carrikerry

Re the lockers on Tabyana Beach: Are they still $5.00? Do they take US dollars? What is their approximate size? Thanks so much!

 

We haven't been there since January 2017, rained out this year :loudcry:, but at that time we paid $10, but as long as you return the locker key to the rental lady she gives you $5 back. So my rather long answer is, yes. lol.

We had a standard size backpack, pretty full, and it fit inside the locker no problem. Hope that helps.

Last two cruises we had the same problem but on our last cruise on the Legend in June when we went back out to the elevators and someone told us the starboard side was open so we went there and crossed over to the port side. Pain but at least it worked.

Thank You! We will try that too. Better than hauling our luggage to the lido again! ;)

The fire doors are always shut and there's typically a sign that says something like rooms not being available until 1:30pm, but there's also usually a sign that says Diamond/Platinum/FTTF, come on in! We just open the doors and go on in. Never had an issue with them being locked before.

 

We have tried and they have always been locked. Fingers crossed it works this time. Thank you for your quick response!

One of the perks of FTTF is that your room is ready as soon as you board the ship. This is one of the major reasons we book FTTF because we hate dragging our bags all around the ship until the rooms open up.

 

Unfortunately, we arrived at our room to find the door still open and that it hadn’t be serviced yet. One of the stewards walked up and asked if we were FTTF. When we told him we were, he said he would have the room ready in 15 minutes. We decided we might as well head up to the Lido deck and grab lunch before the crowds got on board.

 

 

 

 

We easily got a table in the back of the Lido restaurant and I watched our bags while J went and grabbed his food and then vice versa. Thankfully since the ship wasn’t crowded, it wasn’t too big of an issue. We both enjoyed Guy’s Burgers for lunch and then some caramel cheesecake for dessert.

 

 

 

 

How did you get into the hallway to go back to your room early? The last 3 times we cruised we would take the elevator up our floor, always 7 or 8 aft balcony, and once off the elevator the doors to all the hallway are locked with a sign that says room access is not available until 1:30. We didn't know what to do the first two times, and our last was on th Magic and we had the same issue. Hoping you can tell me the "secret" passage to my room, that's the biggest perk of FTTF and we have been ripped off 3 times now. We are aft balcony again in January so appreciate any help or advice. Thank you.

 

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Thank you for the review and your thoughts. I to am almost OCD in finding the right way to experience the ports. I have been to Roatan multiple times, have done private island beaches, ship snorkeling, and even the free Mahogany Beach (I recommend not doing this unless you are on a tight budget). We are returning in April and want to find something for the entire family, I want to snorkel, the wife wants the beach, and my son wants it all. So we may do a West Bay visit this time.

 

Good to know about the beach in Mahogany Bay, we have wondered about it both times. We're going again in January, same place, we will probably venture further down the beach this time just to check out options if we would decide to do something different the following time. My husband's coworker stayed at Bananarama earlier this year and really liked it, but he didn't know if they did day passes. Have fun!

Not silly for Choice of hairstyle—I just think it’s silly that someone would cancel a cruise over that! My apologies. Not trying to offend, but I guess vanity has never been a priority for me. I could care less how my hair looked—if I’m enjoying a lovely vacation with people that will never see me again. I know my attitude is not held by my daughters, who spend many wasted hours getting ready for anything. When I retired 2 years ago, I quit make up, also. I feel so free now! But I do understand not everyone has manageable hair. And apologize once again.

 

 

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How rude! How ignorant to assume it is vanity that drives some of us to straighten or curl our hair. I am always surprised how many people feel the need to tell others what their priorities should be. Personally i am like an earlier poster said .... picture Monica from Friends right after the braids came out, not pretty. Dry shampoo isn't an option because we snorkel or relax on the beach in every port so I have to shower and wash my hair. Since so many people seem to feel like they need to tell others what their priority should be appearance wise, I feel the need to "overshare". I have Lupus which causes my hair to slowly fall out and while I would love to do a ponytail everyday it makes my hair fall out faster. Plus, sometimes I just want to get dressed up and feel better about myself and for me that involves flat ironing my hair so I don't look like Albert Einstein.

