A solo Getaway adventure May 22-29th

[Agentwho]

Thanks again for putting the time and effort into sharing these!They are really great to read!

 

I love the amount of detail you go into and it's got a great "story quality" to it. I especially appreciate the fact that you bring a unique solo aspect to it - as a solo traveler it's fun to read the experiences of another solo traveler since most other reviews I read aren't from this perspective.

 

Question for you - how are you recalling all of this detail? Is this all from memory or did you take notes somehow during the trip?

 

 

I'm glad some people are enjoying this long winded review. Truth is I'm having a lot of fun just writing it. It is kind of like reliving the trip all over again

 

It's funny you're asking how I'm remembering all of this. I did take a notebook with me with intentions of jotting down bullets during the cruise but ended up being so swept up with my vacationing that I didn't bother with it lol. A photography friend told me one day "sometimes you have to put down the camera and enjoy the view". So all of this is from memory, hence why details of exact times and exactly what I ate are not always included. The over all idea is there ;)

 

Cozumel and my almost dune buggy adventure still to come

[Agentwho]

So I've been trying to post some photo's up from the trip but don't seem to be having any luck :( Instead I'll just post a link to my shutterfly account. Mind you I'm not a photographer and none of my old camera phone pictures will be wall hanging worthy lol.

https://photos.shutterfly.com/library

[Clarea]

Enjoying your report/review.

[BeachBecky]

So I've been trying to post some photo's up from the trip but don't seem to be having any luck :( Instead I'll just post a link to my shutterfly account. Mind you I'm not a photographer and none of my old camera phone pictures will be wall hanging worthy lol.

https://photos.shutterfly.com/library

 

Can not open shutterfly :confused:

[Agentwho]

Can not open shutterfly :confused:

 

Oh no... Let me try one more time to post pics up (threw photobucket this time)

 

My first towel animal!

 

Yay it worked :)

 

Snorkeling in Roatan

 

 

The areal performance in Costa Maya

 

The crab in Costa Maya

[Agentwho]

Pano of beach spot in Costa Maya

 

 

I got the whole Getaway in my hands, Costa Mayas very long pier

 

 

The van the lady didn't trust in Belize

 

 

Altun Ha Belize

 

 

Burn the Floor in Tropicana

 

[keeponcruising]

Thanks for the photos and looking forward to more of your review.

[Agentwho]

Yet another morning I awake before my alarm clock! It is Friday and we are in Cozumel. It's off to the normal meeting spot for some breakfast and watching us sail into dock. Solo friend is going shopping today and I'm seeing the island via dune buggies :) She gets off not long after they open the gangplank but I hand out on the boat for a bit. The excursion doesn't start for a bit. Once I've killed enough time I walk down the dock and into the port village. Again this one isn't very big, I've been a bit surprised by the size of every port village. I don't know where I got the idea but for some reason I though they were all going to be large like Costa Maya. I mosied into the liquor store where a cool shaped bottle caught my eye, pulled out the camera phone and snapped a pic. Quickly a guy came up and said sorry no pictures. Odd, why would they have a rule against pictures... I can understand a museum or art gallery but a store. Whatever the case is I didn't take anymore photo's (not that I was there much longer anyway) They never asked me to delete the one I took either. From there I went up the escalator and took the sky walk across the road to into a a two story strip mall. Finding my way down I went to Hooters and found my tour guides right out front.

 

As with the other stops I did a bit of research before choosing this excursion with a private company. It sounded like a fun day driving a dune buggy around the island seeing the sights and snorkeling. As we waited for everyone to get there I filled out the normal piece of paper. After some chit chat we started walking up the street to the lot where the buggies were. I'm a car guy and have always wanted to build an old school Manx dune buggy but it wouldn't real be practical around here. I think this is a big reason I chose this tour over others. Traveling solo I know that I'm going to be tossed in one with others I'm just hoping for a chance to drive a leg or two of the route. Who know maybe I'll get lucky and drive the whole thing. We find several bugs of all colors waiting for us, I was surprised when the guide said you'll be riding with us for the first leg then your car will meet us at that stop. A dune buggy all to myself..... Thank you!!! So I hopped shotgun into the VW bug that had the back half of the roof chopped. You could hear as the buggies started up that they were not all in tip top shape and I couldn't help but wonder how they would drive. This was answered quickly on the way to the first stop as we had to pull over a couple of times to restart some of the cars...

