Independence of the seas – january 31 – february 6, 2010 – 6 night western itinerary

[mrstay]

Yes I am still on the ship. Here is part one of my VERY long review. I will be posting more later.

 

Background: Traveling together were my DH (42), myself (42), girlfriend (36) and her DH (41). I myself have cruised 8 times prior to this cruise (6 with RCCL). My girlfriend and her DH have cruised as many times as I have, but on several lines. I have sailed on the Nordic Empress, Enchantment, Rhapsody, Splendour (2), and Radiance. This was my first time on a Freedom class ship, and I was quite excited. I have been a lurker here for many years, having my occasional question answered. I decided to post this review, so all the other lurkers can benefit as I have in the past. This review is a personal observation of the ship, RCCL in general and the discussion of the many changes that the cruise industry has made over the past few years. I am a person that suffers (and everyone around me) with ADD. Being that didn’t have much money to spend on this cruise I wanted to make sure that I cruised to ports I had been to and cruise on a ship that had enough to do and keep my mind busy for 6 days (if I wanted it to). This ship fit the bill. I must apologize that this review may hop around and seem disorganized. Sorry. That is the only way my mind works.

Embarkation: We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday prior to the cruise, so we had no delays in getting to the ship. My friends had their father drop us at the pier. We arrived at the pier at around 12:15 pm. Please note that if you are driving to the pier you will have to go through a security check that involves every passenger showing their drivers license. I say this because I had mine packed in my bag in the back of the pickup and had to get out of the truck and find it as the traffic lined up behind me. So just a pointer to plan for ahead of time.

From the time we arrived, left our luggage with the porters, walked through security, got our sea pass (yes there is a separate check in for platinum, diamond and suites), walked pass the photo op and got on the ship took all of 15 minutes or so. A very fast and smooth process. Kudos to the port staff.

Ship: Since we were on the ship before 1PM (when cabins are available) we decided to explore the ship. My first stop was the promenade. I had never wanted to travel on a ship this size, but my thoughts have changed on this matter. I was in awe of the promenade. Once you walked through the open space it was hard to imagine that you were on a ship. The public spaces on this ship are laid out nicely. I can say that only a hand full of times did the ship seem crowded. On the first day at sea it rained and I would have to say that when everyone comes inside it would make most any ship seemed crowded. As you can imagine from looking at the deck layout of this ship, there is more than enough things to keep you occupied. It was not until day 3 that I finally made it down to the lower levels to check out what was down there. I can only compare this ship to the Vision class and Radiance Class ship, as those are the ones I am most familiar with at this point. The size is of course massive, but it did not feel that way. I will break down each area for you:

On most ships there is one Centrum, on this ship there are two. It took me a day or two to figure out which way was forward or aft. One easy way to remember: if you are in the Promenade look at the elevators on each end. The aft has two sets of glass elevators on port and starboard side, the front only has one. On the aft of the ship the port side elevators go all the way to the 14th floor, whereas the starboard only goes to 12.

The promenade is laid out nicely with a large variety of venues. You have several different shopping venues, such as a sunglass shop, general store (liquor and sundries), logo shop, perfume shop, Ben and Jerry’s and a fashion shop. The liquor prices were decent. For you first time cruisers, if you purchase liquor on board it will be held for you until your last night of the cruise and then placed in your cabin. The first night there was liquor tasting from 6:00 to 10:00 PM (if I remember correctly) in the promenade. You were able to buy the coke, water and juice packages in the promenade on the first day. There were several dining choices on the promenade. There was Ben & Jerry’s, Sorrentinos, Café Promenade and the Settles Best Coffee area (attached to Café Promenade). At Settles Best you can get a variety of special coffees and some spirited coffees. If you are a C & A member and you have a coupon for 50% off a specialty coffee at Settles Best, it cannot be used on a spirited coffee. To give you an idea on pricing, I bought a mocha (only one size) it was $2.95 before discount. I never looked at the prices of the B&J ice cream, sorry. Sorrentinos was good pizza. The first day while waiting for our cabin we chose to eat at Sorrentinos, instead of Windjammer. I had read so many reviews about how crowded Windjammer is on day of embarkation. There were about 4 other people in the restaurant when we were there, so it was a pleasant experience. So my recommendation is to eat there when getting on board, since you will have ample other opportunities to eat in the Windjammer. They usually had about 4 different varieties of pizzas by the slice, antipasti salad, bread sticks and paninis (you must request for them to be grilled). There was usually an assortment of 4 different cup style desserts. Café Promenade which is open 24 hours has a variety of desserts (crumb cakes, cookies, etc.) and about four different kinds of petite croissant style sandwiches. Also, on deck 5 in the Promenade there is a barber shop. My girlfriend’s husband did the shave and really liked it.

