Disney Wonder - Galveston to San Jaun - January 20, 2017

[Bbrown]

Has anyone found anything fun to do in Cozumel?

 

[pixiehallow]

Has anyone found anything fun to do in Cozumel?

After reading that there were several places that would be closed because it will be Sunday, I was happy to find that Margaritaville will be open. From what I have read, they have good food, and a free water activity and snorkel area. They are located on the shore and have a nice reef in their snorkeling area. They also have several water play items like a water trampoline and slide. They have snorkel gear that is free to use as well.
We are going to head to a local farmers market that I read about just off the main down town and then head over to Margaritaville for a swim and a snack.
By the way, from what I have gathered from the reviews, Margaritaville seems to be a family friendly place.
A side note, if you happen to find an x-rail excursion that takes you through the city and out to the jungle and they include snorkeling, I would highly recommend it. We did that on a previous cruise, and loved it. We were hoping to do it again (this time with our son), but have not been able to find it.

 

[czmom]

Has anyone found anything fun to do in Cozumel?

I think we are heading to Paradise Beach! That is, if one of the dolphin places does not open. I'm kind of in denial about that

 

[Bbrown]

I booked a dolphin encounter in Jamaica but it is not the same has dolphinaris. It does not seem like we will have a lot of time with the dolphins. Has anyone been to sting ray city in the Cayman Islands?

 

[Bbrown]

After reading that there were several places that would be closed because it will be Sunday, I was happy to find that Margaritaville will be open. From what I have read, they have good food, and a free water activity and snorkel area. They are located on the shore and have a nice reef in their snorkeling area. They also have several water play items like a water trampoline and slide. They have snorkel gear that is free to use as well.
We are going to head to a local farmers market that I read about just off the main down town and then head over to Margaritaville for a swim and a snack.
By the way, from what I have gathered from the reviews, Margaritaville seems to be a family friendly place.
A side note, if you happen to find an x-rail excursion that takes you through the city and out to the jungle and they include snorkeling, I would highly recommend it. We did that on a previous cruise, and loved it. We were hoping to do it again (this time with our son), but have not been able to find it.

I was thinking of checking out the shopping and heading to Margaritaville too.

 

[pixiehallow]

I was thinking of checking out the shopping and heading to Margaritaville too.

We are thinking about bringing our own mask and snorkel, but using their fins.
The fins would take up the most room in the luggage any ways (at least for our family - my little size 5 feet are traveling with 2 size 13's - they would need their own bag ).

 

[crystalsnowseekins]

Has anyone found anything fun to do in Cozumel?

I think we are going to Paradise Beach also.

 

[crystalsnowseekins]

Morning to you all. My 2 teens and I will be joining this cruise. Unfortunately a late flight getting in on the Thurs evening so will miss the meet up at the hotel. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions for a shuttle for Houston to the hotel?

We booked Omega Royal Transportation for $142 including gratuity for our family of four.

 

[pixiehallow]

