Does Opera drop off in Playa Del Carmen?

[lilydale]

I'm hoping somebody can help. I'm on the February 5th sailing of Opera for the Western Caribbean loop and one of the stops is Cozumel. The shore excursion booklet refers to some mainland excursions and indicates that those passengers will "disembark in Playa del Carmen by tender".

 

Does anyone know if the ship will allow passengers who are not on mainland excursions to embark these tenders for Playa Del Carmen?

 

Does anyone know what time these tenders are arriving in Playa Del Carmen?

 

The reason I ask is because we call in Cozumel from 10-6 which leaves no time for me to do a mainland trip (Tulum) independently utilizing the ferry system both ways, but if it drops us off in the mainland early in the morning, the commute to Tulum is easy.

 

Any info is appreciated.

[EXBRIT]

As you have probably noticed I am also on the Feb 5th sailing. I had also been wondering if we could tender there because we would love to see some larger sites other than what Cozumel has to offer. It looked like they had to take the ferry back though, is that what you understood? It's still quite a drive once you get off the ferry, were you thinking of a bus, taxi or renting a car? I'm wondering if a few of us are interested if we could get a taxi van and all go together (I'm assuming this would be cheaper).

[jknezek]

On the Jan 8 trip they did not drop off in playa del carmen. you had to take the ferry back.

[trdltli]

we docked right next to downtown , any mainland excursions had to take the ferry

[technic]

my wife and i are on the opera feb 5 also i was wondering the same thing because my sister lives in playa del carmen and i was going to meet her there. the ferries run every hour and takes 35 to 45 minutes depending on sea conditions.i believe the price is around 9 dollars each way. if we could get off in playa it would save a lot of time and save some money i was going to enquire at shore excursion desk when i get on board. hope to meet you all on the ship david and linda

[lilydale]

I called MSC to ask them about this and they had no idea what I was talking about despite my careful explanation. I don't think the people in the office are really connected to what happens on the ship.

 

If the same is true with this sailing as jknezek and trdltli have experienced, there will not be time for what I was hoping to do.

 

Jackie, yes I have noticed that you are on the sailing and I'm very much looking forward to meeting everyone. It's great to see that we have a large group on the boards. I have been so crazy with trying to plan last-minute that unfortunately I haven't gotten around to introducing myself and chatting on the boards beyond business yet. I would love to get together with other passengers and plan to share tours and taxis etc... I plan to be at the sail away get together to hopefully meet everyone.

 

If there would have been time (if MSC dropped us in Playa del Carmen at, say, 8am) I would have taken the public bus round trip http://www.go2playa.com/english/e_Playa_del_Carmen_bus.htm to Tulum and then the ferry http://www.go2playa.com/english/e_cozumel_ferry.htm back to Cozumel one way. I've done this before using the ferry round trip as well, but that was on a 12 hour port day. I had about five hours at the ruins and it was great. I made all my connections comfortably and had time to spare. Amazing place and definitely worth going back.

 

I've done the Tulum excursion with Celebrity to the tune of $70pp (I think it's now closer to $100) and I was very disappointed because we only had 45 minutes at the ruins and they had us back to the ship in the early afternoon. Our "shopping stop" on the way was longer than our time at the ruins, so I decided never to do this with the ship again.

 

Technic, you should have plenty of time to do the ferry and see your family in Playa. The ferry only takes about 40 minutes each way and it's close to where the ship docks. I just think Tulum is cutting it close because the bus there is another hour each way, and it's good to allow extra time in case the bus doesn't come as planned.

 

It would be great to hear what other ideas everyone has for Cozumel. I was thinking about Chankanaab Nature Park if I can't think of anything more creative.

[EXBRIT]

I was just chatting with someone who just got off the Opera Western Carib and it turned out that They got to Cozumel at 10:00am but did not have to be back on the ship until 11:30pm and the ship did not sail until midnight. So we may actually have more time in Cozumel than the schedule shows giving plenty of time to do the longer excersions.

 

All other stops were as scheduled though.

 

Well I'm out the door now. On my way to Buffalo for our flight to fll.

 

Will see you all on the ship.

[lilydale]

That would be very cool if we end up having extended time. That would be plenty of time for Tulum, and then some. I guess we will only know once we are on the ship, or perhaps not even until the day we arrive in Cozumel.

 

I will have my bus schedules and ferry schedules ready for Tulum just in case, but otherwise if it's only an 8 hour day I will stick around Cozumel and either do the nature park or the beaches, or perhaps go in for an island tour with some other passengers.

 

Have a good flight Jackie! We're heading down to FLL on Friday. Hope to see everyone at sailaway!