Recommended Activities in Cancun and Calica

[Fatherof3]

This is our first cruise and we would like someone to recommend port of call activities for our family. We have 3 children 12, 10, and 9 and they are really excited. Should we book through Carnival or just wait until we arrive? Any suggestions appreciated.

[phinfan63]

You might try posting this on the Ports of Call board. Someone over there will have suggestions. I wish I could help but I've only been to Calica once and really didn't do anything. Hopefully, it will be different this year.

 

There is one good post over there by Nikki (I think) about her day in Calica/Playa - sounded like a lot of fun. Ruins, snorkeling, lunch, etc...

[ppeckham]

Definitely do the Xcaret ecological park in Calica. We did the tour through the ship to make it easy. There are brightly painted busses at the port as you arrive. The busses run every 20 minutes to and from the park.

 

The park has loads of things to do - butterfly pavillion, a beach, restaurants, horseback riding shows. The best part is floating down the partially underground river. Your kids will love it!!!!! You can also arrange (extra dollars of course) to swim with the dolphins. If your time in port permits, they have a nightly show about the Mayan history. Really cool!

[Cotton]

Cancun?

[phinfan63]

I caught that too but just assumed he was really going to Cozumel :)

[Flip2cruise]

Cancun?

 

Carnival offers a Cancun City and Shopping Tour

 

http://www.carnival.com/ShoreExcursionDetails.aspx?portcode=CLI&excursionname=Cancun+City+%26+Shopping+Tour&excursioncode=315003

 

Take the 45-minute air-conditioned bus ride along the eastern shore of the Yucatan Peninsula to Cancun. Over 2 million people a year come to enjoy the sun, surf and culture.

 

On this excursion you will:

• Arrive in Cancun and explore the open-air market atmosphere of “Mercado 23" and "Mercado 28".
  
• Find artisans, butchers, bakers and jewelers.
  
• Stop and shop at Pancho Vila’s flea market.
  
• See Cancun’s true natural wonder, the beach.
  
• Discover the wonderful restaurants, resort hotels, shops and other sites that make Cancun so popular.
  
• See plenty of sites on your trip back to Playa Del Carmen, Calica and your ship.
  

[PACURN]

Do a snorkeling tour on the Fat Cat out of Puerto Adventuras. I went with my boys and had a great time. It rained most of the time and we still had fun. Whats a little rain when you're snorkeling. Check it out

http://www.travelrivieramaya.com/fatcat.htm

[TPFilm]

A few years ago we went there on the Imagination (I think!) Anyway, I had done research and found that Calica (where you dock) is nothing but a pier. I went further and found out that we could rent a car in Playa and go off by ourselves. I found out that the part of Mexico known as Costa Maya (the area from Cancun to the southern border) is relatively safe for tourists because they are the only reason that part of the country is even populated! (pretty much anyway!)

 

So, after hours of internet research I found a company called Executive Rental Car. Found out they rented out (at the time) brand new 'Old' VW Bugs. This was at the time that VW was making a big deal about the 'New' bug (built in the same factory, alongside the 'Old' bug in Mexico until they stopped building the 'Old' bug - 2002?) so I thought it would be cool to drive a 2000 VW Bug. After making reservations I planned the rest of the trip. The plans were as follows: get car, drive to Tulum, drive back to Playa Del Carmen and explore along the way! Stop at pier (kind of cool parking next to the pier, going aboard & cleaning up then going back out to our car - kind of felt like the ship was our own personal yacht... w/ 2000 friends aboard! The looks we got from the Taxi drivers when we got into our car and drove away... Funny!) shower and change, go into Playa, return car, eat dinner, look around, taxi back to ship, leave Calica.

 

Well, they didn't have any Bugs when we got there, so they gave us a free upgrade to a Nissan Tsuru (think Sentra) w/AC! Drove down to Tulum. I had done research, so I knew the route and the driving customs (pull to the right to turn left, watch out for rocks, logs etc in the road - they are used as emergency 'flares' when Mexicans have car trouble, but forget to remove when leaving!) No surprises. We passed the busses (2 big greyhound types) for the Carnival tour to Tulum stopped at the obligatory shopping stop along the way (and the tour busses had left before we even left the ship!) We got to Tulum, no problems. Parked, paid admission and video camera tax, explored, enjoyed, learned, took pictures, wife got sunburned, discovered topless beach, had a great time (while we were there the cattle cars - I mean Carnival busses - arrived and disgorged the cattle - darn! I mean passengers - on the hapless ruins and locals who work there. As we were leaving (we were there maybe two + hours total) the Carnival passengers were being herded back into the bus after maybe an hour in the park.

