lookatmeiamthe

I purchased 2 passes today on the Royal.  7 day cruise, the only option was $150 each for the week.  

Did you feel safe in the ports

 

 

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We felt safe in Cabo. We stayed around the dock and surrounding beaches. It was very crowded with tourists. The only thing I can think of that was unsafe was the ocean. The tide was much stronger than I anticipated in some areas.

I have mixed feelings about Mazatlan. We picked up an open air cab away from the port (side street). I wouldn't recommend this. The cathedral was busy. The beach felt very safe (near the hotels). Our trip to the lighthouse was the exception. We didn't see any other tourists, and did not feel safe. We left quickly and will not return.

Puerto Vallerta felt the safest of the three. It was incedribly clean. We felt a "we need the tourists here" attitude.

I also forgot to mention the two paid entrees that I ate in the dining room:

Lobster - Althought it was on the smaller side of the scale, it was cooked perfectly. I debated ordering another after the first bite.

10/10, no room for improvement.

Filet and Tail - The lobster tail was on the smaller side. The filet was ordered medium-rare and came out medium. I like medium and intentionally ordered it medium-rare since my wife's was a bit over the night before.

8/10, I would order this again.

How was the weather on the first sea day?

It was a little windy. Most of my time outside was on deck 7. I'm a smoker.

Overall, the weather was perfect. Not cold, not warm enough to be sweating. The rain was on the last night, after we went to sleep.

O'Sheehans Had 2 menus depending on the time of day. The nighttime menu removed several items.

Appetizers included motzerella sticks, chicken tenders, spinach dip, and barley soup.

Entrees included one cheeseburger, one hotdog, fish and chips, something close to a Reuben, chicken sandwich, tuna sandwich, and pot pie.

I may have missed a couple of things. I'm certain that there were no fajitas.

My wife and I just returned from our cruise to Mexico. We've both been on other cruise lines, but this was our first on Norwegian.

We booked our cruise one week before departure. We used Discover to get 5% cash back. This was a mistake. The cruise was $200 cheaper on NCL's site. The cash back did not apply to the full charge, so we ended up paying $60.00 more.

After booking, we attempted to book spa treatments, enter the slot tournament, and order alcohol for our room. We were unable to do so via the website. After calling the 800 number, we were able to enter the slot tournament (they couldn't tell us when to show up), and were able to order a bottle of Grey Goose for just over $100. We were still unable to book spa treatments. The person on the phone stated that we could access the spa on days that we paid for massages. This information was incorrect.

We drove to the port from Arizona. Traffic was lighter than I remembered, and we arrived a day before the cruise set sail. When we arrived at the port parking lot, it was slightly confusing. There were two areas to park, and luggage had to be dropped off first. Parking was $17 per 24 hour period. Someone was quick to pick up our bags. There were plenty of close parking spaces. I’ll drive again.

The terminal was clean. We arrived 30 minutes before our scheduled time. We had no problem checking in. We carried on 4 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of champaign. The corkage fee was $15.00. Onboard, the markup on wine was approximatly 300-400% of Total Wines cost. We drank 5 of 6 bottles and received our corkage fee back for the 6th bottle.

It was easy to get on the ship. It took less than 10 minutes to get to our room. The room was located near the rear of the ship. We stayed in a mini-suite. I prefer a slightly larger room, but we were booking last-minute and suites were more much more expensive. The room was clean. The couch was as hard as a rock. The steward was friendly. The bathroom was clean. The balcony was small. The air-conditioning in the room was cold. Our bottle of Grey Goose was waiting on the table. We were able to hear people walking while laying in bed, but the traffic was almost nonexistent after 12am.

We stopped by a bar after leaving the room. I always carry cash for gratuity. The first bar charged me around $10 for my shot of tequila. I had $3 dollars in my hand when he told me that tipping 18% was mandatory (so he got $1.80 instead). Strange.

2nd stop, the spa. We tried to get there as soon as possible to book a couples massage. I requested a Swedish massage. The receptionist said that they had a special if I booked immediately: 10% off of 1, 20% off of 2, and 30% off of 3. The only requirement was that I selected items marked with a symbol. Easy enough? I booked a couples bamboo massage. When she asked if I wanted a 2nd or 3rd, I told her that we would see if we liked the bamboo first (otherwise I would be booking the non-promotional Swedish). No problem! She never mentioned that there was a 3 massage minimum. She never mentioned that the couples bamboo massage counted as 2 massages. I did not read the fine print.

The next stop was the Pub. There were several reviews that mentioned it. The server offered me a beer and said it was free. Later, he apologized and said that I needed to pay for it. No issue. He felt much worse than I did. The food came out quickly. The appetizer portions were small, but you could always order additional items. We ate here several other times due to the hours and food quality.

Our next stop was near the art auction. There was nothing of interest to me, so we never returned.

