stressedmomof3

Yes it is. And no problem on weight. I believe I remember them saying you can zip up to 250 or 275 lbs. hth :)

Hi. I have a complete review of our Roatan cabana and pictures in my signature if you want to click on it.

But to answer your questions:

1. We did not have to give them our sign and sail card at check in. Just the tickets.

2. You can stay as long as you want at the cabana until it is time for you to return back to the ship and leave.

The beach was right in front of the cabana.Wish I had a photo to show better, but it was laid out with the cabana being the furthest from the beach water, then an open area, then the misting hammock, then the bright orange sun chair, then the beach itself.If I had an educated guess, from the bottom step of the cabana porch to the water was maybe 30-40 steps at most. We were in the 2nd cabana from the gate, the watermelon cabana, which seems just a little closer to the water than the other cabanas in the middle.

As for the ziplines at the facility we went to, it was only 1 hour for the Extreme lines and they get you suited right up after signing your liability waiver and get you in back of the truck ready to go and you land at the beach for your last zip line. The information in the excursion book says to allow 1 hour for each the extreme and the express zip lines. Hope this helps!

I cant seem to find much on the Blue Lagoon area. You have a pic of it and call it the "pay only area". My biggest question is, are they able to keep people out that haven't paid? Is there any one else here that might know? I could open a new post but thought I'd ask here 1st.

I wish I could help more about the Blue Lagoon area. But we booked the cabana and did not even look into it. Hopefully someone can help you more. If you do not get any information here, they did have someone posted right outside the area when you walked by it that could probably point you in the right direction to get a chair in there.

sarmat1:

As Far as I know, no one accepted the S/S card for anythign that I ran into. They wanted US dollars or a credit card. The man that ran the photos on disk at the zip line wanted US cash only- no cards.

There were a couple of white regular beach chairs in the shade ( you can see them in a picture I posted) that are free to use, but they were not really close to the beach enough for a "view" Although with the clam shells, they took up so much room if you were not up front in a clam shell, it did not look like you could see the beach for a "view" either-just the back of the clam shell in front of you. Hope this helps :)

Great questions. I really can not 100% say that your friend would be comfortable as I do not know her.

But I can tell you that they do take you in the back of a truck up the mountain so you do not have to walk such a long distance ( a bit bumpy). We walked for maybe 7-8 minutes or so uphill (not steep at all, imo ) and up some stairs of a platform. Nothing too tricky. We went ziplining in Jamaica and that was on uneven ground and lots and lots of walking, so comparing the two, this was a breeze.

As for the compound, this is located INSIDE. You do not need to go outside of the gates to do this ziplining activity at all.

And this has a self braking system which was WONDERFUL :)

If this helps, I would think my 65 year old mother with arthritis would have no issues being able to do this ziplining activity here.

Your welcome:) And just be sure to have cash and leave some time available to wait for them to burn a disc for you if you buy the photos. You can put every single person in your group on one disc and it be only $40 USD. You just need to show them on their computer who and where everyone is. Don't worry, take your time, they are okay with you finding everyone:)

To add a 5th or 6th person, you would need to pay the surcharge on the ship at the excursions desk. They will provide the added tickets for you to bring to the yellow shack at port to exchange for wristbands for all. Security would not let anyone stay in the cabana area without the wristband that is color coded for that particular day. You can go in and out of the cabana area as much as you liked, but had to get checked by security every time you wanted to get back to the cabanas.

Hope this helps ;)

.

Hi MikeNKim,

I just posted a pretty decent in depth review of the beach with some mapping too

and rental prices for things you can choose to pay for when you get off the ship.

You can find it here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2387062

scroll 1/2 way through the review past the ziplining review, and you can find it there. Hope this can help you in some way with your planning :)

Hi everyone! I am going to try and post a full review here on the Rio Secreto excursion we took on Carnival from Cozumel. ( I know this board is for Playa Del carmen- this is actually where the cave system is located-but on the Carnival cruise, we docked in Cozumel and took the ferry that was included in our tour price )

I will list the good, the bad and the ugly-lol.

I do have to forewarn, this excursion was quite a bit of money , but imo so well worth it as I do not believe we will ever do anything like this again and you know, you only live once... I will post a few pictures here for everyone to see:

This excursion is a bit strenuous, but you do not need to know how to swim.Our tour group consisted of and 11 year old all the way up to n elderly grandma in her late 60's.

