scottyg

Totally interested! We're going in March, too & I'm in an electric scooter!

Right on! I'm just going to hang out on this ship day! Thanks all!

-Scott

Yes, Sir, Mr. Myfuzzy!

Thanks for the detailed replies !

Scott

Question about the Carnival Vista. Have you been denied Grand Cayman tender due to wind & waves? I am disabled and transport myself in a scooter. I know there's a ramp (wheelchairs), but I'd like to ask for your comments.

Thanks people!

Scott

OMG! I meant Grand Cayman. SORRY SORRY SORRY!!!

Question about the Carnival Vista. Have you been denied Cozumel tender due to wind & waves? I am disabled and transport myself in a scooter.

Thanks people!

Scott

Thanks for your quick responses! I think the scooter will fit in most vans as long as we scrunch together!

Have a magical day!! Peace!

We're going on a 6 day Carnival Vista cruise in March from Miami & the first port is Cozumel. I think we want to go to Paradise Beach for the day. I have an electric scooter, so I'll get in a taxi/van queue. My question are there any van's with a ramp or even a lift that can accommodate a scooter? (I'm a 10 year stroke survivor). Do they have like 3 vans for the whole island?? (sort of kidding!). Let me know & thanks! Happy 2018!

Scott

In April 2017, I'm going on RCCL's Navigator of the seas for a 9 day Southern Caribbean Cruise. We go to port in Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao. I'm a 8 year Stroke survivor. I use a cane, limp and use a scooter. Are their any accessible (easy!) excursions you have been on in those ports that you'd recommend?

Thanks!!!!

Scott & Hope

Loss for words...thanks.

Cozumel (Thursday, July 30)

 

Another beautiful Caribbean day greeted us in Cozumel when we arrived around 8am. It was partly cloudy and a little bit cooler than it had been in Roatan. My brother and family had a SNUBA grip scheduled, but we were free for the day. We had not planned anything since we thought after beach days in Costa Maya (didn’t happen) and Roatan (best ever) we wouldn’t want to spend another day on the beach. Besides, we live 5 miles from the beaches in San Diego. So after our normal routine of breakfast and mingling we decided to head off for a walk around Cozumel. The Epic docked at the downtown pier, which is the one furthest to the North. Off the bow of the ship, a couple of miles away, was the Oasis. Sitting in front of her was a Vision class ship (forget which one), and the Oasis made her look like a bathtub toy. You could stand on the upper pool deck of the smaller ship and still look up at several decks of cabin balconies on the Oasis! I was hoping we’d get a closer view of the Oasis when we departed Cozumel, but we left before her and never saw her again. I took some pictures and will post them when I get a chance.

 

Well, the first thing that I checked is on the use of US Dollars in Cozumel, having read the message threads about some new Mexican law impacting the use of US$ in Mexico. Well, I’m happy to report that EVERY place we saw in Cozumel not only accepted US$, but all had all their tags and signage in US$. They took US$, gave change in US$, and charged credit cards in US$. It’s NOT an issue using US Dollars in Cozumel at all. We might as well have been in Miami.

 

So, with that behind us we walked down the long pier into the mall at the entrance of the pier. There were some interesting shops with t-shirts for about $5 each, but we wanted to head off into town away from the stores where we were a “captive audience” at the port. If you head left out of the port mall and along the main drive the first place you’ll hit of interest is Carlos and Charlies, with Senor Frogs right next door (and upstairs). We were with my mother and father so we didn’t stop at C&C’s for the typical ceremonial “drinking of the yard long frozen drink”, but I can tell you that the people in there were having a helluva time. We continued to stroll down the main drag checking out the shops, and eventually tired of all the hawking (SIR! Get your lovely wife a bracelet? SIR! Come in and see my leather. I will make you a great deal!), and settled into a large store next door to the McDonalds. There we found $6 t-shirts of high quality, $5 baseball caps, and anything else we needed to commemorate our visit to Cozumel and provide gifts for friends watching our house/dog/fish. Local booze is cheap (big bottles of Kahlua for $9), but we found that most alcohol is cheaper on the ship. We picked up two different brands of vanilla in two of the shops, both manufactured by the Orlando factory. Orlando claims to be the only “natural” vanilla mass-produced in Mexico. 99% of the vanilla you buy is synthetic. Any clear or dark brown vanilla is synthetic, including all the vanilla you buy in US grocery stores. Natural vanilla is amber colored, which comes from soaking the bean in alcohol (like rum). Anyway, one of the Orlando brands is Reyna, and the other is sold at Los Cinco Soles (5 Suns), who have a shop at the mall at the port. The 500ml bottles are around $5 - $6, to give you an idea. Read up on vanilla before buying because there’s a lot of junk out there, not all of it good. Make sure to avoid any product that contains Coumarin. In fact, make sure the label says the product is Coumarin free.

