Cool Breeze Cruiser

We recently did a full day tour/shore excursion with Roberto Alarcon. Two highlights of our tour were a visit to the Turtle Release centre and viewing the cliff divers, but what made the day so special was Roberto himself. From my first contact with him via email, he couldn't have been more attentive and despite having to deal with a horrendous day of traffic (due to the bike race noted above), he managed to deliver, as promised, a great tour. When I viewed all the photos Roberto had sent me, I was reminded of the wonderful time we all had. Roberto was waiting for us on arrival, spoke excellent English, had a nice air conditioned van and supplied refreshments and went out of his way to ensure each person in the group was well taken care of. I don't think any of us ever felt the least bit intimidated. Roberto is very proud of his city and I would highly recommend his services should you decide to go on a shore excursion in Acapulco. He will work with you to arrange whatever tour/sights you may wish to see. You can access reviews for him on Tripadvisor.

I second the recommendation for Roberto. We booked a private tour with him in October to celebrate our anniversary & he went above & beyond to make it special.

Juli

We used Roberto Alarcon who took us on safe tours of Acapulco - I'm sure he'd set up something for the day for you or you can contact him and see what he advises you to do.

Thanks for suggesting Roberto!

We booked a private tour with him in October to celebrate our anniversary & it was an absolutely AMAZING day!

Juli

My family and I just booked our first ever cruise :D

 

We are set to sail out of New Orleans, Nov 19th 2017 and visit Cozumel, Roatan, Harvest Caye and Costa Maya

 

I've been lurking on these boards for sometime now and my whole family (there are 9 of us) decided our next family vacation would be a cruise during Thanksgiving!!

 

None of us have ever cruised. There are 5 in my family (Me, my husband and our 3 kids 13,10,8), my In-laws and my sister-in-law/her husband.

 

I've researched the ship (which now I know is getting refurbished) and have researched the ports. I cannot decide what we are going to do in Costa Maya. Any ideas??

 

So far this is my plan:

 

Cozumel- Dolphinarius

Roatan- Little French Key :) (I'm most excited about this one)

Harvest Caye- possibly river tubing

Costa Maya- ???

Just be warned cruising is addictive! :D

We are driving down from Nashville & are booked on this cruise too. New Orleans is a great port to cruise from.

Juli

I can't find a price for them anywhere. We would also have a group of six, do you remember the pricing?

You can contact Tribal at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwizpZix297LAhUFQyYKHapKDxcQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftribalvi.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNFNXCgOIF_izCeQmWlh3I2bUoCRyw&sig2=pFaNVcYcLEZnbHNgT1L3Ww&bvm=bv.117868183,d.cWw

They were quick to respond & very accommodating allowing us to customize our day to suit our needs.

We did the half day sail & it was wonderful. Captain Bill is a hoot but also very knowledgeable.

This is from the email I received from Tribal.

'We are available for private day charters carrying a maximum of six guests. The following is our price list and what you can expect from Tribal Day sails:

Half Day (3-1/2 hours)--$80 per person. Includes light snacks, rum or vodka mixed cocktails, a variety of beer, sodas and water.

Five hour charter--$110 per person (minimum of 2 people). Includes same as half day, plus one more snorkel spot or we can fish, look for whales or grab lunch at a beach.

Full Day (7 to 8 hours)--$150 per person (minimum of 2 people) includes same as above PLUS lunch AND at least one extra snorkeling spot, or we can choose to relax at a beach.

Sunset Sail (3 hours)--$80 per person. Includes Andre champagne, rum or vodka drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Please remember to bring cash for gratuity for crew.

We require a 20% deposit to book a charter and we have a 48 hour cancellation policy.

We hope this helps in your planning a truly unique and tropical holiday. We do enjoy customizing the above, so please do not hesitate to tell us what you like to eat and drink. The cost may vary a bit if you upgrade, but we will make every effort to keep our costs to you as standard as possible. It is your vacation, so let us worry about getting it done!'

We really enjoyed our day with Tribal Day Sails in February.

Captain Bill took us to a fairly secluded place where we snorkeled with turtles. He gave great snorkeling tips & showed our group of six how to not scare the turtles away.

We have done three day sails in St. Thomas & Tribal has been our favorite. They worked with us to customize our day the way we wanted. One person in our group LOVES turtles so that was our focus.

What is the best way to get there? Taxi or private tour. If you want to go the outhouse for lunch is the cost included if you do the day pass?

We booked through Scenic Tours Antigua & transportation was provided to Pineapple Resort. We also made a stop at Devil's Bridge.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwik9p2z-9HLAhWEWSYKHXwcBtIQFggpMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscenictoursantigua.com%2Fv2%2Fonline-bookings%2Ftour%2Fpineapple-east-tour%2F&usg=AFQjCNFKXGHeuwa4zbSTg6a3DvcfsiYA3A&sig2=HTBs4NkeBuU4bXUYCWjm2A&bvm=bv.117218890,d.eWE

The cost of the Outhouse is included with the day pass.

