New Mahogany Bay Cruise Center dock in Roatan for Carnival (MERGED THREADS)

[dst]

MamaParrotHead - Did you spend the entire day there - please give more details :)

 

Looking forward to seeing the pictures

[ILuv2CruiseWithU2]

Mahogany Bay Cruise Center in Roatan Progressing on Schedule

http://carnival-news.com/2009/07/20/mahogany-bay-cruise-center-in-roatan-progressing-on-schedule/

 

20 July 2009

Guests sailing aboard the Carnival Valor, Carnival Legend and Carnival

Glory will soon be able to enjoy all the conveniences and amenities of

the stunning new $62 million Mahogany Bay cruise center on Roatan in

the Bay Islands.

 

Construction continues on the 20-acre project which is expected to

welcome its first cruise ship, the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend,

November 19.

 

Mahogany Bay - Roatan encompasses two cruise ship piers, a welcome

center with a retail complex housing a variety of shops, bars and

restaurants, along with a transportation/car rental hub, and a

pristine private beach. A separate excursion pier will dispatch

water-based tours.

 

In its first year of operation, Mahogany Bay - Roatan expects more

than 520,000 passengers and more than 200 cruise ship calls, including

100 by Carnival Cruise Lines vessels.

 

This is clipped from the blog of John Heald, Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, about the new pier in Roatan:

 

So as you know the port of Isla Roatan, Honduras has become one of our most exciting and most popular Caribbean ports of call. Carnival Corporation has spent lots of time and money to make sure that as many of you get to experience this great port and its diverse and stunning scenery and beaches. This is why we have developed the new pier facility called Mahogany Bay which includes the first ever ski lift in the world……………that leads to a beach.

This coming week the Carnival Glory and Carnival Legend will be calling there for the first ever time but the first ship to do so was part of the Carnival Family and she was the Seabourn Legend (followed by the Crown Princess………here are some photos of the ship docked and beautiful Mahogany Bay Isla Roatan.)

 

 

[cntrydncr1]

Beware if you are booking with an independent vendor!!! We were only the second ship into the dock. They are making it almost impossible for outside vendors to pick you up at the new dock. When you get to the shop area where the tours meet you will notice all of the signs are carnival!!! We had to ask about our vendor, Island Marketing. We were told they are no longer allowed in and we would have to walk up this hill to find them. We had elderly people with us who could not walk.

 

Island Marketing was wonderful. They sent a taxi down to pick us up. cynthia was a wonderful tour guide and we enjoyed our tour of the island with her.

[MDSue]

Beware if you are booking with an independent vendor!!! We were only the second ship into the dock. They are making it almost impossible for outside vendors to pick you up at the new dock. When you get to the shop area where the tours meet you will notice all of the signs are carnival!!! We had to ask about our vendor, Island Marketing. We were told they are no longer allowed in and we would have to walk up this hill to find them. We had elderly people with us who could not walk.

 

Island Marketing was wonderful. They sent a taxi down to pick us up. cynthia was a wonderful tour guide and we enjoyed our tour of the island with her.

This has been a topic of discussion on other Roatan posts. I have found Carnival's attempted domination of every single cruise dollar to be heartless and greedy. It sounds like from the early reviews, that most cruisers are able to make the hike without much trouble, but elderly and disabled have a big disadvantage. I believe the only way for Carnival to rethink their policy, is if disatisfied customers make their concerns known.

One address previously provided is gdavis@carnival.com [Graham Davis]

I hope you will write him.

[lynnj73]

We were in Roatan on Friday (hard to believe now seeing the snow fly). I really wanted to go to West Bay. I didn't realize that it would be so expensive for us to get there. It would have cost our family of four $100 just for the cab ride. We had a group of 7. The cab driver would not quote us a price for our group of 7. My husband and dad had to walk down a long hill just to get a price. They didn't seem to want to take us. We got off the ship around 10:30 and didn't feel it was worth the $ since we would only have an hour or two. I wish I would have researched this better. We went to Mahogany. It was fine but I really wanted to see the island and snorkel west bay.

[cntrydncr1]

This has been a topic of discussion on other Roatan posts. I have found Carnival's attempted domination of every single cruise dollar to be heartless and greedy. It sounds like from the early reviews, that most cruisers are able to make the hike without much trouble, but elderly and disabled have a big disadvantage. I believe the only way for Carnival to rethink their policy, is if disatisfied customers make their concerns known.

One address previously provided is gdavis@carnival.com [Graham Davis]

I hope you will write him.

 

 

will do and we all wrote it up on our comment card too!

[cruisetobeaches]

We were in the new Mahogany Bay last friday as well. The chair ride offers a good view and was kind of a kick as it is certainly something "different". The walkway to the beach is also nice.

 

Workers at the beach area were very polite and spoke very good English. Chairs are free and there are a lot of them available. If you sit in the shade in the sand, spray yourself to prevent sand flea bites. was not an issue in the sun.

