mac66

12 hours ago, Crazycruiser50 said:

Perfect, thanks Patty!  My wife and I were both in the restaurant industry for many years and never order a drink without a cash tip.  I appreciate you replying!

So you don't think 18% added to your drink price is enough?

On 1/13/2023 at 6:53 PM, Suzanne Elise said:

Thanks for the tips. They did mention this style does not re-circulate air, so hopefully that cuts out the CO2 risk. I could breathe very easily in the pool and I have not the best breathing and oxygenation.

Inside there was this  DIRE pamphlet from the state of Hawaii health department about how many people die snorkeling. It literally had an info graphic with gun, crashing car and a snorkel (snorkel being the most dangerous).  It also was very pointed that 17 out of 18 snorkel deaths are non Hawaiian. It even said really don't feel the need to snorkel just because you are in Hawaii. Which is ironically the place I tried to snorkel and couldn't stand it.

EMS & Injury Prevention System Branch | Information on Drowning Prevention.webloc 735 B · 6 downloads

My wife hated snorkeling primarily because she was in a car accident when in college and it smashed her jaw. Many decades later It is still really painful for her to bite down on a snorkel.   About 5 years ago we ran across a full face mask for her. She has loved snorkeling ever since.   The CO2 scare with full face masks is largely a myth conjured up by traditional snorkel gear makers. Enjoy

Best pour?  BYO

BTW...Foster's is made in the US, at least the stuff they have on board.  Still tastes better than any light beer and as stated is a pretty good deal.

On 1/12/2023 at 1:52 PM, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

I'm curious to hear what class of rooms and ships you were in during these cruises.  Were you in the MDR for your meals and did you do any specialty dining?

Dec '22   RCI Explorer 7 nighter..We did a cheap inside cabin. Dinner was in the MDR every night. No specialty dinning or drink package. Food was good and service was very good.

Aug '22-  X Summit-9 night, inside- drink package, wifi were included. No specialty dining, MDR a couple times but service and food was so bad we ended up going to the OV cafe most of the time.

Mar '22-X Equinox 12 night-booked an inside but they shut the deck we were on down and moved everyone. They gave us a balcony on deck 9. drink and wifi included. MDR or OV a couple times, no specialty dinning. Food and service in the MDR was hit and miss. Very frustrating.

Feb '22-X Summit, 7 nighter. Inside cabin-this was a charter, No specialty dinning, no drink package. MDR or OV every night. When we got tired of the slow/non existent service we switched to the OV cafe.

Just an update from our late Nov/early Dec RCI 8 night ABC island cruise on the Explorer. Very nice cruise. Food and service were very much better than the 3 X cruises we did last year.  I think we are done with X for awhile. We have another RCI cruise set up in Feb.

When we got 28 points away from Diamond we booked Jr. suites twice. Once was for our 40th wedding anniversary so a good excuse for a JS. But one was relatively cheap JS at an off time.

We found that it was cheaper to travel once and get double points in a JS than it was to travel and then stay overnight in a hotel for two cruises.  Or in this case two JS cruises vs 4 regular (7 night) cruises.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and Jan-mid Feb are typically the cheapest times to cruise.  JS's can be all over the place in price however.

On 1/9/2023 at 4:20 PM, jbrinkm said:

Thanks @mac66!! I've seen different concerns - could be muddy, or could be dusty. Someone recommended water shoes. We booked through Viator because we wanted to split our day between two activities (and also not get up very early) and our ATV time is an hour with another hour doing paintball. I have a message in to the company about what they recommend but they haven't gotten back to me yet, so thought I would check here. It won't hurt for us to bring our own bandanas but what kind of goggles would you use? Like ski goggles? Swimming goggles? Or are there specific goggles for ATV'ing? What about just sunglasses - will those keep the dust out?

I have some cheap goggles I hand out to people who ride with me. Got them on Amazon. Just be aware that in really dusty environments you may have to cover the vents with tape to keep the dust out.

https://www.amazon.com/OXG-Motorcycle-Goggles-goggles-Anti-UV/dp/B0BD8RF32F/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=atv+goggles&qid=1673399588&sr=8-9

Just an FYI, if you can't get the ship excursion look at Native Choice tours. They do that same tour... Chacchoben & Lagoon excursion for half the price. I've done it twice with them over the years, very good tour.  NC regular Chacchoben tour is $40/person cheaper than the ships.

Not been there but if you decide to do it consider using Native Choice tours $75/person vs $89 through the ship.

43 minutes ago, WesKinetic said:

Used Native Choice last year and had a really good experience. The only problem is that I don't know that they offer a combined ruins tour/beach time excursion. 

 I did notice the ship has a Chacchoban tour that stops at Bacalar lagoon "beach"  after lunch.

Native Choice has a ruins tour that stops at Bacalar aka Seven Colors Lagoon as well, cost is less than half what the ship charges and it includes lunch and drinks.  The only difference is that you have to find your way out of the maze of shops and leave the port to do the NC tour.

I own ATVs and have done ATV rides in Aruba, Hawaii and a few other islands. They typically are very dusty so a face covering is probably a good idea. Either a bandana or a regular covid type mask. They usually require long pants and long sleeve shirts and no flip flops or sandals. Tennis shoes are usually ok.  I usually wear zip off pants so when we stop I can unszip the legs and vent.  On the other hand if they don't specify what you should wear then you might be okay with shorts and t-shirt.

