experienced cruisers with ports of call Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay, and Grand Caym

Hi,

I am looking for some advice from you experienced cruisers with ports of call. We have cruised once before but never ventured out too much at ports. Traveling in our party will be my husband, two sons 20 & 18 and daughter 16. We are on the Carnival Legend, Aug. 10 th, Western Caribbean; ports are Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay, and Grand Cayman. We would like to know the best location and or excursion to snorkel, see the Myna Ruins, and beaches. The budget is a little tight but we also want to take advantage of being there. My husband and children are active but I have a slight disability. I don’t have a problem with them going without me and us meeting up after. The excursion at Mahogany bay canopy tour and Tabyan beach looks good for them. Just don’t know how I can meet them at the beach. Is there another way to the beach besides zip lining? I have also looked at snorkeling at Goff’s Caye in Belize with Exotic Eco. Excursion Company. I am looking for any input. I am not a typical poster… so please excuse any mistakes I have made. Thank You, Carla

What you need is a guidebook on your ports! You may find that the things you want to do don't require an "excursion" at all. A guide book will let you know how far things are...what sort of transportation there is and cost, restaurants , shopping, etc....

So..before you start booking things, research where you're going...you can do tons of fun things "on the cheap", if you don't have to have a guide take you there! Research will save you a bundle.

Libraries have guidebooks, if you don't want to buy one!!!

You might want to check the roll call of others going on the same cruise.Go to the roll call forum, find your ship and your sailing date. You will find others interested in tours that they book privately. They are usually less crowded and less expensive.

It can be nice to be acquainted with some of your shipmates before you leave,

In Cozumel snorkel from The Money Bar .

In Belize the ruins at Lamania are the best .

You can also read about your ports of calls on these forums in cc that also may give you some ideas. As someone else indicated, find the roll call for your ship and sail date. If you can't find it, just let us know and we can find it for you.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/area.cfm?area=34&src=nav

Hi Carla! Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

The site below will take you to the Ports of Call Board here on Cruise Critic.

You'll enjoy reading what others have done in your ports and you can ask questions there as well.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

LuLu

I second the suggestion of Money Bar. The bar has a lovely, large area where you could relax right on the water and sip cocktails, the beach area is usually uncrowded and the snorkeling is great. I recced it recently in another thread where someone was wanting inexpensive options so I will copy and paste as I am very, very lazy. *grin* My favorite excursions have been the most expensive ones I have taken and the dirt cheapest. The ends of spectrum seem to work for us!

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.

Roatan: If you are on Carnival, Mahogany Bay, also free, has some really great shallow snorkeling. You just need to keep walking all the way down to the very end of the beach and then go out onto the pier. If facing out at the end of the pier, the area to your left has a good bottom for all sorts of small fish and sea creatures. We saw a lot of octopus and sea cucumbers last time. Don't get me wrong, driving out to Half Moon Bay is great, but Mahogany is nice if you want a cheap, simple option. There are bars all along the boardwalk there but it's pretty simple fare. If you do decide to go out into Roatan proper, eat anywhere that is a creepy looking shack on the side of the road. Doubly so if the eating area is a picnic table facing the ocean. *grin*

(If you want detailed suggestions on Mayan ruins, I can talk your ear off, it's something we are passionate about and we thus have strong opinions based on degree of reconstruction, historical import, location, academic involvement, etc.)

May I add that Cozumel has the best vanilla at its shops right at the port. Its a great souvenir. I buy quarts of it. I bake a lot. Won't use anything else.

At Mahogany Bay we paid for the sky lift to get to the beach. It is like a ski lift chair and travels several hundred feet and deposits you right at the beach. I have mobility issues and it worked perfect for me. I could have never walked it. Your kids would be fine walking it though. I think it was $12 per person unlimited riding and included a clamshell for 2. There are also LOTS of shopping there.

In Grand Cayman there are some great tours. I would suggest the one that takes you to Stingray City to swim with the sting rays, then on to the sandbar to snorkel then to Rum Point for swimming. I stayed on the boat at Sting Ray city and at sandbar but was able to swim at Rum Point. I thoroughly enjoyed the excursion. You would be part of it too.

We didn't care for Belize but that was our preference. Its more a snorkeling/dive stop and we don't do those. Its also a tender stop as is Grand Cayman. The ship docks at Cozumel and Mahogany Bay.

Hope this helps.

In Belize we did a ship sponsored Jungle Bicycle Tour. We had a great time.

In Cozumel we've done a walking tour of Cozumel - Boring for a teen!! and a cooking class at one of the resorts.

Sorry, I misread the original post.

I see folks involved in those actual types of excursions are posting.

I loved Goff's Caye! You can read my review in my signature. It was the highlight of our cruise last time!

We also loved the ruins at Tulum. But first check to see how many ships will be in port that day. If it's a lot, tulum will be packed and you will be herded like cattle. We only had one other ship so it was a great day.

Mahogany bay will be fun and it's basically free to lay on a chair and swim, no taxi needed just walk a few mins. There is snorkeling but you have to rent the equip if you don't have it.

Grand cayman you have to do the Stingray City excursion! Take a private tour so there's less ppl in your group. If you do a ship excursion, it will be very packed on your boat.