We got our bill for the "free" hotel room. Two nights cost us $145. The biggest charge was from the on site Chinese restaurant where Norma and I shared a dish. It was $39 for the shared sweet and sour shrimp and a bowl of fried rice, $26 for two glasses of wine and a $12 for the mandatory tip. Paul and Dodie both had lobster. I don't even want to think about his bill!
The rest of it was for drinks ordered at the pool and a mysterious "Resort Fee" of $14 per day. Paul ordered a small pot of coffee delivered to the room. It cost them $13 for the coffee, $2 for delivery and $2.50 tip (mandatory).
We beat the system by having lunch and dinner in the market across the street. There is a small restaurant that make some of the best poached eggs I have tasted for $6.50 and a Greek restaurant where I ordered Greek Salad and Calamari for under $15. Good deal! We will be having breakfast in the market this morning.
The only "deal" here is the excellent local Kalic (pronounced "click") beer. It is $3.50 at the resort and $2 at the liquor store across the street. The name comes from the sound one of the local birds makes.
There is a Cuban store on site selling Cuban rum and cigars for reasonable prices. The only problem is, you cannot take it into the USA. Come on Obama. Get rid of that stupid embargo!
We have to be out of the room by 11:00 and on the ship by 4:00 or so. We will try to spend a little time at the pool after we check out. The ship docks in West Palm Beach at 8:30 in the morning and then a two or three hour drive home. After that is an hour of entering the damage into Quicken, typing through the tears! Stay tuned!
PS: For all the negative I have been saying, I am glad we took the cruise. We have always wanted to take one and now I can say we have! It was expensive but it is not going to break us and we had fun with our friends! It is all part of the Great Experiment called "Life".
We've been in Mazatlan almost two weeks.
4 hours ago
Cruising doesn't have to be like that. We did a 10 day cruise to Mexico out of San Diego on Holland America a few years ago for $600 each, all inclusive! Shop the deals on the "30 Day Ticker" at Vacations to Go.
ReplyDeleteWOW - the prices you quote as reasonable would not be for us - maybe living in Mexico too long? ;-)
ReplyDeleteYour comment on the ridiculous cigar embargo doesn't tell all the story (at least the U.S. part) - it is even against U.S. law for a citizen to purchase and smoke Cuban cigars anywhere on the planet.
http://www.vivaveracruz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1648
Let freedom ring out - jeeeez!
Hi Croft.
ReplyDeleteIf the "contract" for your cruise doesn't specifically state that there are these extra fees for the cruise and for the hotel, you can ask your credit card company to refund the money to you. They'll probably ask to see the "contract", so that they can see all fees are included in the original price you paid.
"Reasonable" for the Bahamas John. High end prices for Mexico!
ReplyDelete