Carnival excursions and non Carnival ones

[Vianky]

First time cruiser in July on the valor and we have still not decided if we are doing our excursion with Carnival or privately.

 

With Carnival, Does it really come out cheaper if you book before the cruise?

 

If so, how close to the cruise date can you book your excursions online?

 

We don't have a HUGE budget for excursions. If we do them with Carnival we will only be able to do 2 port excursions of the 4 we are going on but we are first timers and worry about not getting the right people. I know we can go to the port of call's page but there are SO many suggestions that it just makes it even harder

[shof515]

booking with carnival is alot safer then booking your own overall. Its kinda of insurance/ piece of mind

[kujobie]

First time cruiser in July on the valor and we have still not decided if we are doing our excursion with Carnival or privately.

 

With Carnival, Does it really come out cheaper if you book before the cruise?

 

If so, how close to the cruise date can you book your excursions online?

 

We don't have a HUGE budget for excursions. If we do them with Carnival we will only be able to do 2 port excursions of the 4 we are going on but we are first timers and worry about not getting the right people. I know we can go to the port of call's page but there are SO many suggestions that it just makes it even harder

 

Booking with Carnival is generally the same price whether you do it in advance or on board the ship. It is usually cheaper to go with an independant tour operator but do your homework. Look on the ports of call boards for suggestions and info/reviews. I know there's a lot of info there, but you can usually narrow it down to two or three operators based on reviews. If you go independant, book an early tour so you have plenty of time to return to the ship. Check their cancellation policy. As a first time cruiser, you may want to stick with a cruise ship tour. That's what we did. Once you get comfortable with a port and what to expect, then you'll be renting cars and doing your own thing. What ports are you visiting?

[David-n-Rita]

We have used both. The obvious Carnival advantages: The ship will wait for you if you are late. You get off first especially at tender ports if you are on their tours (after the VIP's), They research the companies so we feel there is less chance of getting a driver to send you into a robbery ambush with his buddies (it's possible and no we have never heard of this happening) You can pre-pay and if there is a reason (weather, skipped port) they credit back the excursion without hassle. Another thing that did happen: on a Carnival excursion one of the woman fell and injured her leg badly - they treated her on the ship and they told us that because she got hurt on their excursion, the infirmary was no charge (we were told this by the woman herself but are unable to verify if this is a policy) You can purchase on the carnival website if you have a fully paid booking starting 90 days before sailing. The option closes 7 days before sailing so you can't wait until last minute. On our first cruise we went to the talk on the ship for shore excursions and then picked one - we were unable to get it due to it being full already. That is when we started researching and booking them before we left.

 

As for outside tours: For us it depends where we are and if we deem a port "safe" or not. Many places you can hop on a bus, grab a cab etc and do so perfectly safely. Other ports are dangerous and you are warned not to book with an outside excursion - we heed the State Dept and warnings from Carnival. (ex: Jamaica; Costa Rica; St Lucia; Domenica, Belize - and recently a place we thought safe and by chance used Carnival excursions in the past - Antigua and Nassau.

 

We have found Cozumel, St Thomas, St Martin, Barbados, Key West, Cayman Islands to be safe enough to go out on our own and use excursions recommended on CC and by others.

 

Hope this helps, you didn't mention which ports you were referring to

[Minoushka]

I will be on Valor this March .After comparing prices with local vendors I have chosen to go to Carnival.I was NOT IMPRESSED with cab drivers in ROATAN trying to cheat us ...80$ one way to go to a beach ...HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO????????Last Nov

We got an excursion for that price now

In grand Cayman the difference was 5$ not worth the risk in my opinion stingrays and reef

In the past I have found Ship excursions to be well organized and fun

I hope it will be the same this time too

 

 

Michele

[DEBnGAB]

The one and only Carnival sponsored excursion ive ever done was the trip to Chichenitza and since it was most of the day by road/bus, we wanted to be sure we werent left behind.

 

Through research, weve gone on some exursions that the ship didnt offer or by going on our own, we had more time to explore. I always make a habit of getting back to the ship about an hour before sailaway just in case and ensuring that whatever we do on our own will allow that.