 

After visiting Cozumel we hung out on our balcony and read for a while, and socialized with our travel mates through our connecting balconies. We had dinner at Taste again (you don’t need pants in Taste and it has the same menu at Manhattan) and the Curry was great. I hear the tilapia and salmon was good as well. Of course we finished off with cheesecake and key lime pie, and a couple cups of coffee to keep our motors running. Oh, I forgot to mention our departure from Cozumel. I had noticed that the water was shallow (and beautiful blue) in front of the ship, so I knew some kind of maneuver was going to be required to get out. It turns out that we end up doing a 270 degree backwards spin to head back out into the channel. The captain pushes her away from the dock with bow and stern thrusters, then spins the ship counter clockwise (her nose coming within 50 feet of the dock) until she’s facing back out to sea. It was strange to sit on the balcony and feel the ship essentially doing a slow donut. I kept hoping that the Oasis would be departing at the same time so we could drag race with her alongside us, but alas she was still in port as we pulled away.

 

After the dinner we didn’t do much. As always the kids went off and had a great time with my son watching my daughter in the pool until they closed it at 10pm. My oldest son was exhausted and stayed in for the evening, but my 13 year old stayed out until curfew again. He’s having the time of his life, and I’m really enjoying his freedom. Half of our group was asleep by 10, and I was deep into sleep when my son got back at 1am. I think it was at dinner tonight that we discovered a few things about the trip. First, my daughter estimated that by this night she had exceeded 20 soft serve cones for the trip. I bet it was more than 30. There are two soft serve stations in the Garden Café, and they’re open from noon until 10pm (and sometimes later if they are slow to clean up). I’ve never seen so many ice cream cones running around in my life. Lol. The other thing we discovered was mentioned by my mom in the elevator when we were going somewhere…we cannot find one thing wrong with this cruise. Yep. I agree. The rooms are find, we LOVE the ship, the ports have been fun, and the food and entertainment great. Let me repeat… we cannot find one thing wrong with this cruise. Wow!

 

This was the night that we started to prepare for our departure. We picked up luggage tags down in the Atrium area, and had instructions and Customs forms delivered to our room. Bags need to be out Friday night (Saturday morning) by 1am, and they want you out of your rooms by 9am. You can have lunch and hang in the common areas until around 10am, which is what we plan on doing because our flight is mid-afternoon. You need one Customs form per family. I filled out or tags and form in preparation for tomorrow night (sob!) just to stay ahead of the game.

I have one more question, oh wise and wonderful Mike from SD!!! Regarding Cozumel, are there vans / taxi's there that can take you to Chankanaab Park?

I have an electric scooter...it's small, but was wondering if if van taxi can travel the distance from Cozumel to Chankanaab?

Again, thnk you in advance.

Scott & Hope in Miami

Hi Scott. I'll have some pictures to show the distances, but it's quite close. When you get off the ship you walk only about 100 feet to where their welcome center is. Another 100 feet and you're at the transportation kiosks, and right around the corner is the parking lot with all the vans. In fact, all of the vans are parked in a big parking lot right next to the ship... you just need to loop around to the left to get over to them. it's a much shorter walk than the long pier at Cozumel.

Mike...basically, you rock out!!! Thanks for your comments & have a great day..I look fwd. to your pics!!

Roatan, Hondouras (Tuesday, July 27th)

 

Best

Cruise

Day

Ever.

Honest.

Wow!

