Playa Mia

[flea b]

Hello, sorry if this has been asked a million times, I am thinking of booking the Playa Mia excursion from our P&O brochure. It is rather expensive though £38.00 per person and our kids are classed as adults. Anyone know if this is easy to do by cab, also is it worth going?

 

Thanks for any replies in advance!!

 

Fiona x x x:)

[Krazcruiser]

Hello, sorry if this has been asked a million times, I am thinking of booking the Playa Mia excursion from our P&O brochure. It is rather expensive though £38.00 per person and our kids are classed as adults. Anyone know if this is easy to do by cab, also is it worth going?

 

Thanks for any replies in advance!!

 

Fiona x x x:)

 

I did this excursion through with RCCL , I don't recall the

price , but the place was very nice , the only problem was that the

ocean was cold ( late April cold front ) . But that being said , if the

weather cooperates it will be a grate place for you and family .

 

HAVE FUN , KRAZCRUISER

[kenf333]

Hello, sorry if this has been asked a million times, I am thinking of booking the Playa Mia excursion from our P&O brochure. It is rather expensive though £38.00 per person and our kids are classed as adults. Anyone know if this is easy to do by cab, also is it worth going?

 

Thanks for any replies in advance!!

 

Fiona x x x:)

 

You can easily do playa mia on your own, not sure what package you selected, but here is a breakdown of whats available at the door, $15 is basic entrance fee, $38 includes entrance, and open bar, $49 includes the above and a all you can eat buffet. Taxi should cost you around $15 one way for up to 4 people, taxi pricing is per cab not per person. Enjoy!!!

[flea b]

Thanks to you both for your replies!

 

Fiona x

[Jrsygrl]

I just did Playa Mia through RCCL and it cost us $29...open bar but no food. We had a great time...2 water trampolines...a bug ice berg to climb...kayaks...floats...sailboats...bungee trampolines...massages...kids activities...

[flashyfishy]

Have done Play Mia twice. It is actually cheaper if you book through the cruise line. The open bar is definitely worth it. Didn't get the meal with our package because we don't really like buffet food. There is a large restaurant there or you can order food on the beach and have it delivered to you. The watersports are fun. Try out the Hobie cat. Beautiful beach and water with the only down side being if you want a private quiet beach. This beach is more for the fun loving crowd.

[sunchasers64]

We've done it twice. Gets really crowded, especially when the double-decker large party boat arrives...... Beautiful beach and water, though. Food at the buffet pretty bland.

[coevan]

Have done Play Mia twice. It is actually cheaper if you book through the cruise line. The open bar is definitely worth it. Didn't get the meal with our package because we don't really like buffet food. There is a large restaurant there or you can order food on the beach and have it delivered to you. The watersports are fun. Try out the Hobie cat. Beautiful beach and water with the only down side being if you want a private quiet beach. This beach is more for the fun loving crowd.

 

CCL is asking $69 pp, the entrance fee is $49 for the AI, plus a $15 taxi each way. I gues if it is only 2 people the ship's excursion would be about the same. I think you can do it ala cart for $12pp. No water sports either.

[dagtoking1]

I just booked this through NCL for $59.00. The description says "open bar". How does that work? Can you drink anything or are there pre-made drinks of some sort? Sounds like a fun time.

[coevan]

open bar is standard well drinks, beer and wine. I don't think it includes top shelf, like Grey Goose or Black Label

[dagtoking1]

Thanks! So does that include frozen drinks too? Margaritas? ;)

[Fldw126]

We just got back, we were there on Thursday 12/6

open bar they were offering rum punch, pina coladas, margaritas(frozen and rocks) well drinks etc.. they are in small plastic cups with lots of ice though, we told our server to just keep bringing them and he did, and we tipped him well.

Lots of people wanting tips there- be prepared. The bathroom attendant, the watersports guys, the waiter at the buffet, your regular waiter.. etc.. so it added up. But we drank a lot and had a great time and everyone was really nice.:) The bathrooms were nice, and the stores are not worth shopping in, they barter but overprice everything and then barter high.

We enjoyed the buffet food, especially the pico de gallo. It was a nice set up.

It was not crowded at all, not even when the party boat showed up. We missed when it arrived but could not really tell there were more people.

