Miracle 11/06-11/13- Had a freakin blast

[brodie]

I just got back from my wonderful cruise and I am ready for the questions. Hit me! Bye the way I was in a Cat 11 wrap around and I booked all of my excursions independantly(the only way to go).:D

[rileyreb]

what did you book for excursions?

 

which nights were formal?

 

did you eat at nick and noras?

[Journey803]

Hey brodie...I was on the same cruise and also had a blast! We loved every minute of it,except for our cave tubing in Belize,but that's another story in itself. We thought the ship was awesome and the staff always treated us very well.

 

rileyreb...formal nights were Tues and Fri

we didn't eat at Nick & Noras (we weren't into paying the extra 30 bucks pp for an extremely long dinner....2/3 hours long...whew!)

In Belize we went cave tubing,in GC we rented a Jeep and drove to Rum Point...awesome!!! In Costa Maya we spent the day shopping and swimming at the port area which we thought was very nice.

[sgriff17]

Brodie - Tell us about it...why was it a blast?

 

Journey - Tell us about it...why was it a blast?

 

:)

[dawnrae]

We were on this cruise also and had a blast. This was my 7th Carnival cruise and one of the most enjoyable. I had a great cabin steward and a great wait team for dinner. The debarkation was the easiest ever. I liked the cruise director, Mark Hawkins also. Enjoyed the shows, especially the late night hypnotist. Hysterical! We rented a car in Grand Cayman and drove to Rum Point, did the canopy tour in Belize (awesome) and took the taxi in to town in Costa Maya, then spent some time at the port. I thought the food was very good at the buffet and dining room. Did not do Nick and Nora's. Also got a good upgrade from outside cabin to a balcony. Only problem we had was a room charge for the bottle water which was incorrect and happily fixed by the pursor with no long line. Nothing to complain about here. Any questions?

 

Dawnrae

[MamaMicki]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for writing.Did anyone have any experience with Camp Carnival?

 

Take Care!

[brodie]

Belize- Went cave tubing with Yhony from cave-tubing.com. This guy is crazy and really loves what he is doing. We only had 8 people in our group which was much nicer than the herd on the carnival bus.

Grand Cayman- We went on the Rays,Reef,and Rum Point tour with Nativways. I would highly recommend this excursion as well. My wife and I were taking on a snokerling tour by one of the guides. My wife was petting nurse sharks and we had some fun experiences with some eels.:eek: Again, not many people in our group which enabled us to have more personalized service.

Costa Maya- We went to Pez Quadro which is a nice little beach at the end of town. Massage was $50 for 60 minutes which unfortunately did not last the entire 60 minutes since I had drank too many beers already and had to make a dash for the bathroom.:D

I did not eat in Nick & Nora's since the dining room food was really good as well as the service.

[rileyreb]

thanks. great to hear about the positive experiences with Rays, Reef and Rum Point and cave tubing with Yhony. looking forward to both.

 

so what about tendering with private excursions booked - did you have to go get the tickets?

 

where is the ticket stand for taxis located in Costa Maya? all i keep hearing is that you have to purchase the tickets and then go stand in line for the taxi and people get confused about this.

[brodie]

As far as tendering in early we have two different experiences. The first was in Grand Cayman, where we just walked down right behind a Carnival tour and hoped on the tender boat, no questions asked. In Belize we were waiting for the Carnival tour to come down and one of the social host named Jared came down and started bitching at us that they would make an announcement when the ship was ready. We walked away for 5 minutes and came back to see a never ending line of Carnival excursion passengers waiting in line. We just jumped in the middle of the line and hopped on the boat. All the Carnival people had stickers on their shirts, I guess this is the tender ticket. However, the security did not bat an eye when we hit the tender doors.

[GoinCruisin]

where is the ticket stand for taxis located in Costa Maya? all i keep hearing is that you have to purchase the tickets and then go stand in line for the taxi and people get confused about this.

 

Walk to the end of the pier and then "into" the shopping area... follow this around to the right... once you get to the pool (it will be on your left), take a right, and then another right ... this will lead you to the taxi stand. It is $3 one way for a taxi, $5 for a van. The van will take you all the way to the front of Pez... the taxi drops you off at the beginning of the row of beaches, probably a 10 minute walk... It is a $2 trip back to the pier.

[CruiseNut7]

Belize- Went cave tubing with Yhony from cave-tubing.com. This guy is crazy and really loves what he is doing. We only had 8 people in our group which was much nicer than the herd on the carnival bus.

Costa Maya- We went to Pez Quadro which is a nice little beach at the end of town. Massage was $50 for 60 minutes which unfortunately did not last the entire 60 minutes since I had drank too many beers already and had to make a dash for the bathroom.

 

In Belize, did you book the cave tubing in advance? If not, is it something you can book when you arrive at the port?

 

Cave Tubing or the Canopy Tour .... which one is better?

 

Guess you didn't get to experience Cozumel ... any insider info for us who are cruisng in the next few weeks? Will we be tendering in there - that's what they're telling us!

 

The Costa Maya Pez Quadro beach sounds great .... any other suggestions? A massage would be great right about now though! :) Were there restaurants and bars there too?

 

We are thirsting for info .... thanks for any feedback! ;)

[pcakes2]

I did the canopy tour in August and LOVED it! I have heard nothing but good things about the cave tubing also. It's all a matter of preference.

-patty..

[dawnrae]

I have done the cave tubing last year in Belize and did the Canopy tour last week in Belize. I am not interested in doing the cave tubing again but I would love to repeat the Canopy tour.

 

Dawnrae

[jjbtn]

Thru who did you book the canopy tour in Belize??

[jkneern]

We did cave tubing in belize. We did not reserve ahead of time, just take the tender ashore and there will be LOTS of different vendors offering trips for cave tubing and other excursions. We only paid $50pp and from what the other people in our group told us (only 8 of us) they had paid $70-80pp online prior to getting there. Great time and a must do excursion. Enjoy!!!!!

[cathyoo]

We rented a car in Grand Cayman and drove to Rum Point, . Any questions?

 

Dawnrae

Thanks for the review. We are thinking of renting a car on Grand Cayman and driving to Rum Point. How hard was driving on the other side of the road. My husband is hesitant about this. thanks

[pcakes2]

I can't remember the name of the tour operator, but I don't think that was it. We booked the excursion thru Carnival...The Lost World Canopy Tour. I was very impressed with the staff. Safety is their number one concern. The guides are not "hot shots" and don't try to show off.

-patty..

[dawnrae]

We also booked thru Carnival the Lost Canopy Tour in Belize and I am glad we did. They had two departures, one at 9:30 and one at 10:00. We booked the 10:00 and returned to the port exactly at 4 which was the time of the last tender. I was not worried since we were on a Carnival booked tour. When we got to the port, the last tender was full and 6 of us were put on another tender with a few Carnival employees, their dry cleaning and signs they used in port. They asked our rooms numbers and were in contact with the ship to make sure they had all of us before they left. Also I have to second the comments about how safety minded our guides were on the tour. Very friendly too. It was a great tour.

 

Dawnrae