 

We awoke Tuesday morning to pleasant sunrise and decent seas. We were just outside the semi-sheltered NCL port at Roatan. We watched as the ship sidled up to the dock, with a hero’s welcome lined up for us on the dock. There were dancers, TV celebrities, and even someone surrounded by cameras and microphones. We found at later it was the wife of the governor of Roatan doing interviews with the local media (if you can call it that). There were dozens of vans lined up waiting for passengers with people, and flags, waving. It was a grand entrance for the Epic, her first visit to this small island about 35 miles off the coast of Honduras. I think this is a good time to mention that we were the only one of three ships scheduled to dock that actually did so. The port that NCL uses is just west of where Carnival and RCI docks, and as stated earlier, it is semi-protected by a couple of small islands and sand bars/reefs. It turns out that the other port was too rough to dock at, and the other ships (not sure which they were) headed off for another day at sea. They also were unable to dock in Costa Maya (as were we), so they’re 4 days into this trip and not have hit any ports yet. This turned out good for us though, as we had Roatan to ourselves. J

 

We docked at 8am and by 9 we were heading down the elevators to the 4th deck forward to disembark. We took our time. Down at the gangway there were two ramps down to the dock, with 3 crew members scanning your cards. Adults need to take a picture ID and their cruise cards. Kids just need their cruise cards, but have to return to the ship with an adult. I decided to take my driver’s license and leave my passport on the ship. The last thing I want to risk is having my passport off the ship and possibly in the hands of someone on a Honduran island. But I digress. Leaving the ship was quick and easy, with no waiting. I guess they space things out a bit for the different excursions. When we got down to the dock there was the typical scene, with people holding signs, photographers with actors dressed as pirates for ship photos, etc. As we walked out we noticed various dignitaries, plus there were some locals selling trinkets and offering cabs/cars for rent for the day. We walked out to the transportation kiosks and found the booth for Bodden Tours. We checked in and followed a rep out to the waiting cars, and we were introduced to our driver, William, driving a Nissan van in pretty decent shape. All 11 of us fit just fine, and the AC worked great! And oh my was it needed! J William drove us through town heading out to the Victor Bodden property, and like most Caribbean nations there were clear signs of different classes and economic situations as we drove along. The island is beautiful, with rolling hills covered in green rain forest. After about a 15 minute drive we were at the property, which was smaller than I thought. Victor was having a new house built next to his smaller one, but even his new home was very modest. You could tell they were re-using whatever wood they could find, which is very common on the island. The house was up on stilts like most homes, but not because of water. They do it for ventilation purposes. We had also passed kids in uniforms, which is standard for both public and private schools here. Public schools go year round, but private schools often have summers off. Seeing lines of kids in uniforms in 90+ heat, plus seeing shacks made of scrap wood, made my kids appreciate what we have a bit more.

 

Once we got to Victor Bodden’s place we paid ($65 per person) for their “Zip and Dip” private tour, and quickly were in the staging area for their zip line. This is tamer than others up at the top of the hill (we passed several “canopy zip tours” later), but perfect for our mix of folks that ranged from 9 to 71 years in age. We got strapped into the latest high-tech equipment and were given helmets and gloves. We did a short hike up the hill to a starting platform, and our 3 guides got us going. Victor’s zip line has a dozen different lines that range from about 200 feet to several times that length back and forth across the valley from platform to platform built into the trees. Again, if you’re into wild adventure, visit one of the other zipline companies. However, this was a BLAST! It was hotter than heck and we were sweating up a storm, but we didn’t care. It was the most fun I’ve had in some time. The guides gave us tips and tricks, and soon we were flying across the zip line upside down with our arms reaching towards the earth. Even my 71 year old father and my 9 year old nephew did the “upside down” thing. My oldest son, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, decided that he was going to be first and jumped right in. My wife and I LOVED seeing him get into this, as he’s normally very reserved and shy. He was upside down on just his third line, grinning the entire time. We took tons of pictures and videos of this, and I’ll share some when I can. We tipped our guides heavily, and we even purchased the CD with dozens of great shots for a very reasonable $40. Zipping was a blast, and the day just kept getting better!

