mamaneedsavacay

On 2/7/2024 at 10:04 AM, my4gals said:

Do you know if they have Hobie Cat sailboats?

We didn't look for the water sports, I'm sorry. The day pass did say that non-motorized water sports were included, I think they were just a little further down the beach and we didn't go investigate. 

We loved our Spirit cruise out of Mobile last year! Didn't pay attention to the casino, I'm sorry. Just wanted to say, enjoy your cruise! 

I searched all of Cruise Critic for the name Corchito and got zero results. This is an Ecological Park that I noticed in a YouTube video about Progreso and have never come across it in all of my excursion research. Has anyone gone there on a port day? Do you recommend visiting? I would just have to use my friend Google to figure out how to get there, etc. 

48 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

I have that price on my photo from 2017.

 

There are several reports of increases but I haven’t seen any photos from each of the three piers. Cruise ship piers have always had their own rates compared to outside the gates!

Hmmm, then maybe it was $25 on the sign and I had $30 ready for each way. I see now that the website I linked was from 2022. I remember it was round numbers. That would make sense if it used to be $23 and now it's $25. But obviously I'm not solid on my memory. 

Thanksgiving 2023, we checked the rate sign at the port for the 5 of us to go to the Allegro and it matched with what I had seen online in advance. It was $20 and I had $25 ready for each way to include tip. When we were dropped off at the hotel, the driver said $20 and I gave him $25. When we returned back to the port, the driver said $25 and I gave him $25.

This link now has Allegro for 5 passengers at $23. https://www.cruzely.com/complete-list-of-cozumel-taxi-rates/ So it looks like it has gone up.

Sailing on the Carnival Valor on a busy holiday week next year. I'd prefer to park in the official port parking, but would also like to aim for a 1 or 1:30 pm boarding time to be able to go to our cabin immediately. Will the main parking garage be full by that time of day? I saw that St. Greg said there were over 1000 spots and one ship at a time, but unless I'm missing something, there would also already be cars from the other Carnival Ship that departs earlier in the week.

On 6/11/2023 at 6:24 PM, clackey said:

There are several decent resorts with day passes that are not too expensive.  The water at Progreso is not the gin clear water that you see at Coz, plus, the wind always blows there.  A resort with a nice pool and AI should fit your needs.

We are using this option in Cozumel, have done it before and loved it, but haven't seen any for Progreso on the site we use (Resort for a Day.) Do you have any specific recommendations? 
My main reason for doing this would be to have AI and not worry about cash (outside of tips) and not be bothered by the beach vendors I hear a lot about. 

On 6/26/2023 at 1:27 PM, stoddaj1 said:

We just walked from the bus station to the beach.  It was actually one of the best beach days we had.  Paid $10 or so for chairs and umbrella then ordered a bucket of beer.  I will say that there were people trying to sell items or wanting to play songs for us on the beach.  We just politely said no thanks and they moved on.

 

We may end up doing this- do you recommend bringing pesos, or was USD okay? Do they come to you on the beach with menus, or how does it work to order food & drinks? Who do you pay for the umbrellas? I've heard of scams when you sit under an umbrella and someone comes to collect money from you who actually has no right to charge for the umbrellas.

1 hour ago, yogagal47 said:

Did you find there were lots of young kids there(we will not be with them on the cruise)? Also-rResort for a day website says "wheelchair accessible."  Our friends want to join us tho they would likely show up a bit later to have lunch and maybe sit in the shade for a bit.  This does sound like a nice option.

To be honest, I hardly noticed any other PEOPLE there period. It was not crowded and everyone was spread out. Now, it was Thanksgiving day, so maybe that played into it, but our cruise was sold out and full of kids & teens. We were the only ones with a day pass at the resort (I saw the list when they checked us in.) As far as the other people there (those staying at the resort) it was pretty subdued around the pools, and there were activities on the beach but not crazy/rowdy. There may have been more kids over at the kids pool. My family took our rafts into the ocean and just floated in the shallows- it felt like we were the only ones there. 

I can't remember anything on the beach that would make it wheelchair accessible, but the resort/pools area definitely was. One thing about lunch is that it might not be worth the price of admission just for that. The food was just "okay" and the choices were pretty limited. The drinks were great though! Plenty of shade at pool and beach. 

My husband says to stop telling people about it because he doesn't want more people there when we go back, haha!

Highly recommend a land trip to do Xcaret. 