So let me back up to the beginning... We met in the dining room on the Breeze to take this tour at 7:45 am. It is actually on the mainland in Playa del carmen, so we had to take a ferry from Cozumel there.The nickname for the ferry is called the "vomit comet". Yes, gross, I know... but it deserved it's name as the water was a bit rough and had quite a few people succomb to its' evil I would recommend if you get a bit nauseous, wear a seasickness patch, take a motion sickness pill and sit on the bottom deck of the boat in the middle. This ferry takes approximately 35-45 minutes to get to the mainland. We booked the full Rio Secreto ( Amazing Secret River) tour with NO SHOPPING, but I will get to that part at the end of this review... ( One tour is just Amazing Secret River and the other is Amazing Secret River and 5th Ave shopping)

Okay. So next we board a bus to take us to the underground cavern. I say it took maybe 20-25 minutes. the van was like an American style van that seats about 10 with nice air conditioning.Now the really bumpy part is when they turn off of the main roads into the property. There you will have a bumpy ride. When we got there, we were shown where to change ( ideally you should wear your swimsuit there under your clothing and bring undergarments with you to change into AFTER the tour). They issue you swim shoes if you did not bring any,a wetsuit, a helmet, a lifevest, and walking stick if you would like one. I HIGHLY recommend taking one. It was great at keeping one's balance while walking and swimming through the cavern.

And yes, the water in places looks as blue as the pictures and so clear you can see individual grains of sand at the bottom of the cave.It was just breathtaking!!!

You are not allowed to bring in a gopro or any cameras, do not wear any jewelry, you must wash off your deodorant, sunscreen and makeup if you are wearing any. They try to preserve the cave as much as possible. If you wear glasses to see ( not sunglasses) you can wear them through the tour.

So after getting ready and meeting your guide, off you go to get a blessing from a Mayan Priest. Then down some rickety stairs into the cave. You stay dry for a little whole and then off you go through the water.It is very cold at first, but with the wetsuit, your body adjusts quickly. This excursion you might get a little bit scraped and bruised, but expected with this type of activity. If you have any mobility issues, this is not for you. We went in July, not the rainy season, so we did not have any issues with high water levels. If you do go during rainy season, in some spots, you will only have a small area to keep your head afloat to get through to the next "room". There are areas where you have to crouch and crawl or/and float on your back to get through if you are very tall. Some spots you could not touch bottom, but remember you are wearing a lifevest and other friendly people and your guide will help you out if you can't swim or need help.

There is a photographer who goes around the cave with you on tour and takes pictures of you, your group/family. The pictures came out really good. They cost $89.00 USD no matter how many were in your party/group. We were a family of 5 and received 100 pictures on disk. About 50 were generic pictures of the caves as you see on here, the other 50 were of our family members, as a group, and individuals.

After the tour which took about 1 1/2 hours, we changed, saw where to order our photos, and went to eat. It was buffet style. It was more of a full lunch for those who would eat everything on the buffet. there was beans, rice,veggies, salad makings...But still keep in mind, you are in the middle of the "jungle" and bugs everywhere. ( to each his own). If you really enjoyed your tour, you tipped your guide. Most tipped between $10-$20 . Then we were off to get back in the van and go back to the ferry...or so we thought...

As we got off the van a new guide told us we had to stay there to shop for about 2 hours. It was HOT and NO SHADE anywhere. We asked to take the ferry we saw at the dock to go back to Cozumel. She told everyone no and noone would get a ticket back to the mainland until after they shopped for 2 hours. I was very upset because we did not buy the tour with the 5th avenue shopping , but it did not matter. the shopping area was a few blocks away and it consisted of many high priced shops down a very long avenue. There was a mall that consisted of high end shops that you would find in the states, but if you were looking for souvenir tees, you were looking at starting prices of $20/$25 USD for the cheap ones. To get out of the full sun, you have to go in the shops. They do hassle you in these. There are not any benches you can sit in to get out of the sun either. We found a Haagen Daas ice cream shop that we stopped in. It had air We 5 all ordered ice cream and a coffee. The cost? 631.00 pesos. yep, that's right, they will take US dollars, charge you pesos, give you back pesos and will not tell you the monetary conversion.We were told that it was $39.00 USD. Got home and saw it was really $33.32 USD. I do not blame them for this really. I really am more upset at the ferry people as it was they who made us stay and we were not prepared at all for this 2 hours shopping excursion.