 

After we got unstrapped from our equipment and bought several bottles of water ($1 each) we headed over to Victor’s huge animal cages. Visitors can visit these cages for $5 per person, and it’s included with the Zip and Dip tour. I also managed to find a small hose and was allowed to spray our group with water to cool down. I took the opportunity to douse my head, which felt really, really nice. The animal visit was amazing! One of our zip guides gave us a tour of the animals, starting with a cage of about 5 Capachi (sp?) monkeys that were very friendly and mischievous! I have to state here that we are all animal people, and even though I never like to see animals in cages Victor’s facility provided them with a huge, safe natural environment to live in. All 11 of us fit easily into the monkey cage, and immediately the friendly monkeys jumped down onto our shoulders and started cuddling with us. Yes, I said they were cuddling with us! We had monkeys on our heads. Monkeys on our shoulders. Monkeys on our backs, in our pockets and down the back of our shirts. On my gosh did we have a blast. One of them took my wife’s ½ empty water bottle and ran off, only to return for help opening it. He then very expertly poured it on himself, drinking some and bathing in the rest. It was adorable. After about 20 minutes of visiting with the adult monkeys (no bigger than a small cat) we visited the other cages. One had 4 monkeys that were about 5 months old (babies!) and we were able to interact with them in their cage as well. Three of the babies were more comfortable clinging to each other most of the time, so we passed around a “ball of monkeys”. They were very sweet and friendly, and enjoyed having their heads rubbed. There were also some very friendly small deer and large cages with parrots and macaws (national bird of Honduras). There were several other exotic animals as well (Toucans, lemurs and others) who were also very friendly and very used to people. You could not wipe the smiles off our faces. We were 2 for 2 for the day, with everyone in our group participating and having fun.

 

By now it was around noon and time for lunch somewhere. We told William that we wanted to go somewhere with 1) food and beer, 2) lots of shade, and 3) a beautiful beach. Off we headed to the west end of Roatan, heading up over the mountains and down to a resort called Infinity Bay. This is a timeshare community on the beach that allows visitors from the ships to share their facilities. You can use the beach and shade for free, but it costs $15 for a pass that gives you access to their giant pool and use of their beach chairs. We decided against this as the free shade, beach and shower was fine for us. We staked out a couple of tables under a giant shade canopy and ordered some lunch for the group. Lunch was reasonably priced, and we fed 11 of us (including me having a couple of local beers) for something around $70. After lunch we headed out to the beach which was only about 100 feet away. My GOSH this beach is beautiful. It was very, very busy, but it never seemed crowded as there was always plenty of space to walk and swim. There were boats giving “banana boat” rides, sail boats, kayaks and snorkeling as well. We rented snorkel gear for $10 each for the afternoon and had a great time. There is a coral reef just off the beach and it was a very easy swim out to this area full of fish and only about 5-6 feet deep. We all loved it, and even my 9 year old was able to snorkel around with no problem. The water was a beautiful turquoise blue and about 80 degrees. It was simply amazing! Here and there you could see NCL pool towels, so you know there were a lot of folks from the Epic here. There was a group of about a dozen young women from South Carolina lounging in the water drinking beer, and we laughed that you’d never be able to do this on their beaches OR mine (in San Diego). There were plenty of tropical fish, and there was a kayaker throwing food in the water creating colorful swarms that we swam around in. My son claims to have seen a couple of barracuda eyeing everything from a few yards out past the reef, but who knows what he saw. We DID come across a fairly good sized sting ray cruising the shallows, and we positioned ourselves between him and the oblivious swimmers and “herded” him (and the small flounder-like fish following him) back out away from the swimmers. Yes, we got pictures of this too. I could not have imagined a more beautiful beach. The weather was perfect and sunny, and everyone had a great time. We generally ignored the beach vendors, but if you’re into buying watches for $10 from a guy carrying them on a stick, there’s plenty of that tool. Lol. We were now 3 for 3 for the day. At around 2:30 we decided to pack up and head back towards the ship. We wanted to do a little shopping on the way, and we had scheduled Moderno for 5:30 and wanted to get cleaned up. William was hanging out with several other Bodden guides at a table near the beach, and when I let him know we wanted to leave in about 15 minutes he ran up to the van and started up the AC. Nice guy, that William.

