Stircrzy

I've hired all kinds of drivers in my 25+ visits to Cozumel.

Had some bad ones, had some good ones, but the best ones are the ones from Toursplaza!

They even have a 20% off for the season...through the end of OCTOBER!

http://www.toursplaza.com/eng/hiring-driver.cfm

I highly recommend them!

~Stir

thanks so much for your reviews! I'm sailing for the first time since March 2009, but have done 25+ cruises. Hadn't been to CC in a while and had no idea of where/who to book with anymore...sounds like Hiring a Driver for the Day is a well run company who hire competent drivers who please their customers. I'll get my booking in right now! Thanks again.

~Stir

I've traveled to Cozumel about 20 times on cruise ships, and met the fellows from Tour Plaza many years ago.

They are great guys and will definitely give you more than your money's worth.

With their guarantee of returning your deposit if you do not dock in Cozumel for some reason, you have nothing to lose by booking with them online in advance of your trip.

They will be there to pick you up, take you to the places you contracted to visit, and be professional, courteous, and safe drivers.

You can count on a safe and great trip with the guys from Tour Plaza!

We had a blast on the catamaran!! Then lunch, and a short...too short...massage. The massage is highly recommended!! We stuffed ourselves at lunch on cerviche, beef fajitas, and lots of margaritas!

You betcha! Eduardo will have enough to last him until your friend takes him some in January! I'll be going back in late April, so I'll hook him up again then!

We're doing the catamaran snorkeling this time. Can't wait to try that out!!

I'm going back for the gadzillionth time to Uvas next Saturday!! Can't wait to get my feet in the sand and my hand around a cold drink. I'll arrive hungry to best do justice to their great food!

Get ready, my Uvas family!!!

I'm in the process of booking the Ecstasy for Nov 4 cruise...will be at Uvas on Nov 6. Get ready for my WHOLE family to show up again. I'll get with you with the number in a few days.

Lady...glad to see you're still around, too!! I spent a month traveling Ireland and the UK and hadn't planned a cruise this year, but I can't HELP myself!! I'm having UVAS withdrawal!!

Our family group of 10 will be back at Playa Uvas for the 10th time the 3rd weekend of October. We have always had great service and a great time!

Anyone have any recent info since the other post reporting that Playa Uvas isn't accepting private bookings from cruise customers at the moment? I checked the website and couldn't even get it to load.

The Playa Uvas website is back up and working fine today!

I'm hopeful that this link will work:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10012&id=100000008393160&l=ba603d5340

These were taken the last week of October 2009 when Eduardo arranged for me and my crew to visit with Professor Benavides and Sandra Dutton and help with the turtle nesting.

After our wonderful day at Punta Sur with the Professor, we stopped by Playa Uvas for lunch before our return to the Ecstasy. We have visited Playa Uvas about 10+ times since March of 2005, so are very familiar with Playa Uvas. We found the place in wonderful shape, grass was green and landscaping in perfect order. We (myself, my friend, my brother and sis-in-law, and my sister and her husband) spent the remainder of the afternoon lazing around Playa Uvas, instead of shopping downtown as was our original plan after lunch at Playa Uvas.

The food was superb! Probably the BEST we've ever had there. We were very impressed with the food in the past, but had no idea it could get even better. I don't drink alcohol, so can't speak to that other than to say that the others thought the margaritas were the best they had during our trip!

Photos of some of the gargantuan amount of food we consumed are posted at the above link, at the end of the album.

Enjoy the little baby turtle photo! He wasn't ready to return to the sea, so we re-planted him into his nest. Wish I could have stayed another week so that I could have gotten in on his return...

I can still highly recommend Playa Uvas. It's not as big as some of the beach clubs, not as loud, and there aren't as many children. I'd call it a bit more Euro, and perhaps a bit more upscale. The lounge area by the fresh water pool is very nice for sitting and relaxing out of the sun. The loungers on the beach are very nice and sturdy. Service is superb, and the food is quite plentiful and tasty.

