WONDERing about Paradise Beach, Crowded CocoCay, and Aqua Nation - July 14-21, 2024

Just had a 10 minute rain shower that felt great. Cooled things off a bit.

Sorry if you mentioned it already, but what’s the news on Aqua Nation ?  Yes ?  No ?

3 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Sorry if you mentioned it already, but what’s the news on Aqua Nation ?  Yes ?  No ?

No news yet. Last month they didn’t announce it until day 7 (then it appeared in the app). Same thing 2 weeks ago according to someone onboard (and I saw it in the app). Last week I did not see it in the app on day 7 & didn’t notice anyone in the forums to ask.

Short answer… stay tuned until Saturday.

Probably not staying too much longer. We’re full & getting tired. I enjoyed everything I tried, both food & drink. I don’t feel like I ate a ton (for me) but I ate a decent amount. The heat gets to me.

I can see pros and cons to most daybed locations. Beach is a bit quieter but pool means you don’t get all sandy & probably less ants & birds if that matters. One note on #22… it doesn’t get any shade in the front when the sun is blazing. It looked like the beach daybeds next to it at least had some from the palms. That said, if the sun is out in July, it will be hot wherever you are. Much like CocoCay, we needed several quick dips in the pool to cool off.

Service was nearly perfect. Property is well maintained. The inflatables looked fun for kids. There are complimentary mats by the pool which is large & handles a crowd pretty well. I think most people would have a good time regardless of age & activity preference if you’re looking for any type of beach/pool day with food & drink.

Thanks for your review of PB. We reserved for our Indy saling in September was on the fence since we always do Mr Sanchos.  

Awesome pics of paradise beach @OCSC Mike you’ve done some excellent free advertising for them!

Additional PB thoughts now that I’m back in some much needed a/c (it actually rained hard enough for us to get a little soaked for about 10-15 just as we were packing up & tipping our server).

We enjoyed having a daybed & I think $70 is pretty reasonable given that you can be there for 8 hours if you want to. The shade was definitely welcome even though some sun still gets in (especially in July when you’re pale & only burn like me) & it was comfy yet firm enough to put plates & cups on without them spilling. B/c our table was in the sun, we pretty much ate in the bed even after pulling the table closer.

All that said, if you check the port schedule and it doesn’t seem crazy busy, I wouldn’t get one solely to avoid overcrowding (our original reason). There were plenty of loungers with tables & umbrellas, especially on the beach but even the more crowded pool area had a decent amount of space. One other negative I mentioned earlier was that you will encounter some ants & flies on the beach & they will make their way into the bed. If that’s an issue, bring bug spray, try the pool, do whatever works… just a heads up.

If you’ve seen any reviews about a weird tipping process where they give you a bill at the end showing you how much what you ordered cost (as if you didn’t pay for AI) with calculations for 18, 20, & 25% that’s mostly true. That said, I didn’t personally feel pressured to tip any ridiculous amount. Artie, one of our two servers, was clear about saying we paid $134 for AI & those are just suggested amounts if we felt the service was good. He also mentioned that the tips were split amongst the entire staff, not just servers, which I know some have an issue with but I’m not here to revisit that discussion. Short version… I had no problem with how it was handled, we had excellent service, and I tipped what I felt was a generous but not crazy amount.

I’ve entered TLDR territory again so I’ll shut up about Paradise Beach now. For anyone going there based in any part on my review, I hope you enjoy it. I’m sure we’ll go back at some point.

Chef remembered us this time (we didn’t get one last month, not that we really care).

Cat? Dog?

ah those chef delights.... reminds me of when i picked ours off the table last time and then promptly lost the entire selection on the floor as it slipped clear out of my hands.

J just stared in shock for quite some time and i couldn't stop laughing.

My wife just started talking to a newlywed couple with no plans for Roatan tomorrow & put them in touch with our tour guide from last month. He seemed so appreciative & I’m glad we could finally send some business his way.

Just wanted to share. Back to food pics later.

What fresh hell is this??? No tuna at Cafe Promenade!!!  

They had veggie wraps & two types of cheese sandwiches.

25 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

What fresh hell is this??? No tuna at Cafe Promenade!!!  

They had veggie wraps & two types of cheese sandwiches.

Vegetarian sandwich night? 

Glad you had a good time, enjoy the relaxing day tomorrow. You definitely sold me on PB if we go back to Cozumel anytime soon. Loved that big pool...

Paradise Beach looks nice. We may have to try it one of these days. 
 

How well could you see the ocean from where you were in your daybed? When I’m at the beach what I want to see is the ocean, not the backs of a bunch of beach chairs! 

Just caught up on your last few days. Cannot believe they put Vinay in the crew mess. He is so personable he really belongs in a position that is passenger facing. Such a shame. 

6 hours ago, perfect match said:

How well could you see the ocean from where you were in your daybed? When I’m at the beach what I want to see is the ocean, not the backs of a bunch of beach chairs! 

