jlawrence01

Was this menu offered every week because I do not remember if during the first week? Also, when you head to one of the specialty restaurants like Tamarind, what do you get? If it an appetizer, entree and dessert or can you have multiple entrees and apps like in the MDR? In eight cruises, we have never tried specialty dining. Yes, seriously.😊

I am jealous of all the time you had in Bonaire. It is a great island to walk around. Unfortunately on our last visit, we were only there from 7 am to 2 pm. So many of the restaurants and businesses opened at noon. We found a Dutch grocery called Van der Groots that was quite excellent.

Heading to a US based fast food chain in the Caribbean is a strong guarantee that you will find decent WIFI.

I was really expecting that I would hate the chile relleno as that is a difficult dish to execute. However, it is one of the best that I have ever had. The pork belly was also excellent.

Seabourn is a super luxury line. Princess and Celebrity have Indian options at nearly every meal in their buffet.

The best menu of the cruise.. I hope that they continue this until the end of the calendar year.

I have been at a decent number of cruise ports recently so I might be confused. I thought that when you are at the port in Cozumel, you get in line to catch a taxi to town. The dispatcher asks you the number of people in the party and they get you a taxi for that many of people. I believe that there was also a sign telling you how much is the fare to different zones. A strategy that I have used along the US - Mexico border and at various Mexican airports is to shout out that I need a cab in earshot of five to ten drivers and generally one will shout out a lower price or they will all be the same. There are not many of them left but avoid the old Nissan Tsurus sedans that used to be the mainstay of Mexican taxi fleets. They are basically the equivalent of a 1980's era Nissan Sentra and has one of the worst crash ratings of any vehicle on Mexican roads.

If you are on back to back cruises, do you have the option of leaving the ship for 4-6 hours in lieu of sitting in a crowded theater? Thanks for all the good pictures.

In Mexico, MOST vendors prefer to be paid in USD. Ditto in many parts of Canada.

Other than the pool area on sea days and the MDR and buffet during meal times, there are a ton of places on the ship where you can get away. On my last cruise on the HAL Eurodam, I would generally disappear to the library, during the day, the walking track early in the morning and the observation lounge after 8 pm and never encountered a crowd. During the day, I would head to a lounge area around a closed bar and just relax. You can almost always request a table for one or two. Personally, we generally eat dinner with the same two or three couples every night and have been very fortunate to find people with similar interests. As one other thread says, "You do you." As a night owl, I almost always close the buffet or the last food option that is open at night. I have some great discussions with the various crew members, especially those practicing their English skills and the ship's entertainers.

Two issues. Last week in Cozumel, I bought two items totaling US$27 (prices were in USD at the cruise port). Generally, when you use a credit card in Mexico, you get a receipt showing you wheat you spent on what items and a slip showing what you were charged. My DW did NOT make sure they gave her both. I was charged 580 MXP or about $34 on my credit card. It is not the end of the world and part of it is tax. Just check your receipts. I think you do better paying cash for smaller purchases whether in pesos or dollars than using a credit card. Second, make sure that you understand the currencies of the locations that you are visiting as in many ports, prices will be in local currency. In Bonaire, I went to a Dutch grocery store a mile from the port. The prices l paid for spices looked really good as I thought that they were denominated in Florins at a $1.8 to US$1 rate just to find out that the currency in Bonaire is the US$. Always carry small bills as most people cannot make change in US dollars.

You make a good point. I would like to add that MANY of the dishes that you are served in the MDR and NOT dishes that many modern chefs have made since they left culinary school. I take pictures of a lot of the dishes on board so that I can duplicate a lot of them in my home kitchen. Some of the combinations are really great and not ones that I would have thought of (Heart of palm, Phillipine Mango and Florida avocado salad on HAL).

We were on Regal Princess in November 2023 and they two tours that were available to all cruisers at NO cost as part of an enrichment talk. First, they allowed everyone to go on the stage on the main theatre and they took us all back behind the curtains to the backstage where we could see all of the props used that week and meet with some of the performers that week. Second, they took us to the staging kitchen located behind the main dining room. Having run kitchens in large institutions, I have to admit that this was not a real point of the cruise. However, I would say that I was extremely impressed with the high levels of sanitation. That kitchen was spotless. I am sorry but I would not pay $$$ for a tour of the facility. By the way, there are a minimum of 50 YouTube channels that are done by crew members who are content producers that will give you great exposure to the life of the crew. I have watched hundreds of hours of this content. You might want to look at Chris Wong as he has done a number of videos showing crew areas on various RC ships.