 

Snorkeling for those that have never done it before will find this area good. It is not deep and is cordoned off with people "patroling" the perimiter to keep you inside. If you duck under the walking pier, the snorkeling is better, but you will be "shooed" back inside. I can see that in a few months there will not be much to look at under water other than some fish with all the people taking conch and coral home with them. I just wonder how many realize that those conch shells have a 'resident' inside. Ought to smell pretty good in the luggage!

 

Drink prices were reasonable for a tourist trap. we paid cash and did not need our S&S card anywhere.

 

The new cabanas look nice, but it seemed odd that instead of a beach in front, there was a concrete slab where the beach meets the water. Good place to sit to put on snorkel fins, though. we did not opt for renting a cabana.

 

The 'pier' just past the cabanas has a ladder at the end leading into the water for easy access to the farther out areas to snorkel.

 

Shops were not really "full" of merchandise yet and as one poster mentioned, some had to hand write receipts. I purchased a shirt and the barcode scanner system was not yet up and working.

 

All in all, this is a nice place for those wanting to spend a day at the beach in a secure area. Facilities are nice, people are friendly, and there are some novel decorations. i will post some pics once we get back into the normal swing of things and unpacked.

[MamaParrotHead]

MamaParrotHead - Did you spend the entire day there - please give more details

 

Looking forward to seeing the pictures

 

No, we just popped through on our way to Tabayana (which was GORGEOUS and my favorite day all week). There were quite a shops still empty, and some smaller places. But also a "Piranha Joe" and the like.

 

[Kerry&LuAnn]

This has been a topic of discussion on other Roatan posts. I have found Carnival's attempted domination of every single cruise dollar to be heartless and greedy.

 

It may appear heartless and greedy, but the bottom line is that Carnival Corporation exists to make money. They invested a lot of it to build the Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, so it is understandable that they would want to maximize the return on their investment. The only other way to increase revenue is to raise the prices of their cruises, and you can bet they would get complaints about that, too.

 

We found the walk from the front gate to the location of the independent tour guides to be easy and only about 5 minutes. But we can understand how that is difficult for those who are elderly or have mobility impairments. We have heard that if you contact your tour guide, they will make arrangements to come down the hill to pick up those who have physical challenges.

 

When we were there, in the morning it was very busy with a fleet of taxis in one area and the ship-sponsored tour guides in one area, and then the local independent guides up the road. But at the conclusion of our tour (with a local independent guide) at the end of the day, our driver was allowed to drive down and drop us off down below.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

How "steep" was the walk from the ship to the shops or to the main gate (if you went that way)? Big question on these boards but pictures don't seem to indicate it's very steep more of a gradual slope.

 

The walk from the ship to the shops is level. Once you exit the cruise center gate, the walk to where the local independent tour guides gather is up the road; not necessarily steep (unless you are elderly or have mobility challenges), but we would say it is a gradual slope upward. It took us about 5 minutes to walk to the tour guides.

[Coolmama_1]

No, we just popped through on our way to Tabayana (which was GORGEOUS and my favorite day all week). There were quite a shops still empty, and some smaller places. But also a "Piranha Joe" and the like.

 

Thanks for sharing your pictures!

[zellers]

This question might already have been answered, so forgive me. How many ships are able to dock at Mahogany? I will be there on the Valor in a few weeks along with about 3 other ships docking in Roatan, so am wondering if the others dock at a different location.

 

Thanks!

[dst]

MamaParrotHead

 

Thanks so much for the pictures, I am torn between staying and hanging out on the beach at the pier or taking a tour to Tabyana :confused:

 

Did you see the Cabanas, does anyone know how much they would be to rent?

[crewsweeper]

This question might already have been answered, so forgive me. How many ships are able to dock at Mahogany? I will be there on the Valor in a few weeks along with about 3 other ships docking in Roatan, so am wondering if the others dock at a different location.

 

Thanks!

Mahogany Bay is suppose to hold 2 ships. Coxen hole has room for only one. I believe only Carnival and Princess use MBCC.

 

And a shout out to Mamaparrothead for posting pictures and for comments as well as cntrydncr, crusietobeaches and Kerry and Luann for your reviews. Cost for a taxi to West Bay/West End seems awfully steep. Another reason to use an independent tour guide.

[CruisinMaterial]

So I'm guessing NCL docks at Coxen Hole then?

[dst]

So I'm guessing NCL docks at Coxen Hole then?

 

Yes - I am pretty certain that it does

 

Hey small world, I grew up in North Andover :)

[mystone99]

One good thing about the shops - the liquor prices are cheap. We found at 1-liter bottle of Banana Rum for $8 that was selling on the cruise ship for $11.99

[TOgal65]

<SNIPPED> If you sit in the shade in the sand, spray yourself to prevent sand flea bites. was not an issue in the sun.

