Shore excursions
 

To celebrate my 75th birthday, the whole family's taking a 7-day cruise with ports of call at Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya, and Nassau. Question is- would it be better to forego the ship's expensive shore excursions, and just get them dockside? Any specific recommendations as to operators?

Thanks very much for the help!

Jeriza

Sorry, I can't help you with any of those cruise stops, but I wanted to wish you a happy 75th birthday with your family. What a nice way to celebrate!

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to see distant Maya ruins, then it's sometimes better to arrange a tour in advance since you have to have access to a punctual tour bus or plane. If you just want to do something nearby, I definitely think you can and should make your own arrangements, though not always dockside. Sometimes, it pays to make arrangements in advance, of course depending on what you want to do. Our Caribbean Ports of Call book and all our other guides recommend reputable tour operators of all kinds for many different kinds of activities. If you have preferences about activities, I'm sure some posters on these boards can also make suggestions.

What is it you want to do while on shore?

In Cozumel, I would suggest taking a taxi from the ship's dock and go to Chankanaab Park. It's a very nice beach with good snorkeling. They have chair service for food and drinks. Afterward hit the shopping plaza.

You can also go through Aquaworld and do a semi-sub trip or the Atlantis and do a fun submeregable trip.

There are several beach clubs with restaurants and water sports/activities. However, we found them overly crowded.

If your interested in viewing Mayan Ruins like Tulum or Chichen Itza, be aware that they are located outside of Playa del Carmen. That means you'll have to take the 45 minute ferry from Cozumel to Playa and then a bus trip to the Ruins, which are about an hour. It a very long, tiring hot day and I would HIGHLY suggest using the ship's excursion to ensure you make it back on time. I would also HIGHLY suggest not doing it as a ship excursion and wait until you do a land vacation in Playa so you'll have plenty of time.

In Nassau, you can go to the Atlantis and look around the casino, aquarium and digs. Be aware that the food and drinks prices at their restaurants are very high. The pools and other attractions are off-limits to non-guests. Many cruise passengers have booked a room with the Comfort Suites next door in order to use all the facilities at the Atlantis. I believe it's around $200, so it depends if that's something you really want to spend your money on.

We enjoyed the Ardasta Zoo and Gardens with the marching flamingos. We found good shopping in the downtown area and there is a straw market or book a trip on a catamaram and go sailing/snorkeling.

I've not been to Belize or Costa Maya. However, Belize is a good place for snorkeling or eco sightseeing. Costa Maya is basically just a place to hang on the beach.

See what the cruise ship tour lists have to offer and then see what you can find searching the internet. We've done both.

Happy Birthday. Hope you ahve a good trip.

A word of caution!!! If you take an excursion shoreside from a vendor that is not recommended by the cruise ship and you do not make it back to the ship on time, the ship will leave you and you will have to incur any expense of catching up with the ship. If you book the excursion through the cruise ship the cruise line will make sure the ship waits for you or that you ger transportation to meet back up with the ship. The money that you save may wind up costing you a small fortune. I would only book an excurion outside of the cruise line if I was going to be in port overnight. I hope this helps. Check with your cruiseline for more information.

Thank you very much for the birthday wishes, and for all the suggestions and comments; I'll share them with the kids and go with their wishes.

jeriza

The Dig and Aquariums at Atlantis are also off limits for non guests. You can pay for a tour at the resort, but it gets expensive. Some people book a room at the Comfort Suite( which is across the st. from Atlantis) for the day. That way for the eprice of a room four(or maybe 5) people have full access to EVERYTHING at Atlantis.

Non-guests can view the Digs and Aquarium for a fee. Back in 2003 it was $25 p/p. It's now $35 p/p.

http://www.atlantis.com/resources/discover.aspx

Here's the addtional prices (beside just the cost of the room) at the Comfort suites. If you have several people going, it can be expensive just due to the surcharges.

"Must have one adult 21 years or older in each room. Children under 15yrs stay free if sharing room with parents. Children 12-15 years of age are charged a $4.50 per night housekeeping gratuity. Person 16 years and older are charged as adults. Third or fourth adult in room are charged $40 per night plus taxes and service charges per night. Energy surcharge: $ 9.95 per adult per night. Housekeeping gratuities: $4.50 per adult per night. These are additional charges that are not included in the estimated total and must be paid directly at the hotel."

You can go to Atlantis for $110 per day, which includes water park paid at Atlantis if you are cruising. We are taking our 1st cruise (we are land lubbers)for our daughters wedding this coming week and that is the price currently quoted by directly calling Atlantis. It is more to book excursion through cruise ship. Needless to say, we are not paying the price to go to yet another glorified water park overrun with kiddies. Can do that anywhere and have been to plenty in the past. If you just want to go through the dig and aquarium it is $35. That being said most have said it is again not worth it. We are going to just walk around and see the free stuff and go to the casinos. We are going snorkeling and doing Arawak Cay fish fry (group of shops and restaurants), where the locals go for food, and the straw market for day excursions, then going to Atlantis for the evening to walk around and see the sites and I have read that later in the day you can go through the dig and aquarium for free anyway. You can take the bus, Jitney for $1.25 pp from straw market to the fish fry. Also Cable Beach, (on the way) is supposed to be very nice.