existentialtraveler

2 minutes ago, Cruiseoholic000 said:

 

How do you pay to reserve?  Do you book online or through PayPal?

You can email Gail and Barry (the owners) at info@beachlimerz.com  and Gail will take your information and credit card. By the way...the conch fritters and shark bites really are VERY good! 

On 2/9/2020 at 9:30 AM, missgailly said:

oh sorry! We are on the Niew Amsterdam for 7 days. So stopping in: Half Moon Cay; Falmouth, Jamaica; Georgetown, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico.  

 

The only place I've been to before was Jamaica and that was about 40 years ago! I did the Falls, so don't want to do that again. As I mentioned, we are both over 65, so nothing too strenuous.  

 

I will also check out the link that bEwAbG provided - thanks! 

my recommendations:

Georgetown, C.I....snorkel with the  stingrays at Sting Ray Sandbar...through the ship or book a tour on your own

Cozumel...1.If you have never been, a trip to the Mayan ruins in Tulum. I would book through the ship for this one. 2. If you just want a leisurely day at the beach, take a cab to Chankanaab. Or 3.book Nachi Cocom all inclusive resort for the day. We really enjoyedNachi Cocom...nice resort, good food/drink, not crowded!

Falmouth...rafting down the Martha Brae River is fun to do once. Or, just stay on the ship...Falmouth is our LEAST favorite stop anywhere.

13 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

The setting ....

Very cool photo. We will be there in a few weeks!

4 hours ago, Saphira7 said:

We visited Beach Limerez, Monday, 1/27/20 and we are glad we did!  I had read so many conflicting things, that I wanted to make sure I left a review, whether it was good or bad.  Thankfully, it was very good!  We had a fantastic day, from the people that worked there, the place was super cute, food and drinks were great, and we were ok with the beach!  I wish I had gotten some more pics of the place, I thought I did, but maybe my hubby has them.  If I find more, I will post later.  We are beach people so we decided to bypass the lounge chairs and put our stuff down on the beach.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with the chairs, they were not right on the water, but very very close and were in good condition.  There was a few other people there utilizing them.  We had great service, however, I will say we had to go get our own drinks they did not serve us on the beach.  Which we were totally ok with.  I'm not good with distances or measurements, I could not tell you how far we went, other then it was very close and did not take long at all to get drinks and did not put us out in the least bit.  Limerez, is not very big, everything is pretty close together, but in a good way.  We were a group of 6 and I think there was another group of about 6 and we felt like we had a private beach day, it was fantastic!  The water was pretty easy to get in and out of, there was a bit of a step to get out, but actually one of the easier beaches on our trip to get out of, I think the only day easier for us was our Barbados day. The beach is smaller right there in front of the place, but it wasn't more then a few steps to put our stuff down.  I will post some pics, the first one is us and it us pretty much right in front of Limerez looking in that direction, the second one is of us looking toward the rest of the beach heading in the other direction.  The last one in a pic looking out from the restaurant area, which was super cute I hope I can find a pic.  When you get there you set a time to come up for lunch and it was fantastic!  When it was time to go, we got drinks to go and they even threw in an extra one in.  I would most definitely return if I am back in Antigua again one day.  Did we go to some better beaches on our trip, yes, we were blown away by St Lucia, and Barbados.  But, Antigua, was still very beautiful and was one of our favorite days!  Because, having a place almost to yourself, with amazing food and drinks right there, how can you beat that!

 

 

 

I am glad you enjoyed Beach Limerz as much as we have. It is a very cool place!

3 minutes ago, detroit70 said:

That’s exactly how it worked for me last week. When I boarded the Eurodam, I had a credit on my account for my mariner discount. 

Good to know! Thank you!

4 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Well, that is technically right, but misleading.  Seattle at it’s best.  You pay the full price if you book on line.  But then once on board, you should receive your loyalty discount.

It’s the same as if you book the Canaletto or PG in advance.

 

I suggest you not waste time with HAL reps and contact the Mariner Society if my post is in doubt.  

Good to know! Thank you!

8 hours ago, bluesplayer said:

Do Mariner discounts apply?

I talked with the HAL customer service rep. this afternoon. The Mariner discount does apply to onboard reservations, but not to online reservations.

21 hours ago, Flash2 said:

I love Brandon Beach, the problem is getting a taxi to take you there. The taxi drivers usually say that there is a problem there, such as no chairs available or no facilities anymore, because they want to take you further to get a bigger fare.