 

A few mile down the road and we stop at this little beach ?bar? place where those of us who want to snorkel toss our gear on and go for a swim. I let the guided group go while just floating around enjoying the view. No where near as cool as Roatan but just being able to see so clearly under water is amazing. I was excited to see my buggy as we crossed the street into the parking lot..... No extra buggy? The one guide says you'll be driving the jeep with me. OK I'm on support vehicle detail, When things like this happen you can put a frown on and pout about what you wanted or just roll with the punches and have a good time... I choose the latter. It wasn't a stock jeep with a little suspension lift tire and a snorkel. Everyone mounted up in their rides and we rolled out. I followed the back of the pack and couldn't help but laugh to myself about how rich all the engines were running (you could smell the unburnt fuel). This was a pretty long leg on the way to Punta Sur eco park and we had zero breakdowns. I learned the the guy in the blue buggy really couldn't drive a stick.... there was a lot of revving and the smell of burnt clutch kept catching me. We got up to a good speed too, my jeep though not new handled well as did all the other cars.

 

We weren't driving long before getting out of the bustle of the city and seeing the beauty of the island. Just getting out and driving is one of my favorite things to do so this was right up my ally. Being the only one in a jeep meant that I had a great view over top of everyone else lol. Others even mentioned they wished they were in a Jeep because the sun was rather intense that day so having the bikini top on was a big plus. Once in the park we first stopped at some docks that extended out into the tidal basin looking for crocodiles. Someone said there's one under the dock in the shade over there. Looking and agreeing we inched closer until realizing it was just a log haha..... Climbed up the lookout tower they had there, it didn't feel 100% but I was confidant it would hold for me... maybe. Once back ashore we walked a few feet down the road to what is the top of a long berried Mayan lighthouse. After reading the plaques it was time to move on, all vehicles had already been pulled up so the wasn't a long walk back to them. Down the dirt roads we went to the light house.

 

Now light houses are another thing I enjoy seeing and reading that this tour included one was a big plus in picking it. This place is set up for tourist but it is still nice. Of course I b lined it for the all white tower and started winding my way up the stairs careful to watch my head. There is only enough room for one way travel so dips have to be found to let people by. Can you imagine having to carry jugs of lantern oil up here all the time. The view from the catwalk is fantastic. I spent nearly the entire time at this stop up here. They do have a little museum on the site that I looked threw and a beach you can go to. One of the coolest looking things were the shade stands with hammocks and swinging chairs set up underneath.

 

Time to go we drove on out of Punta Sur and had another long drive down the west side of the island. Along the way we stopped at a trinkate village were you could buy souvenirs. Again I'm not much of a shopper and didn't really see anything I wanted or needed. Another long stretch of drive down the rocky shore and we came to a rather large restaurant just kinda out there by itself where we stopped for a fajita lunch (part of the tour). Our group wasn't huge, maybe 15 people total and a few of them were teenagers. We split up into two tables and enjoyed the food. It wasn't the best, I think maybe I was put off by the very pushy waiter who kept reminding us we needed to tip him every couple of minutes. We had some time to kill before leaving, you could buy stuff from the trinket stands, swim, play pool or enjoy the hammocks under the shade stands. This is where I ended up trying to check my emails on their slow wifi.

 

Once again time came to go, we mounted up and headed down the road stopping at a tequila tasting. The blue buggy has now changed drivers and is no longer burning the clutch away (if there was any left) Now I'm not really a fan of tequila or being the subject of a hard sale. Even I have to admit this was pretty good. They do not produce anything here but have almost a nature walk set up and go threw the whole process of making tequila starting with the plant. Once at the end of the tour the host shared a tasting from several bottles and then you learned how much it would cost you to take home some of your very own Organic Tequila. It was very good but again it just isn't for me so I had no problem passing.

 

On the last leg there were more than a few breakdowns that we stopped for. The red buggy seemed to develop some sort of fuel issue (maybe it ran out by blowing so much into the engine lol) The guide would go to the front, prime the tank then to the back play with the carb and vroom we be off for a bit more until the next breakdown. Its funny when it would stop the guy wouldn't stop.... he pulled over and just let it creep to a stop. We are in the Jeep yelling stop already! with hand up. The guides ready to jump out but we're still moving ugh.... Most of the time this happened in convenient places but once back in the city we ended up holding some traffic up :D Finally putting back into the lot it was time to say good bye and go back to the ship.

