Carnival Glory May 7th 2016 Port of Call Excursion Questions !!

[THumphrey]

* If I've posted this in the wrong section I sincerely apologize.

 

** Anything you have to share I would love to read. Thank you in advance!

 

Good afternoon,

 

On May 7th the Carnival Glory will be setting sail from Miami Florida with me on board! Needless to say, I am sooo ready considering there is 2 feet of snow on the ground here in the great State of Maryland. The ports of call on this specific sailing include Cozumel Mexico, Roatan Honduras, Belize, and The Grand Cayman Islands. These are four ports I have yet to experience yet and look forward to crossing them off my list!

 

 

I consider myself very physically active and able at 24 years old and would like to take multiple adventurous excursions consistent with but not limited too:

 

Cave Tubing,

Cavern Exploration,

Ruin or Temple Sightseeing,

Zip-Lining,

Certified Diving,

Wildlife Seeing,

Trail Hiking

and the likes....

 

My first question is do any of these stop have a nice beach within walking distance of the port?

My second question is what excursion(s) have you experienced and would recommend them?

What is the best way to go about booking an excursion? Directly through Carnival? A third-party maybe? By walking off the ship and speaking with locals?

 

Thank you again for taking the time to read and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

[pghsteelerfan]

* If I've posted this in the wrong section I sincerely apologize.

 

** Anything you have to share I would love to read. Thank you in advance!

 

Good afternoon,

 

On May 7th the Carnival Glory will be setting sail from Miami Florida with me on board! Needless to say, I am sooo ready considering there is 2 feet of snow on the ground here in the great State of Maryland. The ports of call on this specific sailing include Cozumel Mexico, Roatan Honduras, Belize, and The Grand Cayman Islands. These are four ports I have yet to experience yet and look forward to crossing them off my list!

 

 

I consider myself very physically active and able at 24 years old and would like to take multiple adventurous excursions consistent with but not limited too:

 

Cave Tubing (Belize)

Cavern Exploration, (Cozumel, but would need ferry to mainland Mexico)

Ruin or Temple Sightseeing, (Belize)

Zip-Lining, (Belize or Roatan)

Certified Diving, (Belize or Roatan)

Wildlife Seeing, (Belize or Roatan)

Trail Hiking (???)

and the likes....

 

My first question is do any of these stop have a nice beach within walking distance of the port? Roatan has a beach right at the cruise center. Grand Cayman and Cozumel have beaches close-by, but you need a cab to get there as it would be a long walk. Belize has beaches, but you'd need a tour since they are actually on the little islands off the coast.

My second question is what excursion(s) have you experienced and would recommend them? When on our cruise in April 2014, we did the "Altun Ha Mayan Ruin/River Wallace tour", which we booked through Carnival. I'd recommend this one. We got the river tour first, about 2 hours long and saw a wildlife (manatees, native birds, monkeys, a crocodile, iguanas, etc.) along the ride. Had an hour for lunch were we got off the river and got a bus (half hour ride) to the ruins and about an hour there & 45 minute bus ride back to port. In Roatan, we did a private tour through Victor Bodden. We had a driver and the tour was geared toward our interests. We wanted to see the island since it was a new one for us, but were only there a half day, so to us it just wasn't enough time and we felt rushed. That has nothing to do with Victor Bodden tours though. They offer quite a bit, including zip-lining.

What is the best way to go about booking an excursion? Directly through Carnival? A third-party maybe? By walking off the ship and speaking with locals? In Cozumel and Grand Cayman a third party or walking off the ship and getting a local tour. Roatan, there are a few good private tours that are reliable and you may get more bang for your buck. Belize I'd definitely recommend a tour unless you just wanted to hang out at the port area. I recommend going through Carnival in Belize only because it's a tender port with a longer tender ride (20 minutes, each way) and a lot of the sights are a ways away and Carnival will hold the ship if an excursion booked through Carnival is running late, but will not for a tour booked on your own.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to read and I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

 

I'm suffering with the snow right along with you (VA here) and CC is a great escape. We were on a cruise in 2014 that had the same itinerary and will try to answer some of your questions (in red). We didn't get to Grand Cayman that time due to weather, but we had been there before (we did the Stingray City tour through Carnival and enjoyed it).

 

The caves that I mentioned that Cozumel would be the stop...they are on the mainland and I'd seen a review here in CC where they'd gone to the caves. I can't remember if they did a private tour or through Carnival, but Carnival offers one called "Amazing Secret River". Our last time in Cozumel we went to Nachi Cocum, enjoyed the beach, ate and drank (it's an all-inclusive beach club) and we booked through their website. Probably not up your alley though. We did the "Adventure Jeep and Snorkel at Punta Sur" through Carnival our first time there 2006 and enjoyed it.

 

You are really going to have fun making decisions in Belize and Roatan because both offer a lot of what you're interested in. No worries...just book another cruise to do what you don't get to do on this one. That's what I do. :D

 

Hope this helps.

[pghsteelerfan]

Oh, almost forgot...the Port of Call section here on CC (scroll down half way) then go under "Caribbean". There is a list of all the ports with a lot of questions/answers and recommendations from others and a lot will be first hand experience. I have gotten so many ideas and so much information from the ports of call section.

[jarand]

If you're scuba certified, both Cozumel and Grand Cayman are outstanding diving.

 

Grand Cayman also has a really fun jet ski/snorkel/stingray excursion through Fat Fish Adventures. It's pricey though.

[THumphrey]

Thank you greatly for the info ! I will definitely be experiencing what each island has to offer and look forward to sharing my experiences.