What To Do?

[jillian_lpn]

i WILL BE GOING TO COZUMEL,COSTA MAYA, BELIZE, AND GRAND CAYMAN. i AM JUST CURIOUS IF I DONT BOOK ANY EXCURSIONS WHEN I GET OFF THE BOAT AT EACH PORT WILL THERE BE PEOPLE THERE TRYING TO SELL EXCURSIONS TO DO OR SHOULD I BOOK IN ADVANCE? I'M JUST TRYING TO SAVE MONEY AND HAVE A LITTLE FUN? THANKS JILLIAN

[HOSKI]

First please take off the cap locks before one of our nastier members jumps on you about it.

 

Belize - tours available at the pier and this is a limited port so do a tour. Prices are all about the same because it is a tourism group and the members basically share the people so everyone gets business. I had booked online thru *****

 

Cozumel - where to begin. Tons of people there to book a tour with but why bother? Cozumel is easy to do on your own. If it is your first visit I'd suggest going to one of the local no charge beaches such as Mr. Sanchos, Paradise Beach or others found on the ports of call board. Then head to town for a little shopping and a quick drink at the famous Carlos 'n Charlies. If you are returning for a second or third time try Chakanaab. $10 entrance fee but worth it.

 

Grand Cayman - not my favorite port but some suggestions would be: Pre-book online with Soto cruises for the Stingray city tour or book the pirate ship with Carnival or if you are really into the beach go to 7 mile beach.

 

Costa Maya - one of my favorite ports. One tour union only is available. They are to the right of the pier shopping area (pink bldg)) and their stand is red. They book all types of tours there. Good prices and I really enjoyed the ruins. For a non-organized visit take a taxi to the little town that is near by (there is only one) and have drinks and nachos and stroll the beach.

 

Hope this helps.

[jillian_lpn]

I just wanted to say thankyou for all the information. It was basically everything I needed. Sorry about the caps I wasnt even paying attention. Well have a great day and thanks again...smile...jillian

[judyf]

I agree we did Costa Maya, Cozumel and Grabd Cayman on our own and booked Belize river ruins tour and had a blaqst in all the port and we got great prices.

 

Check out the port of call board and you will get all kind of ideas to see what you'ld like to do. I can't wait to go back to Coata Maya and Belize!

[Cotton]

Chakanaab. $10 entrance fee but worth it.

 

Hoski has great advice. Entrance to Chankanaab is now $12 for adults. STILL one of the best choices, I think.

 

Cozumel - The cabs are approx. $10 to $12 (up to 4ppl), depending on wherever you want to go. Hang on!:D Chankanaab has great snorkeling, Dolphin Discovery, sealion & bird shows, dive shops, regular shops, great restaurant with reasonably priced food, waiters taking drink orders on the beach, lovely botanical garden with replicated Mayan ruins. You can watch the dolphins perform from a wooden walkway, without having to pay to do the encounter or swim. Chank has nice landscaping, a lagoon with sandy beach sloping to the water, as well as the snorkeling area. I've been there twice, and enjoyed every minute. On my upcoming cruise, I will go to Chank for snorkeling and then on to Paradise Beach for the remainder of the day.

 

I NEVER book any tours. Have done that in years past, but have 'gotten smarter' :confused: and now go off on my own. I've found it's much less expensive that way. Have fun!

 

Oh - you might want to go to the Ports-of-Call board and look at the different ports. Lots of discussion at each one, which would probably help you a great deal. (Go to the top of this page, click on "Cruise Critic Message Boards", then click on Ports-of-Call, then scroll down to the different ports.)

[CLDS]

We just got back from the inspiration yesterday with those ports of call. I had planned on booking some tours ahead but didn't get it done so here is what we did:

 

Cayman: Booked Stingray/snorkle thru Carnival- We LOVED the stingray part, the snorkling was just Ok. There were people at the pier with signs selling excursions, they did not seem that much cheaper than Carnival, maybe a little.

Costa Maya: My favorite! The pier area is nice. We took a cab to the little town of Mahahaul. The line and wait for a cab ($3)almost made us miss this great opportunity. The town is on the beach and we had a great feast of conch and shrimp for $7-9/per person. Unless you want to go to the ruins this can be a great cheap beach day. You could book an excursion to the ruins in the port. I recommend shopping at the pier. We thought things would be cheaper in the town but the pier shops had better prices on many things.

Cozumel: Again, a good place to have a cheap beach day. We rented a jeep and went to Chankanaab for snorkling. There is a $12 admission fee and it is $8 to rent snorkle gear if you don't have your own. The snorkling is good and there are underwater statues to look at. We had fun here. After a few hours we went to Paradise Beach for some food and more fun. This place was packed! There were several ships in port that day. The food was good but the portions were small for teenage boys. The boys had a good time on the iceberg. Everyone was really nice but not sure I would do this again.

Belize: We booked an excursion through Carnival. We did the Rendevous snorkle excursion. They picked us up from the boat and returned us to the boat. The little island was beautiful, this was great snorkling. Some of our tablemates went on the cave tubing and had a good time. We took the tender into the port. You have to go 5 miles by speed boat. There did not seem to be a lot to do at the pier. We hung out less than an hour and went back to the boat. I would plan some excursion for this port.

 

I am a bargin shopper and a risk taker but my husband liked the fact that if you book with Carnival they make sure you get back to the ship even is there is a problem. With the private tours you don't get that same consideration. Have a great time! We are having a hard time getting back to reality today.

[cruisinqt]

As to Cozumel, we did Chankanaab last time but we will go to Paradise Beach this time instead. Don't get me wrong, Chankanaab was nice, but it is more for snorkelers with steps going down into the water. They have one small sandy beach area where you could walk right into the water without steps but it was small and crowded. If you want to snorkel, then go to Chankanaab. If you want to go to a nice sandy beach to lay out and do some swimming go to Paradise Beach. In the ports of call section under Cozumel everyone raves about Paradise Beach and it is free to get into. Or you can do like some of the others have posted and hit both.