Book through Carnival or book yourself?

[csaeroach]

Hi!

 

I will be on the Inspiration for the Jan 05, 2008 sailing, and just wondering if anyone else is planning on going to X-Caret Eco park, or has been there recently? Are you buying the excursion from Carnival, or going to purchase yourself online and save 10% and hire a taxi?:confused:

 

I am just wondering what would be the best way to do it? Carnival will not post the price online for pre-purchase excursions for x-caret, and I can not understand why? I would like to know the "exact price" before I leave home incase I decide I should purchase myself online before I leave as I know the kids really want to go here (ages 16, 18, and 21).... Also just wondering if anyone has ever swam with the dolphins at X-caret and is it worth it? I know it is pretty pricey.:eek:

 

If anyone has done this recently and can comment on how they enjoyed their day it would be grealty appreciated!:D

thanks!

[sea_u_onboard]

Let's see if I can help a little. We went to XCaret when we sailed with RCL and we docked in Cozumel. I booked through RCL because of the ferry to get to Playa. That said - it appears you will be going directly into Calica - which my understanding is very close to XCaret. Because you are docking right there and don't have an issue with the ferry I would say do it on your own as you can catch a taxi back fairly easy. You may want to try the Ports of Call board. Friends of mine went a few years back and I recall them talking about a bus - but I think they booked through the cruiseline. You will save LOTS this way.

 

I suggest you get off as soon as possible - as there is so much to do at Xcaret. Even though I booked the transport and park through the cruiseline I booked the dolphins directly through the XCaret site. It is VERY nice. I haven't done the dolphins in Cozumel but have heard people talk about it and it sounds like our experience was MUCH BETTER and cheaper. I do regret booking my youngest though as he would not get into the water - so any money I saved booking on my own was gone. Be sure your childs want to do it before you book it (which I'm sure won't be an issue with your teens). My then 17 year old LOVED it.

 

The lazy river is nice - but cold. You can go down a ways and then get out and walk down to get your items.

 

I wouldn't waste your time at the sit down resturant. It took a long time - time I wish we had spent in the park. You will really enjoy it.

[shipmate13]

The past couple of cruises, we have booked all of our excursions online through the tour company itself. I understand that the cruise lines get a percent for all bookings if you book at the excursion desk so naturally the price is going to be higher. My husband, daughter and I spent a week on Carnival Miracle and the total for our bill at the end of the cruise was $187.00. We booked two excursions online, paid for them, printed out our confirmations and had absolutely no problems. When we went cave tubing in Belize, I booked online with one of the tour companies and they wouldn't accept any money until the tour was over incase you didn't like it, you didn't have to pay and we got such personal attention we couldn't believe it. Same for swimming with stingrays. We were with only a dozen other people while we saw cruise passengers get "herded off the ship" of about 75 people and sent off in a crowded boat to do the same thing we did. This is just my personal opinion but it has worked for me each time. I also do alot of research before booking to ensure the tour company is safe and reputable. You can check the ports of call on the cruise critic site. It is very helpful.

Good luck

[tnsail]

Hi!

 

I will be on the Inspiration for the Jan 05, 2008 sailing, and just wondering if anyone else is planning on going to X-Caret Eco park, or has been there recently? Are you buying the excursion from Carnival, or going to purchase yourself online and save 10% and hire a taxi?:confused:

 

I am just wondering what would be the best way to do it? Carnival will not post the price online for pre-purchase excursions for x-caret, and I can not understand why? I would like to know the "exact price" before I leave home incase I decide I should purchase myself online before I leave as I know the kids really want to go here (ages 16, 18, and 21).... Also just wondering if anyone has ever swam with the dolphins at X-caret and is it worth it? I know it is pretty pricey.:eek:

 

If anyone has done this recently and can comment on how they enjoyed their day it would be grealty appreciated!:D

thanks!

 

There might be a mix up about the listing of the price on Carnival's site.... I'm sure you are aware that you must be logged into Carnivals site before it will list the prices of the tours.... Most times Carnival's site does not even list the tour if it doesn't post the price somewhere...:confused: Since your pretty close to your sailing date Carnival's Tour may already be filled so they have taken the price down... If this happens, Carnival in most cases saves several spaces on the tour to "sell" on the ship for those who do not have Web access...