One bad thing is the iceburg.. it is so far out, you are too tired when you get there to be able to pull yourself out of the water and climb it. One man was all we saw the whole day make it up and that was b/c he was wearing a life vest and was not as tired from his swim I guess. Everyone else tried and tried and gave up. More people were on trampoline.

Another thing is they do not let you move the hard plastic lounge chair down to the water, we had asked our waiter first and he said yes, and then someone else came by and said we had to move them back. I could see if they were fancy chairs, but they were not and no damage was being done, but we moved them back as asked.. after a little grumbling :(

We did use the kayak and paddle boats which were nice and made it out to and on the trampoline. We booked with Carnival because it included transportation and didn't want to deal with taxis.

[dagtoking1]

The bathroom attendant, the watersports guys, the waiter at the buffet, your regular waiter.. etc.. so it added up.

 

A couple of questions:

 

What is the difference between the waiter at the buffet and your regular waiter? Do you mean by regular waiter whoever was bringing you drinks? Did the same waiter bring you all your drinks? Did you tip at the end of the day or each time drinks were brought? It sounds monotonous.

[Quampapetet]

The bathroom attendant,

 

Is this like in Europe where you have to pay the attendant for a couple of sheets of toilet paper before you enter a stall? Or is it just somebody standing by the sinks?

 

The bathrooms were nice, and the stores are not worth shopping in, they barter but overprice everything and then barter high.

 

Sorry to hear the prices are high for the stores. What types of items were they selling? If this is the only place one goes, it'd be the only chance for souvenir shopping (which is prob'ly also one reason for the high prices), so it'd be nice to know what they sell there.

[Fldw126]

A couple of questions:

 

What is the difference between the waiter at the buffet and your regular waiter? Do you mean by regular waiter whoever was bringing you drinks? Did the same waiter bring you all your drinks? Did you tip at the end of the day or each time drinks were brought? It sounds monotonous.

 

 

Well the waiter at the beach brings you the drinks there, and then when we went to the buffet there was someone who seated us- although there was no need to and he said he would get our drinks. I am sure we could have said no we will get our own as there were bars by the buffet, but we didn't. So we had Mario on the beach and Alex at the buffet area. Both were really nice guys. We tipped at the end. After we ate we tipped Alex, he brought about 3 rounds while we ate, and Mario we told upfront to keep them coming and we would tip him at the end. We got about 7-8 rounds from Mario, but I think I said they were small cups and had a lot of ice.. so we were feeling happy but not wasted if you know what I mean:D

that came later from Senor Frogs.. one tip about there if you have never been, watch out for the girls bearing shots! If you don't want to be shaken and felt up.. that was interesting to say the least!

[Fldw126]

Is this like in Europe where you have to pay the attendant for a couple of sheets of toilet paper before you enter a stall? Or is it just somebody standing by the sinks?

 

She was standing outside or cleaning inside, the TP is in the stall so no asking for a square there.. :) but the restroom was really nice considering. She did have the papertowels ready for us when we were done. We tipped her a buck after using it and then after we showered and made a wet mess (3 of us) we tipped her a couple more.

 

 

Sorry to hear the prices are high for the stores. What types of items were they selling? If this is the only place one goes, it'd be the only chance for souvenir shopping (which is prob'ly also one reason for the high prices), so it'd be nice to know what they sell there.

 

Well they had everything in the one store- anykind of souviner.They said make an offer, then at register, I brought up 2 little things and they wanted 35.00 for them. I was thinking they would have been like $3-7.00 each.. I was a bit shocked how high they were starting. His line was they were made in mexico and not china, and they were handpainted! :rolleyes:

[Jrsygrl]

You don't have to go to buffett to eat. Just ask your waiter at the beach to bring you a menu and order through him. That's what we did...food was fantastic...LOVED the guacamole!!!

 

As for tipping...the only person we tipped the entire time we were there was our waiter...nobody else bothered us at all. We tipped our waiter well...he kept the drinks coming and coming...we did beer and frozen drinks...ummmm. We even took a tray of beer out to the water trampolines on the paddle boats!!:)

 

The bathrooms are VERY CLEAN...didn't feel pressured to tip but did anyway. I come across bathroom attendants all of the time in restaurants!!!