We spent several days in the card rooms on the 14th deck (that is where I am as I type this review). There are two card rooms side by side. In the evening the one with the piano there was sometimes a jazz piano player. In the card room to the left there were lots of different board games and decks of cards to play, if you didn’t bring your own. My DH and I are canasta players, which is something we do not get to do when at home. There are large floor to ceiling windows lining the walls in both rooms. Right outside the card room to the left there are four ping pong tables with glass walls blocking the wind.

On deck 15 there is a wedding chapel. We never went up there, but did notice that there was no elevator service to the room. There was a staircase that had a mobility chair attached to the railing, so that the physically challenged could still enjoy the room.

On deck 13 aft there was the sports deck. This consisted of Flowrider, Miniature Golf, Basketball court, etc. There was plenty of seating for those that had a family member riding the flowrider. There was usually a decent size line and you only get one shot. Once you wipe out you are done and you get back in line again. I noticed that the height was 58 inches for the surf boards and I believe 54 inches for the bogie boards. You sign a waiver and wear a wristband the rest of the cruise. When the surf boarders were going it was one person at a time. When the bogie boards were going there was a net down the middle and both sides could go at one time. Of course the line should have moved faster, but less people were wiping out faster on the bogie board. I know you are wondering if I tried it, the answer is no. The other gentlemen traveling with us did though and enjoyed it. If you want to ride the Florwrider, make sure to check the times in the Compass, since the open hours are limited especially on port days. There was one evening where it was shut down, due to a private group had rented it.

The miniature golf was enjoyable. My DH plays golf and loved playing this course. There were several par 5 holes, mainly par 4 and two par 3 at the end. The golf was open I am assuming 24 hours since there were always balls and clubs available. One pointer, there were no lights on the course at night, although you could still see fine. I also noticed that one evening when we were playing golf that the basketball court was being used by the adventure ocean program for the kids. My husband also noticed one day that a family was using it to play soccer. Deck 13 also has a golf simulator. The cost is $25 an hour. He played when they offered an Adult Golf Drive Challenge, which there was no charge. You got three shots and you were competing against others. He noticed that the drive 60 to 70 yards shorter than normal.

The rock wall is also on deck 13. This is a much taller rock wall then on the smaller ships. There is also a oval shaped additional area that you can climb. I assume this is so that they can accommodate more persons at one time. Until the last day they wall was not open as much as I expected, especially since it did not rain after day one. You are required to sign a waiver and there are age restrictions.

Deck 12 consisted of the running track. This is one area I noticed a big difference in the layout of this ship, compared to smaller ships. There was a jogging track that winded around this deck (5 laps equal a mile). I noticed that one side of the track was designated for running and one for walking. The main problem was the on either side of the track were lounge chairs. Of course with the capacity of passengers that were aboard this ship, I guess they have to put them somewhere. It made for a crowded walk from the front of the ship to the back when there were so many people laid out one after another. I usually like to be able to go to the railing to take pictures. This was an impossible task on this ship from this deck. The feeling I had about this deck area was a sardine can that they opened and all you saw were sardines lined up one after another. Is it a total negative, maybe not for some, but personally not to my liking.

