best excursions?panama, aruba, costa rica, cayman

[aunteemom]

We are traveling on the Brilliance over the holidays and I am anxious to hear suggestions for the following ports - Aruba, Costa Rica, Panama, Cayman Islands. Thanks for your help. Sue

[Cruisechik]

Panama - Skip the ship's tour and hire a driver for the day (go all the way through the port area first and haggle). Have them take you to the Gatun locks, Portobello, a local grocery, Lobster beach etc. For the entire day we paid $80 + tip for three.

 

Costa Rica - Spend the day at almondsandcorals.com and go zip-lining. You zip-line from the rain forest to the beach. It's very exciting. Our 7 year old had the time of her life! I was a little nervous on the platforms, but the cable part was awesome! We arranged with Aurora, the owner, for pick up at the pier. There was about 30 passengers from the cruiseship on the bus. It's a one hour+ ride, so we got a tour of Costa Rica, as well. We stopped at a banana plantation, stopped to take pictures of monkeys, stopped for shopping, etc. You can arrange this on their site. You can also hire a taxi driver for a more personal tour. Our cost was $75 pp including zipline.

 

Aruba - After visiting downtown, rent a jeep and go over to the other side of the island. It is unspoiled and very nice.

 

Cayman Islands - go swimming with the stingrays! Lots of fun and a different experience. In the afternoon, you can head over to seven mile beach to swim and relax or go shopping by the pier.

[CruiseMark]

The only one I can comment on is Grand Cayman, and I strongly recommend NativeWay Watersports (http://www.nativewaywatersports.com) They're a great bunch of people, will save you a bunch compared to ship excursions and give fantastic personal attention. We used them to go to Stingray City and two snorkel spots. There were only 8 people on their boat compared to a couple hundred on the ship tour. Highly recommended!

[lori A.]

Cruisechik-

I am also on the Brilliance over the holidays, and was under the impression that unless you were on a RCCL excursion in Panama, that you were unable to get off the ship in Gatun Lake. I know that you can get off at Cristobal Pier for a few hours, but only a few things to see there. What cruise line were you on that you were able to do your own tour in Panama?

Aunteemom- We have Almonds and Corals booked (through Oscar Brown) in Costa Rica, Stingray/snorkeling with Capt. Marvin's in Grand Caymen, and renting a jeep in Aruba. Planned on staying on the ship and watching us travel through the canal in Panama. See you on board in 3 weeks!

[cruiseman_tx]

FYI...Just off Brilliance last week and when we were anchored at Gatun Lake, only passengers with excursions booked through RCI were allowed to disembark. Otherwise you were able to get off at Cristobal for a couple hours after the ship went back through the locks.

[Cruisechik]

Cruisechik-

I am also on the Brilliance over the holidays, and was under the impression that unless you were on a RCCL excursion in Panama, that you were unable to get off the ship in Gatun Lake. I know that you can get off at Cristobal Pier for a few hours, but only a few things to see there. What cruise line were you on that you were able to do your own tour in Panama?

 

It was a Celebrity cruise. We docked at Colon, Panama. Have fun ziplining!! I hear Oscar Brown is great!

[OCruisers]

Sue .... Best Wishes for a GREAT Cruise!

 

We always enjoy Aruba and are going to try a different place this year:

 

DePalm (click for thread w/reviews&questions)

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[jwitt2]

I was just in Grand Cayman a few weeks ago and took the bicycle adventure. There were only 6 of us, all retired and probably over 60. The ride was only 7 miles long which started outside of town where there wasn't too much traffic. We went to the Turtle Farm, Hell, and 7 Mile Beach. It was a great trip, not too strenuous because it was flat and not too hot. The only rain was when we were walking around town before the trip started. This is one time we were glad we were on the ship's excursion because the van that was to bring us back to the dock was late, so we missed the last scheduled tender. However, they held the ship for us and had another tender available. Many of the excursions weren't up and running yet because of the hurricane damage. Even some that were supposed to run were cancelled because the water was too murky. Many people ended up walking around town on their own. We really enjoyed our ride with a nice young Irish guide.