Has anyone done the Beach Party in Costa Maya?

[erRN2be]

For the price of $25...plus a $15 lobster meal...

 

For those that have booked theirs already..did you use a credit card or did you send a money order?

 

A little leary about using credit card, but understand that lots of people do it.

 

Chelle

[erRN2be]

Reggie

 

Who did you use to get the beach break party at Pez Quadro? Did you just go through costamayaexcursions? Or is there another beach break party out there with the open bar?? It sounds as if Pez Quadro is the place to go...

 

Thanks again Reggie and can't wait for the complete review

 

Chelle

[Island Marketing Cayman]

Hello everyone,

 

Please do not take this post as rude, unwelcoming or otherwise taken on a negative connotation. As I have stated before on our Home Port’s threads unlike many business owners I dislike posting in the first place due to unwanted and unnecessary commercialism.

 

To deviate from disappointing situations on behalf of Passengers and our Providers I would like to state a few facts on our Beach Break excursion offered in Mahahual.

 

Our Beach Break location was chosen for many reasons. We spent many months searching for the ultimate location to hold a beach break in Mahahual by visiting, relaxing, meeting and enjoying every location currently available. The beach bar we chose offers all requirements we were searching for, one of them, one of the most important requirement, was a lack of crowds. We specialize in small group boutique excursions, offering what is usually unfound in the Cruise Ship market, an opportunity to get away from the crowds. As many providers do their best to “gear up” to take as many passengers as possible, we “gear down” to only service a few. At any rate this is the reason for this post.

 

We knew that once we started the beach break, as with all of our organized excursions, it would become a popular excursion with many passengers visiting the Port. The fact was taken in consideration and as with all of our excursions we had to find a method where we would be able to control the number of Passengers in order not to overwhelm our Clients with a crowded environment. At the present time, as our methods dictate, we are only allowing a limited number of passengers to reserve the excursion with the exception of private parties in order to ensure correct operational capabilities. The number of passengers reserved is currently being raised for the month of November onwards to comfortable levels. Levels we know will be comfortable for all reserved guests as well as bar, beach and restaurant service.

 

The beach break will be closed off shortly to only reserved Passengers once our “magic number” of reserved Passengers is reached for the given excursion day. Passengers will be served at the bar “un-reserved” only if available space allows, and we do not foresee walk-in availability for the winter season. The bar and beach area will only be used for reserved Passengers, beach chairs and shaded areas will also be for reserved Passengers.

 

Please keep in mind that there are many bars in Mahahual which can be visited a-la-cart and we do not service the only bar in existence on the beach. We are in no way monopolizing the beach.

 

We would like to deviate from bad reports on our excursion due to crowds created by unforeseen circumstances, such as reserved Clients receiving 100ds of passengers arriving and then posting bad reviews that the location was crowded and uncomfortable, as well as walk-ins complaining that they received bad or no service, finding no chairs and being otherwise uncomfortable. We in fact received an unfavorable review on our new excursion due to the same exact situation: Reserved Passengers arrived, walk-ins grabbed the chairs which were placed on the beach awaiting the reserved Passengers. What we initially though would be a “classy start” to an excursion backfired, we initially placed chairs for reserved clients on the beach facing the water with a table for their drinks, only to have others quickly sitting on reserved chairs. The situation caused an embarrassment for the chair snatchers, the reserved Guests as well as the establishment. Chairs are now given to arriving reserved passengers instead of beach chairs strategically placed on the beach for those who pre-reserved, it is unfortunate that measures had to be taken, but I guess “such is life” when 7,000 passengers are on-shore at the same time.

 

We do warmly welcome all Cruisecritic passengers and appreciate all the support they have provided all these years, we are honored to be holding the Cruisecritic & Cruise Fools February Party at our beach break location (it is private, so don’t even think about it :p ) I do not wish to come across as we are turning people away, then again, I guess we are to the benefit of all Clients and Guests.

 

Matteo

Island Marketing ltd

[Scout and Jeff]

Matteo,

 

I, for one, appreciate your post, thank you for taking the time to clear this up. I would be very disappointed if I spent the time to research and reserve the Beach Break and once there had to scramble for chairs and drinks.

 

Do you infact have the cushioned loungers available for all reserved guests?

 

Are children welcome?

[reggierail]

I spoke with Matteo at Pez quadro and he is a very nice gentleman. He was very helpful in making sure we enjoyed the time spent there. I had a great time and please anyone going there say "Hello" to Matteo and all the wonderful people there.

The lunch was very good and many activities are available at or adjacent to the facility.

