woodythebeagle

I believe you're describing Sorobon beach.  It has windsurfing, Sebastian's Beach restaurant and Hang Out Beachbar.

Princess covers the alcoholic beverages but only when out of Galveston.  So for us, it was like around 6-7pm before the package kicked in.

We recently did a Caribbean cruise (Ruby Princess) out of Galveston and found the Medallionnet WiFi internet access rather slow and spotty.  The best time seemed to be really early in the morning before the rest of the ship was awake. 

As other's mentioned, in port cell data (LTE and some 5G) was much faster and more reliable when in port.  Also, i found using the ships computers in the internet cafe to be faster and more reliable than the WiFi, enough to stream video even.  My only guess would be the internet cafe desktops are hardwired ethernet connections vs the ships WiFI that has to fight with all the metal walls.

There were many board games, as well as books, in the library when we were on the Ruby Princess last month.  The board games we played were brand new and still shrink wrapped.

I'm guessing it's starting to get closer to back to normal?

We had a private driver (https://blackhattours.com/) taking us around all day during our port stop at Cozumel.  When we asked about chocolates he took us to https://chocolateskaokao.com/.  We opted for the full tour (~$25pp) instead of just the tasting and were so glad we did.  We learned (and tasted) so much and at the end got to make our own chocolate to take home.   Highly recommended!

You can also consider https://blackhattours.com/ which was a bit cheaper for our group.  Crescencio was very personable and very easy to work with.

We used https://captainmarvins.com/and had a great time.  No complaints.  They were very well run.

Glad to help.  We had a wonderful NYE cruise on the Ruby.  My only gripe was the painfully slow and finicky MedallionNet internet at sea, but at least it kept me from being too "connected".  I just used my phones data connection whenever in port which was good enough.

We had the national televised NFL games shown on the Ruby Princess both outside (Movies Under The Stars) and/or on a channel in our stateroom.

Just sharing for those interested.  Includes the disembarkation information sheet as well.

Princess Patters & Disembarkation info.pdf

Can anyone comment as to whether the cost is different when purchasing now on the website, before sailing, versus waiting to purchase while on board?  Is there a difference in price?

Thanks VMIMarine!

When entering in the destination address for Uber/Lyft to Port Everglades (Princess Cruises, Terminal 2) should I use:

• Port Everglades (Port Everglades, 1850 Eller Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Terminal 2 (Port Everglades Terminal 2, Port Everglades Midport Garage, 1850 Eller Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Princess Cruises (Princess Cruises, 1801 SE 20th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL)

For whatever reason, in the App, each one gives a different destination location within the Port even though the first 2 have the same address. I'm leaning towards the third one: Princess Cruises.

where is this?

The tender dock for us was here (Muelle Principal).

When we went in FEB, we only hung out at the Office and in itself wasn't that rowdy but the Mango Deck right next door was very loud and not a great place to try "chill" next to.

From what i gathered from past posts, the Sand Bar and Billygans are family friendly but didn't see first hand how they fare.:cool:

I got all my information for our Mexican riviera cruise from the port section. We ended up doing Las Caletas in PV, the Turtle Sanctuary excursion in Manzanillo, walked the blue line and then over to Stone Island in Mazatlan and finally a beach day at the Office in Cabo. Everything was based on the numerous posts from the port section. :)

Going south we didn't notice any bad movement but going north, OMG, kept us awake all night

This was our experience last month on the Mexican riviera cruise... south was very calm but coming back north was noticeably rough.

Last time in Alaska (2 yrs ago), our first formal dinner was on the 2nd full sea day and then on the sea day before Victoria as shown...

Great, thanks. Are there other restaurants like Alfredo's? And do you need to book a table at any of them?

The only other free one i can think of is the Pub Lunch which was offered twice on our 10 day cruise from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This was very popular and there was a long line each time but would die down around 1 or so, if you can wait. I really enjoyed it.

I don't think either Alfredo's or the Pub Lunch take reservations.:cool:

Food: The range of restaurants is confusing, because some of them seem to be specialised but are included, some are slightly formal and some are informal. I can see four "Speciality" restaurants for which a charge applies, and I can see mention of "Casual" dining at Horizon Court, the pizzeria, burger & hot dog grill. But that must leave some gaps because I know there is a pizza restaurant called Alfredo's. How does this differ and what other restaurants are there?

Alfredo's is a free sit down pizza place where you order a pizza off a menu. The other pizzeria near the pool is pizza-by-the-slice counter service and very casual.... they usually serve a cheese, a pepperoni and another specialty pizza of the day.:D

We want to go eat at The Office on Medano Beach for lunch. We'd like to rent beach chairs after lunch. Is there any place nearby that you can rent beach chairs where you don't have to buy food to sit there? Just drinks maybe?

We had lunch at The Office a few weeks ago and stayed there until time to head back to the ship... about 4 hours. We did continue to order drinks but no food. Note that there were no "lounger" type chairs at The Office when we went, just table and chairs under umbrellas. :cool:

Ive been reading all the reviews and although we probably shouldn't spend the $, I'm considering this excursion for our last day in a port. Although we won't have to pay for our 3yr old son, does anyone know if there is anything he can participate in other than playing in the waster (obviously well supervised) and I assume he can partake in the buffet? He's going to want to do everything his older brother is doing but it doesn't look like he'll be allowed to. Is it still worth it? He's pretty big for his age. Do they make allowances for hanging out with the monkeys and what not?

 

Thanks!

They have animal encounters where kids can take pictures with different animals (monkey, different birds and a snake). There was clay modelling where the kids can make little clay turtles or dolphins. Can also have him in a kayak or sit on the front of a paddle-board but they might not have a life jacket his size.

Everyone really enjoyed this excursion when we went.:D

this is GREAT info. thanks you so much! about how long does it take to get to stone island? looks like we are only in port from 8-5.

~10 minute walk from ship to water taxi, ~10 minute to water taxi to Stone Island and ~10 minutes to walk (or ride) to Lety's... Have fun!:)

How much does a water taxi cost? Is it per person? Do they take US currency?

 

How do you get to stone island?

 

In general does pretty much everyone accept our money or should we exchange some for on shore?

 

Thanks!!

Pretty much everyone accepts US$, so no need to exchange for pesos unless you plan on making big purchases. (If you want pesos anyway and to get the best exchange rate, best to withdraw straight from an ATM.)

The water taxi in Cabo costs about $2-$3 US$ per person unless you want a tour (Arch, Lover's Beach, Divorce Beach, Sea Lions, Pelican Rock, feed fishes, and then drop off at Medano Beach) then it's more like $10pp.

To get to Stone Island in Mazatlan, walk through the cruise terminal after the tram from the ship drops you off and then though the shopping area out to the street. Turn left and walk down the sidewalk ~3 blocks to the end. Buy your ticket at the booth at the dock for about $2-$3 per person (Round Trip, so keep your ticket!) and they will take you across to Stone Island. When you get to the other side, walk up and over the small hill and down the beach or catch a ride on one of the trucks usually parked there (again $2-$3pp). We walked all the way down to Lety's and had a great time and enjoyed some really good coconut shrimp. All in all was very fun and easy and by far the cheapest port days we had on the cruise. Enjoy!

We just got off the Grand Princess from the mexican riviera... plenty of blue tote bags to around!