01 CRUZN BUCKEYE - 0HIO

02 Icarrythebags - Ohio

03 CrazyAboutCruising- New York

04 bbiggar-Wisconsin

05 Cotton

06 VoyagerFL - Florida (via Indiana)

07 Tom-n-Cheryl - FLORIDA

08 Nautical but Nice - Missouri

09 Elaine515 - Florida

10 LHP and family - Memphis

11 Ladyspoilt and family - Tennessee

12 Cruiser64-Florida

13 Beach4me - South Carolina

14 YesitDonna - Massachusetts

15 RICHFRET - Florida

16 JBHCW-Jane-North Carolina

17 BARBARA J.W KENTUCKY

18 MrPete - New York

19 Doug910 - Florida

20 GottaLuvCruising - Florida

21 Mich6674 - Florida

22 Luv's Crusin' BJW North Carolina

23 JJudy-Michigan

24 burtonsgigi - Fort Mill, SC

25 Cruisedogs2 - Yorktown, VA

26 OBX_FIN and obx_fintoo - Virginia

27 ahoys-only one ahoy--Kathy from Florida

28 ILuvCarnival - Cleveland, Ohio

29 crusinsusan - PA

30 gator bait - Florida

31 jlcga - Florida

32 dls - California

33 Blueocean and husband - Ohio

34 Ronath - Louisiana

35 Mosel - Florida

35 MILEMRKR63- HARVEY CEDARS, NJ

37 PeterV - London United Kingdom

38 bthorn1108 - Florida (by way of Massachusetts)

39 Mike/Cheryl - Omaha, NE

40 Suzys - New Jersey

41 PSRCPA - Florida

42 Host Graham - Rochester, NY

43 CoCoNut Willie- Texas

44 Grouchpuss - Arizona

45 pam7553 - Illinois

46 molme-Georgia

47 meltla (Tommy) New Orleans, LA

48 bonniemari - Tennessee

49 cruzinsteve - Texas

50 jy148 - New Jersey

51 cld1225-Virginia

52 Carnivalkim-Georgia

53 rburns44-Ohio

54 Karter - Florida

55 Birdiegirl - Minnesota

56 Emtnmare - Minnesota

57 mamawg- Blue Springs, Missouri

58 Diane F and Jerry - California

59 rpsinnj - New Jersey

60 gymbrat33 - Florida

61 bonstersd - California

62 Bea2002- Florida

63 Sandgnat- Geogia

64 Cjm61 - New York

65 Kstrickman - Maryland

66 rwdtgt - Florida

67 Louisiana Joe and Family

68 earlethepearl

69 Litewait ( plus dd 21, & ds 15) San Diego, Ca

70 Quickrate- Florida

71 sk8rpatty - California

72 shortstop95 (jane & luke) delaware

73 SCUBA Mark - Texas

74 dotshub- Larry & Doris - Florida

75 woodi- Oklahoma

76 volman and kipmom - Tennessee

77 Bases5 Florida

78 Lv2camp&cruise- Chris and Kim, Tennessee

79 KenMo & DH - Missouri

80 smarks & DH oldfart - GA.

81 Floatway and Hubby - Friendswood, Texas

82 Luv2cruz44 - Redding, CA

83 Stircrzy - Texas (some of us got left off in an earlier posting)

CRUZN BUCKEYE - 0HIO

Icarrythebags - Ohio

CrazyAboutCruising- New York

bbiggar-Wisconsin

Cotton

VoyagerFL - Florida (via Indiana)

Tom-n-Cheryl - FLORIDA

Nautical but Nice - Missouri

Elaine515 - Florida

LHP and family - Memphis

Ladyspoilt and family - Tennessee

Cruiser64-Florida

Beach4me - South Carolina

YesitDonna - Massachusetts

RICHFRET - Florida

JBHCW-Jane-North Carolina

BARBARA J.W KENTUCKY

MrPete - New York

Doug910 - Florida

GottaLuvCruising - Florida

Mich6674 - Florida

Luv's Crusin' BJW North Carolina

JJudy-Michigan

burtonsgigi - Fort Mill, SC

Cruisedogs2 - Yorktown, VA

OBX_FIN and obx_fintoo - Virginia

ahoys-only one ahoy--Kathy from Florida

ILuvCarnival - Cleveland, Ohio

crusinsusan - PA

gator bait - Florida

jlcga - Florida

dls - California

Blueocean and husband - Ohio

Ronath - Louisiana

Mosel - Florida

MILEMRKR63- HARVEY CEDARS, NJ

PeterV - London United Kingdom

bthorn1108 - Florida (by way of Massachusetts)

