bguppies

You could go up to Fort Fincastle on your own and see how it overlooks the cruiseships docked. Otherwise, the Pirate Museum on Bay Street should be a great stop.

We had a January 10, 2010, cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Grand Cayman was sunny and warm. When we left Tampa, it was snowing. When we got down to Cozumel it was in the 60's, so the pools were out, but the Hot Tubs felt like pool temps. Probably 90% chance you get the usual 81 degree temps. 10% chance you get a freak cold snap and you need to pivot. We love cruising in January due to the great rates.

As much as I love Nachi Cocum, I will warn you that the pool is great, but no railings or walkdown steps to get in and the beach has a dropoff when the tide is heading out. Be interesting to see how DW and I do, this December, as we have both gotten much less mobile since our last visit. Take a look at Paradise Beach's pool and see how accessible it is. Somebody who has been to Paradise Beach will have to fill you in as to the beach access. I know Paradise has more inflatable toys for the kids than Nachi.

That is what I said, I believe. Fantasy AND Spirit class. I always thought the Spirit class were taller than Fantasy class, but must not be too much. Sunshine definitely is bigger.

I'm pretty sure only the Fantasy and Spirit class ships fit under that bridge in Jacksonville. Standing next to the funnel on Fantasy class ships, multiple times, going under the bridge, at low tide, in Jacksonville, I can't imagine how the Spirit class , let alone anything even a foot taller, could squeeze under that bridge. Charleston only works since the pier is on the oceanside of our bridge. I wish the bridge wasn't a problem, so they could just turn a part of the old Navy base in North Charleston into a cruiseship terminal, but sadly, its on the wrongside of the bridge. (down the river like Jaxport)

Watch it with an invested group of the crew or person a fan of that team. I'll never forget being on the Sensation 10-15 years ago and we were hanging out in the sportsbar so I could enjoiy a cigar I'd bought in Nassau the day before. (back when the sportsbar doubled as the cigar bar) There was a world cup game, I think it was Ireland as a huge underdog and this older Irish gentlemnan was highly invested, living and dying with every kick. DW and I had no idea about soccer other than kicking the ball in the goal. At the start of the game, It was the two of us and this gentleman in the entire bar. Poor guy had pulled his chair a few feet away from the screen and was oblivious to everything else in the bar. As the game went on people started drifting in and became glued to the game, mostly due to his enthusiasm and angst at the game. By halftime (or whatever its called in soccer, it was still 0-0, but an incredibly intense game and apparently, his team should have been losing like 2-0, 3-0.) there must have been 30 people piled around that one TV, cheering for his team. (mostly for this dude because he was so passionate) He hadn't even noticed until the other team took a shot right before the half and his goalie saved it and a roar let out of the entire bar and he turned around to see the crowd. He had been oblivious to the crowd building around him the entire time. Made an otherwise, completely uninteresting game, better than most Superbowls I've ever seen.

DEFINITELY remeber this fact.

We have always arranged for any medical by phone weeks in advance of the cruise, to avoid having issues once onboard.

Yeah that was a typo. I meant $15 for a gallon, yet only using a fraction of that gallon to go that distance. (sorry after my stroke, the brain and the fingers don't always connect. Why I have so many missing letters or words in my posts)[how many trips to Margaritaville and back could you make on that gallon?] $17-20 to go to Atlantis even seems a bit high, but at least that is a destination 10-15 minute drive away. Margaritaville, even with a walker, wouldn't take 10-15 minutes to walk. It would take you longer to pile in the cab than it would to drive around the corner and stop. Even with a meter in NYC, I can't imagine after paying a minimum price to start, you could ever come close to $15 for that ride. If you were talking about a cab with a lift or ramp on it (like they all seemed to have in London) that made the trip easier or more accessible, I could see paying a premium for such a short trip. But I can't see how the driver's time is worth so much more for a 5 minute trip and back.

Clyde, why did you feel the need to respond to posts over two years old and resurrect this dead topic?

I have almost gotten to that stage myself in my old age. DW takes her walker, mostly for being able to sit down on the seated part if she needs to, halfway to a destination on the ship. She begged me to take one of her older walkers, to which I declined, but I did find myself frequently having to find a chair along the way and make a beeline while walking the ship[. Whereas with the walker I could have just plopped down whenever I needed to along the way or waiting for a venue to open, etc. If there is any diubt they can amke the long walks I'd try to sway them to taking it.

