Looking for feedback: Beachfront All Inclusive Premium Villa at Turquoise Bay Roatan

[Jax]

I noticed a few new excursions have been added to cruise planner for our upcoming cruise this December.  In particular, a beachfront all inclusive premium villa is now available at Turqoise Bay in Roatan.  I can’t find any online reviews and the shore excursion team wasn’t much help.  All they were able to confirm is that the price includes 4 guests with a maximum occupancy of 8 (additional guests have to meet with tour operator on day of excursion to find out the cost) That right there seems a bit odd; not knowing the extra cost until the day of.  I will post pictures from cruise planner in case anyone has been to Turqoise Bay and has seen these villas and has any insight.  We currently have the VIP excursion booked at the same resort but this is tempting me.  

[Lucky]

I saw this too and was intrigued. So, to your understanding, it is per package not per guest like the excursion states?

[Jax]

22 minutes ago, Jeremy L. said:

I saw this too and was intrigued. So, to your understanding, it is per package not per guest like the excursion states?

Yes that’s right. 

[Cactus527]

We were at Turquoise Bay in July. I believe these villas are actually part of the resort itself, which is totally new compared to the beach only excursions offered prior to this.

The resort is lovely, and the villas are further away from the ocean. In the second photo that you posted, it would be the smaller house-looking huts to the left and right of the long thatched-roof area. That area has a bar, buffet, and seating for VIP excursion guests.

 

[Jax]

2 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

We were at Turquoise Bay in July. I believe these villas are actually part of the resort itself, which is totally new compared to the beach only excursions offered prior to this.

The resort is lovely, and the villas are further away from the ocean. In the second photo that you posted, it would be the smaller house-looking huts to the left and right of the long thatched-roof area. That area has a bar, buffet, and seating for VIP excursion guests.

 

Thank you! This helps a lot.  TBH I am rethinking this excursion due to feedback of a harrowing ride. Not sure we are up for that. Lol What kind of vehicle were you in, was it in good working order and how harrowing was the drive? Worse than St Maarten and other eastern Caribbean locations? 
 

This was in the notes of the excursion. 
 

• This tour takes place in a foreign country where laws, regulations and business practices may vary from your home country. This could include significant differences in transportation mode and quality, infrastructure, regulations, and driving practices. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the associated risks and travel warning at travel.state.gov, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office, or your country equivalent travel advisory system, and consider when selecting or participating in any tour.

[Cactus527]

36 minutes ago, Jax said:

Thank you! This helps a lot.  TBH I am rethinking this excursion due to feedback of a harrowing ride. Not sure we are up for that. Lol What kind of vehicle were you in, was it in good working order and how harrowing was the drive? Worse than St Maarten and other eastern Caribbean locations? 
 

This was in the notes of the excursion. 
 

• This tour takes place in a foreign country where laws, regulations and business practices may vary from your home country. This could include significant differences in transportation mode and quality, infrastructure, regulations, and driving practices. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the associated risks and travel warning at travel.state.gov, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office, or your country equivalent travel advisory system, and consider when selecting or participating in any tour.

"Harrowing ride." This made me laugh so hard just now - thanks for that! We were in a 15-20 person shuttle van/bus. Lane lines don't seem to matter on Roatan, but I never felt unsafe. Maybe some other people did? I just found it amusing to watch. Our driver even pulled over at one point to run into a gas station and pick up something for himself. The drive across the island is beautiful - you go up into the hills and then down again - and it was lovely to drive through different villages and see what daily life is like there. It took about 40-45 minutes to get to Turquoise Bay one way. If you're expecting impeccable driving skills, this may not be for you; however, if you have that one friend that drives a little aggressively and quick but you're okay with that, you should be fine for Roatan driving.

EDIT - I just thought of something else. "Harrowing" could also refer to sheer cliffs or something like that, which this drive does not have. There are definitely places where the hills drop away from the road, and some twisty turny spots, but overall I would describe the road landscape through which we drove normal (not flat, but not dangerous).

[Cactus527]

Oh, also, I saw your question just now about St. Maarten and other eastern Caribbean locations - I can't relate to this one simply because I have not been to those places.

[Jax]

16 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

"Harrowing ride." This made me laugh so hard just now - thanks for that! We were in a 15-20 person shuttle van/bus. Lane lines don't seem to matter on Roatan, but I never felt unsafe. Maybe some other people did? I just found it amusing to watch. Our driver even pulled over at one point to run into a gas station and pick up something for himself. The drive across the island is beautiful - you go up into the hills and then down again - and it was lovely to drive through different villages and see what daily life is like there. It took about 40-45 minutes to get to Turquoise Bay one way. If you're expecting impeccable driving skills, this may not be for you; however, if you have that one friend that drives a little aggressively and quick but you're okay with that, you should be fine for Roatan driving.

EDIT - I just thought of something else. "Harrowing" could also refer to sheer cliffs or something like that, which this drive does not have. There are definitely places where the hills drop away from the road, and some twisty turny spots, but overall I would describe the road landscape through which we drove normal (not flat, but not dangerous).