Mike/Cheryl - Omaha, NE

Suzys - New Jersey

PSRCPA - Florida

Host Graham - Rochester, NY

CoCoNut Willie- Texas

Grouchpuss - Arizona

pam7553 - Illinois

molme-Georgia

meltla (Tommy) New Orleans, LA

bonniemari - Tennessee

cruzinsteve - Texas

jy148 - New Jersey

cld1225-Virginia

Carnivalkim-Georgia

rburns44-Ohio

Karter - Florida

Birdiegirl - Minnesota

Emtnmare - Minnesota

mamawg- Blue Springs, Missouri

Diane F and Jerry - California

rpsinnj - New Jersey

gymbrat33 - Florida

bonstersd - California

Bea2002- Florida

Sandgnat- Geogia

Cjm61 - New York

Kstrickman - Maryland

rwdtgt - Florida

Louisiana Joe and Family

earlethepearl

Litewait ( plus dd 21, & ds 15) San Diego, Ca

Quickrate- Florida

sk8rpatty - California

shortstop95 (jane & luke) delaware

SCUBA Mark - Texas

dotshub- Larry & Doris - Florida

MistyRo76 - Cincinnati, OH

Stthomaslover-Tampa, Florida

Stircrzy - Texas

Thanks very much! :)

We were two women traveling alone, used to striking out by ourselves, but hesitant to do so in Jamaica due to some unfortunate events we’d read about on Cruise Critic last summer. Things can get dicey even on a Carnival sponsored excursion. After much research, we decided to go with Peat Taylor Tours (http://www.peattaylor.com). We made an excellent choice. After several emails back and forth with Oniel, another of Peat’s sons, we had our day planned out.

Port of Jamaica:

The port area was immaculate and the officers and staff very friendly and helpful. We were directed to the independent tour guide area and found PJ Taylor waiting for us there. We had requested that Peat leave us with someone who would spend the day at our side, and PJ never left us for a moment. We had an air conditioned van, with Keith as the driver, and PJ riding shotgun in the front seat. As we left the port area driving along to 9 Mile in Saint Ann’s parish and our pilgrimage to pay homage to Bob Marley, PJ filled us in on his country. We talked about geography, demographics, religion, education, the economy, and culture, as we passed scenic and not so scenic views as we travelled the twisting and winding road up to 9 Mile.

9 Mile:

A sharp turn off of the main road lead to 30 foot tall purple gates which were unlocked to allow our van to enter and the Rastaman quickly locked the gate behind us. We left our van and Keith and climbed the long flight of stone steps up to the entrance where we paid our $15 USD each entry fee.

We climbed more steps up to the restaurant/bar area where we were able to use the primitive facilities while waiting for the tour guide, Fossy.

Fossy gathered the group of about 20 people at the gate and we entered to a long uphill slope with gorgeous vegetation and beautiful flowers...and some cannabis plants, if you knew what to look for. The Mount Zion compound is a place best entered with an open mind. Spiritual use of marijuana is a part of the Rastafarian religion ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_use_of_cannabis ). While the usage of cannabis was evident, it was also done discreetly and did not infringe on those who did not choose to participate.

We viewed the gravesites of Bob’s maternal grandparents and headed uphill to Bob’s little tiny house where we viewed the little two room building. A carved wooded lounge chair and a smaller wicker and iron chair were the only furniture in the front room. The back room held Bob’s single bed, made famous in his song “Is This Love?”.

A small courtyard separates Bob’s little house from the resting places of Mother B, Bob’s mother who passed away in May of 2008, and the final resting place of Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley. Mother B’s tomb is shown in the photo above and only was able to be photographed because the mausoleum is not yet finished. Once it is finished, photos will be prohibited as they are at Bob’s mausoleum adjacent.

Entering barefooted and carrying a candle which will be lit from the candles that are always burning, it is sobering to look up at Bob’s white marble tomb. Following along with one hand on the tomb and one hand on the candle while Fossy divulged information on Bob’s early years was quite the experience.

As I handed the candle to Fossy to re-light later that day he named me “Mama Africa”. Quite the honor for a chubby middle aged white woman from Texas.

We headed back down the slope to the gates, grateful for the opportunity to visit a place and culture so foreign to us. With a final hug from Fossy, we headed for a cool drink and back into the van for our journey back to the Port of Jamaica.

Along the drive back to the port, we saw children in their school uniforms walking home, cabbage fields, and stopped to eat a Jamaican Beef Pattie, buy coffee and jerk seasoning.

It was a very long drive, but a splendid day, made all the more special with the interaction with PJ and Keith. They were kind, courteous, clean, funny, and gave us an appreciation for Jamaica and her people that we hadn't had before our trip.

One Love.

(Photos at http://gallery.me.com/greeneacres#100073)

Richard Simmons, it was a "cruise to lose" He drank a lot.

One of my first cruises was out of NOLA, and my next door neighbor onboard was Richard Simmons.

Boy howdy...the stories I could tell just from what I overheard while sitting on my balcony...