So we were also told to be back at 4:30 pm sharp as the ferry would not wait. We get back, and yep, you guessed it, one of the other tours was 45 minutes late. So we waited on the ferry for them to show up. They fill the ferry with every tour to the mainland and will not go anywhere without it being full. So, needles to say, we got back to Cozumel with no shopping time there and we were the "pier runners". lol. An experience to say the least.

BUT even with the end, I would so HIGHLY recommend this excursion if you are fit to do this. The cave itself was so enjoyable and we even got to see a clear/blind catfish in the water inside the cave and baby bats on the ceiling.

I would also recommend wear your swimsuit there, buy/bring your own swimshoes and bring socks/walking shoes to change into after the excursion because the sand will make your feet raw when shopping if you wear your swimshoes afterwards,they provide towels for you so leave them on the boat, and bring clothes to change into after you are done with the caves.

Hope this can help anyone thinking about this excursion as when tried to do research on it, I could not find much information out there for it.

__________________

I don't know what happened with the 2 pics above, but trying to post them correctly here:

magical flying chairs :

and the zipline clip:

You sure can. It can be reserved on the ship, but also includes the magical flying chairs for a total of $42.99. It is called the Relax on the Beach Package thru Carnival.

We did see some families who rented the clamshell that had 3+ people and it appeared the parents had the clamshell and the kids played in the water the whole time. The package thru the ship does also include 2 water floats/rafts.

Hope this helps!

... and lastly a photo of the cost of the rentals when you arrive at the beach:

and photo of the rentals:

Hope this can help someone else looking for information here!

We also had a personal waiter here at the cabana. He would get us anything we wanted and put our items on a tab that we paid in USD when we were ready to go. The nachos here were DELICIOUS!And they are HUGE!Posting a pic of the menu for anyone who might be interested:

Now when you reserve a cabana, they have a security guard at the entry gate that will keep out all other guests from the cabana area. The little strip of beach anyone can walk thru or swim in front of, but noone else can be in the cabana "area." Believe me, some will try but we saw security run people off when trying to get on the chairs or go try to use the outdoor shower at one of the other cabanas.

If you like to snorkel, the best area to try and do this is at the end of the pier near the last cabana on the beach ( furthest from the entry). You will probably see people who have paid for some sort of excursion in the area, but it is free to go out and around there yourself.

There is a lot of sea grass here so if that bothers you, bring swim shoes. Also would not recommend wearing your prescription eyeglasses here. one lady lost hers while in the water and never did find them.

Okay, next I am going to post a photo of the clamshells that were available to rent. We did not get one as we got the cabana, but here's a pic for anyone interested:

I am hoping this photo posts large as it gives you an idea where everything is:

Picture of the white beach chairs that are free ( they were everywhere, but clamshells and cabanas had best views -imo):

We only had one boat in port, but can see how the beach would be packed with 2 boats in port.

The prices for what was offered thru Carnivals excursions was:

$249.99 Beach cabana rental for 4 ( price went up since we booked it and book EARLY! Sells out fast!)

$42.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, one clamshell, 2 float rentals.

$62.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, clamshell, 2 floats and 30 minutes kayaking

$52.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, 2 floats, a clamshell and snorkeling gear for 2

&74.99 for 2 to enjoy flying chairs, clamshell, 2 float rentals, kayaking for 30 minutes and snorkel gear rental for 2.

Okay, back to business now ;)

After taking the Zipline, we ended right on the beach. We walked a little ways behind all of the chairs and clamshells and got to our cabana. I have to say it was money well worth spent. It looked EXACTLY like the pictures on the Carnival excusions website. I mean EXACTLY.

My pictures will not do it justice, but here it goes:

Outside the cabana:

(notice the outdoor shower to the left and sorry, LSU shirt not included-lol.)

It also had a 2 yellow sofas inside that could seat 6, some sodas included for all of us and some cookie type snacks for us inside the fridge-all included.There was a tv with remote, VERY COLD air conditioner, a safe in which you held the key, a coffee table, free wifi passwords for each person in your reservation, and a key lock that locks the outside of your cabana that you hold onto as well. (Sorry no pics of the inside).

Also for the exterior, it has 2 orange loungers on the patio, an outdoor shower which is COLD, a hammock that can fit 1-2 people that has mister sprays, and another huge lounger in the sun that can seat at least 2 ( depending on how much space you like-lol-picture below.).

We had 4 blue floatie mats:

Picture including the Large lounger, the misting hammock and front of cabana:

Another photo of the gorgeous cabana area. There are only 6 cabanas here that can be reserved:

yes we booked it through the ship.