Can you give me an idea of price on Liz Perreira???

 

HOw long is tour, what do you all do?? Price? food and drinks included.

 

Sorry, you link goes to a photo link. No info on the tour there

If you click on the link it should go to Liz Perreira's site. It is a shutterfly account. http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=CEwLRVLfqVriVO4nJhATN2YLoDsfuk9kI18WPp8QBl7vWydwCCAMQAWDJ7tuM4KTQFKAB94f6zgPIAQGqBCVP0I3cP34HE4rjVxMdkGGi_mG93yFv1ObikKq3gxhP9bu04kP2ugUTCPmZrd_vx8sCFYXUJgods4cGI8oFAIgGAaAGLIAHz9KIHIgHAZAHAqgHpr4b2AcB&ei=VLfqVvmfN4WpmwGzj5qYAg&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESIeD29ff1jzNcNe1enhVQuGIilfwJ0X83kma9FXBbFumcYA&sig=AOD64_3t9Kmrq4UJktIaqDByQP9MBzxo3Q&clui=0&q=&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj5ma3f78fLAhWF1CYKHbOHBiMQ0QwIZQ&adurl=http://16.xg4ken.com/trk/v1%3Fprof%3D387%26camp%3D126645%26affcode%3Dcr3151506%26kct%3Dgoogle%26kchid%3D5804019274%26cid%3D52687074343%7C6141018%7C_inurl%253Ashutterfly.com%26mType%3Db%26networkType%3Dsearch%26kdv%3Dc%26criteriaid%3Ddsa-93570047383%26adgroupid%3D10755492943%26campaignid%3D172520863%26locphy%3D%26adpos%3D1o1%26url%3Dhttps://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/26829-212141-41818-0%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Flizpereirastourstore.shutterfly.com%252F%253Fcid%253DSEGOO.OTHER

We did the half day tour. We stopped to snorkel for awhile & then went to Nevis.

Drinks were unlimited (the rum punch was yummy! :)) but there was no food provided on the half day charter. We bought lunch at Nevis.

Here is the info about the half day tour from her website...

'Private Catamaran Charter

Come and experience the best of St. Kitts & Nevis on your own state of the art power catamaran.

Moko Jumbie is a sleek, immaculate, 36’ foot, custom built catamaran, powered by twin 150hp, four stroke engines. On board you will find a fresh water shower, bathroom & changing facilities as well as a large covered cockpit area. Access to the sea is easy with a stern boarding ladder. The boat is fully equipped with snorkeling gear, vests, noodles & life jackets, as well as a full medical kit & safety equipment.

Get a group of twelve friends/family members and charter this beautiful boat for the day.

Our half day charter has two departures:

9AM to 12:30 and 1 to 4:30 for only $400 USD for the first 6

persons, $65 per person for passengers 7 through 12.

Moko Jumbie is a fast, stable (it’s a catamaran)

power boat that can comfortably do a snorkel stop as well as

beach time in Nevis within the 3/12 hour time frame. Lunch is

not provided, but there is an open bar and of course we supply

snorkeling equipment, noodles etc.

Our Full Day Private Charter is from 10-3PM , and includes lunch.

Price is $650 USD for pax 1-6 and $95 per person for passengers 7-12.

In addition, we do additional time for $125 per hour (up to 7PM) regardless of the size of the group.'

is the outhouse at the pineapple Beach resort?

Yes the Outhouse is at Pineapple Resort. It is a bit of a hike to get to it but well worth it!

The walkway to the top is paved.

The view from the top is GORGEOUS but I don't have any pics that do it justice.

Sweet Miss Mary grilling her amazing ribs & chicken.

I don't know where all those beer cans came from! :p

Thanks Cool Breeze. This sounds wonderful. Unfortunately right now they don't have the minimum to sail. Do you remember how many you had and/or when they met the minimum. We are about 43 days out and only two of us so far. Also do you remember the port times the Glory was in St. Lucia and if it corresponded to the time in St. Lucia? The Sunshine is in port from 8 to 4pm so wanted to make sure we don't miss the boat so do you remember the times of the cruise. Hoping Glory and Sunshine follow St. Lucia time.

We had 6 in our group to start with & added 4 from our roll calls & 2 more people had already booked. Mystic Man does require a minimum of 10 people so I would post all the info on your roll calls if you need more people.

We were in port from 8:00-5:00 in January. When we cruised on the Glory October 31st we were behind island time by one hour in every port (including St. Lucia) because we sailed from Miami & the islands do not observe daylight savings time.