 

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NICE, not nive. Geez you would think in my 44 years I would have learned the importance of proofreading.:p

Thank you for the info, I never think about TA, great idea. I have to tell you blue_water and Johnin DC you are 2 of my favorite sources of information on CC. I really appreciate everything you share. Plus you are always nive to people in your responses! :)

Hi all, my hubby and I will be back in Cozumel at the beginning of January. We have been twice before, once on our first cruise and did a snorkeling tour thru Carnival, the second we did the ruins as all water activities were cancelled due to rough seas. We will be celebrating our first anniversary and really just to relax on the beach, snorkel (we have our own gear), eat some lunch. We don't drink anymore so feel AI are a waste of money for us. I was looking for reviews of Playa Palancar and have not found anything very recent other than some questions from other posters. Has anyone been there recently, and if so what did you think, and are there locker rentals? Thank you for any help or suggestions.

you are way to obvious in your marketing efforts

 

Geek1, I'm sorry if you feel that way. You're so off the mark, that's what happens when you assume the negative. We have been on 5 cruises and 2 times to roatan, which has been our favorite for snorkeling. Just because I write a thorough review somehow provokes rude comments. Thats why i often dont post, too many unnecessary mean comments. I just know as someone who is 1. fairly new to cruising and 2. extremely OCD when it comes to planning I appreciate specifics. I was simply trying to provide a good response to the person's questions. Be nice!

We were at Tabyana in January of this year. At that time they only took people booked thru the cruise lines and when we were there they did not sell more tickets than seats. Lots of loungers in shade, security was greta, very friendly and kept vendors from the "chair area". I believe the sign said $15 to rent snorkel equipment, we only needed fins. Lockers were $5, but as lon as you turn in the key you get $3 back. Lunch was great, best snorkeling we have had in the Wetern Caribbean. Woyld definitely pay the guys in the kayaks to guide you out simply because there are some very large (and sharp) coral heads close to the surface, just my opinion though because we tend to lose track of time/place when we find good snorkeling. Well worth the $40 for us, transportation, guaranteed lounger, clean, good food, excellent shore snorkeling. Goinh again in January on next cruise. If you go I hope you love it as much as we do.:)

Can you leave your car there [for free /or fee?

Do they have a shuttle to from the port?

I'm not any help regarding leaving a car, we flew into Orlando. They contract with one of the local companies to take people to the port. We used Cocoa Beach Shuttle for our airport transportation so we just booked our port transfer with them at the same time. At the time the cost of Cocoa Beach Shuttle was the same as the hotels fee, we simply did it because there were so many of us we wanted to make sure we could get onto the same shuttle.

 

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For those who believe that only the media is claiming Puerto Rico will be with without power for 6 months and that nearly all of San Juan has power, I would encourage you to watch an interview Rachel Maddow had with Carmen Yulin Cruz this evening. Carmen is the mayor of San Juan. She stated it will take 6 months to restore power to the island, San Juan does NOT have power, but some people have generators, for which they are running out of diesal. The mayor stated 2 people died in hospitals today as a result of having no power and no fuel for their generator. The mayor was pleading for humanitarian assistance, specifically diesal, fuel, running water, and it was clear that tourists are the last thing PR needs right now. Rachel Maddow said she would post the interview to her website. This has nothing to do with politics, simply providing the mayor an opportunity to explain the dire situation they are in throught PR, including San Juan. Please no verbal assaults to my post, I am only sharing the information because it is an interview with the mayor so no better source. Love and prayers to all in PR, and those of you with loved ones in PR.

We stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites Beachfront with 9 family members last January for 2 nights. We had a great stay, free breakfast, all of our balconies had a view of the ocean, and right at the Pier. My family would tell you I am a germophob and I thought the rooms were clean.

