henrysea13

I may be an old fossil but I prefer the older well kept up ships freedom indy liberty are my idea of a mega ship I have sailed oasis class and did not like the feeling I got we seemed to be herded everywhere we went staff was mostly tired and stressed I hated the inside balconies everytime I opened my blinds it seemed like I had an audience I love the feeling of knowing the staff on the small ship if I had my choice for favorite ship in the fleet it would be enchantment so cozy personal for the most part it has always said welcome so happy for you to be here I am on the brilliance in oct and adventure in nov this year and I am absolutely thrilled at the thought I would book the enchantment but lately she has been mired in the craziness that is the port of Miami bring her to Canaveral and I'm there I am not saying the tech on board the monster ships is not fascinating but not for me oh maybe for 3 nights just to see what its like I like to cruise traditionally and focus my activities on the port stops I love the smiling welcoming faces of customer service on the monster class I have run into the o no what does this jerk want face once to many times I love the serenity areas on the smaller ships in my experience on monster class your lucky to get a seat and the hidden buffet they serve is great if you like standing long live the small personal ships and the great cruising experience Royal has perfected over the years leave the theme parks to Disney and universal I love to cruise period yes I am older but when I started cruising I was a younger man and felt the same way I do now ⚓

I had the same issue with the wrong e mail address.  Took 2 years to straighten out.  like you numerous phone calls and up the chain of command.   We now use a travel agent exclusively and she is excellent.  If we do RC we can tell if the person is good or not after a couple of questions. Otherwise we immediately ask for a supervisor and don`t accept  bogus comments of they are not available when in fact they are.  There are a few good RC agents but most are fairly lazy and useless.  Carnival is the bottom of the barrel in our estimation.  Steer clear they are cheap for a reason.  

WOW I love it when they toss around these monster amounts of money guess johnny rockets will go to 25.00 cover charge by the end of the year LOL?

