Overcrowding in Costa Maya

[Littlegoo75]

I just read about the Liberty going to Montego Bay (last week) instead of Costa Maya due to there being too many ships scheduled to be there that day.

 

I checked a website to see how many ships are due to be there the day that my cruise is supposed to be there (February 16th) , and it looks like there are more than 5, and Costa Maya is small, and can't handle that many people on one day.

 

I really don't care too much about going to an alternate port, but I would really like to know ahead of time. I would be thrilled if they switched to either Roatan or Belize, personally, but since I have never been to Jamaica, I guess I wouldn't mind that either.

 

I just want to know what is going on with this whole Costa Maya thing. I know that most ships are calling there due to the damage in Coz. but it seems like the cruiselines need to try alternate locations as well.

 

ANyone know what's going on with this?

[kaylahszoo]

We were in Costa Maya on Wednesday the 4th. You're right. We were thr 3rd ship in and there were people EVERYWHERE. We wanted to rent gold carts- but they were gone by the time we got there. we then decided to go to the beach by bus. An hour wait later- we finally made it there. It was okay, but by no means wonderful If you don't mind hearing "hey lady- almost free" or "hey lady- buy from me- I've got the best prices," you will love Costa Maya. You can't take a step without someone bugging you. But at least you don't have to go far to shop since all the stores have the same stuff.

The food and drinks on the beach were reasonable, though. We had chips/salsa, nachos, 3 virgin pina coladas, 2 Coronas, and about 6-8 cokes and the bill was only $29.

Not our favorite port, but the pier sure beat tendering in the other 2 ports hands down!!

[obnurse]

Our next trip to Costa Maya will be spent enjoying the ship.

[mkk]

We were in Costa Maya off Glory last month (the alternative to Coz) and didn't care for it...I only recall seeing one other ship in port but so crowded! Our travelling companions loved it but we saw it as the very contrived tourist trap..kind of a "Disney version" of what Mexico should be. I'd choose to go anywhere but there next time.

[mere08]

How do you find out what ships will be in Costa Maya's port on any given day? We are visiting on March 10 and I would be interested to know how many cruise ships will be there on the same day.

[GoinCruisin]

I think the most ships that have been in port when I have been there (3 times) has been 4. Crowded, but not unbearable... we did the beach break last time with Island Marketing... the beach is only about a 5 minute cab ride, and was very nice... the beach was virtually empty!! I think alot of people go to Costa Maya and think that the only thing to do is right at the pier... so maybe you can luck out at the beaches. I loved the day... then again, I love Costa Maya... have always had a great time there!!

[Littlegoo75]

I can't recall the site off the top of my head, but I used a link from another post to access it. The day that we're supposed to be there is a Thursday, and there were seriously at least 5 other ships listed. I know there was a RCCL, another Carnival, a Celebrity ship, a HAL, and either a Disney ship or a Princess. 2 of them get there earlier, and I think another one is supposed to get there around the same time. Maybe everyone had the same idea; to go to Costa Maya instead of Coz. instead of thinking of another couple of ports, just in case. I have heard mixed reviews on Costa Maya, but then again, I have also read VERY mixed reviews on Belize and Roatan, which are my 2 favorite ports. I guess you either love it, or you hate it.

[AppleValleyCruisers]

I think the most ships that have been in port when I have been there (3 times) has been 4. Crowded, but not unbearable... we did the beach break last time with Island Marketing... the beach is only about a 5 minute cab ride, and was very nice... the beach was virtually empty!! I think alot of people go to Costa Maya and think that the only thing to do is right at the pier... so maybe you can luck out at the beaches. I loved the day... then again, I love Costa Maya... have always had a great time there!!

 

Same as GC in our experience. The beach break (Pez Quadro, I think GC?) through Island Mktg was not crowded in the least, and for $25 pp for unlimited booze, it was a pretty good deal.

[dromMOM]

Our next trip to Costa Maya will be spent enjoying the ship.

 

We were in Costa Maya on our recent Liberty Cruise. We took the fabulous tour on Kohunlich..

 

It was simply amazing. Just an incredible Mayan site. So much to see. It took two hours to get there. We rode on very comfortable airconditioned buses.

Our tour guide was wonderful.. Exceptionally knowledgable..and we learned alot about costa maya besides the info he shared on the Ruins. You can still climb the ruins here which you can no longer do at Tulum. There are wonderful artifacts that have survived.

 

There were five buses from our cruise ship. but we all arrived a bit staggared and really never ran into them.

 

Since our visits to these places are to experience the culture we dont do the beach breaks or the souvie... stands.. we go exploring.

 

We have been to Tulum which also was breathtaking and interesting.. but more commercial as they had stores right there.

 

This was the real deal. We got back to the ship around 5:10 and never dealt with the commercial aspect of this port.

 

This port has only been in existance for 5 years. There was only one other ship in port with us.

 

I would definitely comeback here to see the other Mayan ruins they offer.

[big_duck]

How do you find out what ships will be in Costa Maya's port on any given day? We are visiting on March 10 and I would be interested to know how many cruise ships will be there on the same day.

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/

[GoinCruisin]

Same as GC in our experience. The beach break (Pez Quadro, I think GC?) through Island Mktg was not crowded in the least, and for $25 pp for unlimited booze, it was a pretty good deal.

 

Yup! That was the place!!!! The weather was a little on the crappy side, but we had a fabulous time!! The folks at Island Mktg take great care of cruise pax!!!

