MississippiMom

Bummer (Probably better for my waistline, though.)

It's been many years, but we did the swimming with the dolphins in Grand Cayman and also went to a turtle farm. In Jamaica, we bought a Day Pass to one of the all-inclusive resorts. It was lovely.

We have sailed on Glory (pre-covid) and definitely enjoyed it. Sailing on the sister ship, Valor, in July for the first time. I'm so glad I read this, because I never once approached the Old Fashioned BBQ (which I think is a Mongolian Wok place on Valor) or the deli (except to look for a cookie, once), so I'll make sure to check those food areas out this summer. I love Blue Iguana, and it is our youngest's absolute FAVORITE on Carnival ships. Like you, Guys was OK, and I know that many people LOVE it. For me, it's just not worth standing in the line. (I felt that way about Johnny Rockets on RCCL, too. Maybe I'm not a burger-at-sea person.)

I think food is so incredibly subjective that there is no way for a cruise line to please everyone. For example, our youngest daughter and I look forward to the cold fruit soups - strawberry, peach, mango - but I know that isn't everybody's "thing." I, constantly, read threads about lobster, and never, ever NEED lobster. I like steak, but odds are slim that I'm going to order it on a cruise ship, because that seems like such a heavy meal to me, when I want to go enjoy the evening activities. It's impossible to make every cruiser happy.

We have played board games with our children and with our nephews on past Carnival cruises. Much easier to borrow a game from the ship library than to pack it in a suitcase. I have never looked at the books, though.

Well, I thought I could edit my original post, but can't seem to figure that out this morning. (Might need a bit more caffeine. 🤪) Now, the total family members that want to have the beach excursion together in Cozumel is down to 15. Two of us are doing the research and will "present" (I use this term very loosely) to the others by the end of April. We had stopped looking at Punta Sur, due to the distance, but now the rep from Black Hat Tours (currently the better rate for two private vans for us) is recommending that we consider the beach there, since it is less likely to have sargassum issues in July. We are waiting on an additional reply from the rep to see if they have connections to set aside (in advance) beach chairs & umbrellas for 15 together at Punta Sur. Playa Palancar is still currently "winning," though, since it gives most in our group the freedom to arrive & depart via taxi at their leisure.

You aren't doing it "wrong," you are doing it the way that you like to vacation. There is no right or wrong answer, just what works for your household. In a few months, my family of five will be sailing with fifteen additional family members. That's a whole lot of different vacation habits and vacation spending. It was very noticeable when we selected cabins - insides, oceanviews, balconies and suites. Enjoy your vacation!!!

Great recommendation! Final payment on those weeks the OP is looking at still have a bit to go. There will be some cabin cancellations coming.

Thanks for the heads up! We have the offer of $35 off of $100 on our Chase Freedom account.

What's your beach plan in Cozumel? We LOVED Isla Pasion, too, and I understand your comment about the sand, as I was unimpressed with the Paradise Beach water & sand. I didn't hate it, as we enjoyed the service and the food, but it's not postcard-worthy, like I had hoped.

Where did you wind up going in February?

Now, I'm definitely intrigued. Thank you so much for letting me know. I'll check it out!

Paradise Beach, when it was easy to get the Pay-as-you-go rate was perfect for what you are looking for, but from reading on this forum, it looks like they are mostly all-inclusive now. Might be worth checking on your port date, though.

At this point, the biggest curveball was discovering that almost everyone wants to Cozumel together. It will be fun, don't misunderstand me, but it definitely changes things, since not everyone has the same budget. Plus, now there are both children and mobility challenged folks mixed in the group.

You may have a point. I am not the family member who picked her. She’s been great to work with, though.

That's all I could find that got close, so I did email them. I don't expect much assistance, though, since their website is very serious about everyone needing to be under the same booking number. That's quite narrow-minded, since Carnival provided the discounted group rates to the travel agent in order to book us all.

I tried completing the fill-in-the-blank form on the Carnival site, but my entries get rejected since my booking number only has two guests. We are a group of 20, however, are all under different booking numbers based on how we reserved our cabins. I know what I'm looking for, so I don't even think I'm a difficult, time-consuming group. I just need to know if Carnival can arrange it. (We have too many in our group who have never cruised before, who would really prefer to be on a cruise-lined sponsored excursion.) If not, I'll reach out to ToursPlaza or some other taxi/private car company in Cozumel. I see all of the "contact us" phone numbers, but none reference Group Excursions. (And I know they have a phone number or an email out there, somewhere.) Thanks for your help!

Curious about more recent comments from those who might have taken this Carnival excursion or stopped in on their own.

July 2023. We still haven't booked any excursions, but plan on wrapping that up by the end of April at the latest. There are 20 of us cruising together, with 3 others who might join. Initially, each family was doing their own thing at both ports, but now 15 out of the 20 want to all be together on a beach in Cozumel. Lots of price points and lots to consider when there are 15 in the group.

What are you leaning towards in Cozumel? Like you, we have a variety of ages cruising in July, and trying to stay a little budget friendly, since the bulk (just the week) have announced they want to hang out together in Cozumel. To add to the challenge of planning, we also have a few who are now frightened to get off the ship in Mexico. If it were just my immediate family, we would hop in a taxi without thinking twice, but now I'm wondering if we need to stick to a ship-sponsored excursion. 🤷‍♀️

Hope I'm not too late. There should be a "special needs" person at the ship's excursion desk. Hunt her/him down on your first day and discuss your father. They should have a relatively good idea on the best cabana locations for him. They might also be able to arrange special transportation to the cabanas for you, or a private drive around CocoCay just for him to be able to look around and not have to walk too much. If you haven't already figured it out, we definitely needed the special needs assistance before, and it was SO very helpful.

If the children are young enough, the cabana attendants don't really care. Just introduce them, so they know it's okay that the kids are hanging around. My nephews spent most of the morning playing in the Thrill Park section, but then needed to rest and nap for a bit in our cabana. (It's not like the little kids needed cocktails constantly.)

Any luck finding something? In the past, I have been pretty good at doing my own research on our port destinations, but I seem to be a little "stumped" (maybe, overwhelmed might be the better word) with the right place for us in Cozumel. I had no idea that RCCL private island (spoiled us) stops on our last cruise would impact us so much when looking for a place to hang out in Cozumel.

Since I don't know what the pre-Covid prices were, all I can look at are the current prices, and I don't think it's horrible for a family of six adults. If I did the math correctly, the Cabana Beach rental plus required Chankanaab entrance fee averages out to $32 per adult. If I only pay the park entrance fee through their website, it's $26 per adult. Seems too good to be true to only pay $6 more per person to have a place to relax on Cabana Beach. I only wish it was a walk-in beach not step down.

I love reading your travel experiences. Thank you for sharing with all of us. My children are all over 20, but my nephews are 7, 12 and 14, and we are all (plus many more adult family members) heading out on a cruise together this summer. For those three younger ones, Chankanaab or Playa Mia? They aren't really "beach" kids, so it's not like they will have much interest in building sand castles. Realistically, the 14 year old is a moody about-to-be high schooler and won't like anything. The other two are full of energy and will like anything. I'm leaning toward recommending Chankanaab, since there seem to be lots of add-on options if people are interested. (The 12 year old and his mother LOVE zip-lining, for example.)