has anyone done the Kolonahe Catamaran Tour to Deeer Island? If so was it fun? Are there any shaded areas or umbrellas that can be rented thanks? Doug

Hello Doug,

We did this excursion. Although we had a nice time, we would not do it again. :(

We spent $15 on a cab to get to the El Cid Marina and the driver did not have change, so it ended up costing us $20 one way. The tour did not seem to be organized very well and the crew was very laid back, which I suppose is a theme in Mexico, and they seemed to have their own time schedule. LOL. :). This would have been okay except that we had a ship to return to!!

We rushed off the Mariner to a taxi then waited 1 1/2 hours at the dock while they waited for passengers and loaded ice & drinks onboard. The sailing part was enjoyable and they did have an open bar, although most people were not drinking. I believe we were the only cruise-ship passengers onboard. Most people were staying at local hotels, so obviously they were not too concerned about the return time.

The primary reason we would not do it again is because of the stress involved getting back to the ship! We barely made it back in time, with only 15-20 minutes to spare, when we should have had 2-3 hours to spare...:eek:

Luckily, on the return trip we had a pulmonia cab driver that thought he was driving in the Indy 500!!!:eek: LOL. The kids thought it was great fun weaving in and out of traffic in an open air cab, as if we were in some kind of James Bond movie.......us parents,... not so much!!! Dh and I were trying to come up with a plan B and devise a way to meet up with the ship in Puerta Vallarta the following day if need be......no kidding.

Needless to say, our cabby got us to the ship and was paid very well for doing so!

Overall, it was an enjoyable day. Let me try to answer some of your questions now.....Deer Island is very pretty with a nice small beach area. The snorkeling was so-so. The equipment was in poor condition and the water was cloudy and visibility was not as good as in Cabo the previous day.

It was very hot that day, but the water was perfect for swimming. There are no umbrellas for rent but there was a couple of palapas with chairs on a first come basis and a shady porch area where we ate....They had 2 kayaks available for approx. 50 people to share, so we did not have a chance to try that. We did try the banana boat ride and we all enjoyed that very much!!! :D There was one "rustic" restroom on the island and a nasty crew restroom onboard the catamaran. A hot lunch consisting of rice, beans, shredded beef, tortillas, salsa etc...was provided and the open bar continued. Someone brought the food over from the mainland in a little boat. Actually, that may have also added to the delays.

I'm sorry to disappoint you with news about this excursion. It was fun, but far too stressful for cruise ship passengers. Your experience may be completely different, of course. :) However, the fact that we were "trapped" on the island and had no possible way of leaving early just compounded the problem. I suggest looking for an alternative excursion and avoiding the stress.

Enjoy your cruise!

Karen

Thanks for sharing your photos! Those are some awesome shots. Can't wait to visit Mexico and take my own photos. :)

ditto ditto ditto !!! So far it appears that very few people are willing to pay extra for any of these items....... Listen up cruiselines!

my answer is none of the above, because imho none of the options are worth extra money. Actually i can't think of anything i'd pay extra to have.

you are right on target. Do not nickel and dime me.

i would pay more for a truly smoke-free environment.