Ship excursion versus booking locally?

[NextOne]

We'll be on a trip that arrives in Cozumel in late November. According to cruisecal.com, there will be seven ships in port that day. Would it be better to book a trip through the ship, in case there's a problem getting a tender when we get back? Our ship leaves earlier than the others, so I'd hate to get stuck! I'd appreciate hearing the pros and cons.

[moonvine]

We'll be on a trip that arrives in Cozumel in late November. According to cruisecal.com, there will be seven ships in port that day. Would it be better to book a trip through the ship, in case there's a problem getting a tender when we get back? Our ship leaves earlier than the others, so I'd hate to get stuck! I'd appreciate hearing the pros and cons.

 

I have always found it better to book privately. Cozumel is a pretty small island and taxis are plentiful. I don't think it would be very easy to get stuck.

 

I find the Carnival shore excursions to be both more expensive and of lesser quality than those booked privately.

[clackey]

I have always found it better to book privately. Cozumel is a pretty small island and taxis are plentiful. I don't think it would be very easy to get stuck.

 

I find the Carnival shore excursions to be both more expensive and of lesser quality than those booked privately.

Ditto. Coz is one of the easiest ports to get around in. Taxis are everywhere from San Miguel to Palancar. If you went to the other side of the island you might want to make sure of return transportation. If you don't mind being herded through a crowded tour for 40% more money, then by all means book through the ship.

[cheekie]

Where do you book them when you go ashore?

 

Will it be easy to find?

[Lightsluvr]

We recommend this local tour - he provides custom tours for 2-4 people. Air-conditioned vehicle, English-speaking, very informative and cordial. We took his "island tour" and it was remarkable. Details and e-mail contact are on his website.

 

LL

[ScubaMare]

I'm sorry. Maybe I missed it. What kind of excursion are you seeking? Diving? Snorkeling? Discover Scuba? Dune Buggy Tour? Mainland Ruins?

 

Here's a great source for a variety of tours -- water and land. You can book pretty much anything through "Insider" and Sherri's great to work with. We always stay at her villas, IslaMar, and rent our car from her when we go to Cozumel.

 

http://www.cozumelinsider.com/Activities/

[dkbryan]

You need to remember that Cozumel is not very big. Most of what you will want to see is on the western side of the island. The water is quite rough on the western side and swimming is not permitted there.

 

Also, unlike here in the US, the prices are the cheapest at the stores at the piers. We have found that the farther away from the piers you get, the higher the prices are. You can get an averaged sized marble chess set for around $15-20 at the pier. A variety of beaches can be visited by taxi or you can rent a jeep at the pier, as well.

 

Last year my son and I did a "Discover Scuba" course for $75 each in San Miguel. If you've ever wanted to experience scuba without going through certification I would recommend Cozumel for your first scuba experience.

[ScubaMare]

The water is quite rough on the western side and swimming is not permitted there.

 

Actually, it's the eastern side of the island where the currents are strong and swimming is risky. But, yes, most of what you'll want to see will be on the western side. The ruins of San Gervasio are in between.

[NextOne]

I appreciate everyone's help. ScubaMare - we were thinking about a snorkeling trip, so I'll check out your link. This board is great!!

[ScubaMare]

Here's another to check out for nice, relaxing, small group snorkeling trips:

 

http://www.eagleraydivers.com/Snorkel.htm

[NextOne]

I think Eagle Ray will be the one - that will still leave us plenty of time to visit Pancho's Backyard if we do the 2-reef trip.

Thanks!

[cozgal]

My sister and I did the 2 reef snorkel trip last year with eagle Ray...She is a novice snorkeler and they were great!!!! You should have a great time!

[ISLABONITA]

I was on the Inspiration and we tendered into Maya pier some 15 minutes from town and a $6 taxi ride. Maya pier is full of vendors and you can spend a good hour shopping there. Also lots of tour operators greeting you and inviting you to join their tour. The table mates we had were literally screwed , their tour the submarine one bought through Carnival did not have enough people so they kept delaying the meeting time from 10 :30 all the way to 12:30 needless to say staying in the Cozumel heat that long was totally undesireable and so they headed into town to eat and lost their money of the tour since they didn't stick around for it.

