Mitsugirlys STAR end of the world/pre-Christmas cruise detailed review & pictorial

[gambee]

The new camera you bought captures very vivid colors, I love it. My kind of pictures. After the incident with your camera charger, I am double checking my list to make sure I have everything on it.

[mitsugirly]

Ok, painfully...it's time for me to head to work, as much as I hate to leave before I finish our Almaplena day, I have to. I should have left 8 minutes ago but I'm just now warming up my car for work. :(

 

I hope you are all still with me and are enjoying the review.

 

I will resume tonight around midnight when I get home.

 

To come...the lunch, a few more pictures from the day and a wrap on my thoughts for this place.

 

I have also had a lot of people ask me on different threads to compare this place with Maya Chan (since that is where we went last time). I will also do this tonight.

 

Then on to the rest of the day in port as well.

 

Enjoy and everyone have a wonderful day while you think of me at work saving lives and playing with needles. :D

[SMSACE6]

Just know that back then, we could post reviews in the port section, so when we went to St Thomas, St Maarten, and Nassau, it wasn't in with my studio Epic review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280043

 

Review of the Epic itself: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26190974#post26190974

 

Review on Nassau: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26207746#post26207746

 

Review on St Marteen: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26209813#post26209813

 

Review on St Thomas: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26210037#post26210037

 

:D

 

Thanks for posting the links! Great review,s and lots of excellent information. thanks.:)

 

Also loving these photos of your day in Costa Maya. Almaplena.

Edited December 30, 2012 by SMSACE6

[thescot123]

Thanks for taking the time to post the reviews and photos. Your camera takes wonderful photos. I bought a new camera, Sony HX20V, which has impressed me in the zoom capabilities and the quality of video it can take. I was on the cruise with you and thought that it was one of the best cruises ever. I was surprised that a lot of people let after the meet & greet. It appears that there was some slot pull going on which pulled people away. For me, the staff/crew did a wonderful job during our cruise. Kudos goes out to them as they work very hard. Will be back on the Star in April with my sister and brother-in-law. I have uploaded most of the videos from my camera into Youtube for people to enjoy. Most were from the Cozumel Welcome Back Party, White Hot Party and the impressive Bernado, the singing cook. These videos make me laugh every time that I watch them. One of the videos, where they dance Gangnam Style, has received over 800 views on Youtube. Hope NCL Executives see these reviews and give the staff/crew a special praise. Tony

Edited December 30, 2012 by thescot123

[donnas902]

I have really been enjoying your review. The Star seems a lot like the Dawn but the pool on the Dawn does not have slides and appears much smaller. We liked the Bos-Bermuda on the Dawn so much last summer that we are returning next July:)

 

I really loved your photos of the stairways...you really captured the ambience with the angles you shot. Looks to me like the stairways to heaven!

 

Can't wait to read the rest, thank you all the effort you have put into this.

 

Donna

[bluehawks47]

I carried my iphone with me at all times, I took notes by days. If something happened that I thought was important I would a quick note. I also took notes of all times that I ate and what I thought about the food.

 

 

I was wondering about how iphones worked onboard. Did you sign up for a text, data or phone package or did you just put a stop on everthing but the phone, notes, etc. I would love to have my for my camera, but I am afraid that I will have a huge bill when I get back, because my data ran without me knowing.

 

Thanks

[Lena B]

Thanks for the great review! You've got me salivating for our Feb. cruise...I think I'll have to share this link with my roll call...

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for posting the links! Great review,s and lots of excellent information. thanks.:)

 

Also loving these photos of your day in Costa Maya. Almaplena.

 

Thanks for the comments and you are welcome on the links. More to come on Almaplena tonight. :D

 

Thanks for taking the time to post the reviews and photos. Your camera takes wonderful photos. I bought a new camera, Sony HX20V, which has impressed me in the zoom capabilities and the quality of video it can take. I was on the cruise with you and thought that it was one of the best cruises ever. I was surprised that a lot of people let after the meet & greet. It appears that there was some slot pull going on which pulled people away. For me, the staff/crew did a wonderful job during our cruise. Kudos goes out to them as they work very hard. Will be back on the Star in April with my sister and brother-in-law. I have uploaded most of the videos from my camera into Youtube for people to enjoy. Most were from the Cozumel Welcome Back Party, White Hot Party and the impressive Bernado, the singing cook. These videos make me laugh every time that I watch them. One of the videos, where they dance Gangnam Style, has received over 800 views on Youtube. Hope NCL Executives see these reviews and give the staff/crew a special praise. Tony

 

I've watched your photos. The are a great memory of the cruise. I sat out on the deck for a long time watching the welcome back crowd and got a few videos myself but missed the gangham style when they did it. :(

 

Did I meet you on the cruise? I know every where I went I was running in to Joyce and Kristen (or was it Kirsten? I'm not sure I ever got that right).

