MamaParrotHead

Tabayana Beach was WONDERFUL. It was probably my favorite stop of the entire cruise. The facilities are gorgeous, as is the water. I would go there again in a HEARTBEAT and recommend it as well. There are quite a few pictures in my album, link below in my signature. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!

 

For those cruising on RCI, it may be to your advantage to book through them if you aren't interested in snorkeling and don't need to see the manatees.

Just FYI, the snorkeling portion (hour) is optional on Coral Breeze tour.

I'd call your hotel and ask if they can arrange for a shuttle or a driver that won't balk at the 4 minute taxicab ride if your kids don't have seats. I'm sure it's a common occurance.

Our past 2 cruises we've chosen late dining and really enjoyed not feeling rushed on port days. This time, however, we're bringing our kids (6 and 10) and they obviously won't make it til 8 to eat, so we're trying out Main seating. Crossing our fingers!

Excellent. Does anyone have pictures of the boat or their tour? I'd appreciate it! Thanks.:)

Glad to read this. I originally contacted Moby Dick about the possibility of a private charter, and she referred me to Stingray Sailing. I'm hoping they can beat Nativeway's quote. Does anyone happen to have pictures from this tour? Thanks.

http://www.stingraysailing.com

Got this from someone on my meet & mingle boards:

 

"Where the Boat Leaves From" by Zac Brown Band

 

The lyrics are awesome!!

There's a place, where the boat leaves from

It takes away all your big problems

You got worries you can drop them in the blue ocean

But you gotta get away to where the boat leaves from

 

Take one part sand & one part sea, one part shade of a banana tree

The drinks they're cold and the reggae is hot

And I know this is the place for me

 

Chorus

 

See the problem is that you're out there

And there's a perfectly good island somewhere

We’ll all ride the boat, and don't grab your coat

You won't need it where we are going

 

Chorus

 

Pick me up

Pick me up

Pick me up

 

Put me down

Down on the sand where its cool

Put me down

When I fall off my stool

Put me down

I'll just sleep there ‘till morning comes around

 

With sunshine tan ladies and pina colodas

and Bob Marley songs that are playing

There's a song in my ear that I want you to hear

Soft tropical lips that are saying

 

Get away to where the boat leaves from

It takes away all of your big problems

You got worries you can drop them in the blue ocean

But you gotta get away to where the boat leaves from...

Makes me smile every time!

Oooooooooooooo...i just checked this one out on iTunes and it's a GREAT one, #71 on my cruise playlist! Thanks! :D

Came up with a few more.

Island Fever Blues by Island Fever Band

Island State of Mind by Kelly McGuire

Boat In Belize by Kelly McGuire

What do you suggest for 10 people?

We did a private van tour for 6 of us, though there would have been room for 10 in the van. It was really reasonable and dependable, went off without a hitch. If you check it out and are interested, ask for Pedro from Yaxkin tours.

I cannot, in good conscience, pass by this thread without commenting. The night DH and I attempted to do laundry on the Triumph was a nightmare, and I must atleast ask that you rethink planning on doing that while oboard. Ironing, yes, no problem. Wash...I'd rethink that plan.

We had been scouting out the machines all week. There were 3 household size washer and 3 household size dryers (this is Deck 2-Main Deck). Every time we check, day or night, the first 3 or 4 days, they were all busy. Then about 2/3 of the way through the week, we ended up staying up late (actually, it was the latest we forced ourselves to stay up all week...we started the process about 11:30 p.m.).

At that time, 2 of the 3 washers were in use, the 3rd was broken. We had probably a color load and a white load of wash to do. We put the loads in (after having the laundry soap vending machine eat our money, and we had to go to the Purser's Desk to get some more) and went up on deck to grab an ice cream, noticing that one of the 3 dryers had wet clothing in it, but was not turned on. At this point, it's maybe 12:15 a.m.

We came back, went to switch loads and noticed that one of the washers we had used hadn't ever gone through the rinse cycle. the dryer full of wet clothing hadn't ever been turned on (someone just threw the clothes in and didn't bother to come back to plug the money in), so per general laundromat ettiquette, we set the load of damp clothes that were in the dryer on TOP of the dryer, and proceeded to start to load our clothes into the dryer. At which point the disgruntled owner of the damp load (that had been sitting in the dryer for God knows how long before we arrived on the scene, and over an hour after we had started investigating the situation) confronted us about moving his stuff in a not-so-friendly way. My husband, not one to back down when confronted, got his back up and the guy just walked away.

So...again, we left the laundry room and went up on deck to people watch for a bit (knowing that if we went back to our cabins, we'd both fall alseep). About 45 minutes later, we went back to check our stuff, and the a-hole/owner of the dryer hogging laundry, had gone BACK, after we left, and thrown his stuff into OUR DRYER, that we paid for, and tossed our stuff on top of said dryer.

Now our second load was done in the washer, and no dryer available. At this point it was about 2:00 a.m., and we gave up. We took all our clean but damp laundry back to our cabin and just hung it on whatever we could find to dry it.

