Shore trips in Western Caribbean

We are going on a family cruise in March of 2015. It will be a first in that we're bringing the kids (young adults) and I used a travel agent. She suggested that we look at using Shore Trips rather than going through the ship for excursions. Does anyone have any experience they would like to share about using this company?

Thanks

I have never used them before but have done several western stops....can point you in the right direction maybe. Looks like its like a Viator style website. They are used as a broker for tour operators at each location.

I wouldn't do anything in Jamica not with or through the ship....just my opinion. Have stopped there and spent a week there at an all inclusive....not the safest and honest place in the caribbean

We are going to Belize, Roaton, and Cozumel

We are going on a family cruise in March of 2015. It will be a first in that we're bringing the kids (young adults) and I used a travel agent. She suggested that we look at using Shore Trips rather than going through the ship for excursions. Does anyone have any experience they would like to share about using this company?

 

Thanks

If you are comfortable using independent operators instead of Royal Caribbean excursions, then you don't need Shore Trips either.

Use the Ports of Call forum here on Cruise Critic to gather information.

Belize

Roatan

Cozumel

In Belize, cave tubing is very popular. You'll find lots of companies on line and they will all tell you that they are better than the others. We used cavetubing.bz and had a blast. They take you to the owner's house for lunch and rum punch. I took my boys (ages 10, 6 & 5). The staff was great. Very friendly and very knowledgeable.

We are going to Belize, Roaton, and Cozumel

Have not been to Belize or Roatan (am going in Feb 15) but have been to Cozumel.

Cozumel is not mainland Mexico and it is, as I would say....very safe. You can get a cab and do your own thing basically...so I wouldn't be to worried about those considerations....like I would in say Jamaica. Plus Cozumel is relatively cheap (1 dollar beer everywhere and cheap cabs) so its easy and inexpensive to get around, eat, etc.

You might want to check out Viator.com as well.

I am a Diver and all 3 are some of the best dive locations on the planet....so that means they should also be great for snorkeling with the right location/boat.

Cozumel is also easy to do on your own depending on what you want to do. Chankanaab is close and has nice snorkeling. I also loved tubing in Belize but we booked that through the ship.

We did Belize in 2012 but went with Norwegian(gasp) they had a jungle tour we went by boat up a river where they taped "Survivor Belize" then we tool Land Rovers (we got to drive ourselves) OUR FAMILY HAD A BLAST (ages 46,24,22 and 20 not sure if Royal offers anything like this or how active your family is?

Roatan- We were going to go snorkeling at West End on our own, but they had rain and 20 foot waves the day before and they said no good for snorkeling so took a local guy and took a tour of the island and went to French Key

Cozumel-last Sept took the new son in law with us on Wild Tours Xrail Adventures to Jade Caverns (booked through the ship but think we could have done it on our own) Dune buggies - if it's rained recently its bumpy and Muddy our family had a blast especially getting mom muddy which is normally a no-no!!

I will say sometimes people will book using tour companies such as Viator and end up not having the tour operators show up. We saw this happen in Jamaica to a couple their tour was cancelled and they didn't know it. Then they didn't want to take another tour as they weren't sure they would get their money back and not wanting to pay for 2 tours. I personally prefer to book with a local (maybe recommended highly on Trip Advisor) who require no money before hand, so if they don't show up atleast you don't lose money and can find someone else to take you on a tour or something as a back up plan.

So if your family is active and likes adventure you may want to check these out!

In Belize, cave tubing is very popular. You'll find lots of companies on line and they will all tell you that they are better than the others. We used cavetubing.bz and had a blast. They take you to the owner's house for lunch and rum punch. I took my boys (ages 10, 6 & 5). The staff was great. Very friendly and very knowledgeable.

We too used this company last spring. Great outfit and one of the best excursions we've ever done. It is not for the faint of heart. Lots of walking. Good water shoes are a must!

Recommended to a friend who took a Princess cruise after ours. They loved it as well.

This is one of the reasons I love CC....great information :)

Cozumel is very easy to do on your own.

Since you'll be docking in Coxen Hole in Roatan, it would be best to take a shore excursion through a well know independent or through the ship.

In Belize I'd lean toward finding something through the ship.

Just my opinion. We do very much enjoy these three ports and have been to all of them multi times.

Have a GREAT cruise! :D

LuLu

We are going on a family cruise in March of 2015. It will be a first in that we're bringing the kids (young adults) and I used a travel agent. She suggested that we look at using Shore Trips rather than going through the ship for excursions. Does anyone have any experience they would like to share about using this company?

 

Thanks

We used them on three of our previous cruises and had great experiences every time. We had a custom trip with a guide to the zoo and pyramids in Belize, horseback riding in Grand Cayman, and on another trip horseback riding in the rain forest in Belize. Great customer service and I'll probably use them on this trip as well. In the past we used them because they had trips not available on the ship, not because they were cheaper. Now I'll probably use them because they've earned my loyalty. :eek:

...and will be using them again for our next cruise, (Southern Caribbean).

We found them to be legitimate and really enjoyed all of our activities - in many cases we were the only ones there.

They took us to Tulum, a private tour of Roatan, Horseback riding on Grand Cayman, Alta Hun ruins in Belize and a tour of Belize City.

We are going to Belize, Roaton, and Cozumel

Although we have not used Shore Trips, here is what we did in Belize, Roatan and Cozumel.

In Belize, we went river tubing. We booked this through Cave Tubing R Us--a private independent company. cavetubing.bz. cavetubing.com and VIV are other very popular cave tubing operators. A visit to the ancient Mayan ruins of Altun Ha is another possibility.

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In Roatan we used the services of Rony's Tours. We went ziplining on the Pirates of the Caribbean Extreme, Extreme zip line, visited the Monkey Stop and then relaxed at Mahogany Bay Beach. Victor Bodden is another well known tour operator.

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In Cozumel, we hired a taxi and made our way to Paradise Beach. There we enjoyed the water toys and floats that this beach had to offer. Chankanaab and Mr. Sancho's are some other well known beach spots.

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In the past, we have also been to Xcaret and Tulum. Since this requires a boat transfer to the mainland from Cozumel, I would recommend booking this through the cruise line.

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