$50 in $1 bills and $100 in $5 bills. Great for tips to and from the cruise and on the ship. Great for taxis as none of the credit card technology ever works Make sure that ALL of your bills are in excellent condition as most locations in Mexico, the Caribbean and in Asia will not accept a torn bill.

One way.

Most women wear a nice dress. Most men wear a dress shirt and a jacket and some wear a tie. On HAL, being a line that appeals to an older clientele, 80-90% dress up. I did not see anyone turned away from the MDR unless they were wearing shorts or muscle shirts.

I have been to Roatan in November 2023 on the Regal Princess and in January 2024 on the Holland America Eurodam. I was on a Southern Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Epic in February 2023.

At Chedraoi, we purchased four small pastries and a bottle of water for US$3.50. Your best bet for food in a lot of ports is the supermarket.

A lot of the Princess and Celebrity ships have several Indian dishes each day and on any of the ships, a lot of the crew mess will consist of Indian food.

I was in Roatan last week (1-9-24) and Avis at the cruise port was open and they had cars available. Having said that, we decided not to rent a car on Roatan and hired a guide through Roatan Travel and Tours. We got the driver for 3-4 hours for $25 per person and he would take us anywhere we needed to go. We were picked up in an Hyundai Elantra.

Soriana is another one that is located in the center of town. Both markets are quite excellent and offer a broad variety of groceries.

I have made many trips to Mexico over the last 30 years and when someone asks me about safety, I repeat the sage advice of one of my friends. "It is safe until it is not." Quintana Roo, the Mexican state that includes Cozumel is considered to be one of the safest in mexico. Personally, it is also a place where you are less likely to be hassled walking through the town. As for insurance, I would say this. I ALWAYS buy the Mexican insurance period. if you get into an accident with a Mexican national, you are considered guilty and will be held until you compensate that individual completely. If you want to miss the rest of your cruise, that is your call. mexican insurance means that you will be provided an attorney who can help resolve the issues.

Puerta Maya to downtown is about two miles and can be a pleasant walk if the weather is good. You will pay $10 per cab and cabs are very plentiful anywhere in town. We did not care for the Norwegian Epic in February 2023. Too many crowds made it almost impossible to get into the smaller entertainment venues. So many of the seats were being saved with no cruise personnel to control the crowd. The staff in the MDR seemed to be really unhappy.

You are in luck. I attended the Luche Libre with Meet and Greet on Wednesday, January 10th. What you are basically getting is the ability to watch three luche libre matches is a small arena of maybe 150 seats. You are right near the ring and it is easy to watch the action close us unlike attending a WWE event in a large arena. They discuss the lucha libre experience. Then, they have three matches, two "one on ones" and a tag team match. After the three matches are over, you have the opportunity to have a private meet and greet with all of the wrestlers, referees and the other ring personnel. Do realize that the wrestlers speak only Spanish put the ring announcer will translate for you. The wrestlers love children and will pose with your children for as long as you want. In addition, they do have a bar where you can test the local tequilas if that is your thing. I think that the $70 is a bit pricey BUT maybe you can get your kid in for free. It is a "once in a lifetime" experience/ I also like seeing all of the acrobatic action. The good part of this is that the arena is located about 1 km from the Porto Maya cruise port so no taxi is required. It is located at the Barriecito complex which you can identify by the pink statue of a mythical creature out front. I hope that helps.

I think that you make a very good point. Cruise employees talk to each other on the ship, to friends on other lines, and to guests. We were on the Norwegian Epic in February 2023 right after they announced that they would be cutting the wages of senior room stewards and our room steward (a long term, 10+ year employee) asked us subtlety about our opinions of other cruise lines. I believe that there was some serious breaches of trust among some cruise lines and their employees in the area of not being paid for the entire time that they were on the ship after the cruise shutdown in 2020. There were also some safety and health issues. Also, being away from a cruise ship led many employees to seek other employment. The NEW (1st contract) people that I have talked to on recent cruises are not that interested in returning as many are asked to work 11 hours a day seven days a week over two shifts. Ever bussed tables in the Lido for 11 hours a day?? This was a major discussion on a major YouTube podcast this week where Tony from the La Lido Loca podcast interviewed a former cruise employee. The relevant discussions of staffing come at the 1:02:00 mark. It is an interesting discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziVFOZSJMxc&list=WL&index=23