On our January cruise we sailed from Miami but ended in San Juan so we switched to island time early in our cruise which made it a lot easier to get to our excursions in time.

We did the Mystic Man Cruise Ship Eco Adventure tour in 2013 & again in January. It is a big, beautiful catamaran & the crew is very accommodating.

A crew member meets you inside the cruise terminal & walks you over to the catamaran which is docked nearby.

The scenery is spectacular. We saw a lot of flying fish both times & saw whales (off in the distance) in January.

Lunch was great (choice of chicken or fish) & the drinks are plentiful!

We booked a private half day catamaran to Nevis for our group of six with Blue Water Safaris on the Moko Jumbie in January.

We booked it through Liz Perreira Tours. http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=CRdq_Qu3mVrPEONS2hATmoaawAsfuk9kI18WPp8QBl7vWydwCCAAQAWDJ7tuM4KTQFKAB94f6zgPIAQGqBCJP0NPk4mOcmbHXr0_E4AHgur1y8t3J3OYqAAgf0BHa8U33iAYBoAYsgAfP0ogciAcBkAcCqAemvhvYBwE&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESIeD2erkdNczkkOieKzn0vHb34Q1B557kBzkkG38alx46cg&sig=AOD64_3Q4g4t0y-H4lNT2hr6D56DrqSGMw&clui=0&q=&ved=0ahUKEwjBocHO0sDLAhXCJiYKHSYTAHcQ0QwIGg&adurl=http://16.xg4ken.com/trk/v1%3Fprof%3D387%26camp%3D126645%26affcode%3Dcr3151506%26kct%3Dgoogle%26kchid%3D5804019274%26cid%3D52687074343%7C6141018%7C_inurl%253Ashutterfly.com%26mType%3Db%26networkType%3Dsearch%26kdv%3Dc%26criteriaid%3Ddsa-93570047383%26adgroupid%3D10755492943%26campaignid%3D172520863%26locphy%3D%26adpos%3D1t1%26url%3Dhttps://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/26829-212141-41818-0%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Flizpereirastourstore.shutterfly.com%252F%253Fcid%253DSEGOO.OTHER

It was a great day.

We got to Pineapple Resort in time for their great breakfast buffet when we went in November.

There is also a lunch buffet but do NOT miss eating at the Outhouse. It is a hike up a pretty steep hill but Miss Mary's ribs & chicken are to die for & she is the sweetest, most welcoming little old lady & the view from up there is GORGEOUS!

Be sure & sign your name on one of the boards.

We are considering the Scenic Tours Pineapple East tour this coming June and would leave to hear from OP (or anyone else) about their experience with this tour. We are interested in an all-inclusive day pass and seeing Devil's Bridge, which is why we're leaning toward this particular tour. I've contacted Scenic Tours with a few questions but am looking for a customer perspective. Thanks.

We did this tour with the OP in November & we all enjoyed it so much we went back in January. The staff at Pineapple Resort were so welcoming we are considering doing a land trip there.

Devil's Bridge

Pineapple Resort

The Craft Market

We have done day sails in St. Thomas with Nightwind, New Horizons & we just went with Tribal Day Sails in February. They were all good but Tribal was my favorite.

They only take out six people so our group of six had the boat to ourselves.

Captain Rick is very knowledgable & is a hoot! He customized the day to make it what we wanted. My friend loves sea turtles & he took us to a great place to swim with turtles. He gave some great pointers on snorkeling that we had not heard before.

Drinks were amazing & they served snacks of cheese & crackers & pretzels on the half day 31/2 hour sail.

It was well worth the money!

We are staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan on a Tuesday night.

A few years ago we stayed there & went to Latin Roots (right behind the Sheraton) & they had a great band & salsa dancing. Latin Roots was closed down when we were there last February though.

We are looking for some nightlife/live music. I googled live music in San Juan & found Nuyorican Cafe.

Any suggestions?

Did you feel claustrophobic at all in those cars? And how far is the starting point from the cruise port?

The Twizie's didn't seem that small to me. My husband is 6'2" & he did not have any problems. I would think it would be kind of hard to get in the back seat if you had mobility issues though.

Hans met us at the port & took us in a nice air conditioned van to his house where the Twizy's are. It was not far.

Han's house where the Twizie's are

The Pink car is sooo cute!

It was one of our favorite excursions too & Hans is a hoot! My husband said he would pay just to hang out with him.

We did the Trike Tour in Aruba the day before (it was awesome too) & my husband saw the Twizies & said we should have done them before we did the Trikes. He thought the Twizies would not be as much fun. Little did he know! They are soooo much fun! We rode along the coast for miles during one part of the tour & it was like go-cart races. Those things will book!

We made quite a few photo stops & Hans was full of information about Bonaire & was very witty!