That’s the trade off. You probably won’t like the (lack of) view. If you do a mock booking on their website you can click on any daybed number & see the view looking out at the ocean (great feature IMO). We even had one of the better ones b/c the path in between the chairs was almost directly in front of us but it’s still not great. You’re pretty far back from the ocean & the inflatables are out there too.

If you haven’t been to Nachi Cocom, amazing view there (you’re right on the beach not far from the water) and that’s from an included palapa & loungers, no daybed rental. Crazy peaceful too. The problem for us there last October was that the frozen drinks were awful (and I’m not picky, but they were all ice no taste, I’d rather have been drinking a slurpee from 7-11) and the food was just OK and not unlimited (I knew that part of course). Service was OK but thought it was better at PB.

I’m sure others would still enjoy Nachi; it’s small, peaceful, great view of the ocean, nice shade from the included palapas… just depends on personal priorities… & you know food is big for me & my drinks need to at least be decent, especially in the heat of July when I tend to order frozen stuff (and so many small bottles of water of course which we got every time we order anything).

Hope that helps. Until PB pays me for my endorsement, lol, I have no reason to not be honest. Every club will have some pros & cons, IMO.

Off to the CL for coffee shortly. Wife still sleeping but will go walking again this morning. Back to our usual ship routine for the next 3 days. Lots of time chilling in the Solarium (hoping to grab the loungers by the a/c vents), included venues & snacks for me, using vouchers, etc.

I’lll catch up on a couple things later like WJ dinner last night. Looking forward to the planned chill time for the back half of the cruise. We wasted so many vouchers yesterday it’s embarrassing. Ofc we were gone most of the day drinking in Cozumel & PB wiped us out but I didn’t even bother trying much of anything after dinner or even just getting more cans for the cooler. We even tried to share them with the newlyweds we met but they don’t drink.

Wife stopped in the Solarium before her walk around 7am. One side with the a/c vents was taken but other side was open. A/c is going, just hoping they crank it up when it gets hot later like on day one.

The only people in here this early are those who came to claim the a/c loungers, lol.

Coffee in a cup clip with a view of Roatan this morning.

Had a quick chat with the crew member who stocks the CL food each morning b/c there were no chocolate croissants all cruise. He said they started having the same stuff every morning. Only the muffin flavors change. Today they didn’t even have the dulce de leche croissants… just plain.

None of this ruins a cruise of course but chocolate croissants are my wife’s favorite (I know @Ampurp85 likes them too) so it’s just another minor disappointment (like no tuna last night).

A few WJ items from Mexican night…

Butter chicken (my favorite Indian item), just happens to be on the Mexican menu.

Chimichanga 

Mexican street corn

Iced mudslide cookies from the kids section. Never saw those before. They had iced chocolate chip a couple times on past cruises.

i thought those cookies were burgers with some weird topping  

this is why i’m grateful you had captions!!

7 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

 

i thought those cookies were burgers with some weird topping

 

I can totally see it now that you said that, lol. Looks like a WJ burger of the day with a weird cheese maybe.

I’m better at food eating than food photography.

19 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Coconut shrimp you say?

They were good. Bigger & crispier than I’d expect from an AI beach resort. I liked the mango sauce or whatever it was too.

I’ve had 4 mahi tacos so I’m sure the sandwich is good. I tend to avoid rolls so I have more room to try other things.

Wife really liked the pizza. Thin & crispy (well done) is her preference.

It was supposed to be plain with pineapple but they stuck the pineapple on a margherita so she ditched the tomatoes.

Virgin banana daiquiri with chocolate syrup coming for her next. That’s her type of big kid drink. If Royal had banana mix I might have a few less vouchers per day.

Glad you tried.l..and enjoyed the coconut shrimp.  Always our favourite when we visit PB.  

Solarium Bistro breakfast…

Wife had oatmeal and we found almond croissants (2nd choice to non-existent chocolate) to take back to our loungers with some toasted streitzel/cranberry/raisin/whatever bread. I’m a big fan of that bread but I’ve seen so many names for it on the little sign on different cruises I never know what to call it.

6 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Coffee in a cup clip with a view of Roatan this morning.

Are these an online purchase from some major website or something you 3D printed yourself? 

21 minutes ago, LTR said:

Are these an online purchase from some major website or something you 3D printed yourself? 

Amazon. A bunch of us have them thanks to @asquared17 (who is really losing out on commissions).

4 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Amazon. A bunch of us have them thanks to @asquared17 (who is really losing out on commissions).

I will chime in and say how awesome these clips are.  Not just to clip onto a beach or pool chair either!  You can clip to a table or any sturdy surface!

I’m quickly realizing the rest of this blog may be 95% food-related. We really don’t have much planned besides Playmakers tonight (still food obviously) & adult comedy in the theater on the last night. Hopefully Aqua Nation pops up but not holding my breath.