The next event we attended was the jewelry presentation. I have a strange addition to the jewelry channel and figured that it would be entertaining. The Port Shopping Consultant explained that we would only find authentic jewelry at the lowest prices at the shops in his pamphlet. DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL! He explained that anything purchased could be returned and upgraded. If we had a problem, we could return our item. He did not mention 2 things: Items are non-returnable due to buyers remorse and the entire event was a paid advertisement. I accidentally came across this in the fine print.

Duty free was the next stop. I wanted to bring a few bottles home. Johnnie Walker was on sale. I asked how many bottles could be brought back duty free. I was told that there was no limit. The salesman recommended a case of Blue. I knew that there was a 1ltr. limit per person, so we purchased 2 bottles. I asked for clarification at the front desk. They also stated that I could purchase any amount of bottles that could be carried.

We had Tsar’s for dinner that night. The service was slow. Our drinks were not refilled. We had to ask where our food was. The experience was poor. We stopped going there for dinner after that night. Not all was bad with this restaurant, we tried them for breakfast and the food was fantastic. Our favorite waiter was working there during the morning service. Food was delivered fast and the quality was what I expected on a cruise ship.

Our first sea day was spent in the casino. We started off with the slot tournament. Organization was subpar. People were panicking when the first round was starting. This was because they thought they were missing their turns. After that, we won at blackjack and roulette. The slots were unforgiving. I noticed several people playing the skill crane and the key game. Most people do not know that under perfect circumstances, these games are still games of chance, not skill. We returned to the casino 4 more times. We walked away with 80% of what was brought onboard to gamble with.

That night, we ate at the teppanyaki table. The service was good. The food was great. Dinner service was a little long, but the show was entertaining to watch. I’d give it an 8/10.

Our first port of call was in Cabo. We decided to book all of our excursions in-port instead of using the cruise line. We saved a considerable amount of money doing this. The water was rough along the beaches. The glass-bottom boat was not comfortable dropping us off at lovers beach. There was a strong undertow. He dropped us off along the main beach (our original request). The sand was coarse. The beach was crowded. I was offered marijuana 4 times on the beach.

After the beach, we went to Cabo Wabo. The food was approximately 4 times more expensive than other restaurants in the area. They were completely out of lobster. Service was slow. The mixed drinks were low quality. We ate here because the cruise ship highly recommended it. My stomach didn’t agree. I was offered pot again when I left the restaurant. I was also offered Coke and Meth while my wife was inside DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL!

Our second port of call was Mazatlan. We took an open-air cab tour of the city. We started at the port. We went to the cathedral, the lighthouse, a restaurant that the driver recommended (and promptly left), then ended up at Los Flores. The hotel was nice. The food was fantastic. Prices were reasonable. We spent several hours there. The vendors were relentless, but I expect this. It doesn’t bother me.

Our 3rd port was Puerto Vallarta. We joined a city tour at the port. We visited a tequila distillery, stopped at several photo ops, the location of Night of the Iguana, old town, and a fantastic restaurant (Cafe Breakfast or something close to that). Our tour guide Filiberto was fantastic. If I ever go back, I’ll try to have him drive us again.

Later that night, we had dinner in Azura. The service was fantastic. I ordered the lobster. It was smaller than I expected, but was cooked perfectly. The staff did such an amazing job, that we had dinner 3 nights in a row (and followed the staff for breakfast). Dinner in this restaurant was the best part of the cruise. It was our anniversary, so the staff may have been treating us better than others. Side note- Our waiter was trained on Princess, and this was his first NCL cruise.

Our next day was at the spa. This was a negative experience. We had a couples bamboo massage. With additional gratuity, the charge was $490.00. We had 30 minutes to burn after the massage (waiting for lunch), so we asked to sit in the thermal suite. When we booked the service, we were told that we could use it on treatment days. I wasn’t interested, but my wife was. We were told that nobody said this to us and that we were wrong. I told the receptionist that I could immediately provide the CSR’s info. She said she couldn’t do anything. We were offered another massage treatment. I asked if it counted toward the promotional rate. I was told that there is no discount if 3 massages aren’t booked at the same time. At this point, I let my wallet do the talking. The spa lost a customer, and I saved $400.00.

We stopped by the front desk to complain. The person at the desk said there was nothing that could be done, and that the spa manager may or may not be calling us. She was able to get ahold of us the 2nd day and offered the thermal suite for a few hours. We had no interest in returning.

That night, we watched the one of the shows in the theater. It was extremely entertaining, especially for the budget.

The final day at sea was a little rough, but easy going. We sat on the deck, then played bingo. We had another amazing night at the restaurant, then packed for our departure.

I’m rating the cruise 6/10, I took 1 point off for each of the following:

The staff implied that I was lying. They did not want to take credit for their mistake.

The staff was misleading. Yes I could take 20 bottles off the boat, but I couldn’t take them duty free.

There was a nickel and dime feeling to the cruise.

I like to tip for good service (I added cash every night, besides the first), I don’t like to tip for bad service. (Be aware that an 18% gratuity is automatically added to everything you purchase on the cruise)