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MITSUGIRLY has a JEWEL of a time on my 1st RC cruise in years!


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Once at the hotel, we packed our things and gladly left the room to check out.

 

Once at the front counter, I asked if the guy there was the manager and he said yes. I told him about our lack of a/c and what had happened the night before and that I was told to talk to him about the pricing. He said he would gladly take some money off of my bill. He said I would find a refund on my charge for $79.35. So, the room actually ended up costing me $77.72.

 

Meanwhile, Sakari volunteered to drag our luggage down the 4 flights of stairs to the entrance. I wasn't putting up a fight about it and let her do her thing.

 

We asked for him to call us a cab and he did. He said they would be there in 7 minutes and to wait "out front". Hmm, out front as in the front of the hotel on the side or out front as in the main street, which actually isn't the front of the hotel? We decided the main street was best.

 

We waited and waited and nothing. Finally we just flagged down a taxi coming by and asked if he would take us to the port and he paused and said "oh sure". In we went and off to the port.

 

Along the way I was snapping pictures. Only a few interesting ones though.

 

The fort in the distance:

 

P4010180-L.jpg

 

 

A beautiful church

 

P4010181-L.jpg

 

 

A firehouse with some old fire trucks.

 

P4010183-L.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Okay, glad you were told you'd get a refund of some of the cost; hope that it shows up on your CC statement.

 

Honestly, I just stayed at a Springhill Suites in Texas for a total of $86 that I have to tell you was just a terrific property. To think you ended up spending almost that much for such a mess is terrible. But I guess with some hotels still not up and running after the hurricane, there wasn't much of a choice for you.

 

But you're posting this will make sure no one ends up in a similar situation going forward so I'm sure we're all thankful for that. Looking forward to reading more as you post.

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FINAL THOUGHTS ON DA HOUSE!

 

I'm sure you can all tell my final thoughts (and your own conclusions as well) but thought I'd give a breakdown/list of things that just makes this place not worth staying at.

 

 

1) Mobility limited-no one with ambulation problems could ever stay here. The steps were horrid to carry luggage on.

 

2) No help from the staff when we were checking in or out...with luggage. It does list concierge service.

3) NO A/C and some BS story about our room being the only room in the hotel, of 4 floors, that was on a different system...ALSO, I did talk to the manager about that and he said "Nooooo, it's all on the same system". LOL

 

4) roaches-need I say more?

 

5) filthy floors and torn up with tiles missing and it looked like the room was unfinished with mudding/drywall.

 

6) Uneven floors: from one room to the next and into the bathroom

 

7) Glass bathroom door for everyone to see everything that goes on in there. Also, not appropriate for people that might be traveling together that are not a "close family". Site says "private bathroom" :')

 

8) Mold around the vents

 

9) Mold on the cushion on the chairs at the roof top

 

10) Broken skylights that looked like it could fall in on someone.

 

11) No t.v, No phone, No hairdryer, No iron...all listed as amenities included.

 

12) Work desk that was unusable (unless you were about 3' tall) and no plugs.

 

13) Slippery floor d/t condensation on the floor from the heat.

 

14) Plunge pool listed??? It says rooftop pool AND plunge pool. Hmmm

 

15) No ice machines. I forgot to mention this one. We wanted ice and I asked at the front desk and he grabbed an ice bucket and opened up a Styrofoam cooler and started scooping ice out of it. Weird.

 

16) Very hard bed and mattress. Site says "premium bedding"

 

If there's anything else I have forgotten, I'm sure I mentioned it in the review.

 

WOULD I RECOMMEND? NO WAY!!! Not now, not then, never again. :(

 

I do want to plead my case on booking this place however...I didn't completely go into it blind and not knowing what the rooms looked like. I did check their site and this is what I found...

 

When you look on their website, THIS is what you'll find for the pictures of the rooms that they advertise:

 

s_cuartoB-2_preview.jpeg-M.jpg

 

 

s_cuartoA-5_preview.jpeg-M.jpg

 

 

s_cuartoA-7_preview.jpeg-M.jpg

 

Wait, is that a phone and tv I see on that desk in the above picture???

 

Now tell me, did my room look anything like any of these pictures? They are definitely misleading for sure!!! What? Do they have 3 rooms set up like this to take pictures and the rest look as bad as mine? Or did I just get the raw end of the deal? Who knows.

 

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FINAL THOUGHTS ON DA HOUSE!

 

I'm sure you can all tell my final thoughts (and your own conclusions as well) but thought I'd give a breakdown/list of things that just makes this place not worth staying at.

 

 

1) Mobility limited-no one with ambulation problems could ever stay here. The steps were horrid to carry luggage on.

 

2) No help from the staff when we were checking in or out...with luggage. It does list concierge service.

