CruzieSue

About 7-8 hours, mostly depending on heaviness of other river traffic I believe.  

I may have to upgrade my 6" fan for next cruise if you can get by with that size !!!  LOL !!!  🥵😂

Hello Ms. Willdra !!!  Just spent about 2 hours (at work 😜 ) reading your wonderfully entertaining and informative review!!!  We are considering ships for a possible family/cousins reunion next year and Oasis is one of them.  Thanks for sharing your cruise with us !!!  

Jamie 😊

15 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Click on the "Quote" link.

Thanks!!  😊

Thanks for the replies so far!!  Question:  It's been awhile since I was on CC, how do you reply to or comment on someone's post other than the little icon replies?  

Have you planned or been included in a family reunion or cousins group type of cruise on any Royal Caribbean ship?  I see that they offer "cruise credits" for "every 8 staterooms (minimum of 16 guests)".  What are the cruise credits, how much $$, etc.?  Any other perks for booking a group like that?  What are some of the fun or most enjoyed things you did together as a group, on the ship or on excursions, etc.?  Thanks for any information or suggestions.  😊

Something to look for going down river ... about an hour after leaving port the ship reaches a BIG bend in the river and it looks like you are heading back to New Orleans.  Pretty good view of the city at this point.  We have enjoyed our trips down river.  

Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me how this excursion went with ShoreExcursioneer, I will be going to Costa Maya next year and I think I would really enjoy going to see this lagoon. It sounds beautiful. I booked an excursion with this company recently in Progesso and it was terrible so I hesitant to use them again. Did you enjoy this excursion? Were you concerned at all about getting back to the ship n time?

Thank you in advance for your comments on this.

We did use ShoreExcursioneer for the excursion to the Bacalar Lagoon (aka Seven Colors Lagoon) and we did enjoy it and were pleased with the service provided by the driver and guide. The walk from the port to the meeting point was a little longer than expected - directions were acurate, but I think I would pay for the cab ride to the meeting place if we did it again. At no time did we feel unsafe or uncertain about being where we were. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. The only downside, as with many of the excursions on the mainland, was the time devoted driving to and from the site was longer than the time spent at the site. That being said, we were told before leaving the starting point that we would be heading back in plenty of time to be back at the port. The guide was very good about letting us know how much time we had left before needing to start back. We also used ShoreExcursioneer for the Jeep excursion we took in Cozumel. This particular company's directions were not as clear as the other, but once we were placed with our guide everything was fine, friendly, professional, accommodating and always aware of the time and ship's time. Hope this helps.

Just off Liberty, May 14-21 ... while waiting for an elevator on Saturday, last day heading back to Galveston, an older couple came up. The gentleman, in his prominent New Yorker accent, was explaining to his wife that he had "just checked the speed of the ship and that the captain was traveling 7 KNOTS FASTER going back to Galveston than he had on the two days going down to Roatan. He (the captain) KNEW that the ship would go faster but CHOSE to go slower and literally WASTED AN ENTIRE DAY at the beginning of the cruise. That was just unacceptable and unnecessary." He was not a happy camper ... errrr, cruiser, and his poor wife must be used to his complaining because she was just shaking her head and looking up at the ceiling, not saying a word. ;)

Yes, we were very pleased with the accommodations and the price. Would definitely stay there again, having our own vehicle only.

As stated above, we were on Liberty May 14-21 and had a private tour with Rony's. The directions were a little confusing, mostly with finding our way out of the port, but merely asked a port worker or two and we were pointed in the right direction. Once outside the port, we saw a guy holding a Rony's Tour sign so we approached him, he had us on his list, and away we went!! Probably a 5-10 minute walk further down the street to where his van was parked. Very crowded and busy, but we did not feel unsafe at any time. Arnold was our driver and we had the best day visiting with him and learning about his life, his family and all about life on the island.