[Fldw126]

You don't have to go to buffett to eat. Just ask your waiter at the beach to bring you a menu and order through him. That's what we did...food was fantastic...LOVED the guacamole!!!

 

As for tipping...the only person we tipped the entire time we were there was our waiter...nobody else bothered us at all. We tipped our waiter well...he kept the drinks coming and coming...we did beer and frozen drinks...ummmm. We even took a tray of beer out to the water trampolines on the paddle boats!!:)

 

The bathrooms are VERY CLEAN...didn't feel pressured to tip but did anyway. I come across bathroom attendants all of the time in restaurants!!!

 

We had the all inclusive which included the buffet, not sure if we could have ordered it to the beach. We did not feel pressured to tip, but it is a little weird when all inclusive included all non motorized water toys and they wanted a tip for that. They had a tip jar there and mentioned it did not cost but we could tip. We did not tip them. We do come across restroom attendants other places and always tip. If you are not a tipper then no worries, my sister did not tip the bathroom attendant, but I did. Just depends on each person.:)

 

 

Did you make it to the Iceburg? That was a tough one.

[Jrsygrl]

I wouldn't tip if you paid all inclusive either unless service was superior!!!:)

 

I made it to the ice berg via kayak and paddle boat but did not climb up!!! I watched our young 40ish year old husbands try and that was enough for me. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. We did do the trampolines though and of course we picked the one WITHOUT the ladder so that was another show in itself!!!:D Too funny!!!!

 

The guys at the water toys table did nothing for us...we did everything on our own so I didn't even think about tipping them. We raced with the kayaks to the ice berg and back...that was fun...it turned into a splash fest with the oars!!!

 

We took care of our waiter at the beach. Angel was awesome...everytime we turned around he was there with a tray FULL of drinks...gotta love that!!!

 

OK...talking about it makes we want to go back!!!

[Fldw126]

they both were very hard to climb, the trampoline was enough for me to try. We had done a jetski excursion in Grand Cayman the day before and we had snorkeled and getting back on that from snokeling out at sea was just as hard as getting on the trampoline.. so my arms were already tired.. ya.. that is my excuse. :p

hard to pull your whole body out of the water onto something, so I did not attempt the iceberg at all.. :eek:

I would def go back to Playa Mia, want to do the cooking class there next time.

here are some pics to enjoy..

[Quampapetet]

She was standing outside or cleaning inside, the TP is in the stall so no asking for a square there.. :) but the restroom was really nice considering. She did have the papertowels ready for us when we were done. We tipped her a buck after using it and then after we showered and made a wet mess (3 of us) we tipped her a couple more.

 

Oh good - I hate tipping in order to get TP! :)

 

 

Well they had everything in the one store- anykind of souviner.They said make an offer, then at register, I brought up 2 little things and they wanted 35.00 for them. I was thinking they would have been like $3-7.00 each.. I was a bit shocked how high they were starting. His line was they were made in mexico and not china, and they were handpainted! :rolleyes:

 

$35 USD or $35 Mexican?

[Fldw126]

Oh good - I hate tipping in order to get TP! :)

 

 

 

 

$35 USD or $35 Mexican?

 

It was 35.00 US..

A few stores by port we went to were pretty high to start with and dropped a lot immediately when you were not interested, but here the store at Playa Mia did not drop much at all.. they were staying high.

At one kiosk cart(not at Playa Mia), there was a little infant dress, which was $25.00 first then he dropped it to $15.00 when I was not interested at that price.

[Quampapetet]

Ah, thanks. They must know Playa Mia is gonna be the only stop for many ppl, so ppl will buy their souvenirs there at high prices. :(

[dagtoking1]

I dunno, if you are on a cruise you still should have time to get to town after the beach, unless you stay on the beach the entire day. How much booze, sand, and sun can you take? LOL :D

[NJCruiser23]

Can anyone tell me what kind of food they have at the buffet? My kids are kind of picky and Mexican style food is not their favorite to begin with. Also what does the iceberg look like? Does anyone have any pics? Thanks in advance. We are thinking of going in April. Any thoughts are appreciated.:)