3) NO A/C and some BS story about our room being the only room in the hotel, of 4 floors, that was on a different system...ALSO, I did talk to the manager about that and he said "Nooooo, it's all on the same system". LOL

 

4) roaches-need I say more?

 

5) filthy floors and torn up with tiles missing and it looked like the room was unfinished with mudding/drywall.

 

6) Uneven floors: from one room to the next and into the bathroom

 

7) Glass bathroom door for everyone to see everything that goes on in there. Also, not appropriate for people that might be traveling together that are not a "close family". Site says "private bathroom" :')

 

8) Mold around the vents

 

9) Mold on the cushion on the chairs at the roof top

 

10) Broken skylights that looked like it could fall in on someone.

 

11) No t.v, No phone, No hairdryer, No iron...all listed as amenities included.

 

12) Work desk that was unusable (unless you were about 3' tall) and no plugs.

 

13) Slippery floor d/t condensation on the floor from the heat.

 

14) Plunge pool listed??? It says rooftop pool AND plunge pool. Hmmm

 

15) No ice machines. I forgot to mention this one. We wanted ice and I asked at the front desk and he grabbed an ice bucket and opened up a Styrofoam cooler and started scooping ice out of it. Weird.

 

16) Very hard bed and mattress. Site says "premium bedding"

 

If there's anything else I have forgotten, I'm sure I mentioned it in the review.

 

WOULD I RECOMMEND? NO WAY!!! Not now, not then, never again. :(

 

I do want to plead my case on booking this place however...I didn't completely go into it blind and not knowing what the rooms looked like. I did check their site and this is what I found...

 

 

 

You should post that on yelp, tripadvisor or something. This is info people need to know. Especially the pictures of what they advertise vs. what reality is.

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Why did I get excited when I stumbled across ur review this morning?!?!? Because I freaking love your reviews[emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]

 

Yes something to help me get through this rainy Friday morning.

 

Now let me go back and start at page one.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

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You should post that on yelp, tripadvisor or something. This is info people need to know. Especially the pictures of what they advertise vs. what reality is.

 

 

 

I agree-post on as many sites as possible. I regularly check Trip Advisor.

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Kim, I hope you forwarded the list of why the hotel did not meet expectations to the manager and corporate office. Tell them of the huge following you have on CC. Maybe the full night's cost will be reimbursed, as it should have already been. Thanks for a great review as usual!

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

 

I'd be pretty confident to say that I highly doubt that hotel has a corporate office ;)

 

While not up to US chain hotel standards, it really doesn't appear to be different from any other locally owned budget hotel anywhere else in the world. Would I stay there? No. But I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary for what it is IMO.

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While not up to US chain hotel standards, it really doesn't appear to be different from any other locally owned budget hotel anywhere else in the world. Would I stay there? No. But I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary for what it is IMO.

 

Wow - let us know the other places that you have stayed that seem no different than this place. We have stayed in local "budget" (i.e., cheap) places all other the world and this place is WAY out of the ordinary in my opinion. I do the planning and booking in my family and if I had booked us into this place, I would have been the only one possibly staying the night there.

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Looks like I'm late to the party ... again. Have always LOVED your reviews and extensive photos.

 

Thank you so much for vicariously taking all of us along with you. Very much enjoyed JOTS waaaaay back in 2008 and hope you will as well. Have an awesome trip! 😁😁😁

 

Ellen

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Kim, I'm anxious to hear whether you were able to speak with a manager and get any financial refund due to the condition and lack of amenities at the hotel. Seriously, no working a/c and then waking up with condensation all over a dirty floor? YUCK.

 

This is why I explain to my kids that the cheapest type of hotel for me is one that doesn't offer room service! We've stayed in motels where I was afraid to take off my shoes!

 

Yea, I've stayed in those dumps in the past (when driving to the port on a 2 day trip before and just needed a place to sleep) and been afraid to even crawl in bed or take my shoes off.

 

 

Da House should change its name to Da Dump. Roaches, dirty floors, mold, no working A/C...and they expected you to keep the windows open with West Nile and Zika around?? Crazy.

 

Your pictures are amazing as usual.

 

 

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Exactly. I wasn't about to sleep with the windows open.

 

 

 

Okay, glad you were told you'd get a refund of some of the cost; hope that it shows up on your CC statement.

 

Honestly, I just stayed at a Springhill Suites in Texas for a total of $86 that I have to tell you was just a terrific property. To think you ended up spending almost that much for such a mess is terrible. But I guess with some hotels still not up and running after the hurricane, there wasn't much of a choice for you.

 

But you're posting this will make sure no one ends up in a similar situation going forward so I'm sure we're all thankful for that. Looking forward to reading more as you post.