I just looked at the excursions for Coz on my next cruise there (in Feb) if you booked through the ship the only one I'm seeing is this one  'Adventure to Jade Caverns by ATV-(Driver & Passenger - Double Ride)'.  They don't really say anything about what what to wear but bandanas. I assume they will supply helmets and maybe goggles. May want to invest in cheap goggles for everyone. The worse thing is the dust in the eyes. There will be dust.   If you are doing it through the ship you may want to check with the excursion desk before hand.

It should be there. Our Coz. Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan excursions for Nov 4 showed up several months ago.   There is a Chacchoben excursion offered through the ship on our cruise.

If you can't get one through the ship consider using Native Choice tours. We've used them twice over the years for Chaccchoben and they are considerably cheaper than the ship excursion.

My pet peeve?

People who complain about every little thing that is common on cruise ships.

I'm not seeing any snorkeling/beach tours offered through RCI but we initially booked the RCI "Beach Break with Open Bar" $54/person for Costa Maya on our early Feb cruise. We figured we could just snorkel off the beach. Ended up canceling it and booked with Jamie's at the Blue Reef with included open food and drink for $3/person more. Plus it has a dive shop (Pepi Dive) in the same building that I can dive with and the others in my party can snorkel with (+$) out on the reef.

Our society was a kinder, gentler place back in the day when common courtesy and manners prevailed and before it became okay to accept and rationalize bad behavior. I take my hat off even at home when I sit down for a meal.

We took care of some bucket list cruises last year on X that were carried over from the covid years. Food and service wasn't very good compared to 2019. I think we're done with X for awhile.

But other than those we pretty much do bare bones/cheap cruises, just to get out of the cold weather.

We did an 8 nighter the end of Nov/early Dec on RCI (food & service was very good). The only one booked this year is a 7 nighter in early Feb on RCI.  

No new/big ships. Mostly inside cabins, no suites, no drink packages, no dining packages, no internet, no gambling, no spas, no extras   Excursions? I started scuba diving at the age of 65 in 2019 so I'm diving at most of the places we've been to numerous times but never dived before.  My wife hardly ever gets off the boat anymore. We enjoy not cooking or cleaning. We enjoy the no extra cost activities (MDR, buffet, trivia, shows, etc, etc) on board.  We enjoy just chillin' out in the warm sunshine.

We usually do two, sometimes three cruises a year. Did 3 last year as makeups/carryovers from 2020 & '21, plus one cheap one the end of the year.  Basically cost, food, service and itineraries are determining factors for us not frills or extras. We like to go places we've not been before sometimes but If the cruise lines continue to raise costs while lowering food quality and service we will look elsewhere to chill out.

One more time...

I had forgotten that while we were on the R&R cruise we made friends with a couple who had just gotten off another charter called Rock Legends. It was a 5 day cruise on the RCI Liberty . They said it was a good time as well. This year it's Feb 13-17.  Google it if interested,  real good lineup of acts. 

Feb 4 2023 Serenade. 

Late to the party but we did three Celebrity cruises this year, a rock & romance 7 night music charter... no kids. A 12 night southern... no kids and a 12 night Iceland to boston...no kids. 

So depending on what kind of criuse,  how long you go,  and the cruise line you book will determine kids or not.

Sorry to keep bringing this up but I remembered I wrote a review of the Rock & Romance cruise in the Celebrity forum.  It may have interest for those considering doing a music charter.

6 hours ago, ScottD said:

I've done ski trips and other overnight\bus trips to watch and hang out with some musical acts, so a cruise definitely sounds like a fun way to do it! 

I should have mentioned another bad thing about these charter cruises...usually your status (Diamond/Elite or above) perks don't apply.  No drink vouchers/happy hours, wifi minutes,discounts etc.  On the other hand we were allowed to bring our own booze on board and they had several events/concerts where they served free rum punch.

Monsters of Rock is a charter. So if it is like other charters it's not open for general booking.

We did a Rock and Romance cruise charter last Feb. It was on the Celebrity Summit. It cost quite a bit more than a regular cruise (gotta pay for the entertainment) so that would tend to exclude kids and others. It also tends to sell out quickly.  It was mostly 70's music. It was a lot of fun. 

Same company does a Flower Power cruise which is mostly 60's music.  They also do a couple other charters i.e, 50s, Jazz, Soul, etc. The Flower Power cruise is almost always sold out far in advance. In fact that's how we got on the R&R cruise, couldn't get on the FP cruise.  They are not something we would do every year but they have great music and are a lot of fun. 

The nice thing about doing a music charter is that it a relatively small venue. They play on the pool deck, lounges, main show room so you're fairly close. Another thing is you run into the acts on the ship continually. In the dining room, Oceanview cafe, elevators, bars, hot tubs, pools, etc.

The bad thing about a music charter is when you go back to a regular cruise, you really miss the great music.  I mean they started live music concerts at 10 am on the pool deck and went to well after midnight every night.

Wife and I are on the Serenade for a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise Feb 4. We've been on all the big ships. Looking forward to the Sera.

A "sale" is whatever price they are selling an item at, i.e, for sale.    It doesn't necessarily mean a discounted price. The term "sale" has kind of morphed into (through marketing) a cheaper price but that's rarely true.

14 hours ago, TravisMA81 said:

I don't understand why moderate drinkers that don't need the drink package like to complain about the price.  I don't complain about the dining package because there's no way I could eat that much every night so I would never get it.  I can easily drink 8 to 12 beers or mixed drinks a day so $80 works for me.   

If you drink 8-12 beers or drinks a day it's understandable why you don't mind paying the price.