I think I remember 6 lines for the Extreme side.One of the lines was over water and they boasted that one was over 1600 ft.They were all pretty long, high and pretty fast. hth.

...And here is the actual clip on the zipline that keeps you safe. You can see it hooks onto 2 lines and then way at the top there is a 3rd line that you are connected to as well. So, as a mom, I felt we were as safe as could be expected for ziplining...

Now onto the beach!

You can either take the walking path to the beach ( for free and takes maybe 6 minutes) or take the magical flying chairs to the beach ( cost was $11.99 per adult and $6.99 per child if purchased via ship or at the yellow shack when you arrived and if it was not included in a previously purchased excursion).

You can't see in the photo , but there was a bar that comes down to hold onto like a carnival ride when you are seated in it. I did not see any seatbelts while we were on it to keep little ones in though. Might have them, but none I could see when we rode it. HTH.

You could ride these as much as you wanted. Also they go very, very slow. Great for pictures, great views, and feeling the breeze up there was heavenly after sweating through the day-lol. If you go early in the morning on the flying chairs, be sure to look down for a ship photographer that will wave at you. He/she will take your picture while up in the air and then you can buy it on the boat the next day. ALSO, when you exit the magical flying chairs on your RIGHT, there will be a beachy area with your ship in the background. Great way to get a photo of you and the ship with noone else in the background there. When we got off, a Carnival photographer was at that spot too.

Here's a pic of everyone in the water closest to the ship with the Breeze in the background ( there are areas further away from the ship-but people chose to swim as close as they could for some reason (?):

Alright, I am ending it here for now, I have to re-upload some photos as they are not posting right . Will finish up the review soon :)

Hi everyone. I had a little bit of difficulty when trying to research some excursions before I left on my cruise, so thought I would do excursion reviews with pictures when I got back to try and help others trying to find more information out.

First I have to say that I was a little worried as when I booked the cabana at the beach online, the system would not let me book another excursion for the day. When I went to the Carnival excursion desk, "poof", they made it happen. We were able to buy ziplining tickets. Now, I do want to mention that the cabanas were only priced for 4 people ( you must get wristbands at a shack after you get off the shop), but at the excursions desk you can add up to 2 more people for a surcharge. I want to say it was something like $45-ish which included the magical flying chairs and the wristband to get into the gated area to the cabana.And that was for an adult rate.

So now to getting off of the ship!

We were welcomed to Mahogany Bay by this beautiful sign.

Here is a pic of the port shopping center:

We were told we needed to get off of the ship and go directly to a yellow shack to the right of where everyone was holding excursion signs for passengers. We needed to get our wristbands there, get on the flying magical chairs, get our cabana, dump our things inside and lock it and get back to the original starting point for 9am to zipline. We had about 45 minutes to do that after getting off the ship and it turned out not to be a big deal.

So as we are waiting for the rest of the passengers to show up, my husband sees this:

It is called fat Tuesdays and no, you can not have one before ziplining-lol.

So as we made our way into the area to get suited up for ziplining, I did notice that you can actually book this excursion at the spur of the moment with them. they have a pay here window, so no need to book ahead of time with Carnival if you aren't 100% sure you want to do this. There were 2 different ziplines, one was called EXPRESS, the other called EXTREME. I do have to say I am not a zipline person, but I went on the EXTREME with the kids and I was a lot of fun. Expensive, but I do understand as I am sure liability insurance is included at the price.

If you want to go on your own ( at your leisure, the zipline "house" can be found here:

It is in the back of the main shopping "area". There will be a walkthru area to get from the main shopping area to the zipline office/"house". You will not see it unless you go 1/2 way thru this walking area- like a breezeway.

It is a yellow building and you will see this sign:

After we suited up, we rode in the back of the truck up the mountain. we walked a little ways and then off to ziplining. It was not bad and imo people young and old could do this excursion.( as long as they could walk up the stairs of the platform and walk uphill for a short time.)

On the last zip, it took us all the way to the beach area where our cabana was. YEA! It was great fun, and worth the money. They do take pictures of you and your family getting suited up and at one zip, they take about 12-15 pictures of each family member zipping into a platform-so be sure to see them, smile and wave hi! The photos on disk were only $40. that is a flat $40 no matter how many photos they took of you and your companions/family. We are a family of 5 and had 101 pictures on disk! If you are on the EXTREME, you have the option to go back to the office/house to get your photos on disk then, or wait until you are done for the day and ready to go back on the ship. Just expect to be there about 20-30 minutes as they burn the disks while you wait. Cash is only accepted form of payment here. For EXPRESS, you end where you start so just buy your disk after you take off your gear. And tips are accepted and the guides split all tips. Just FYI.They have a tip box at the end of the trip.

