First Caribbean Cruise

Hello all Tao Traveler a New guy here on the Cruise Critic. Wife and I are Western Caribbean bound on the Carnival Legend the week of August 10th-17th, 2014. Sure hope to meet up with some of my new Cruise Critic buddies.:)

Since this is our first Caribbean Cruise I would love some feedback and recommendations on the excursions. Having cruised Mexico 2 times and Alaska 1 time I have purchased excursions both from the cruise line and through some independent folks. We both want to see the Mayan ruins in Belize. We are both low maintenance and just want to not be rushed and pushed. I know some excursions can get that way.

From all I have read here on Cruise Critic and some other blogs the Legend is a great ship and the ports are very good to excellent.

So, thanks for reading my banter and I do truly hope to meet up with some of you and make some new friends. If you like a nice cigar once in a while and want to sip some scotch let me know it can do that. If you are into fitness and need a work out buddy left me know. I plan to hit the gym everyday to work on my Boot camp routines and activity.

See you on the Legend.:)

Welcome to Cruise Critic

Hi Tao Traveler! Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

Be sure to check out your Roll Call. You'd enjoy chatting with others who will actually be on the cruise with you.

LuLu

Welcome!

You mentioned Mayan ruins in Belize. This is the one place I would recommend booking through Carnival. We took the Altun Ha Mayan & River Wallace excursion with Carnival back in 2012. It was a long day, and we got back to port 45 minutes after we were set to sail (1.25 hours after the last tender). I shudder to think had this NOT been through the cruise line.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have chosen the other excursion to the Xunantunich ruins. Our excursion was alright - did see lots of wild life on the river part and the ruins weren't as spectacular as the other site. Also, it was much longer than the 5.5 hours they advertised.

Welcome!

We have been on the Legend twice and it's one of our favorite ships! Great layout and flows well. Staff is top notch.

If you are going to Mahogany Bay, Honduras, look into Victor Bodden Tours. We have used him twice and had a great time! You can choose what you want to see and the driver will take you all over the island. A visit to Victor's Monkey Farm is a must. You actually get to hold the monkeys and feed them as well. You can do a search to link to his website.

In Cozumel, it will depend on what you like to do. If you just want beach time, Paradise Beach is fantastic. No booking required. Take a cab from the port (around $10.00 for up to 4 people) and it's $2.00 each to get in. They do expect you to buy a few drinks, which with the hot weather, easily done. There is lots of shopping right at the port and 3 restaurants too.

Join the roll call for your cruise. You can talk to others cruising with you and plan a meet and greet to!

Have a wonderful time on the Legend!

Go to the Roll Call for your cruise. We met some great people that way and it really made the trip that much better.

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In Cozumel we went to a fabulous restaurant mainly catering to locals.

It's called Las Palmas and is about 5 blocks from the town center. It was very inexpensive and delicious. I also used to go to a restaurant called El Moro that was also fantastic.

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This is to Tao Traveler. last October we were on the dream. At Cozumel we went to Mr. Sanchos all inclusive for 45.00 a person. You can look them up online. We booked and you pay 4.99 deposit and the rest when you arrive. that is great because if carnival skips the port all you lose is 4.99. If you go to costa maya go to tropicant. An American owns it and he will hold you a table and chairs for two hours after ship docks in port. He has free wifi and a free us land line to call home if you like. He also assigns you a waiter for the day to get you food or drinks. you have to pay for the food and drinks and tip the waiter. Snorkle and banana boats are there too. Have a great cruise.

There are some great independent excursions and activities on that particular western route. We used Victor Bodden in Roatan as well, and it was a really great tour of the island and a good pace. In Belize we used VIV tours to do Altun Ha and Cave tubing. I was worried about the time involved because it is a long ride. I finally went with the independent tour because so many people on the Ports of Call board for Roatan had good experiences. I could not find anyone complaining they missed the ship anyway! :D Despite me nervously watching the time, we made it back to the ship no problem and managed to cave tube AND do the Mayan ruins. It was a very good day.

Definitely go poke around the ports of call threads and you may find some independent tours that suit you.

Xanantunich is a much larger sire than Altun Ha, and when I was at Xanatunich, it was still possible to climb the largest structure, about 160 ft high and get great views and photo ops.

Cozumel is great for snorkeling, diving, and laying on the beach. If you want good Mexican seafood, go where you see locals eating, not tourists and cruisers.

