Excursions vs Winging it

Headed out on the Carnival Freedom, 9/12/15...Cannot wait !!

This will be our second cruise - I consider us first timers b/c the first cruise we took was 10 years ago (Disney) with 2 young children. This trip is just myself and DH.

I have always been a planner when it came to vacations but with this anniversary cruise we are taking I'd like to be more spontaneous. DH is thinking along the same lines.

I'm a little overwhelmed with the 3 ports of call ( Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel) and all they they have to offer. I am wondering if any cruisers out there have actually not booked and/or reserved any excursions for these ports and did things more spontaneously. I am wondering because we aren't sure if we'd like to stay at the beaches all day - hit the ruins - go zip lining - see the sights etc. We'd like the flexibility of "let's see how we feel when we get there" type of planning.

My question: How realistic am I being ? Should I plan something or book something for each port of call anyway (just in case) or take the fly by the seat of our pants approach and see how we feel when we arrive at port ?

Thanks for any suggestions. Much appreciated.

In Roatan the beaches are beautiful and there were lots of taxis available to take you there without booking an excursion. In Belize, because the city isn't particularly safe, we booked an excursion to the ruins. It was long ride on a bumpy, lumpy bus. The ruins were great and fun to see but not sure I would do that again. In Cozumel I checked Trip Advisor and found a car and driver who took us on an island tour with stops at the chocolate factory, historical sites and a beautiful beach for lunch and lounging. Reasonable and great, attentive driver. Best day of the cruise! Enjoy!

The few times we haven't planned something in port, we ended up with not so memorable experiences. If you want to wait to see what the mood is that day, I would recommend at least researching popular destinations and activities for each port and go with a list of options.

I would tend to agree with cruiseco2015 and do a little research so that you have an idea of what's available at each port. Then when you get up that day, take a look at your list and see what appeals to you both.

Have fun and I would love to hear how this works and what you do while in port. ;)

In Roatan, Carnival has it's own private beach that is actually quite nice. I would plan on making that a beach day if you want one. It's free to go and it's within walking distance of the ship.

Go to the shore excursions talk on the first day and see if that inspires you. Some things sell out so if you have already decided, go ahead and book. If not pick something once on board, or wait until you are in port and find an excursion there.

The only exception is Belize. I would want to arrived there with an excursion booked or only plan to shop in the port area. I also prefer to book through the ship in that port since everything is a long bus ride away.

Headed out on the Carnival Freedom, 9/12/15...Cannot wait !!

 

This will be our second cruise - I consider us first timers b/c the first cruise we took was 10 years ago (Disney) with 2 young children. This trip is just myself and DH.

 

I have always been a planner when it came to vacations but with this anniversary cruise we are taking I'd like to be more spontaneous. DH is thinking along the same lines.

 

I'm a little overwhelmed with the 3 ports of call ( Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel) and all they they have to offer. I am wondering if any cruisers out there have actually not booked and/or reserved any excursions for these ports and did things more spontaneously. I am wondering because we aren't sure if we'd like to stay at the beaches all day - hit the ruins - go zip lining - see the sights etc. We'd like the flexibility of "let's see how we feel when we get there" type of planning.

 

My question: How realistic am I being ? Should I plan something or book something for each port of call anyway (just in case) or take the fly by the seat of our pants approach and see how we feel when we arrive at port ?

 

Thanks for any suggestions. Much appreciated.

I used to book the heck out of our trips and I made DH nuts, so I stopped. BUT, this time I decided to make plans for this cruise and I'm SOOOO glad I did. If I can say one thing to you, it's Little French Key. I am in LOVE with this little private island off the coast of Roatan. We had the best day ever there! Check out my review for pics and info:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2236932

Headed out on the Carnival Freedom, 9/12/15...Cannot wait !!

 

I'm a little overwhelmed with the 3 ports of call ( Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel) and all they they have to offer. I am wondering if any cruisers out there have actually not booked and/or reserved any excursions for these ports and did things more spontaneously. I am wondering because we aren't sure if we'd like to stay at the beaches all day - hit the ruins - go zip lining - see the sights etc. We'd like the flexibility of "let's see how we feel when we get there" type of planning.

I'll be disembarking when you board. :(

For zip lining, I can definitely recommend Victor Bodden in Roatan. It was excellent!

We have this same itinerary and have been debating about the ruins in Belize.

Roccoforte, was the bus old and what were the roads like?

Also, did you feel safe?

kelkel2, did the Carnival beach get crowded and was there shade or a restroom?

tncap Cozumel is very easy to plan your own excursion.