 

Yes, it was really hard to find any "decent priced" hotels in the area. They were all so darn expensive or sold out by the time I booked this one. I guess that's what I get for waiting for so long to book.

 

 

Yes, we have a reservation for the Decanter Hotel later this year.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

You'll be very pleased! No worries.

 

 

You should post that on yelp, tripadvisor or something. This is info people need to know. Especially the pictures of what they advertise vs. what reality is.

 

I always post on TA but have never posted on yelp before. I'll check into it.

 

 

 

Great review so far. Looking forward to the rest.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you

 

 

I guess the mosquito netting in those pics should have given you a clue that you'd have to sleep with the windows open! Glad you can laugh about it now, but that looks like a horrid place.

 

Not really. I have seen places that did this kind of thing as part of the decor and no reason for it (as in mosquitos). I definitely didn't think of it as a netting for that after the website and my confirmation said they had a/c. They even said they have a/c...just wasn't in my room and I didn't even have the netting. clear.png?emoji-tearsjoy-1678

 

 

Why did I get excited when I stumbled across ur review this morning?!?!? Because I freaking love your reviews

 

Yes something to help me get through this rainy Friday morning.

 

Now let me go back and start at page one.

 

 

Aww, thank so much. I appreciate it.

 

Kim, I hope you forwarded the list of why the hotel did not meet expectations to the manager and corporate office. Tell them of the huge following you have on CC. Maybe the full night's cost will be reimbursed, as it should have already been. Thanks for a great review as usual!

 

 

I might just do that. At the time it was happening, I really was just rolling with the punches and dreaming of the cruise. I wasn't thinking about all of the things adding up to such a terrible place honestly. Now that I've had some time to sit down and make a list and reflect on just how bad of a place it was, I realize I should have asked for a full refund or something.

 

AS OF NOW...there are 2 PENDING refunds from them for the total amount that they said they would refund (the $79). PENDING being the key word. I stayed there 14 days ago!

 

 

What an adventure and you are not even on the ship yet!

 

I know right? There's always an adventure with my family...it's just usually a little better (or involves my older daughter Kendra when there's a mishap lol)

 

 

I agree-post on as many sites as possible. I regularly check Trip Advisor.

 

I'll check into other sites other than TA, which I already post on.

 

 

I am really enjoying your review. Thank you!!

Thank you and glad you are enjoying it.

 

I'd be pretty confident to say that I highly doubt that hotel has a corporate office clear.png?emoji-wink-1685

 

While not up to US chain hotel standards, it really doesn't appear to be different from any other locally owned budget hotel anywhere else in the world. Would I stay there? No. But I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary for what it is IMO.

 

I doubt there's a corporate office either. I have stayed in a lot of places, but this one just had a lot more things wrong with it than expected. I expected to at least get what it advertised as far as amenities and expected it to look like the pictures on the website. I was mislead imo.

 

 

 

Wow - let us know the other places that you have stayed that seem no different than this place. We have stayed in local "budget" (i.e., cheap) places all other the world and this place is WAY out of the ordinary in my opinion. I do the planning and booking in my family and if I had booked us into this place, I would have been the only one possibly staying the night there.

 

Same here. I also have to say that I take into consideration reviews and opinions of others that are on here...however, in the end I always make up my own mind and experience it for myself. What some like, others do not and vice versa. I have stayed in places there were bad reviews on, but looking at the pictures, it looked doable to me and I booked anyhow and was satisfied. So, everyone is different.

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Looks like I'm late to the party ... again. Have always LOVED your reviews and extensive photos.

 

Thank you so much for vicariously taking all of us along with you. Very much enjoyed JOTS waaaaay back in 2008 and hope you will as well. Have an awesome trip! 😁😁😁

 

Ellen

 

Thanks so much and glad to have you here.

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GETTING ON THE SHIP

 

 

It cost $12 for the cab ride to the port and we arrived at 12:20pm.

 

Our driver was CRAZY! At one point he pulled out into the road with oncoming traffic both ways. Then all of a sudden a huge bus was coming and I thought I might just tinkle myself. The bus wasn't stopping and he wasn't moving out of the way. He floored it and barely made it out of the way. The bus would have hit my side and I kinda like my side and would like to keep it intact.

 

At that point, I put away my nice tip I had for him. Like seriously, almost the entire ride there was like that. I wasn't in a hurry and I did say that when we got in the cab "no hurry, we have until 7 tonight" lol.

 

He sang all the way to the port...ALL.THE.WAY. Of course it was in Spanish and we didn't understand. My husband asked if the taxi job was just a day job and he was really a singer. He laughed and said "I only sing to my customers to welcome them to our beautiful place and entertain them". Then started talking more. So, since he was going out of his way to sing to us, I put the tip back in my hand. He got lucky.