[mitsugirly]

I have really been enjoying your review. The Star seems a lot like the Dawn but the pool on the Dawn does not have slides and appears much smaller. We liked the Bos-Bermuda on the Dawn so much last summer that we are returning next July:)

 

I really loved your photos of the stairways...you really captured the ambience with the angles you shot. Looks to me like the stairways to heaven!

 

Can't wait to read the rest, thank you all the effort you have put into this.

 

Donna

 

The Dawn doesn't have the slides on it? That's weird. I was told they are excactly alike with the exceptions of the decor and they have the dinosaur pool on the back instead of the space ships.

 

Can you tell me if they have the small pool between the slides and at the back of the big pool? (The one I showed that you had to crawl down in to it with the ladder and it was 3'9")

 

I carried my iphone with me at all times, I took notes by days. If something happened that I thought was important I would a quick note. I also took notes of all times that I ate and what I thought about the food.

 

 

I was wondering about how iphones worked onboard. Did you sign up for a text, data or phone package or did you just put a stop on everthing but the phone, notes, etc. I would love to have my for my camera, but I am afraid that I will have a huge bill when I get back, because my data ran without me knowing.

 

Thanks

 

I did see a lot of people on board carrying their ipad and taking pictures and stuff while we were on board. I thought that would be kind of a "big" camera to be carrying around just to take pictures, but there was a lot doing it.

 

The iphone to take notes is a good idea.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for the great review! You've got me salivating for our Feb. cruise...I think I'll have to share this link with my roll call...

 

Thanks and share away. :D

[mitsugirly]

I am just loving your pictures here! We went to Tropicante in Costa Maya when we were there a couple weeks ago and the beauty of this place is head and shoulders above Tropicante! Tropicante was free (only need to purchase your food and drink if you want any) so I guess that might be why. Next trip here I will check this place out! My camera was not cooperating the entire cruise so I was stuck with my cell pohone camera which actually is a pretty good shot.

 

I left Almaplena thinking...this was a VERY nice places (we had a few excepts on some things, which is to come with the rest of the review), but I thought it was one of my "been there done that" places and would move on the next time we go there to some place different. (I want to experience as much of the place as we can). I hear a lot of people talk about Steve and Tropicante and they seem to love it. I thought about "maybe" trying there next time, but now you make me wonder. I'm always on the hunt for that "Paradise in the Caribbean" place. :D

 

The new camera you bought captures very vivid colors, I love it. My kind of pictures. After the incident with your camera charger, I am double checking my list to make sure I have everything on it.

 

Yea, I am pretty happy with the camera, especially the vivid setting I found on it. I'm not sure sure about the placement of the buttons though. Since I'm right handed, I kept hitting them and it kept changing the settings and even the video. :eek: Several times we thought we were just holding it and then taking pictures and the entire time it was recording. :(

[peg013]

I left Almaplena thinking...this was a VERY nice places (we had a few excepts on some things, which is to come with the rest of the review), but I thought it was one of my "been there done that" places and would move on the next time we go there to some place different. (I want to experience as much of the place as we can). I hear a lot of people talk about Steve and Tropicante and they seem to love it. I thought about "maybe" trying there next time, but now you make me wonder. I'm always on the hunt for that "Paradise in the Caribbean" place. :D

 

 

 

Yea, I am pretty happy with the camera, especially the vivid setting I found on it. I'm not sure sure about the placement of the buttons though. Since I'm right handed, I kept hitting them and it kept changing the settings and even the video. :eek: Several times we thought we were just holding it and then taking pictures and the entire time it was recording. :(

 

We had a very nice time at Almaplena on Dec 6 with great friends. Did you notice not having much of a buzz for the amount of drinks you consumed? I was twice as buzzed at the Tropicante on Dec 13 on half the amount of drinks. Of course there was a shot or two of tequila in there too. We really enjoyed both places but it just seemed like the drinks were weaker even with what appeared to be full shots being put in our glasses. We had to ask for a splash of Bailey's on the top of our pina coladas to taste any booze.