Unfortunately I would have to pay it also. And I am keenly aware gas is extremely expensive in the Bahamas. (I remember driving through Freeport and being stunned they were paying over $8 a gallon or liter a decade ago) but $15 for a less than 1 mile drive is just exhorbitant. (So say they are paying $15 a gallon now, you feel that charging a full tank of gas for a 2 minute, less than a mile drive is fair compensation?) And I can totally understand a cabbie not wanting to lose his spot in the cue for a incredibly short drive, versus running somebody out to Cable Beach, etc. But no matter how you look at it, it is wrong to charge that much for that drive.

I would hope everybody in Mahahual would be home Christmas day enjoying the holiday with their families and everything would be closed, as it should be. Nobody should have to work on family holidays.

That is sad they charged 2 people $15 for such a short ride. Is it even a half mile walk? (I'm pretty sure Junakanoo Beach, past Margaritaville is about a mile)

Yeah room had a small fridge, which was plenty cold after I pulled the fridge as far forward as I could in it little cabinet. (amazing how cold they can run when not having the back of the mini fridge pushed into the wall) Embarkation was exactly as you described, two weeks ago, and much smoother and easier than I thought it would be.

What ship have you been going on? I was just on her a couple of weeks ago and "great shape" are two words I wouldn't associate with the Sunshine. It's not terrible, but not in great shape either. You're getting what you pay for on her. A short cruise, on a decent shape ship for a low price. She has a lot of wear and tear on her. Definitely needs a dry dock if they want to keep her in the fleet. If not run her into the ground like they are now, and just sell her off for scrap after Charleston.

Definitely no coke.

Yeah let all the early loons board before 1 -2 PM and breeze on through.

Yeah in the dining room, the waiters will take your scooter and park it by the front door, with 10-20 other scooters and walkers. Last month on the Sunshine, DW and I tried to sit in one of those round booth type seating areas in the theater and just put her walker behind the seats to be out of the way of others. But before the show started a waiter came over and took her walker away and brought it back after the show was over. (which by then we had to sit and wait for everyone to leave the theater to be able to leave, then wound up waiting forever for an elevator) Hopefully your cruise goes smoothly. Elevators with a walker is the worst part. (luckily we didn't have to deal with any tender ports)

The $17 to Nachi Cocum (where we go EVERY trip to Cozumel) was accurate the last time we went to Cozumel. (honestly surprised it hasn't gone up at least a bit) I can't imagine it would be more than $10 to downtown now if it was $8. We plan on budgeting $20 to Nachi in December to be on the safe side.

There is a 2nd Panchos Backyard right at the Purto Maya pier. I've only eaten at the original one downtown like 10-15 years ago. (was very good) Haven't had a chance to try the new Panchos since Puerto Maya opened. (even though I've probably docked there 5-6 times since it opened.) But always hit Los Cinco Soles next door for Vanilla every trip to Cozumel.

DW uses a walker (like you mostly to sit on longer walks than walking assistance) and last month in Charleston they let us right into checkin and put us on the first set of busses heading over to the terminal to board even though we were the fourth or fifth boarding group technically. If you have issues with walking long distances I'd highly recommend taking a walker that you can sit on as you go. Works great for DW at embark and debark and on those long walks between the cabin and dining room, etc. (plus if they do make you wait outside you'll have somehwere to sit until they do let you in) Might help to know if you are platinum or not. Platinums get to book their boarding time 16 days before the cruise rather than 14 days. If you are platinum and book your time ASAP you should have no problem getting an 9:30 or 10 AM slot. If you are not Platinum, then I'm not sure how fast times go on the Mardi Gras.

This thread was originally posted on the Carnival board, so I'd assume the OP was asking about Puerto Maya. And the poster who posted the picture posted it before he thread was moved, so I'd assume it was a Carnival cruiser answering another Carnival cruiser.

That's what I was hoping after watching the hundreds of videos of Mahahual and Maya Chan versus the 2 or 3 I could find of Almaplena. I've yet to be able to find any videos with no Sargassum in Mahahual, just decent days versus horrible days. (Cozumel seems to be a much shorter season for seaweed each year Maybe due to thye depth differences between the two areas) If I could find out for sure that the Sargassum isn't bad the first week of December in Mahahual, we might just go to Maya Chan. (walk to the ride would be the toughest) Neither of us is big on swimming in the ocean, the smell of piles of seaweed baking in the sun all day is more worrisome to us. (our 1 bad day at Nachi Cocum was from the smell of the seaweed baking all day)

Yeah I always thought they come pre-punched. At least the ones on the sunshine last month were. Needed to get a replacement on the last night, because I thoughtr I'd lost mine. Later turned up and lo and behold all 3 cards we got that cruise were punched in exactly the same spot.