I would check out Chankanaab to start with.

After reading some of the threads in response one thing you need to consider. If you book through the cruise line and there is a delay getting you back to the ship, the ship will wait. If you book an excursion on your own from the locals at the port and they delay you the ship will not wait very long before sailing. If you do not have a passport then flying home could be a problem.

Granted we only sail Princess but I'm sure that Carnival has a similar policy to some extent. I'm not sure that the amount of money you will save is worth the potential problems. I know that some people have had no problems but as they say "there is a first time for everything."

What ever you decide enjoy your cruise.

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Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Emerald Princess 2015 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

cavetubing dot bz runs cave tubing & zip lining trips in belize. they are very good & i think we had a better excursion through them than the cruise line's excursion. you book online & don't pay until you go. we used cash.

i thought the beach in roatan by the ship was fine - there is a fat tuesday there as well. once we went to anthony's key resort for a dive trip - water was beautiful!

cozumel is very easy - you can take a cab to one of the beach clubs on san francisco beach. the one we went to has a minimum food order, the food is good, too. they didn't have a lot of water toys, so if you want that, maybe paradise beach club. we've also booked a snorkel trip through a vendor just after walking into port. it was a good trip, with grilled burgers on the beach afterward. unfortunately, i don't remember the name of the company.

Research your ports...decide WHAT you want to do....beaches and shopping are easy DIY things.

Then, look at the ship excursions..if the price is right, and you want it...book it. If not..wait, and you'll probably get it cheaper on land.

Dont know how old your kids are but Roatan has a very nice beach right by the ship.

Belize would either book with reputable tour guide or thru the ship. If private and we do it all the time we make sure the tour is due back say 2 hours before sailing just in case.

Cozumel is safe and has lots of nice beaches.

Suggest you peruse port of call pages for more info.

Thanks to all! I have researched all three ports and I think that's why I have been so overwhelmed. Definitely looked into Little French Key in Roatan and Nachi Cocom in Cozumel for beach time. Just wasn't sure we'd want to do one or the other - or both.

Belize has me puzzled. DH was most looking forward to Belize but I haven't heard many good reviews... i.e. safety, things to do etc.

I'm thinking of planning a nice quiet beach day for the 2 of us in Cozumel and possibly winging the first 2 ports.

So much to see - so little time !!

Thanks again. Your suggestions have been most helpful.

"The only exception is Belize. I would want to arrived there with an excursion booked or only plan to shop in the port area. I also prefer to book through the ship in that port since everything is a long bus ride away."

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I totally agree with this poster. One place you don't want to take a chance in is Belize. You don't want to get stuck there. I'd definitely book an excursion through Carnival. We did a snorkeling excursion through them on our cruise that stopped in Belize and it was a whole day of fun.

The DH and I have done it both ways over the years...we've booked excursions through whatever ship we were on or went into port and did our own things. We've had awesome times either way. The one exception is when we are in a port for only a short while...Then we usually book through the ship so there's no chance we miss being late and getting back on.

Whatever you decide I hope you and the DH have an amazing cruise!:D

As others have said, Cozumel is easy. There are many options if you like beaches, or shopping in town and wandering around on a very safe island. You can get taxis or take a ship excursion. You shouldn't have any problem being spontaneous there.

Roatan- if you want to be spontaneous by going to a beach or grabbing an excursion through Carnival at the last minute... that should work out just fine.

Belize- There are great things about Belize and many wonderful things to do. But it isn't really a port that lends itself to spontaneity. You could join a ship excursion at the last minute- probably. Otherwise you should plan ahead. There are some private tour operators with good reputations. You can find their info in the ports of call board. We did cave tubing AND Mayan ruins there. I would do both again in a heartbeat. It is a long trip on a bus- but the scenery is beautiful and it is well worth the trip.

Just be advised if you are going to "wing it" that unless you are familiar with where you are going and what they have to offer you may be stuck on the pier without any idea of what to do or where to go. Many beach resorts sell out fairly early on cruise days, many activities are booked up by those who have planned ahead, cab drivers can gouge you pretty quickly if you don't know where you are going.

You don't need to book an excursion but you should be aware of what is available, how you get there, if reservations are required (many of the prime beaches are pre-booked), and how you get back after wandering.

If what you want is to just eat, shop, and maybe stay at a cruise sponsored beach then things become a bit more uncomplicated. If you take a cab to a zip line area you may find yourself waiting in line for hours as those who have pre-booked go on first. And very few snorkeling boats or dive boats or pleasure craft just wait around for someone to hail them down.

