Very extensive 9/11 Spirit Review

[dmarie21]

Great review! Your snorkel & dolphin pics are making us want to change our plans! lol

[laketimeaz]

Wonderful review - one question though -- do you have to wait until after boarding to reserve the Taste of India dinner? I don't want to miss it!

[1SMURFF99A]

I want to go back to your Park visit. You said you got to go over to the manatee tank. We have booked the manatees in December on our cruise on the Spirit. How did your husband and daughter like the manatees compared to the dolphins? We have done the dolphin encounter in Cabo so this time we are just doing the manatees. What part of Ohio are you from? We live in Hilliard. If you don't know, thats a suburb of Columbus.

[mitsugirly]

Just wanted to know how you were able to take pictures @ the dolphin encounter. I have read in many reviews that they don"t let you take your own. Was the camera waterproof. Would they let me take a disposable underwater camera? (the kind that go on your wrist) Did anyone say anything to you about taking pictures?

 

I have a camera that is a nice point and shoot and takes excellent pictures (all the pictures I had posted are by using it). I read all the reviews saying that you wasn't allowed to take camera's either. Well, there were tons of people there that had cameras and it was not a problem.

 

During the part where the dolphin will kiss you and you kiss them, hand shake and nose touch, she would tell the person doing the activity to "look up at the photographer" and then she would let us get the shot and say "now you want to take a picture?" and have the dolphin do it again if we missed the shot. They were great. No problems at all with the cameras there.

 

Very nice review. In your ship reviews, one stuck out from our trip last April 4, 2011. The DIRTY WINDOWS. I posted this complaint when we returned from the Spirit. Almost every window was covered with salt. Several times while being in Galaxy of Stars viewing area the windows were Horrible. I was telling another pasenger that it wouldn't take 15 minutes a couple of times a day to clean, at least these windows. There is a walk area to go out to clean them. I know it would be much harder to clean windows at raffles on 10th floor, and other areas. Maybe your review may get some action.

:(Sorry for the bad weather in Roatan. Roatan water is to Die for.:)

 

YES, the one's in Galaxy were very bad and that's where I wanted to get pictures from. It was weird because 1 would be clean, the next wouldn't, a few down was clean, the others wasn't. Really weird. :cool:

 

Thanks for the great review.

We'll be on the Jan01/12 sailing.

I feel as if I've already done the cruise!!

 

:D

[mitsugirly]

Great review! Your snorkel & dolphin pics are making us want to change our plans! lol

 

We had an amazing time! Would do it all again in a heartbeat.

 

Wonderful review - one question though -- do you have to wait until after boarding to reserve the Taste of India dinner? I don't want to miss it!

 

Yes, all dinner reservations are done after you get on the ship. They have a desk set up on the 7th floor that you can visit certain hours to make any of the specialty restaurants reservations.

 

We got lucky though...one morning we were eating breakfast and someone was walking around asking people if they wanted to make any dinner reservations...so we didn't even have to leave our spot. :D

[JMHAM1]

Wonderful review! We were going back and forth between the Spirit and the Star and decided to go with the Star. Like you, we are easy to please so I don't think we would have had a problem with either ship.

 

Now if someone would just do a review like yours for the Star! Great job!

[mitsugirly]

I want to go back to your Park visit. You said you got to go over to the manatee tank. We have booked the manatees in December on our cruise on the Spirit. How did your husband and daughter like the manatees compared to the dolphins? We have done the dolphin encounter in Cabo so this time we are just doing the manatees. What part of Ohio are you from? We live in Hilliard. If you don't know, thats a suburb of Columbus.

 

Well hello there neighbor! We live in Grove City (just moved last December from the Hilliard Rome Rd area back in Glen Chester). :D

 

Anything that involves "animals" my daughter and husband will love. I don't think it was suppose to be part of our dolphin swim but they let our group go with another group anyhow (at least the website didn't state you get that for free along with the dolphins). They got to pet the manatees and feed them lettuce. I learn that they are a very gentle creature and I guess I didn't realize that they could be trained just like a dolphin. They waved hello to us, responded to the trainers whistle and swam by so that you could pet them on top and on their belly.

 

Even though I personally don't think it's the same as the dolphins (because with the dolphins you got to kiss them, then the dolphins kissed you, hand shake and so on). Maybe they do that with the manatees, but since this was just an extra, all they did was feed them and pet them. :confused:

[mitsugirly]

Wonderful review! We were going back and forth between the Spirit and the Star and decided to go with the Star. Like you, we are easy to please so I don't think we would have had a problem with either ship.