We requested to see as much of the island as we could in the time allowed, stopping at scenic views, etc. I had found the Rusty Fish shops online where locals make artwork from recyclable items and that was the only shopping stop I requested. Arnold took us to the Alba Plaza location and we bought several items for really good prices. We also stopped at Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout in the French Harbor area. My teen son and I enjoyed interacting with the monkeys, sloths and macaws while hubby looked on !! The cost was $10 per person and we were there around an hour.

We drove around for several hours, stopping as we wanted at several scenic locations, through Sandy Bay, West End and West Beach, and then decided to eat lunch before heading back to the ship. After some discussion, Arnold decided to take us to a small, local restaurant not far from the port. I thought he called it the Blue Marlin, but that was not the name on the sign out front, and I don't recall what it was (I didn't get a photo either). Small establishment tucked between two other buildings, food was good and we had a beautiful view of one of the bays and enjoyed sharing a meal and and talking with Arnold.

Be aware that ALL of the roadways are narrow, mostly curvy and hilly and not properly maintained. Anyone prone to car sickness should be prepared. All in all, we really enjoyed our time doing this and were glad that we had. Roatan is a beautiful island !!

We stayed here on Saturday May 13 before our cruise on Sunday. The hotel itself is nice and fairly new looking. Our room was clean and comfortable. We had driven down from Arkansas so we had our car and did not use a cab, so no help there. Also, no shuttle available that I know of. We could have walked across the street to the beach (crossing a busy 4 lane street), but we did not. We ate at Jimmy's on the Pier, fairly close to the hotel but drove there. I would not waste my money there again - food was subpar for the price you have to pay. Walking out on the fishing pier was nice but smelly, of course - people were actively fishing. We did drive to everything we did as there really wasn't anything great within easy walking distance. I don't know if I would stay that far out without having a vehicle readily available.

Yes, ice cream by the scoops available in Windjammer at the desserts station. Also what I would call soft serve ice cream in the "Sprinkles" machine in the swimming pool area - serve yourself cones unless you get a cup or bowl and spoon from Windjammer or another area. At different times, it served chocolate, vanilla, chocolate/vanilla swirl, and strawberry. Sometimes both sides were open, sometimes only one. And Ben and Jerry's on the Promenade for $. This was week of May 14-21.

We were on Liberty last week (May 14-21). We did find cans of almost every soda, including Sprite Zero, in several places. Ben and Jerry's comes to mind first - cans lined up above the ice cream selections for easy viewing. We did not have a beverage/soda package so we paid $2.95 (I think) per can.

We just returned from our May 14-21 cruise and had booked the Cozumel Custom Private Jeep and Snorkel Excursion with Lunch as stated above. The directions they gave to get from the ship to the meeting place were a little confusing but we finally found them. Takes a good 15-20 minute walk from the ship, and it was HOT and HUMID !!! We were walking along the main street for the most part and did not feel unsafe at any time. One of the main guys met us, checked his list and took the balance of our payment, called our driver to come to where we were since we had ended up in their main vehicle parking lot for all tours (Jeeps, ATVS, dune buggies, cars, etc.) instead of where he was expecting us. Our driver (or human GPS as he referred to himself) was Julio and he turned out to be very friendly despite his somewhat rough looking appearance (to me, a female). He had a thick beard, very dark glasses, wore a long sleeve tight fitting shirt with another dark t-shirt over that, heavy boots, and some gloves with the fingers open. Hubby found out later that Julio has a lot of tattoos and the company asks him to keep covered up for fear of offending some of the customers. There were only 3 of us in our group, hubby was required to drive and Julio was our "human GPS" and tour guide. The Jeep was a bit ragged on the inside but seemed to drive well. We noticed that the folks who rented Jeeps to drive themselves were given the nicer, newer looking Jeeps. We didn't have any particular requests for stops, just to see a lot of the island. We did not ask to do this, but Julio took us to a tequila making presentation and tasting. We had done this (at a different place) on a previous cruise, but did not want to be rude and say we didn't want to go in. It only took about 20 minutes and was a good shady, breezy place to stop. We drove on across island to the east side, along the ocean. Made a stop at a place with local vendors, a restaurant/bar, and beach across the street. Water is way too rough for swimming, but the views are gorgeous. Made another stop at a little tiki/dive bar place for fresh smoothies or alcoholic drinks. We had fresh mango smoothies (delicious) and sat in the shade behind the bar watching the ocean for a few minutes. Next stop was Punta Sur (included in the price). Very pretty views, a small Mayan museum, several vendors, good bathroom facilities, some shady places to sit and watch the ocean. When ready, we drove to the crocodile area, which was a brackish water area. Saw 2 small to medium crocodiles and a few tiny fish. Left the park and continued around the island back to the west side where the resorts and hotels are. We had lunch at Tortugas with a nice water view. For free, we could choose from tacos, quesadillas or fajitas. The menu had other items but we would have to pay for those. We did have to pay for our drinks, no biggy - totaled $12.50 I think for sodas for the three of us. Hubby and son had quesadillas and I had fish tacos which were very good. This is where we could have snorkeled if we wanted to. We did not plan to snorkel or even get in the water. We were also offered 30 minute massages (not sure of the price) and fish pedicures (10 minutes for $15). We declined both and were back on the road. My son's boss had requested some really HOT sauce so Julio took us to a small grocery/convenience store just across the street from the port. $1 per bottle compared to $15 for 2 bottles with a little sombrero if purchased inside the port. WOW!! I think we were on the tour 4-1/2 to 5 hours and never felt unsafe. The first thing Julio asked after introductions was what time we needed to be back. Cozumel and ship time are the same, so that was easy.

