Couple of things to add to all that was said about this unique and esciting experience:
No crew anywhere could have done more than DCL did to adjust to the constantly changing ports/excursions etc. They were truly amazing and deserve all of our heartfelt thanks! Passengers were kept constantly informed and most were extremely understanding and didn't allow the changes to ruin a great time. After the Sunday rock 'n roll evening, the ship was cleaned from stem to stern by Monday morning. Carpeting was shampooed, mattresses removed and replaced from some staterooms, no evidence of the previous nights trauma at all. The crew truly did yeomans duty on this one and should be commended!!!
COZUMEL
Not my favorite port at all. But in fairness, Sally's Minigolf was a really great experience. If ever in Cozumel again, would most certainly go there under ANY circumstances. Lunch at La Choza (along with their amazing Margarita's) was the best anywhere! Only about 1 1/2 blocks from minigolf, clean and really super food.
I have been told we should have taken a cab to the other side of the island, as it is cleaner and the beaches better, etc. I would do this to really give Cozumel a balanced report. The shops off the pier are the same as every Caribbean port ie. jewelry stores, souvenirs, etc.
KEY WEST
We lived there 40 years ago and wanted to see the island so we rented a golf cart/scooter that seated 4. They would NOT take a reservation - not even when the ship was already docked. You had to be OFF the ship before they would book the scooter. Strictly 'first come, first serve.' Also $149 for 3 hours was WAY too much, and nowhere to park the things either. We had lunch at Louie's Backyard which was great, right on the ocean - wonderful view and outstanding food. Duval Street and Mallory Square is loaded with tourist/souvenir types of places while the far end of Duval is much quieter and cleaner. We went to the BUTTERFLY place near the end of Duval. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one. It is new and kind of like a big greenhouse with hundreds of butterflies flying around inside. It has a neat river, tiny bridge and lots and lots of plants for the butterflies to land on. A real hit with out 14 mo. old granddaughter as the plants and butterflies frequently were at just her height! We all loved it. The amazing colors of the butterflies were a sight to behold! Bright blues, lime greens, yellows, reds - everything imaginable! Never thought I would like this, but we all did - ages 14 mo. to 64. Goes to show that sometimes the unplanned stuff turns out to be the best!
COSTA MAYA
In a word - GREAT! This turned out to be an unexpected treasure! As a plug for all of the Magic passengers, no one seemed too upset with the change in plans and really had a positive outlook finding things to do. At the end of the day, everyone was asking 'what did you do?' It was an adventure for all and really great to hear how people found stuff to do that appealed to them. Yes it is small, but the excursions were wonderful. We LOVED the ruins tour even with a long bus ride. The tiny fishing village had a neat lagoon for the waverunners and it wasn't nearly as rough there as the beach area right at the end of the pier. The live entertainment on the shore was really nice. We were told that being unexpected, many of the vendors/entertainers came down to Costa Maya from Cancun to welcome our ship.
CASTAWAY CAY
My daughter was disappointed not to be able to scuba dive at Grand Cayman, but booked a last minute dive at CC. She was thrilled! They dove on a reef only 200 yds off the bow of the ship. She saw a 14ft eel, tons of living coral and thousands of colorful fish. It really was the highlight of the cruise for her. We would never have thought to book scuba at CC, who would have thunk it!!!
"Heads Up" Bar. What a neat spot! Very very few people - really relaxing with lots of Jimmy Buffet music playing - a nice breeze - both sun and shade available while having a drink! Super spot! Also the teen beach was no where near overcrowded. It had volleyball nets, etc. a really great place to hangout.
Towel bins should be provided along the way to the ship, as many people just left theirs on the beach. Perhaps a bin placed just near the tram stop would help.
THE CREW
What a hard working group! Great attitudes really made the cruise a pleasure for everyone. They turned the turmoil into a fun experience for the passengers to talk about for a long time to come. While in PC for dinner, we hit an extremely large wave and a whole stack of dishes went crashing to the floor. They said there were several hundred plates lost, but it didn't phase the cleanup group at all. WARNING: if Sasha (Croatia) and Edit are your servers, bring elastic waist pants! The man does not believe in bringing one of anything!!! He is funny, talkative and very professional. As we had an infant who would fall asleep at dinner, each night he would have a high chair AND a 'bed' made out of two chairs waiting for her. He would cover her with table cloths for blankets. What a priceless jewel! Garry our room steward came to our room on the last day to shake our hands and thank us for the 'envelope' (gratuity) we had given him the night before.
CONS -
Guest Services telephone - does anyone ever answer it? I was placed on hold forever each time I tried to call them. Never did get thru.
SUGGESTIONS:
Charge $ for tea at Palo. Reason being, the tea was booked to capacity and fully 60-70% of the room was empty from 'no shows.'
Servers in the restaurant said that happens all of the time, so if you can't get a ressie - go anyway, they are sure to have space available. Maybe if there were money involved, people would be courteous enough to cancel out to make room for those who wish to go but were unable to get space.
TIP: If you can't get into Palo for Brunch - go to TOPSIDERS. Much of the same food is there! Lots of crab, shrimp and many of the same things we had on the Palo Brunch. A great alternative, but certainly not the ambience that Palo affords.