 

There is a red carpet welcome back party on the pier. Music is going the NCL staff are lined up both sides just having a good old time dancing away. How do they find such happy people to work on these boats. If I had to deal with tourist all the time I would be no where near this happy. My work doesn't even let me talk to customers for fear of what I might say bahaha.

 

Now I fall into what has become a normal routine but the thought is in my head that all this is coming to an end. We gab a bit in the spa about our great days then go off to nappy land. Before I know it we are chatting away with the solo meet then enjoying the bustling of a large table at Tropicana. At one point they have a member of the audience join the band playing on stage. If I recall correctly this is the night of the glow party on the aft deck (Spice H20) and they place was packed. I think everyone who wasn't asleep was here. It was a fun night and lasted all the way until the bars shut down, then a bit more after that...

 

 

 

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing with us.

[BeachBecky]

Thank you for the added pictures :)

[Agentwho]

Thank you for the added pictures :)

 

I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to get the pics to work in the thread. Would have liked to have peppered the post with relevant pics.

 

Stay tuned for one more sea day to go in my story and closing thoughts... I'm sad that my trip is ending all over again lol.

Edited June 24, 2016 by Agentwho

[BeachBecky]

Your Costa Maya pictures look great, can you give me a little more information on the location, such as how far from the beginning or end of the strip, did you get into the water was it sand or rocks (we enjoy having drinks while stand in the clear water) any sea weed? Sorry for so many questions, any restroom or outdoor shower to rinse off?

 

Looking forward to more of you review!

[Agentwho]

Your Costa Maya pictures look great, can you give me a little more information on the location, such as how far from the beginning or end of the strip, did you get into the water was it sand or rocks (we enjoy having drinks while stand in the clear water) any sea weed? Sorry for so many questions, any restroom or outdoor shower to rinse off?

 

Looking forward to more of you review!

 

Ask as many questions as you like, As already mentioned I didn't take notes so all this is from memory.

 

-How far down. I would have to say it was about mid way. We took the open air tram down from port ($3 per person) then walked almost all the way to the end (the path went on a bit more but everything dwindles out) turned about and started heading back. You can see their patrol boat docked at a pier near the end.

 

-The place. I have no clue on the name of the place but it did have a distinguishing feature. The restaurant/bar had wood swing seats (like from a swingset) at the open air bar facing the boardwalk. There were restrooms inside. Our original intention was to grab a drink at the bar sitting on the swing seats but that beach was just to inviting.

 

-Never saw any showers to rinse off but didn't look for them either.

 

-There is some seaweed piled up along the beach, they must tend to it regularly to keep it in check. It is an amazingly calm beach with breakwaters off shore. This also means it is very shallow with natural channels that get deeper. Mostly sand with rocky areas. You'll have to problems enjoying the water here.

 

photo of the spot looking towards the ship (in the background)

 

You can see some seaweed washed up on the beach and floating. Water is so clear you can chase the needle fish around. The lighter areas are sand the dark areas rock or deep water. No problem enjoying a drink in the water here. Won't even have to worry about waves messing making you spill because of the breakwater farther off shore.

 

 

We hadn't really planned to eat here, heck we didn't plan anything. I had mapped out the rest of the vacation and thought a free day would be nice. When the waiter brought the tray of fresh catch by, well how could one say no.

 

 

This place has so many to choose from. You'll find massage tables set up the whole way down the beach with people offering *surprise* massages. A few places had hammocks set up on land and in the water. Others had just a couple of loungers in the water. The nice part was that none of the places were huge or over crowded so you have plenty to choose from.

 

I really liked this place because it was farther down away from the crowds at the beginning of the boardwalk. They weren't pushy but attentive, the perfect mix :)

 

Loved those blue loungers under the palm tree shade

 

Edited June 25, 2016 by Agentwho

[BeachBecky]

Thank you for the very detailed answers - that place looks perfect - just what we are looking for. I will look for swing seats at the bar and those nice looking lounge chairs (I have seen many just have hard wooden ones). Thank you again - I can not wait until our cruise in September :)

 

PS - Love the pictures too!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Agentwho]

Saturday morning and my alarm is going off. This is the first time the whole trip that it has woken me up. I scramble to shut it down before it turns itself to full volume. I'm not trying to wake the neighbors. Last night was a bit of a late night where I just ended up jawing on with some of the late nighter friends. I was disappointed not to see a towel animal in my room that night when I had stopped in the room a freshen up a bit after dinner. It wasn't until I came in to go to bed that I saw him peaking out from under the pillow. Yay a mouse!!!