 

Reggie :D

[Golfgrl1911]

Chelle,

 

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond....I was out of town last week. I just happened to receive an e-mail from www.costamayacruiseexcursions.com while I was away. It seems that they read my first review of their beach party excursion. They were very nice and said that the couple who own it were away on vacation themselves. Apparently the owner & his wife are Italian and he does speak fluent english, but the people who were holding down the fort for them do not speak english. They apologized for the inconvenience with the lounge chairs and said that in the future they will hold the amount needed for folks who actually book in advance. At the time I was there no floats, umbrellas or water toys were available. That's not to say that it won't change in the future. There was a family there that also took advantage of the beach party while we were there and the 2 small children that came along with them were having a ball playing in the ocean, making sand castles, etc. It seems that this excursion web site is very interested in making things better, but can't if they don't know what people want in a vacation activity. As I said above I really don't think I would hesitate to try it again. If you do go please get the massage.....It was wonderful and a great value too!! Hope I helped! Nancy

P.S. If you do go don't be afraid to pre-order food from the restaurant....It was VERY good!! And Plentiful!!

[erRN2be]

for getting back with me..I think we are going to try this. I think a nice relaxing day at the beach will be what we will all need. I don't really want to have "planned" activities for every day we are in shore and this sort of suits us all. I have heard that there is shade (my grandmother can only be in the sun so long), but I worship the sun..hee hee and the kids could use the area to work off some steam...

 

My only question is how did you reserve it..did you send a check, or pay with credit card over the internet? With sooo much concern about CC fraud I am just a little leary.

 

Thank you

Michelle

[Golfgrl1911]

Chelle,

 

Sorry I haven't responded sooner to your question.....I was out of town all last week. I received an e-mail from the beach party folks. They read my review on this board and responded back with a very nice apology and an explaination. Seems as though the owner and his wife were away on their honeymoon, another employee was on vacation & the employees left are able to speak spanish only. He also said that the new practice for lounge chairs is to set them up only when excursion purchasers arrive. This will alleviate the need to inconvienience any customers at all. I responded back with a few suggestions to make the experience a bit more favorable:

1. Have umbrellas for shade and ambience.

2. Sell sunscreen & lotions. (for those who may forget)

3. Have plastic shovels & buckets for the children.

4. Have water floats for customers.

5. Have extra towels for customers. We all get one from the ship but extra is nice.

6. Put pictures of the beach party area on their website.

7. Have a questionaire for customers to fill out in order to make necessary improvements.

8. Put testimonials on the website. This will help people decide whether to visit or not. There are not many reviews of this excursion and I believe that would help.

Hopefully this will help you. While there, a family from another ship was visiting as well. Their two small girls were having a blast building sand castles and running through the warm ocean water! Don't forget to get the massage either. It was wonderful and a great value! Nancy:)

P.S. If you do go don't forget to order the food! It was VERY good and plentiful!!

[cyrus360]

We just got back and enjoyed it. I am working on the review and getting pics ready. I took pics of the beach area, the bar, the hotel, the restaurant, the water area and the food so you can see for yourself.

 

I would recommend it. For about $100 2 lobster and shrimp meals with a mexican platter appetizer along with an open bar and guaranteed seating were worth it.

 

I would make some suggestions as well.

 

 

1. Definitely get some dang beach umbrellas. Shade is a good thing for many people.

 

2. Make sure to have change on hand for early birds. I owed $86 and paid $100 but was told he had no change since it was early. Even though I saw him handing out change to others. When I waited a bit and asked for it, it took a bit because he forgot completely so I had to explain and convice him several times. That was slightly annoying but no biggie.

 

3. Ask people what time and where they would like thier food served. Don't make me hunt you down or wait in line to figure it all out please.

 

4. I agree with the water float or water chair things. That would be so excellent to have had.

 

5. Warn customers about the sea urchins about in the water area. I had not see any in any other ports so I was suprised when my gf just missed stepping on one.

 

6. I would add the recommendation to bring some snorkel gear or have a sign to rent it, as well as those see-thru kayaks. It's another source of income and makes for happy customers.

 

7. I would recommend more lounge sun chairs and a few more normal chairs and hut/umbrella tables too.

 

 

Overall it was fun and we would do it again. Watch for the full review under the Carnival cruise section, and I will post the excursion portions under the port of call boards.

[Donnask8pro]

I would love to hear if it is appropriate for kids also. I guess everyone is cruisin now..

[cyrus360]

I think it's appropriate for kids. As long as you don't mind them seeing men in bathing suits and women in bikinis, you're ok. The bar gladly makes virgin cocktails too so the kids can have fruity drinks as well.

 

There's no real current in the shallow water and it would be fine for kids to play around in.

 

I wish my kid was there, she would've had a blast. She's 9 years old and this would've been perfect for her.

[Donnask8pro]

If booked online, how do we get there? Taxi? I think I read that somewhere. Thanks for all info. I am researching my butt off for Jan.

[Golfgrl1911]

If booked online, how do we get there? Taxi? I think I read that somewhere. Thanks for all info. I am researching my butt off for Jan.

You can catch a taxi for about $3.00 per person each way. When we were ready to leave the beach party we simply asked the bartender how we were to hail for the cab back to the port & he said he would take care of it for us. About 5 minutes later one had arrived. If you are a walker you can do the walk back in probably 30 minutes but the sun is very hot and after basking all afternoon the ride was much quicker. Don't forget that there is a tram to take you from the ship to the shore area and back to the ship at no extra cost too! Nancy