But probably the funniest was going to the door with a tray full of empty chocolate milk glasses and cookie crumbs, bending over to slide the tray outside, and catching a glimpse of someone standing to my right. I didn't stand, just glanced over to find Richard Simmons smiling down at my size 12 self with my tray full of empty goodies. :o

My daughter (5 yrs) stuck her head out, I said "say hello to Richard Simmons" (wearing those tiny shorts and sparkly tank top..him, not me), to which she replied, "who's Richard Simmons?".

He was not amused....but I was! :D

hey Stir

 

Yes they did split, I assume it will be same after dry dock.

Thanks so much, Snoozeman! I like her, but not THAT much...

How are things in Bosque County?!? Guess I'd better head on over to your blog and catch up on things!

*AWWW...those are such cuties! I would like some here at Greene Acres!!

I have a Conquest Only question, since I'm only going on the Conquest...

Do the beds in Cat 12 make into twins?!?

Friend and I are celebrating her birthday, but I don't want to sleep that close to her!!

Or...does the couch make into a bed that an adult could sleep on?

Okay, I admit to being a Playa Uvas "cheerleader", but I do try to be objective when reviewing. I feel the need to explain some of the reasons for the "crowds" at Uvas the past few months...especially in March.

1. High Season...during the high season there are often 6, 7, 8, even 9 ships in port. Even though Playa Uvas limits reservations it can get crowded with ship excursions, people who reserve from the website, and those who just show up.

Thank goodness, High Season is over!! Fewer ships in port means more room to spread out at Playa Uvas, especially during the low season from May until around October.

2. Too Nice...for 10 days in March, Playa Uvas allowed Punta Sur to send over their snorkelers since high winds out of the South made it impossible to snorkel there. Punta Sur is now operating normally, and Playa Uvas was just trying to help their neighbors by taking their snorkelers. Sometimes we seem to hurt ourselves when trying to help someone else.

While I'm at it, let me defend the rocks:

No rocks, no snorkeling...or not very good snorkeling. Uvas is part of the National Marine Park, and unlike other areas that have trucked in sand to make their beaches, Uvas must follow the federal guidelines, or lose their ability to operate. They are not allowed to cover the rocks or to alter the shoreline without express permission from the government of Mexico.

I think we've all been very careful to make sure that our reviews are fair about the rocks. We've warned of the need for water shoes! We've posted photos so that no one is unaware of the rocks.

As for the massage being in a stucco building, I don't know if that was an experiment or what. I've always had mine out on the beach under a nice tent!

I'll ask Eduardo about that!!

http://www.travelworldmagazine.com/contributors/detail.php?ArticleID=400

Here's what I see as the problem with the Paradise:

Inaugural Voyage: November 25th 1998

Carnival was way ahead of it's time to try this in 1998! They just didn't give it enough time! Lots of things change in 10 years. Lots of people who were "closet" smokers then have now quit smoking.

Try it again, Carnival...probably a very different outcome!

(Maybe they could try making any new ships "smoke free"...)

I never did get the "non-smokers didn't spend enough on drinks and gambling" part.

I smoke and gamble, but don't drink, but I don't think I'd be gambling less if I wasn't smoking...maybe I'd take up drinking, though. :p

(I'd love to take a "smoke free" cruise as a stop smoking technique!)

Found this new Uvas post last night:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13986292#post13986292

Thought I'd move it over here!

Yesterday, 10:55 PM

tidecruiser vbmenu_register("postmenu_13986292", true);

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Apr 2002

Posts: 100

Playa UVAS/Snorkle/Kayak and Birthday

My family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teenagers 14 & 16) and another family of 3 (1 adult, 2 teenagers both 15) spent the day on March 21st at Playa UVAS (we were on the NCL Spirit). We booked the full day package which included the snorkel, kayak, lunch and of course unlimited drinks. We had a wonderful day. This was the highlight of our cruise for our friend, her daughter is paraplegic, but she wanted to snorkel and kayak. The guides (which I am sorry, I have forgotten their names at this point, I wished I had written them down for our pictures) were absolutely wonderful with all of us, but especially with our friends daughter.

Once we arrived, Carmen met us and introduced us to Keiko (spelling) our waiter for the day. He took us straight to the chairs they had reserved for us and asked if we would like any water or soft drinks.

We then started off with our snorkel, then after the snorkel, we went for the Kayak and upon finishing with the Kayak, Keiko told us he had a table reserved and our lunch was just about ready.

We had all chosen to have the Fajitas and they were great. Sitting on a Mexican beach, eating good Mexican food, couldn't get better.

After lunch the two ladies decided they "needed" massages on the beach. They were in heaven. Then out came Keiko with a Birthday Cake (it was my birthday that day and obviously I must have said something in my email with Eduardo at some point about being my Birthday). I was surprised and the cake was excellent!!!

