mac66

Okay, that was slightly exaggerated. That was calculated based on the DBP price ($83/day) they charged on my last (8 night) cruise (nov '22) = $1567 (includes gratuity). That's more than we paid for the cruise for the 2 of us. I just looked at what it would cost for my next 7 night cruise in February '23. DBP is at $63.99/day x 7 days=528.55x 2=(includes 18% gratuity)=1057.11 (That's 75 $14 drinks or 132 beers). For $1057 I think I could figure out other ways to drink on a cruise ship. If you happen to be a D the 4 vouchers are worth $66.08/day=$446 w/gratuity/7 days. 5 D+ vouchers are worth $82.60/day or $558/week. That's based on the max $14/drink value. And of course that times 2 if you're a D(+) traveling with your spouse.

Seriously... $1600/week (at current prices) for booze? Seriously?

How would the ship personnel know if the wine bottle you have wasn't given to you by your TA (i.e bought through the ship) or a gift/prize of the ship? Answer: They wouldn't. We brought two bottles of wine one time and there were two more (gift) bottles in our cabin.

Been to Coz a bunch of times. Our favorite Coz excursion was the secret river cave tour.

On my end of Nov beginning of Dec cruise there were people at dinner every night in jeans, shorts and T-shirts, sometime jean shorts and T-shirts. Dress codes are out the window these days.

We did the underground river tour in Coz one winter. Went back to Coz in early Dec the same year with our kids and tried to book it again. Wouldn't let us because we had both turned 65 (considered elderly) in between. I understand the age limits to some degree. Some people are old in their 50s but some are still young in their 70s & 80s. You should be able to sign a waiver of something if you are over the age limit.

I think there is a noticeable difference between crews on the Oasis class and smaller ships. The crews on the smaller ships seem to be tighter, friendlier, more together. The bigger ship crews seem to be more impersonal and remote. Perhaps there is more stress or more work on the bigger ships.

As I get older I appreciate the smaller ships more with the less hectic/crowded activities on board. We kind of switched to Celebrity ships before the covid thing but on three X cruises (2 on the Summit, one on the Equinox) this year we were kind of disappointed with the food and service. We went back to RCI for a late Nov/early Dec cruise on a Voyager class ship and it was very nice. Didn't really miss much of what the Oasis class offers. We are on a Radiance class ship in Feb. Looking forward to it. Except for maybe taking grand kids some day, I probably will not do an Oasis class again. Have no desire to do an Icon class either.

Definitely Dunn's River Falls. My parents did it when they were in their 70's. You're pretty much pulled up the falls if you do a tour.

Thanks a bunch. I was considering Gypsea as well but didn't know where they were. This may work out well. My wife, brothers/wives and I can go to Jaime's and I can dive wth Pepe's or Gysea. We are now booked at Jaimie's and I contacted Pepe's. They suggest I book a spot with them ahead of time (of course). Their dive boat goes out at 9 and 11:30 am, sometimes full, sometimes not so it's better to reserve a spot. I could easily get in 2 dives with the rest of the afternoon for food and drinks. Seems like a plan

I'd personally pick Sand Dollar for their affiliation with the cruise lines (which I did for my Feb cruise even thought the ship's dive was sold out) but the standards are pretty much the same so I'm sure you'll have a good time what ever you pick. Be aware that diving is an addicting and expensive hobby. I always wanted to dive but never got around to it until I did a discovery dive in Grand Cayman. I went home and did the PADI class, then my open water dives on a cruise to the ABC islands. I was 65 when I got certified. Did 5 or 6 dives on cruises then covid hit. Started diving again on cruises last winter/spring. Just got back from another cruise to the ABCs and dived 6 times in 3 days. I live in the north but I'm strictly a warm water, cruise diver.

To the OP regarding diving at Jaime's... Since you mentioned Pepe's dive shop....I assume you dived with them. Do they dive off the shore? Can you just walk up to the shop and dive while you are at Jaime's?

Was in Maya Chan in Dec '19. It was okay. It's not really for kids. The food and drinks were very good. Accommodations very nice. The beach not so much. We took snorkeling gear but nothing to really see in the water. Sea grass was bad when we were there. The roads to/from was very rough and it was a long and uncomfortable ride. We found the whole thing rather boring. YMMV Probably wouldn't do it again. They've raised the price since we were there as well.

Been a while since I was in Nassau. There's a lot history there. maybe download a self guided tour. Climb the Queen's staircase, up to the fort. When we were there with the kids 25 years ago, we were just walking around and a local guy offered a guided tour. It was very good so we tipped him. The "kids" still talk about it.

We went to Nassau for the first time in about 25 years in April 2019. I dived, my wife stayed on board. It was fun. That was on an Eastern Caribbean cruise which also included San Juan, St. Maarten & Labadee. Most Bahama & West Carib cruises from the east coast of Florida stop at CoCo Cay.

Maya Chan is $69 now. Been there, done that. It was okay. Not going back. Food & service was very good. Beach not so much. Lots of seaweed, nothing to see there. The ride was long and uncomfortable to get there and back. But....it's a very nice place and we did have a good time.

Most of the cruise lines in Coz use Sand Dollar Sports. You may save a few bucks by booking it yourself but on my next cruise SDS is $2 more privately, not counting transportation to/from for a regular dive than through the ship. The ship's Discover Dive while I'm there is $98. SDS's private Discover dive is $84 but that doesn't include transportation. Not to say you maybe could get a Discovery dive cheaper somewhere else. There are a lot of places in Coz to dive.

No such thing as a "free cruise". You are still paying for it, just in different way.

Okay...well...thanks for posting

There is a reason why cruise lines give away cruises to gamblers. They ain't free.

On our last cruise there were two dress your best nights. The other nights were casual. Some people wore jeans or shorts and t shirts every night. Dress up if you want but you don't have to.

Been to Coz and CM numerous times. Kind of run out of things to do. But we changed our minds about Costa Maya. Now going to Jaimie's Blue Reef for an all day inclusive beach day, and I've diving with the in house dive shop In Cozumel pretty much doing the same thing through Mr. Sancho's. Again, I'm diving through their in house dive shop.

Last Feb we bought and brought a couple bottles of booze on board after a shore excursion (stuff we couldn't get back home) fully expecting it to be confiscated. They didn't. That was in St. Maarten. When we sailed with our adult kids last Dec, they flew in so we picked up a couple extra bottles of wine for them to carry aboard as we were meeting them on the dock. I had a couple bottles and my wife forgot to give them theirs so she carried it aboard. We weren't stopped. Though not encouraged there are other ways to imbibe on board. We are D's and not big drinkers so don't really need extra booze. In fact on our last cruise we didn't even open the wine we took aboard.

We were just on Explorer a couple weeks ago. The crew we asked said that it was going in for maintenance and refreshing not a complete re vAMPing. They said the carpeting and wall coverings and wall decorations will be changed. Chairs and tables in the MDR and bars/lounges will be replaced. They are tearing out some of the shops on the promenade and replacing them with a Playmaker's Sports Bar. We were on board during the world cup soccer and Michigan/Ohio State and other college and later pro games, space was definitely lacking to watch sports.

We've been Diamonds for 3 years now and for whatever reasons just used the Diamond lounge for the first time on our Nov 26 Explorer cruise. It was really nice...food, service and the coffee machine were really good. And it wasn't crowded. We tried the DL on a couple other cruises but it was always so crowded or we were with non D family we passed.