Explorer 3/25 -- Western Caribbean

[newcruzr]

I'm brand new to cruising...taking my husband and son to celebrate hubby's 40th. I have way too many questions, but here are the burning ones:

 

1. What shore excursions do you recommend and why?

2. How many shore excursions do you recommend...1 in every port or just 1 or 2 a trip?

3. What should we pack?

 

Many thanks for your help..:)

[rebeccajo68]

I've never cruised but keep seeing Grand Cayman "swimming with rays",

Cozumel (use to be dolphin swim...not sure now) and Belize "Zip" line event. Don't know much more than that but I booked previously on CoralBreezeLimited for Belize and will rebook again. My previous cruise was cancelled due to Wilma.

[emeraldcity]

You can attempt an excursion at every port, but I'll bet by the third port, you'll be wondering what you're doing to yourself. Excursions tend to involve an early start, and if you do that four days in a row, you'll probably be exhausted. First time we did the Western Caribbean, Grand Cayman was our third port. We had just done two full days, going full steam, and then there was the parade and pool party till midnight. We woke up the next morning and the thought of rushing through breakfast to jump on a tender and go experience another full-energy day didn't have much appeal.

 

We opted to stay on board and hang out on the pool deck instead. I told myself "this is supposed to be a VACATION" ... so I vacationed from the frenzy that day. And we decided that meant we would have to come back some day and visit the port we missed.

 

And we plan to do just that ... in 5 weeks. We may not get off in Cozumel and/or Costa Maya. But we are definitely going to swim with the sting rays this time.

 

As for packing ... there are whole threads devoted to the subject and they become a matter of personal preference. Some folks are terribly proud of how little they can get by on. I'm way over on the other side. This is my chance to wear clothes I haven't had out of boxes in over 6 months ... I'll be the woman hauling an incredible amount of luggage. I'd rather have something and not need it, than the other way around.

 

You will change more times during the day than you can possibly imagine. Throw on something casual to go to the Windjammer for breakfast, then change to a swim suit and hang out all morning on the pool deck, then something else casual for some afternoon activity, then something a bit dressy for dinner. The best tip is to bring twice the underwear you normally go through ... all that changing back and forth from swim wear is going to involve extra showers and who wants to put on this morning's underwear?

 

As for picking shore excursions, since you have three people in your party it might be fun to give everyone a choice of a day. Go through the list of excursions and see what sounds the most interesting. whatever you do, it will be wonderful, I rarely see someone complaining about what a bad choice they made on shore excursions. It does happen, but they are usually wonderful experiences. Just avoid over-planning, and leave yourself some leeway for change of plans.

[newcruzr]

I'm usually the "planner" when it comes to our annual Disney World jaunt...but this cruise thing is a bit overwhelming to me. I appreciate the advice!:)