 

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We used Cocoa Beach Shuttle for transportation from airport to hotel, hotel to port, and then port to airport. We had to wait for maybe 30 minutes when we arrived in Orlando, but we were a late evening flight so we didn't think that was bad at all. They were about 20 minutes late the morning of the cruise. We were off the ship and on a shuttle within 15 minutes on our return to the airport. We are going back in January to sail on the Magic again and will use the same company. The drivers between the airports were great, the one from the hotel to the port .... well he wasn't the friendliest person, but I was getting an a fabulous ship so it didn't bother me. lol

Sorry to add to my other BTB post but I am wondering- especially from you all who are experienced with BTB cruises(which I am totally new to)- whether there is any benefit of paying for FTTF for the second leg of a BTB. I don't plan on getting on the ship early on the initial embarkation day. But will paying for FTTF get us back into our cabin on the first day of the second cruise?

 

Sorry if I'm simply repeating what others have already said, but I had asked my PVP with Carnival the exact same question for my B2B this month and I have copied and pasted her response below. Since she is the Carnival Rep I'm 100% confident in her answer .... she is amazing!!! :D

 

On Board Procedures

 

Embarkation/Debarkation Procedures for the Back to Back Guest

Customs and Immigration procedures may differ between the various embarkation home ports. However, all Back to Back guests will have to go through the Customs/Immigration inspection in the cruise terminal at the end of each cruise.

 

Second Cruise Procedure - First debarkation process and second cruise registration/check-in

All Back to Back guests will need to present themselves (without luggage) to the Immigration/Customs inspectors located in the terminal at the end of their first cruise. They will gather in a designated area on board the ship as advised by the Guest Services Desk; a Guest Service Rep will escort the guests off the ship as the last disembarking group. These guests will be escorted back on board by the Guest Service Rep and will register/check-in for their second cruise at the Guest Services Desk. At this time, they will receive their new Sail & Sign card. Note: The new Sail & Sign card allows the guest to leave the ship while the ship is docked at the home port (much like a port-of-call).

 

Second Cruise: Change of Stateroom

If the guest needs to change staterooms for the second cruise, the Guest Services Desk will send a bellboy to the stateroom to assist in moving the luggage to the new stateroom. This needs to be taken care of in the morning during debarkation and prior to the start of embarkation for the second cruise.

My extended family and I are booked on the Pride in May, and we all booked Early Saver last year. In my brother's cabin it was supposed to be him, his girlfriend, and he girlfriend's daughter. Well (surprise!) they have broken up. I told him I am sure he will incur change fees in order to remove their names from the reservation since we booked ES, but now he also wants to move from a cabin for 3 to a cabin for 2 and find another travel companion. All he has paid thus far was the deposit- final payment is 3/14/17. What's the best course of action to suggest to him? Thanks in advance!

 

 

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We are sailing with 15 family members this month for our wedding. We have had this issue come up with 1 booking and at the time we were just over 60 days from sailing and they let her change the passenger without paying the $50 change fee. She had the Early Saver fare. Another person originally booked a room just for herself because she wasn't sure who to take. She decided about 60 days prior to sailing to take her sister and they added her without a change fee. Traveling with family can be stressful so I understand your desire to help your brother come up with the best solution for his situation. I hope this helps!

Thank you for sharing! I am literally making our shuttle reservations tomorrow, i am trying to find reviews and recommendations of various services so would love to hear anyones experiences. Thanks for sharing..:D

Even though the free trolley isn't an official "tour" of the city you can ride it thru a lot of OSJ. We rode it in December when we were there for a few days pre cruise and felt like we had a free city tour. We stayed at the Sheraton and they were the ones who suggested it to us. It was perfect, we rode around and looked at the beautiful city and when we saw something we wanted to check out we hoped off at the next stop. Have fun!:D

Our ship left from San Juan in December so we flew down a few days early and stayed an extra night after and were able to spend a lot of time there. So many yummy places to eat I would highly recommend eating in Old San Juan instead of the ship. We went to both of the forts and really enjoyed them. The free trolley's that go around and thru OSJ are great! There are so many little shops to walk thru, and during the evenings there were often little independent artists selling their projects. I love history and it was everywhere here. While we did not do the Bacardi tour we heard from those who did that it was disappointing. Loved OSJ! I hope you have as much fun as we did!