Deck 11 consisted of the most crowded spot on a sea day – the pools. There were three pools total. There is a sports pool, regular pool and a pool (adults only) in the solarium. On the Radiance and Vision class ship there was a retractable roof in the solarium area. This was one thing I really missed. I guess since this ship will never be used for an Alaskan cruise they did not bother to include it. This is also the deck where you check out your towels for the pool. You can check out as many towels as you want on one card, but if not returned there is a $20 charge for each towel. There is also a self serve soft yogurt machine in between the regular pool and the H20 zone (children’s water area). There is chocolate on one side and strawberry on the other. There is no charge for this. I have to say a very busy place.

Deck 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were mainly staterooms. I noticed that at 10 aft there was what I assume was the concierge lounge. Other than that there were the library, business center and internet café. I noticed that the internet café was very busy today (the last day) since most were changing their flights due to snow storms at the respective homes. There was also a printer at the internet café, if you needed to print your boarding passes for your flight. As far as internet usage this is how I opted to use it. I had two platinum coupons of $7.50 each. I applied them to my account at a charge of 55 cents a minute. I could not apply the $15 towards a package, I tried that. Once my account was zeroed out I could start paying by the minute or opt to buy package. I opted for the wireless access (due to checking my email on my laptop) and did the $38 package of 90 minutes. I do recommend bringing your laptop if you are using it mainly to check your emails. I use Outlook to access all my email accounts. I was able to write all my emails offline, read them offline and send them all at one time, which dropped the number of minutes required. I also was able to check the weather site while my emails downloaded. My girlfriend used the internet café to check her emails and she complained that it was very slow. I checked mine from my cabin during slower times, such as late at night, during dinner times, etc. I found on my laptop the connection time was very good for a ship. SKYPE: For those of you wondering if the ships service is fast enough to allow this service, it is not. We brought the webcam and tried it several times. One time we were able to connect for about 5 seconds and then it dropped the call. We even tried the regular call without the video, still no go.

Back to deck 5: Of course, I have said enough about the promenade. Also, on deck 5 there was the king lear dining room. I will discuss our dining options later. The dining room is three tier, with deck 5 being the top deck. Guest Relations and Shore Exploration desk is also on this deck.

Deck 4: Photo gallery and Casino. I avoid ship’s photographers like the plaque, so I need had any pictures taken. I do not gamble, so this deck was never used by me.

Deck 3: Studio B (Ice Rink). I did use this today (the last day). They allow you to use it for 45 minutes session. Note: You MUST have long pants and socks. I did not have long pants, but did have long capris and they let me skate. You are not required to wear helmets, but they are there if you want them. During the week the rink was closed a lot, since they were practicing for the ice shows, which was great. NOTE: If you want tickets for ANY of the ice shows during the week you must obtain them the first morning at sea between 9 and 10 in the promenade. I did not realize that they were given out all at once, so I didn’t get any. That was ok we opted to wait outside the studio b one evening and there are always empty seats that they allow non tickets passengers to use. We were able to sit on row 3 with four seats together. Not too bad. Worth seeing. It is so amazing how they have such little space and can still do “tricks”.

[oh2cruisemore]

A fellow Houstonian! Thanks for the review! We leave in 23 days for IOS! Looking forward to the rest of your review! :D

[mrstay]

Smoking on the ship: I do not smoke, not do I appreciate having to walk through smoke to get to my destination. I really appreciate that smoking is limited to specific areas of the ship. Please take note of these areas in your compass. There is smoking allowed on the starboard side (if I remember correctly) only on certain decks and not allowed in any shows or clubs.

