Pirate’s LIVE “Family Reunion” on the HORIZON…Dec 3-9, 2023

[relmondcrsise]

So, just to double check, elegant nights were nights 2 and 4?  They've always been on nights 2 and 5 on my prior 6 night itineraries (at least that's my recollection).  I'm enjoying all the food photos! Making me starving though. 

[pirate4me2]

10 hours ago, relmondcrsise said:

So, just to double check, elegant nights were nights 2 and 4?  They've always been on nights 2 and 5 on my prior 6 night itineraries (at least that's my recollection).  I'm enjoying all the food photos! Making me starving though. 

Yes, first sea day and then Grand Cayman day. 

[pirate4me2]

Today was COZUMEL!! 
 

We woke up at 9, went to get go go juice from the Ocean Plaza bar, then some breakfast. Blue Iguana was HOPPING this morning! It took about 15 minutes to get from getting in line to getting my burrito, but hey, it’s all good. The burrito was worth it! 
 

We met the “family” in Havana at 10:15 and went to debark the ship. We had booked the Cozumel Bar Hop, something new for me and Chris! It was $20 for all 6 of us to take a taxi from the port Carnival docks at to the Senor Frogs downtown, where the tour meets. 
 

Our guides were Sergio and Colleen. They were awesome! They explained how the tour would operate, as well as some history and info on the island. 
 

Our first stop on the hop was Punta Moreno, and the welcome shot was a Mayan Sacrifice. It was really, really good! This stop can occasionally take credit cards ( the rest are all cash only) and can run a blender for frozen drinks. The other stops are all on the rocks. You can get in the water at this stop too. It was an absolutely gorgeous way to start the hop off! 

[pirate4me2]

Next up on the hop: Coconuts! 
This bar is perched up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, the views are spectacular! The walk up (and back down) is uneven, so be very, very careful! The vibe of this place is fun too, but not for the easily offended. If you don’t mind some adult ummmm, how shall I say this, “entertainment,” ask to see the family “photo album.” 
The blue margarita here was SO GOOD, but STRONG. Oh my. I also got some conch civiche to help soak up the alcohol, and the plate was HUGE!! It was delish. They also served complimentary salsa (it’s spicy!) and chips. 

[pirate4me2]

El Pescador was our third stop, and it’s in throwing distance of Coconuts. They have crocodiles here!! I never got a pic, but this family of crocs lives in the pit across the road from the bar. Don’t go swim in there! You can swim in the ocean here tho. The welcome shot at this stop was something blue, and good, and I also got a fantastic mai tai. 
 

The last hop stop was Rastas, and the Iguana (welcome shot) was good. This place was gorgeous, we sat right on the beach. I got a rum punch (ok) and coconut shrimp (delish!). 
 

After Rastas, the Hop dropped us off right at the port entrance. The ride back was fun, with music and singing. I was sad to see the trip end! 

[pirate4me2]

After we got back onboard (the Hop got us back 2 hours before back onboard time), we headed to the rooms to regroup. I did some packing (how is tomorrow the last day already??) while Chris napped.
 

At 6 we headed out to the Havana deck and got in the hot tub. It felt sooooo good! We stayed until about 7, then went back to change and grab a bite to eat from Lido. I got the steak & cheese from the deli, and it’s really, really good with some aioli (right there at the deli in the squirt bottles) added to it! 
 

After dinner we hit the casino to see if we could turn our $25 in FunPlay into something more. We did! We each walked out with $10 cash. Yahoo! 
 

We hit Alchemy for 1 last drink of the day, then came back to the room to crash. It’s been a great day! 

[pirate4me2]

Today is off to a GREAT (that’s a sarcastic great, by the way), start. 

Seriously, I try to roll with the flow most of the time. The crew works hard. Bot sea day brunch today was, for us anyway, a complete let down. We got up at 945, went to ocean plaza bar to get go go juice, and checked in for brunch. At 9:54 our table was ready, so we went down to the deck 3 MDR. We sat our bum bums in our chairs at 9:59. At 10:17, our waiter finally came by to take the order. Chris had drained his water cup by 10:27, and nobody ever came to refill or check in with us. At 10:57, with still no food or water, or check in from our waiter,  we got up and walked out. Nobody came to stop us or ask what was wrong.

Like  I said, I try to roll with the flow, but I think  that’s some of the worst MDR service I’ve had on a CCL ship. But hey, on the upside…it gave me an excuse to get an espresso martini from the ocean plaza bar, and that’s breakfast! And with the platinum & diamond party at noon, this could be FUN! 

[pirate4me2]

Our room carpet by the sliding door is soaked, so they sent bubbly &  chocolate covered strawberries as a sorry for the inconvenience. a fan to help dry it is currently in place. 
 

Lunch, errrr, brunch, came from the deli, a BLT. It’s decent, but I’ll stick with the steak & cheese or the tomato & mozzarella from now on. 
 

The D&P reunion party was good. Free flowing, easy to get drinks! 

[bg2310]

1 hour ago, pirate4me2 said:

Today is off to a GREAT (that’s a sarcastic great, by the way), start. 

Seriously, I try to roll with the flow most of the time. The crew works hard. Bot sea day brunch today was, for us anyway, a complete let down. We got up at 945, went to ocean plaza bar to get go go juice, and checked in for brunch. At 9:54 our table was ready, so we went down to the deck 3 MDR. We sat our bum bums in our chairs at 9:59. At 10:17, our waiter finally came by to take the order. Chris had drained his water cup by 10:27, and nobody ever came to refill or check in with us. At 10:57, with still no food or water, or check in from our waiter,  we got up and walked out. Nobody came to stop us or ask what was wrong.

