For those who have been on cruises, did you do your excursions through the ship, or do them on your own?
We are going on a cruise in August on Carnival to the Western Caribbean. Because of the fact that Faith will only be 2, we are limited on what we can do. I have no problem hanging on the beach all day...I know that Captain Marvins is a big one for one of the ports. Were you confortable setting up your own excursions in port, and did they save you a bunch of money.
I know people say the excursions on the ship are more money.

By Pamt on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 08:48 am:

We cruised carnival to Mexico and we booked our own excursions. We were able to do a lot more and for much less money. They will be tons of van and taxi drivers who will meet you at the port offering different services and also a lot of little travel agency type places. We hired a van driver in Cozumel and he took us to some places off the beaten path, to a secluded restaurant on the beach (sand floor, palm branch roof, open except for a wall of glass facing the sea) that was amazing!! We played on the beach while our food was prepared. It was definitely the kind of place that only locals would know about. Then we went to the ruins at Tulum. Most of the other passengers just got to do one thing...like *just* Tulum. We also booked a snorkeling trip ourselves at Playa del Carmen.

It really depends on you. We are very adventurous and up for anything, so to us, arranging stuff on our own was part of the fun. But, if that stuff makes you nervous then it might be worth the extra money for peace of mind. I don't know where you are going, but if you are going to Mexico it does help to speak at least a little Spanish. Through gestures and my pitiful Spanish we arranged everything, but our van driver didn't speak a lick of English (excpt he kept saying, "Take it easy. Relax!" LOL), so it did help that I was able to communicate basic info to him.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:12 am:

Jackie, it may be cheaper to book the excursions on your own. As I posted to you on another thread, when you are in Grand Cayman, you can book the stingray adventure with Captain Marvin directly. I think it's a bit cheaper to book your own as opposed to booking through the cruise line. You go out on a boat with maybe 16-20 other people and you have guides and the water is shallow. They let everyone hold and *pet* the stingrays. It's wonderful! And that is something you can do with Faith too! We did it in December, and there was a family with 2 kids, one being a 2 y/o, and her mom held her in the water.

In Cozumel, you can go to Paradise Beach (I think that's the name) - it's about 5 miles from the cruise ship terminal, you can take a taxi, I believe admission is free, and you can pay a one time fee for each person to use all the water toys, etc. available. They also have restaurants, etc. there. So you can spend the day there. They even have a rock climbing *iceburg* there in the water.

If anyone gets seasick on boats, pick up some Bonine at the pharmacy or Wal Mart, it's over the counter and doesn't make you sleepy, is chewable, take it before you go.

By Yjja123 on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:38 am:

We have used Captain Marvins twice. This year we are chartering a boat from him for a fishing trip. I highly recommend them!
Cozumel is very easy to get a taxi and go to the park. Wear water shoes at the beach!
In Jamaica we used Peat Taylor as our guide. He was great!
In St. Thomas we went through Godfrey tours.
We are going to have a private tour with Oscar Brown in Costa Rica.
Some places are more difficult to prearrange tours. If your comfortable winging it when you get there, you can still do it. I am a planner though, so I like to have everything booked in advance.
This upcoming cruise we have planned 3 ship tours and 2 private tours.
Enjoy your cruise!
Yvonne

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:47 am:

I think we will use Captain Marvins in Grand Cayman. Then go to Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Its the other 2 ports Im looking for ideas for.For Belize and Roatan, is what Im looking for ideas for.
I love beaches, so Im sure I will be in heaven with all these ports.

By Happynerdmom on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:48 am:

Ditto Pam...a lot depends on how adventurous you are! Booking through the cruise ship offers a measure of peace of mind, but it is SO much cheaper to do on your own! You have to know what you want... For example, if you just want to go to a beach, you can just take a taxi for a few dollars. The ship may charge like $50.00 a person for a beach excursion, but may include lunch, drinks, etc. Just do some research, and figure out exactly what you want to do. Have fun!! I want to go on another cruise!!

By Truestori on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 10:19 am:

Jackie,
My step-mom is from Belize and her whole family lives there. Her sister was a greeter for the people who arrive off the ships, let me ask them some questions for you! Hopefully, I can call them and post by tom. sometime.