 

As far as safety goes, things can happen on/off CCL sponsored excursions, such as the CCL excursion in Jamaica where the passengers were robbed.

 

Best advice is common sense and research! What are your ports?

[Minoushka]

I forgot to mention on TENDER days I will book ship excursions...THEY GET OFF FIRST!!!!!

[Vianky]

Booking with Carnival is generally the same price whether you do it in advance or on board the ship. It is usually cheaper to go with an independant tour operator but do your homework. Look on the ports of call boards for suggestions and info/reviews. I know there's a lot of info there, but you can usually narrow it down to two or three operators based on reviews. If you go independant, book an early tour so you have plenty of time to return to the ship. Check their cancellation policy. As a first time cruiser, you may want to stick with a cruise ship tour. That's what we did. Once you get comfortable with a port and what to expect, then you'll be renting cars and doing your own thing. What ports are you visiting?

 

We will be going to Roatan, Belize, Cayman and Cozumel.

 

I know for sure we need/want one for Belize. Ive been told that its just a port you need one.

 

Its sucks because we really cant find anything we would LOVE to do in Belize but also don't want to just stay on the ship. So I feel like I'm waisting an excursion day with Belize but feel like I don't have an option.

[Vianky]

The one and only Carnival sponsored excursion ive ever done was the trip to Chichenitza and since it was most of the day by road/bus, we wanted to be sure we werent left behind.

 

Through research, weve gone on some exursions that the ship didnt offer or by going on our own, we had more time to explore. I always make a habit of getting back to the ship about an hour before sailaway just in case and ensuring that whatever we do on our own will allow that.

 

As far as safety goes, things can happen on/off CCL sponsored excursions, such as the CCL excursion in Jamaica where the passengers were robbed.

 

Best advice is common sense and research! What are your ports?

 

 

Belize, Roatan, Cayman and Cozumel

[Vianky]

I forgot to mention on TENDER days I will book ship excursions...THEY GET OFF FIRST!!!!!

 

 

I think 3 of my 4 ports are tender!

[Vianky]

Out of Belize, Roatan, Cozumel and Cayman, what 2 ports would be ok to do without excursions?

 

I love the beach so that would be the best option. What 2 can we just go and do a beach day and just shop without have to do an excursion?

[DEBnGAB]

:D

Nice itinerary!

 

I can say for Cayman, if you do want to book outside of CCL, go with nativeways watersports Rum Point, Reef and Rays. Last time I checked CCL does not offer an excursion that does all 3 of these activities and Rum Point is incredible!

 

Also, the only limit 10-15 people on the boats to Stingray City, so you arent stuck on a crowded catamaran with tons of people. Had a nice lunch at Rum Point..been told they film Corona commercials there.;)

[DEBnGAB]

Out of Belize, Roatan, Cozumel and Cayman, what 2 ports would be ok to do without excursions?

 

I love the beach so that would be the best option. What 2 can we just go and do a beach day and just shop without have to do an excursion?

 

Cozumel is great for beach day/shopping. Shopping is right there and beaches are a short cab ride away.

 

Grand Cayman has 7 Mile Beach, but for shopping, their dollar is higher than ours and I just bought the obligatory Margaritavill tshirt.

[mwb826]

We went to Cozumel last August. We did the dolphin swim adventure. Saved a great deal of money by booking directly with dolphin discovery. I looked at the Carnival sight and saw the name of the park that they did their excursion at and googled it. Found that we could book it directly for so much less. Had absolutly no problem. Got off the ship and taxi's were right there. When we pulled up at the park they had people there that gave us a ticket to pay the taxi. Did the excursion, which we absolutly loved, and then they had taxi's waiting to transport the people back to the ship. Actually loved it so much we are doing it again this August when we go on our next cruise. For a family of three we did the swim adventure for $200.00. Carnival charged so much more. Just do your homework online, read all the posts you can here on cruise critic, and you will have a very good idea if it is an area you can safely go on your own. Also, keep track of time so you get back to the ship about an hour before sail away. Have a great time.

