Stmar

Thanks, looks like our schedule does not match . We cannot get off the ship until noon and their tour starts earlier on that date.

Anybody have experience with a less crowded snorkel trip. Will be in St. Thomas on Carnival in February. Most of the snorkel excursions that we have been on in the last few years are overcrowded and the experience is less than optimal.

After reading some reviews/info I am thinking a Jeep would be better. Has anyone rented a Jeep on Grand Turk? If so share do, donts,etc.

How many people will a cart carry, are there different sizes?

Any suggestions for good conch chowder, maybe walking distance from the port or farther if it is worth the trip? What are the local transport choices for a group of 5?

I see two Jack's Shacks on Google Maps. Is that correct and if so which one is best? How far a walk is it from the cruise port, to both?

Also do they have good conch chowder and fritters? Conch is something I have not had in many years so I may make that my goal for Grand Turk.

Cruising is the opposite of our everyday life. Very little water where we live, our boat is a canoe. Traveling with friends on a ship is enjoyable, sitting on the balcony drinking wine watching the ships pass by, having dinner together and gambling. Seeing multiple areas without changing rooms and unpacking only once.

They called Carnival and were helped. Now they have full access. There were some issues with the name but they supplied their VIPFs and now all is right with the world, or at least the cruise. Thanks for the input.

P.S. No difference in price from TA or Carnival.

We are cruising on Carnival with two other couples. When we booked one of the couples went through what I guess you would classify as a travel agent, reputable online company. The other two couples went directly to Carnival. Now the couple that booked through the TA cannot access their Cruise Manager on Carnival. My fear is that they will have to do everything through the TA, they had to contact TA to get "linked" with us but I was able to link with the other couple through Carnival. Basically my question is: Will the TA couple ever be able to use the Carnival Manager? Right now they cannot get access, they do have VIPF numbers from a previous cruise. Any help would be appreciated.

On 2/26/2019 at 12:38 PM, ranchette said:

How soon should we make a reservation for Maya Chan we are not going until next February? Do you give a deposit or have to pay in full when you make the reservation.

We went to Tropicante last year and enjoyed that too.

I would do it immediately, they fill up fast and we got shut out last trip. If I recall you pay in full or at a certain time before you arrive. Email Mark and he will take care of you and explain the options, nice guy.

We went with VIV and left our stuff in the van so no need for waterproof bag. Wear good shoes that you can get wet, long walk to starting point.

I don't know your time in port but we didn't have time to do anything once we did the excursion. The tour is at least 5 hours and you add in tender time there was not any time to spare.

Winds were a factor and our snorkel excursion took us on a long boat ride to a "protected" crowded location. Water was still rough and not as enjoyable as it could have been. Then we took a bus back to the port, captain said it would be too rough taking the boat back.

I had water shoes with thin soles and no support, bad mistake. You walk a long ways, several river crossings and rocks rocks rocks. I would buy a cheap pair of tennis shoes since you don't foresee using them much.

Don't see how you can make such a blanket statement about not taxing tips unless you know the tax laws of a lot countries. In the US people are taxed on their tips, the reason I tip in cash instead of adding it on my card. You are making my point about tipping in cash, less government oversight.

We have been to both and would choose Maya Chan without hesitation. Jamies was plan B and was plan B, not bad but not on the par of Maya Chan.

At the end of the pier you will see the excursion gathering area. If you can bluff your way through that gate you save a tremendous amount of walking, really helped a few of our group. They did try and reroute us but we just acted like we knew what we were doing so got past the security. Bus drivers did not even look up as we passed. We were the first from our ship to reach the taxi stand, a family from another ship shared our van and were complaining about the long walk, they docked some time before us.

20 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Even 45 yrs ago  people would  forget to turn up for dinner in the dining room with envelopes   so now the crew have a better chance at getting the gratuities

Some  lines have resorted to calling it  a service charge  so it cannot be removed

So in your eyes it is "mandatory" therefore not the definition of a "tip or gratuity". The way I see it they should add it to the price of the cruise and not a seperate line item, no fuss no muss, instead of mislabeling it as a voluntary action of tipping.

We took a taxi/van around the island, wanted to see what the other side was like. On our tour we stopped at several places to look at the beach and have a drink at Coconuts, brother in law saw it on the internet and had to stop. Drinks were okay but expensive, what happened to cheap Mexico?? Driver suggested we stop at the Tequila distillery, nice looking place in the country. Did the tour and tasted the tequila, very good but it was so expensive, almost $200 for their best bottle. I didn't have my credit card and didn't carry that much cash, so was not really tempted. Probably a blessing in disguise, read several reviews once I got home and it seems they do a bait and switch, what you think you are buying is not what you get when you are home. It is packaged for travel so of course you don't get to taste "your bottle". Has anyone done this and what was your experience?

$185 for two people AI plus private guided snorkeling? That sounds like a decent deal, may check that out in the off chance we get to Costa Maya again. For us it would be minus the massage so how much was it and did you tip Julio?

This actually turned into a good discussion. It is hard to imagine what it was like 35 years ago if you have not experienced it and memories tend to embellish or degrade over time. We, both wife and I and our traveling partners, tend to have the same feelings about how things have changed. Much larger ships therefore, like you said, more passengers and crew. Instead of luxury you get, in your words, the lowest common denominator or what will make the most money with the least expense for the company without completely pissing off the customer. The original topic was Tipping. 35 years ago our tip budget was $200, we handed out 50's and 20's and had a sense that the employees appreciated it. This last cruise we had under $200 charged to our account for mandatory tipping (to us it was mandatory no matter that you could take it off with some effort) and the employees did not seem as happy. It is like when government gets involved in a program the quality and accountability seem to suffer. Again JMHO.  

We went out the port through the excursion gate. Security tried to route us through the port but I said we were meeting someone, which was partly true since we met a cab. You just walk by the tour buses and down the road until you get to the Maya Chan people.

I don't trust them as much as in the past. Cruising has changed since we first started 35 years ago. Ships have gotten grander, not as well maintained, but the passenger has been minimized, IMHO. If you are new to cruising then you will not understand what it was like. Will I cruise again? Probably because we like seeing different ports of call but my expectations have been tempered.

I still contend that it is a revenue stream decision to ban alcohol. We bought the water, then the room stewart gave us two complimentary large bottles and the previous guests left half a case. We reciprocated and left what we did not use. Do you wonder the diff between wine and other alcohol?

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Poor reason to violate the contract you agreed to. I'm sure if the corporation violated their portion of the contract you wouldn't be okay with it.

I think you misread or did not understand my question. I was asking why they changed their policy and smuggling was not the reason they outlawed water as you intimated.