[mitsugirly]

Andrea told us that he would have lunch ready for us in about 20 minutes so we could start heading up there some time around then. The hubby continued to play catch up on his mounds of emails and I continued snapping pictures.

 

Look at the baby Trumpetfish that someone on our roll call found? They said it was just jumping out of the water on them and they finally got it in their hands. How cute. I don’t think I would have ever spotted it because it was so tiny and looked like a small stick in the water.

 

 

 

 

Having a little fun in the sand and I wanted to send a message back home since we had internet...in case you are wondering...yes, it took me about three tries to get this. The water kept coming up and washing it away. You know how the water comes up so far, goes out, comes up, goes out, then you get that really big UP and it's more than usual? Well I was timing it…and let’s just say my timing was off 3 times! I wanted the water rushing up to it as I snapped the picture. (I’m usually a perfectionist when I get something in my mind and I want it to turn out just right).

 

 

 

 

Like a dog leaving their mark...only mine didn't last very long:

 

 

 

This was taken on down a little ways (walking away from Almaplena)

 

 

What happens when you stub your toe on something? Well I don't know about you, but I sit it down somewhere and make a picture of it!

 

 

It had been about 20 minutes and we were ready to head up to the dining area and see what was in store for us. Yes, we once again had to threaten our daughter that we were leaving without her in order to get her to come out of the water. I mean you know how hard it is to drag a child away from having this (picture below) much fun???

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We had a very nice time at Almaplena on Dec 6 with great friends. Did you notice not having much of a buzz for the amount of drinks you consumed? I was twice as buzzed at the Tropicante on Dec 13 on half the amount of drinks. Of course there was a shot or two of tequila in there too. We really enjoyed both places but it just seemed like the drinks were weaker even with what appeared to be full shots being put in our glasses. We had to ask for a splash of Bailey's on the top of our pina coladas to taste any booze.

 

 

Hmm, well I could taste the alcohol (I did several times to make sure I had the right drink instead of the daughters), but yes, you are right, we didn't get buzzed off them (and I'm a light drinker). However, I weren't really putting them down either. We had our first drink after we arrived and they brought it to us out at our chairs as we were getting settled in. I only had 1 other before we headed up to lunch and I ended up having a light coke with my lunch. I think I only had 1 other drink for the remainder of the day before we left and the rest were a light coke (they come in cans). The hubby had the beer, so he was good. :D

[mitsugirly]

We got up to the lunch area and the hubby had another Modelo beer and I order a “light” Coke (which they serve in the can). My husband had ask for the "Mexican" beer and that's what they served him. He seem to like it a lot.

 

 

 

 

Then shortly after that our food arrived. Hmmm, I started with the shrimp taco because I love seafood. It has some type of yellow sauce all over it and it WAS messy! I thought it was VERY VERY VERY tasty whatever the sauce was. I gobbled it up quickly and stared at the hubby to see if he was going to finish his. He said he did not care for it and I quickly made sure it didn’t go to waste. Sorry, I started chowing down as soon as it arrived because I was starved by now and only got a shot after several bites and I remembered I hadn't taken a picture.

 

 

 

I do have to mention…whatever this “yellow sauce” was, it completely STAINED everything it touched. I could not wipe, lick, or wash this stuff off. You don’t have to ask me if it did the same to my teeth right? The only thing that got it off was more ocean salt water swimming.

 

 

 

Sakari ate some of her fries but for some reason wouldn’t touch the chicken tacos. She was just in one of “those” moods and not wanting to eat for some reason. She was only worried about getting back out to the water to play. Then they mentioned ice cream. Bad choice. Given the option of regular food sitting in front of you and ice cream…what do you think most children are going to pick? Hmmm. I’ll leave at that.

 

 

 

 

I tried my “beef” taco and I didn’t not care for it at all. I’m really not sure what type of “beef” it was supposed to be. Was it steak? You all know I don’t like steak and this was no exception. However, I do have to comment that the bite I did take was VERY hard…like overcooked hard and not juicy at all. It was like biting in to beef jerky kind of hard. I offered it to the hubby and he did eat it and never really mentioned what his thoughts were on it.

