mothermary

Not far at all walking thru the stores.  You will get off the ship and walk towards the shopping center.  It's not very far. Once at the shopping center you go thru one store and then you are outside again walking towards where the buses pick you up for transport to the city of Progresso. 

We visited Progresso in January sailing on the Dream.  I wasn't sure what to expect as it's been 5 years since we had been there and most people are just so negative about the port telling people to stay on the ship.

Well we had a wonderful time. 

In the area the port bus dropped us off, we found a massage storefront.  Got our $15 massage in air conditioning.  Then walked to the beach shopping along the way.  Once at the beach we stopped and let our grandchild play in the water and sand.  Then we walked down the beach and found a place to eat lunch.  We ate at Flamingo's.  Food was wonderful.  Most people eating there were Canadians who stay in the area for the winter.While eating we had 2 vendors approach trying to sell stuff.  They were not pushy at all. 

What a great relaxing day at the beach.

Thanks for all your hard work on this review.  Even though this cruise was over 5 yrs ago I gleaned many tips from your review.   Your pictures were just superb. 

I wouldn't sail in an inside with 3 people. We had friends that had an inside with 3 and they had a roll away bed in there at the foot of the fullsize bed.

They were not happy. It was very uncomfortable because there was absolutely no floor space left. They spent their whole cruise climbing over beds.

You actually have more floor space with 4 people in an inside than 3.

The western Caribbean is great in the winter. We've sailed this several times in Jan. Love to go on a winter cruise and enjoy the tropical weather.

Do all of the carnival cruises have some of the same categories? Or do they differ by ship?

I normally sail with NCL, which has sliding glass doors, and the only Carnival I have been on was an interior, so no balcony door.

 

Our upcoming cruise on the Pride, we have a balcony. After all these complaints about them having an actual door, that slams, has got me SUPER worried...especially knowing that we are also sailing during Spring Break/Easter weekend. :eek:

I think you'll see that the pros ourweigh the cons on a Carnival Balcony.

You'll have a great time. We did!

Biggest con is balcony doors and also people who ignore rules and smoke out there.

Yes, your so right Jimbo. Our neighbors also smoked, but they seemed to quit after a couple of days. I think someone around us told on them.

We just returned from our 8th cruise and first balcony. There were a couple of things that intrigued me about a balcony.

Pros: Loved sitting out there watching the sea, birds, port activity. And reading

on the balcony.

Weather checks in an instant.

All the natural light in the cabin from balcony window and door.

Great place to take pics.

Cons: Balcony stateroom is smaller than oceanview room. It's the same if you count the balcony.

Balcony doors slam if your not careful. Neighbors let their door slam everytime and it literally shook our whole cabin.

Slobs nextdoor-neighbors left their trash on the balcony and it would roll under the partition for us to clean up. All their empty beer cans.

What are your pros/cons of a balcony?

We prefer the hot tubs in serenity area. No kids allowed and less people in hot tubs. This area can get windy but on a calm sea day it is perfect.

The BBQ isn't exactly what us Texans call BBQ.

It's sliders, hot dogs, soft tacos, quesadillas and tortilla chips. All of which are very good. The tacos have some sort of cut up beef in them.

The chips and salsa are home made and one of my favorite things on the magic.