opinions on excursion choices? need help.

[laurennnx48]

Hi, so there are about 8 of us and we are taking the carnival valor this coming summer. We are going to be going to belieze, roatan, grand cayman, and cozumel. This is what we are thinking of doing:

 

-Grand Cayman: seven mile beach

-Belieze: staying on the boat unless we find a reputable excursion that we are interested in (we are not interested in cave tubing)

-Roatan: Foster's West End and possibly swimming with dolphins through them

-Cozumel: a beach? anyone know of one that has stuff like water trampolines and jet skis?

 

Please let me know your experiences in these places and any comments you have.

THANKS!:D

[leigh61870]

let me help you out. Instead of here, go to port of call in here...back out to the front page and you will see port of call....in there go to caribbean...all the ports will be listed individually. When you get done reading about each one you will have a much better idea of each place. I also thought in GC that 7 mile beach would be good until they started talking about not very good snorkling...they say go to rock something ( I went blank on that) but its got rock in the name and it's close to the ship within walking distance. You will get lots of info there. If you have a hard time finding it, let me know I'll guide you better

[Sheffie]

Hi, so there are about 8 of us and we are taking the carnival valor this coming summer. We are going to be going to belieze, roatan, grand cayman, and cozumel. This is what we are thinking of doing:

 

-Grand Cayman: seven mile beach

-Belieze: staying on the boat unless we find a reputable excursion that we are interested in (we are not interested in cave tubing)

-Roatan: Foster's West End and possibly swimming with dolphins through them

-Cozumel: a beach? anyone know of one that has stuff like water trampolines and jet skis?

 

Please let me know your experiences in these places and any comments you have.

THANKS!:D

 

Cozumel: Paradise Beach has water toys. I know there is an iceberg and other such huge blow-up "toys". I don't know about jet skis.

 

Grand Cayman: has your group considered swimming with the stingrays? Since you are looking at a dolphin encounter, you might enjoy swimming with wildlife out in the wild. It is quite an experience! There are a lot of reputable independent operators that are recommended over on the Cayman board.

[Sheffie]

back out to the front page and you will see port of call....in there go to caribbean...all the ports will be listed individually.

 

There is also a Forum Jump drop-down box at the bottom of this page that will get you to those boards.

[laurennnx48]

thanks everyone! I did know about the port of calls pages but I didn't want to post it individually. thanks, though.

[momofzeke]

I second the motion for Paradise Beach in Cozumel. That has been one of our favorite port days in our 3 cruises. I'm pretty sure there are jet skis available. Take a taxi there and as long as you spend about $10 each on food or drinks, you can use their loungers all day. Get a bracelet for about $10 to use the water toys all day.

 

Belize, we did a ship-sponsored excursion Beach Break. There are usually snorkel tours available, and there is good snorkeling if you like that.

 

Have fun! :)

[laurennnx48]

Quick question though do you know if paradise beach has a lot of seagrass?

[momofzeke]

I don't remember any seagrass at Paradise Beach. It's been almost 4 years ago that we were there, but no seagrass then. There are a few rocks close to the shore, so I would take some type of water shoes or water sandals. When I say "a few" I mean just that. Not a lot of rocks, just here and there.

 

It's a very nice beach, and the restaurant is good. Clean bathrooms. A waiter will take care of you all day long, bringing drinks and food right to your lounge chair. There are umbrellas if you want shade. It was a great beach day! :)

[semichigan]

Hi - we are going on this same cruise on 5/23/10! I also did a similar itinerary on the Glory in Oct. 2008 (minus the Grand Cayman stop). In Roatan we went to Tabayana Beach and loved it - there were plenty of lounge chairs and shade and snorkeling right off the beach. They have a food stand selling burgers, etc. a gift shop and restrooms with room for changing. They also had bar servers coming out to the beach area..although I think Roatan has added a bunch of tours now that were not available when we went. not sure what we'll do this time...I've been to Grand Cayman 5 times but only once to 7 mile beach - it's nice but I would prefer to have some shade - there are no trees. I recommend swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman if you've never done it. Belize I would only use a ship sponsored tour. When we went it was the rainy season and a lot of tours were cancelled so we just tendered in and walked around the port area for some shopping and lunch/drinks. Still a nice day but I would not wander out past the port area, it is gated so no chance that you'd wander out my mistake.

In Cozumel we did a tour to the Mayan ruins - this takes all day - like 7 hours so I would only do it on a ship sponsored tour as well - only because it took so long, the ship did have to wait for us to arrive back. It was well worth it if you have any interest in that sort of thing. ENJOY!!!

[laurennnx48]

Hi - we are going on this same cruise on 5/23/10! I also did a similar itinerary on the Glory in Oct. 2008 (minus the Grand Cayman stop). In Roatan we went to Tabayana Beach and loved it - there were plenty of lounge chairs and shade and snorkeling right off the beach. They have a food stand selling burgers, etc. a gift shop and restrooms with room for changing. They also had bar servers coming out to the beach area..although I think Roatan has added a bunch of tours now that were not available when we went. not sure what we'll do this time...I've been to Grand Cayman 5 times but only once to 7 mile beach - it's nice but I would prefer to have some shade - there are no trees. I recommend swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman if you've never done it. Belize I would only use a ship sponsored tour. When we went it was the rainy season and a lot of tours were cancelled so we just tendered in and walked around the port area for some shopping and lunch/drinks. Still a nice day but I would not wander out past the port area, it is gated so no chance that you'd wander out my mistake.