 

 

 

 

I tried my “chicken” taco. Hmmm, I wasn’t too sure about it either and I love chicken. They had some type of vegetable mixed in with it that I didn’t care for and ended up picking it out. I had hoped there would be some type of cheese or something on them. (I’m a cheese freak and eat it with everything…especially tacos).

 

 

 

 

As you can see, every plate came with beans (which I don't like beans, so I never tried it) and also rice...plain rice. Nothing special at all and very bland.

 

 

 

I can’t say I was too thrilled with what we had at all. I really didn’t feel full and I’m not the rude kind to say “hey, I don’t like the food can you make me something else?” type of person. I did look over at the other table where people on our roll call was finishing up eating and I noticed they had something that resembled a quesadilla. It looked good and my first thoughts were that when he originally ask what we would like to eat 1) we didn’t have a menu to pick from 2) I did say we would take whatever everyone else was eating and 3) I would be satisfied with his recommendations. I started to rethink these statements. Maybe I should have ask for a menu or checked out what everyone else was eating prior to see if it was something we would be interested in. I have NEVER had a bad experience with ANY of the places we’ve been to and had their meal. I have to say, this was probably the exception.

 

 

 

 

 

They also severed us nacho’s and guacamole and it was good (not as good as others we’ve had in Mexico, but definitely acceptable!)

 

 

 

 

 

So back to the whining child now wanting ice cream… it came and boy was it special looking. Half of it was gone before I was able to snap a picture.

 

 

[lostone65]

I left Almaplena thinking...this was a VERY nice places (we had a few excepts on some things, which is to come with the rest of the review), but I thought it was one of my "been there done that" places and would move on the next time we go there to some place different. (I want to experience as much of the place as we can). I hear a lot of people talk about Steve and Tropicante and they seem to love it. I thought about "maybe" trying there next time, but now you make me wonder. I'm always on the hunt for that "Paradise in the Caribbean" place. :D

 

 

 

Yea, I am pretty happy with the camera, especially the vivid setting I found on it. I'm not sure sure about the placement of the buttons though. Since I'm right handed, I kept hitting them and it kept changing the settings and even the video. :eek: Several times we thought we were just holding it and then taking pictures and the entire time it was recording. :(

 

Steve is awesome! The service is awesome! The facilities were not so awesome. No showers or changing rooms, just a smal 2 stall bathroom. Far too many people selling stuff who approach your table. Most que go away but kept coming back. Free WiFi and also he let people use his phone to call the states to check on kids or animals or whatever. But the beach area was not near as nice as where you went. That said we throughly enjoyed out stay there and spent less than $100.00 tthere that included, drinks, food, wave runners and a bottle of Agave. I also want to try different places and wild recommend Tropicante, just want to make sure your aware it isn't a resort or beach club.

 

Sent from my HTC Rezound using Tapatalk 2

[mitsugirly]

After we were done with our meal, we sat there for a while and I updated my facebook with a few “tempting photos” for the people back home to salivate over. Sakari decided she wanted to swing in the hammock that was on the deck sitting behind us.

 

 

 

Another thing that I noticed is that there is a little bit of a language barrier too it seemed like. I know several times throughout the day we had said something that they did not understand at all. You know when someone says something to you and you just smile or nod as if you heard so not to be rude but you have no idea what they just said type of situation? Yep, that was them a few times. Kind of awkward sometimes.

 

We headed back out to our “spot” and of course the water. People have said that there is excellent snorkeling here and the reef is about 50 yards??? Out. I’m sorry, but I don’t deal with “yards” and have no clue how far that is compared to “feet” so… you could look out in to the water and see where the reef was and from the shore and it didn’t look like it was really too far. We geared up. I had spoken with the other people on the roll call and they had already been out and said that there was a reef and plenty of fish. They had gone out before we ever got there and said while they were out there they spotted some dolphins out a ways. That would have been neat to see.