Winging it is easy in cozumel, and we typically do that each time we go there.. And wind up somewhere new and fun. There's a ton of all inclusives, if that sounds fun to you. We once haggled with a man on the pier, and went on a glass bottom boat snorkeling with beer included for $20 pp. if you have young kids in your group, check out playa Mia, adults and bigger kids Mr. Sanchos. There's also a lot of shopping/ bars just on the island.

Roatan is much harder to wing, because it's lcarnivals compound, and there's no way carnival would allow their competition to come in lol. As far as ship sponsored tours, we really enjoyed snorkeling through the ship last year in Belize and ended up at a private island with a zillion starfish. It was amazing. The crew was awesome, and brought up different things for us to look at. They even grabbed my camera and went free diving to get an up close photo of a huge lionfish. When we got to the island they had food and drinks for purchase. The best part of a snorkel tour through the ship is no tendering in, the snorkel excursion picks you up from the ship.

First step is to research each port to get an idea of what activity would interest you. Some you can do on your own very easily. I personally like to go with the flow - see what I feel like that morning and do my own thing. One strong exception here is Belize: a dismal port, with very little to do your own. Cave tubing or Mayan ruins seem like best (almost only) options: both of which probably make more sense doing on ship's tour.

While I applaud your sense of adventure and spontaneity, when it comes to private excursions, I would do my due diligence, so you don’t get disappointed.

I would research each port and decide what you want to do. I would also go to trip advisor to confirm the information and see what other traveller thought.

If you want to try cave tubing or zip lining in Belize, I would look up Vitalino Reyes.

Belize is the one port stop where I strongly suggest you book an excursion in advance.

Look forward to having a wonderful cruise. :)

LuLu

Thanks so much to all posters.

I have decided to run it all by DH, of course, but I'm thinking either winging it or Little French Key for Roatan - LFK looks fabulous..... definitely finding a Carnival excursion for Belize - and either winging it in Cozumel and finding a driver who might be willing to tour the island, etc. OR Nachi Cocum.

all of your suggestions are fabulous - now it's just the deciding.

:cool:

In Roatan the beaches are beautiful and there were lots of taxis available to take you there without booking an excursion. In Belize, because the city isn't particularly safe, we booked an excursion to the ruins. It was long ride on a bumpy, lumpy bus. The ruins were great and fun to see but not sure I would do that again. In Cozumel I checked Trip Advisor and found a car and driver who took us on an island tour with stops at the chocolate factory, historical sites and a beautiful beach for lunch and lounging. Reasonable and great, attentive driver. Best day of the cruise! Enjoy!

I kind of agree with the poster but I would reverse Roatan and Cozumel. In Roatan we booked an excursion with Theris Dixon Tours. For $40 pp we had our own private driver to take us where ever we wanted to go on the island for the day. We would just have to pay any admittance fees if we choose to go to a place that had one. It was great. We had Theris Dixon herself as our driver and she was terrific and full of knowledge about her island being a 5th generation person on it. Cozumel is full of beautiful beaches with lines of taxi's waiting to take you to them. I agree with Belize. Not a safe place to wander on your own. Book an excursion if you intend to get off there.

I've been to a 3. Here my opinion. For Roatan, you can go wither way. It is really a beach place as it is really beautiful. Check out the beaches.

Cozumel-if you stay on the island it is a beach day. To go to ruins, you need to take a 45 minute ferry to the mainland. Then you will have to figure out how to get the ruins and back to the ferry for the 45 minute ride back-all before the ship leaves.

Beach no problem, ruins go with a ship's tour. We were an hour late getting back from our tour and the ship was waiting.

Belize. Here you need a tour. Belize city is a dump and I would not go out of the pier area on my own.

They have snorkeling/diving tours, cabe tubing, etc-but you need to plan, organize and book these ahead of time to be sure you will be able to go. On the day we got to Belize there were 4 ships in port and at least 10,000 people milling around the port!

We occasionally pre-book private excursions if something is really pulling us in that direction. But the majority of the time, we opt to wing-it!

Sometimes we'll hop into a taxi to check things out. Sometimes, we'll walk down the pier and look for a private excursion. But any Carnival excursion we've ever taken (which is ~50% of the time), we book the night before that specific port day. We've only run into a sell-out once and it ended up working out in our favor in the end. (We booked for choice B and asked to be put on a waiting list for choice A. Early the next morning, tickets arrived for choice A and they happily refunded our money on our choice B tickets.)

Wing-it and don't stress.