Solarium got pretty warm earlier so I took an a/c break then we failed badly at music with color in the name trivia. Checked out WJ for lunch, ran into @Cruising Granny again, and wound up at Park Cafe for salad & a kummelweck (you can guess who ate which). I also grabbed some turkey wraps for the cooler since I can’t even trust Cafe Promenade to have tuna apparently. (Still salty over last night, lol.)

We’re back in the Solarium now. The a/c vents help but it’s still warm in here.

We’ll probably try to go to Playmakers a little on the later side.

Oh yeah, food-related dilemma. We never go to the MDR for lunch but the day 7 menu has a lobster roll that I’d certainly try & the lemon tart from Italian night that I know I like. Wife would probably just get a chicken Caesar salad but lunch is never great for her. The dilemma is that WJ has had ribs on day 7 on my last two Wonders that were really good.

OK, not really a dilemma, most likely I’ll just have two lunches. Anyone had a lobster roll from the MDR?

Back to more respectable voucher usage today…

Photogenic Kraken Colada in front of the coveted a/c vents.

That was enough Solarium for today. Time to cool off so I can regain my appetite.

Almost skipped my pre-dinner trip to ELF since we’re eating at Playmakers but wife is taking another cat nap. Glad I didn’t… steak is back (no chicken now).

I hope they find a good supply of chocolate croissants for Wonder before we board in September!  My backup is the chocolate frosted donuts . Good, but no match for the chocolate croissants!  I’m not so sure about those chocolate cookies with what looked like pink frosting on them. Good sugar content, maybe they look better in person. 

We don’t have cup clips like yours but we do have cup handles that adjust to any size of the incredible shrinking soda cups that Royal seems to be using. We are asked several times a day where we got them and keep saying we could hake some money if we brought extras to sell. They’re readily available on Amazon.

Most of my time in Cozumel, at least until recently has been spent under the water rather than looking at it. As I’ve gotten older I have realized that it is probably not such a good idea for me to keep diving because I started to realize the toll it was taking on my body. These days I’m sticking to snorkeling. I’m looking for beaches where DH can come with me and be comfortable while I’m in the water. 
 

We have friends sailing with us on Wonder who do not plan to get off the ship in Cozumel so DH will be hanging out with them while I go on a snorkel tour. Either that or maybe I can talk our friends into going to Sky Reef. The snorkeling is great there and it’s a beach bar with food, drinks, tequila tasting, massages, and shopping. The beach there isn’t much but there is a dock with stairs making it easy to get into the water and plenty to see once you get in. We haven’t eaten there but other friends of ours have and thought the food was good.

Playmakers was good as always. There was almost too much bacon on my burger (if that was a thing).

Not too much else to share. Like most recent cruises, we almost went to The Quest then decided to be pre-vintage and skip it.

Today should be fairly similar to yesterday as far as (lack of) plans go except it’s tiny lobster night.

Not as quiet around 7am today. Early Costa Maya excursions since we’re only here til like 1:30pm.

Wife claimed the Solarium a/c loungers on the other side this time then went walking. Still no chocolate croissants in the CL so got my wife a plain to replenish her cabin ziploc stash & got a donut to go with my coffee. Muffins still changing everyday… bran, blueberry, banana, chocolate. At least the donuts are always there although the pinks ones have lost their sprinkles.

Need to shave at some point to be presentable for formal night (not really, I just have an acceptable level of scruffy). Will either do that then chill in our chairs so we’re not total hogs or just worry about it later.

On yeah… our TV is frozen on the safety page. I can’t get it to reboot so I guess we’ll call maintenance later. Not a big deal.

Exciting update I know. Think I might take my scruffy self to the Solarium & shave later when I get hot & need a break. My wife handles it better than I do.

Solarium empty & peaceful as expected. A rain shower already came through & it’s overcast. Bad for people who got off but having been in a t-storm flooded Solarium, lol, it’s fine with us. Keeps it cooler.

Pics from the bridge wing before the rain…

I want to see pics of this MDR lobster roll….

3 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I want to see pics of this MDR lobster roll….

If we go there will definitely be pics. I assume it’s a new way of using up tonight’s leftover lobster.

Mediocre pics of a rainbow. Wife has the better phone & skills.

It’s brighter now but I don’t feel like getting up again.

45 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

On yeah… our TV is frozen on the safety page. I can’t get it to reboot so I guess we’ll call maintenance later. Not a big deal.

TV ?  Your room has a TV ?  Never even noticed before. 

Ugh… I just lost a huge response to @perfect match. Please don’t take it personally but I can’t re-type it. It was mostly rambling about snorkeling, croissants, cup clips, etc. Nothing exciting.

7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

TV ?  Your room has a TV ?  Never even noticed before. 

They actually just announced the issue is ship-wide. We really don’t care but I always have the tv on in the background at home & we do find some interesting tv show reruns or movies onboard as background noise while changing, showering, etc.

Wife finished her walk & is going to shower then we’ll figure out morning plans. Starting to feel the effects of my cruise eating which is pretty standard around day 6. Thinking it will be a light breakfast so I have room for my usual snacks/meals later.