cruisingxpert

I'm so jealous. It's -32 here. Just bitter blowing wind and snow. You picked a great time to be away.

Catherine

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any recommendations for going to a beach when solo in costa maya? last visit I did the cruise snorkle and was unimpressed. would like a fun and safe day. thanks for any help.

I would recommend Maya Chan Resort http://www.costsmayabeachresort.com . Really friendly staff, good food and free wifi.

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Only cruise line that I know of that lets you have breakfast in your room and stay there till your number is called for disembarkation.

Can't believe I forgot about beds. Beds on both Oceania and Hal are wonderful.

We get the beds separated and the difference is that Oceania beds are Queens and therefore narrower than the HAL King beds separated.

To G & G:

I think I was a bit disappointed by the specialty restaurants because I had been so hyped about them by a review by Reposado about food on Oceania

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1663063&highlight=food+review+riviera

Catherine

But I do love HAL's itineraries and I often think we should consider booking a Neptune category suite so we could compare apples with apples. But then food comes to mind and HAL just doesn't cut it. So we would need to eat in Specialty restaurants. Still, even with that cost added on it would be less expensive than Oceania and a good way to truly compare.

I have gone on 2 Oceania Caribbean cruises in a PH3 and also in Neptune Suites on Maasdam, Veendam, Noordam, Oosterdam and Westerdam.

Décor: Oceania hands down - gorgeous

Food: Oceania Terrace Grill - much better than the Lido

MDR - -beautiful but only ate there twice.

Even rating maybe

Specialty Restaurants - nice that they are included but

surprisingly I wasn't that impressed.

La Reserve - amazing and wonderful although I really

enjoyed the Chefs Dinner on the Westerdam

Neptune Lounge vs Executive Lounge - No comparison - HAL wins by a

country mile

Cabins Oceania PH is a bit smaller but being newer, its décor is nicer and

the walk in closet is fabulous. Nothing wrong with HAL - especially love their aft wrap suites

Here is the oddest thing though - to me anyway. I have socialized more with people on Oceania than I ever have on HAL. I have stayed in touch with several people I met on board. Although the people on HAL were lovely, I never made those connections. Maybe they are just more reserved?

For the record, I'm in my 60's, single and travel mostly with a childhood girlfriend or by myself with friends.

Catherine

Look forward to your pictures, Ron. Say hello to Angela.

Catherine

I just talked talked to HAL. Passed on the offer. The rooms they had available was 10006, the very front room. It had a steel balcony and I like the window balcony instead. The other room was right next to the glass elevator. To us it wasn't worth the upgrade.

The suite next to the window elevator is worth the price IMO. We were in one of those in the past and I was worried about people staring at you on the balcony. After 5min out there, I never noticed it again. Also no noise from the elevators. I agree the front suite wouldn't appeal to me either.

CJ

I heard from friends that he was offered a ton of money and sold the land to a developer. Think it will become a condo complex.

CJ

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(The croissant may have been dethroned. Sitting in a broth of butter and keeping ever so warm were a chaffing dish full of gooey sticky buns this morning. As though they should have worn their chest waders after being baked, these things were soaked with the concoction half way up via capillary action. Tender, moist, melt in your mouth. The outside edges were just as soft as the “filet” in the center.

We are now on a daily watch for the sticky buns in the Terrace Café.)

 

 

 

Sticky buns are made every other day..

Jancruz1

 

That's good to know and probably a good thing:)

 

CJ

(The croissant may have been dethroned. Sitting in a broth of butter and keeping ever so warm were a chaffing dish full of gooey sticky buns this morning. As though they should have worn their chest waders after being baked, these things were soaked with the concoction half way up via capillary action. Tender, moist, melt in your mouth. The outside edges were just as soft as the “filet” in the center.

We are now on a daily watch for the sticky buns in the Terrace Café.)

I didn't find the sticky buns til the last day. I'll be on a search first morning onboard. They were wonderful.

CJ

Happy Birthday, Lisa

(duplicate post)

 

PS. The ship/MTN has blocked shutterfly access :/ I can only post pictures and can't even caption them for now. Bummer.

Sending a picture from Tapatalk is really easy and I'm not a techie. You can download the app for free and I'm sure the tech guy or gal onboard can show you how easy it is.

Love the thread. You paint with words.

CJ

All this talk about Coast Guard and CDC inspections is making me nervous. We are due to end our Riviera cruise on Feb. 12th. Supposedly, arrival time in Miami is 6AM. We purchased non-refundable plane tickets for a domestic flight home leaving at 10:15 AM. Are you saying we may not even be off the ship by then?