 

We left Tulum and stopped for lunch at a great little Mexican roadhouse across the side road from the ruins. Had real, authentic native food - wife had a rice dish that had a fried egg (sunny side up!) on top and some sort of soup. I had quesadillas that were stuffed with chicken, cheese, peppers and onions and a taco. Total cost with 2 cokes and a Corona... $6 USD!

 

Then we drove back up the highway... if a turn-off looked interesting, we took it (we never made a left turn that would have led away from the coast, only right turns that led towards the water.) We found hidden locals bars and dive centers, we found areas of beach that were totally secluded, not another person or sign of civilization around! We found little residential areas (obviously for westerners or affluent locals, elaborate concrete and tial work, etc)

 

As mentioned we stopped at Calica to clean-up. As we were leaving the ship we ran into our table mates heading out to Playa. We asked them to join us. We went in to town. On the way I saw a VW dealership with a current model Old Bug on display. Stopped, took pictures, looked inside the car. We drove around and saw where the natives live, off the beaten path. Really made us aware that we were not in US. Interesting note: at every major intersection, there was a manned ambulance... as if they were anticipating wrecks! We drove towards downtown Playa to return the car. Drove past a Domino's, a Burger King, a KFC (selling hamburgers!) and a few other western chains. Go all the way to Mexico... see Burger King!

 

We ate dinner on the 5th street plaza (pedestrians only) walked around and admired the high priced tourist crap, caught a taxi back to the ship. Had a blast, did our own thing, were never rushed!

[TPFilm]

Forgot to mention... the cost of the car and taxi to and from Playa (which we split cost coming back from Playa with table mates) was a little bit less if not right on target with the total price of the excursion Carnival offered to Tulum! Plus we did other things and had transportation to and from ship at our heart's desire!

[nowendy]

Yes Calica is just a dock in a rock pit. They have taxis at the dock waiting to take you whereever. We took a taxi into playa and they have a beautiful free beach there. you can sit at these tables with unbrellas on the beach as long as you buy your drinks there. we set up shop there and then just took turns watching the tables while a few wandered off and did whatever they wanted to do. There is shopping right across the street, there is a senior frogs right there, there is a burger king close by. the water is beautiful and my DH and boys went parasailing from there. they said that was awesome. Carnival doesn't recommend parasailing, but my DH said he felt very safe and would do it again.

 

This way of enjoying your day did not cost very much and had a very relaxing day

[corina27]

Yes Calica is just a dock in a rock pit. They have taxis at the dock waiting to take you whereever. We took a taxi into playa and they have a beautiful free beach there. you can sit at these tables with unbrellas on the beach as long as you buy your drinks there. we set up shop there and then just took turns watching the tables while a few wandered off and did whatever they wanted to do. There is shopping right across the street, there is a senior frogs right there, there is a burger king close by. the water is beautiful and my DH and boys went parasailing from there. they said that was awesome. Carnival doesn't recommend parasailing, but my DH said he felt very safe and would do it again.

 

This way of enjoying your day did not cost very much and had a very relaxing day

Ah,yes must go on vacation to eat at Burger King!!:) :) :)

[luv2cruise123]

IF you do go on whatever ship - beware of unauthorized policemen there who have as of late been stopping rental cars/tourists and demanding fees paid on the spot. Government has issued a warning about this.

[TPFilm]

IF you do go on whatever ship - beware of unauthorized policemen there who have as of late been stopping rental cars/tourists and demanding fees paid on the spot. Government has issued a warning about this.

 

I put up a post on another thread of a tourist being stopped in Cozumel. However, that was the only occurence on Cozumel that I have heard of. The US Dept of State has issued a travel warning for US citizens in Cancun because of police union troubles the police are, basicly, going freelance and becoming the policeman, the judge, the jury and the treasurer.

 

It is possible that Playa may have some trouble with that. I think that Cozumel is still relatively safe.

 

If you are pulled-over and a bribe demand is made:

 

Note officer's name, badge number, car # & type of car, time of day, etc. Report it to US consulate and local police station.