shipshapertoo

The name of the resort the ship's tour took us to in Mazatlan after the turtle sanctuary is Estrella del Mar. Gated community. Lovely beach, clean sand, warm surf to wade into. No lifeguards so you are on your own there. Pool looked good but I didn't try it. Hotel supplied beach towels and free bottled water. Very relaxing-and good food.

I was there on Oosterdam's Christmas cruise. Traveling solo, I decided to only go on escorted ship excursions on the port stops, Cabo, PV and Mazatlan. No problems and the tours were very good. Especially the tequila tasting in PV! Went to turtle sanctuary and then resort with private beach in Mazatlan. Chef even accommodated my food allergies with a delicious eggplant casserole. I did a look see at the port shops in Mazatlan after the tour and there was a bunch of little kids at one of the booths circling me and then bumped into me. It was harmless enough-kids will be kids. But I am a senior citizen and leery of getting hurt from being part of a game. Didn't like the fact that no apologies from the kids or from the Mom --obvious who she was--owner of the booth. Funny though how she told me not to break anything when I reached out to get a better look at one of the magnets for sale. At that point I decided it was time to go back onboard.

I traveled solo on the Oosterdam this past Christmas season, embarking on Dec 20 from San Diego, and loved it. The ship had a singles/solo luncheon in the main dining room on Dec 21 and the dining room manager put

together seating for whoever wanted to have dinner together every night.

I sat with a great group of people every night and the table had a great location--back of the dining room overlooking the ocean.

And the decorations were lovely...Christmas trees, poinsettias everywhere, gingerbread village and the 3 adorable elf dolls in the Lincoln Center room.

Yule log was one of the desserts on Christmas day and the ship also had special holiday alcoholic drinks only for the Christmas cruise.

I don't have young children but I went to the Christmas Day festivities held

at the main stage. It was so much fun.. I was laughing out loud at the video the ship showed of Santa and his elves arriving on the ship and running around doing all the things that passengers do.....trying on jewelry, eating in the Lido. Very well done and very funny.

A very enjoyable cruise.

Possibly also to keep track of food allergies and special food requests as noted on passengers records. When I was on Oosterdam last month, as soon as i was seated in open seating dining room for breakfast and lunch, the server already knew my food allergies without my having to say anything to him and also knew to serve me the meal if I had preordered one the day before. I was concerned about open seating for those two meals---I had fixed early dinner. Everything went very smoothly.

I was on Oosterdam for the Dec 20, 2017 Christmas cruise and thoroughly enjoyed BB King. They were great and it was a "happening" place, people dancing. Even had the servers come in one night offering chocolate goodies on trays for Chocolate Parade.

I was on O'dam recently, the Christmas cruise. I had fixed early seating for dinner and was on deck 2, lower level.

shipshapetoo: Thank you for the detailed info on hotel options and embarkation locations! This was exactly what I was looking for.

You're welcome too DaveinCharlotte. Glad to share what I learned from my experiences -pre-planning and actual cruising on the Constellation. When I planned this cruise, I discovered that there is not a lot of information on the message boards about ACL (as compared to the ocean and other river cruise lines) and I was frustrated in my attempt to get correct, non-conflicting information from ACL's 800 customer service number.

So glad to help.

Thank You :cool:

NRayH

You're welcome--happy to share my experiences on the June 30 Constellation sailing.

Oops-sorry for 2nd thank you post.

Thank You :cool:

NRayH

You're welcome. Glad to share information from my experiences on the June 30 Constellation sailing.

Just out of curiosity, where did you board? Was it the normal cruise terminal (Black Falcon Pier) or one of the smaller docks?

NRayH

Embarked and disembarked the June 30 Constellation sailing at Pier 8, 13th street, Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA. Departure time 1:30 pm.

Seems ACL also uses Pier 6, end of One 8th St in Charlestown for cruises. That Pier 6 address was listed on my boarding pass for the July 14 Constellation Maine Coast and Harbor cruise that I cancelled. Piers 6 and 8 used to be known as Shipyard Quarters Marine which had closed and since been refurbished.

Forgot to add to my post on American Cruise Lines pre-cruise hotel package for June 30 sailing. The one night Millennium Boston Hotel room I booked independently was---with my senior discount---$339.52 taxes included. And Uber with tip was $10.11. So total was $349.63 about the same price of the hotel package offered by cruise lines--but I got to chose hotel and location. It is right across the street from Faneuil Hall and a very short walk to North End.

I was on Constellation's 7 night New England Islands June 30 cruise that left from Boston. I can't speak for every sailing but on this one, a pre-hotel package was offered. Price was $350 for one night with all taxes included and there was a choice of Hyatt Regency in Cambridge and Omni Parker House Hotel in downtown Boston. Package price did not include breakfast but did include transportation directly to the ship on the morning of the cruise. I booked the Omni Parker package with the cruise line and paid the $350 directly to them in advance. However, about 2 months prior to embarkation, I received a letter from American Cruise Lines saying that the pre-cruise package had been changed from the Omni Parker to just the Hyatt Regency. And for the inconvenience, a free breakfast voucher was offered. I cancelled the package since I didn't want to stay at the Hyatt in Cambridge preferring downtown Boston instead. I had to wait a long time for my refund--seems a manager who had to sign off on the refund had left the company and so the refund was left in 'limbo'. After awhile, I called again to track down the refund and had to wait several weeks after that for the refund. I then booked directly with Millennium Boston Hotel and got an uber for the short ride to the pier. Something I should have done initially instead of booking the pre-cruise package. I spoke with a passenger on the cruise who told me she stayed at the Omni with the package--I told her I was told the Omni was cancelled. She said she had her daughter call the cruise office and they made an exception for her since she wanted to stay in downtown Boston. So my suggestion is to forego the package, and just book your choice of hotel directly and uber or taxi to the pier that morning. So much less of a hassle.