 

Now if someone would just do a review like yours for the Star! Great job!

 

I agree. I want a review on the Star. We are considering her for a Bermuda cruise next year. :D

[QUIGONATOR]

did you book dolphis ahead of time & if so did you give cradit card info over the phone ? It makes me nervous. What do you think about booking with this site/ company??? It supposed to be the same. I will tell thm we are staying in a condo so nos cruise price

http://www.cozumel-tours.com/royal-dolphin-swim.htm

[udamom]

Mitsu, Glad to see you had a good time on your vacation! We enjoyed the same cruise a few weeks before, and you and I were investigating a lot of the same things before going.

We did cavetubing.bz also and also had a tour guide named Junior....but not the same guy as in your picture. Wonder how many named Jr they have?? LOL We really enjoyed ours also.

I'm considering Bermuda for a large family group in summer of 2013...so hope that is where you go next so we get a detailed review of that also!

 

Trish

[mitsugirly]

did you book dolphis ahead of time & if so did you give cradit card info over the phone ? It makes me nervous. What do you think about booking with this site/ company??? It supposed to be the same. I will tell thm we are staying in a condo so nos cruise price

http://www.cozumel-tours.com/royal-dolphin-swim.htm

 

Yes, we booked ahead of time and booked on the internet. You get a discount if you book ahead, so well worth it. There were no problem. I thought the company was very professional and we loved the trainer that we had.

[mitsugirly]

Mitsu, Glad to see you had a good time on your vacation! We enjoyed the same cruise a few weeks before, and you and I were investigating a lot of the same things before going.

We did cavetubing.bz also and also had a tour guide named Junior....but not the same guy as in your picture. Wonder how many named Jr they have?? LOL We really enjoyed ours also.

I'm considering Bermuda for a large family group in summer of 2013...so hope that is where you go next so we get a detailed review of that also!

 

Trish

 

I wonder if you had Vitalano Jr instead. We did see him there. This Juniors name was actually Roland (according to his name tag).

[slycruiser61]

Thanks. I'm working on the ship pictures right now. I'm loving some of them. :D I think I'm buying another Canon D10 for the hubby for next year. :eek: That's how much I love it.

 

Since you got such wonderful underwater, in the water and on land photos with your Canon D10 (I'm considering getting one for my cruise) I was wondering how much maintenence, for lack of a better word, is involved when using, and after using the camera underwater. All of the research I've done mentions that you have to put it in fresh water after using it in the ocean and letting it dry completely, which makes sense, but I was wondering how difficult it is to make sure that you close all seals for battery, memory card, etc..completely so that it doesn't leak on future occaisons. Also, how long does it take to dry "completely"? I've seen a few reviews of waterproof cameras where people say it leaked after the first time they used it. Granted, these people maybe didn't follow directions correctly, but I don't want to be one of the ones who ruins her own pictures by not making sure I followed all the steps right. Anything critical that I need to know using a camera like this?:confused:

[QUIGONATOR]

Yes, we booked ahead of time and booked on the internet. You get a discount if you book ahead, so well worth it. There were no problem. I thought the company was very professional and we loved the trainer that we had.

Did you book through cozumel tours or through dolphin discovery direct? That is what I am tryingto find info ut on. If this discount site is legit. they offer lower prices than dolphin discovery itself???

[cruisincarly]

Thanks for this review! Considering the same itinerary, also with a 3 year old, so it was really helpful!

[udamom]

I wonder if you had Vitalano Jr instead. We did see him there. This Juniors name was actually Roland (according to his name tag).

 

 

yes this is who we had. The owners son. Great guide! sounds like they train all their guides well to teach about their country and keep you safe and entertained!

glad you had fun!

Trish

[1SMURFF99A]

Thanks for the reply. We are supposed to inter act the same as you did with dolphins. Maybe we will be lucky and get to go over and see the dolphins after the manatees.