 

Snorkeling for those that have never done it before will find this area good. It is not deep and is cordoned off with people "patroling" the perimiter to keep you inside. If you duck under the walking pier, the snorkeling is better, but you will be "shooed" back inside. I can see that in a few months there will not be much to look at under water other than some fish with all the people taking conch and coral home with them. I just wonder how many realize that those conch shells have a 'resident' inside. Ought to smell pretty good in the luggage!

 

DH and I visited Coral Cay in Nov 2007 and fell in love with its clean white sandy beach and snokeling to the left off the walking pier. I knew the beach was a Carnival development, but had no idea of the total scope of the project. I am a bit bummed that this quiet little cove will have much more traffic and that the snorkelling is now limited. The only issue we had that glorious day was the sand flees. Fortunately we had bug juice at the ready to keep them at bay.

We're visiting again in Nov 2010 on the Dream and I think this time we'll head to a beach somewhere else less populated.

[mjlfg]

Hi Debby. I was notified by my 'outside' vendor this week w/ instructions to walk up the hill and out the gate ...stay left ...will it be obvious on where to go to get out to the main gate to meet my tour guide? Does this new dock mean there is no tender boat? ie. we just jump off the ship onto the dock. (I'm assuming, but just want to make sure). I booked all of my excursions privately (not one...thru carnival). any tips? thanks Peggy

[kthy66]

Does this new dock mean there is no tender boat? ie. we just jump off the ship onto the dock. (I'm assuming, but just want to make sure).

 

No tenders! :D

[mystone99]

I was notified by my 'outside' vendor this week w/ instructions to walk up the hill and out the gate ...stay left ...will it be obvious on where to go to get out to the main gate to meet my tour guide?

 

It's easy to find. After walking through the main building, you need to go out the visitors gate and down to the road. Turn left and head up the hill. It's only about a 300-yard walk total, but the hill is a little steep. There will be someone representing all the independant tours waiting for you outside the gate at the top of the hill. He'll call for a van that takes everyone to their tour guides. DW and I were on our tour 20 minutes after getting off the Legend

[mscno]

Hi

 

We were next to you (Legend) at Mahogany Bay Pier, on the Crown. I agree, the walk to the top of the hill is about 5 minutes once you exit the the shop area and see the taxi's on your left. We booked with Victor Bodden and had a wonderful day. Private tour for 2 was 40.00 each... we paid extra for lunch and it was terrific. Price is cheaper for 6 to 8 people, but we chose to do private and not worry about waiting or hurrying.

 

...and yes, the guide/driver was able to drop us off down the hill when we returned.

 

Enjoy Roatan. It is a lovely place to visit.

[MDSue]

It may appear heartless and greedy, but the bottom line is that Carnival Corporation exists to make money. They invested a lot of it to build the Mahogany Bay Cruise Center, so it is understandable that they would want to maximize the return on their investment. The only other way to increase revenue is to raise the prices of their cruises, and you can bet they would get complaints about that, too.

 

We found the walk from the front gate to the location of the independent tour guides to be easy and only about 5 minutes. But we can understand how that is difficult for those who are elderly or have mobility impairments. We have heard that if you contact your tour guide, they will make arrangements to come down the hill to pick up those who have physical challenges.

 

When we were there, in the morning it was very busy with a fleet of taxis in one area and the ship-sponsored tour guides in one area, and then the local independent guides up the road. But at the conclusion of our tour (with a local independent guide) at the end of the day, our driver was allowed to drive down and drop us off down below.

You are right, they did invest a lot of money and I believe the port will be wonderful. I am a total cruise addict and have had two wonderful cruises on Carnival as well as Princess and RCCL. However, I do not believe Carnival will lose all that much money to private vendors. After all they are a guest in the country of Roatan. The people of Roatan are part of what makes it so wonderful. I would think they would be more pro-active in supporting well respected independent tour guides.

I just don't think Carnival should be so determined to control every aspect of their cruisers. Some of us like to do independent tours. I still spend plenty of money on Carnival recommended stores and other excursions.

While healthy individuals are able to make the trip and I'm happy for that, they have done a disservice to their disabled or less mobile cruisers and the very citizens of the country that is hosting them [even though I recognize that their ships bring in plenty of tourist dollars].

[bkruiser]

The cabanas actually had air conditioners in them, and an L-shaped couch. But they did not appear to be renting them yet.

 

Having been to both Tabyana beach and Mahogany Bay beach, Tabyana is the most beautiful beach but the convenience of Mahogany and virtually no cost of using it will sway most beach goers. Also, it was much calmer water for children since it is somewhat protected. Tabyana was fairly rough the day I went there,

[dst]

I would love to hear if someone uses a cabana or finds out the costs, we rented a cabana on HMC and it was the highlight of our trip