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Carnival Magic Soon and need HELP

4olivers

By 4olivers,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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4olivers

4olivers

Posted
Posted (edited)

FIRST I apologize in advance if posting in the “wrong place” but I’ve been searching CC - various places and just not finding what I need in the sea of a zillion posts/threads.

 

This is only our second cruise, first was on Coral Princess to Alaska Summer of 16

 

We will be traveling with our 13 and 16 year old sons at the end of April, it’s also my husband and my 20 year anniversary. We will be on Deck 8, right side of the ship with a balcony.

 

Western Caribbean - Cozumel Belize Roatan Costa Maya out of Port Canaveral.

 

We are interested in:

 

Snorkeling, relaxing on BEAUTIFUL beach, great food, sons want ATV Cave Tubing Zipline as well. I want to see the monkeys. We’d like to see a Jaguar. We don’t want to get left at port.

 

Right now we are tentatively planing the following:

 

Cozumel -Mr Sanchos (did consider Money Bar)

 

Belize - Butts Up triple excursion ( cave tubing. ATV and zip line

 

Roatan - Little French Key with the guided snorkel package

 

Costa Maya - NO CLUE YET

 

Any input, tips, tricks, suggestions, etc?! We are sailing in about 90 days! So far no excursion is booked through the ship.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited by 4olivers
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teknoge3k

teknoge3k

Posted
Posted

We're going on the same ship & itinerary as you are, in May. First time in those ports so I can only say what WE have planned. We also never do excursions through the cruise line, we do everything on our own.

 

Cozumel: Mr. Sanchos'

Belize: Tour with King David Castillo

Roatan: Tour with Rony's

Costa Maya: Yaya Beach

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jjcruiselover

jjcruiselover

Posted
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We did this same itinerary in November. If you have a chance visit Victor Bodden's monkey farm it is worth it. We booked an excursion directly with Victor that was very inexpensive and included the monkey farm. My DH made a face about the monkey farm but went along since we had our 10 yr old granddaughter. Well, the monkey farm was his favorite among everything we did. Our friends and him all had a blast holding the monkeys but the high point was holding a sloth. They couldn't stop talking about the sloth and they smile every time they look at the pictures. Who knew a couple of grown men would love holding a sloth.

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bmwdod02

bmwdod02

Posted
Posted (edited)
FIRST I apologize in advance if posting in the “wrong place” but I’ve been searching CC - various places and just not finding what I need in the sea of a zillion posts/threads.

 

This is only our second cruise, first was on Coral Princess to Alaska Summer of 16

 

We will be traveling with our 13 and 16 year old sons at the end of April, it’s also my husband and my 20 year anniversary. We will be on Deck 8, right side of the ship with a balcony.

 

Western Caribbean - Cozumel Belize Roatan Costa Maya out of Port Canaveral.

 

We are interested in:

 

Snorkeling, relaxing on BEAUTIFUL beach, great food, sons want ATV Cave Tubing Zipline as well. I want to see the monkeys. We’d like to see a Jaguar. We don’t want to get left at port.

 

Right now we are tentatively planing the following:

 

Cozumel -Mr Sanchos (did consider Money Bar)

 

Belize - Butts Up triple excursion ( cave tubing. ATV and zip line

 

Roatan - Little French Key with the guided snorkel package

 

Costa Maya - NO CLUE YET

 

Any input, tips, tricks, suggestions, etc?! We are sailing in about 90 days! So far no excursion is booked through the ship.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

If you are snorkeling, you HAVE to do it in Belize! I don't remember the name of the excursion but it is the one that stops in Caye Caulker for lunch and includes feeding the sharks and rays. It was, hands down, the best snorkeling we have ever done! The sharks and rays were awesome too!

Edited by bmwdod02
Grammar
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Tonimarieb

Tonimarieb

Posted
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Cozumel-we preferred Paradise Beach. Way cheaper and an amazing pool! Not all inclusive but we’d never eat/drink enough to make all inclusive worth the $.

 

Belieze-Coral Breeze(private tour)snorkeling and shark/sting ray alley-amazing and reasonably priced!

 

Roatan-our favorite stop and you need to go to Daniel Johnson’s monkey and sloth hang out. Highlight of our cruise!

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evandbob

evandbob

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Posted
If you are snorkeling, you HAVE to do it in Belize! I don't remember the name of the excursion but it is the one that stops in Caye Caulker for lunch and includes feeding the sharks and rays. It was, hands down, the best snorkeling we have ever done! The sharks and rays were awesome too!

 

 

While the Caye Caulker excursion in Belize is great for nurse sharks and rays, the coral is sometimes 1) hard to swim to or from because of heavy currents and 2) nowhere near the richness, diversity and aliveness of the LFK guided snorkel tour the OP has already planned for Roatan. Caye Caulker is an all day tour and I love it, but the OP's kids want an adventure tour ATV, zip lining, etc. so Caulker rules that out.

 

To the OP: you've done a great job of selecting tours, and this comes from someone who has done this western itinerary maybe 20 times or so, as well as having done land vacations in Belize (San Pedro) and Roatan (Infinity Bay). Congratulations, don't change a thing. Maybe next time in Costa Maya just go to Marahuel, the little town just 5 minutes from the port, less expensive and closer than the beach resort.

