Help with my Wish List for excursions

Hello Fellow Cruisers!

My hubby and I are doing a partial transit on the Coral Princess (march 15, 2014) and I have my Wishlist for Excursions. I would appreciate help and/or suggestions. I want to try snorkelling, but hubby doesn't. So, just wondering which port would be best for snorkeling (I will go by myself) and hubby will his own thing.

Aruba

Atlantis Submarine Expedition

Snorkeling Cruise and Antillia Shipwreck

Mi Dushi Sail, Snorkeling, Antillia Shipwreck, Lunch

Cartagena

Canoe Tour of Mangrove Tunnels and Old City Stroll

Panama Canal

Tour of Locks

Embera Village

Panama Canal Locks Transit by boat (I have actually booked this one, but it is so pricey, but think I should do this)

Limon, Costa Rica

Original canopy zipline tour at Veragua Rainforest

Class II rafting on the Reventazon River and lunch

Grand Cayman

Bike Tour, Turtle Farm, Hell and Snorkel

All of these tours are booked through Princess - wonder if there are others to consider.

Thanks so much,

FTB

Grand Cayman is your best port for snorkeling.

Have you done any reading on the appropriate ports board for each of these ports? Look here:

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

Are you looking for us to make recommendations for you? Hard to do as we don't know you.

Hi Cruisebruce - no I am not looking for anyone to make recommendations for me :-) I guess I wasn't very clear - I posted my wishlist in hopes that people who have taken those excursions can provide information on whether they thought the excursion was good.

Thanks for letting me know that snorkeling is better in Grand Cayman - that's the kind of information I am looking for.

Cheers,

FTB

Hi Cruisebruce - no I am not looking for anyone to make recommendations for me :-) I guess I wasn't very clear - I posted my wishlist in hopes that people who have taken those excursions can provide information on whether they thought the excursion was good.

 

Thanks for letting me know that snorkeling is better in Grand Cayman - that's the kind of information I am looking for.

 

Cheers,

FTB

As far as Princess excursions, the best place to research would be the Princess board. Second behind that is the individual port board, as I linked above.

Have you joined your Roll Call? People there will have a lot of info for you.

Thanks for the link - I am looking there and yes I've joined the roll call and I also do a lot of reading on the Princess board too. Just covering all my bases. I think we'll do the submarine ride in Aruba and then hit a beach. I know I will be in serious need for the warmth of the sun come March. It's -26C today...brrrr.

We wanted to do a submarine adventure in Aruba several years ago, but it was cancelled at the last minute - hope you have better luck. We ended up doing a glass bottom boat type tour and we really enjoyed it. The hull of the boat was see-through, and you sat below the water line to see everything. We saw a ship sunk in World War 2 and lots and lots of fish. It probably wasn't as good as a submarine, but very enjoyable. Aruba is beautiful, and the beaches are wonderful.

Enjoy.

Hello Fellow Cruisers!

 

My hubby and I are doing a partial transit on the Coral Princess (march 15, 2014) and I have my Wishlist for Excursions.

Hi Fat Bottom Gurl! We are on the same cruise. I can't comment on your wish list because I am just starting researching myself. I am reading bunch of threads and taking notes. I travel with my hubby, just the two of us.

So far I am thinking about going out to walk around Cartagena by ourselves, then a beach on Aruba and probably Grand Cayman. Not sure yet about Costa Rica.

Regarding choices for Panama Canal excursion I pretty much narrowed it down to two choices:

PC1-605 Rainforest, Gatun Lake and Lock Cruise or

PC1-385 Embera Indian Village.

I am not keen on seeing all three locks so the entire canal cruise is not my first choice. I would like to see rainforest though. Embera Village sounds really interesting, but I am not sure how I feel about ogling bunch of people trying to go about their life. I just imagine how I would feel if someone dropped off a bunch of tourists in front of my house and let them watch me for a while. But maybe it is a non-issue.

I would also appreciate any feedback from cruisers that were on those tours. Loved it? Would do it again?

thank you,

Halina

Embera Village sounds really interesting, but I am not sure how I feel about ogling bunch of people trying to go about their life. I just imagine how I would feel if someone dropped off a bunch of tourists in front of my house and let them watch me for a while. But maybe it is a non-issue.

 

thank you,

Halina

I think the big difference in this case is you are not looking for a boat load of tourist being dropped off in your front yard:D! The Emberas on the other hand are. Tourism is what provides a great deal of economic support to the various villages that are visited. If that is the tour you select, I believe you would enjoy the experience.

I think the big difference in this case is you are not looking for a boat load of tourist being dropped off in your front yard:D! The Emberas on the other hand are. Tourism is what provides a great deal of economic support to the various villages that are visited. If that is the tour you select, I believe you would enjoy the experience.

I think you are right! It would be something really different. And the canoe ride sounds interesting too. How many opportunities I may have to ride holowed out trunk on the river? I guess Embera Village it is!

Thank you Billb48! I guess I just needed a nudge..

Hi, I live on Grand Cayman. I would love to be able to help. I will be on Century going through the Panama Canal when you are here. First, at the Turtle Farm you can have lunch and cocktail, snorkel with turtles, fish, in their lagoon. There is a big water slide for children. It has holding pens for different types of turtles, that you can hold. They are very beautiful. Hell will take you 5 minutes. We hosted Philippe Cousteu years ago. (Jaques son). He called the diving and snorkeling on Grand and Little Cayman the second best in the world. You can go to the Public Beach, next to Calico Jacks, across the street from my house and snorkel straight out. Or you can go to Cemetary Ridge and see the resident smooching Angel Fish. No bathrooms there. The trip with Captain Marvin to Sting Ray City is fun and different. Have a great trip!:)

I can share my experience on two of these. Snorkeling in the Caymens is good. The Caymens are more known for diving more than snorkeling. The water is deep where they typically take you if you are not going to stingray city. They take you over a wreck in the same harbor where the ships dock. The wreck is 40 feet down if I remember correctly. The unique thing is that we saw several large tarpons. There are also the normal fish but they may be down a ways. My wife was not wild about snorkeling there because she has poor eye sight and could not the fish nearly as well as I could. By the way, Stingray city is a blast if you have never been and you usually have a snorkeling option with it that is on the way out. The snorkeling is not the best, but the sting rays more than make up for that.

I would not recommend the sub ride in Aruba. We saw a few fish and a whole lot of white sand with occasional seaweed. I had always wanted to go on a sub, but I would guess Aruba is just not the best place to do it.

Coral is a wonderful ship and feel sure you'll have a great time!:)

I'll make a few comments on the ones you're considering.

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Aruba

Atlantis Submarine Expedition

The Antillia Shipwreck is very interesting to see ... but you might want to do the Atlantis Submarine since it's something your husband could enjoy with you.

Cartagena

We never find anything there that we really like to do but the Canoe Tour sounds very interesting.

Panama Canal

Panama Canal Locks Transit by boat (I have actually booked this one, but it is so pricey, but think I should do this)

I think you should do it too! We've been on several full transits ... but seeing the locks on a smaller boat gives a whole different perspective.

Limon, Costa Rica

No comments ... not a favorite port for us.

Grand Cayman

Does Princess not still offer an excursion by sailing catamaran that only going to swim with the stingrays? We've taken one like that with Princess several years ago.

Your husband would enjoy the sail and really would only need a swim mask to view the stingrays.

Thanks so much,

FTB

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Whatever you decide, have a Great time on a Lovely ship! :D

LuLu

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