I have never had a problem with taxi drivers  in Barbados, but I think that is because I get a cab outside of the actual cruise terminal. The drivers inside the terminal want to fill their large van cabs. After a short walk, we leave the terminal and always get a cab just for the two of us that takes us right to Brandon Beach, or anywhere else for that matter. No waiting for the driver to fill a van!

57 minutes ago, Beachiekeen said:

There is also a little beach bar at the Maui Kaanapali Villas (Castaway Cafe) good for a frozen drink, also the Royal Lahaina is nearby, you can get some Rosealani's ice cream at Royal Scoop.  The other direction is the Westin and Honua Kai where Duke's is.  Really nice area to spend an afternoon away from the Kaanapali crowds.  And if you're up for a nice walk, you can walk to Kaanapali beach and resort area.

You seem to have a LOT of information on Maui.  May I ask your opinion on a tour I found?https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g29220-d19256069-Maui_Self_Guided_Electric_Bike_Snorkel_Excursion-Maui_Hawaii.html

What do you think of the self guided electric bike snorkel? I am perfectly comfortable riding in heavy traffic. My wife is not. Is the traffic to and from Kahekili beach, heavy, moderate or light? thank you for your help!

21 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

We did a beach day on Sunday on our cruise and went to a very popular beach and I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't as crowded as I have seen it on previous trips.

 

Also Kaanapali is a big stretch of beach so much more room to spread out than say on Napili Bay.

 

The time of year matters too though--a Sunday in July or during spring break will look different than a Sunday two weeks before Christmas.

 

I really love Kahekili Beach (aka Airport Beach) north of Kaanapali Beach.  This is a beautiful less crowded beach, can be good for snorkeling, and you could have lunch at Duke's at the Honua Kai which is right there.  There are no rentals there, you would need to bring your towels to put on the sand but it would be a nice afternoon.  You can even walk to the Kaanapali resort area from there if it's a nice breezy day.

Thank you! I will look into Kahekili Beach!

2 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Kaanapali is a good first choice and no, it won't be much more crowded than usual. Given that every hotel along the beach have large pools, some days can be more crowded than others but it's never wall to wall people on the beach. To get down to Wailea is about a $70 Uber ride each way from Lahaina, whereas Kaanapali is like $14 each way. Plus who wants to spend all that time in the back of a Toyota Camry driving to Wailea when you can be on the beach in Kaanapali?

 

Whaler's Village has a few good options for food. Island Vintage Coffee on the lower level has great coffee, but also very good casual grab and go breakfast items. Monkeypod, Hula Grill, and Leilanis are very good for lunch. The finest specimen of Mai Tai on the beach is whipped up by Dale at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel Tiki Hut (just by their pool-- its an old school hotel between the Sheraton Black Rock and The Whaler condo). A note on the Kaanapali Beach Hotel-- they have by far the laxest pool policy out of any hotel along the beach. Where most of the major corporate hotels on the beach make you wear wristbands to verify you are a guest to swim, you can just buy a drink at the bar at KBH tiki hut and jump in. 

THANK YOU! Lots of good information!

Anyone have any advice on what to do in Lahaina ona Sunday? We tried to book the Molokini Crater Snorkel, but we will be there on a Sunday and most tours leave very early morning, before we can tender in We would PREFER to just have a beach day.  Ka'anapali is our first choice, but we will be there on a Sunday. Will it be very crowded?

Waialea is our second choice, but that also seems like it will be crowded. Makena beach looks great, but because it is so far away and we will not be renting a car, it does not look like a feasible option.  Any  advice for us?

On 1/12/2020 at 5:39 PM, DreaminoftheCaribbean said:

Nice videos. What graphics/video program did you use?

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed them. I use Photo to Movie. It is a relatively inexpensive software  that is downloadable from the internet and is very easy to learn. Photo to Movie even has online tutorials.

I think you are correct in not engaging with certain posters. My wife gave me the same advice, which, for a change, I heeded. People will believe what they wish to believe, even when there is little and even no evidence to support that belief. On the Holland America board, there is thread on "Dealing with Difficult Posts" and it contains a good piece of advice. Do not engage.

But! And this is a big but! One of your last sentences  in your last post, while  technically not grammatically incorrect, is somewhat grammatically awkward, and, even worse, more than a little "snarky!" I don't think you should accuse someone of being snarky  and then follow it with a snarky comment! Just my opinion..I could be wrong. 😀

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Yes , we heard that there was some reef disease on the hard corals and that South of Palancar was shut down for a couple of months . https://xray-mag.com/content/coral-disease-triggers-partial-closure-cozumel-marine-park

We haven't been there since March as we've been doing some long and costly cruises and a couple more this year in April and August . We like the still photos that are turned into a video , how is that done ?

