Cruise Ship Crowd in Playa
 

Considering a trip to the Yucatan and I'd love ot know how much the cruise ship affect the crowds in Playa del Carmen. Is it crazy busy?
I don't mind people, but...
Do the shpis ever dock and tender to Isla?

I can tell you my experience with the cruise ship crowds in Playa from my small observations. I run in the mornings from Playa into Playacar and back. Usually I see the cruise ship people with someone holding a sign leading them around the lower part of 5th Ave on my way back in the morning usually around 8:00 or so. I don't spend a lot of time on 5th in the afternoon since it's hot I'm not sure if they're still around then. In the evenings on my wanderings around I don't see them either so I'd say the impact is pretty minimal.

As colorkid explained, the cruise ship crowds are pretty much only around during the day. After 5 pm or so, they've migrated back to their ships.
I've seen it crazy busy on 5th during the day but I'm normally on the beach or taking a day trip to the Tulum beaches.

Colorkid, are you a peep by any chance?

I am but don't post there too often. Last week I posted looking for an electrician which, thankfully, happened quickly through that site. A knight in shining armor showed up at the condo and was able to help out with names and contacts. That's what I love about Playa - someone is always ready to help. I can't wait for the day I can call it home for most of the year.

I thought as much! I'll be back August 11-19 with a bunch of peeps for "Wimmin's week". Check out any of the peepmeet threads for that time and come on out and meet up with a fabulous group of folks.
Welch apologies for hijacking your thread. I promise I'm done. You might also want to check out the Playa.info site and forums. Tons of great info on PDC

I'll be back on the 16th of this month but need to go back to work in Aug...have to make the money to pay for the all that good stuff down there. Next year...I'm staying all summer.

Welch - The ships do not dock in Playa.

Help me please. What is a "peep"?

Playa del Carmen is busy enough and the cruise ships do not dock there. It's not like being on Cozumel where they do dock.

Since they have built all the huge hotels in Playacar over the past 10 years, Playa has become overly crowded. Thankfully, most of these folks are in A-I's so they don't overrun the restaurants at night.

But, Playa is not the small village it once was. That's why many people go south now to the Tulum area.

"Do the shpis ever dock and tender to Isla?"

Do you mean Isla Mujeres? I don't think any cruise ships go there but I may not have the latest knowledge.

A peep is a person. One of the other boards has a lot of peeps who write and meet up in Playa.
I disagree that Playa is overly crowded but that's my own personal opinion. The north end of town is quite nice and quiet. The south end where all the tourists congregate can be more crazy and it certainly depends on the time of year also. Tulum is beautiful and very quiet but I would go crazy there for an extended period. For a vacation though it is heavenly.
Isla Mujeres is pretty far from Playa so I don't know the cruise ship opportunities for visiting there.