My Time Dining (MTD): This was the first time we were on a ship that offered this dining option. We opted to use it to try it. I had a very open mind ahead of time. Please remember that I am comparing it to RCCL of the past and present. If you have never sailed RCCL this will probably mean nothing. Here are some of my thoughts: The first day we went first to the dining room to make reservations for 6:30 for dinner. My friends like to eat earlier than we do on a ship, so we opted for earlier than we typically would have done. We had to then go each day to the dining room on 5 or call to make reservations for the rest of the week. I assume they would not do the entire week’s reservations since there was such a long line. We arrived at 6:30 for our dinner reservations and we were seated in the last available time (in the corner). I found the location to be great, since the noise level was low. We were waited on by a very kind lady from Romania that this was her first time in MTD. She did very well. I have to say that the feeling I get of watching the wait staff work the MTD is so much more frazzled and hurried and not the same friendly smiling faces I remember in the past. Maybe this change is due to their overall work load has changed, I am not sure. But, it was an OK dinner, but nothing to write home (or to you) about. Please do not expect me to remember everything I have eaten in the past 5 days, it will not happen. I do remember that there was NOTHING that I had this week that I would have called bad. Was the food up to the standards I feel RCCL offered 10 years ago? No. But was it still enjoyable with a great wait staff experience? Yes. Considering the price I paid I believe I got what I paid for and then some. Where else can you go on vacation with room, food, entertainment, etc. for $400 a week? Nowhere, unless you are camping in a tent and doing charades by the fire for entertainment. Hahaha. Would I try MTD again? Probably not. I really like the comrodiry of having the same wait staff each night, having my drink waiting for me when I get to the table or having my roll placed on the plate without having to ask me what kind (because he remembered from the other nights). Is it is negative for RCCL? I don’t think so. The are trying out a market and seeing if it will match its passengers. Other lines have been offering the same thing for a long time, and they have gotten it right. It takes a lot of work on the cruise line’s part to offer it, but it also takes passengers to work along with it for it to work. For me, I will stay with regular timed dining with now. Would I be willing to try it again later, maybe. NOTE: In order to do MTD, you must prepay for your gratuities. If you were wanting to use your OBC to pay for gratuities, that will not work. I almost forgot, one night we did MTD and arrived on time. There was again only one table available. It was right at the waiter station. Never again would I do that. It was take the table or wait at least 20 minutes for another one. It was VERY noisy and not conducive for a calm setting.

Portofinos: We opted to try Portofinos this time, as we have done Chops twice before. We did this on the Cozumel day (day 5), which was also formal night. My DH and I opted to not bring any dress clothes this time. I did bring dress slacks and a blouse, DH brought khakis and a collared shirt. This was the first time we did this arrangement, without dressing formal. It was fun the first 5 cruises and then got older as time went on. I was looking to this cruise as 100% relaxation time. The dinner was as fine an experience as was Chops had been in the past. From walking in the door you could see the dining experience was going to be worth the extra money. I have to give our two children credit for this dinner. Our DD (12) and DD (5) paid for this dinner for us out of their savings (it was to celebrate our 25th anniversary). I had read so much about the service, food and desserts on this board so we had to give it a try. I had the shrimp skewer (scallops, lobster tail, shrimp and salmon), DH had t-bone, GF and her DH had filet. Everything was wonderful. The desserts were delicious. We opted for the sampler plate. If you are looking for something a truly great dining experience and have $40 extra to spend, go for it. You will not be disappointed. The whole experience lasted about 2 hours. You can book online I think 60 days out and can pick your time.

Dining: We ate breakfast via room service and windjammer. Room service was prompt and accurate. The windjammer can tend to be crowded and hard to find a place to sit. I really prefer to eat in the dining room for breakfast as I do not get waited on as a rule at home, so it is a nice change from the fast pace of the windjammer. Lunch was did not do the dining room, only Windjammer and Sorrentinos. Dinner was dining room and windjammer. Most nights there was the same thing on the menu at the Windjammer as was on the dining room menu, minus a few items. In the Windjammer, at breakfast there was an option of using the omelette station and at dinner it was a pasta station.

