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EMc&DrS

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Everything posted by EMc&DrS

  1. Lots of the hotel guests had left stuff in their huts, but I don't know if there was anything of value. We have a small portable safe that we bring. It holds our cash, IDs, and phone. It has a wire attached like a bike lock would have. The wire fit perfectly around the center pole of the palapa.
  2. They are. I shouldn’t have said they removed people from the palapas. They did take their chairs away leaving them sitting in the sand. There are certain chairs/loungers on the beach exclusively for the hotel guests. Cruise passengers have to rent loungers from one of the sellers, and those chairs are different.
  3. We were just at Eagle Beach on February 21. Our ship, HAL Rotterdam, had arrived in Aruba the night before at 9:30 PM, so our plan was to get off the ship early ahead of the crowds that were arriving on Carnival Horizon and RCL Odyssey of the Seas. We thought we'd take the bus as has been recommended on this thread, but when we stepped off the ship, there were taxis waiting just feet from the ship. (Apparently, only some of the drivers have the credentials to pick up and drop off right at the ships). We opted to save time and the long walk and spent the extra few dollars to jump right into a cab. For $15 we arrived at the beach by 7:30 AM--less than 15 minutes after stepping off the boat. We arrived at the area near Passions where all the palapas are located. To our surprise, all but 2 or 3 of them near the road had already been claimed--although most were empty. Turns out, people staying at the hotel across the street (which was at full capacity) arrive at the beach at 6:30 AM to claim their palapa for the day. They hang a bag from a hook and leave a few items on the table, and then they return to the hotel and don't come back until after 9 AM. Our palapa for the day (Passions is on the other side of the trees to the right): We also quickly found out that the nice chairs seen in the pic are for hotel guests only. We had to visit a hut on the beach where a lady was able to rent chairs to cruise passengers. Ours looked like old chairs that had been discarded by Carnival--exactly the same chairs we've had on their cruise ships, but with some holes and tears in the fabric. This nice lady dragged two chairs what seemed to be 100 yards through the THICK sand to our palapa in the back corner of the beach. I believe we paid $10/chair and I gave her a tip for her effort. I found out later that there was another man who rented chairs for that area, but he wasn't even on duty when we got there. He figured out we had rented from the other lady and was fine with that. A short time later he came by with security and they were removing people from palapas who were not hotel guests or who had not rented chairs. They didn't bother us. In the end our spot was fine. Although our view looking straight ahead was obscured, we could just look to our right to see the ocean. We were a short distance to Passions, and after a long wait there for drinks around 1 PM, we enjoyed the strongest Long Island Iced Teas we've ever had! I recommend arriving early if you can. The beach was almost exclusively ours for the first 60-90 minutes. We had no problem getting a cab back to the pier. We had only walked a few feet when one stopped to pick us up. This driver took us to the same spot just feet from the gangway to our ship.
  4. Enjoying your review so far--we were on the same cruise. Interesting to note--our Uber dropped us off at 9:40 AM, we breezed through security and went right up the escalator to the "priority" waiting area to wait until they started the boarding process. We were in the first group to board and I took a pic just as we were stepping onto the ship. The time was 11:07. So, arriving early and having priority boarding got us onboard a whopping 10 minutes before you boarded.😂
  5. What does it cost to upgrade to Elite from the Signature package included with HIA once you get onboard? Is it still true with the Signature package that you only pay the difference for drink prices that are higher than $11 (plus 18%)? One of the cruise lines we sailed recently charged you the entire cost of the drink if it was over the limit, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't HAL.
  6. Interesting—thanks for the heads up.
  7. Great--thanks for your quick reply!
  8. I think the confusion is because there are some posts & videos on this site that claim the bus first stops at "Eagle Beach" where it's more crowded and then makes a second stop at Amsterdam Manor. Quick question--our ship is staying in Aruba overnight during our 24-hour stay, so we should be able to get off the ship early the next morning before the other cruise ships arrive in port. Do you have any idea how early we could rent chairs on the beach near Passions?