 

One of my fears for some reason is being out in deeper/open water without others around. I love snorkeling off of the beach and especially places that have reefs like RIGHT THERE when you go in to the water or even after swimming really far out it’s still fairly shallow. Yes, I have done the snorkel tours before…you are out in the water, jump in and snorkel…BUT you are out there with tons of other people. I just feel safer that way. I mentioned that I would feel better if we were out there with others and the people on our roll call said they would go out. They geared up and the kids went out. I guess we were a little slower at getting ready (with a 4 year old and all) and wasn’t able to get out when they did. The hubby took FOREVER and Sakari and I were headed out when I couldn’t touch anymore, I stopped and waited on him. Once he caught up and we kept going deeper I started having problems with my snorkel. I could breathe in but it wasn’t letting me exhale. It was causing major problems and I was struggling with spitting water out of my mouth, readjusting my snorkel, treading water and at that point my 4 year old was wanting to hop on my back and hitch a ride (as she always does here and there while we snorkel). After a while, I had pretty much had enough of not being able to breath and handed my husband the camera and said “I’m headed back. I can’t do this. It’s too far, I’m having snorkel issues, I’m getting tired, I have Sakari on my back, it’s just too far to be taking her out there.” He took the camera and went on.

 

Now remember I have a new camera. I'm trying to get used to it. The buttons are along the entire right side of the camera. I'm right handed. So...I kept hitting the buttons turning on things when I didn't mean to. The settings kept getting switched and I had no clue what was going on. This snorkeling adventure would be one of those times. Somehow I managed to hit the "record" button on the camera and it was recording my "swim" or lack or being able to swim out to the reef. I think there was about 18 minutes of nothing but heavy breathing, legs, bathing suit, arms, hands, upside down video footage and fins. Ugh!

 

By the time hubby made it to the reef, it was still recording. He tried snapping pictures and he thought he was getting pictures of all the fish…instead he was just getting video. I’ll have to try to see if I can edit some of the b/s out of it so that you can get a look at the beginning of the reef area. I’m really sad I missed it and now wish I would have been able to make it out there.

[mitsugirly]

After the hubby came back to the shore we decided to go walking the opposite way of the “hanging over the water palm tree”. We stayed down there for a little bit until we knew it was getting close to the time we should probably start rinsing things off and packing things up.

 

 

These are some of the pictures we took there:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

All aboard was 5:30pm on the Star. We had told Andrea when we arrived that 3:30ish would be a good time for pick up since it was only a 20 minute ride and we wanted a little bit of time to spend at the port and take pictures.

 

 

 

I started packing things up and sent the hubby up to get me a cold Coke light. I managed to get everything washed off and packed and about 20 minutes or so had passed. Hmmm. Did he run off with a cute little tan Mexican Senorita? I decided to go investigate. I found him where we had gone to eat talking to a couple and he introduced me. She was a nurse so he immediately started talking about me and my schooling. She was extremely nice and very interesting. We shared stories and she enlightened me a little on being an ambulance nurse versus critical care flight nurse. I learned a lot that day and I really wished that we had found her hours before. I could have talked to her all day. I didn’t want to leave at this point. LOL She seems to know the owners really well. She owned the property next door to them, so she must come over there a lot. She works in the US in CA and does a lot of vacation. She was there this time for a month. Now that’s my kind of life!

 

 

 

 

So to wrap up my thoughts of Almaplena.

 

 

 

 

The good: It is a beautiful place; both the beach, water and the grounds there. We enjoyed our stay tremendously. I think this new AI resort is definitely worth visiting. It is the beautiful crystal clear blue Caribbean water. The staff was friendly. It did have a reef (I just can’t comment firsthand how good it is compared to other places I have experienced). The appetizers while we were waiting on our lunch to be prepared was extremely delicious and a nice touch. Nice facilities including a shower. Free wifi.

 

 

 

 

 

The semi-bad: A “bit” of a language barrier, which isn’t a make or break to us. The food for lunch-which is just a learning experience and we would know if we went back to look at a menu or ask for something different. The drinks came, but IMO just a little too slow for me. They weren’t bringing you a refill or asking you if you wanted a refill…you had to ask them. The reef a little too far out for my liking. Having to walk so far to catch the taxi instead of being picked up right outside the port. Another thing I forgot to mention was the flies up where we ate lunch at were aggravating. I know this is not something they can control and it’s the only time we experienced the flies while there. It’s not like they were swarming us or biting…just flying around and I kept swatting them away.