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 10:27 am:

Thanks Stori. Any help your step mom could give would be great. Our biggest concern is being with Faith(who will only be 2 at the time). I want to do stuff the whole family can enjoy, yet not too overwhelming for a 2 yr old. The other kids will be 12 and 7 at the time,s o not too worried about them.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:27 pm:

On our cruise in November, we will be going to:

Grand Cayman
Aruba
Panama
Costa Rica
Cozumel

Last time I was in Cozumel I was really sick. I think we are going to go to Paradise Beach, they have started offering snorkeling from there.

Grand Cayman, we aren't going to book with anyone, we are going to do our own snorkeling thing.

Aruba, DH is looking into some snorkeling stuff for there.

In either Costa Rica or Panama, we are *thinking* of trying zip-lining! We are both working on getting in shape so hopefully we can do it. It looks like so much fun, but with arthritis and bad backs, I don't know if it will be possible.

Jackie, read some of the threads on your specific destinations and shore excursions on Cruise Critic. You can check for threads under the cruise line, or under destinations, etc.

We have gotten TONS of information from that site!

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:29 pm:

Karen, Im on cruise critic ALL the time. Its so addicting, isnt it???
Ive learned so much through that board as well.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:42 pm:

Jackie, FYI:

Paradise Beach

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:50 pm:

Thanks Karen.. Ive seen that site. Gosh I wish I were at a beach right now.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:54 pm:

Well gosh, Woman! I can't tell you anything you don't already know! ROFL!!!

By Yjja123 on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 12:57 pm:

Karen----that is similar to our cruise in December!
01-Dec Miami, Florida 5:00 PM Boarding
02-Dec At Sea
03-Dec At Sea
04-Dec Oranjestad, Aruba 7:00 AM Docked
We are doing the submarine tour
05-Dec Oranjestad, Aruba 1:00 AM Docked
We are doing the jeep all day land/sea tour
06-Dec Panama Canal (Cruising Canal) 7:00 AM 3:00 PM Tendered
We are doing the ferry tour
06-Dec Cristobal Pier, Panama 3:00 PM 7:00 PM Docked
07-Dec Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked
We are doing a private tour with Oscar Brown
08-Dec At Sea
09-Dec George Town, Grand Cayman 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Tendered
we are chartering a boat through captain Marvins
10-Dec At Sea
11-Dec Miami, Florida 7:00 AM Departure
Note---Oscar Brown can take you ziplining. I have a list of his tours if you want them. He is very cheap compared to ship tour!

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 01:24 pm:

Ok, what is ziplining? I have no clue.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 04:50 pm:

Yvonne, what ship are you sailing on? Please DO email me his info! My email is in my profile.

Jackie, ziplining is when you hang onto those handle thingies and you zip across the clothesline looking thingy from tree to tree, or place to place. Looks like LOTS of fun!

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 04:51 pm:

Yvonne, we are also in Aruba for an extended period, just like you are. We are considering renting a jeep ourselves while there.

By Yjja123 on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 05:42 pm:

I just emailed it to you Karen.
We are Sailing on Royal Caribbean Brilliance Of The Seas.
We are going with the ship jeep tour in Aruba just because we have heard too many stories of people renting a jeep on their own and having the jeep break down.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 06:20 pm:

Thanks!!! Are you doing 2 different excursions in Aruba? We are docked there for 16 hours, I notice you will be there for 18 hours. DH said he is pretty sure Oscar Brown is the one he checked out for ziplining. We just got home from work and are off to eat, so I'll check my email when I get back.

What else is there to do in Panama? We were considering staying on the ship. BTW, we will be on the Celebrity Constellation.

By Yjja123 on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 07:29 pm:

ARUBA--We are doing the sub and the land/sea jeep safari. So, YES we are doing 2.
In Panama, the 2 highly recommended tours are the ferry and the dome car.