We have not been back to Cozumel since August, and probably won't be back until August or September, 2020. We have trips planned to Curacao, Cayman Brac, Bonaire and Key largo, as well as a 4 week cruise on the Oosterdam in March and either the Brilliance of the Seas or the Grandeur of the Seas in October. I hope the Cozumel reefs are open for diving in August.

Even though I have recently been experimenting with video, I have always preferred still photos. I use a program called Photo to Movie. It is not very expensive and is a very easy program to learn. I have found that the hardest part of any video is the music!

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

No worries about the hi-jacking as it's usually me hi-jacking my own thread . Because the topic of SCUBA ( the other half of cruiserx2 ) has been raised , I would like to relate what we considered a business model and success story . Cozumel is our favorite place to dive and we have stayed there many times and booked many cruise there to dive . We first dove with Dive Paradise on a cruise there in 1998 . We're very experienced divers and we prefer diving more advanced sites with other more experienced divers . On the cruise tours diving tours it seemed like we always functioned as extra dive masters taking care of people were very nervous or inexperienced so they didn't get injured . That did limit taking photos or just relaxing and enjoying our dive . Dive paradise had a great program matching skills levels and bring extra dive masters to those who needed them ( You could hire a private DM as a buddy for $20 ) . The Owner of Dive Paradise , Rene "Apple" Applegate put together a class operation with great dive masters that we consider friends , captains and a large fleet of boats for different groups and needs - all at a good price . She reward loyalty with reduced prices . She had been approached by a number of cruise lines who wanted to hire her but she refused the almighty dollar and stayed loyal to her people . Unfortunately she passed away in 2017 and her way of doing business went along with her .

https://diveparadise.com/remembering-apple/

 

When we went on a cruise on the Carnival Tropicale they had no provider for diving in Belize a photographer / shore excursion / diver employee of Carnival asked us who we were using . We had successfully dove with Hugh Parkey in the past and I made a mistake of telling him about Hugh . The next trip that we went to Belize on a cruise Hugh was now their man and we could no longer dive with Hugh from a cruise ship without buying the cruise ship's inflated prices . The quality of the experience had dropped rapidly going from a couple of fast boats to a much slower cattle boat . We stopped going to Belize on cruise ships and started staying more in Cozumel looking forward to Sundays when there was no crowds and cruise ships in port .

I love Cozumel. I have been diving there since the early 80's.We rent condos on San Francisco beach for weeks at a time. I have been hearing that,  recently,  dive access on several reefs has been restricted. Have you heard about this as well?

46 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

When we dive the colors become muted the deep we go . Because I used an strobe ( under water flash ) it brought the color back . In the video I had no light so the colors are muted 

 

Sorry for hi-jacking your thread, but I checked out your youtube video channel. VERY COOL!

I thought you might like to see mine as well. I have two. This one is devoted mostly to vacations and cruises: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/existentialtraveler

This one is for diving:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DiveVisionPhotos?feature=mhee

Also, I am sorry you have received such shabby treatment from both HAL and the tour operator. In March, We are going to be on the Oosterdam for 28 days, cruising  to Hawaii and the French Polynesian Islands...we are mulling over booking ONE very overpriced tour through HAL, basically because the tour operator is NOT offering the tour ON THAT ONE DAY  we are in Lahaina. It MIGHT be because it is a Sunday, but, hmmmmmm...

We have encountered this same thing in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

On 1/10/2020 at 11:04 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

THE Golden Rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated . They could have honored their commitment to us and sold the remaining tickets to HAL . That's what we would have done .

Totally off subject but, I had to tell you...I like your profile pic. Very nice shot of a green moray. Where was that taken?

9 minutes ago, Dorh said:

We will be arriving in Antigua next week.  We are a party of 7-9 very interested in Beach Limerz, but we prefer to pay when we arrive at the beach rather than pre pay.  Can we just take a taxi over in the morning and pay when we arrive at the location? 

TIA

Yes, but I would suggest you contact Gail at info@beachlimerz.com to make a reservation. She will arrange for a taxi to pick you up/return you at a slightly cheaper rate than the taxis in port charge and she will reserve beach chairs for you. I have never prepaid. Enjoy!

38 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

 

Have noticed that you push them very aggressively on this board and they may indeed be great  but.....