 

Booking thru Carnival is a safe way to insure that the ship won't sail without you. I don't know personally, but one would guess that Carnival gets a cut from each tour operator..... But having said that, Carnival is more interested in you getting back to the ship ontime than they are your "experience". A ship that is waiting at the dock for a tour to arrive late is not good for its timeline....

 

Go to the Ports of Call section of CC and post your question, you will recieve all the infomation that you care to recieve on this and any other tour you wish to take....

 

Good luck and good cruisin'.....

 

Joey

[sea_u_onboard]

Booking thru Carnival is a safe way to insure that the ship won't sail without you. I don't know personally, but one would guess that Carnival gets a cut from each tour operator..... But having said that, Carnival is more interested in you getting back to the ship ontime than they are your "experience". A ship that is waiting at the dock for a tour to arrive late is not good for its timeline....

Just my opinion - Carnival REALLY hipes up the fact that the only way they can guarantee you won't miss the ship is to book through them. While I have read of cases where a Carnival tour was left behind and the group leader had to make arrangements for them - most of the time they will wait. That said. The only tours that I would book through the ship are...

• If it is something no one else is offering and it's the only way I'll get to do it.
  
• There is major transportation involved. By this I mean you have to take a ferry or bus and travel a great distance that if something were to happen you might find it difficult to find alternative transportation.

The type of tour I'm talking about is like Tulum from Cozumel where you have to depend on the ferry. You have to know the schedule and you need good use of the language. Or Dunns River from Montego Bay. LONG bus ride on roads that aren't always dependable and buses that are just as bad.

 

Otherwise I have no problems using reputable vendors and doing tours on my own. As the previous poster pointed out - use the Ports of Call boards - they are a great source of information and you are going to get honoest opinions about the vendors.

 

Since the park is VERY close by taxi and several taxis will be available this is one tour I would recommend saving money and doing on your own.

 

That said - you need to do what you are comfortable with. On our first cruise I didn't even think about what we were going to do and booked through the cruiseline once we boarded. After that we booked on our own excpet when we went to Tulum and XCaret from Cozumel.

 

Edited to add: You will find that most people that miss the ship are not on a tour but have lost track of time will enjoying the local water - so as long as you keep track of your time you should be fine. Even at that - the ship will wait a while - especially if several people are missing, regardless of who the passengers booked through.

[sea_u_onboard]

Just noticed on another thread ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12490313#post12490313 - post 174) that the taxis are hard to come by at the port. They stated that it was worth using the Carnival excursion just for the added convenience of transportation. If that is the case (check out the online savings) then it may be a good idea to book transport and park addmission throught the cruiseline - but I would still do the dolphins on your own - and book them first - they only have limited spaces.

 

The thread mentioned that Carnival charges $61 for an adult and $41 for a child. I don't think any of your kids will qualify for the child pricing.

 

It's worth checking out.

[firefly333]

Just noticed on another thread ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=12490313#post12490313 - post 174) that the taxis are hard to come by at the port. They stated that it was worth using the Carnival excursion just for the added convenience of transportation. If that is the case (check out the online savings) then it may be a good idea to book transport and park addmission throught the cruiseline - but I would still do the dolphins on your own - and book them first - they only have limited spaces.

 

The thread mentioned that Carnival charges $61 for an adult and $41 for a child. I don't think any of your kids will qualify for the child pricing.

 

It's worth checking out.

 

Iv come across other times that it is cheaper to book with someone than to do it on your own with a taxi when you are going to something that has a charge to get in. Like there was a turtle farm I wanted to see, it was cheaper to go in with a group, even though the downside was limited viewing time.

 

another time there was a tram ride in St. Thomas, it cost about $20 just to do the tram ride, but for $49 I could take a tour and have transportation and see other sites and it included the tram ride. The downside again.....they rushed us so much, it would have been fun to get a drink and lunch and sit out on the patio and enjoy the fabulous view.

 

I think you have to weigh the options...including if the time a tour spends at a beach or point of interest will be enough for you. Its not always about the money.