 

Now don't overpack and enjoy your cruise!

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Athankfulheart

Athankfulheart

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The Butts up ATV can be boring and frustrating for someone who just wants to GO. If everyone is new at that type of thing then it will be more fun.

 

Since you already have an all inclusive beach day in coz, I would go with Victor Bodden in roatan for better snorkeling and a nice variety of things to do. LFK isnt the best snorkeling that Roatan has to offer. My day would include snorkeling at west bay with a good guide (VB can provide), visiting the monkeys, hitting the grocery store for coffee and my kids buy local candy, and spending some time on the beach. Since your boys want adventure, Roatan could be a backup incase you dont make Belize (and vice versa) since you could forgo the beach and hit the ziplines as VB allows you to create your own itinerary the day of. In CM I would recommend Native Choice and a trip to Chaccoben ruins. History and adventure rolled into one, especially if your day at cozumel is enough beach time for you. The beach at Maya Chan isnt nearly as nice as Mr Sanchos and I think kids might find it boring.

 

 

Ps. I sail with and without my 8 kids aged 11 thru adult and have done these 4 ports many times.

 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Forums mobile app

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mickeyhereicome

mickeyhereicome

Posted
Posted
If you are snorkeling, you HAVE to do it in Belize! I don't remember the name of the excursion but it is the one that stops in Caye Caulker for lunch and includes feeding the sharks and rays. It was, hands down, the best snorkeling we have ever done! The sharks and rays were awesome too!

 

Did you do this through the ship or private excursion? We are planning to do this on our April cruise on the Magic and I have been debating to go with the cruise or private company. Glad to hear you loved it.

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zanydoc

zanydoc

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Posted

We like to do independent excursions as well. We’ve been to Mr. Sanchos several times-here’s a few tips! They have a buffet there (which I don’t like, but my son does) and two different bars-one in the pool. When you get there, you will walk in and past all the little vendors (Wrestling mask, Senor?) and go pay your balance and get your wristbands. The inflatables are getting a bit worn but they are still really fun-I recommend at least for your sons. After check in, if you don’t want to eat at the buffet, flag down a server and ask for a palapa and some lounge chairs near each other. Get there early if you want Front row nearby the ocean. Your server will bring you food and drinks/bottled water all day long. I like the Coconut Shrimp and Midori Margarita! The chips and guacamole are really good here. Yum! You can get stuff a la Carte, but why? So much easier to just get the all inclusive. Some food is better than others, but just like the ship you can always get something else. You’ll want to bring some cash to tip your server we usually tip around $30 for the 3 of us (and maybe a few bucks if you utilize the pool bar (don’t look to closely in that pool-trust me!) Also-you will need $10 cash to put a deposit down on a locker if you want one. The locker lady is to the immediate left of the buffet. Don’t forget to get your money back when you turn in your key. The massages are very nice, but not as cheap as they should be. We were able to negotiate. Also, of course you can negotiate at all the vendors. Kayaks are fun, snorkeling is meh, beach is gorgeous but a tough calf workout to walk on. There are a few people going around asking if you want to get your pic taken with various animals and asking if you want to go parasailing, a mariachi band-but nothing too obnoxious. Don’t forget to save some cash for your trip back and stay on ship time. Have fun! Gosh, that was really long-I guess I should’ve just posted a review! 😁

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  • 3 weeks later...
CrusinSusan13

CrusinSusan13

Posted
Posted

We are going on the same cruise, at the same time with 13 and 16 year old sons and it will also be our 20th anniversary!! WOW!!

 

FIRST I apologize in advance if posting in the “wrong place” but I’ve been searching CC - various places and just not finding what I need in the sea of a zillion posts/threads.

 

This is only our second cruise, first was on Coral Princess to Alaska Summer of 16

 

We will be traveling with our 13 and 16 year old sons at the end of April, it’s also my husband and my 20 year anniversary. We will be on Deck 8, right side of the ship with a balcony.

 

Western Caribbean - Cozumel Belize Roatan Costa Maya out of Port Canaveral.

 

We are interested in:

 

Snorkeling, relaxing on BEAUTIFUL beach, great food, sons want ATV Cave Tubing Zipline as well. I want to see the monkeys. We’d like to see a Jaguar. We don’t want to get left at port.

 

Right now we are tentatively planing the following:

 

Cozumel -Mr Sanchos (did consider Money Bar)

 

Belize - Butts Up triple excursion ( cave tubing. ATV and zip line

 

Roatan - Little French Key with the guided snorkel package

 

Costa Maya - NO CLUE YET

 

Any input, tips, tricks, suggestions, etc?! We are sailing in about 90 days! So far no excursion is booked through the ship.

 

Thanks in advance!

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4olivers

4olivers

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We are going on the same cruise, at the same time with 13 and 16 year old sons and it will also be our 20th anniversary!! WOW!!

 

 

 

Wow! Will yours be out of school or are you pulling them out for the week?

 

So crazy we have the same scenario!

 

 

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4olivers

4olivers

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Yes, we're in NC too! So crazy! My oldest is in high school and will be on spring break and my youngest is in year round school and will be tracked out. Not sure how this website works :') but I sen you some type of friend request!

 

 

 

We are in the Raleigh area and are pulling ours out [emoji85] their spring break didn’t have any good options and I’m starting to second guess!

 

 

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