Just Off Armonia - Ask Away!

[rwdtgb]

I do know the easy drink package does include the coffee at San Marco café... I went every morning for my cappuccino.

[CTurtlelvr]

On 7/29/2019 at 4:44 PM, TXgalSAM said:

 

Bless you for thinking about us when you are on vacation!!!  Since you are from NC, I am assuming you have a regular US extension cord.  Thanks to your post, I will be sure to include an extension cord (or two). 

 

On other cruise lines, I have told the cabin steward, in advance, that I would not be purchasing any of the fridge stuff but wanted to use the fridge.  In some cases they removed the items from the room, and in other cases they just asked me to put them elsewhere in the room.  (The FIRST time, I didn't tell the steward ahead of time and got charged!  I was reimbursed, once the items were "found".)  I hope you have a great steward that will help you optimize that fridge!!!

 

 

Well, about the extension cord. Two of my bags got flagged for having them. They pulled our 2-suitcases and said I had extension cords, which I actually had one regular extension cord and one power strip surge protector with USB ports. When they told me to open up my bag to pull them out, it was a mess of me digging in my bag with about 100 people behind me. The poor guy just told me not to use them said the electricity could handle the extra. 

[OceansOfTravels]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:24 AM, sandramj876 said:

Hi we'll be sailing on August 26th and it's our first time on MSC.  Here are my questions:

 

What did you do in each of the ports?

 

Is there  a blow dryer in the cabin or do  I need to bring my own?

 

Besides Captain night and white party are there any other theme nights I should be prepared for?  I read on another sight of possible 70's night and green, red, & white night.

 

Does anyone have the daily planner they can share?

 

Hello! I'll summarize our port days below.

 

Roatan: We took a taxi to West Bay Beach ($25 roundtrip, we just walked outside of the port and paid for it upfront and arranged for our taxi ride back). Once we got to the beach, we just laid our MSC towels out and went in and out of the beach all day. We went to one of the nearby bars for mojitos and wifi for some time as well. Very beautiful beach, I would love to go back sometime soon.

 

Costa Maya: We did the 4 hour Chaccobaan Ruins tour through Native Choice. We did the morning slot, so we were back in the port area around 1PM-1:30PM. Had it been any other day, we would have changed into bathing suits and just spent some time at the pool area either there or on the ship, but because the US Women's Soccer team was playing Sweden that day (we are avid fans), we streamed it in a bar for the rest of our time in port. I liked our tour company a lot and would recommend them, but as for Costa Maya, I don't like the port. It seems like you either spend a lot of money to do very touristy excursions, or drop a lot of money to go to beaches that most of the time smell of sargassum. Definitely just a tourist trap. However, if you know of a beach club that looks appealing, or you see a tour that catches your eye, do that, because there's truly nothing outside of the port.

 

Cozumel: We took a taxi from the main taxi terminal at the Punta Langosta port to Paradise Beach Club (I think it was $12 one way? Can't remember perfectly). $3 admission per person into the club, which got us access to their pools, loungers, their beach, wifi, their bathrooms, and their showers. We just had to promise that we would spend at least $15 a person on food or drinks, which we did later on. We went there around 9AM and arrived back on the ship around 4:20 (needed to be on by 4:30), so we surely had a good day there. I would definitely recommend it here if you just want a complete beach club with good food and facilities. I love Cozumel, I've cruised there many times and I spent a week there in 2017, so it is always nice to be back.

 

Key West: I never liked Key West, and all I asked for when we found out Cuba was cancelled was to not go to Key West ... and look what happened. I was with a friend who had never been before though, so we walked to Mile 0 and took the free bus (highly recommend using this to save money to get around the island, it goes to many tourist spots and is absolutely free) down to the Southernmost Point for her. It was 106 degrees so it wasn't very favorable weather. However, I did some good shopping and ate lunch at an amazing restaurant called Jack Flats - HIGHLY recommend! Definitely ended up being the best Key West day I've ever had.