 

So the first thing I notice here is that we didn't have a place to drop off/check in your luggage and you had to carry it with you in the lines. This just must be a PR thing.

 

We went and got in line. It was moving FAST!

 

P4010184-L.jpg

 

 

We checked our luggage in and went through security by 12:50PM. Prior to putting our carry-on's on the security/x-ray belt, I asked the lady about what do we do with our wine we had brought. Do we leave it in our bag or take it out and carry it. She said leave it.

 

At the end of the security belt, we picked it up, noticed that they had pulled a few people over to a table to check their wine and we were told "that way please"...which was to the lines to check ourselves in with Royal. Hmmm...ok, so they didn't check us for some reason. I'm good with that.

 

Now let's talk wine. I have NEVER liked wine. It just taste bitter to me. I like the fruity fru-fru drinks that taste like cool-aide. People on here have given me suggestions of things to try and I have just never liked it.

 

Kendra is the same as me with wine. However, last year she found a wine at a party and told me I had to try it and try it I did and liked it! Thank goodness it's a cheap wine.

 

IMG_3855%20copy-L.jpg

 

 

We have been drinking this ever since. Then about 2 months ago, we went to Olive Garden and they were giving samples of their wine and we liked it too... probably more than the Arbor Mist.

 

IMG_3856%20copy-L.jpg

 

So now I have 2 options. We decided, for the first time, to bring 2 bottles with us and I decided it would be the Poggio!

 

After checking in with Royal and flashing my RC-Anchor-bright-pink-tee-shirt-with-all-of-the-ship-names on it that my neighbor let me borrow, we had our pictures taken by the ship photographer.

 

P4112787-L.jpg

 

 

Then we headed to the ship. This was the weirdest way I have ever gotten on a ship that I can remember. It was on the ground level and you walk out to the deck and around to the ship and on the ship. I'm used to walking up the ramps that wind back and forth leading up to the lobby area.

 

Here's a picture of where you get on.

 

P4010323-L.jpg

 

 

 

SO WE ARE FINALLY ON THE SHIP!!!

 

It was a super fast experience from stepping out of the cab to walking onto the ship.

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... This was the weirdest way I have ever gotten on a ship that I can remember. It was on the ground level and you walk out to the deck and around to the ship and on the ship. I'm used to walking up the ramps that wind back and forth leading up to the lobby area. ...

The gangway structure was damaged by the hurricane last year and has still not been repaired.

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The gangway structure was damaged by the hurricane last year and has still not been repaired.

 

Oh ok. Makes sense.

 

 

I have read a couple of your reviews, and they are incredible! Love all the detailed pictures as well! I'll be following along. Thank you!

 

Why thanks! Glad you are here.

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So let's talk internet for those that are interested.

 

When we are traveling, we must have internet. I know a lot like to put away the devices because it's vacation, but we have 2 businesses that we need to still have internet access for and communication. I also have to have it for homework for school. Without it, we wouldn't be able to vacation like we do.

 

So...

 

I purchased the VOOM (internet package) and the soda package together. You can buy them separate or together or several of them. You save by buying them as a package.

 

Prior to vacation, I had asked how it worked. I only bought the 1 VOOM package (and 2 sodas) and know that only one can be logged on at any given time. But, I wanted to know if the other person actually HAD to log out before the next person could use it. NCL...makes you log out first. CCL let's you log them out as you log in. What makes the difference you might ask? For us, because we could have been on the computer in the room and forgot to log out and tried to get on upstairs on our phone and couldn't without going back to the room to log out. So, big difference to us.

 

I was told by members here that you did in fact have to log out of the device that it was logged on.

 

Well...I'm here to tell you YOU DON'T. Just by logging in, it will automatically log the other out. Woo hoo.

 

There are several wifi's available on the ship...they trying to confuse me.

 

IMG_3958%20copy-L.jpg

 

You want royal wifi

 

IMG_3957%20copy-L.jpg

 

Pick you language

 

IMG_3959%20copy-L.jpg

 

When you check-in at the port, they hand you a piece of paper that will give you an access code for your log in.

 

This is where you put that code.

 

IMG_3960%20copy-L.jpg

 

 

IMG_3961%20copy-L.jpg

 

 

Once you are logged on, you get this screen and you are good to go.

 

IMG_3962%20copy-L.jpg

 

 

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Kim, honestly - I did not know whether to laugh or cry at your hotel adventures! Just to repeat what many have said already- love your review!!! The only problem is that it makes me want to go on holiday NOW and I have another 8 months to wait ;)

 

on another note - I can’t get over how young you and your hubby look considering your oldest son’s age especially! I am sure it has a lot to do with your personality and bright outlook on life!

 

 

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