Happy Monday!!!!!
Only 25 Monday's until our cruise!!!!
Last week on the Forget Me Not's, I reminded everyone to plan for San Juan. So this week, I thought it would be fitting to remind you about the day after (or the day before the cruise depending on how you look at it).
When we are all done in San Juan, we have to fly home. Which for some of us, that means back to our cars at airports (or Galveston, which means you have to figure out how to get back to your car....side note if you are parking in Galveston, look for hotels that offer free cruise parking because most lots will be closed by the time you get back to town).
If you have planned to fly back into Houston, and are going to have to leave your car there so that you have a way to get home, you will need to remember to plan for parking. Those of us flying back into Houston will be flying in on opening weekend for Super Bowl (which is being held in Houston 2017). This might have an effect on parking at the airports, and will definitely have an effect on the hotels in the area if you are planning a nights stay before driving home.
On previous trips, we have stayed a night at a hotel near the airport that has park and fly packages. When we called our regular hotel, they were not excepting any more reservations for the park and fly packages that extended into our return home weekend. They said they were already all booked up. This led us to our number 2 go to for parking at Houston airports, Houston Airports Ecopark Economy lot. They are a fenced lot with some covered areas available. They also offer 24 hour monitored security. The customer service is excellent (or at least we have had great service). They picked us up at our vehicle, gave us a card with our parking spot written on it, and instructed us to give that card to the shuttle driver when we flew back in. When we caught the shuttle upon returning, they dropped us off at our vehicle. For those of you who are parking and then catching a shuttle to Galveston, you can catch a ride from your car to the terminal you arranged for the Galveston shuttle to pick you up at. Check them out at http://newsouthparking-tx.com/ (this link has both Hobby and Intercontinental information). This link takes you to a page to get a 20% discount at the Intercontinental location: http://newsouthparking-tx.com/eco/eco.IAH.htm (half way down the page on left is a link to the coupon).
Another option that is currently available through groupon is discount airport parking. This is the link to the groupon: Airport Parking Groupon (There is a link to the Global Airport Parking company website near the bottom right on the page. I would recommend that you click on that and see what parking is available at the airport you are going to be parking at before deciding to buy. The parking at Intercontinental was at local hotels and they offered 24 hour security. Some had 24 hour shuttles, and others had shuttles running from early morning hours to either 11 PM or midnight. If you are not from the Houston area and you are going to want to use this groupon to park at a Houston area hotel, either post and ask if anyone knows about the area the hotel is in, or check the hotel reviews). The Groupon says it is only available for a limited time, so if you are interested, I would check it out soon.
Another side note, between the 2, we know ecopark, and with the discount for the amount of time we will be parking, we chose Ecopark. The Groupon would have saved us $2 more, but we felt safer going with what we know.

~Tink~

 

[pixiehallow]

I just received my latest Galveston.com email, and it had several good articles about things to do in Galveston one article I think everyone that will be staying a day in Galveston would enjoy is Ten Things to do downtown (http://www.galveston.com/blog/340/ten-things-to-do-in-downtown-galveston/). If you are looking for things to do close to Harbor House, take a look at the article. One that peaked my interest (especially for our Harbor House group meet) is the board game cafe.
If you would like me to share the entire email, just let me know.

~Tink~

 

[adamki]

Hi everyone!

My family (Mrs. adamki, adamki-KID [9] and I) have selected this cruise to be our 5th on DCL. It will also be our first sailing on a Classic Ship.

We don't arrive in Houston until Thursday evening, so I don't think we'll be in Galveston in time for the Harbor House Meet. We are staying a few extra days in Puerto Rico, but haven't figured out exactly where/what we are doing (stay close to San Juan vs. Heading out to someplace like Fajardo). A friend recommended visiting ToroVerde Adventure Park, they have the longest zip-line in the world there.

I've only started poking around this thread, I look forward to reading the remaining 20 pages and catching up!

-adamki

 

[pixiehallow]

Hi everyone!

My family (Mrs. adamki, adamki-KID [9] and I) have selected this cruise to be our 5th on DCL. It will also be our first sailing on a Classic Ship.

We don't arrive in Houston until Thursday evening, so I don't think we'll be in Galveston in time for the Harbor House Meet. We are staying a few extra days in Puerto Rico, but haven't figured out exactly where/what we are doing (stay close to San Juan vs. Heading out to someplace like Fajardo). A friend recommended visiting ToroVerde Adventure Park, they have the longest zip-line in the world there.

I've only started poking around this thread, I look forward to reading the remaining 20 pages and catching up!

-adamki

Welcome to the group adamki!

I will add you to the roll call.
How late are you getting in to Houston? Are you planning to stay close to the airport? If you do, I think the Galveston express shuttle has an early shuttle to the port.
How exciting to be taking your final cruise as a silver castaway member. And your first classic cruise. Have you sailed on both the Fantasy and the Dream? This is our 7th cruise on Disney. The only boat we have not been on is the Magic.
Enjoy catching up on the rest of the pages, and let me know if you want to join in on any of the planned activities. Oh, and if you can think of anything to suggest that you experienced on one of your previous sailings, don't hesitate to mention it.