There is fantastic snorkeling in Roatan at several sites and beaches, like Tabyana and Little French Key and Maya Key. Avoid Mahogany Bay, it's a converted man made beach designed to put $$$ into Carnivals coffers.

Welcome to CC and enjoy your cruise. I have fond memories of the Legend - my first 3 generation cruise with my daughter and grandson, plus a rather large jackpot from the slots.

You didn't list your ports so I think everyone is just guessing. Sounds like you have Belize set. Do book thru carnival on this one like a precious poster stated. You don't want to miss the ship. On Roatan one of my fondest memories was the canopy/beach break. Ziplining from the top of the mountain, 13 lines, all the way down to the beach. Passed monkeys on the way down. (Keep your eyes open!) then off to tabayana beach which is glorious.

Hi Tao Traveller

welcome to cc. for Belize for the ruins we did a private tour with Nacho and Cynthia and I would highly recommend this. We were at the ruins the same time that the ship excursions were there we arrived before and left after and watched them get hurded from place to place while we enjoyed a nice leisurely tour. Nacho is very knowledgeable and very funny he has a great sense of humor. His prices are very reasonable for the service he provides he was waiting for us at the pier and was great at watching the time and created the tour just for us and was very aware of the ship schedules and made sure to have us back to the ship in plenty of time. In fact we loved them so much we have them booked for both weeks of our b2b in late august

I was remiss noting the ports we will be hitting. They are:

1. Cozumel

2. Belize

3. Mahogany Bay

4. Grand Cayman Islands

My thanks to all who have responded. This is so helpful.

Welcome and you are going to have a blast.

I am a beach girl and didn't enjoy the ruins in Belize when I went in 2011 but my wife is a history buff and liked it. We just didn't care for HAVING to stick to our group and felt like 5 year olds being corralled.

I highly recommend going to Stingray City in Grand Cayman if you would be interested in swimming with sting rays! It's a cool experience. I did it through a random company when I got off the ship and it was way less $ and we made it back with plenty of time!

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In Grand Cayman I did a two man Submarine. It took me and the operator to 1000' down the wall. You could still see the the surface as a tiny blue dot. A once in a lifetime experience.

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Welcome to CC, LOVED the Legend one of our favourite ships!! In Grand Cayman we took the public bus ( it was really a van) and told the driver we wanted to go to HELL :eek: so thats where we went :D sent our kids a postcard then got back on another bus and got off at 7 mile beach. I believe it was $2 pp round trip. We had a wonderful time!!

We did the Xunantunich and Tulum ruins excursions. Xunantunich was a very long day and I would definitely recommend doing it through the cruise line. Climbing to the top was an experience and the view was amazing. Tulum was good too, shorter and it's near a beach.

I was remiss noting the ports we will be hitting. They are:

 

1. Cozumel

2. Belize

3. Mahogany Bay

4. Grand Cayman Islands

 

My thanks to all who have responded. This is so helpful.

Here are some excursions we've done in the past that we enjoyed:

1. Cozumel - Tulum Mayan ruins or beach day

2. Belize - Cave tubing with cavetubing.bz

3. Mahogany Bay - Island tour with Victor Bodden

4. Grand Cayman - Stingrays and snorkeling with Captain Marvin

If I had to pick just one of the above, it would probably be the stingray tour on Grand Cayman.

I would do Cave Tubing in Belize and do the ruins at a different port. Cave tubing can't be done everywhere, but you can get to ruins at different ports. We used cave-tubing.com I believe and they did a great job. Try to find unique things to do at each port. Have fun!

For Belize, go on a Carnival ruins excursion. Ruins are a long way from port and they do a good job getting great tour guides. Research each and check times in port. We did Altum Ha and River Wallace last Sept because we didn't want the 2 hour bus ride each way. We loved it.

Last time in Belize we did a private to shark ray alley, the reef and Caye Caulker with Ivar. That was our favorite of our May cruise.

For Cozumel, just take a taxi and go to a beach. If you like to snorkel there's Money Bar or Chankanaab.

For Mahogany Bay, either do a private tour with Victor Bodden or, if you're the only ship in port, Maya Key. I do not recommend Maya Key is 3 ships in port because the trail through the coral is so narrow and it gets very crowded.

For Caymans, Stingray City. Arrange a private with Kevin of Eco Adventures. Much less crowded, more time in the water and you get 3 stops since his boat is the fastest around. It was our favorite day of our cruise last Sept.

We love western Carib due to the Mayan ruins and great snorkeling.