J18ktleo

Shoreexcursioneer dot com has this one available on the date of my cruise for $64.99

Cozumel Salsa and Salsa Excursion, Cooking and Dancing at Playa Mia Beach Club (S3133)

Oh my goodness!!!

Thank you Scsagh! I have contacted the company directly and they were adamant (as is their website) that they only deal thru the cruise ship...it's $64.99 for our sailing also! And reading the info on Shoreexcursioneer there are different times for the class, not everyone at one time.

Hmmm...now I don't know WHAT to do! Was already looking at other options for this date:cool:

ok, I need everyone's advice!

Will be stopping in Cozumel on the Celebrity Edge next Jan with a group of about 20 ladies. Many many of us have been to Cozumel multiple times and this itinerary is all about the ship, of course! We'll also be stopping in Costa Maya and Grand Caymen...it's my job to find fun/different/memorable things to do (just back from Windstar last week)

So, I love the Trikes Tour.

But wondering if we need to look into the Dos Ojos tour....looking at the Cozumel tours website by Johan and Sandra, they offer the snorkeling/Dos Ojos Cenote tour as well as a Chocolate and cooking tour...

Help steer me in the right direction, please!!!!!!:cool:

So, I know this thread is old but wondering if I can get some info...a friend recommended this tour but it's now only available thru the ships and Celebrity is charging $99...wondering how crazy busy it is...they said they take 30-90 guests. I have a group of between 14-20 and really don't want to be in a 'cruise ship busload' tour!

Anyone had any recent experiences here?

Is it worth $99/per person?

Having booked and participated in numerous private tours all over the world, many times we cannot book with a vendor as the cruise lines have them locked up but IMHO I don't believe they vet the tour companies any better than we do...it's the luck of the draw.

There have been accidents with private tours and ship sponsored tours,..no way to discern the difference.

This is a very sad tragedy and there's no way to determine who's better or worse...and who knows if the driver was speeding because he wanted to or because he had a deadline....:rolleyes:

Like anything else, we might never know the answers and will continue to travel.

Sam Fritz,

Words never seem to be enough in times like these but your post is beautiful and reminds us all that life is truly too short and we must take the time, every day, to acknowledge those around us and what impact even the smallest and seemingly minoract of kindness can impart to those around us.

I am sure I am not alone in trying to find answers and waiting patiently for an explanation, although there is nothing that will ever make this sad situation right.

Sending you, and your family, all the positive prayers and strength you will need in this time of sadness and that you can find peace and comfort in knowing what they left behind as their legacy.<3

SamFritz,

My heart goes out to you and your family...words cannot express our sorrow in your loss and the other families affected by this tragedy.

Having done both private and ship sponsored tours we rarely consider the possibilities and this is the worst case imaginable.

I was reading an article on one of the news sites and the way it was written insinuated that this was NOT a ship sponsored tour but knowing it was and that private tours, especially in that region, are rarely in the big buses. Sounds like there were quite a few buses doing this tour reading the comments by those who were driving by on the way to/from the ruins.

Mind numbingly sad....

From what I saw, two weeks in a row, the ferries have relatively few passengers in the morning. Your group of 12 should have no problem getting on at either location. Anse Mitan should work fine since you are already there.

 

When you buy the $7 return ticket, they give you a small purple ticket that will be needed for the return. Make sure your group members dont lose the ticket, or they will need to buy another for the trip back to Anse Mitan.

 

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Thank you so much and Happy Holidays!

Question, we will be tendering into Anse Mitan (onboard Windstar) and I have a group of 12 that needs to get to Ft. de France to meet our tour guide...do you suggest catching the ferry in Anse Mitan or Anse L'Ane? We arrive at 9 and need to meet the tour guide at 10...hoping at that time of the morning the crowds are arriving into where we're leaving from?:confused:

Are you on the pride cruise from Baltimore??

 

 

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We're on Windstar Windsurf ;)

Help!

Our cruise for Jan 2017 was just changed to stop in Martinique instead of Dominica.

We will be tendering to Anse Mitan so I'm trying to set up a tour of the island for my group.

Christelle with Karambole tours said we would need to take the ferry to Fort Du France for the tour start...wondering how challenging this would be with a group of 10-12 persons?

And should we try to do an island tour or just stay on the beaches???

Any advice from those who have been to the island recently is appreciated!!!

