terri-eddie

15 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I overlooked the fact that you are also visiting La Paz.  The ship docks a long way from town, and there is a free bus from the dock to town.  Halfway between, the bus stops to let people off at a local beach.  I hope someone with experience on this beach will chime in.  I've only glimpsed it from the windows of the bus.

Yes, we are on the 8-day itinerary of the Carnival Panorama, so La Paz is one of our stops. 

15 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I second @Mike45LC's Cabo suggestion and would recommend Medano Beach as it is close to the cruise tender port.  Even though it starts on the opposite side of the marina, it is still walkable.  The end closest to the marina is pretty quiet and as you move to the east you'll find the beachfront bars and restaurants.  Have fun!

Thank you for the recommendation! Do you know about the water entry issue I mentioned...in the Carribbean, a lot of the beaches have a sort of trench underwater a few feet out from the beach, that is difficult for me to step over. 

All of these ports are new to us...we've cruised many times, but always on the other coast. 

We're not big beach-goers, but I want just one day. Do you have a favorite beach in the Cabo area?

My husband and I will be cruising in March. What would be the best port to find a beach? I prefer one that is sandy, not rocky, and doesn't have that six or ten inch trench under the water a few feet in from the beach [I have bad balance and that gets me every time!] We'll have stops in Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. Thank you in advance!

On 12/14/2022 at 10:38 AM, WatchHill said:

Last month, we [3 adults] took a taxi to Chogogo Beach Resort about 3 miles outside of town. For $25. pp [includes a $10 food credit] we had full access to their pools, lazy river floats, palm covered lounge chairs and access to a beach bar and food. Very nice & clean place, friendly staff, very good pina coladas and we opted to share a large tray of nachos with all the amenities. 

 

DH took his snorkel gear and entered the water to look at fish and coral formations - said he saw lots of them. Water shoes are a must in Bonaire. My sister and I did a few circuits on the lazy river with the supplied floating tubes and then hit the pool.  

 

We are seriously considering flying to Bonaire and staying on this property. Their evening beach BBQ and nightly entertainment looked very interesting. 

 

Darcy

Did you have to make reservations ahead of time, or did you just hop in a taxi at the port and show up?

I realize that many people will say, you should search through the posts for your answer before you ask a question again that's probably been asked dozens of times. But....this forum has 2222 pages! 

So, what I want to know is....is Titusville too far away from the port to be considered for a pre-cruise hotel? Previously we have stayed at Radisson Resort At The Port, which is great. But we're trying to be more budget-conscious this time. And we will not have a rental car. 

Please advise! I want a fairly nice hotel...ie, no roaches, no paper-thin mattresses. And it would be nice to have a restaurant and a convenience store nearby.

My husband and I are booked for next March [hopefully we won't get cancelled again!] and I'm trying to decide on one beach day, because we're not big beach fans. I need a beach where the access into the water is level sloped....meaning, no gully underwater about six feet from the beach. I have balance issues, and I have fallen into the water before when I didn't realize there was a gully, I assume caused by wave action. 

Can anyone suggest the best beach for this, between Aruba and Curacao? Those are the two ports of call where we haven't already made other plans. 

My husband and I are booked for next March [hopefully we won't get cancelled again!] and I'm trying to decide on one beach day, because we're not big beach fans. I need a beach where the access into the water is level sloped....meaning, no gully underwater about six feet from the beach. I have balance issues, and I have fallen into the water before when I didn't realize there was a gully, I assume caused by wave action. 

Can anyone suggest the best beach for this, between Aruba and Curacao? Those are the two ports of call where we haven't already made other plans. 

What is the cost of a taxi from port to Coral World? My daughter and I are going there in December from our cruise ship. 

This will be us too! We currently have 70 days, and our next cruise will put us into Platinum status...yay! No more buying FTTF. 

In Dec 2017 we used Sunshine Limo. Highly recommend. They even let us schedule a 30min stop at a grocery store along the way. There were four of us, and we were picked up by a driver right after baggage claim and escorted out to his shiny new Ford Escalade.

We did this tour a couple of years ago with our teenage daughter, and it was great...one of our favorite excursions ever! Our tour guide met us outside the port gates [you have to walk through the port, up a hill and down the other side to meet the independent tour operators, but it's not too far]. It was a private car, not a tour bus, and there were no other people with us, just the three of us. He drove us all around the island, telling us about everything. We stopped in several places to take pictures, and he kept asking if there was anything else we would like to see. When we got to the sanctuary, we got to see lots of parrots [and even entered their cage and held them!] We also saw some small animals that looked like rabbits....I think they were called agouti. Next, we entered the cage with several adolescent monkeys that jumped and climbed all over us...it was awesome! And finally, we got to hold a big, sleepy sloth, and have it put its arms around us and rest its head on our shoulders.

After we left the sanctuary, our guide offered to take us to a beach, or to a restaurant for lunch. We decided against those options, though, so he took us back to the port. Overall, I think we were out and about for five hours, and could have taken longer if we had wanted to.