Anyway, it was a TOTAL pain in the neck, and I vowed never to do laundry again on vacation. And I feel I must relay the story to anyone considering to do so.

You make the call. That was just my experience.:o

:) Hi MamaPH,

DH, DS & most of our cruise group are snorkel crazed also. They dont just want to see fish in cloudy water they want to see bright beautiful different fish & coral, like we see in Grand Cayman. We will be in Roatan next month (Feb) for the first time and are searching for a spot to snorkel. I am thinking the first time we will probably go to either Tabyana or Coral beach since we have not been there yet & don't know too much about the island. From what I have read there is snorkeling at both these beaches but just how good will remain to be seen.

I noticed in your signature you vacationed at the Jersey Shore in '06. Are you originaly from this area or did you travel just to see the shore? I spend lots of time at the Jersey Shore every summer (Ocean County) while it is not the beaches of the Caribbean I do love the surf at the Jersey Shore.

My dad is from NJ (Bergen County) and we SO enjoyed our vacation there (we stayed in Wildwood Crest a block from the beach for a week of the 10 days we were out east) with the kids, and discovered that our kids enjoy the sand and surf just as much as we do! The other days there we did NYC a few days (hit Ground Zero, rode the Staten Island Ferry and took a really cool tour of Yankee Stadium, drove through Times Square, etc.). We had an awesome time in Wildwood...took a dolphin watching boat, ate some good food, had fun nights on the boardwalk, they also have a really neat mini-golf/pizza place there, too. I'd go back in a HEARTBEAT.

I'm trying to do inexpensive beach days on the majority of our stops, but we SO love the small, independant tours that give us a taste of the island. Especially with the kids, I'd like the trip to have some educational value as well as the super duper fun in the sun aspect. I'm not real sure how well they're going to take to snorkeling, so I'd like to have a few other options for us if they shouldn't :). Plus, we'll have my 80 year old grandmother and 4 YO nephew with us at that time, so I think the tour would be a happy medium. :) Phil Lafayette in Ocho Rios and Godfrey in St. Thomas are our top two favorite excursions thus far. Hoping to get lucky yet again in Roatan!

Thanks for the input!

I'm curious as to whether there is somewhere to find decent snorkeling off any of the beaches he does/can take you to? DH and I are snorkel freaks, but we are all ready dragging everyone else cruising with us on a snorkeling trip at another port and we're looking for something for EVERYONE.

Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to post what you did in regards to understanding the locals better. I have yet to get to Jamaica, only a few short weeks (OK, 11 or so :) ), but look forward to going and experiencing it. Your explanation helped put my mind at ease a bit, as the only things I've heard about Jamaica EVER have been negative things from those who have been there. Thanks.

Beyond The Sea 3:34 Kevin Spacey

King of the Dancehall 3:34 Beenie Man

Besos de Fuego 4:22 Ricky Martin

Two Pina Coladas 3:30 Garth Brooks

Blame It (On de Music) 4:18 Rupee

Somewhere In The Sun 4:45 Kenny Chesney

Could You Be Loved 3:55 Bob Marley

Margaritaville 4:12 Jimmy Buffett

What Happens In Mexico, Stays In Mexico Toby Keith

Jump 3:36 Rupee

Hot, Hot, Hot 4:03 Buster Poindexter

Rhythm Of The Sun 3:56 Rihanna

Island Boy 3:56 Kenny Chesney

Three Little Birds 3:02 Bob Marley

Hmmm Hmmm 3:36 Beenie Man

I Can See Clearly Now 3:16 Jimmy Cliff

One Particular Harbor 5:32 Jimmy Buffett

Is This Love 3:53 Bob Marley & The Wailers

Beer In Mexico 4:31 Kenny Chesney

Day-O 3:03 Harry Belafonte

Guitars and Tiki Bars 4:36 Kenny Chesney

Jump In The Line 3:43 Harry Belafonte

Changes In Latitudes 3:19 Jimmy Buffett

One Love 2:53 Bob Marley

5 O 'Clock Somewhere Jimmy Buffet/Alan Jackson

Fat Boy 3:35 Max-A-Million

Back To The Island 3:22 Jimmy Buffett

I Shot The Sheriff 4:41 Bob Marley

When The Sun Goes Down 4:50 Kenny Chesney

Jaleo 3:41 Ricky Martin

Tiney Winey 4:54 Byron Lee

Some Beach 3:26 Blake Shelton

Mexico 4:08 Jimmy Buffett

Love Boat 3:04 TV theme

Coconut 3:50 Henry Nilsson

Soak Up The Sun 4:52 Sheryl Crow

Stir It Up 5:33 Bob Marley & The Wailers

Temperature 3:36 Sean Paul

That's What Living Is to Me 4:36 Jimmy Buffett

Dollar Wine 5:47 Colin Lucas

The Ketchup Song, (Asereje) 3:32 Las Ketchup

Cruisin' by Huey Lewis & Gweneth Paltrow

Hot Sand, Pina Coladas and Caribbean Beer by Seth Turner

Don't Rock My Boat by Bob Marley

Rum by Greezy Joe and The Cheap & Easy Band

Conch Shell Rock by Onyan Art

Warm Sand by Tina Dico

Burn That Beat Caribbean Mix by Richard Khuzami

Island In The Sun by Rick Steffen

If this was the Basil Ice cream with Fig cake, We thought it was very good. Our 16 yo daughter raves about it. Of course if we all had the same taste buds it would be a very dull menu.