Have seen cruiseline excursions offered to Xenses, which might be worthwhile for a Day trip. We really enjoyed Xenses, and it can all be done in a short day. I would still only do it through the cruiseline because of all the travel variables. Definitely a different experience than the main park, but so fun. 

I used Resort for a Day, in part because I didn't have a Wi-Fi package on the ship and knew that if anything changed about our port day I would be made whole. I didn't want to manage it myself. No idea if I overpaid what the hotel would have charged directly though. I think it was $60/person.

We are Barcelo members (repeat visitors, not time share) so that was another reason I chose that resort out of the choices Resort for a Day offered. I wouldn't mind checking out Occidental Cozumel, the other Barcelo resort on the island. Just because I have good experiences with the brand. 

You aren't limited to the beach clubs- check out Resort for a Day. We used it to buy a day pass to the Allegro resort and had a great time. The price was comparable to the beach clubs, it's on the same stretch of road/ same cab fare and way less crowds. 

Just now, c-leg5 said:

Allegro is certainly a good option for the young children - good pool with splash area and climbing swing set if not too hot.  6 year old could go to kids club. Not really familiar with what is available for older teens other than pool, may be kayaks etc?

My kids were good with just pool and beach, but the staff was actively encouraging us to join volleyball, cornhole, some kind of other competition. They don't have the inflatables that PB has, and I didn't look for the kayaks/ non-motorized water sports but they listed as "included" on our day pass. 

Paying this forward, as we are just back from our cruise out of Mobile. Our boarding time was 11:30am. We pulled up to the parking garage about 11:15am without a reservation and were able to get parking on the top level easily. Paid by text when we parked. Very simple! I would imagine anyone arriving much later than that would not have gotten a spot in the garage, they would have been directed to satellite parking, regardless of having paid in advance. When the garage is full, it's full. 

See the Review I just wrote about a day pass to the Allegro Resort. Having previously been to Paradise Beach before it went AI, we much preferred the Allegro this year. Already planning to go back on our next cruise. My kids are 18, 16, 14. 

Just back from Carnival Cruise and visited Cozumel on Thanksgiving Day. We were all pleased with our choice to buy a Day Pass to the Allegro resort. It was our favorite day of the cruise. 

We had previously visited Cozumel in 2018 on an MSC cruise and spent that day at Paradise Beach, PAYGO. This time I was hoping to avoid crowds and got my wish!

We were the only day pass people on the resort, which we could tell when they all knew exactly who we were when we arrived. Check in was fast and easy, bar was open immediately, lunch opened around noon.

We were impressed with the drinks, the pools, the beach, and the service. Shout out to Fernando for keeping us nonstop hydrated. He brought another chair into the shade for us and was never far away from our pool spot. We went back and forth to the ocean, leaving our belongings at the pool. 

Towel hut was convenient and I was glad we didn't have to bring towels from the ship. 

Less impressed with the buffet lunch, but not a big deal. Lots of activity staff inviting us the play volleyball and Cornhole, but we choose to swim and lounge. No problem getting loungers at pool and on beach.

Taxi was easy- round trip from Puerto Maya was $25 each way total for our family of 5. Just follow signs out of port and get in taxi line.

The resort is on the same street as Paradise Beach, Nachi Coccum, etc. it does not have inflatables and we didn't ask about any of the non-motorized water sports/snorkel masks that were said to be complimentary, just because we were happy floating in the little inflatable pool hammocks we brought with us. 

Highly recommend for a relaxing and fun day! 

We are just back from rendezvous caye (through carnival excursion) and had a great time. We were the only group there, about 90 of us from the ship, and it was not crowded. We found a shady picnic table pretty easily. 

The snorkeling visibility was not great, but the guide explained that it was due to recent weather. We saw a good variety of creatures, including a huge sting ray that hung out at the beach with us.

The swimming beach was quite rocky compared to our next day at Cozumel. 

The lead guide was Clive Cain and our snorkel group guide was called Gadget.

Cheeseburgers and rum punch were included in our lunch and were just okay. You could buy additional drinks for less than you'd pay on the ship. ($5 rum shots, $7 mixed) and cookies/chips for 1-2$.

My son lost his underwater camera as we were snorkeling (it floated out of his trunks pocket) and he didn't realize it until later. We thought it was a lost cause, but two of the staff found it in the water and walked the island to find it's owner.