Thanks for all the info. Looking for good alternative in the event there are lane closures down to Galveston again this weekend. We will be stopping in mid Houston for a quick visit with friends and 288/6 looks pretty good if necessary.

Are Hwys 288 and 6 decent roadways? Good alternative in the event of lane closures again this coming weekend (Saturday May 13) or even when leaving Galveston after cruise (Sunday May 21) ??

Days Inn & Suites Galveston West/Seawall? We have reservations there for this Saturday (May 13) so I can give you a little more information when we get there. Looking at Google Maps, it's about 15-20 minutes from the port, depending on your route. Walmart Supercenter or a Kroger are about 5-6 minutes away on the Seawall Blvd. Not very far away from the stores and restaurants, just not in the middle of it all.

If any of you have eaten at Casa Denis or Pancho's Backyard, please offer your critiques. We're considering one of them for lunch during a stop in Cozumel. My wife can't handle very spicy or hot food due to acid reflux (that may be a factor). Thanks!

We have been to Pancho's Backyard (downtown), but not Casa Denis. I also have acid reflux and do not recall anyone in our party commenting that anything was too spicy (I am actually the one who LIKES spicy !!! ;p ). It was a couple years ago and I don't recall what we ordered, but do know that we all really liked our choices. We will be there next week and may stop there again. Great margaritas !!! :D

We will be on the May 14 sailing (Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel) of Liberty of the Seas. Can someone who has been to Roatan in the last week or two tell me if the ship time and island time will be the same or different? Trying to arrange a meeting with a friend who lives there. Thanks!

Great review! I laughed, I cried, I checked my BMI and considered a marriage proposal... but Mrs. Wildcatfish would probably pound me. It would hurt.

:') :') Me, too, but MR. CruzieSue would not be amused either !!! ;p :D

Following along ... Hawaii is definitely on my bucket list !!! Beautiful photos. :)

So I hesitated for about .1 second and then stuck my hand right in there and pulled it out.

As I read this I could hear the collective gasps from all around Cruise Critic :eek::eek::eek: Me, I was right there with you sister and am STILL laughing :'):');p !!! We need to schedule a "Fun with MicMacMissy" Cruise for all your fans !!!!

[Glad you had a nice trip despite it all. It wasn't nice, it was awesome. I'm glad everything happened, I got 22 hours to be with my 18 year old son who's going to serve our country!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I love, love, love your optimism and keeping your cool !!! My stepson serves in the Army. We certainly know what any additional time with them means. <3

What did you do in Roatan?