I don't think any of us much care for fig. For some odd reason I'm thinking it was served with something lemon. :confused:

I agree...I enjoy atleast having the option of trying new things, and enjoy the varied menu.

It was some sort of "herbal" ice cream, accompanying a dessert on Carnival Valor. It was like eating chilled hand lotion. REALLY bad. That's the only thing we didn't like, though. We weren't sure if our palette's weren't "refined" enough, or it was just nasty. :confused:

There was a dessert served one night...I believe it was a chestnut pastry of some sort. Ring any bells? And how about the jerked loin of pork? Thanks!

DH is a tad on the hairy side, LOL, but I think this picture really says it all about what our vacation was like. :)

This was in Grand Case in St. Maarten, as we were going out on our boat tour. I love it because of all the colorful buildings, the sky and the color of the water.

in Dubuque, IA. so without me going into detail, you can imagine that we have 2 gates and 1 small luggage carousel at our dinky airport and not many celebs have been spotted, LOL. :D

about 3 1/2 years ago, my daughter was about 2. Tone Loc ("Funky Cold Medina", had some small roles in some decent movies) was playing a local bar (kind of depressing and made me, at 28 at the time, feel kind of old, LOL). My grandma was flying out that day, so we had been waiting for her flight with her, and here comes a small "entourage" of about 10 large, well-dressed, African-American gentlemen. Well Tone got on the phone, and the minute I heard his voice, it was obvious who he was. We got to chatting with some of his friends, one who turned out to be his brother, talking about kids, etc. And my daughter, who had been playing quietly and wandering around the room, walks up to Tone and says, "Daddy?". EVERYONE busted out laughing. I didn't let on that I knew who he was until they were leaving to board the plane (the same flight my grandma was on). Tone's brother grabbed my grandma's bags and offered her his arm to help her to the plane. As they were walking out the door, after giving grandma a little smooch, I said to Tone's brother, "tell your brother I LOVED him in 'Fern Gully'" and he smiled and chuckled. ("Fern Gully" is an animated kids movie, where Tone provided the voice for a big lizard, LOL).

and a good portion of the road to Marigot (from Philipsburg) is torn up for construction. It took us a good 45 minutes to get from Philipsburg (pier) to Marigot.

I prefer them to Propel. JMHO. wanted to throw other options out there. :)

Fellow sufferer here! It has happened to me on each cruise now and seems to be worse when it is a warm climate and if I fly a long distance to get there and home. I now pack a 24 pack of bottled water that has NO added minerals...I found that Avian water is the worst for me!!! I still had the problem after our Century cruise 2 weeks ago. Hormones seem to play a part in this for me (I'm pushing 50) and once I took an over the counter water/pms pill, I was perfect the next day! I am planning to take one a day on our upcoming cruise and see if that makes a difference! Sauces and soups are probably part of the problem...but it's a tough one to say "no" to them!!! :eek:

could you possibly tell me which brand/generic ingredient to look for at the drug store? there are so many PMS pills out there that I wouldn't know where to start. doesn't sound like a bad thing to pick up and just have with me, if I don't need it this time, I'm sure there will be a time sooner than later I will! thanks.

In this thread there seems to be a LOT of cruisers who rerturn to the ship after a day in port to eat on the ship. Isn't there a desire to try the food of the port you are visiting?

I have a great appreciation of cultures and sense of adventure, but limited funds. I figure I all ready paid for the meal onboard, and besides, I'm sure I'll have a few chances to sample some local fare for lunch and when we stop for drinks here and there.:)

I had originally booked main seating, as I figured I'd be hungry before 8/8:30 when late seating dinner was served. Then I started thinking, and realized a few things that made me change my request to the late seating:

1.) there's ALWAYS food available on the ship, if I'm hungry I'm sure hunting down a little something to snack on won't be a problem. LOL:D

2.) I don't know when I'll make it back to the places we're visiting (in port) and don't really want to rush back for dinner (most ports we don't set sail til 7 or 8 p.m.)

3.) I'm gonna be beat in the afternoon from either sunning/drinking on sea days or running non-stop on excursions and will probably REALLY be able to use a nap before dinner

4.) I think I'd like to enjoy a glass of wine or a drink before dinner

5.) I don't think there's a whole lot going on before we'd get out of the late seating that we couldn't do afterward

anyway, I have no clue how it will all work out in the end. that was just my thought process and we'll see how it turns out!:)