[kujobie]

Out of Belize, Roatan, Cozumel and Cayman, what 2 ports would be ok to do without excursions?

 

I love the beach so that would be the best option. What 2 can we just go and do a beach day and just shop without have to do an excursion?

 

Coz and Caymans would be best to go independant or without excursions. Here is my review/preview I posted on our roll call. We did Legend with those ports last September and doing the same cruise again this year:

 

In Cozumel, we'll probably just stay on the ship, maybe check out the pier tourist area if anything. This will be our 8th time there I think. It's a great port, it's just that we've done all the touristy stuff and we are kinda looking to go on the cheap this time. One of my favorite places in Coz is Playa Uvas. Check out playauvas.com It's a beach club, they have several packages from all inclusive to pay as you go. Great snorkelling there right from the shore. There are tons of beach clubs in Cozumel just like this, and they're all relatively the same. Cozumel is also a great place to rent a car and just drive around the island. You can rent a Jeep Wrangler for about $50-$75 total, including full insurance, which I recommend, from a national company like Avis or Budget. You can even reserve online ahead of time, though it's not necessary. There is one main road that circles the island so it's impossible to get lost, and the road's in pretty good shape. And there is some absolutely beautiful secluded beaches on the windward side of the island. It's a nice drive.

 

In the Caymans, we will probably snorkel at Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto. It is a reef right down town right next to where the tender boat drops you off. It is free to snorkel there and some of the best snorkelling we have done. We're big into snorkelling. If you've never done it though, I highly reccommend the stingray city thing. It is one of the best excursions we have done. You gotta do it at least once. We've done it three times and I would do it again. It is a must do.

 

In Belize, we'll probably do the Goff's Caye snorkle thru the cruise line. Did that last year and it was some really good snorkelling. I'm not a fan of excursions thru Carnival, but I like this one because they pick you up right off the ship. Belize is a tender port, and the ship is anchored a mile or two off shore. They have high speed tender boats that ferry you in and it takes about 20 minutes each way, and then if you have a private tour, they put you on another boat at the pier and take you back out. It's just a lot of wasted time. Even some of the cruise ship tours do that, but not the Goff's Caye one. They pick you up right at the ship and take you directly to the snorkle spot. No standing in line for tenders or anything. Nice.. Also, I had issues with a private tour company, Coral Breeze, in Belize last year. We had a tour booked with them and they cancelled on us at the very last minute and apparrently have a habit of doing this. Buyer beware. As it worked out, we loved Goff's Caye, and because it was so quick getting us there and back, we still had time to grab a tender and go to the mainland for lunch and some souvenir shopping. The cave tubing in Belize is great, too. We went with cave-tubing.com a few years ago and had a blast. Also one of our favorite excursions.

 

Roatan, my future home... I just love this place. Anyways, we again booked a tour thru the ship. Like I said, we're not fans of cruise ship tours, we usually book privately or rent cars or take taxis and do our own thing, but since this was our first time there, and the country was going thru some political turmoil at the time I decided to play it safe. We did the Tabyana beach break thru Carnival. $37 per person is not bad actually. You could maybe save a few bucks by hiring a driver for the day, but in my research, I was seeing people say they paid $20-30 per person, after haggling, then you had to pay $10 p/p for access to one of the beach clubs, so you could actually end up paying more. The other good thing about the Carnival tour, not common with many of them, is that busses came and went every 1/2 hour, so you were not tied to a schedule. Nice. And the best part.. The snorkelling.. 20 feet off shore, yes 20 feet, the wall dropped off to 30-40 feet deep. Beautiful, living coral, huge fish EVERYWHERE! Best snorkelling I have ever done, without a doubt! Stellar. Bring an underwater camera..

[zqvol]

Belize, Roatan, Cayman and Cozumel

 

 

A couple of thoughts for you.

