High Seas Rally (HSR) 2025

Here we go again! We enjoyed this last year >> https://rickkkcir.blogspot.com/2024/11/high-seas-rally-2024.html

Tavern with Ace and Judy

Booked this immeidately after last years and been waiting a long 12 months.. but finally, Good Times were here! Changed it up a notch this time ... My counsin and Lucy's cousin joined us, and a lot of CVMA folks were back (Max/Rhonda/Ollie/Kim, etc), and the stage is set. Flew out early on SouthWest Airlines and got to the hotel before noon which worked out excellent. Our Hilton had our rooms ready, so put away the gear and headed to lunch at a Tavern a few blocks away, Then back and to poolside bar with music out back by the waterway. Few hours later, my cousin rolled in from PR so we met up and headed to an awesome high end Steakhouse a block away. Some after dinner drinks and ... we're pulling the plug... long day! We'd been up since 2AM .. ouch.

Pool Side

We've got an early board time so we're soon Ubering to Pier 6 and boarding the Margaritiville Islander. They do a great job getting us on quickly, Muster Station brief out of the way and we find the Tiki Bar at the end of the ship, which will become one of our favorite spots for the rest of the week. Eventually we'll all be on the ship and into our rooms. We had a nice Suite (Grand Terrace Suite) with a large balcony. Now, not a huge suite (whopping 370 sq ft! lol) , but ... more than enough room. Bags emptied, quick change and off to explore the ship!

Next seven days as always, are filled with good times, lotsa food, lotsa drinks (Unlimited Drink package was included), Wifi (hey . gotta work!), and tons of things on the HSR schedule. Few things overall I found interesting and worth mentioning. Last years, HSR had the whole ship. This year, we had 1/2 the ship. For us, really didn't matter though every once in a while, the 'other's' sometimes snuck into our area which was a "private event." The humours part was a lot of bitching by the 'other's' because of HSR. Didn't bother me, but they cound't access everyhing on the ship. I guess I see their point, but one would hope the cruise line had informed them of the situation prior? We had music and bands around the ship that .. others didn't. We had a wild pool party scene daily. Other side? No (boring). We had theme nights, every night... awesomeness. We had the theater every night at 7:30pm. The ships overall theater show was at 9:30pm. Double fun for us, not so much for 'them.' Along the trip we hit Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. We hit a beach club in Cozumel (almost too mellow for me) but for $69, unlimited drinks, 4 course meal, loungers, beach, pool, etc, etc. I'd do it again. Roatan we walked into town, realized not a good move, found a hole in the wall bar few minutes from port and had a good time. Belize, just hit the port area after taking water taxis from the ship (no pier). We skipped Costa Maya and hung out at the pool. My twist this year is .... entered the Belly Flop contest. Made it to the third round but 3 others progressed to the fifth and final. Had several people tell me I got robbed .. should have won .. but, I had a great time. Voting was by the crowd. I was an unknown and both the guys that made it to round five had entered multiple times and had their cheering sections locked in. IMHO, they both belonged in that finals and earned it. Trust me .. that shit gets painful when you're jumping from a few feet in the air, and your body and face slapping that water. Not sure I'd enter another one .. LMAO. Hell, that was my first ever. I prefer cannonballs and can openers for moving that water around!

As always... ends too soon. But, I'll admit I was ready to go. The Islander isn't a big ship. Pros and Cons. Pros are simple to access all 3 pools on Deck 9. Takes just a few minutes to go from end to end. Buffet was on the Aft end, Theatre on the Forward end, Casino in the center. From memory, about six main areas to hang out for drinks and chat. One main dining room on Deck 2, and nicer version of it on Deck 3 (tablecloths, additional items on menu). People working on the ship were great, all week. Cons? Not enough restaurant choices/options. Room Service wasn't included and they charged for it. Buffet didn't seem to have enough options. We had an A/C problem last few days of the cruise; apparently it's not the first time. My room wasn't bad but some people complained theirs was a sauna.

Would I do it again? Hmm.... well HSR, not next year. We've got conflicting plans already. Would I do the ship? Well, if I got invited along for a good time with folks that were booking it, but it wouldn't be my first choice (been there done that). And, we tend to be All Inclusive folks vs Cruisers (though I have two more booked for 2026). Did I have a good time? Oh, hell yeah!