 

 

Before the trip (with the help of CC) I figured out that if I turned the auto time set on my phone to manual I could decide what time it said it was. We went threw 4 time changes this trip. Falling an hour back the first and second nights putting us two hours behind. In Roatan we were synced with local time, In Costa Maya we were an hour off then back on in Belize (remember Belize and Costa Maya port days were flipped). The night we left Belize we moved forward an hour and were synced up with Cozumel time, Then the night we left Cozumel we jumped ahead again putting us back on east coast time. Confusing stuff right lol. No matter where you are be sure to use the ships time as that is when they are set to leave.

 

Side note about the time changes, The bars seem to close down at two (I think you can still get served in the casino and at O'Sheehan's if you are still in a drinking mood. But the bars go on the ship time, this means when they fall back an hour you get extra drinking time but on the flip side loose time when jumping ahead.

 

So I get on up and for one last time make my way to that fabulous Flamingo Grill to meet up with solo friend for breakfast. I was surprised by how much time I've spent with people this trip where as normally I tend to have more alone time. Not that I'm not social but sometime people just need space... I tend to need more haha. Looking out the starboard (right) side of the ship we could see an island.... Conversation ensued, that can't be Florida, it would be on the port (left) side.... ?Is it Cuba? do we come that close to it. By stopping a passing officer we found out the answer is yes that's Cuba. With that settled we decided it was about spa time. Just before getting up we saw several people looking over the side pointing. Of course we had to see what was so interesting,,, a small pod of dolphins were swimming in the wake of the ship. They look so small from the 16th deck

 

I know it's hard to see but I promise there is a dolphin jumping the wake in this camera phone pic (look at the center of the picture and scroll right, the splash out there all by its self is a dolphin jumping) It was much more impressive in person haha

 

 

 

 

After they split so did we walking on up to the spa, Cuba was looking pretty big and almost well defined by now. I will miss those tile heated loungers... I wounder if I just put a shipping label on one would it get delivered to my house. Needless to say a long nap came in to play.

 

 

 

After a long time there we grabbed a couple of the spa friends and went to Taste for an excellent lunch. After that I found myself bumping into a few of my late night friends just getting moving and not very well. So I took them to the Solo lounge for a round of cappuccino's that we then took to the nearest bar and added a shot of Baileys to. Yummy! I spent the rest of the afternoon just being lazy enjoying the waterfront and having a few more runs on the slides.

 

 

 

At 6 oclock everyone met up once again for the solo meet and then Tropicana for dinner again. They had another band playing and people were taking turns spinning on the dance floor. After dinner we split up for a bit then most of us met for the last Spice H20 party where more dancing happened. Me and solo friend decided to get away from the loud music of Spice and go to Fat Cat's again where DB Love was playing. We talked a few from the solo crowd into coming with us and had a great time in there. After they petered out I moved on to find the late night friends in full swing. It was a fun day where everyone reflected back on our trip sorry to see it ending. Time just flew by this week. After shutting the bars down one more time we all turned in. Getting back to my room I found my last animal, a giant crab made out of the purple blanket

 

 

I was happy to see that my Belizian rum made it to the room but was a bit worried when I saw the box was damaged. I don't know where they store this stuff but it obviously had a rough trip. The packaging did its job and kept the bottle safe. I went ahead and finished packing my luggage so I would be ready to go in the morning.

 

Getting off the ship didn't take very long, just had to fill out the little customs form, flash my passport and before I knew it I was on an airplane back to reality.

 

[Agentwho]

Closing thoughts

 

It has been about a month since my cruise, I'm sorry it took so long to get around to starting and finishing this review. Life just gets busy yeah. I know it has been a bit long winded, I tried to keep the rambling down a bit and hope to have added some useful information.

 

I had always planned to post a review but having it take a story form was more of a natural development. I'm glad it went this way because it gave me the chance to relive the trip day by day. I would recomend everyone do this. Even if no you don't post it up for the world to see and just keep it in a journal to yourself.

 

I think I've mentioned it before but wanted to send a big shout out to Cruise Critic and all the people here. This place is a wealth of information all just a search or question away.

 

Titled Adventure. I try to look at everything as an adventure weather it's working my way around people blocking the isles at the grocery store or getting into a sketchy van on my way to some Mayan ruins. Yes it would be nice if everything went perfectly all the time but it doesn't, so why not make the best of the situation and have some fun with it. Besides it's often the things that go wrong that make the best stories. Take the couple that got engaged during muster, yeah it would have been nice if it went to plan but being interrupted like that will make it a story told forever.