It was a perfect way to experience Bonaire & if we ever go back we would definitely book the Twizies again.

We had Hans drop us off at the beach after our Twizy Tour & we walked back to the ship. Transportation back to the ship is included in the price of the tour but we wanted more beach time. I am not a 'fishie' person but the guys said the snorkeling was great!

We took a backpack & sat it on the floor beside the driver.

Pulling in to Hans house after our tour.

Our Twizy Tour was soooo much fun! You will love it!!!

Have you heard of Uber? You can request an UberXL which is a private Uber Van for 6 and the rates are lower than a normal taxi.

I also have a code that I would like to share with you that gives you get 10$ off your first ride if you sign up!

Here: lisab11006ue

Yes we have considered Uber. I didn't think they could hold six people but I will check it out. Thanks.

We booked the new Hyatt Place Miami Airport East through Hotwire at an incredible rate! They provide a complimentary shuttle from the airport.

We need to find transportation to have dinner & pick up soft drinks the night before our cruise & to the Port of Miami the next morning.

The hotel shuttle is $15pp to the cruise port.

QLS is $54 for a shared shuttle for 6 or $85 for a private van.

I looked on Taxi Fare Finder & got an estimate of about $35 to the cruise port. Does anyone know if a taxi in Miami can hold six people & luggage?

I called Yellow Cab & the person I spoke with said their vans could but I want to be sure.

Thanks.

Thanks for the ideas!

I checked out bicycling on Water Island. That might be a little more strenuous than what we had in mind especially after eating on the ship for 10 days!:p

I have 'great respect' for heights so no skydiving for me. Ziplining in St. Lucia pushed me past my comfort zone but was incredible.

Cool video of the Fly Boarding. We love to watch them but I would probably kill myself if I tried it! :eek:

We will just be in port from 8:00-5:00 so not really time for the BVI excursion.

I have contacted Tribal Day Sails about their half day tour. Anyone familiar with them?

Tell me about the trikes. Where to rent, how much, where to go?

Thanks, Diane

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjzxt-S_4HKAhUBJiYKHYBGD2cQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trikes-aruba.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNFHaheiAtv1AiolBB3I8bM9o9EHiQ

We did the Trike Tour last month. It was a great way to explore Aruba & a lot of fun.

It was $190 for a 31/2 hour tour for two people on one Trike. You have the option of doing the morning or afternoon tour. The rates include gasoline, insurance and free pictures.

They picked us up at the pier & we went to the office to fill out paperwork & they gave us brief training on how to drive the Trikes.

This is from their website...'During a 3.5 hour guided tour you will see the most breathtaking beaches, historic sights and local restaurants. The tour covers approximately 70% of our unique Island with 3 or 4 stops at some of Aruba’s highlights.

The highlights are:The California Lighthouse, Casi Bari Rock Formation, Alto Vista Chapel, Local fish market “De Zeerover”, and when there is enough time we will stop for a quick photo at Mangel Halto beach. During these stops, refreshments and toilet facilities are available.'

The guides did a great job & we had them drop us off at Palm Beach afterwards instead of going back to the ship.

Our Twizy tour booked through Roadrunner was a great way to explore Bonaire. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjAtqKu4f_JAhXFWCYKHdrwBOsQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadrunner-bonaire.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNFCiqRNaIjzLxP7Uz_KNmqjEEpOqA

The Twizies are so much fun & Hans is very personable, witty & full of info about Bonaire.

We did the Trike Tour in Aruba the day before we did the Twizy Tour & when we saw the Twizies my husband thought it would be fun if we were not comparing it to the Trike Tour (which was great) but by the end I think we all thought the Twizies were more fun. We rode along the very scenic coast for a long way & we had to 'floor it' to keep up with Hans! Think Go Cart races! Of course if you don't have the need for speed you could go at your own pace. Our guys LOVED it! And the scenery was gorgeous!

Hans leads the way.

Plenty of stops.

Hans is a little bitty guy! lol

After our tour Hans dropped us off at a beach bar & we really enjoyed the rest of our day there.

I would rate our Twizy tour as one of our top five excursions ever!

JULI - Thank you for the pix and info on your Journeys cruise! They were great, especially your 80's group shots!! You look like a fun bunch!

It was fun! What a great group to cruise with! Six of us are cruising together again on the Glory Journey January 23rd cruise.

I really meant to write a review from our cruise because there was so little info out there about Journey's cruises & it was a Halloween cruise (we were all pirates) plus we went to 8 wonderful ports & did some amazing excursions & we had my favorite cabin ever, a Grand Scenic Ocean View & we took tons of pics.

We went around the ship taking pics in our 80s clothes.

My husband did not have a strap for his 'guitar' so he 'improvised' with dental floss!

Juli