 

 

As for the blow dryer, there is one. It's old, so do what you wish if you like a fancier/stronger one. And the themes you listed were the four I remember: Captains Night (one of the formal nights), White Night, 70s night, and Italian Night. And sorry - I don't have any Daily Planners!

[sandramj876]

16 hours ago, OceansOfTravels said:

 

Hello! I'll summarize our port days below.

 

Roatan: We took a taxi to West Bay Beach ($25 roundtrip, we just walked outside of the port and paid for it upfront and arranged for our taxi ride back). Once we got to the beach, we just laid our MSC towels out and went in and out of the beach all day. We went to one of the nearby bars for mojitos and wifi for some time as well. Very beautiful beach, I would love to go back sometime soon.

 

Costa Maya: We did the 4 hour Chaccobaan Ruins tour through Native Choice. We did the morning slot, so we were back in the port area around 1PM-1:30PM. Had it been any other day, we would have changed into bathing suits and just spent some time at the pool area either there or on the ship, but because the US Women's Soccer team was playing Sweden that day (we are avid fans), we streamed it in a bar for the rest of our time in port. I liked our tour company a lot and would recommend them, but as for Costa Maya, I don't like the port. It seems like you either spend a lot of money to do very touristy excursions, or drop a lot of money to go to beaches that most of the time smell of sargassum. Definitely just a tourist trap. However, if you know of a beach club that looks appealing, or you see a tour that catches your eye, do that, because there's truly nothing outside of the port.

 

Cozumel: We took a taxi from the main taxi terminal at the Punta Langosta port to Paradise Beach Club (I think it was $12 one way? Can't remember perfectly). $3 admission per person into the club, which got us access to their pools, loungers, their beach, wifi, their bathrooms, and their showers. We just had to promise that we would spend at least $15 a person on food or drinks, which we did later on. We went there around 9AM and arrived back on the ship around 4:20 (needed to be on by 4:30), so we surely had a good day there. I would definitely recommend it here if you just want a complete beach club with good food and facilities. I love Cozumel, I've cruised there many times and I spent a week there in 2017, so it is always nice to be back.

 

Key West: I never liked Key West, and all I asked for when we found out Cuba was cancelled was to not go to Key West ... and look what happened. I was with a friend who had never been before though, so we walked to Mile 0 and took the free bus (highly recommend using this to save money to get around the island, it goes to many tourist spots and is absolutely free) down to the Southernmost Point for her. It was 106 degrees so it wasn't very favorable weather. However, I did some good shopping and ate lunch at an amazing restaurant called Jack Flats - HIGHLY recommend! Definitely ended up being the best Key West day I've ever had.

 

 

As for the blow dryer, there is one. It's old, so do what you wish if you like a fancier/stronger one. And the themes you listed were the four I remember: Captains Night (one of the formal nights), White Night, 70s night, and Italian Night. And sorry - I don't have any Daily Planners!

Thank you so much, this was great information.

[shegolfs2]

How was the food on the Armonia?

[Beamafar]

Just now, shegolfs2 said:

How was the food on the Armonia?

 

I posted photos of the menus (except the first night's) and food we had in the following thread:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2631573-notes-from-armonia-miami-havana-jan-2019/

[OceansOfTravels]

On 8/14/2019 at 1:54 PM, shegolfs2 said:

How was the food on the Armonia?

 

I found it to be very good, I ate everything that I ordered (except for the grouper, but I'm not a fish eater ...  just thought I would go out on a limb that night, but still didn't like it).

 

Any specific food you're inquiring about? The MDR? The Lido buffet? The late night snack?

[ColdCruise]

On 7/28/2019 at 4:44 PM, OceansOfTravels said:

 

To "Bollinge" - This is all true, unless your cruise is like mine, where Key West is your last day. If Key West is the last day of the cruise, then all passengers are required to go through immigration in Key West (regardless of their intentions for the day, so even if you are using Key West as an empty ship day, you will need to go through immigration). Immigration will be onboard, and for us, they used the theatre for Americans and Canadians, and the main restaurant for all other passport holders. If you do want to disembark in Key West, you will not be able to until you go through immigration. But, upon your return to Miami, you'll just be able to disembark and literally walk off the ship, because you went from the USA to the USA and had already cleared immigration. So, if you're a B2B passenger, you'll be able to just walk off and spend the day in Miami if you'd like, or just be required to do the standard walk-off, walk-on as they transition the ship for new passengers.