We are on the Windsurf Classic Caribbean Jan 20...have moved from St. Martin to Barbados, dropped Barbuda, St. Bart's, Dominica for Montserrat and Martinique.

We were in Montserrat last year on Star Legend, very interesting but one time is enough!!! (just get off the ship and grab one of the cab/vans, drivers sitting around waiting...they do a great tour of the island...it's all you need!)

Wondering where the Beach Party might be? Hoping for Martinique because they don't seem to have any excursions available for that port...anyone know how to determine?

Fingers crossed the storms and devastation are done...this has been terrible to watch!:eek:

You don't have to buy insurance through the cruise line. At insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com, you can compare quotes from many insurance companies. Most offer medical evacuation coverage far in excess of the cruise lines' coverage. Maybe you can afford to lose $5,000, but what would you do if someone in your group had to be airlifted off the ship ($10,000 - $25,000), receive treatment at a foreign hospital ($ unlimited), and be medevac'ed home ($15,000 - $40,000)?

You can also just buy a medical policy to cover evac...we use our credit cards for travel insurance coverage and then get a medical policy for 'just in case'...saves a lot of money that way and we're still covered!

I have a group of 12 going in January from all over the country and our flights were on American, United, Delta, Jet Blue and Spirit (:eek:).

Over the past 3 days we've been able to change all flights to Barbados and quite a few of us ran into agents that insisted on charging the change fees plus another garbage fee...but we would just ask for a supervisor or call back and get another agent and eventually they'd back down...all fees have been waived or refunded.

I also had a tour booked in St. Martin that was non-refundable and I just sent the deposit of $750 the week before Irma. I wrote them yesterday and said our hearts and prayers were with them and when they had a chance if they could send me something showing it was non-refundable so I could put in insurance claim,...they wrote back immediately that they would refund due to the situation and I had the money that day. I was really ok with just letting them keep the money and filing a claim...

so I've been busy changing flights for everyone in my group, from all over the US to Barbados.

American has been all over the map on change fees but bottom line is they WILL waive them, just gotta get to the right person.

Flights were not too bad or about the same as what we paid to SXM so now my group is set!

However, the itinerary they changed us to still goes to Dominica and Guadaloupe and I think Maria just hit both of those...at least WS has options in the area of Barbados if they need to switch us again.

A little disappointed that we're going back to Montserrat, did that last year on Star Legend and once is really enough, plus the new itinerary has a day at sea which is a surprise!

LVWindstar007, we might be sailing with you on Jan 20th???

When I talked to them they were just figuring things out. The itinerary change was released today but I think that all the other little nuances will be dealt with appropriately in the next week or so. Right now they're just trying to figure out what to do with the passengers. I would have your travel agent call them about changes that they're insisting on charging for. And remember travel insurance will cover these things as well!

Got the letter from WS today as well and as luck would have it just 2 hours before I booked my group hotel rooms in Barbados JUST IN CASE!;p

Now we're all busy changing our flights...fingers crossed, looks like Maria is going above Barbados but now San Juan might be hit and that's a biggie :(

Cruise Critic is keeping a running update on the status of the Eastern Caribbean ports and when they'll be open for cruising. More than you might expect are already open, including Barbados, Antigua and St. Kitts. We will continue to update this story as information comes in from the CTO and cruise lines: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8067

Thank you for the update, eagerly taking in all the info and updates...appreciate all that CC does to keep the community informed:cool:

I really think it's too early to expect WS to know what they're doing...there's so much that has to be evaluated for their season and worrying about what they're doing for our 'luxury cruise' when these islands have been decimated seems inappropriate at this time.

NCL just announced they will not be sailing this area for awhile, I'm sure the other lines will be next although then the challenge is having room to fit ALL THESE PASSENGERS into the few islands that were not impacted in the South and/or to the West.

If you have to change your flights due to cancellation of what you planned, the insurance should cover it:cool: with appropriate documentation.

We also are doing Windsurf RT St Martin in January and our entire group of 12 has had flights and hotels booked since February!

However, I'm going to wait a month to contact WS and let them sort our what their/our options are.

So heartbreaking to see the pictures of the devastation in St. Martin:loudcry:

I was just looking at the path and am saddened, last Jan we visited Marigot on the Star Legend and to think of the devastation....:loudcry: along with Jost Van Dyke and all the other ports...looks like Barbados might be their option as their Caribbean itineraries are limited and 2 of the 3 have been wiped out.