  9. How do you see the current menus in the Navigator app? All I can see are the few things that have been scheduled for the 9 days that we'll be onboard in 3 weeks.
  10. Are prices in US dollars? Is it better to sit on the deck or on the beach?
  11. Yep, that’s the one we’re looking at for Feb. We clearly read the same bad reviews, but the more I read on other sites, it seems that most people really like this one. I guess some people can find the negative in anything. A lot of people complained about the lunch. When you’re on a 9 day cruise with unlimited food and drink, I could care less about what food is served!! Thanks for your reply—hope you all have a great time!
  12. Did you take this tour? I was just looking at it today as a possibility for our HIA. The reviews were either FANTASTIC or TERRIBLE. Makes it so hard to decide....
  13. When they failed to credit us for several cruises (thus, we missed our upgrade to Diamond/black on one of our cruises), and they wouldn’t respond to my emails asking for help, I made a public comment on an MSC Facebook post in which they were touting their new terminal under construction in MIA. I said something like, “As a loyal MSC Voyager’s Club member for many years, I would love to sail out of this terminal, but until MSC finally responds to my emails and updates my VC account to acknowledge that we have earned Diamond status, I won’t be sailing on this cruise line anymore.” I had a private Fbook message from MSC within a few minutes inquiring how they could fix the problem. A few days later, our accounts were updated.
  14. When we finally remembered to bring water shoes to OC on our 4th visit, we were able to enjoy the beach once and for all! The YC beach is nearly impossible without them.
  15. We’re booked for June 2025 for my wife’s retirement cruise and were lucky enough to snag the Owner’s Suite on deck 16. (We booked way in advance so we could save enough money to afford it 😂!) We did the Royal Suite on Seaside for my retirement cruise, so we’re curious to see how this one compares. The Seaside cruise with Vishnu as our butler and Arthur as our waiter did not disappoint!!
  16. Thanks--great to hear!
  17. We are going to be in Aruba for 24 hours on our upcoming cruise. It will be our first visit. Is Eagle Beach one of these beaches where people pester you all day to buy things, or does that not happen in Aruba?
  18. We just got off of Seascape on Sunday as well--our 8th YC sailing since 2017. This was the first cruise we noticed non-YC guests around the pool. We did see the pool attendant question some teen boys on the first sea day. When they couldn't produce wrist bands or key cards of any kind, he told them they had to leave. (They had clearly been given access by a teen girl who was with her family in YC). Never saw them again. As the original poster mentioned, the seafood buffet at lunch on the last day was crazy. We've never seen so many people around or in the pool that afternoon, and the wait for your food was endless. Our friends finally gave up on their order because it just never came out. Despite this, we still had a great time and really appreciated the service we received throughout the YC. Our take on the situation is that the YC has just gotten too big. Having first tried YC on Divina, we miss the intimacy of that setting when you got to know so many of the YC staff and guests. Also, the YC director on this cruise was non-existent. He greeted us when we arrived at Ocean House the first day of the cruise, and then we didn't catch a glimpse of him again until the seafood buffet on the last afternoon--during which he made a quick pass through the area and disappeared. On our last Meraviglia cruise (her last cruise before she went into dry dock last April), the YC director was everywhere. We met him the moment we arrived in YC and saw him several times each day of the cruise. The buck stops with him (or her)--seems like all the director should have to do is call security.
  19. Yes. Amber Cove is only for Carnival and the other cruise lines they own like Holland America.
  20. Honest and fair review--thank you. Unfortunately, the pics won't open.
  21. How/why did you get two chocolate ships? I thought it was one per stateroom? We'll be on the same itinerary as you are currently sailing in 10 days. Can you tell me which night(s) are Elegant Nights?
  22. Were you able to relax at the beach, or where there tons of people walking up and down the beach trying to sell you stuff?
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