 

In Grand Cayman, you can easily do a private excursion. We have used Native Way for a trip to see the sting rays and snorkel and then to Rum Point. Looking at your profile that might be too much and you might just want to get a tour of the island. You can do that when you get off the ship. There are a lot of vendors offering tours or trips to the beach.

 

I haven't been to Roatan since they opened the new cruise center, but you may not need to do anything there.

 

Belize is the one place you need to do an excursion and I would do a carnival one there.

 

Cozumel has so many things to do that there is no need to decide ahead of time. You can go to the beach , or just go shopping, or do something more adventurous.

 

You have lots of choices, just be cautious in Belize because it is a tender port and it is a long tender ride so you don't want to be late.

[dprg644]

We have used both. The obvious Carnival advantages: The ship will wait for you if you are late. You get off first especially at tender ports if you are on their tours (after the VIP's), They research the companies so we feel there is less chance of getting a driver to send you into a robbery ambush with his buddies (it's possible and no we have never heard of this happening) You can pre-pay and if there is a reason (weather, skipped port) they credit back the excursion without hassle. Another thing that did happen: on a Carnival excursion one of the woman fell and injured her leg badly - they treated her on the ship and they told us that because she got hurt on their excursion, the infirmary was no charge (we were told this by the woman herself but are unable to verify if this is a policy) You can purchase on the carnival website if you have a fully paid booking starting 90 days before sailing. The option closes 7 days before sailing so you can't wait until last minute. On our first cruise we went to the talk on the ship for shore excursions and then picked one - we were unable to get it due to it being full already. That is when we started researching and booking them before we left.

 

As for outside tours: For us it depends where we are and if we deem a port "safe" or not. Many places you can hop on a bus, grab a cab etc and do so perfectly safely. Other ports are dangerous and you are warned not to book with an outside excursion - we heed the State Dept and warnings from Carnival. (ex: Jamaica; Costa Rica; St Lucia; Domenica, Belize - and recently a place we thought safe and by chance used Carnival excursions in the past - Antigua and Nassau.

 

We have found Cozumel, St Thomas, St Martin, Barbados, Key West, Cayman Islands to be safe enough to go out on our own and use excursions recommended on CC and by others.

 

Hope this helps, you didn't mention which ports you were referring to

 

Pretty good advise and as the above post states we also follow by booking both Carnival and on our own. You really need to research the port of call page as well as other internet sources to decide exactly what is best for you. You can always book it through Carnival although you might not be able to do as many but it might make you feel more comfortable. Some excursions who have contracts with the cruise lines will normally only let you book through them.

[kujobie]

Hard to decide though. If you've never been, the stingray city thing is hard to pass up. If you can swing three excursions, do it too, and do Cozumel without an excursion.

[Vianky]

Hard to decide though. If you've never been, the stingray city thing is hard to pass up. If you can swing three excursions, do it too, and do Cozumel without an excursion.

 

 

I think I will just do Cozumel beach day. Now to find the best beach to do it. This I dont think we need an excursion for. Any suggestions on awesome beaches?

 

Belize: I just have no idea! We will not be snorkeling since we will have our boys with us and they will not be able to do it. Its like you have to do cave tubing or snorkel. The cave tubing thing sounds fun BUT driving for an hour each way and having to walk 45 min after that does not.

Does Belize have any nice beaches? For some reason I'm not excited about Belize. Maybe its because I feel I have very little options

 

Cayman: We REALLY want to do the rays so we will end up doing that now just to decide if we want to do privet or with carnival. Carnival is around $260 for a family of 4. The rays, turtle farm and Hell. Native way is around the same price

 

Roatan: Well its the same with the snorkeling. Everyone says good things about it but its not something we will be doing. I am a bit interested in this Gumbalimba Park but its a little pricey at $65 PP for just 2.5 hours with Carnival

[Vianky]

 

We did the Tabyana beach break thru Carnival. $37 per person is not bad actually. You could maybe save a few bucks by hiring a driver for the day, but in my research, I was seeing people say they paid $20-30 per person, after haggling, then you had to pay $10 p/p for access to one of the beach clubs, so you could actually end up paying more. The other good thing about the Carnival tour, not common with many of them, is that busses came and went every 1/2 hour, so you were not tied to a schedule. Nice. And the best part.. The snorkelling.. 20 feet off shore, yes 20 feet, the wall dropped off to 30-40 feet deep. Beautiful, living coral, huge fish EVERYWHERE! Best snorkelling I have ever done, without a doubt! Stellar. Bring an underwater camera..