In Cozumel we did a tour to the Mayan ruins - this takes all day - like 7 hours so I would only do it on a ship sponsored tour as well - only because it took so long, the ship did have to wait for us to arrive back. It was well worth it if you have any interest in that sort of thing. ENJOY!!!

Tabayana Beach sounds nice but we were thinking that we would do some kind of booked excursion to feel safer. How did you get to the beach? I've also heard that there is no shade on Seven Mile so thats why we are unsure. Have you been to any other beaches on grand cayman that you liked better?

[J&B2ndtime]

I agree with Paradise Beach in Cozumel. We had a great time there.

 

I do, however disagree with only considering a cruiseship excursion in Belize. We got off the ship, found a lovely fellow at the pier offering tours to the Altan Ha ruins. There were 4 of us in our group plus 2 older ladies from another cruiseship. He was a wonderful tour guide, stuck with us the entire time, and ever gave us a brief tour of the Belize City. We saved a bundle by doing a private tour and with only 6 people, our tour was so much more personalized than those of the ship excursions. Just my two cents, but from my experience, Belize City is so much more than cave tubbing.

Enjoy your cruise whatever you choose to do :)

[Sherrybaby412]

We did Tabyana beach as a Carnival excursion in July 2008. It was fantastic. I think the cost was $35.00 per person. They have shuttle buses that run you to the beach. Maybe 25 minute ride. The buses start back at 2:30 running at 30 minute intervals. You just hop on bus when ready to get back.

 

The snorkeling was fantastic. Iguanas overlooking the water. If you do go, get as close to small cliff area. Less people and fantastic fish.

[Irishlinny]

Not sure how much the Roatan Dolphin excursion at Roatan is, but we did it at Chankanaab Marine Park in Cozumel for $99 each and it was great! 45 minutes in the water with them and then snorkeling with them. Spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful park. Big pool with swim up bar, lagoon, restaurants, gardens and good snorkeling right at the beach. The one downside was although there is a huge sandy beach with Adirondack chairs, the beach is not sandy bottom (that's why there is good snorkeling right there). But the place was great and a quick cab ride from the pier.

In GC you can do a jet ski tour out to swim with the rays (the rays are a fun experience!). We didn't do the jet skis...went on a boat.

We went to Fosters in Roatan last year...was very nice. The sandy beach is on the small side in West End, but very beautiful. Fosters had a nice restaurant/bar and waiters come to you on the beach. Be prepared for people walking the beach selling things...but they're polite. I like to buy from the locals and help them out...have to remember to bring more cash next time!

In Belize, I highly recommend an independent tour (we used Coral Breeze) which includes the Bannister Island beach break. It was beautiful!!!

We went to Paradise Beach in Coz and it's very nice, and yes, they have toys. It was a little too much of a touristy spot for me, but nice, nevertheless.

Have fun!

[Theresa522]

Has anyone done this excursion before? My family and I are interested in it.:D

[Sheffie]

Quick question though do you know if paradise beach has a lot of seagrass?

 

Lauren, now that I think of it, I have not seen seagrass at ANY beach, nor in any water that I have been to on all of my cruises. I know that grass in lakes can freak me out, so I KNOW I would have remembered it on a cruise.

[DaDivaMom]

our favorite beach on Grand Cayman is Rum Point. You can rent a car for 85 bucks and drive over. About 40 minutes each way but well worth it. No crowds, beautiful water, shades, hammocks, no chair rental fees, bar and food available, no entry fee.

 

Roatan we prefer to hire a driver and just go but your plan sounds fun! We prefer Half Moon Bay beach. Small and not crowded. Bring bug spray whatever beach you choice as sand fleas are on all of them!

 

Cozumel has so very much to offer and is extremely safe.

 

Belize is beautiful once you are out of Belize City. I like wandering the city and we've done the ruins, the tubing and jungle excursions before. Do a little research and maybe do a jungle zip lining tour or river fishing. I wouldn't stay on the boat but that's me. You do what makes you feel safe.

[laurennnx48]

Lauren, now that I think of it, I have not seen seagrass at ANY beach, nor in any water that I have been to on all of my cruises. I know that grass in lakes can freak me out, so I KNOW I would have remembered it on a cruise.

Okay thanks so much. I know there was one place we have been to that had the seagrass, I want to say labadee but I'm not sure, and we completly hated it. Thanks!

[laurennnx48]

our favorite beach on Grand Cayman is Rum Point. You can rent a car for 85 bucks and drive over. About 40 minutes each way but well worth it. No crowds, beautiful water, shades, hammocks, no chair rental fees, bar and food available, no entry fee.

 

Roatan we prefer to hire a driver and just go but your plan sounds fun! We prefer Half Moon Bay beach. Small and not crowded. Bring bug spray whatever beach you choice as sand fleas are on all of them!

 

Cozumel has so very much to offer and is extremely safe.

 

Belize is beautiful once you are out of Belize City. I like wandering the city and we've done the ruins, the tubing and jungle excursions before. Do a little research and maybe do a jungle zip lining tour or river fishing. I wouldn't stay on the boat but that's me. You do what makes you feel safe.

Rum point is also the other beach we are considering. Have you been to seven mile too and just prefer that one? And thanks for the tip on the sand fleas!

[laurennnx48]

BARRIER REEF SNORKEL AT TURNEFFE WITH BEACH BREAK

 

Has anyone done the above carnival excursion in Belize? I would love to do it instead of staying on the boat but still not completely comfortable with getting off the boat.