[Littlegoo75]

Just checked it again. It shows 3 ships in Costa Maya that day, but shows the Liberty as being in Cozumel, along with 5 other ships, so who knows? The three other ships are supposed to arrive in Costa Maya at 7am, and the Liberty is supposed to arrive at 10am. Just makes me wonder how many of the ships listed as going to Coz that day also plan on going to Costa Maya?

I guess they are all playing it by ear.

[serene56]

I think alot of people go to Costa Maya and think that the only thing to do is right at the pier... so maybe you can luck out at the beaches. I loved the day... then again, I love Costa Maya... !

 

I have to agree with this. I believe that the majorityof the people stay at the pier in Costa Maya and dont venture out. Majuahaul was alsmot desserted when we got there.

[LizaMM]

I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to our day in Costa Maya! I was worried about it possibly being overcrowded due to all the ship changes.

 

We are planning on a bus/cab to Majahual and then simply "hanging" ... thought about doing the Island Marketing beach break but I was thinking that we might like the ability of moving around down the beach some...variety :D ya know!

 

Glad to hear that 4 ships in port was still do-able! The other day CruiseCal was telling me that there would be 2 other ships in port the day that we will be there but now one ship is not showing so we are down to 2. HOWEVER I looked at Cozumel the same day and see that 5 ships are still scheduled to be there. From what I have been reading that seems like a bit much for Cozumel these days??? So I am guessing that things might still be shifting and we might have more in Costa Maya.

 

Either way.....I am SURE that I will have great day!! Thanks for the info!!

[dognewtricks]

I just went to that site to see how many ships are in Costa Maya on March 30. It shows NINE ships! None are listed as stopping at C.M., though. They all say Cozumel. I don't think that makes a difference. I would really like going to Jamaica, but, am happy going to Mexico, too. I think it's fun that we will be surprised w/ where we go!

 

heather

[billeelou]

Costa MAya does not concern me as we are only one in on the 23rd, but GC has 4 ships in on the 25th and the Grand is a hour later in arriving than on of them and leaving at 7 pm( same time) - looks like we get short end !! Belize is two ships but I can't get anyone else to Scuba on shore that on that day!! rats!!! coz has three but other than tendering issues should not be too bad

[echusky]

Does anyone have the web site for booking a Island Marketing tour....I'm really interested in the beach break tour

[serene56]

Does anyone have the web site for booking a Island Marketing tour....I'm really interested in the beach break tour

 

http://costamayacruiseexcursions.com/

 

this is a different excursion that what is offered through the cruiselines. It goes to a completely different beach.

 

(do you do a lot of drinks?)

[houstoncruisers2001]

...because we were the ONLY SHIP in port the day(12-5-05) we were there. Majahual was practically a ghost town, which made the walk thru town almost unbearable with all the venders. Once we found a shaded table on the beach and the cold Sol was delivered......it was paradise though.

 

I'm always surprised when people don't like Costa Maya/Majahual, but give Belize rave reviews. Belize is a "sea day" for us.

[SunFunCruiser]

but then again, I have also read VERY mixed reviews on Belize and Roatan, which are my 2 favorite ports. I guess you either love it, or you hate it.

 

 

Also my two favorite ports which is why I'm looking forward to Costa Maya. I think it's like Belize & Roatan where you really need to get away from the port to realize their beauty.

[SunFunCruiser]

I just checked that web site & it's shoing the Disney Magic going to Cozumel not Costa Maya. How updated do you think it is?

[MKC529]

We were on the 1/1/06 Liberty cruise and we didn't find out our itinerary had been switched from Costa Maya to Jamaica until we were boarding.

 

I was a bit unsettled as I had spend a lot of time investigating Cozumel only to have to spend more time investigating Costa Maya (I’m a bit anal in that regard ;) ) and now we were going to Jamaica with literally no time to investigate anything. At this point I made a conscious decision to “go with the flow” as I had no other option. Deep breathe in, deep breathe out.

No problem, mon… Jamaica turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip! I highly recommend the Rose Hall Beach Resort excursion ($79/pp)!

It is a beautiful resort on the beach... beautiful beach, tons of lounges (no chair hogs here!!),free use of non-motorized water toys (kayaks, sail boats), awesome pool with two water slides, ride tubes down the "lazy river" under waterfalls, swim up OPEN bar :D , hot tubs, free food at the grill... burgers, jerk chicken sandwiches, salads... etc. or the free lunch buffet (unfortunately I didn't hear great things about the buffet) and quick stop at the Half Moon shopping village on the way back to ship.

We had a fabulous day!

[SunFunCruiser]

I just checked that web site & it's shoing the Disney Magic going to Cozumel not Costa Maya. How updated do you think it is?

 

Answering my own question here. I emailed Brian from that web site. I told him about the Magic being in Costa Maya instead of Cozumel and he is updating teh site. So, if you know of any port changes let him know!!

[Littlegoo75]

Hmmm.....I think the whole idea of going to Costa Maya instead of Cozumel was to alleviate all of the traffic in Cozumel ( since everyone has to tender there for now).....now if there are going to be more than 5 ships in Costa Maya, that's really not going to help issues much. The site still has the Liberty listed as being in Cozumel on 2/16, where the itinerary says that we will be at Costa Maya that day.

Honestly, I am crossing my fingers for Jamaica instead, since I have never been there, but I would be happy with either Coz. ( I heard that Playa Mia wasn't messed up my Wilma, and is up and running) or Costa Maya as well. Just as long as we don't go to Progresso - been there once, kind of boring.

[palmtre2]

I guess we got lucky - only one other ship is in port with us. They still have us listed as being in Coz on 4/17 but our itinerary was changed last month. I'm hoping there aren't other changes not listed.