Ok, enough about food.

Ports of Call were Day at Sea, Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Day at Sea. As I mentioned before, I had been to all three ports previously. We were on schedule for the most part. I think we dropped anchor about 20 minutes late at Belize, but not a big deal. When you read the following about ports, know that I do not ever do ship excursions and I try very hard to plan something that most people would never do. That way I walk away with a wonderfully personal experience. This takes a little extra time to plan, but well worth it in the end.

BELIZE: Belize was a tendering port. My GF and I had plans to take a water taxi from Belize City to Caye Caulker. There were taxis going about every hour, but we hoped to catch an early one. We took the second tender over to the mainland. We then walked along the paved boardwalk all the way to the left. We exited through the doors that said Terminal 4. You continue through a door to the area outside the gated area. The San Pedro Belize Water Taxi was in the building next door. We were able to get on the water taxi at 8:15 am for a price of $10 US pp RT. The ride took 45 minutes one way. The seas were very calm, so it was a very pleasant trip. Once we were dropped off at Caye Caulker we walked down the main street and rented a bike for the day for $7.50. We rode the bikes around the island for about 30 minutes and then picked a spot on the sand and laid out for about an hour. We were getting hungry by then so we headed down to the north end of the island known as the “spit”. This is the area of the island where a hurricane literally sliced the island in half. The water there is beautiful. There is a bar/restaurant there called the Lazy Lizard. It is definitely the hang out place on the island. I ordered a whole grilled fish dinner with red beans and rice and garlic bread. The funny thing is earlier that morning we had seen a local man walking around with a stringer of snapper and was walking around selling them to the eateries. Guess what, my lunch was two whole snapper. I know my lunch was caught there locally and was very fresh. It was a wonderfully grilled lunch with a great jerk flavoring. The cost $7.50 for the entire plate. I took the plate out to the beach area and ate it while sitting in the water. It can’t get any better than that. We caught the 1:45 taxi back to the mainland and the ride was smooth sailing and beautiful all the way. Caye Caulker is an adventure for those wanting something different and are a little adventurous. I wanted to go to check it out to return and rent a house for a few days. Will I, for sure.

COSTA MAYA: On one of my last cruises we went to Costa Maya and it rained all morning. Last time we only stayed in the pier area, but this time I really wanted to venture out. We had opted to take the bus from the pier area. If you want to take a cab or taxi to the nearby waterfront town then go through the cruise pier area and continue all the way to the left corner. Go to where you see the taxi drivers trying to get your business and then you will see a booth on the left where you can buy bus tickets ($3 pp one way) to town. We did so and the bus left promptly. If you are wanting to take the taxi it is $6 pp one way. I had done a lot of research and lurking before going to Costa Maya and wanted to fine just the right spot. I had read about a gentlemen named Steve that owns the Tropicana (Ameri-Mex) restaurant. Once you reach an area with a lot of massage tables on the left then look back on restaurant back and that will be Steve’s place. We thought we would give it a try. We took the bus down to the second bus stop. We got out, walked to the malecon area and then turned right. I would say it was down about 8 restaurants or so. I was able to speak with Steve some during our stay. We arrived at about 11:00 am and left at 3:45 pm. He, like everyone else there, do not charge you for using the tables and chairs, but do ask that you buy drinks, etc. I used a table and a chaise lounge. The guys that Steve had working for him were very accommodating and friendly and their English was very good. We ordered nachos and queso fundido with chorizo, 4 mixed drinks for me and two bottled beers for DH and the total for the day was $33. We left a total of $40. The service was great and Steve was very accommodating. If you want to use wifi for free ask Steve for his password and he will let you use it during your stay. NOTE: If you are looking for a massage go to the girls right next door to him. You can opt to have a massage on the beach area (as I did) or upstairs in the open air area (as DH did). The massage was $20 for an hour. I have to say it is as good, if not better, than the ones on the ship for $120. I tipped $5. We then took a cab back to the ship area for $2 pp.