[mitsugirly]

Since you got such wonderful underwater, in the water and on land photos with your Canon D10 (I'm considering getting one for my cruise) I was wondering how much maintenence, for lack of a better word, is involved when using, and after using the camera underwater. All of the research I've done mentions that you have to put it in fresh water after using it in the ocean and letting it dry completely, which makes sense, but I was wondering how difficult it is to make sure that you close all seals for battery, memory card, etc..completely so that it doesn't leak on future occaisons. Also, how long does it take to dry "completely"? I've seen a few reviews of waterproof cameras where people say it leaked after the first time they used it. Granted, these people maybe didn't follow directions correctly, but I don't want to be one of the ones who ruins her own pictures by not making sure I followed all the steps right. Anything critical that I need to know using a camera like this?:confused:

 

In all honesty, I most of the time forget to rinse it in regular water and never had a problem. But the times that I did, I just washed it off and took a towel to dry it and went on shooting. :D I even had my battery die on several excursions and got out of the water with it wet and opened it up, put the extra charged battery in, closed it and went back to snorkeling. No issues. :)

 

Did you book through cozumel tours or through dolphin discovery direct? That is what I am tryingto find info ut on. If this discount site is legit. they offer lower prices than dolphin discovery itself???

 

I booked straight from the site at dolphin discovery. Just make sure you have the right place...it's the one right at Chankanaab Park. There are actually 2 on the island (I believe the other is closer to the port from what I had read).

 

Thanks for this review! Considering the same itinerary, also with a 3 year old, so it was really helpful!

 

Your 3 year old should have a blast...not only in the kids club, but the pool as well. All the falls and the water slides. We couldn't get ours to leave. We SERIOUSLY had to drag her away (kicking and screaming and the whole 9 yards...no exaggeration here). :eek:

[JMHAM1]

Is the Spirit in dry dock now? I was wondering if your trip was the one before dry dock and if so, did you notice anything amiss? We had an awful cruise before dry dock experience on CCL. We were joking that one night we would return from dinner to find disposable paper sheets on the bed. It was that bad.

[mitsugirly]

yes this is who we had. The owners son. Great guide! sounds like they train all their guides well to teach about their country and keep you safe and entertained!

glad you had fun!

Trish

 

He was there organizing everyone as soon as you get off the ship and getting everyone with their guides. Then we didn't see him again until we sat down to eat.

I know "our" junior had been doing this job for so many years and I loved the fact that he had also lived in the US for many years too and could relate to anything we were talking about. The knowledge that he gave us was "unbelizeable". :D

Thanks for the reply. We are supposed to inter act the same as you did with dolphins. Maybe we will be lucky and get to go over and see the dolphins after the manatees.

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

[mitsugirly]

Is the Spirit in dry dock now? I was wondering if your trip was the one before dry dock and if so, did you notice anything amiss? We had an awful cruise before dry dock experience on CCL. We were joking that one night we would return from dinner to find disposable paper sheets on the bed. It was that bad.

 

I "think" dry dock is this week. So we were on her 2 weeks prior. We did not noticed anything different than any other ship. Everything was being ran as if they were still cruising at any other time. I wonder if anyone on the cruise last week will report anything like that. :confused:

[cruisincarly]

 

 

 

Your 3 year old should have a blast...not only in the kids club, but the pool as well. All the falls and the water slides. We couldn't get ours to leave. We SERIOUSLY had to drag her away (kicking and screaming and the whole 9 yards...no exaggeration here). :eek:

 

Although we're hoping, we're not counting on him being potty trained by then (he'll have just turned 3), so we might end up having to avoid that area of the ship...I don't care if there are other kids in diapers in there, I like to follow CDC regulations :-) But everything else sounds great...he loves playing with other kids, so I'm sure he'll love the kids club. I think he would love the dolphin encounter too (he is crazy about animals...especially sea creatures).

[mitsugirly]

Although we're hoping, we're not counting on him being potty trained by then (he'll have just turned 3), so we might end up having to avoid that area of the ship...I don't care if there are other kids in diapers in there, I like to follow CDC regulations :-) But everything else sounds great...he loves playing with other kids, so I'm sure he'll love the kids club. I think he would love the dolphin encounter too (he is crazy about animals...especially sea creatures).

 

Either way, I'm sure your little one will love it. They have so many activities at the kids club and keep them busy. Plus there is open "gym" type of play at certain times too and they can crawl in the tunnels and play in the balls. So much to do all the time. :)

[mitsugirly]

I just uploaded some videos for Chankanaab and snorkeling. Thought it might interest the snorkelers. :D

 

[PreciousCruiser]

Thanks for sharing your review, all of your tips and all of your wonderful pictures... :)