Travel Warning, Excursions

[jhirot]

We are booked for our first cruise in the fall. Curious if anyone can share recent experiences with excursions in Cozumel? I am very interested in Xplor park, Chichen Itza, or one of the Cenote swimming excursions. These all require traveling off the island onto the mainland. With the recent travel warning issued by the State Department, I am hesitant to book one of these though. I am wondering if it is best to stay on Cozumel and snorkel or Catamaran.

[tgodiver]

Chichen Itza is an all day thing, so that would be out. Xplor park pushing the envelope on time. Cenote would be done but you need to take the ferry to Playa Del Carmen. I would rather stay on the island and me mindful of time to get back on the boat with time to spare. I have done things and never felt any danger.

[Barsnikel]

There is plenty to do and see on the island. The ferry crossing is very rough, and not a pleasant ride. I seriously recommend you stay on Cozumel.

 

Check out Chankanaab Park (a national park managed by the Mexican government, and very well run - great beaches, snorkeling, restrooms, showers, lounge chairs, restaurants, etc - a 15 min cab ride from the ship).

 

There are many other things to do and see there as well (Paradise Beach, Mr. Sanchos, etc).

[bUU]

We've dug a bit into the advisory, and decided to stick with our mainland excursion plans. However, having said that, I acknowledge that we're only justifying it because what we're doing (visiting Maya ruins) we couldn't do anywhere else. If we were just going to a beach or zip-lining, we probably would have canceled those plans, intending to do that sort of thing at a different port or on a subsequent vacation.

[peajay84]

You would certainly be safe with any of the excursions you mention, however the travel time to any of these is LONG. By the time you reach the destination you'd have minimal time to enjoy it before you'd have to head back to the island and your ship. If you want to see ruins there is San Gervasio on Cozumel. Not as grandious as Chichen Itza but interesting and right there on the island. There really isn't a cenote to swim in on Cozumel and the Zip lining is mediocre compared to the parks on the mainland. But there is still so much to see and do on Cozumel that one doesn't need to leave the island to have a fun, exciting day. The snorkeling is amazing, Punta Sur is lovely or even just a drive to the "other" side is fun. Walk around downtown, go to the Mercado, experience the local life. It's safe and a great way to see what the island has to offer past the cruise ports.

[bUU]

If you want to see ruins there is San Gervasio on Cozumel. Not as grandious as Chichen Itza but interesting and right there on the island.

FWIR, Tulum is "in between": Not as big as Chichen Itza, and not as puny as San Gervasio; and half the distance away as compared to Chichen Itza.

[coevan]

"The ferry crossing is very rough, and not a pleasant ride."

 

 

You mean the day you were there. The seas are constantly changing, just like your cruise ship. The crossing can also be like a lake with no wind or waves.

[Unclearnie]

You don't mention your other stops. If Belize City is one of them, I would reccommend the River Wallace and Altun Ha Mayan site. You'll see lots of wild animals on the river and after a bus ride, you will visit a very nice historical site. We rate this as the best excursion we have ever taken.

[crewsweeper]

As others have said Chichen Itza isn't easily doable from Coz. But if your ship is in port for an extended period of time, a ship excursion might be offered. Bear in mind that 3/4 of the excursion time is travel.

 

Tulum is also doable, but if you're not familiar with Mexico and traveling there on your own, best to do that as a ship excursion. Again quite a bit of the excursion time is travel time.

 

Xplor and Xcaret are very large places and while accessible as DIY, You may or may not have time to do everything you want or even see all they offer.

 

Cenotes as a ship excursion are a good way to go.

 

What's good about ship excursions to the mainland from Coz is that they provide a ferry from a pier between Puerta Maya and the International Pier so you're not dependent on the ferries from San Miguel to Playa. the bad thing about that ferry is that it'll take all excursions to the mainland not just yours, so can be crowded. Also ship excursions often do not provide the same level of service as many private vendors.

[ricew001]

We are booked for our first cruise in the fall. Curious if anyone can share recent experiences with excursions in Cozumel? I am very interested in Xplor park, Chichen Itza, or one of the Cenote swimming excursions. These all require traveling off the island onto the mainland. With the recent travel warning issued by the State Department, I am hesitant to book one of these though. I am wondering if it is best to stay on Cozumel and snorkel or Catamaran.

 

We were in Cozumel last week - Wednesday, 8/23. We arranged to spend the day at Mr. Sancho's Beach Club and it was wonderful.

I was very disappointed that Margaritaville in Cozumel was closed!!! Apparently they were open earlier in the day and it wasn't busy. I guess they open and close on whims instead of having standard hours. As we walked that way, I didn't see any other people and at that time didn't know about the warning.