Like  I said, I try to roll with the flow, but I think  that’s some of the worst MDR service I’ve had on a CCL ship. But hey, on the upside…it gave me an excuse to get an espresso martini from the ocean plaza bar, and that’s breakfast! And with the platinum & diamond party at noon, this could be FUN! 

Sorry to hear about your experience. That's never fun! How busy were they though? On my last cruise on Panorama brunch days were always very crowded and busy, and 1 day took forever for our food, but it ended up working out.

 

But we did have a similar experience to you at dinner one night in the MDR. It was busy as all hell, and it took so long for them to even come take our order. No waiter or anyone around even to wave down, or who came to get us more water.

 

We finally got up and just left, no one stopped us or checked on us either. We ended up having dinner at the sushi restaurant, it was delicious and not busy at all!

Edited December 8, 2023 by bg2310

[pirate4me2]

28 minutes ago, bg2310 said:

Sorry to hear about your experience. That's never fun! How busy were they though? On my last cruise on Panorama brunch days were always very crowded and busy, and 1 day took forever for our food, but it ended up working out.

 

But we did have a similar experience to you at dinner one night in the MDR. It was busy as all hell, and it took so long for them to even come take our order. No waiter or anyone around even to wave down, or who came to get us more water.

 

We finally got up and just left, no one stopped us or checked on us either. We ended up having dinner at the sushi restaurant, it was delicious and not busy at all!

It didn’t seem terribly busy, I think day 1 brunch was busier. The table next to us was getting their stuff pretty promptly (different service team). 

[lazydayz]

Glad the D and P party went well!  
 

We had a similar dining experience on the Celebration.  On New Year’s Day, we waited s long time for a table at Cuchina.  Finally got a table at 9:15 or so.  We were ignored for 30 minutes.  Finally just got up and left.  Our phone rang at 9:30 the next morning, wanted to know what happened.  I explained and he apologized and had the same table reserved for us that night at 7.  Great service that night, and the manager called again the next day to make sure we were happy.

 

I hope they follow up with you and make this right.   

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Glad the D and P party went well!  
 

We had a similar dining experience on the Celebration.  On New Year’s Day, we waited s long time for a table at Cuchina.  Finally got a table at 9:15 or so.  We were ignored for 30 minutes.  Finally just got up and left.  Our phone rang at 9:30 the next morning, wanted to know what happened.  I explained and he apologized and had the same table reserved for us that night at 7.  Great service that night, and the manager called again the next day to make sure we were happy.

 

I hope they follow up with you and make this right.   

Oh gosh! That’s terrible. I doubt they follow up, today is our last day. But it’s all good, we had “brunch” on lido and enjoyed our day by the pool in Havana. I’m honestly ok with it, I try to go with the flow, it just surprised me…I’ve never had such lax service on a ship before. The rest of the service has been top notch. 

[pirate4me2]

Where did I leave off today? Oh yeah, around lunchtime!

 

We had a great day. Even with the carpet mess and the rough food start, it’s been a great last day onboard. We came back from lunch and packed, then relaxed on the “patio” and in Havana. Maria (bartender), Yoga and Nita are a fantastic Havana crew! We had a few shots of Buffalo, a few La Buena Vidas, and just hung out in a tiki next to the pool with our feet getting wet. I finished reading my book, Chris had a nap…it’s a great sea day.

 

The plan is to meet the “fam” at Alchemy at 7, have one last drink and head to dinner. I’ll report back later!

[pe4all]

19 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

But hey, on the upside…it gave me an excuse to get an espresso martini from the ocean plaza bar, and that’s breakfast! And with the platinum & diamond party at noon, this could be FUN! 

Sometimes a liquid breakfast is the way to go - lol!

[pirate4me2]

2 hours ago, pe4all said:

Sometimes a liquid breakfast is the way to go - lol!

Yes!!! 😂

[pirate4me2]

Chris and I made our way to Alchemy about 6:15 last night and each had 2 last drinks by Zoltan. I did the almond joy, then a “something absinthe.” When our “family” got there we headed down to the MDR to have our final meal onboard. The menu wasn’t exciting, but ended up being good. I got the fried tomatoes, which I loved, and the enchiladas, which were flavorful. 

[pirate4me2]

We ended dinner about 9:30, and since we had an early meetup (6:30 in the deck 3 dining room) we called it a night. 
 

Debarkation this morning was a bit late. We got to the MDR about 6:20 and sat down with the family. And sat. And sat. We were still sailing in, and didn’t get to our terminal until about 7:20. Once we were cleared tho the process went smoothly. We were off the ship walking to our car by 8:05, and are now headed home. 

[luvcruzing]

Thank you for the review. Always fun to follow along. Have a safe trip home.

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, luvcruzing said:

Thank you for the review. Always fun to follow along. Have a safe trip home.

Thanks for coming along! 

[lazydayz]

Great live report.  Thanks for doing it.  And safe travels home. 

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Great live report.  Thanks for doing it.  And safe travels home. 

Thank you!

[Jamman54]

Thanks for the great review! It made us more excited for our Vista B2B in April in a Havana cabin! 😃

[thesmiths]

On 12/8/2023 at 5:50 PM, pirate4me2 said:

Yoga and Nita are a fantastic Havana crew!

Nita was a doll!

So Tiny. We talked with her all week!

 

We were on the cruise before you.

 

Thanks for the report!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by thesmiths

[pirate4me2]

5 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Thanks for the great review! It made us more excited for our Vista B2B in April in a Havana cabin! 😃

I’m jealous of your B2B! The Havana cabins and area are the best :)

3 hours ago, thesmiths said:

Nita was a doll!

So Tiny. We talked with her all week!

 

We were on the cruise before you.

 

Thanks for the report!

 

 

 

 

 

 

She really is! And yes, itty bitty! She is such a sweetie. 

[tradewinds traveler]

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise.