AZPam

Ooooo! This looks like so much fun! I might have to rethink what we had planned for St Kitts!

Book your own. Most likely will be less expensive and will be only a handful of people with you vs 25-30 with a ships tour. We are booked with Calabaza for April and have only heard excellent things. We went with somebody else last time we were there, but only because Calabaza was already booked.

My daughter in law introduced me to "cronuts" in December. I totally understand your love! Yummmm

Will be on the Royal in April and it can't get here soon enough!

Would appreciate a recommendation for restaurants near Embassy Suites at 17th Street. We will be staying one night pre-cruise and want to have dinner with members of our roll call. What are the best options for a good dinner and glass of wine or two?

Two years ago when we were in FLL prior to a cruise we ate at Coconuts. It was excellent and I would recommend it. I do believe we will be going back there again this April

Any recent updates on this? Seriously considering it and wondering if it's worth the price?

Hi All,

Will be in Antigua next month and am looking for the best beach with amenities...bar, loungers, umbrellas, snorkeling and wifi (if possible).

What's the best option?

 

Many thanks,

Natalie

I would like the same info. Hopefully you get some answers

Hope to hear more on the Royal as we depart April 8th!

Also want to express my wishes for a speedy recovery from one Zonie to another. This is a great reminder for me to get my travel insurance. I prefer to get it thru insuremytrip.com and make sure I get one that is in first position so we hopefully wouldn't have to deal with making claims with our own insurance first.

On another note, there is a thread here on CC that a bunch of us Arizona types chat on regular. Come join us! It's under the Friends of Cruise Critic, and title Arizona Cruisers

Just my own opinion/choice, but it would take a heck of a deal to get me to sail out of Houston again. Just didn't like it and we didn't even have weather issues. Another thing to be prepared for that nobody has seemed to mention is the fact that 75% of the ship was made up of Texans. Nothing wrong with that, but I do enjoy an little variety in my passenger make up:rolleyes:

Hubby is 6'4" and about 275 with a 42" waist. He was allowed to zip on Roaton this past March but he did come home with some horrific looking bruises on his belly. Said they didn't hurt but they sure looked bad. He'd do it again in a heartbeat. Me, not so much :rolleyes:

Please expand on what was problematic about your cruise from Houston. I have booked my family of 5 on the Emerald on Jan. 18. All 5 people are flying in from different cities, 2 from Europe, and Houston was far easier and cheaper to get to than MIA or FLL. I had been looking at a Celebrity western Caribbean cruise from Miami as a comparison but got a much better deal on Princess for a suite for 3 plus an outside cabin for 2. Came in over $1000 less for both cabins on Princess versus Celebrity.

Weather was really the biggest problem and there is no way to plan for that. I would guess more than 50% of the cruises last year were affected by fog either coming or going or both. It's also expensive to get yourself to port from either airport, so try to get the ships transfers if you can. There was also a big issue with Noro virus almost the entire season too. Not all dates were affected, but most were either using precautions or just coming off precautions. Add in that there is NOTHING around the actual port, it just wasn't the usual cruise experience that I enjoy

Have sailed out of both and I will never go out of Houston again. Fort Lauderdale is a much nicer area, more to do and it's pretty. Houston was just too industrial and sparse. You can usually get some of the western trips out of Ft Lauderdale, so I will always choose to leave out of there in the future even though it's a longer flight for me.

Has anyone found any companies that do the turtle snorkel and then also offer a mini island tour at the end?

We did this years ago and had a blast. Not sure if it's the same company or not, but I would do it again. Just be sure to wear lots of sun screen and bring water with you

We are doing the zip and dip through Victor Bodden. We used his company for the private island tour the last time we went but now the kids are old enough to zip line without me having to go (no thank you, I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground).

 

I like the fact that they have a skip the zip price. I paid $95 in St. Kitts to stand on the ground because I didn't want my kids roaming St. Kitts without me.

 

"Zip-N-Dip" Group Excursion ...with others from your ship:

 

Depart Roatan's dock 1 Hour after your ship's scheduled time of arrival at our port (for example, if you are scheduled to arrive at 8AM, we leave at 9AM!.)

25-minute scenic drive to the Mayan Jungle Canopy Zipline/Victor's Monkey Business.

Zipline/Monkey Interaction time varies by tour group (approximately 1 hour to 1½ hours)

10-minute drive to beautiful West Bay Beach

Visit West Bay Beach for lots of swimming, snorkeling or relaxing! Beach Chair, Restroom & Fresh Water Shower access included at Bananarama Resort on West Bay Beach!

Return to your arrival dock TWO hours before your ship is scheduled to leave.

 

++If your ship arrives late: Your Fun-n-Sun tour will STILL leave one hour after your ship originally scheduled arrival time, so be prompt!

 

"Zip-n-Dip" Cost: $65 per person

"Skip-the-Zip" pricing for those in your group that choose NOT to zipline: $30 per person

 

 

There is no prepayment or deposit for your tour (payment will be in US CASH ONLY once you get to the island)

Confirmed Reservations are Required

We did this exact tour in March and it was a BLAST! We got to hold their monkey's too, so we checked that off our list for the day. Only wish we had gotten the beach sooner as it was kind of crowded

Bringing this thread back in the hopes there have been some recent VEGAN cruisers that can comment.

Have a friend who wants to travel with us but only if she knows she can stick with her vegan diet.

What was your cost to get to and from the airport?

To be honest, I have no idea. That was up to the guys to pay! :p

That would be the final nail in the coffin for me. Roatan was the best port out of the 3 IMO. Add on top all the issues traveling out of Houston you might face, and I would be jumping ship for another cruise. What a shame

We were instructed to meet at the airport at 9:30. Walked right on to the flight that took about 15 minutes. Then walked 2 blocks to the snorkel boat. Had about 15 people total on the boat with 4 different guides, so they broke us up into small groups. They did not rush us out of the water at all. When the last person was back on the boat, we moved on to the next stop. When the last person was back on again, we went back to the port. We probably could have stayed longer if we wanted, but we got what we needed out of it. Got back, walked back over to the airport and got the next flight back. Had lots of time to explore the port area. None of us felt comfortable exploring the area on our own, so we were happy to go back.

We're on the CB April 19th sailing.

 

Just wondering if anyone knows apx how much a taxi would cost from Bayport Terminal to Webster?

 

Google maps showing an 11 mile trip.

 

We're a group of 7 so would need a taxi van.

 

Thanks!

Don't know about Webster, but we took a taxi from Hobby to Seabrook Comfort Inn around 3pm on a Friday and it was $70. From the ship back to Hobby on Saturday it was $65

What "Youth Patrol"? We didn't see any and wish there was! Final count of kids was right at 800! Most well behaved, but there is always some that don't act like they know what discipline is. Or their parents for that matter. Overall, we still enjoyed our trip. Just won't go at this time again.

Princess used to have security walking around with bright yellow shirts that said Youth Patrol on the back of them. They were to keep the hoards of kids running around loose without parental control in line. We always used to cruise during spring break but now that our kids are out of school and married off, we prefer the first week in March just so we don't have to deal with so many kids.

How were the hoards for kids/spring breakers? Does Princess still have their "Youth Patrol"? We were on the week prior with only 20 kids and were told 700 were expected last week :eek:

What type of plane was it from Belize to San Pedro?? Thank you.

Single engine, had seats for about 15 or so. Other than that, couldn't tell you. Apparently they fly back and forth every hour, so a popular flight. And no TSA here. We walked up and gave our first names only and then walked on the plane.

Were any people allowed to wait in the terminal or was everyone forced outside to the tent? When we boarded 2/15, we could wait inside the terminal until boarding started.

The terminal filled up fairly quickly and then they were sending everyone to the tent. When that filled up they actually started checking people in where they stood in line as there were no more seats anywhere. Felt sorry for the workers who had to keep running back and forth

Thanks PlanB. We board on the 29th. You said the "monkey tour"? Was that a Bodden tour? We have reserved the Zip and Dip with him. Any thoughts if it was Bodden tour?

We were also on this cruise last week and did the Zip and Dip. William was our driver and he was very good. We were the first ones to the zip lines and that made it so easy. No waiting! Others that arrived after us had to wait until we were done. Tons of fun. You go about half way and then they ask if you want to go to the really high lines or continue on the lower lines. I stuck to the lower ones since I hate heights, but that's another story. The rest of the group went to the high lines and had a blast.

After the zip, we got to tour the monkey's and hold them too. Very interesting. We did a little shopping in their store and then headed to the beach. They take you to Bananarama, which was nice. We got there after noon and it was pretty crowded but they got us chairs all set up. Ask about getting food away from there. Wish I had walked to where we parked and eaten at one of those places, much cheaper.

Make sure you get a Monkey LaLa while in this port! OMGoodness, that was yummy. Still don't know what was in it, but who cares? I really was surprised and impressed with Roaton. Beautiful island, green and lush, and pretty clean. Saw plenty of poor areas, but at least they weren't dirty and trashy. You could tell they still took a lot of pride.

Didn't care for Belize as much as far as the island goes. Wasn't as pretty and seemed very poor and dirty. Had the best snorkeling experience of my life though, so would go back only for that.

We were told there were only 20 kids signed up for the kids program but 700 for this week getting on. :eek: So happy we don't have to cruise during spring break anymore.

Last sea day they had a egg drop contest in the Plaza area. We took a prize for best failure ;) And our "contestant" ended up staying with our cabin steward, so I am sure she will have many happy cruises in her future. :D

Doubt we will ever cruise from Texas again. Just not an area we enjoy and missed the beauty of Ft Lauderdale. Still had a good time though.