MississippiMom

I guess I should have added the description, too. "This 5 hour tour takes you to the best beach bars on the east side of Cozumel while you discover the breathtaking blue of the Caribbean. Start your journey at the tequila factory (replica) where you can experience the national drink of Mexico. From there you will make your way to Mezcalitos, home to the "mother of all margaritas". Next, head to the famed Coconuts Bar where you can soak in gorgeous views from the highest point on the island. Continue your sightseeing until you stop at a small, cool bar that serves the best mojito around. Your tour will conclude at Cantina Restaurant, long considered one of the most authentic local cantina bars on the island. Satisfy the appetite you've worked up by starting with the tradition of a snack such as empanadas, chicharron, ceviche, and many more! The ceviche is a true delight and not to be missed! Chocolates and Mexican candy provide a sweet finish to a special time in Cozumel (at your own expense). Reserve your spot on this fun, easy tour and get ready to tantalize your tastebuds! Please Note: The drinks at the bars you visit are NOT included in the price of the tour."

Our group cruise travel agent has pointed us (there's around 35 of us) toward a particular shore excursion site that offers a tequila factory tour and an East Side tour of several bars. It is called "Local Cantina Experience," and it appears some of the cruise lines have offered this, too. Our particular Carnival Valor sailing is not offering any shore excursions over to the East Side at this time. Yes, of course, I did a quick search on-line, but wanted to see if any of the cruisers here were familiar with this alternate to "Cozumel Bar Hop." Pros/Cons? Thanks!

I had no idea this is existed. This will be great for our various family members who are weighing out the options.

Hope you have a wonderful vacation! I’m looking forward to finding out what you wind up doing in Cozumel and in Costa Maya.

Thank you for the photo and the list of offerings. What else happens at Tea Time? Is there quiet live music in the background? Or just eating?

I am not a huge coffee drinker, but my cousin certainly is. Is the coffee card the best way to go? Any idea of cost?

Would this be the same coffee menu for Valor? Does anyone know if Carnival still offers the coffee card? (I think it was ten drinks, previously.)

c-leg5, What do you know about 40 canones? That name seems to pop up, too. I know we will be in Mexico, but I liked the fact that they offer Italian food, too, for those in the family who would like to try something different.

What did you wind up doing in Costa Maya in July?

When is/was your cruise? I just stumbled across their website, and I am looking forward to your review.

What did you wind up doing in Costa Maya?

"Party bus"? I had not even thought about this possibility. We currently have 25 family members booked for a July 2023 cruise, with about 8 more that should be joining but have not put down their deposits, yet. While we are not trying to do the same shore excursions at our ports, Cozumel might be a fun one to do together for most. (Looks like I'll be researching.)

Just looked at their website. YaYa Beach looks like a promising option for us. We have one of those late Costa Maya port times of 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and I have been stressing over where we could actually go that doesn't shut down a few hours after we would arrive.

I realize that not every phone rep is the same, but I definitely felt like the guy I spoke with fell in the "doesn't know what's going on" category.

That standard practice is insane. Every retail establishment I go to can handle refunding right back to a credit card with no problem. Yes, I understand that RCCL is just trying to hold on to money for as long as they can, but that does not make it right to the traveler that cannot get on the ship due to COVID. My sibling is of a different gender than me, we have different last names, and we live in two different states, so "pretending" was out of the question in this particular scenario.

Depends on your personal preferences. We took a 5-night cruise that only stopped at Labadee and CocoCay and the majority of us preferred the laid-back feeling at Labadee. The 6 and 11 year old were huge fans of the water park at CocoCay, but their parents couldn't wait to be finished over there to join the rest of us at our Chill Island cabana. Plus, two ships at CocoCay made that place so incredibly crowded, especially compared to our one ship at Labadee.

