mac66

At dinner they provide anything you can get in the Windjammer at b'fast and lunch. Including ice tea, tea, coffee, juice, milk etc, etc plus chocolate milk usually. If you want something else just ask and they'll tell you if there is an extra charge for it.
If you have a favorite soft drink/juice/water you can carry on up to a 12 pack.

They don't really have time or the inclination to scan checked luggage for bottles. They are mostly interested in weapons and prohibited electrical appliances.  A guy we cruise with always brings a full bottle of Crown Royal in his luggage. Never been tagged, caught. YMMV as every cruise line, ship, port is different.  Having said that my wife makes sure we carry on our 2 bottles of wine.

There are about 100 dive shops in Coz. I've used Dive w/Martin back in 2019 before covid. They were good. Going back to Coz in February and diving with Blue Reef Divers this time but only because it is the in house dive shop for the all inclusive resort my family is going to the day we are there.
I had originally booked  with Sand Dollar Sports which is what RCI uses for their ship excursions. The ship dive was sold out.  SDS is a 3 or 4 block walk from the pier.
Dive paradise was also highly recommended.

RCI won't provide much of anything though you can sometimes leave stuff on the bus. Buy a waterproof bag, lanyard, phone case etc.  Take a backpack with you for towels, clothes etc.
To be honest I don't even take a phone ashore anymore, Just use a small backpack and a lanyard to carry my sea pass card, ID, credit card and some folded up money for tips if needed.

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
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
 
 

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.

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.

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.
 
 

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.

My pet peeve?
People who complain about every little thing that is common on cruise ships.🙄

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.

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.

First off welcome to 2023. Nobody needs to remove a hat for anybody else's needs, feeling, pleasure. Suck it up and deal.
Second. Many men have issues about lack of hair at a certain age. Ron Howard has a baseball cap on at Academy awards etc. Should they feel more insecure and uncomfortable to please you? No.
Third. Many have scares and marks etc from some very unpleasant treatments. (Not related to their hair) They keep hats on to make everyone more comfortable.
This Victorian age BS about how what others have on makes you feel and impacts your experience is complete selfish nonsense. 

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. 

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.
 

I have sailed Mardi Gras.  For Carnival cruisers it is a huge difference compared to any ship prior.  In that sense there is no question it's the best Carnival ship and a fan favorite I'm sure.  
I was fortunate to sail her at reduced capacity.  I ran into a number of frequent cruisers who all sailed multiple lines like me on that restart cruise.  A recurring sentiment was "beautiful ship, can't imagine her at full capacity".  I'm not sure I'd go back now that she is at capacity but there are thousands of Carnival cruisers who probably haven't sailed her yet.  Even at 60% capacity Terminal 3 was chaos for embarkation.  I think Carnival makes embarkation chaos just so it can sell Faster To Fun passes. 
Bolt was okay but expensive for the very short ride.  One and done.  I did it to experience it but only once.
Carnival in general has better comfort food like Guys Burger for the "heart attack in a bun" effect but Shaq's Chicken was pretty good.  Buffet was not better or worse than Royal.    
It was hard to get into the comedy venues and most bars had no available seating for hours.  That was at 60% capacity.  I can't imagine trying to get a seat at Alchemy Bar with the ship at full capacity.  
As far as ports go, I do like Port Canaveral.  It's a port you can visit without going on a cruise.  There are restaurants, bars and some touristy things that locals and tourists can visit any day of the week.  Port of Miami and Port Everglades are both ports that you would never visit when in the area unless you are going on a cruise.  Neither have bars or restaurants.  Unless you have business there, you don't go to Port of Miami or Port Everglades.  Port Everglades is a secure maritime facility so you can't just visit there.  Tampa and Jacksonville are small cruise ports that are limited in scope so it would be hard for either to garner enough momentum to win awards for anything even in fake polls.     
It was interesting that Royal brought Odyssey to Port Canaveral during the shutdown when she first came over to the US.  Mardi Gras and Odyssey both sailed into Port Canaveral on the same day.  More crowds came to see Mardi Gras or enough got tired and left by the time Odyssey pulled in hours later.  From that perspective there was more local interest in Mardi Gras probably because MG is a game changer for Carnival but maybe that suggests there are more Carnival cruisers in the area.  
Perhaps this poll source just tends to have more Carnival followers so that is how the votes landed.  I don't follow them normally.