 

This sounds like a nice option for us! So I just I want to go snorkelling I can and leave the hubs with the boys at the beach! I Like this idea. How was the beach?

[kujobie]

This sounds like a nice option for us! So I just I want to go snorkelling I can and leave the hubs with the boys at the beach! I Like this idea. How was the beach?

 

Absolutely beautiful. I would have been perfectly content hanging at the beach. This would be a great place to go with kids. The beach area is huge. Good facilities, a gift shop, volleyball court, plenty of chairs in the shade or sun, live music, bar, restaurant, free water and lemonade. And one of the cheapest tours Carnival offers on any port. Well worth every penny. And this is, hands down, the best snorkelling I have done anywhere. I am absolutely going here again in September.

[kujobie]

I think I will just do Cozumel beach day. Now to find the best beach to do it. This I dont think we need an excursion for. Any suggestions on awesome beaches?

 

 

Go to Playa Uvas $10-$15 for a cab each way (total, not per person) Check out their site playauvas.com Just get a basic package, don't buy the snorkle tour. You can just snorkle on your own right off their beach, although not a bad deal for lunch, open bar, and snorkle tour for under $40.

[keishashadow]

\As for outside tours: For us it depends where we are and if we deem a port "safe" or not. Many places you can hop on a bus, grab a cab etc and do so perfectly safely. Other ports are dangerous and you are warned not to book with an outside excursion - we heed the State Dept and warnings from Carnival. (ex: Jamaica; Costa Rica; St Lucia; Domenica, Belize - and recently a place we thought safe and by chance used Carnival excursions in the past - Antigua and Nassau.

 

 

Hope this helps, you didn't mention which ports you were referring to

 

Can't comment on current situation in Belize, but our bus driver on carnival tour to Xunantunich wore a visible side arm.:eek: The 2 guides on our bus indicated that everybody who can afford a handgun carries one. We were instructed to avoid venturing beyond the tree line @ tour site; as we might encounter a jaguar or one of the roving Guatemelan gangs, fond of capturing unsuspecting tourists for ransom.:confused: I'd like to think the tour guides were blowing smoke & just didn't want us to wander off the neverending gift shop march (thinly disguised as a tour):rolleyes:

[Vianky]

Can't comment on current situation in Belize, but our bus driver on carnival tour to Xunantunich wore a visible side arm.:eek: The 2 guides on our bus indicated that everybody who can afford a handgun carries one. We were instructed to avoid venturing beyond the tree line @ tour site; as we might encounter a jaguar or one of the roving Guatemelan gangs, fond of capturing unsuspecting tourists for ransom.:confused: I'd like to think the tour guides were blowing smoke & just didn't want us to wander off the neverending gift shop march (thinly disguised as a tour):rolleyes:

 

I can't find ONE beach brake excursion with carnival for belize! Do they not have good beaches?

 

LOL nothing like a little fear of life to keep you spending money there LOL

 

Belize annoys me right now. I dont even want to go there but dont want to stay on the ship but cant find ANYTHING I want to do there with carnival excursions

[dmmac]

I have found excursions booked through Island Marketing Ltd (http://www.caribbeanshoretours.com/) to be quite good. Usually cheaper and, as important or more so for me, with smaller number of people in each tour group.

 

The last one I did through them was in Belize early last year - their Lamanai Tour (mayan temples plus a river boat ride). The on-site tour guide was top notch. Each segment point person (van driver, boat skipper, and on-site tour guide) kept in contact with each other to keep us on schedule. Had a small issue with the van transport (engine was running hot I think); they arranged to have another van waiting for us after the boat ride and tour and we made it back to the ship with no problems.