This is very helpful, thank you! I think we will stick to the VIP excursion we already have booked and hope for the best. The cost of the Villa doesn’t make sense for only 4 hours.  We haven’t had the best of luck with transportation on any of our eastern Caribbean cruises so we will go into this with low expectations! 

[JC-LC]

I just reserved this for 6 people in August.   There is still not much on this excursion.  Has anyone tried this or been to the resort recently?   (2 kids, 2 adults, 2 grand parents).

[Jax]

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

I just reserved this for 6 people in August.   There is still not much on this excursion.  Has anyone tried this or been to the resort recently?   (2 kids, 2 adults, 2 grand parents).

We were here over Christmas and stuck with the VIP excursion.  I was glad we didn’t spend more for the villa. By the time you arrive you only have 4 hours so the cost is harder to justify. It’s not like at Coco Cay when you have from 8-5pm to enjoy. The service in the VIP area was excellent but food options and food quality were not great. Food choices in the VIP area are very limited and the server was not able to bring food from the non VIP menu (hotdogs, burgers, fries etc)  Both my son and I ended up going to the main dining area to eat lunch. Hubby stuck with the VIP food and regretted it; we think it was the lobster,  regardless it wasn’t good and our genie alerted the excursion manager.  Thankfully something tasted off and he stopped eating it. Here are some pictures of the villas, located behind the VIP area. I felt the VIP was overpriced for what we got and I grabbed it for a pretty good price. On the plus, we were there over Christmas and it was not over crowded in the VIP area like many other beach excursions;  plenty of loungers, umbrellas and towels. Our experience was fine but we wouldn’t do it again.  I know villas and cabanas value are subjective to many people but I am definitely #teamcabana. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions. 

[JC-LC]

THANK YOU!   That is the MOST information I have seen about the Villas.  (Quite odd -- you would think they would advertise it more)

About the resort---how is the water/beach?   Is it like CocoCay? 

ALSO -- is it 4 hours THERE or 4 hours with the bus trip included.  

And the food was  not great....but how were the drinks?  (I may need a few lol)  

I reserved it for a decent price -- not much of a difference from the VIP ticket + have your own bathroom/shower.   

 

BTW - I was in 9730 (same as you---diff ship) on Oasis 8/22.   Its a magical room!    Derrick was our Genie --- What an AMAZING Experience.   I can see how island food does not compare when you are a STAR!    

[Jax]

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

I reserved it for a decent price -- not much of a difference from the VIP ticket + have your own bathroom/shower. 

Good for you. Then I would do it.  In my case the villa was $1599.00 and definitely didn’t compare to the overwater cabana at PDCC. I think I paid $145 pp for the VIP so it was quite a price difference for the 3 of us. 

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

About the resort---how is the water/beach?   Is it like CocoCay? 

Beach was nice enough; we walked in the water but that was the extent of our water adventure. lol My expectations were low and it was fine, not great. Not sure anything would compare to PDCC but I went into this knowing that. 

 

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

BTW - I was in 9730 (same as you---diff ship) on Oasis 8/22.   Its a magical room!    Derrick was our Genie --- What an AMAZING Experience.   I can see how island food does not compare when you are a STAR!    

I love Oasis; we had Shane as our genie who was the best! Oasis has great genies.  We definitely get spoiled by our genies. Star class perks are definitely not recognized on excursions. Closest we got was receiving messages from Berty checking to see how we were doing. lol  

 

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

ALSO -- is it 4 hours THERE or 4 hours with the bus trip included.  

Yes, you are at the resort for 4 hours. Travel is about 45 each way. I was worried about the trip over there based on the warnings in the cruise planner but thankfully we had a good driver. No harrowing corners or drop offs. The bus ride was very squishy but it had AC. 
 

2 hours ago, JC-LC said:

And the food was  not great....but how were the drinks?  (I may need a few lol)  

I stuck with bottled water and soft drinks but there is a good selection of drinks. 

[JC-LC]

Thank you YET AGAIN.   

I love the Beach Club at PDCC but the Cabanas are almost $4k for my cruise.  Mid August is one of their busy times---so dynamic pricing is intense.   I think the Turquois Villas do not have a lot of press and have not been selling, so they are being discounted ($1300 currently) - I think the VIP passes have increased.   

We debated when in Star class whether to even get off the ship!       This August we are trying Sky Class on ICON.   Ship will be at capacity, so any extra space with a big family would be helpful.    

[Jax]

3 hours ago, JC-LC said:

I love the Beach Club at PDCC but the Cabanas are almost $4k for my cruise.

I know, it’s crazy!  I am faced with similar or worse pricing for our upcoming cruise over Christmas. Ugh

 

3 hours ago, JC-LC said:

I think the Turquois Villas do not have a lot of press and have not been selling, so they are being discounted ($1300 currently) - I think the VIP passes have increased.   

