crewsweeper

The Parish of St Martin of Tours is on Front Street, a long walk or water taxi from cruise port. Likewise the Methodist Church of St Martin. They're both on FB.

If you aren't going anywhere else, yes! Beats the cruise port places!

Our last time in MBCC the first row near the water was reserved for people with ship excursions. You may wish to check for excursions on your cruise. Also check over on cruise time tables or on the port's calendar to see if any other ships are in with you, that could limit any availability.

Cartel activity in Cancun has been prevalent for a long time. Sad to see it's drifted south to Tulum. But thus far it hasn't impacted Cozumel abeit there is no doubt cartel activity on the island.

If you google Royal Caribbean blog, that site has menus and prices. Should be standar through out the fleet. IMO, unless you drink mass quantities of soda and specialty coffees, these may not be worth it.But every cruiser is different.

That's then malecon in Mahahual, not Nuevo Mahahual. @c-leg5 our taxi driver in January took a "shortcut" along a pot hole street that ran adjacent to the main drag out of port. We did pass a spot where it looked like you might be able to climb down to the beach, but it was overgrown and I would trust it to get all the way down and be able to walk to the lighthouse. From the pier, that whole route didn't look inviting.

Nuevo Mahahual is the name of the little town right outside the cruise port. Used to be Las Casitas. Consists of a main drag that you take to get to the highway and the Malecon in Mahahaul. A few restaurants/bars, a hotel and shop fronts for excursion vendors. The rest of the town is a scattering of residential housing.

So give us a sense of what type of music was playing--Oldies, Hip Hop, Metal, Reggae?

Do the cave tubing.

Thank you. so many places to get lost in😀

Playa Mia advertises them , at $MX 925 for an hour. Some of the All Inclusive Hotel/Resorts, like Iberostar and Allegro, may have them.

Unless there's a timeline when you need to purchase, you might want to scout a few Aruba stores and see if they have what you're looking for and if it is comparable to Dubai.

Following their Dutch traditions, yes!

Fantastic pictures. Can't wait to see the rest. Appreciate the photo of the rowing machines in the Fitness Center. Hope top see some of the Cloud 17 and Hideaway areas. Any picture of cabins?

Aruba is duty free. There are a number of jewelry stores on the island. No idea which is best or which are ripoff joints. But would recommend not even looking at Diamonds International or Tanzanite in the cruise port shopping of any Caribbean port.

Lots of beach massage options both att eh cruise center and just off Margaritaville, not associated with the cruise center. Don't know the prices as they do tend to change. Check Trip Advisor for parasailing at the cruise port. But looks expensive. $85 for 8 minutes.

Thanks for both the long review by @ReneeFLLand gang and the short vid by @misguy. IMO the Surfside Eatery looks more like a mini Windjammer at lunch. Park Cafe is Park Cafe. Need the Ultimate Drink Package just to take a strollaround the ship, LOL.

St Maarteen is on Atlantic Standard Time ( 1 hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time) and does not observe DST. So if your ship embarks out of an East Coast US port in May ship time and St Maateen time will be the same.

A review on Trip Advisor in January 2024 indicates there is a kiosk that rents umbrellas and loungers but you need to bring your own food.

Is that Easter week or in the middle of spring break? Look at Hay Hu or Almaplena.

I do not but you can contact them via their website. https://lindas-aruba.com/

We use Apple Air Tags but even so DW's hanging bag was showing on the pier until sailaway. Cabin steward dropped it off around 4:30. DW did not attach a luggage tag on the handle or via the hanging clear luggage tag holders we use. Rather she just stuck it into the bag's slot for ID. Someone, porter or ship found it and placed a sticker on it with cabin number. So also be sure your ship luggage tag is visible.

I think it's a bit hard to put a % heuristic on what tip to pay for tours. You should tip both the driver and the guide but depends on how well you enjoyed the tour and how attentive both driver and guide were. That said, my overly generous DW usually tips the driver $10 and the guide $20 regardless of time or length but will add $5-$10 if over the top or they go out of their way to assist.

Fleetwide implementation is due to start the second quarter of 2024. Not sure which ships will get it first or if all ships get it around the same time.