Our only disappointment was that we had to leave at 3:30 to get back in time to catch the last tender to the ship. Which brings up the fact that there were 6 ships in port.

There were a lot of tour groups from the ships coming through, but we knew to expect that. I knew with so many ships in port, any beach we went to would be crowded, so the crowd didn't bother us.

I do want to say that being from Alabama I am partial to the Alabama and Florida Panhandle beaches with the sugar white sand and emerald water, so we knew not to expect that type of beach. We were also prepared for the tour groups coming through. So if you expect those two items, then you will have a great day!!

The snorkeling was good, we saw many fish, a sting ray, jelly fish (real close it stuck to my mask).

The kayaks though clear, didn't really provide much viewing but that was okay, because we had just snorkeled. We enjoyed just being out on the water and having fun. The most fun was watching my wife and our family friend trying to paddle!!

Again, I want to discuss how wonderful the staff was with the teenager in the wheelchair. They had to make several accommodations so that she could snorkel with the group, they did it happily and took very good care of her.

I can tell you, that we couldn't have asked for a better day and we considered the day a bargain for what we got!!!

Hopefully the next time I go, there will only be one ship in port so that there will be fewer groups and that would make it perfect!!!

If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

I must say that we were very disappointed in the Playa Uvas experience for which we paid a total of $90 (clear kayak tour plus lunch/drinks.) First of all, when we were arrived, we were told that we would be waiting for 20 minutes for the group we were joining to arrive. We were still waiting after over an hour. No one came to check on us, and finally I and another couple asked one of the staff wearing a "clear kayak" t-shirt what was going on. He said, "Five minutes more." The five minutes turned into another half hour of waiting. We had now been waiting for over an hour and a half. Again, no one came to speak to us about when our tour was taking place. The tour finally arrived, and it was another 25 minutes of waiting for them to be organized, and a mere 10 minutes of kayaking instruction. By the time the kayaks got in the water, it had been over 2 hours of waiting. This was totally unreasonable, especially since we had selected this tour so that we would be able to do something in addition to the kayaking with our time. When we finally got the kayaks in the water, they were scratched and difficult to see through. We were in the water for only 20 minutes (less than half of the 45 minute tour we paid for), during which we saw only one small school of fish that one of the guides fed and came up to the surface. We were given no information other than having pointed out a cave where the fresh and salt water mix. This was not a "guided" tour other than having the guides paddle alongside us and talk to each other about unrelated-to-tour topics. About halfway through, our guides kicked back in their kayaks and had a short siesta while we paddled around, seeing nothing. We were startled to find that we were heading back after such a short time. The guides quickly began getting equipment ready for the snorkeling group. As we got out, one of the guides asked if we liked the tour and we said we thought it wasn't worth the money as we were out for such a short time and saw next to nothing. He said, "Well, you should have gone on the snorkeling tour, then."

We had purchased the $10 extra meal option and found this delicious. Our waiter was also attentive and concerned. However, I find it ridiculous to be charged $80 for a 20 minute kayak trip for which we had to wait over 2 hours. I was disappointed in the quality of the beach and felt that the facilities were much over-hyped in the advertisement (beach was rocky and water not very accessible.) Restrooms, recreational area, etc. were fine. "Free" drinks (part of the package) were okay, but very watered down.

We have traveled extensively and taken many types of tours - including much cheaper, informative and lengthier ones. We have never been so disappointed in the quality of an experience as we were with this one. It truly felt like a waste of money.

Please contact Eduardo.

Your experience is an exception to what is usually a unique and wonderful experience at Playa Uvas. Although the rocky shoreline is well known, the experience with the guide and the wait for your kayak session is NOT the norm.

Please allow Eduardo a chance to make this right in some small way.

I've taken several older people (early 70s to mid 80s) and they LOVED Playa Uvas.

We did our sightseeing early in the day and then headed to Uvas.

In January we intended to visit Uvas for lunch and then go to Chankanaab, but the old people vetoed that and insisted we stay the rest of our day at Uvas.

They're already asking if we're going the Uvas when we sail in October...

Taxi should run about $10 for up to 4 people...each way.

eduardoczm@gmail.com ... email for Eduardo!

OFF TOPIC: Lady, Did you get your wedding photos CD?!? ~Stir

eduardoczm@gmail.com

Eduardo will email you the current menu!

I'll let him know that the site is down so he can work on that with the Mexican phone company...:D.

When we were there a couple of weeks ago, our group HAD planned to visit Uvas for lunch and then move along. They were having such a great time that we just stayed there for the rest of our day.