~Tink ~

 

[adamki]

Thank you, pixiehallow. We're arriving at Hobby around 6:30pm on Thursday and are staying at Harbor House. I'm collecting some quotes for a car service to take us to Galveston after the flight (looks to be in the $150 range including a tip, so relatively reasonable).

We have sailed both the Fantasy (1x Eastern) and the Dream (3x), so all of the ports are new to us except San Juan (visited on non-cruise vacations in the past) and mainland Quintana Roo, Mexico (we plan to stay on Cozumel, and I haven't been there). It will be nice to see the newly refurbished Wonder; we'd love to do an Alaskan cruise, so this is a bit of a preview.

 

[pixiehallow]

Thank you, pixiehallow. We're arriving at Hobby around 6:30pm on Thursday and are staying at Harbor House. I'm collecting some quotes for a car service to take us to Galveston after the flight (looks to be in the $150 range including a tip, so relatively reasonable).

We have sailed both the Fantasy (1x Eastern) and the Dream (3x), so all of the ports are new to us except San Juan (visited on non-cruise vacations in the past) and mainland Quintana Roo, Mexico (we plan to stay on Cozumel, and I haven't been there). It will be nice to see the newly refurbished Wonder; we'd love to do an Alaskan cruise, so this is a bit of a preview.

We are hoping to get the Magic under our belts on a European cruise for our youngest sons graduation trip.
If you are staying at the Harbor House, you would probably have the chance to meet some of the families. I am sure the chitter chatting will probably last a while. When we get closer, I will share my contact info with you, so you can message me and see if we are still getting to know one another when you get to the hotel.
By the way ask for Dee when you get to the hotel. She is as sweet as can be and will help you get all settled in. Heck, she may even know where we are!

 

[adamki]

I have a couple of thoughts on some of the older comments:

Bad News - Since we will be stopping on Sunday, and I had already learned that the excursion that we had wanted to do (the Amazing Race - Cozumel) would not be open due to it being Sunday, I thought I would ask around, and do some searching to see if this was an isolated closure, or if it was an island thing.

I booked through Costco and they sent me a link to their shore excursion vendor, Shore Excursions Group. If you punch in our cruise information, the Amazing Cozumel Race does show up for Sunday, January 22nd. Hopefully that information holds true.

I emailed our travel agent and she said that we will need passports for this cruise, the passport cards will not work.

The US Customs and Border Protection website clearly states that the Passport Card would be valid for this travel. All of our destinations are members of the WHTI and the FAQ states:

What types of documents are accepted for entry into the United States via land and sea?

• U.S. citizens can present a valid: U.S. Passport; Passport Card; Enhanced Driver’s License; Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST); U.S. Military identification card when traveling on official orders; U.S. Merchant Mariner document when traveling in conjunction with official maritime business; or Form I-872 American Indian Card, or (when available) Enhanced Tribal Card.

The only question would be, does DCL agree with CBP? And the answer to that question is YES!: DCL Passports & Travel Information
Scroll down to "Caribbean - One-Way Itineraries" and you will see:

Required Documents for U.S. Citizens
All Guests claiming U.S. citizenship, including children, must provide:

• A valid U.S. Passport
• A valid U.S. Passport Card
• A valid Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)

We are hoping to get the Magic under our belts on a European cruise for our youngest sons graduation trip.

The Onboard Booking discount that we ended up using for this cruise was supposed to be for a Magic Norwegian cruise, but the 2017 dates are terribly inconvenient for us. In the end, I like the price of this cruise a lot better! Someday ...

 

[pixiehallow]

I booked through Costco and they sent me a link to their shore excursion vendor, Shore Excursions Group. If you punch in our cruise information, the Amazing Cozumel Race does show up for Sunday, January 22nd. Hopefully that information holds true.