After having been to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel twice and Maya Chan in Costa Maya once, I wanted to list the differences and similarities based on my experiences at both. These are only my impressions from my visits and are not definitive at all  
  Entry and Getting There   Entry Fees Nachi Cocom — $55 Maya Chan — $59   Transportation  Nachi Cocom — from the International Pier, the cost is $17 each way for a taxi trip. Once the shops are navigated to the taxi stand, the trip takes about 20 minutes. Let them know when you want to return to the ship, and a taxi will be waiting.  Costa Maya — once you exit the controlled shops and terminal area, the meeting spot is about two blocks away. The trip cost is included in the price and organized by the staff and takes 25-30 minutes on rough dirt roads south from Mahahual paralleling the coast. Return trips to the ship came in thirty minute increments starting at 1:30 for a 4:30 all on board time. The last taxi was scheduled at 3:30 and drops you off inside the controlled port area, which I liked better than the original pick up area.  Clear Edge to Maya Chan when combining entry and transportation for the right number of people. It doesn’t favor Nachi Cocom cost-wise unless you have a large number of people and a bus.    Total Cost for Two Adults Nachi Cocom — $144 Maya Chan — $118 Clear Edge to Maya Chan   Greeting and Orientation Nachi Cocom — upon arrival, you are greeted by a staff member who takes pictures of you with a sombrero and then directs you to the cashier who takes your payment receipt. After a brief wait, you are introduced to your waiter who takes you to your palapa  Maya Chan — when arriving at the meet up point outside of the port area which is fairly easy to find on the right next to a small convenience store, you are advised of the conditions and given the opportunity to cancel if there is a lot of seaweed in the beach. They have your name and number in your party on a list, check you off and match you with other guests for the trip which is usually in a 12 passenger van. A rep, for us, it was one of the American ex-pat owners gives a brief orientation.  Edge to Maya Chan   What’s Included (The Basics) Nachi Cocom — all food and beverages as well as access to all facilities. Your waiter brings anything you like to your palapa, or you can use the swim up bar in the pool or the restaurant area. Food is ordered off a fairly extensive menu. Beach toys are extra.  Maya Chan — an attendant will bring an introductory rum punch and any other beverages you like. Other than chips, guac and salsa, food is buffet style in the small All beach toys are included. They range from water shoes, snorkeling gear, floating chairs and stand up paddle boards.  Edge to Nachi Cocom (I don’t mind paying a little extra for a kayak or floating mat)   The Facilities Nachi Cocom — there are two sets of bathrooms, a large outdoor seating area in the restaurant/bar, palapas that run two deep the full width of the property, which I am guessing is about 250 feet of water frontage. Each palapa has two chairs and a small table. There is a nice second bar on the beach. There is a small dock. The pool is great, and has a swim up bar which I love. There is also a hot tub. The beach is wide and clean. It’s easy to wade in with your floating device and a cold beverage. The restaurant is very nice and under shade, so even on the hottest days, is a great place to be. There are about 20 tables in the space.  Maya Chan — palapas include 1-5 chairs and a beach bed which provided one of the best naps I’ve ever had. They are larger than what is available at Nachi Cocom. There was an unattended second bar behind the line of palapas. I am guessing there is about 150 feet of  water frontage. There is no pool. The day I was there was not ideal, sadly, because a storm washed an unbelievable amount of seaweed ashore. It was quite staggering, actually. Three dedicated staff members were putting in huge efforts to clear paths to the water. Even then, when wading out, the seaweed was so thick, it wrapped around your legs for 10-15 feet until you reached clearer water. The bottom was rocky, though not as rocky as Adrenalin Beach at Labadee. Water shoes are a good idea. The restaurant/bar area is somewhat small and pleasant with about 8 tables. The cooking occurs right there, so you can enjoy the skilled cooking.  Edge to Nachi Cocom   Staff Nachi Cocom — absolutely fantastic. I had the same waiter both times, he remembered me. The bar tenders are quick and generous with the mixed drinks and the beers are cold.  Maya Chan — absolutely fantastic. They are extra attentive to your needs yet they don’t pester you. I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Dan, one of the owners.  Slight Edge to Maya Chan — Nachi is wonderful however   Food and Beverage Nachi Cocom — I like the option to be served at a table or at your palapa. All tropical drinks I had were very good, and the beer was cold. The menu has numerous Mexican and some American selections.  Maya Chan — The tropical drinks were very tasty and the beer was cold. Food was served buffet style and limited to assembling tacos using shredded skirt steak, chicken, sea bass (dripping in garlic butter — omg), and pork. All had Mexican seasoning and were fresh, plentiful and wonderful with all the fixings including really, really good guacamole.  Edge to Nachi Cocom because of the style of servïce and variety. Quality at both were good.    Edges to Nachi Cocom — 3 Maya Chan — 4   Conclusion   Because I am happy with a cold beer on the beach to keep me happy, and the lower overall cost, I would give an edge to Maya Chan especially on a good beach day when the seaweed is gone. If I’m in the mood for a pool day and a swim up bar, I’ll pick Nachi Cocom and conclude the total extra cost is worth it knowing that I could have stayed at the port at Costa Maya and had swim up bar action all day if I wanted.    Despite how the edges came out above, I think Nachi Cocom would win over in my book because of more variety. My daughter picks Nachi Cocom because she remembers that the drink portions are larger and the large menu. So I would say that for us, the more developed facilities and the food variety are weighed more heavily than some of the other categories.    I would be curious to know what others who have been to both think.   

Maya Chan — hammock in the back of our palapa

Maya Chan — raised observation tower  great place to charge your phone 

Maya Chan — our palapa

Maya Chan — our palapa

Maya Chan — view from our palapa

Maya Chan — buffet area in the left foreground, and the bar in the back  this was taken upon entering for the first time

Maya Chan — this is an example of an area of seaweed that was cleared the most. The thicker areas were unreal  I waded through it several times, and it’s not bad if your mind is focused on the goal of getting to the other side. If you dwell on it, I will tell no lie, it’s pretty gross. If you don’t intend to go in the water on days when this happens, it won’t be an issue. 
 