COZUMEL: As this is my 9th visit to Cozumel I was not too excited about even getting off the ship, but did. We rented a car ahead of time for a total cost with insurance of $45 for the day. We used Ace Rent a Car which is located at International Pier, which is where the Independence docks. You go through the pier shopping area to where all the car rental companies are together on the left side. Within 5 minutes we were on our way. My DH and GF’s DH had a dive booked at 8:00. We arrived right on time. We dropped them for their dive and then she and I headed down to Mr. Sancho’s to do some sunning. We arrived about 8:40 and the place was totally empty. Again, these are public beaches, but the chairs are not. If you order food and drinks you may use them all day long at no charge. We laid out for about an hour and then ordered a sprite and a dish of ice cream ($5 total). We stayed until about 11:15 am, by then a lot of people had come. We drove back into town to pick up our DHs. They had a wonderful dive. DH rented all the equipment and dive computer for a total of $80 cash. They saw a shark, eagle ray and a massive lobster. They both agreed that they liked the dive shop and they were well staffed. I really appreciate the way that Margaret handled answering all of my emails in advance of our visit. After picking them up from the pier we went to the local grocery store as we do in all ports. We got coffee (hard to find beans, everything was ground), chocolates for our kids, etc. I have always found the prices are SOOO much cheaper than in the tourist area. After leaving the mega store we headed towards the ruins. I had driven this route the last time I was here and remembered a wonderful hole in the wall place that had awesome food. I found it and we had lunch there. We proceeded to the ruins. The price is $6.75 pp. We only spend 30 minutes there total. There are three areas of the ruins and we only saw two. There is quite a bit of walking in between each area. Is it worth it, yes for the first time, boring for the second time. You can hire a tour guide, which would probably be much more informative. After leaving the ruins I knew it would take me about 40 minutes to drive around the entire island and get us back to the ship around 4:00 pm. The day could not have been more beautiful. Last time I drove on that side it was raining, windy and cold. This time was spectacular. With the big surf and crashing on the rocks it reminded me of California coastline. The other side is beautiful, but desolate. There is the occasional bar to stop at, but that is about it. Once you are back on the western side of the island it is all places to stop for swimming for the day, but you cannot see the beach for the vegetation. We arrived back to the pier safe and sound at 4:00 pm. We then had out last Dos Equis at the pier for $1.50 and walked back to the ship.

[mrstay]

We are back. I will finish my review later today and post later. Easiest disembarkment we have ever had. 9:33 am and already at my friends house. I will post more later.

[DP]

Regarding Costa Maya, do you know name of Steve's restaurant? You said taxi from ship to Malecon cost $6/pp but you took a taxi back to ship from Steve's and cost was $2/pp and bus cost $3/pp.

[megr1125]

I would love to read the rest, but could you please put some space between the paragraphs....it is VERY hard to read! ( I actually can't read the first 2 sections...)

 

Thanks!

[mrstay]

I would love to read the rest, but could you please put some space between the paragraphs....it is VERY hard to read! ( I actually can't read the first 2 sections...)

 

Thanks!

 

I would gladly edit it with spaces, but cannot figure out a way to do that. I typed it all in Word and copied and pasted it. When i showed on the screen after i pasted it, it showed with spaces in between the paragraphs. I apologize for the inconvenience in reading my review. I assure you when I spent several hours of my vacation time to help others, I was not being to inconvenience anyone one purpose. If anyone can tell me how to change it I will.

[mrstay]

Regarding Costa Maya, do you know name of Steve's restaurant? You said taxi from ship to Malecon cost $6/pp but you took a taxi back to ship from Steve's and cost was $2/pp and bus cost $3/pp.