I highly recommend booking a tour through Daniel Johnson.

Which ships, or which class of ships, have Grand Scenic Ocean View cabins? I'm loving the floor to ceiling window idea!

I emailed the special needs dept to request a fridge for our Sunshine cabin last year. I was notified that this would not be possible. However, when we arrived, there was a fridge! This was an Interior cabin on Riviera deck, midship.

So...you can ask, and you might receive!

I'm looking ahead to our next cruise, not yet booked, and wondering if there are deluxe OV cabins on the Fascination. Anyone with first-hand knowledge?

The food service workers on the Sunshine in Dec 2017 were awesome at handling our allergy lists. There was a time and place to meet with the maitre d on embarkation day, and there were quite a few people lined up there. An assistant walked down the line, checking to see what the various issues were, if the people needed the maitre d specifically, or if someone else could handle their need. A lovely lady took us out of the line and we sat with her at a table to fill her in on our needs. We were able to pre-order supper for the MDR for that night, and every night after our meal, our waiter brought the menu book over and let us pre-order the next night's meal.

In the Lido buffet, all the workers were very good about answering questions about the food items on offer. One even asked us to wait a minute, and she went in the galley and got one of the head chefs to come out and speak to us!

Everyone we encountered was so friendly and matter-of-fact about it. No one made us feel like we were causing extra work or taking too much of their time.

You can now book after your cruise, up to two weeks I think, and receive the same benefits. No need to stand in line at a future cruise desk. That 's what we did...three days after getting home from our Dec 2017 cruise, we went online and booked our Dec 2018 cruise, and received $50 OBC for a 7night cruise.

We cruised out of Long Beach in 2014, and had a similar wait time before our flight home. We booked a day tour with Sunseeker, and it was the best day ever! We were picked up in the morning at the port, and the van had lots of room for luggage in the back. We toured around Los Angeles, saw the Hollywood sign, drove by several homes of celebrities in Beverly Hills, had lunch at Mel's Diner, saw Venice Beach, spent some time on Hollywood Blvd, etc. Later, our driver dropped us off at the airport.

I find Seabands are effective. But not handy when going in pools or hot tubs, or trying to look nice (female with exposed arms). I found a product called Queasy beads. They work very well and look like jewelry. They come in lots of different colors. I got a black pair and white pair and they go with most things. Much nicer looking than Seabands and just as effective. They also do fine in the water of hot tubs or pools. I'm so glad I found them. I was previously trying to find giant sized cuff style bracelets to cover the Seabands at dinner time, that didn't work out at all! A bit too Wonder Woman.

I have the Queasy Beads bracelets also....they look very pretty, and they work. My husband likes his Sea Bands, and they work for him.

Since cruises are obviously very time-specific, our flight has to be as well. Also, going Sunday to Sunday hurts us as of course it's cheaper to fly during the week. Does anyone have any pointers/advice on getting the best deal on our flights? We're finding that they are going to cost so much more than we thought but still hopeful that once all the airlines are booking that far out that we can find a reasonable price.

Check to see the price if you stay over one extra night after the cruise. A few times, we have found that the price of booking a hotel for one night, and taking a cheaper flight on Monday, was about the same as the price of flying home on Sunday. So, we didn't save money, but we had a less hectic disembarkation, and a less busy airport the next day. The same might be true at the beginning of your trip...leave a day earlier, with a cheaper price, and put the money toward a one night hotel stay.

I'm excited because our next cruise, in Dec this year, will be our last "gold" cruise....next time after that, we'll turn "platinum" mid-cruise...woohoo!

It happened to us, too. I just printed the last email showing the total OBC amount, and checked it when I got onboard, because the online account didn't show the full amount. It was there!

If the ship has Blue Iguana....try the breakfast burrito, especially with the crispy potato hash browns. And don't miss the passion fruit - orange - mango juice, available only at breakfast time.

In the MDR....bbq chicken flatbread appetizer, all of the cold fruit soups especially the strawberry, and the pork chops are amazing. For dessert, creme brulee is very good.

Quattro Formagio pizza with added pepperoni is really good.

Room service chocolate cake is delicious.

Also....Carnival's hot chocolate, available in the MDR and also from the drinks dispensers in the Lido buffet area.

No Pepsi products at all....Carnival only has Coke products.

I just got a pair of Queasy Beads that I ordered for my daughter for our first cruise. Don't know how they are going to work yet (we leave in 10 days!!!), but they are beautiful. They work in the same way as the sea bands (acupressure) but are not as utilitarian looking, and there are tons of colors to choose from. Check out her website.

I have used Queasy Beads bracelets for my past three cruises...ordered from etsy, custom-made....I had to send them my wrist measurements! They worked great, and were certainly prettier than the gray sweatband type that my husband wears. They look like jewelry...I was complimented on them several times.