By Pamt on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 07:47 pm:

Ziplining (canopy tour) is a blast!! We do it every year when we go to Nicaragua for our youth mission trip. You are have on a harness and helmet. You are driven up a mountain and then attached to a cable by your harness. You are then pushed off of a platform way up in a tree (60-100 feet above ground) and then you slide down the cable to the next platform. The national park where we went had about 15 stops along the way. The first time is scary, but then it's just fun...and beautiful. Kids as young as 4 or 5 can do it with the park personnel, but Faith would be too young. Your older kids would probably love it though.


Here's me getting ready to go and attached by my harness to the cable. You break with your glove, but don't break too early or you're just dangling over the jungle and they have to bounce the cable to get you down. (Pardon, the goofy look on my face---must be sheer fear)


Here's one of our group zipping on down.

By Jackie on Friday, January 20, 2006 - 09:36 pm:

Ok Ladies, that ziplining looks a bit too scarey for me.It looks like something Ive seen on Amazing Race. Frankly Im not that brave. Im more likely to be laying on the beach working on my tan LOL

By Conni on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 10:08 am:

Jackie, dh did (zipline jungle tour) it last Fall when he went to Costa Rica on business. He loved it. He has pic's of a 5 yo boy doing it in his group. You should consider trying it. My kids are pumped about possibly having the chance to do this one of these days. ;)

I am drewling over all of your cruises!!! Take lots of pics.

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 10:24 am:

LOL Jackie! We think it looks like a blast! Pam, how much *stress* does it actually put on your body?

I can't wait!

By Pamt on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 03:12 pm:

Karen, it doesn't hurt. I was worried about that from a previous bungee sort of experience I had that bruised my thighs and...um...crotch, plus made me really nauseated from the dangling. If you'll look at my first picture, you are sort of sitting on one strap and leaning back on the other one. The pressure isn't too bad. You do have 3 straps crossing in your crotch so it makes walking awkward, but it doesn't hurt because the pressure is distributed pretty well. The only bad part was that I didn't brake (sorry for the misspelling earlier--ugh ) soon enough one time and I would have smashed right into a tree George of the jungle style had I not put out my bent legs to cushion me. I was going too fast for the workers on the platform to stop me. That was frightening, so just be sure to brake soon enough. Now some idiots, I mean more adventurous people, like my DH would go down upside down and/or Superman style (you have to go down with one of the workers for this and rest your legs on theirs to do it), so that may hurt more, but I wasn't nuts enough to try that. Can't brake when your soaring over the jungle upside down.

By Feona on Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 06:52 pm:

With a two year old I would book my own excursions. You do not want to be stuck on a bus with a screaming two year old and no way to go back to the ship.

By Bea on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 04:29 pm:

It depends on where we are, and what we plan to do. If I've been somewhere before, and want to go back to a particular place, I'll get a cab by the pier. If it's the first time I've been there, or if there might be a language problem, I use the ship's excursions for specific tours, but will use a local cab for an orientation tour.

The excursions that are booked through the ship need your goodwill to continue getting that business, and will usually go the extra mile. Be sure to report any ship-booked excursions that don't fill your expectations. If you don't report the bad ones, they will continue to be in business.

We're taking a cruise to the Mediterranean this Spring. We'll sail into Naples and will tour Pompeii, to Alexandria, Egypt and will tour Cairo and see the Pyramids, Rhodes Town on the island of Cyprus. We'll stop at Piraeus and tour Athens and the Parthenon and put in to the port of Katakolon, to see Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games. We are booking all these tours through the cruise-line. I don't want the bother of trying to arrange them myself.

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 06:14 pm:

Bea, that sounds exciting! What ship are you sailing on? A friend of mine went 2 years in a row to the Mediterranean. He and his wife particularly like Greece, they cruised the first year, and went back a few months ago to Santorini for a week.

By Bea on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 10:37 pm:

We're sailing on the Costa Europa. We've cruised with that line twice before, and really love their style. We fly to Savona (Genoa), Italy to board.

By Truestori on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 12:15 pm:

jackie,
Haven't forgot about you, I just couldn't get ahold of anyone this weekend. Hope to post soon. Take care

P.S. I know that there is a boat and a small airplane you can take to the keys from Belize. My family has mentioned this!