Maya Chan — bar/restaurant from the beach

Maya Chan — beach toys — note the mounds of seaweed
 

Nachi Cocom — very nice beach

Nachi Cocom — palapas on the beach
 

Nachi Cocom Menu
 
Nachi Cocom Bathroom
Nachi Cocom pool and hot tub

Nachi Cocom massage palapa

Nachi Cocom secondary bathrooms and shower
 

Nachi Cocom — secondary beach bar
 

Nachi Cocom — pool with restaurant bar on the other side
 

Nachi Cocom — swim up bar on the other side fro. The restaurant side bar. 
 

Nachi Cocom resultant seating
 

Twangster is pretty specific about who he will adopt, from a previous post he only considers pinnacle+. And you know you would end up being his camera mule don't you. 

Found this just now...she looks great!
@KLAconQueso and @AGSLC5...if you read through, OP said that cabins were not refreshed.....

Day 1 - Seattle
In the "things that make you go hmmm..." department, I noted the hotel ironing board was behind the cross bar to hang clothes on.  You can't stand in front of it pass it under the bar (it hits your feet).  It can't go over the bar (it hits the ceiling).  Hmmm.

Finally it's time to head down to the shuttle arranged by MEI Travel for the Group Cruise.  On my way down the hotel hallway I passed a room and saw some luggage in the hallway with ship tags on them.  Mind you this is the hotel before the cruise. 

I hope those people didn't leave thinking that just like on the last night aboard you put your luggage out in the hall and it is magically collected for you.

Chihuly is my favorite artist. I look forward to going there after the cruise.

VAT is included in the price of excursions published by RCCL so the price you see is the price you pay.
A more interesting nuance concerns VAT with on board purchases. If a cruise only visits ports that are in the Schengen area, prices will be higher as VAT is added. However, if there is just one port of call that is outside of the Schengen area, VAT will not be added. We found this out on B2B sailings, the first of which included a non Schengen port and the second did not. Prices were higher in the on board shops for the second cruise. Usually you would not be aware of it as the VAT is not shown separately - only the total prevailing price. But the difference in prices between one cruise and the next was significant. So my tip to anyone sailing in Europe would be to try and ensure the itinerary includes a non Schengen area destination.
A list of Schengen area states and the overlap with EU and non EU countries can be found here: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/
As you can see, the Schengen area is NOT the same as the EU. For example, the UK has never been part of the Schengen area but has been (and is for a little longer, at least) part of the EU.

Planes have wifi, just like ships ?

Talk about torture !  I could never work somewhere that I could see a cruise ship leaving WITHOUT ME !

Day 3 — Allure at Sea   I woke up to watch a nice sunrise with a plan to lie around and eat all day while doing next to nothing with a couple exceptions...     All Access Tour   Bring your long pants if you book a ship tour. I had the slip resistant shoe thing down, so it created the need to sprint from the Silk dining room which is aft all the forward to my stateroom and grab a pair. I made it back in time for the start which included chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne  we started in the galleys, moved to the storage areas around deck 2, the engine control room, I-95 hallway up to the entrance to the crew mess and then waaaaaayyyyy down into the bowels of the ship (I saw bilge signs —> that’s when you know you’re way down there) three decks below the water line...there’s deck 2, deck 1 (water line), deck 0, TW (tween deck), and HW (I think —> I can’t remember what it stands for) where we saw some incredible laundry facilities. The scale of it is staggering.    Mid-Day   We spent some time on the pool deck before hunger set in and I tried a coney on the Boardwalk followed by a burger, fries, a cookie and some pudding in the Windjammer...then some ice cream on the pool deck. That held me over till dinner. One nap later, I felt the need to burn some calories, so I headed to the gym for 45 minutes prior to the aqua show, Ocean Aria which was delightful.   Immediately following Ocean Aria, I went back to my room to grab one of the CP balcony perks of a bottle of wine, and we proceeded to 150 CentralPark. It was an excellent meal and experience, and AI really enjoyed salting the butter. I liked all of the flavors, Alaea (Hawaii), Sel Gris (Mediterranean gray sea salt), Murray River (Australian), Sel de Mar (French Med), Salish (Washington State —> love it or hate it, it’s like a campfire...really), and then Kala Namak (if you like sulphur, you’ll like this. Me? I’ll just say that I needed to cleanse my palate)   Following dinner, we headed to the Amber Theater and watched the Love and Marriage game show. It’s pretty much the same every time...lots of laughs and embarrassing moments...I was ready for bed afterwards, so I retired.    (Photos are uploaded randomly...more on IG @dunkelbier_jay)