 

However, if your last port is not Key West, disregard everything I just said 🙂

 

@OceansOfTravels

How long was the immigration processing on board in Key West? We are planning a morning snorkel trip and trying to calculate when we’ll be ashore.

 

We did something similar on an NCL at Bar Harbor and the processing was horrendously slow 😣

 

Thanks!

[OceansOfTravels]

7 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

 

@OceansOfTravels

How long was the immigration processing on board in Key West? We are planning a morning snorkel trip and trying to calculate when we’ll be ashore.

 

We did something similar on an NCL at Bar Harbor and the processing was horrendously slow 😣

 

Thanks!

 

I don't think it took more than 5 minutes to be honest, it was the most lax immigration I've ever experienced. I walked into the theatre, presented my room key and my passport, and was out of there in no less than 5 minutes. However, we were all given zones/groups to head down to the theatre for immigration, so I would plan on talking to Guest Services to make sure that you are in the first group. If you have an excursion, I think they bring you all together, but I could be wrong about that.

 

It should be noted that I am an American, and the American/Canadian/Green Card immigration (in the theatre) was exponentially faster than the immigration for all other Passport holders (in the aft restaurant). I made friends with a guy from Italy on this cruise, and he told me it took 40-60 minutes to get him and his friends all processed through immigration. So, if you aren't an American, I would either book a later tour, or try to ensure you are one of the absolute first to go through immigration.

[ColdCruise]

1 minute ago, OceansOfTravels said:

 

I don't think it took more than 5 minutes to be honest, it was the most lax immigration I've ever experienced. I walked into the theatre, presented my room key and my passport, and was out of there in no less than 5 minutes. However, we were all given zones/groups to head down to the theatre for immigration, so I would plan on talking to Guest Services to make sure that you are in the first group. If you have an excursion, I think they bring you all together, but I could be wrong about that.

 

It should be noted that I am an American, and the American/Canadian/Green Card immigration (in the theatre) was exponentially faster than the immigration for all other Passport holders (in the aft restaurant). I made friends with a guy from Italy on this cruise, and he told me it took 40-60 minutes to get him and his friends all processed through immigration. So, if you aren't an American, I would either book a later tour, or try to ensure you are one of the absolute first to go through immigration.

 

Thank you for the blazing fast response!

 

We’re Americans so I am definitely (hopefully?) looking forward to that fast getaway and will check with guest services to request an early disembarkation group. (not using ship’s excursion here).

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[shegolfs2]

1 hour ago, OceansOfTravels said:

 

I found it to be very good, I ate everything that I ordered (except for the grouper, but I'm not a fish eater ...  just thought I would go out on a limb that night, but still didn't like it).

 

Any specific food you're inquiring about? The MDR? The Lido buffet? The late night snack?

Thanks for the reply. A few years ago we went on the MSC Divina and the food, even in the MDR, was just average at best. So I was hoping they figured things out. Sounds like they did for the Armonia! Glad to hear

[OceansOfTravels]

Just now, shegolfs2 said:

Thanks for the reply. A few years ago we went on the MSC Divina and the food, even in the MDR, was just average at best. So I was hoping they figured things out. Sounds like they did for the Armonia! Glad to hear

 

Yep! Not only did I enjoy the food on the Armonia, but I enjoyed the food on all of my MSC cruises. Don't forget that food is a very subjective topic, so what I find to be "good" food, you may consider poor. To me, any food that I do not have to cook or clean up, and any food that magically replenishes itself, is good food 😄 So if you want a more advanced or critical view, I would take what I said with a grain of salt. But, I still stand by what I said in that the food on the Armonia was very good to me!