Even though seeing the reports that work is beginning and knowing how valuable our tourism dollars are, the possibility of enough being repaired to welcome tourists in the immediate future looks daunting!

Sending you and all the areas in the path our prayers.

Such a helpless feeling sitting here watching and waiting, cannot imagine what you and those in the path are going thru :loudcry:

Following all the news I can.

I have a group of 12 onboard Jan 20, all flights booked for months into SXM, tours and hotels as well. Wondering if they'll totally scrap the itinerary for another area as much of our itinerary has been wiped out. :rolleyes:

This is so sad to watch and heartbreaking to think about.

Any news y'all have is welcome and I'll do the same!!!

I wanted to check out what's going on as our upcoming cruise in January has been somewhat totally wiped out, sailing RT St. Martin to Barbuda, St Bart's, Guadaloupe.....:loudcry:

I've been reading the posts and just a couple of comments, maybe they've been addressed before:

#1. This is NOT a new occurrence for the cruise lines. This happens every single year, in one way or another and they have gone down this path over and over and over and over. I did spend a delayed weekend 'hunkered down' in a hotel right outside the evactuation zone in FLL watching the hurricane 'hover' over the islands and the Key's. The cruise lines were unable to give us definitive information because, as we all know, there is no 100% guarantee that the storm will go where they think it'll go or the time line will be what they think or the impact will be what they think.

At that time, our Sat departure moved to Monday, we did have an offer to cancel with a FCC and received additional OBC...when we finally boarded our (now) 5 day cruise the ship was 1/2 empty with lots of escaping Floridians who weren't in the mood to enjoy a cruise but they had to escape.

#2 I seem to NOT remember many, if any, instances of people suing a cruise line for 'whatever' and winning? The contracts for the trip that we pay for require the cruise line keep the safety of it's passengers near the top of the list, along with (I assume) preserving the integrity of their multi Million $$$ ships that they are unwilling and shouldn't be expected to endanger for those passengers who believe they are 'owed' more than what the cruise lines offer, in times like these.

#3 Ships do port in Marigot, I was there last year on Windstar and it was our tender port. This next sailing, again on Windstar, is RT from Philipsburg but the smaller ships use smaller ports, which (at this point) is a challenge since so many of them are damaged/destroyed.

#4 These cruise lines run businesses that not only depend on the good will of their customer base but also on taking care of their customers to the best of their abilities, in times of difficulty. Having watched these boards for years (and many of you have also) the cruise lines make their decisions based on business and IMHO right now they not only have to figure out what to do with those who are currently sailing, but those who are scheduled to sail in the next few weeks and those who are scheduled in the next few months and the conditions of the ports or options they have to change itineraries in light of the storms anticipated on the horizon.

#5 The reason why there's no phones being answered at HQ is because they've evacuated Miami where the HQ's are for RCCL, Celebrity, Azamara, Carnival...they're in that long line up the road.

I am always entertained by those who come on these boards and accuse the cruise lines of not 'snapping to' service each individual person...this is a HUGE industry that balances so many different situations (weather, political unrest, lack of safety in ports, the world stage:eek: think pulling Istanbul off all itineraries) so I personally believe they make their decisions in light of what's best for the company and the passengers, together, not mutually exclusive.

And this is EXACTLY why travel insurance is so valuable. If you're unfamiliar with it's benefits and the different ways to get travel insurance coverage (i.e. your credit card that paid for the trip???) check into it or have your TA do it...this is exactly why insurance is worth the extra investment!

Off my pedestal!!!:cool:

I booked thru Radio Taxi Le Havre, so not sure if his price is the same or different?

We paid 340€ for 6 hours...added Rouen for 100 €...there were 4 of us in the van so probably can take 6:rolleyes:

We did tip him because he was wonderful!!!

Just returned from 14 day British Isles and in researching for private tours before we left I was lucky enough to come up with Radio Taxi Le Havre.

Contracted with them for trip from Le Havre to Giverny to tour Monet's gardens.

Our drive, Cedric, was waiting on the dock and off we went...had a wonderful day! Although he's a 'taxi driver' he speaks perfect English, is well educated, shared lots of history and information on everything as we did the 1 1/2 hour drive there...was waiting for us when we were finished with the gardens, took us to Rouen where he parked the car and walked us thru the pedestrian areas to the Cathedral.

I highly recommend Cedric as hiring a taxi doesn't always mean they speak the language or have much info/knowledge but he was fantastic!:)

His email is c.ferreira134.tgo76@gmail.com