 

a) are you sure about gradual entry vs drop-off that seems to be omnipresent at all Antigua beaches this season

 

b) people can do their own research about this facility on TripAdvisor etc but I was worried about rough waves/wipe outs/broken nose/taken away by ambulence 

I was not aware that I was being aggressive. I thought I was just trying to recommend a beach/bar/restaurant I enjoy  and is run by people I like and that I think others would like and enjoy as well.

To answer your questions:

a. yes, I am sure. I was just there in November.

b.People can indeed do, and should do,  their own research on TripAdvisor as well as on Cruise Critic and youtube and anywhere else information is available. I have never encountered rough waves at Fort St James Beach, the beach on which Beach Limerz is located. The ocean is, however, not 100% predictable and storms at sea can cause  dangerous waves. I have been told that a storm a couple years ago wiped out a good portion of Fort St James Beach...so yes..it is possible. But, that being said, it is also possible at ANY beach ANYWHERE, and I can only, therefore, reiterate that, in the several times I have been there, I personally have not encountered dangerous wave action on Fort St James Beach.

48 minutes ago, sft429 said:

 

You sure you're not getting a cut? 😎

(we're booked there too in Feb)

Nope..i have no affiliation with them other than that they are nice people and have a really nice old school beach bar/restaurant. You will see what i mean when you meet them! 

On 1/6/2020 at 12:44 PM, caber said:

I am looking for recommendations for a quiet beach. I don't mind going a bit further away from Bridgetown. It doesn't need to have any fancy restaurants, just a beach bar, chairs, umbrellas and half decent toilets. I would like a sandy beach with no rocks or coral blocking my way to the sea. Any suggestions? 

Brandons Beach is everything you want and is close by...10 to 15 minute cab ride. You will probably even see your ship from the beach. Even with three other ships in port that day, the beach was not crowded. Rent chairs, buy drinks and food at Rascals, Here is the link to our youtube video of our cruise in Nov, 2019. The Barbados section starts at 10:20. Lots of photos of the beach...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpEqRF_NDQ

1 hour ago, kstetser said:

We are the only ship in Port this July and are looking for a relaxed beach day.   Chairs/umbrellas to rent, rest rooms, water we can swim in (so not too rough or rocky).  Food/drink a bonus.  Want to avoid Towels and Herds.   4 adults and 3 teens.

 

Thanks!

I am a fervent advocate for Beach Limerz. I was there for the first time in 2018 and just fell in love with it. Only a 10 to 15 minute cab ride, Beach Limerz is an old school beach bar/restaurant with beach loungers, umbrellas, great food, awesome drinks and it is owned by two lovely people...Gail and Barry. The beach is uncrowded, the entrance into the water is gentle with VERY few rocks and no coral, and the waves are usually slight...I say usually, because an unexpected storm can change that within minutes..but that's the ocean! If you have not already seen our youtube videos, here is the link to our latest experience at Beach Limerz in Nov. 2019:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3hDO6YYgI

If you choose Beach Limerz, contact Gail at info@beachlimerz.com. She will arrange for a cab ($5pp) to meet you on the pier. Tell her Jim and Toni recommended  Beach Limerz. It will make her smile.

2 hours ago, LorraineP said:

Thank you. Booked Beach Limerz for 2/1. Great communication with Gail. Told her you recommended. 

You will not regret it. Gail and her husband, Barry, are  such  lovely people...you could probably sense her smile through the emails!

On 1/7/2020 at 7:41 PM, LorraineP said:

Arriving for a day on the Anthem in a few weeks.Trying to decide which beach to spend some relaxing time. Which beach is closest to cruise pier, has a gradual entrance into water, good food and has restroom?

Beach Limerz is closer with a great beach with gradual entrance, great restaurant/bar, great people. It is a 10-15 minute cab ride.

Darkwood is good too, with a slightly steeper entrance/exit, but is a 30 to 40 minute cab ride.

Here is Beach Limerz in from our time there in Nov. 2019:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3hDO6YYgI

Here is Darkwood from October,2017 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbtNk6zA-BA

If you go to Beach Limerz, tell Gail,one of the owners, that Jim and Toni recommended them. It will make her smile, and she has a lovely smile. Contact her at info@beachlimerz.com

28 minutes ago, nf5894 said:

 

Thanks, and yes we walked to Carlsmith. Maybe 20/30 minutes but I guess it depends how fast you walk! It was probably a little further than we thought and we did pass 3 (I think) other beaches on the way. We did take a taxi back to the ship. Also there was a sidewalk and traffic was moderate. Hope you have a good trip.

 

Thank you! I think we will give it a shot!