No crew anywhere could have done more than DCL did to adjust to the constantly changing ports/excursions etc. They were truly amazing and deserve all of our heartfelt thanks! Passengers were kept constantly informed and most were extremely understanding and didn't allow the changes to ruin a great time. After the Sunday rock 'n roll evening, the ship was cleaned from stem to stern by Monday morning. Carpeting was shampooed, mattresses removed and replaced from some staterooms, no evidence of the previous nights trauma at all. The crew truly did yeomans duty on this one and should be commended!!!
COZUMEL
Not my favorite port at all. But in fairness, Sally's Minigolf was a really great experience. If ever in Cozumel again, would most certainly go there under ANY circumstances. Lunch at La Choza (along with their amazing Margarita's) was the best anywhere! Only about 1 1/2 blocks from minigolf, clean and really super food.
I have been told we should have taken a cab to the other side of the island, as it is cleaner and the beaches better, etc. I would do this to really give Cozumel a balanced report. The shops off the pier are the same as every Caribbean port ie. jewelry stores, souvenirs, etc.
KEY WEST
We lived there 40 years ago and wanted to see the island so we rented a golf cart/scooter that seated 4. They would NOT take a reservation - not even when the ship was already docked. You had to be OFF the ship before they would book the scooter. Strictly 'first come, first serve.' Also $149 for 3 hours was WAY too much, and nowhere to park the things either. We had lunch at Louie's Backyard which was great, right on the ocean - wonderful view and outstanding food. Duval Street and Mallory Square is loaded with tourist/souvenir types of places while the far end of Duval is much quieter and cleaner. We went to the BUTTERFLY place near the end of Duval. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one. It is new and kind of like a big greenhouse with hundreds of butterflies flying around inside. It has a neat river, tiny bridge and lots and lots of plants for the butterflies to land on. A real hit with out 14 mo. old granddaughter as the plants and butterflies frequently were at just her height! We all loved it. The amazing colors of the butterflies were a sight to behold! Bright blues, lime greens, yellows, reds - everything imaginable! Never thought I would like this, but we all did - ages 14 mo. to 64. Goes to show that sometimes the unplanned stuff turns out to be the best!
COSTA MAYA
In a word - GREAT! This turned out to be an unexpected treasure! As a plug for all of the Magic passengers, no one seemed too upset with the change in plans and really had a positive outlook finding things to do. At the end of the day, everyone was asking 'what did you do?' It was an adventure for all and really great to hear how people found stuff to do that appealed to them. Yes it is small, but the excursions were wonderful. We LOVED the ruins tour even with a long bus ride. The tiny fishing village had a neat lagoon for the waverunners and it wasn't nearly as rough there as the beach area right at the end of the pier. The live entertainment on the shore was really nice. We were told that being unexpected, many of the vendors/entertainers came down to Costa Maya from Cancun to welcome our ship.
CASTAWAY CAY
My daughter was disappointed not to be able to scuba dive at Grand Cayman, but booked a last minute dive at CC. She was thrilled! They dove on a reef only 200 yds off the bow of the ship. She saw a 14ft eel, tons of living coral and thousands of colorful fish. It really was the highlight of the cruise for her. We would never have thought to book scuba at CC, who would have thunk it!!!
"Heads Up" Bar. What a neat spot! Very very few people - really relaxing with lots of Jimmy Buffet music playing - a nice breeze - both sun and shade available while having a drink! Super spot! Also the teen beach was no where near overcrowded. It had volleyball nets, etc. a really great place to hangout.
Towel bins should be provided along the way to the ship, as many people just left theirs on the beach. Perhaps a bin placed just near the tram stop would help.
THE CREW
What a hard working group! Great attitudes really made the cruise a pleasure for everyone. They turned the turmoil into a fun experience for the passengers to talk about for a long time to come. While in PC for dinner, we hit an extremely large wave and a whole stack of dishes went crashing to the floor. They said there were several hundred plates lost, but it didn't phase the cleanup group at all. WARNING: if Sasha (Croatia) and Edit are your servers, bring elastic waist pants! The man does not believe in bringing one of anything!!! He is funny, talkative and very professional. As we had an infant who would fall asleep at dinner, each night he would have a high chair AND a 'bed' made out of two chairs waiting for her. He would cover her with table cloths for blankets. What a priceless jewel! Garry our room steward came to our room on the last day to shake our hands and thank us for the 'envelope' (gratuity) we had given him the night before.
CONS -
Guest Services telephone - does anyone ever answer it? I was placed on hold forever each time I tried to call them. Never did get thru.
SUGGESTIONS:
Charge $ for tea at Palo. Reason being, the tea was booked to capacity and fully 60-70% of the room was empty from 'no shows.'
Servers in the restaurant said that happens all of the time, so if you can't get a ressie - go anyway, they are sure to have space available. Maybe if there were money involved, people would be courteous enough to cancel out to make room for those who wish to go but were unable to get space.
TIP: If you can't get into Palo for Brunch - go to TOPSIDERS. Much of the same food is there! Lots of crab, shrimp and many of the same things we had on the Palo Brunch. A great alternative, but certainly not the ambience that Palo affords.