The snorkel masks were new and not our favorite, so experienced/picky might want to bring your own. 

Ship - Carnival Spirit

Deck - 4

Stateroom # - 4229 & 4231

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? Yes, very quiet, in spite of being directly above main dining room. 

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? 

No, but we opened the balcony barrier between the two 

Balcony View - terrific, straight out to ocean

Balcony Size? Normal

Was wind a problem? - No. 

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA

Any specific problems with this cabin? - none

Any other comments? 

The two rooms were mirror image of each other. 42321 had "sofa bed" for our third person in that room; teenage son couldn't tell the difference from the other two single beds in the room. The bed was already made when we arrived. 

Very convenient to main dining room. Great location. Would rebook! 

Bumping this thread because I have the same question about the same cruise!
We just got our Check-In - Arrival Appointment for 11:30am and were planning to pay when we got there. 

1 hour ago, mamaneedsavacay said:

 

 

When you booked your rooms, were you able to do it online, or did you need to call Carnival/ use TA? 
I will eventually call my TA, but I'm trying to price out ahead of time and see what is available and the website will do anything but let me choose two rooms next to each other. I would love to be able to put something on courtesy hold and then hand it over to my TA. Is that impossible? 

I actually solved my own problem- if it helps anyone else..
I tried the online booking one more time, but this time, I made Cabin 1 the one with 3 people and Cabin 2 the one with only 2 people. Fewer cabins can accommodate three, so this way I got the hard one done first and an easy one was available next to it. Woo-hoo!

On 1/13/2023 at 3:27 PM, CeleBrat said:

Connecting balconies, for sure!  That doubles the # of bathrooms you get, as well as double the space on the balcony!  We sailed that way once and it was glorious!

On 1/13/2023 at 3:35 PM, cruisinqt said:

We’ve always done side by side balconies. We have them remove the divider to make it one big extra long balcony. You have 2 bathrooms, double the balcony space, and double the closet space. And if we decide to stay up late and talk or watch a movie on our iPad it doesn’t wake the kids because our rooms are separate. 

When you booked your rooms, were you able to do it online, or did you need to call Carnival/ use TA? 
I will eventually call my TA, but I'm trying to price out ahead of time and see what is available and the website will do anything but let me choose two rooms next to each other. I would love to be able to put something on courtesy hold and then hand it over to my TA. Is that impossible? 

On 3/16/2021 at 5:29 AM, dexddd said:

Great news.  Was that a full refund or refund of fees and FCC or FCC for everything?

It was the outstanding fare, put back on my credit card. We had previously received the refund of fees.

@Bluewake @dexddd we got our full refund today. Happy one year anniversary! I hope you get yours too. Quite a nice surprise to see this morning. 

On 3/4/2021 at 8:00 AM, shipgeeks said:

Did the taxes and fees show up on your credit card statement?

Not sure  if you were asking me, but we did get our taxes and fees really quickly, if I recall. Then, eventually an incorrect FCC and the TA has been working on it ever since. 

On 3/7/2021 at 6:30 AM, Bluewake said:

 

We are a few days away from waiting one full year for MSC to issue the FCC for which we've been assured we are entitled.  The initial email said it would take "two weeks".   We've gone through multiple escalations, repeatedly been asked to "be patient", and given a variety of reasons for the lack of action.  

On 3/7/2021 at 10:03 AM, dexddd said:

Us too.  Sent simple letter to Miami a week ago and nothing yet.  TA also not happy with excuses and errors,  They are a large agency too.

 

Cancelled three YC b2b last week before final.  Told 60 days for that, we'll see.

 

I'm considering at day 366 to resurface this thread each day with a +1.

"happy" anniversary Bluewake and dexddd. My one year mark is 3/15. Good luck to us all.

Two weeks shy of a year since my March 2020 cruise was canceled. Closest we came to getting anything was an FCC that was 100% and not the promised 125%.  While efforts were supposedly in progress to find and apply the additional 25% to a new cruise, that new cruise was also canceled.  TA confirmed that we could now request a refund of the original amount and has submitted that request multiple times since November, but still no refund. 

Just posting because... well. Still waiting. Thinking about the new money we are spending on this year's spring break, a year later. Would be nice to have last year's money back right about now. Maybe an anniversary gift...!

I had trouble getting the full FCC amount from last March applied to last December. Then the December cancelled before it was resolved, have not gotten any FCC. 

I do not recommend tying up any money with MSC.