 

On the way back to the ship we stopped at a roadside stand at the top of a hill and got a couple of hand-made necklaces, a locally made bracelet for my daughter, plus a couple of t-shirts for about $20 total. Expect to pay from $6 to $8 for t-shirts at almost all of the stands you see, and of course most things are very negotiable. There are a lot of vendors selling hand carved chests of various sizes, and ornate mahogany bowls are available in abundance from $10 on up. Beautiful stuff, but we were limited on space. I DID buy a large, beautiful decorative ceramic bowl with lid (I’ll take a picture) that was handmade on the mainland. My wife and I always pick up something decorative for the house on our vacations, just to commemorate the good times we had. This is our item for this cruise. It had been marked $45 and we ended up at $30 after some back and forth. I got this in a string of shops just outside the gates to the port area. Once you arrive back in port just walk out the gates to the right and there are lots of small shops. The sellers are fairly aggressive, but the items are beautiful and locally made, and I think it’s worth the visit. My father, brother and I shopped while our wives escorted our exhausted and sun-drenched kids back to the air conditioned comfort of the ship. We joined them about 45 minutes later, and of course our first stop was the unlimited soft-serve ice cream machine at the buffet. Oh yeah…did I mention that we’re right below the Garden Café and it’s a short walk up the stairs? I LOVE how close we are, as it makes it a quick trip for meals, snacks and ice cream. We have the bonus of the extended shade over our balcony too. We started routing people through the showers to get ready, and I took the opportunity to hit the Spa for 45 minutes, choosing to get showered up there after hanging out in the tubs for about 30 minutes. Ahhhhhhhh… 4 for 4 today.

 

For dinner we ate at Moderno. The place was empty when we arrived at 5:30, and they easily accommodated our group of 10 (my oldest son opted out). We’ve noticed that most restaurants are available on most nights, so everyone should be able to eat where they want regardless of reservations. I think there are a lot of cancellations or changed plans which frees up space. Ok..back to Moderno. The salad bar shared by Moderno and Cagney’s is incredible. I went in thinking “stay away from salad, the meat is what we’re here for”, but we could not resist. I filled a plate with very small portions of several items that were simply delicious. I ate slowly so I didn’t get filled up. I also avoided the bread, but I was told the cheese/bread balls were awesome. Oh, by the way, the Garden Café has pretzel balls that are to die for. Just thought I’d throw that in there. After we got settled with drinks our server started arriving with long skewers of meats. They encourage you to try everything, but I held off on the first items because I was waiting for the “good” stuff. They started with a couple of tasty chicken items (I tried bites of my wife’s), then some pork ribs, two different kinds of sausages, and then lamb chops. All tasty. Then out came the big guns – garlic steak (marinated in lime juice and garlic) which was my favorite, filet mignon, a Brazilian meat sort of like prime rib done with sea salt and herbs, and more. They also brought out trays with fries, beans, rice and fried bananas (OMG were they good!) and some dips/salsa to go with the meat. We ate, and ate, and ate, then ate some more. MEAT COMA! It was incredible. They then brought out about 4-5 different deserts for the table and we shared some wonderful items. Finally, after about 2 hours, we were done. Really done. We were now 5 for 5 on the day.

 

I’d love to say we went out partying after this, but I think we were all asleep by 10pm except for my son who used the opportunity to stay out until curfew with his cousin. I don’t mind. He’s being great on this trip now (as I type this he’s taking his little sister around the ship for a tour), and he got a chance to party. Haha. He did sleep through breakfast though, but that’s ok. We’re all still a bit sunburned (ok, maybe it’s just me) and looking to lay low today (Wednesday) after yesterday’s adventure. We are seeing legends tonight, and my wife is signed up for some class at the gym. I’ll meet her in the spa after she works out.

 

Ok, enough about Wednesday in Tuesday’s blog entry. Let’s just say it again. Roatan. Best cruise day ever!

Mike - regarding Roatan, is it a short distance from the gangway onto Excursion / Victor Bodden Staff? I have trouble walking. TIA!!

Scott

You've been soooooo great...Thank you!

Um, a wee bit o' favour - do you have any menu(s) for the Manhattan Room?

Thanks a lot!!!