For the past 2 weeks he had a few chest pains that only lasted about a minute or so.  Then Thursday morning at 2:30 am, he had chest pain that went thru to his back and wouldn't go away.  I gave him 4 baby aspirins (equals 1 whole one) and took him to the ER (I wanted to call 911 and he wouldn't let me).  ER got in straight back and did blood work checking for the "t" enzyme.  He did have the enzyme show up but only slight. 2nd blood draw in 3 hours was up a little more so they admitted him.  At 3 pm same day, he had very strong chest pains and the nurses gave my nitroglycerin and aspirin and called the doctor.  More blood work was done and enzyme was up a good bit.  Having him already in the hospital is was saved him because treatment was done immediately.  For what it's worth, every EKG the normal (even immediately after this bad attack), his blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen rates were all good.  So being already at the hospital with our early warning signs is all that saved him.  If he had been out working or even at home, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. 

I am so very happy to hear of your great fortune life is so precious I hope you have many many more sailings together and enjoy every precious moment sail on my friends ?️

For the record, I'm still home ?

Very blessed and grateful for sure.  With only 2-5% even survive to get to the hospital.  We are high school sweethearts, married for 42 years and our plans are to grow old together!

Well to say that we are extremely grateful is an understatement!  Hubby had a heart attack this past Thursday, heart cath on Friday to find what the doctors call the "widow maker" with the main artery in his heart 99% blocked.  They were able to fix it with a balloon and stint.  We came home on Saturday and other than being very sore is feeling pretty good. He has to take it easy for a few weeks.  I asked the doctor about flying for our Alaska cruise and he said he could fly in 4 weeks.  We were 2 days shy of the 4 weeks and the doctor gave his blessing.  I did have trip insurance but thankful that he is still here and to be able to still go.  Hubby is very active and that was in his favor too. 

Maybe 20 yrs ago I would have,then again maybe I did and I just can't remember lol the 90's just sort of came and went lol ??????

This looks like soooooo much fun!  Every cruise director in the fleet should watch these videos.
 
Get rid of the tired, boring 70's night and have events like this where people have fun and really enjoy themselves. A real vacation.
 
Instead of passengers having to pretend they like the Village People and KC and the Sunshine Band songs; Turn the subs down low, make the girls wearing bikinis sit in a pile of glitter and let passengers get their moneys worth out of their drink package.
 
I woud sooooo sign up for 7 nights of this!!!!

Every question I had in my mind before reading vanished when I read it was  British reality tv show.
It also mentions a show called Geordie shore! I would replace the S with a W 
A show where parents can sit and proudly watch their children having sex on tv.
Nowadays people have very little respect for themselves never mind anyone else 

this is definitely the way there headed I have been on several cruises since I heard of complimentary breakfast not one had it seems to me the suite class will get it no soup for steerage ?

sounds like someone deserves an extra lobster night for all the inconvenience?

I enjoy the theater very much I remember when they were on freedom class down in the conference area the brilliance has one and I will be using it pool side movies are ok but the little 29 seats theaters are the best

Lets hope the IT Department of Royal doesn't merge with Silversea... ?

WOW I love it when they toss around these monster amounts of money guess johnny rockets will go to 25.00 cover charge by the end of the year LOL?