1st Timer.. Sorry to be a pain

[hellsop]

We never use the ship's excursions unless absolutely necessary because they are far too expensive. Independent tour operators always get you back to the ship well before departure time, its more than they dare to do not to as they'd lose too much business.

 

It is, in my humble opinion, much less about caring and willingness to get you back in time, but simply in that extra time spent fixing a disaster. If a tour van breaks a tie rod an hour out, even if the tour company has a spare driver and a spare van and they're ready to go drive there and pick up the tourists, you're still gonna be back to the port an hour later than planned, and just missing a ferry or other connection can add another hour to your delay.

[JimAOk1945]

The Western Caribbean itinerary is great. We have always booked our shore excursions through the cruise line. We have enjoyed each one and have never been disappointed.

 

The Mayan ruins are fantastic. They are located quite a distance from the port so you should plan on booking your excursion through the cruise line.

 

Happy cruising!

[LisaAtlCruiser]

I personally always book through the cruise line. Mainly convenience! Second, I can trust the company I am going with. And of course getting back on time.

 

I do generally travel solo though so for me going through the cruise line is just easier and smarter.

[LeeW]

Our ports of call are

Labadie ( I think that's how you spell it)

Falmouth

Gran cayman

Cozumel

 

My DH is into his waterspouts and snorkeling so I hope he will get his fix in Labadie, Iv had a look at different things on various websites and I think you call it mystic mountain in Falmouth that does the bob sleigh ride I think we would enjoy that as well as climbing the falls. I'm not really a lie around person I'm kinda a busy body and like to make the most of everything ;)

 

Make sure you look at the individual boards for these ports - lots of information there.

 

For Grand Cayman, you will definately want to do a stingray trip. Big kittens.... Snorkeling out there is great, so get a combination of both. GC is a tender port, and of our three trips there we missed one because waves were so high you couldn't see two story buildings. Also, if waves are from the NE they may close the stingray sandbar. That also happened to us once (but we got the dolphin swim for half price).

 

In Coz, the "ruins" on the island are replicas built for the tourists. If you want to go to the mainland for ruins the channel crossing can be rough.

[Spoarzy]

Our ports of call are

Labadie ( I think that's how you spell it)

Falmouth

Gran cayman

Cozumel

 

My DH is into his waterspouts and snorkeling so I hope he will get his fix in Labadie, Iv had a look at different things on various websites and I think you call it mystic mountain in Falmouth that does the bob sleigh ride I think we would enjoy that as well as climbing the falls. I'm not really a lie around person I'm kinda a busy body and like to make the most of everything ;)

 

Welcome to cruising, you are going to love it!!! We are sailing on our 24th and 25th this year. Those 4 ports are great. We have used both Royal and private tours in the past and we have found that the private tours are less crowded and you get a more indepth tour. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with. Royal does offer great tours as well. The snorkeling at Labadee is not that great!! I would recomend doing that in Grand Caymen. Nativeway Tours is one of the best we have used and offer great tours that get you back to the ship with lots of time to spare. The stingrays are a must!!! They have a web site if you google it. As for Falmouth, we always use Mark Morris Tours. I think his web site is listed as Marks Tours. He always gives us a great tour. He will also let you pick where you want to go, so you get a custom tour for your needs. He is listed on Trip Advisor. If you do want to see ruins in Cozumel, I would stick to the ship tours as the travel there and back is a long one. What ever you choose to do, you will have a great time.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Spoarzy

[bighairtexan]

I only skimmed the replies so I apologize if this has been suggested but:

 

Have you checked the roll call for your specific cruise? Often the other members or your roll call will have organized non ship tours on which they'd be happy to have you join them. For instance on my roll call, in Belize I've organized a Cave Tubing tour and almost 30 roll call posters have signed up for it. With that many we get our own bus and several guides just for our group.

 

Your roll call should be a wealth of information.

 

PS: Welcome to cruising and CC.

[OttoCal]

A couple of more notes to add- check the forums that are called 'Ports of Call' and go to Caribbean, then each of your ports will come up- they will have reviews and suggestions for things to do in each port.

 

For us, we usually book on our own, but not always. It depends on- distance of the attraction from the ship, and travel methods. If it is a long way away- take a ships tour. We also occasionally find a tour that is only offered through the ship. And when my parents go on their own without me picking out the excursion, they go through the ship. The like the convenience of having the excursion tickets delivered to their room, and the very organized way the tours are usually set up.

 

In Grand Cayman- you can have a great trip that includes a snorkel stop and visit to interact with stingrays- very fun. This is a good one to do 'on your own' since it isn't terribly far from the port. You will save a little money to do it this way.

 

Note that for Cozumel- Tulum is a very beautiful Mayan ruin, and one of the only ones that is on the coast. It is fantastic. But I would NOT recommend it for a cruise ship visit. You will spend most of the day traveling. From the ship you will board a bus that will take you to the ferry that will go from Coz to Playa del Carmen (45 minutes) where you will board another bus to go south to Tulum another hour and a half away. Then at Tulum you take a shuttle from the main plaza out to the ruins. To me, that is a long and boring amount of travel for what will end up being a very short time at the ruin. Try a beach break at a beach that offers snorkeling and water sports, shopping, or another tour that stays on Cozumel. Just my suggestion for a first timer. Not that I have anything against long tours and I love Mayan ruins- but the travel time/distance for what you would see would not make this an attractive tour for me. We actually won a pair of tickets to this tour on one cruise and gave them away (already had other tours picked that we didn't want to give up), and the people that we gave them to were exhausted from the travel.

 

Taxis in Cozumel to the beaches are frequent and reliable, and have posted, set prices.

 

Hope you have a great first cruise!

[summersigh]

If we're planning to stay within an easy taxi ride in an area where taxis are easily available we book independently.

If we're venturing off into a rainforest, far from town on country roads, or boat tours etc we book with the cruise line. If you book with the cruise line they WILL wait for you if something goes wrong on the tour delaying your return to ship. For an independent tour they will not.

 

Example: In Belieze we took a rainforest/Mayan ruins excursion booked through the cruise line. Our bus was very delayed getting back to the tender docks. At 5pm the ship was due to sail - at 5pm we were sitting on the bus stopped in "rush hour traffic" in downtown Belize plus looking at a 20 minute tender ride back to the ship. :(

We had no worries about waving goodbye to the ship - we were assured it would wait and our tour guide was in constant contact with the cruise line's agent at the tender dock.:)

Peace of mind is worth the $$ to us when planning on venturing far from the ship.;)