 

I feel I should make an apology for grammar. I hope all the mistakes haven't made my train of thought to hard to follow.

 

Unlimited Drink Package UDP I would never spend the money to buy this outright. Without the drink package I doubt I would have had more than a few "drinks" this trip if any. When I chose the UDP as my promo (Studio cabins only chose one) getting hit with the "service fee" was a blindside. It was still well worth it for me but knowing about that before the checkout screen would have been nice. Having the UDP meant that I wasn't watching how much I spent (the main reason I wouldn't drink) This allowed me to try a large variety of cocktail and concoctions that would be passed up any other time along with my favorite rum n coke (well pepsi)

 

With drinks readily available it is important to know your limits. keeping this in mind I had enough to have fun but not so much that I would have a hangover or worse yet act like an a**. Seemed to me most people did very well with this seeing only a few cases of someone having to much. Pro tip have a water between drinks or order that fancy frozen daiquiri virgin (without alcohol)

 

I read a lot of concerns about so many people having UDP clocking up the bar service. If anything I found that it may actually make things a bit quicker. Normally you have people (like me) questioning how much things are taking up time. Also with the pass the bar tender only has to punch a few keys and swipe the card. With out they have to print receipt, give to customer, get singed, and file it taking up a good chunk of time.

 

Tips. I always like to tip the bar tender a dollar a drink... One time when doing this a fellow customer reminded me that I had already paid the tip with my service fee. I know this but can't help but wonder how much of that goes toward the little guy at the end. I've worked at bars before and to me tipping is just the right thing to do. If I ever find myself in a place where it is considered rude (like Japan) I will have a hard time because it has become second nature. I also left a tip for my room steward along with a thank you note. I would love to be in a better place where I could tip more people better but for now this is what I can do.

 

Staff.... I can't speak highly enough about the staff, everyone and I mean everyone was so kind... it was almost off putting lol. I know they are living away from home for months at a time working long odd hours and have to deal with tourist all the time with a smile. That last bit would drive me mad. Big thanks to your staff NCL

 

People... Everyone is on vacation and ready to have a good time sharing stories and laughing. I only ran into a couple of unpleasant people, they were easy to spot and avoid. It was great having so many little random conversations finding about people lives and thoughts. I'm also a big fan of people watching and this trip left me wanting for not.

 

O'sheehan's It took me a few days to realize the name of this place is kind of a pun (ocean's) lol. I grabbed some food here a couple of late nights once having the fish n chips and other the reuben sandwich. This was great late night food but I don't think it would have been so good for lunch/dinner.

 

Food. The buffet was good with a huge selection. As you can tell from this review I loved the Flamingo Grill and hope it stays that way instead of changing over to a paid restaurant. I only ate at the complementary restaurants, the food was great with smaller portions and excellent presentation. When I say "small portions" I don't mean laughably. they are just right. I hate wasting food and when my plates arrived I never felt over burdened. If you want more or want to try something else then just order away. The service was always top notch as well

 

Budget. As with everyone the penny's count so looking around for a solo trip NCL seemed to be one of the better bargains.

 

Things to do. Looking over the ship daily's I highlighted several things that interested me. Everything from talks about art to learning how to fold towel animals. There are so many activity's you are sure to be able to keep yourself busy all day long if you like.

 

Will I cruise again...? I don't know. I did have a lot of fun on this cruise. I found it to be a great way to get a taste of several different places all in one trip. However there is a very limited time at each place meaning it is very hard to get a feel for the people, culture and sight that they have. Reading about Mediterranean and Alaska cruises do have my interest peaked. When it comes time to plan another vacation I'll have to look into what they offer vs a land based stay in one or two spots. I have no problems traveling solo, it is nice to set your own schedule, do what you want, not have to compromise or listen to others wine. Traveling with others has its bonuses as well such as getting the better $$$ rates.

 

Well I think this about wraps up my review. If you have any questions feel free to ask. If you liked it feel free to toss up a thumbs up or a frowny face if you hated it (though if that's the case I can't imagine why you would have made it this far haha) Till the next adventure :)

 

[SaintedMother]

What a great recap! I've enjoyed reading it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kelleyfarms]

This was a great review!! A fun read making me look forward to our back to back on the Getaway next January. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this thorough review!

 

John