Actual costs of each:

The Zip Line EXTREME was $89.99 adults/ $79.99 child and the EXPRESS was $59.99 adults/$49.99 child. All USD dollars.

Okay next up...the beach and cabana!

Hi everyone! I am going to try and post a full review here on the Rio Secreto excursion we took on Carnival from Cozumel. I will list the good, the bad and the ugly-lol.

I do have to forewarn, this excursion was quite a bit of money , but imo so well worth it as I do not believe we will ever do anything like this again and you know, you only live once... I will post a few pictures here for everyone to see:

This excursion is a bit strenuous, but you do not need to know how to swim.Our tour group consisted of and 11 year old all the way up to n elderly grandma in her late 60's.

So let me back up to the beginning... We met in the dining room on the Breeze to take this tour at 7:45 am. It is actually on the mainland in Playa del carmen, so we had to take a ferry from Cozumel there.The nickname for the ferry is called the "vomit comet". Yes, gross, I know... but it deserved it's name as the water was a bit rough and had quite a few people succomb to its' evil:o I would recommend if you get a bit nauseous, wear a seasickness patch, take a motion sickness pill and sit on the bottom deck of the boat in the middle. This ferry takes approximately 35-45 minutes to get to the mainland. We booked the full Rio Secreto ( Amazing Secret River) tour with NO SHOPPING, but I will get to that part at the end of this review... ( One tour is just Amazing Secret River and the other is Amazing Secret River and 5th Ave shopping)

Okay. So next we board a bus to take us to the underground cavern. I say it took maybe 20-25 minutes. the van was like an American style van that seats about 10 with nice air conditioning.Now the really bumpy part is when they turn off of the main roads into the property. There you will have a bumpy ride. When we got there, we were shown where to change ( ideally you should wear your swimsuit there under your clothing and bring undergarments with you to change into AFTER the tour). They issue you swim shoes if you did not bring any,a wetsuit, a helmet, a lifevest, and walking stick if you would like one. I HIGHLY recommend taking one. It was great at keeping one's balance while walking and swimming through the cavern.

And yes, the water in places looks as blue as the pictures and so clear you can see individual grains of sand at the bottom of the cave.It was just breathtaking!!!

You are not allowed to bring in a gopro or any cameras, do not wear any jewelry, you must wash off your deodorant, sunscreen and makeup if you are wearing any. They try to preserve the cave as much as possible. If you wear glasses to see ( not sunglasses) you can wear them through the tour.

So after getting ready and meeting your guide, off you go to get a blessing from a Mayan Priest. Then down some rickety stairs into the cave. You stay dry for a little whole and then off you go through the water.It is very cold at first, but with the wetsuit, your body adjusts quickly. This excursion you might get a little bit scraped and bruised, but expected with this type of activity. If you have any mobility issues, this is not for you. We went in July, not the rainy season, so we did not have any issues with high water levels. If you do go during rainy season, in some spots, you will only have a small area to keep your head afloat to get through to the next "room". There are areas where you have to crouch and crawl or/and float on your back to get through if you are very tall. Some spots you could not touch bottom, but remember you are wearing a lifevest and other friendly people and your guide will help you out if you can't swim or need help.

There is a photographer who goes around the cave with you on tour and takes pictures of you, your group/family. The pictures came out really good. They cost $89.00 USD no matter how many were in your party/group. We were a family of 5 and received 100 pictures on disk. About 50 were generic pictures of the caves as you see on here, the other 50 were of our family members, as a group, and individuals.

After the tour which took about 1 1/2 hours, we changed, saw where to order our photos, and went to eat. It was buffet style. It was more of a full lunch for those who would eat everything on the buffet. there was beans, rice,veggies, salad makings...But still keep in mind, you are in the middle of the "jungle" and bugs everywhere. ( to each his own). If you really enjoyed your tour, you tipped your guide. Most tipped between $10-$20 . Then we were off to get back in the van and g back to the ferry...or so we thought...

