Carnival's Xcaret excursion

[cthrn27]

Good morning, knowledgeable ones:)

 

We are looking at the Xcaret excursion from the Inspiration (port of Calica). The itinerary says to "board a bus at your leisure". Does this mean $$ of transportation is included in price? Does it include admission to park? Is it "carnival led", or public transportation?

 

Any information would be much appreciated, because we are soooo excited!:eek:

 

thanks so much

[Yazoo cruiser]

met at the pier,where several buses were waiting. It is about a 15 minute ride to the park. Entrance to the park was included in the price. It's a beautiful park, but a lot of walking and it was sooooo hot. Be sure to take a bottle of water. They provide a map to the different exhibits, but we never did find the butterfly exhibit, which my wife really wanted to see. I would reccomend that if there is a certain area you want to see, try to find it first because some areas are hard to find. HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT CRUISE. Almost forgot, they have buses returning to the ship every 15-20 minutes.

[Cotopaxi]

We just did this excursion in June. Buses (air-conditioned!) looked like private xcaret buses, decorated on the outside, were waiting-cost included, starting at 10:00 I believe, as soon as one filled up it left. We were on the first one, there were 3 waiting I believe. Took us 10 min to get there. First thing we did was walk in and head to the underground river entrance. They take all your stuff lock it in a big bag and you pick it up at the end, they give you a key. We were one of the first in the river, fantastic. 2 sides to do. We went back a few hours later to do the other side, what a mad house, if you want a peaceful trip, go early. Also we enjoyed the river to the right, more caves. If you want to rent a locker, bring ones, as they can't really make change or will give it back in pesos. There are also a couple of places in the park to do this. As the other poster mentioned it is large, so I would use the lockers by the river if I did it again. We got one at the front, ended up -one of us- going back and emptying it, to far away to be useful. The beach is nice but there is contruction going on. You can swim out to right near where they do the dolphin encounters, and watch close up through a chain link type fence at the dock. They were sold out the day we went, but we were mostly there for the beach and rivers. There is a spot by the rocks just past where the rivers exit, that have wonderful hammocks and pools of water cut into the rocky shore that you go down stairs to take a dip in. We had a great day there. The buses left for us on the 1/2 hour. Last one was 5:30. Enjoy!

[Sports Mama]

As the previous posts said the bus ride and park entrance are included. My family and I did this excursion a few years ago and loved it. I purchased it through Carnival. I looked up to see if I would come out better by purchasing my own tickets, but actually, Carnival charged the same price and included the transporation. My DS and I did the dolphin swim while we were there. I just got on their website and scheduled it before we arrived. I think it is www.xcaret.com. Not sure about that web address. The only thing I wished is that we would have had more time there. :(