The US Customs and Border Protection website clearly states that the Passport Card would be valid for this travel. All of our destinations are members of the WHTI and the FAQ states:

What types of documents are accepted for entry into the United States via land and sea?

• U.S. citizens can present a valid: U.S. Passport; Passport Card; Enhanced Driver’s License; Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST); U.S. Military identification card when traveling on official orders; U.S. Merchant Mariner document when traveling in conjunction with official maritime business; or Form I-872 American Indian Card, or (when available) Enhanced Tribal Card.

The only question would be, does DCL agree with CBP? And the answer to that question is YES!: DCL Passports & Travel Information
Scroll down to "Caribbean - One-Way Itineraries" and you will see:

Required Documents for U.S. Citizens
All Guests claiming U.S. citizenship, including children, must provide:

• A valid U.S. Passport
• A valid U.S. Passport Card
• A valid Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)

The Onboard Booking discount that we ended up using for this cruise was supposed to be for a Magic Norwegian cruise, but the 2017 dates are terribly inconvenient for us. In the end, I like the price of this cruise a lot better! Someday ...

Amazing Race - YEAH! I so want to do this!

Passport - Bad news - We went ahead and got our books. When we were at the passport office we asked about this, and the lady said that a new law was put in place for flying out of San Juan requires us to have a passport book. She said Puerto Rican citizens have to now have a passport book to fly out as well.

 

[adamki]

Passport - Bad news - We went ahead and got our books. When we were at the passport office we asked about this, and the lady said that a new law was put in place for flying out of San Juan requires us to have a passport book. She said Puerto Rican citizens have to now have a passport book to fly out as well.

I'm sorry, but the person at that Passport Acceptance facility is mis-informed and possibly out of his or her mind! Puerto Rico is a United States Territory. Puerto Rican citizens are American citizens. No passport is required for travel between two locations within the United States of America.

There is no new law. They may be confused with the DHS's RealID requirements, which affect Puerto Ricans the same as any other American.

Sources (just a subset):

• Many Puerto Rican family members who travel to and from PR without a passport
• The US CBP (Page updated in March 2016)
• A bunch of other travel resources
  • SmartTraveller
  • The Miami Herald
  • USA Today
  • Travel+Leisure
  • A State Department Press Release (from 2012, but still true)

 

[pixiehallow]

I'm sorry, but the person at that Passport Acceptance facility is mis-informed and possibly out of his or her mind! Puerto Rico is a United States Territory. Puerto Rican citizens are American citizens. No passport is required for travel between two locations within the United States of America.

There is no new law. They may be confused with the DHS's RealID requirements, which affect Puerto Ricans the same as any other American.

Sources (just a subset):

• Many Puerto Rican family members who travel to and from PR without a passport
• The US CBP (Page updated in March 2016)
• A bunch of other travel resources
  • SmartTraveller
  • The Miami Herald
  • USA Today
  • Travel+Leisure
  • A State Department Press Release (from 2012, but still true)

Well, it's always better to be safe than sorry!
Anyway, we are still going to need them within the next 2 years for our trip to Europe.

 

[adamki]

More info on REAL ID. DHS requires all states to provide REAL ID compliant ID cards (Drivers Licenses, etc). Some states and territories are not yet REAL ID compliant. Theoretically, citizens without REAL ID compliant identification could be turned away from the airport some day (but there's no real drop-dead date yet).

Interestingly enough, Puerto Rico's Department of Transportation just started issuing compliant identification cards and licenses, so Puerto Ricans are good to go. Texas is one of the states that is not yet compliant and is running out it extension which expires in October. In practice, the TSA is supposed to accept your TX drivers license at the airport until some time in 2018 ... after that, you may need a passport to fly from Houston to Orlando!

Realistically, Texas will be compliant by then ... or there will be yet another extension.

 

[adamki]

Anyway, we are still going to need them within the next 2 years for our trip to Europe.

Now that is a GREAT reason to have passports! You never know, maybe an awesome last minute discount will pop up for next summer ... you're ready.