Cozumel plus on Carnival Freedom questions!

[Killerkelly]

Recently received an email from Carnival that our cruise out of Galveston on Dec 12th is now a "Cozumel Plus" cruise. Other than that it does not give much more information. Can anyone tell me how much longer the ship stays in port. From what I can tell it is only an hour but that doesn't seem like much of a "Plus":) Also, what is the earliest time you can get off the ship after docking. This is only our 2nd cruise and we are trying to make decisions concerning our excursions.

 

Thanks,

Kelly

[jsglow]

I don't know the exact details but the added port time has allowed for expansion of the excursion options, especially in Belize, a tender port. I didn't specifically check your itinerary but it would be most applicable there.

 

As to exiting the ship, once docked the ship must clear customs. That might take 30 minutes or so. After that it's a quick walk or elevator ride down to deck 0 to exit.

 

One note, if you are going to Belize, you will be given a tender sticker at the appointed meeting place prior to being escorted to the tender boats. Note that Carnival excursions and FTTF will be given priority over you if you book privately. That said, we were still on tender #1 with a modest amount of hustle in the early morning hours.

[BoDidly]

I don't know the exact details but the added port time has allowed for expansion of the excursion options, especially in Belize, a tender port. I didn't specifically check your itinerary but it would be most applicable there.

 

As to exiting the ship, once docked the ship must clear customs. That might take 30 minutes or so. After that it's a quick walk or elevator ride down to deck 0 to exit.

 

One note, if you are going to Belize, you will be given a tender sticker at the appointed meeting place prior to being escorted to the tender boats. Note that Carnival excursions and FTTF will be given priority over you if you book privately. That said, we were still on tender #1 with a modest amount of hustle in the early morning hours.

 

:D quick walk :confused:. How did you get away from the lines ;):D

[maldenmusic]

I think you get one extra hour

[Killerkelly]

Has anyone been on a Cozumel Plus cruise in the last couple of months that might be able to give me a little more info?

[A&Jfamily]

No one is going to be able to give you a specific time. On some trips we have cleared customs quickly and walked off the ship without issue. On other trips, have seen the halls crammed with people as soon as we docked trying to get off the ship; that just forms a massive line and you might as well hang it up for a bit. We have also been early to a port and docked and cleared before 90% of the ship was awake; that happens when you have short distances between port and are lucky to get at the front of the que overnight. Other times, we have been 30 min late even pulling up to the pier, waiting for other ships to dock. And as another poster said, it can take 30 min plus to clear customs.

 

As a general rule, the early our port arrival time is, the easier time we have had getting off the ship. But that is by no means a hard and fast rule.

 

What are you aiming to do? Perhaps if you provided some more specifics we might be able to give advice.

[Killerkelly]

We are mainly wanting to book an excursion with a 3rd party that begins at 8:30am. This is only our second cruise, and though we were able to get off the ship pretty early the first cruise, but I didn't know if this is the norm. Our itinerary say 7-4 in Cozumel and has since before we received an email saying our cruise was upgraded to a "Cozumel Plus" cruise. I guess I figured that meant our departure time would change to later than 4pm...but maybe not.

[timeinthesand]

You are scheduled to be there from 7:00-4:00. 5 ships will be in Cozumel that day, two arriving at 7:00, one each at 8:00, 10:00, 11:00.

 

I would ask the third party excursion group if they are waiting for you if the ship is delayed. The answer is usually yes.

 

The plus just means longer hours in port, you will be able to travel further and/or have more time on the excursion.

 

What are you planning on doing?

[Kevin308]

Cozumel Plus puts you at port an hour longer. What it does in reality is allow some excursions on the mainland you would not have time to do other wise.