As we got off the van a new guide told us we had to stay there to shop for about 2 hours. It was HOT and NO SHADE anywhere. We asked to take the ferry we saw at the dock to go back to Cozumel. She told everyone no and noone would get a ticket back to the mainland until after they shopped for 2 hours. I was very upset because we did not buy the tour with the 5th avenue shopping , but it did not matter. the shopping area was a few blocks away and it consisted of many high priced shops down a very long avenue. There was a mall that consisted of high end shops that you would find in the states, but if you were looking for souvenir tees, you were looking at starting prices of $20/$25 USD for the cheap ones. To get out of the full sun, you have to go in the shops. They do hassle you in these. There are not any benches you can sit in to get out of the sun either. We found a Haagen Daas ice cream shop that we stopped in. It had air :) We 5 all ordered ice cream and a coffee. The cost? 631.00 pesos. yep, that's right, they will take US dollars, charge you pesos, give you back pesos and will not tell you the monetary conversion.We were told that it was $39.00 USD. Got home and saw it was really $33.32 USD. I do not blame them for this really. I really am more upset at the ferry people as it was they who made us stay and we were not prepared at all for this 2 hours shopping excursion.

So we were also told to be back at 4:30 pm sharp as the ferry would not wait. We get back, and yep, you guessed it, one of the other tours was 45 minutes late. So we waited on the ferry for them to show up. They fill the ferry with every tour to the mainland and will not go anywhere without it being full. So, needles to say, we got back to Cozumel with no shopping time there and we were the "pier runners". lol. An experience to say the least.

BUT even with the end, I would so HIGHLY recommend this excursion if you are fit to do this. The cave itself was so enjoyable and we even got to see a clear/blind catfish in the water inside the cave and baby bats on the ceiling.

I would also recommend wear your swimsuit there, buy/bring your own swimshoes and bring socks/walking shoes to change into after the excursion because the sand will make your feet raw when shopping if you wear your swimshoes afterwards,they provide towels for you so leave them on the boat, and bring clothes to change into after you are done with the caves.

Hope this can help anyone thinking about this excursion as when tried to do research on it, I could not find much information out there for it.

We had to cancel FTTF prior to a:) cruise before. I did not receive a confirmation, but noticed on my credit card statement that is was credited back within a week after calling and cancelling. HTH.

The following link is to the Carnival Shore excursions FAQs to help you decide to book independently or through the ship:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2866/~/shore-excursion-faqs

It tells you they will hold the ship, how to book, how to cancel, Carnival will not be held responsible if you get hurt, etc...

HTH...

Wish I could help better, but I have been trying to find out much about this destination for the past 6 months.

I have read that the beach is great for swimming, expect a sandy bottom ( no coral/rocks). It tends to get busy being right at the port. There are free chairs on the beach, there are pay clamshell chairs and then there are 6 pay for cabanas that have to be reserved ahead of time, but offers air conditioning, private beach area just for cabana goers and wifi.

So, without being there, this is what I have found so far. Next month, I am hoping to write a review after our family actually gets to visit for ourselves :)

following in anticipation of the rest of your review.

Did you happen to notice if:

1. Was there a 3 for special in the spa one day? ( like $99 for a pick 3 choice of hot stones, foot massage, head massage, etc...)

2. Was there a spa night for teens? Usually called an ice cream spa or something of the sort?

3. Did your 12 year old enjoy the kids camp?

Thanks:)

at my Krogers they only had one row of Carnival Gift cards on the gift card display all the way at the bottom-lol.( if that helps)

And I know I can't post links, but you can find an array of what insurance plans you might look for at

insuremytrip

hope I can do that. You'll have to do a little bit of work to find the plans you feel comfortable with But you can do mock bookings to see about the cost of each. Usually the cancel for any reason option costs a little bit more, but when booking so far out, it gives peace of mind if you are intent on booking Early Saver ;)

Hope I can help a little. Early Saver has saved my family and I in the past, over $1000 each time we were on the Magic in 2 separate rooms, but only $200 this time around on the Breeze and that was only a promotion not a price drop ! We always book over a year out so we can make payments through the year-just easier for us and prices do seem to be a bit cheaper booking it out a year or more .

Now, as soon as we book Early Saver, I do book outside insurance with a cancel for any reason policy ( this has to be done within so many days of your booking or you are out of luck of getting it) . Be sure to check your medical insurance too and see if you are covered on your cruise. The more family members you have cruising, the more chances you might need to use the insurance. (Something a lot of people don't think about until they need it)

And if you happen to have Krogers by you, they are running a 4x points sale on the gift cards which includes Carnival Gift Cards.

Oh, and I second a vote for the Magic. My kids were sad to see her leave Galveston.