Overwhelmed with Excursion choices!

I need your help....i am sailing on NCL jewel out of houston Feb 14 with my 9 year old daughter...we are 2 girls all alone! lol

Stopping at Cozumel, Belize and Roatan

Looking at prices, I think we can only afford one excursion total....so..which one??

Would like a gorgeous beach with great snorkeling. Maybe some other things for her to do while i relax. dont need fancy food or lots of liquor, but if its a good deal...also would like somewhere we have plenty of time to enjoy.

Do i book thru the ship or privately...and how do you find reputable private company online?

Next, at the other 2 ports, can we take a cab to a public beach with maybe some shopping close by?

thanks!!:):):)

It's very easy to get to beaches in Cozumel and Roatan. Not so much in Belize. You can book a ship excursion in Belize to a beach and they will pick you up from the ship and return you to the ship. You can do the same with an outside excursion company but you will have to tender into shore first, and then tender back to the ship.

It's very easy to get to beaches in Cozumel and Roatan. Not so much in Belize. You can book a ship excursion in Belize to a beach and they will pick you up from the ship and return you to the ship. You can do the same with an outside excursion company but you will have to tender into shore first, and then tender back to the ship.

thanks so much! should i book thru the ship or find a private tour excursion? if so...where do i look online for a reputable one?

so in Cozumel and Roatan, we grab a cab and say what? lol

Go the the "Port of Call" boards...and you will get excursion info for that port!

thanks so much! should i book thru the ship or find a private tour excursion? if so...where do i look online for a reputable one?

 

so in Cozumel and Roatan, we grab a cab and say what? lol

When I wanted to go to a beach in Belize, I booked a beach excursion through the cruise line because I could bypass the tendering process. All the other times I went there, I tendered in for a private excursion.

The ports of call board really do have lots of info on each port. You will be able to find beaches that appeal to you.

Have you checked the Roll Call for your cruise. Often people there are planning private tours and have room for others. These are often much cheaper than the ship offerings and (in my opinion) much better. To join, go to the top of this page and move the cursor over "Community". Select Roll Calls from the drop down. Scroll to your cruise line and then Click on your ship. Finally, find the thread for your sailing.

I agree with the private tour idea, though these are generally cheaper if you do it with other people. I strongly agree with the suggestion to get on the roll call for your cruise, and see what other people have set up and are hopefully looking for more people to join them. Someone is likely to already have something they are putting together, and it is getting late to start one yourself and be responsible for the entire cost if there are only the two of you.

I also agree that you should go into the Ports of Call section and see what other people have been suggesting for your stops. Read up a bit before starting to ask questions as your questions might be better informed if you read a bunch of other posts first. I haven't been to Roatan or Belize, and am not sure where the cruise ships stop in Cozumel in relation to the beaches, but often, there are beaches close enough to walk to in many of these places.

We bought our own snorkeling gear foe less than the cost of one of us to do an excursion. Maybe you can do that and just snorkel on your own and use excursion money for something you can't do by yourself.

I'm c&ping from an answer I gave to another post, it's relevant, *grin*.

A couple of cheap recs if you like to snorkel:

Cozumel - if you aren't wanting an AI to reduce costs of boozing it up, taking a cab to Dzul Ha (public beach) makes for a pretty good trip. You have great facilities as part of the Money Bar/BC including changing areas, bathrooms, locker rental, gear rental if you don't have your own and a pretty good bar. I haven't had their food (love El Fogo in town), but I suspect from the looks of it it is anywhere from acceptable to good. Lots of people pay for boat based excursions that take them here as one of their stops, you can see them coming by all day, but you get a much better experience in my opinion going from shore. Do check out the up close stuff, but definitely swim out to the boat-stopping areas. There are some *big* coral heads.

I've had cab drivers do fine with "Dzul Ha" but I did have one, that for some reason of his own, seemed 'confused' at that and adding "Money Bar" straightened it right out. When you get to Money Bar, just veer right to find the little building with lockers, etc. The beach area is free, no entry costs. Googling Money Bar will give a good sense of the place. Cab for two was ~$15. Could bring this down by sharing.

Roatan has a lot of options, but a private driver (pretty cheap, can take you around to see a few sights as well) or taxi (cheaper) to Half Moon Bay provides a really nice snorkeling experience. I haven't been there in a few years but the protected bay allows from some really neat flora and fauna.

If you A)want an oh wow, never forget, active excursion for this trip and b)don't get seasick, the Rio Secreto tour from Cozumel is insanely awesome. It's pricey, has some travel time, requires going on the ferry to Playa del Carmen and you need to be fit-ish (not 'I free climb mountains for fun' levels of fit, more like 'able to move around easily' fit), but it's awesome. I'd recommend heavily doing it through the ship because of the ferry. I don't get seasick, but I have never been on that ferry and not seen at least one person lose it and several more green around the gills. Don't want to scare anyone off, but if it's a problem anyone has, I'd like to warn. For every person taking a sickness-bag, there are many more happy, smiling faces watching dolphins. Do a google image search for Rio Secreto. It's a flooded cave. You get to wear a hardhat. There is a long lake portion that you get to float through on your back while looking at stalactites and stalagmites. Cave fish! How could you go wrong? Not sure if NCL offers this, but worth a check.