 

 

 

 

 

As for a comparison with Maya Chan. The staff at Maya Chan by far, hands down, the best customer service you will find. The staff is AWESOME, friendly, informative, helpful and interactive. They are the best! The food at Maya Chan, hands down some of the best Mexican food I have ever had. Every time I have chips and guacamole, I compare it to Maya Chan and it doesn’t even begin to compare. I think I could have lived off of that for a while…we’re talking breakfast, lunch and dinner good. Get the picture? The service…Maya Chan. They were always just bringing you food, appetizers, drinks…over and over. No need to ask for anything. Maya Chan offered so many things to do…kayaks, snorkeling tours, games, floating chairs (which they delivered your drinks right out to you in the water). It’s a very intimate place and you are assigned your own palapa and they were HUGE. Not a little “tree” palapa. It was like a small hut with your own chairs, table, hammock and bed. You can’t beat that!

 

 

 

 

They ONLY drawback at Maya Chan…the ugly brownish water. I know that people have said that it just depends on the day, weather, water conditions and so on but EVERY picture that anyone has ever posted online, TripAdvisor or on here has shown this dirty brownish water. Someone prove to me that the water can be the crystal blue clear water!! The other drawback is all the sea grass everywhere. They do a wonderful job of raking the beach and even clearing the water, but it is kind of “icky” to walk out in to the water and feel it between your feet. Also the beach is not that pretty compared to Almaplena. It’s just not that beautiful Caribbean “beach” you think or dream of when you say Caribbean. You know what I mean?

 

 

No one can deny the joy my little had that day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[medicalma'am]

Gosh, now I am glad I booked Maya Chan for our family. I read reviews recently that the water has been fabulous due to the weather they have been having, so maybe the murky water when you visited before was only due to weather/currents. I just hope it holds out for us!

[mitsugirly]

Gosh' date=' now I am glad I booked Maya Chan for our family. I read reviews recently that the water has been fabulous due to the weather they have been having, so maybe the murky water when you visited before was only due to weather/currents. I just hope it holds out for us![/size']

 

I hope you have a terrific day. I have seen other people come on here recently and post "the water is crystal clear and blue at Maya Chan", however not one of them has came back and proved it with an actual picture and that has always been my concern. Every picture I have ever seen both before my cruise there and after have been the same as what we experienced. Please come back with pictures if you can and let us know how things worked out for you. Mark & David are awesome folks and you will love them. ;)

[thescot123]

Thanks for the comments and you are welcome on the links. More to come on Almaplena tonight. :D

 

 

 

I've watched your photos. The are a great memory of the cruise. I sat out on the deck for a long time watching the welcome back crowd and got a few videos myself but missed the gangham style when they did it. :(

 

Did I meet you on the cruise? I know every where I went I was running in to Joyce and Kristen (or was it Kirsten? I'm not sure I ever got that right).

 

Yes, you did meet me briefly at the Meet & Greet. I was sitting with Joyce and Ken who were on my previous cruise.

 

I was glad to video the Gangham style dance as I had seen them perform this a few weeks earlier on Youtube and wanted to experience for myself.

 

Tony

[donnas902]

The Dawn doesn't have the slides on it? That's weird. I was told they are excactly alike with the exceptions of the decor and they have the dinosaur pool on the back instead of the space ships.

 

Can you tell me if they have the small pool between the slides and at the back of the big pool? (The one I showed that you had to crawl down in to it with the ladder and it was 3'9")

 

There are no slides at the main pool, just a hot tub on the four corners. I did not really pay much attention to the children's pool area but it is a dinosaur theme (T-Rex) and does have 2 slides.

 

You will love the Dawn, she is a beautiful ship and not so big that you cannot find your way around. We spent a lot of time at the Bimini Bar above the pool where they serve fresh hot fries and huge burgers throughout the afternoon. You can walk off the ship at King's wharf to a small beach area that is perfect for the little swimmer!

[gambee]

Good morning, I hope you have a nice set for us today :)

 

Happy New Years :D

Edited December 31, 2012 by gambee

[Ron_L]

I'm really enjoying your review! thanks for doing it!

 

We're doing this same itinerary on the Jewel in December (yeah, almost a year from now :rolleyes:)

 

The web site for Almaplena shows that the Beach Break includes an "all you can eat buffet", but it seems like you were able to order food instead of a buffet. Is that an option or have they changed what they offer and haven't updated the web site?