I agree, they were all empty when we were there and for that price for 6 people it makes sense.

 

3 hours ago, JC-LC said:

We debated when in Star class whether to even get off the ship!  

I hear you! This was our first time to Roaton but we said next time we would stay on ship too! 

 

3 hours ago, JC-LC said:

This August we are trying Sky Class on ICON

Enjoy!! I recently booked Wonder B2B (star class) Christmas 2025 so I understand the excitement of sailing on a new/newer ship.  Make sure to let me know what you think of the villa at Turquoise Bay. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 hours ago, JC-LC said:

We debated when in Star class whether to even get off the ship!

25 minutes ago, Jax said:

I hear you! This was our first time to Roaton but we said next time we would stay on ship too! 

We didn't even get off the ship (except CocoCay) in Sky Class. I'm never gonna be in Star Class but that would be a no-brainer for me.

BTW @Jax, I keep finding more and more positive reports about Paradise Beach. It's 3 cruises away for me but I'm still looking forward to it, lol. Thanks again for your recon work there a few months back.

[Jax]

38 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

BTW @Jax, I keep finding more and more positive reports about Paradise Beach. It's 3 cruises away for me but I'm still looking forward to it, lol. Thanks again for your recon work there a few months back.

I’m excited for you and hope it lives up to my review. Lol I am anxiously awaiting your blog and your thoughts on Paradise Beach.   

[OCSC Mike]

2 minutes ago, Jax said:

I’m excited for you and hope it lives up to my review. Lol I am anxiously awaiting your blog and your thoughts on Paradise Beach.   

If I blog our cruise in 10 days and the one in June, that may be all I have to share by the time I get to July, lol. Not sure how many times people want to see/read about the included food on Wonder (plus Mason Jar brunch). Really going to make an effort to just make random shorter posts so I don't get blog fatigue.

[Jax]

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

If I blog our cruise in 10 days and the one in June, that may be all I have to share by the time I get to July, lol. Not sure how many times people want to see/read about the included food on Wonder (plus Mason Jar brunch). Really going to make an effort to just make random shorter posts so I don't get blog fatigue.

Hey, Blog fatigue is real right along with star class food coma. Lol Speaking about food, I am pretty sure I mentioned it in my blog but food portions are on the small side at Paradise Beach so the guys ordered doubles of most things. 

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Jax said:

Hey, Blog fatigue is real right along with star class food coma. Lol Speaking about food, I am pretty sure I mentioned it in my blog but food portions are on the small side at Paradise Beach so the guys ordered doubles of most things. 

Only suite snobs think it takes Star Class to induce a food coma. I assure you it can be achieved at little to no cost, you just have to go get the food yourself (the horror).

Yes, you (and others) mentioned the small portion size. I like trying different stuff so that works for me. I'd rather try 5 different small plates than one giant burrito. My order (one of them at least) will likely be something more like "one of each taco." Some of the reviews I've watched/read mention the portion size as a negative... which I don't get. It's all you can eat. You want more, order more! Everyone seems to agree that the service is excellent though.

OK, enough about Paradise Beach. We have Eastern this month with a powerboat snorkel excursion we loved 7 years ago and are doing again. Apologies to others for hijacking the thread. I'm sure Turquoise Bay is lovely but we're taking a private tour of Roatan in June since we tried to in 2019 but Harmony wasn't able to dock due to high winds.

[Jax]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Only suite snobs think it takes Star Class to induce a food coma. I assure you it can be achieved at little to no cost, you just have to go get the food yourself (the horror).

Omg literally laughed out loud at this comment

 

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Some of the reviews I've watched/read mention the portion size as a negative... which I don't get. It's all you can eat.

I agree. People can be strange.

 

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

we're taking a private tour of Roatan in June since we tried to in 2019 but Harmony wasn't able to dock due to high winds.

Sounds exciting! Pray to the weather gods.

[OCSC Mike]

21 minutes ago, Jax said:

Sounds exciting! Pray to the weather gods.

This is why we're doing Roatan in June and Paradise Beach isn't until July (same itinerary both times). The plan is to do one long-ish excursion plus CocoCay per cruise but if we don't make it in June we have July as a backup and we'll just be doing two excursions.

[JC-LC]

Something interesting --- I think they are ALSO renting the 2nd floor separately (max of 4 people). "Turquoise Bay All-Inclusive Ocean View Cabana". I thought it was the entire cabana originally.   

 

[Jax]

3 hours ago, JC-LC said:

Something interesting --- I think they are ALSO renting the 2nd floor separately (max of 4 people). "Turquoise Bay All-Inclusive Ocean View Cabana". I thought it was the entire cabana originally. 

Details are so sketchy on these cabana/villas. It’s frustrating.  I reached out to Royal Caribbean about this one also and got no helpful information and the pictures I requested never arrived. After being at the resort I still don’t know what/where these cabanas were but agree the picture leads me to believe they are on the 2nd floor of the villa.  Who knows Sorry I couldn’t be more help.  Report back if you sort it out.