 

I talked to other people that did various things in Cozumel and we all felt safe.

[evandbob]

"The ferry crossing is very rough, and not a pleasant ride."

 

 

You mean the day you were there. The seas are constantly changing, just like your cruise ship. The crossing can also be like a lake with no wind or waves.

 

 

I've crossed the ferry both ways during land vacations and it was very smooth. I have seen the ferry bounce a bit during windy days.

 

I think Chichen Itza can be selected as a Carnival excursion on the Coz Plus tours.

 

As far as Mayan ruins, I would not look on Coz at all and if Belize is a stop on the OP's cruise, I wouldn't recommend Altun Ha. Lamanai and Xanantunich are way more expansive as a choice from Belize. From Coz, the best are Chichen Itza, Tulum, and then Coba or El Balam.

[wildcatinms]

If you are wanting to visit the Mayan ruins you should check out the Triumph which cruises to Cozumel and Progreso. I have heard a lot of good things about the ruins excursions in Progreso. When we went to Cozumel last month we did Paradise Island and really enjoyed it.

[evandbob]

We are booked for our first cruise in the fall. Curious if anyone can share recent experiences with excursions in Cozumel? I am very interested in Xplor park, Chichen Itza, or one of the Cenote swimming excursions. These all require traveling off the island onto the mainland. With the recent travel warning issued by the State Department, I am hesitant to book one of these though. I am wondering if it is best to stay on Cozumel and snorkel or Catamaran.

 

 

I would do any mainland tour offered by Carnival, but maybe not an independent one now, although I've done many independent excursions in the past from Coz and while vacationing in Playa Del Carmen.

 

Most cruisers will heed the travel warning and that will result in more crowded conditions on Coz and less travelers on the mainland. A tour to Chichen Itza and Tulum will be outside the warning areas for gun violence, and if you don't drink the tequila or other hard booze, you won't have to worry about tainted alcohol.

 

Just my opinion, YMMV.

[bUU]

A tour to Chichen Itza and Tulum will be outside the warning areas for gun violence...

Do you know something about the State Department's plan to change their advisory? Right now, it actually specifies "Tulum" explicitly.

 

The fact of the matter is that those areas may be outside the areas where much of the gun violence has taken place, but they are not outside of the areas specified in the warning.

[nascarcruiser]

"The ferry crossing is very rough, and not a pleasant ride."

 

 

You mean the day you were there. The seas are constantly changing, just like your cruise ship. The crossing can also be like a lake with no wind or waves.

Every time we have been on the ferry it's been rough. I am about to the point there is nothing on the mainland other than needing a major medical center that can get me on the ferry

[Athankfulheart]

Mainland excursions work well on "Cozumel Plus" itineraries. We have always (before May) done independent excursions . Even though we had a long day in Coz in May, we still opted to go with a ship sponsored excursion. With the varied and multiple transportation we just felt that it would decrease the predictability in schedule for our day. As it turns out, the Cenote Hopping with Lunch through the ship was a fabulous day done in a small group and the price was competitive. Adding that we felt very safe on this excursion. If the state department memo mentions a specific area, then I would take that seriously. I have been to Cancun once - in 2005 on a land trip and there is nothing important enough to bring me back there.

[bUU]

This video begins (from 0:09 to 0:28) with a short segment showing the condition of the sea on the boat from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen.

 

Incidentally, is goes on from there to show the rest of the excursion to Tulum. :)

 

[evandbob]

Do you know something about the State Department's plan to change their advisory? Right now, it actually specifies "Tulum" explicitly.

 

The fact of the matter is that those areas may be outside the areas where much of the gun violence has taken place, but they are not outside of the areas specified in the warning.

 

 

I do know that our US government agencies tend to have different priorities to accomplish their mission statement set by the existing party in power. Think IRS with audits or EPA and NASA with climate change. The State Dept listing Tulum might be affected by a change in policy towards Mexico. This seems to be our reality, and it goes with whatever party is presently controlling our political action. Please, I'm not taking sides here, nor engaging in a slanted political rant. Just stating a fact.

 

I visit a local social club in Playa.del Carmen when I vacation in the area and have stayed in touch with a few of the members since. They know of no violence that has occurred in either archeological park. And Chichen Itza is not in Quintana Roo, it is in Yucatan Province. Why the State Dept decided to include Tulum in their warning is nonsensical to them. Perhaps something happened in the town of Tulum away from the archeological park, in an area that few land tourists, let alone cruisers will ever frequent.

 

With 10 Million tourists visiting Cancun and PDC annually, the chances of getting caught between two warring gangs or drug cartels is miniscule. Cruise ship passengers are even less exposed. The real and present danger for cruisers is the tainted alcohol and bathtub tequila. Until that issue is resolved, cruisers should stick to beer and avoid the booze.