I think most Inspections are done prior to ship leaving port. They would probably be trying to shove you off as fast as possible if they were going to have an Inspection before departure.

Cj

and they were undergoing an inspection. The had everyone sit down in a nice airconditioned room and they had little sandwiches and water and tea and coffee. We didn't come first thing to board..probably about two hours after boarding was to start. We waited in that room close to another two hours. You can never tell how long the inspection will take.

Thank you Caroldoll. Snacks and tea or coffee would be a nice touch:)

Trust me, we arrived early at Terminal J and stood outside in very long lines whilst the Coast Guard did it's inspection. It was a madhouse. We were booked in an Oceania Suite and even as there are designated lines once in the terminal for the different cabin categories we still stood in line for sometime. We did get onboard by 1pm but my Mom did not get onboard until a little after 3pm. I would say we were in the outside line for well over an hour. This was not good for a lot of people who were mobility impaired (many) as there were no chairs provided for them nor any help from "O" staff. I must say this was our one and only complaint with "O" boarding in MIA. (I won't even get going on RIO:eek:)

Thank you DOJO466. I would hate to arrive at 3pm and find everyone was onboard but on the other hand, I don't want to stand in line outside for over an hour. I'm hoping that if I arrive around 1pm, I won't have to stand outside and won't be waiting forever to Board. Note to me - bring a good book.

Your remarks bring up another question. When did they take your bags from you? One of the Roll Call has been told by their TA that they won't even take your bags before 3pm.

CJ

In your final docs it will have the boarding time ...

It will depend on sailing time as you MUST be onboard 90 min prior to sailaway

 

We had a CDC inspection & did not get off utill after 9am & still in line for a taxi at 11 so people showing up early were just blocking things up ..they were not allowed in the building so piled up outside the doors

I would go after 1pm for sure

 

JMO

 

Lyn

Our final documents say 12Noon because we are in a PH category but that seems like it isn't going to happen.

CJ

Has anyone gone through this process? The message from Oceania is that anyone already in Miami on day of departure shouldn't show up before 3pm.

One person mentioned on our Roll Call that they had gone through that process and had been onboard by 1:30pm

Another person has been told by their TA that they won't even take their bags before 3 pm.

Anyone with tips about their experience of a Coast Guard inspection before boarding in Miami would be greatly appreciated.

CJ

(Quote) 4. Seeing how well the engineering design of the ship has held up after almost 2 years at sea. I was thrilled with how "tight" everything seemed on the new Marina. I'll be listening for creeks, groans, and rubs.

(Quote)

Be interesting to hear whether you hear the shuddering noise we had in a PH3 near the front of ship. If I was just nodding off, it would jar me awake. Never heard that kind of sound on other ships. We're going for the PH3 aft on Deck 7 this time to see if it is different

I think you will have a hard time dragging DW back from a PH.

Bon Voyage

CJ

Bumping this review up so more people will see what a great review you did. I want you to be my tour guide on my cruises lol.

CJ

"We will also be attempting a first: getting our DW's to try the Terrace as opposed to going to the MDR. Something about "we like to be served" keeps rolling over the pouting lips."

I know what you mean. My travelling partner has always thought of buffets like cafeteria food. She likes to be served too. Not sure why we went to the Terrace one night but we were so impressed, we ate there 4 nights out of the 10.

There was an item on the menu one night called 72 hr braised shortrib, which my friend would say is "ugh" stew. We would never have tried it if it had been just words on the menu. It looked like a steak and was medium rare and it melted in your mouth. If you see it, you should try it - we both thought it was just about the best thing we ate on the cruise. That includes the food we had in LaReserve which was wonderful and well worth the price imho.

CJ

Hi "sldispatcher"

I've subscribed to this thread. I'm on the Dec 2nd cruise and can't wait to hear what you have to say. Read comments here that you are a brilliant writer.

CJ

Another amazing review. You always make me feel that I'm right there travelling with you. Can't wait to see the rest.

CJ

...a pleasure. ;)

I'll second alexandra cruiser, Ron. Your pictures are as wonderful as you.

I keep copy and pasting your review onto our Dec 2nd Roll Call every time someone new joins and says it is their first cruise.

Just wish you were coming on this cruise too.

Catherine

Thanks Ron. The hallway looks rather narrow too. Is that the case or optical illusion? On the other thread you mentioned your next July/August cruise. Have you booked it again?

Catherine

Thanks... too bad about that.

 

(Catherine wouldn't let me play with the curtains) :p

But I would have been happy to let you photoshop 20lbs off me lol:eek:. I'm going on a diet now.

Great pics though. Thanks