Thanks for the feedback - although now I am more confused and concerned than before. :(

 

I'm sorry for adding to your stress. I do know that all of our shipmates who went to The Boatyard had a blast. We also had a group we met on the cruise who went to the Tiki Bar Beach and had a blast, they said there were not too many people and no vendors. I have 2 teenagers and just felt that I should be very blunt about the locals coming by multiple times with pot because that would be a huge concern for anyone with kids. I don't know the laws in Barbados so maybe it's legal there. I'm sure whatever you do you will have a wonderful time. Like I said the sand and water are beautiful, we probably just got off on the wrong foot from the moment we got into the overcrowded cab/van.

Cruising to Barbados next month and looking for a beach day where we can relax. I'm hoping to snorkel with the turtles and the wrecks while my wife enjoys one more rum punch. :cool:

 

I've read lots of reviews of the Boatyard and am concerned about the "party" atmosphere. We're active 50 somethings and don't mind some music, but not loud, blaring non-stop music. Can we find some chairs and relaxation (plus good food/drinks) at the Boatyard? :confused:

 

Would Harbor Lights or another beach club be a better fit for us? :confused:

 

We are not interested in a catamaran/sailing tour. Any other good ideas I might have missed? :confused:

 

We were in Barbados last month and did not have the best experience. We sat in a cab for nearly an hour with 10 other people because the driver wouldn't leave until he found 1 more person to put in this little fold down jump seat. One poor lady had to climb out because after an hour in the van without any A/C and fumes from all the cabs waiting she started to have an anxiety attack. All 11 people wanted to go to the boatyard, none of the people had ever been to Barbados before so we didn't know that it shouldn't have taken 45 minutes to get to the beach. We get to A beach and the cabbie got out, told everyone The Boatyard is full and refuses to take anyone there. Now nobody is sure what to do, we find out we are at Harbour Lights and the cabbie is friends with the owners and vendors, what a scam. So we all pay our $15 to get to the beach and realize we can walk to The Boatyard, which is far from full. Since we had already paid Harbor Lights we ended up staying there. Yes the sand and water are beautiful, but the non stop locals trying to sell jewelry, pot, and sea turtle excursions was ridiculous. We have been all over the Caribbean and the locals on the beach at Harbor Lights were by far the most relentless. Before we left we did walk over to look at The Boatyard it looked like a great beach. Very clean, lockers so that you don't have to stay with your stuff all the time, restaurant, etc. Best part is the people trying to sell jewelry, pot, sea turtle "excursions" either are not allowed on the beach there or stay away because they know what they are doing is shady.

Hello. We will be on the Carnival Magic next January and plan to get married on Trunk Bay Beach. We were there last month and fell in love with the location. I have tried to organize the wedding thru Carnival and they are not interested in helping us because it is not one of their 4 acceptable locations. They won't even sell us a wedding cake to have back on board, geez, who turns down money?! So my concern is we are only in port from noon to 8:00 local time. Last month we had ship repairs to complete so we were given extra time in port and we didn't worry about getting back and forth to St. Johns as we had a total of 14 hours in port. I am terrified of missing the ship (although St. Thomas would be my first choice to be "stuck" - lol). So, has anyone ever gotten married on St. John's with only 8 hours in port? Is the water ferry from Red Hook reliable? Any suggestions on transportation for us and family to and from Red Hook, my lovely groom and I will also need to stop at the courthouse to pick up our license on the way. Maybe I am trying to do too much, but we so loved Trunk Bay. Or, maybe I'm worrying for nothing and this is totally doable. Advice, please?

Thank you for your help! You're better than the wedding planner I talked to at Carnival! Lol!:rolleyes:

We did look at the little cakes thru the Fun Shops, but they don't really look like what we are hoping to get. I didn't even know we could rent the Steakhouse, do you happen to know who I contact for that? The woman with the wedding department didn't offer that as a suggestion, just kept pushing their packages. We don't drink so I really have no interest in paying big bucks for an open bar. Love the idea of the Steakhouse though. We will be a small group of about 15 to 20 so that would be wonderful. We have looked at Island Bliss, and Anne Marie Porter for weddings and haven't decided what to do for sure. I really wish we had more than 8 hours.