 

Tainted alcohol was found in several 4 star resorts and chain bars, and many cases of illness problem went unreported - if someone was puking their guts out after a booze filled party, they might just think they overindulged, rather than they were poisoned. Now where's the hair of the dog?

 

JMO, YMMV.

[bUU]

I do know that our US government agencies tend to have different priorities to accomplish their mission statement set by the existing party in power.

To the extent that that does happen, I doubt it reaches down to this minutia, and I'm almost sure that the new administration has not had enough time to promulgate such a policy perspective this deeply into the minutia. They have not even made any of the changes to the vetting procedures for visas imposed on foreigners seeking to visit the US yet. I have to believe that they're going to focus their energies on that before taking a whack at Tulum tourism. I'm also not taking sides here, but just reflecting rationally on whether politics could possible be playing a role here, assuming that there was a political intention in that regard. I'm not seeing that as a possibility at this time.

 

Why the State Dept decided to include Tulum in their warning is nonsensical to them.

My guess is that they saw the report about the uptick in violence, saw that the report showed that uptick specifically in Quintana Roo, and then while crafted the advisory looked up the big destinations that American tourists would recognize (since none would know what Quintana Roo referred to - I sure didn't before this).

 

With 10 Million tourists visiting Cancun and PDC annually, the chances of getting caught between two warring gangs or drug cartels is ...

Much bigger than it was a few years ago, and much greater than visiting, say, Belize. That's what the advisory is warning tourists about and that's the basis of the warning.

[sanger727]

I wouldn't stick to Cozumel due to the safety warnings. I'd stick to Cozumel due to the travel time to this places. If this is your first time to Cozumel there's plenty to do there. They do have smaller ruins, chankanaab, snorkeling, etc.

 

 

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[grantbob]

As it turns out, the Cenote Hopping with Lunch through the ship was a fabulous day

 

We have this booked for next week. It looks like a blast.

[c-leg5]

We were in Cozumel last week - Wednesday, 8/23. We arranged to spend the day at Mr. Sancho's Beach Club and it was wonderful.

I was very disappointed that Margaritaville in Cozumel was closed!!! Apparently they were open earlier in the day and it wasn't busy. I guess they open and close on whims instead of having standard hours. As we walked that way, I didn't see any other people and at that time didn't know about the warning.

 

I talked to other people that did various things in Cozumel and we all felt safe.

 

The "new" Margaritaville" at International Pier was closed?

 

Or are you talking about the old location and has it opened as something else?

[MScouple]

I do know that our US government agencies tend to have different priorities to accomplish their mission statement set by the existing party in power. Think IRS with audits or EPA and NASA with climate change. The State Dept listing Tulum might be affected by a change in policy towards Mexico. This seems to be our reality, and it goes with whatever party is presently controlling our political action. Please, I'm not taking sides here, nor engaging in a slanted political rant. Just stating a fact.

 

I visit a local social club in Playa.del Carmen when I vacation in the area and have stayed in touch with a few of the members since. They know of no violence that has occurred in either archeological park. And Chichen Itza is not in Quintana Roo, it is in Yucatan Province. Why the State Dept decided to include Tulum in their warning is nonsensical to them. Perhaps something happened in the town of Tulum away from the archeological park, in an area that few land tourists, let alone cruisers will ever frequent.

 

With 10 Million tourists visiting Cancun and PDC annually, the chances of getting caught between two warring gangs or drug cartels is miniscule. Cruise ship passengers are even less exposed. The real and present danger for cruisers is the tainted alcohol and bathtub tequila. Until that issue is resolved, cruisers should stick to beer and avoid the booze.

 

Tainted alcohol was found in several 4 star resorts and chain bars, and many cases of illness problem went unreported - if someone was puking their guts out after a booze filled party, they might just think they overindulged, rather than they were poisoned. Now where's the hair of the dog?

 

JMO, YMMV.

We are considering the rum tasting or the tequila tasting. Is there any chance of these tours having tainted liquor that you're aware of?

[JohninDC]

The reports (overblown and poorly sourced IMHO) were focused on some AI resorts. I have seen nothing about problems with the tequila tasting.

[abcmom123]

We did our excursion to Tulum through the ship because it was such a long day with lots of travel. Loved it! Friends of ours went to Chichen Itza through their cruise 2 weeks before us. Both of our groups had very rough ferry crossings. Multiple staff members whose "job" it was to hand out baggies, paper towels, and sanitizer. After our friends experience we knew to pick seats low and in the middle to minimize movement and to take motion sickness meds before boarding. We were fine, but MANY were not. Very glad we went but probably wouldn't do it again.