 

The restaurant is called Americ-Mex and Tropicana. They were both on the sign. The tax over to the town was $6 pp or you can take the bus for $3 pp. On the way back it is $2 pp for the taxi. The bus is not an option on the way back. Hope that helps.

[ToddinVA]

I just posted this mini-review in another IOS thread before I saw this one:

 

We just got off a 6 night Yucatan Peninsula cruise on the IOS yesterday. We got a really good deal on a superior balcony room and went on it to relax since my wife is pregnant. While we had a nice time, we were disappointed in the overall service. Dinner in the MDR seemed disorganized and slow. On the first night, our assistant waiter disappeared half way through the dinner! It got somewhat better as the week went on, but it was well short of what we've experienced in the past. Everyone we talked to thought the same thing. The stateroom attendant was nice enough, but didn't do all that she promised. Oddly, the shows were packed each night, far more than we've seen in the past. Joff Eaton was our cruise director and he was very good though. Probably our second favorite behind Richard Spacey. So while it was a nice enough cruise, it was not all it could have or should have been.

[Ashala]

Wonderful review so far. Interested in reading more about the ship and entertainment.

[scrustyrock]

I would gladly edit it with spaces, but cannot figure out a way to do that. I typed it all in Word and copied and pasted it. When i showed on the screen after i pasted it, it showed with spaces in between the paragraphs. I apologize for the inconvenience in reading my review. I assure you when I spent several hours of my vacation time to help others, I was not being to inconvenience anyone one purpose. If anyone can tell me how to change it I will.

 

 

Rest assure your review is wonderful, please keep writing it. I will be on the IOS on February 20 and you've been so helpful, I can't wait for your next installment.

 

Sharon

[msbptg]

QUOTE-"We took the bus down to the second bus stop." Question, How many more stops can you go too, and is it worth going further than the one you got off at?? We are looking for a beach to sun at where the locals go and most tourists do not..thanks

[cruising ann]

We will be on IOS the end of february the same cruisse as you. Do you remember the menus. As we are trying to decide what night to go to Chops and Portifino's. ANy help would be appreciated.

Thank you

[mrstay]

QUOTE-"We took the bus down to the second bus stop." Question, How many more stops can you go too, and is it worth going further than the one you got off at?? We are looking for a beach to sun at where the locals go and most tourists do not..thanks

 

There are only two stops. Here is a picture of Steve's place. You will see that the lighthouse is at the beginning of the malecon. The further south you go the less touristy and the less expensive things will be. Go to the second, which is the last stop.

[mrstay]

We will be on IOS the end of february the same cruisse as you. Do you remember the menus. As we are trying to decide what night to go to Chops and Portifino's. ANy help would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

I remember that the least appealing night for us was Wednesday (Costa Maya). It was the Asian night. We did Portofino's on the second formal night (Cozumel). I can't say that any of the menus had anything spectacular on them. Sorry I am not much help in that area.

[mrstay]

Here are some pictures of the beach at Steve's in Costa Maya and the massage areas. I will try to post more later.

[mrstay]

Wonderful review so far. Interested in reading more about the ship and entertainment.

 

Are is anything in particular you are wanting info on?

[mrstay]

I have attached some pictures of Caye Caulker for anyone interested in going there. Remember it is a very laid back island - backpackers heaven. Only transportation are the two things on the end of your legs, bikes and golf carts (taxis).

[msbptg]

Hay, thank you so much for that info. I just finished watching the superbowl and now can get back to talking about our upcoming cruise (2/27) We will be taking the taxi to san pedro to join up with lil alphonse to do there snorkeling tour..I,ve heard that the water taxi,s can sometimes run late..I,m supposed to take the 8:15 one.. There going to wait for us to arrive around 9:15..

[LaShoe]

Wow, excellent review. Thank you for all the good hints. We have done these ports also many times, and with our upcoming cruise on IOS we were trying think of something different to do away from the cruise crowd. You have been very helpful. Thank you