In case anyone winds up in our situation, here’s what happened when I called . . . I dialed the Crown & Anchor customer service line and pretty quickly had a representative on the phone. I explained what I needed and he told me that I would have to speak with the “past cruises” department and he would transfer me. The on-hold system told me that my estimated wait time was twenty minutes, which I thought would be fine. One hour and fifty-five minutes later an actual human answers the line and I tell him that we are still waiting on our oldest daughter’s & son-in-law’s pre-paid gratuities refund and their cabin fare refund. I never could understand the rep’s name, but he definitely needs more training. He asks me for their booking number, which I provide, then he tells me that he sees that a Deluxe Beverage Package refund had been issued and did I not receive it. I asked him to repeat what he had asked me, because certainly I had misunderstood. Nope, he was clearly asking me about something I had not called about. I told him that the refund for the Deluxe Beverage Package had occurred and that I was NOT calling about that, but the prepaid gratuities and actual cabin fare. The rep then asks for my “agency number.” I explained that I did not have an agency number, and that I had called the Crown & Anchor phone line and was transferred out. The rep rudely tells me that he will try and help me, but he isn’t sure if he can. (THIS, after being on hold for almost two hours.). I tell him AGAIN what two items have still not been refunded from our cruise ten weeks before, and he puts me on hold to research. He returns to tell me that I need to provide him the exact dollar amount. Luckily, I had this information in front of me, but I almost lost my mind that I was the one needing to provide the detail on money RCCL was NOT refunding. I was placed on hold, again, and the rep returned to tell me that I would need to provide the credit card number that was on file in order for him to process the refund. Again, I was ready to lose my mind, because RCCL obviously knows which credit card number. I gave him the card number for the prepaid gratuities, but the cruise fare, port & taxes are on a card that is not in my name, so he would not process that refund. ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME?!?! Now, the owner of the other credit card (my sibling; not in my household) has to make the same call as I did. RIDICULOUS!!! I will give RCCL one more round of credit card statements, and after that, CHASE VISA is going to need to dispute with them, because this is insane.

Our oldest daughter & husband were unable to cruise with us back in June due to testing COVID positive. At that time, RCCL was refunding 100%. When we checked in, their cabin had been removed from the the total of our six family cabins. Everything seemed to have been handled correctly. But here we are, 10 weeks later, and no refunds of their cruise cabin or their prepaid gratuities. I have now been on hold with RCCL for 1 hour and 15 minutes, waiting on a rep to help me. I did speak to one through the Crown & Anchor Society, who said he couldn’t help and transferred me to this “dark hole.” There has to be a better way. Who can I email at RCCL to research this and get it taken care of?

My apologies, but I did not understand your first sentence. Why was MDR dinner a no? Is it because you were assigned to a table for six? Because you did not want early dining? Because you were waiting on Anytime Dining to open up? Or was the MDR menu lacking items of interest? Thanks for the photos of the casino dance floor. I would have never wandered in there to look, since I hate the casino cigarette smell.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Those looking at these Atrium balconies are in their twenties and young thirties, and I’m guessing they will be attending the Atrium parties. Sounds like it will be fine for them.

We are looking at a multi-generational cruise on Valor next year. Several folks would like a balcony and to save a little money are considering Deck 6. From reading around the internet, it appears that the cabins above The Fun Shops should be okay from a noise perspective from directly below. However, is the open Atrium going to be a big noise issue? I have been on Conquest and on Glory, so I can picture the Atrium, but I cannot picture it at all from Deck 6. Help, please.

We have now gone on two cruises (two different lines) where the cabin card was outside the door and it still seems odd to me. It hasn't caused any issues for my family, but it does still feel like a "free for all" to me. I know that it is not, but it does give mischievous cruisers the opportunity to look around other cabins.

Fascinated by the pancake machine. In our many nights at hotels, we have never come across one. Our first multi-generational cruise was on Glory in March 2019. Like you, driving to port is our preference, and we do love New Orleans. Looking forward to reading more about your adventure.

For us, the Alchemy Bar staff are the ones we ALWAYS tip extra. (That is the main bar we use on Carnival.) And, yes, there are favorites. Those are the bartenders that listen to what you want or offer you an off-menu drink that they think you will really appreciate. If we were "regulars" at a different bar on a Carnival ship, we would tip extra there, too.

Related - Can someone enlighten me on "why?" the cruise lines have so many non-refundable deposit fares? I wish, as a past cruiser, especially, that CCL would give me some discounts with refundable deposits.