Cozumel Becomes Home Port for Cruiseships

[wadethegringo]

We sailed Pullmantur in 2011 on the Horizon. Had a great time. We are sailing again next week out of Progresso on the Monarch. They board a lot of passengers from Spain in Cozumel and a lot of Mexican passengers in Progresso. We live in Belize so it is convenient to board in Mexico. We fount the cruise certainly different than American main stream cruises. I agree the food was not the same as US lines. It seemed more Mediterranean. Lots of cheeses and cold cuts ,vegetables and breads. The low price we paid was a bonus. Will report back after we return.

[PatyCake]

Please do report back. We live here in Cozumel. There were others on the ship who had also been on the line before and they were sorely disappointed on this one. Only 189 people boarded here in Cozumel and 700 in Progresso. Be sure to take snacks with you because there are no dining places open after 7 PM. There are no drink stations for coffee, juice, or punch, you have to get your drinks at the bar. No waiters on the decks...you have to go to the bar. Breakfast ONLY on the buffet with no real eggs or pancakes. Yes they do have them on the boat, one of the crew told us they have cooked to order eggs and pancakes for crew. The embark and debark is a goat f as it is handled by crew who know not what they are doing, instead of immigration. My Girls are well traveled as I am prior Military and one daughter is prior military and military wife. W have lived all over the world including Europe. The food was not different...it was disgusting. Even an ice cream cone had to be paid for. One daughter ate broiled chicken every night as the choices were so bad. By the last night it was just a dried out warmed up piece of chicken that the waiter admitted was just warmed up having been cooked days ago. So let us know if you see improvements. Enjoy the turkey medallions on top of cold cabbage and sour cream.

[PatyCake]

Waiting for that 2nd review on this cruise!

[wadethegringo]

Hello, we have returned from the Monarch sailing.

We embarked in Progresso. Took bus from Merida and changed bus in Progresso for the trip to the ship. check in seemed to have the same issues in Progresso as stated in Cozumel. It took about two hours to get thru the mess.

Once onboard there was pizza available and buffet would open about an hour later. Had drinks by the pool. We did the muster drill then had some dinner. The food was not what one is used to on a cruise ship. Bacon only served 2 days of the cruise. no cooked to order eggs. Dinner had a form of stir fry cooked to order every night. Lots of nice deserts. I still managed to gain 8 lbs. Coffee, juice and soda was available, no self serve. There was one night with a tropical pool party with a fruit cheese and desert midnight buffet

We are smokers so we spent a lot of time on the smoking side of the pool area. We had the basic drink package. We had drink service most of the time from servers. They would keep our drinks full.

 

Definitely on the lower end of the cruise ship market. But does offer a lot of people in Mexico and Belize a chance to experience cruising without needing to obtain visas and travel expenses.