My DH and I pre-booked Mayan Paradise Tours. A British fellow, Gary had the best operation I have seen for $35- 3 reefs to snorkel with a guide swimming along with you and diving to show you the hidden creatures, showed us how to put on the mask properly and when I booked I asked for a prescription lens mask and that made a huge difference in what I was looking at. The 3 stops of 25 minutes at each location, fresh fruit and all the drinks you can muster after the last stop. He also has snuba dives along with the snorkeling. There were only 6 of us and he didn't cancel and we had the best time ever!:D

[moonvine]

Also, unlike here in the US, the prices are the cheapest at the stores at the piers. We have found that the farther away from the piers you get, the higher the prices are. You can get an averaged sized marble chess set for around $15-20 at the pier. A variety of beaches can be visited by taxi or you can rent a jeep at the pier, as well.

 

 

Wow, I have found exactly the opposite - that the stores are cheaper the further away from the piers you get.

[NextOne]

Islabonita - thanks for the suggestion. I'll check them out, too. I appreciate the help!

[ISLABONITA]

Please remember that Cozumel is one hour behind ship time when you are figuring out time to be tendered off and back on the ship. Mayan Paradise tours began at 11:15 to 3:30 Cozumel time and just enough time to get a taxi back to Maya pier since our ship's last tender left at 5.

[NextOne]

Stupid question - is the time difference the same throughout the year? I have heard that the ships typically stay on the time of their home port, Charleston SC in our case, so I'm not surprised. But does that change with daylight savings time? Just curious. I suppose this is something that needs to be made clear to a private tour company, so everyone is talking in the same terms of time?

Thanks!

[ScubaMare]

Cozumel also goes to Daylight Savings Time in the spring. They are in the Central Time Zone so, yes, they will always be one hour behind Charleston SC.

 

Whatever tour company you use, you'll need to let them know what time your ship leaves and it's best to articulate that in local time. So, if your ship leaves at 5:30 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), that will be 4:30 p.m. CDT. Don't count on local tour companies to know if your ship stays on departure port time or changes to port of call time. You need to check with your ship on this and let your tour company know.

[NextOne]

Thanks! It seems like three years ago, on our first cruise, we changed times on the ship to match the local time zone. Is this something relatively recent, to keep the ship constantly on the home port time?

[ScubaMare]

I think it depends on the cruiseline. Check with them before disembarking.

[NYHartChapp]

Islabonita - thanks for the suggestion. I'll check them out, too. I appreciate the help!

 

 

I agree with islabonita, Gary and Mayan Paradise are the best. My son and I did snuba with him a couple of years ago and had a blast. We were going to do the same on upcoming cruise but with seven ships in port that day, tendering will be a problem. The Enchantment gets in at 10:00 and his tour leaves at 11:00...just not enough time. I agree with all other posters who advocate booking your own: they are usually better quality and certainly less expensive. The only advantage of booking a ship tour is that when tendering, you will be able to board the first tender. Oh, another is that if the tour happens to run late the ship will not leave pax who have booked through them.

[brandypants]

We've tried both. If you have kids, my advice is to book through the ship. We just came back from a cruise on Saturday and we had a problem with one of the excursions in Progreso. Many kids were on the excursion we took and it ended up becoming a scene from Jerry Springer. Too much drinking was allowed on the bus. Nudity,vulgar language,almost a fight, you name it. It was a mess. I have never had a problem like this when I booked through the ship. I don't think it would ever get so out of hand. Maybe it was just an isolated incident, but I wouldn't take the chance again.....

[ISLABONITA]

No one really checks, despite their exemplary efforts organizing everyone with stickers, on the Inspiration we just blended in and got into Cozumel on the first tender. Gary and the Mayan Paradise Tours didn't take off till 11:15 and could have left even later since there were only 6 of us.

In GCayman , same thing, went on the first tender without any problems with an hour to spare before Soto's picked us up.

No problem with either one in returning either... We told them up front our time line and they were very conscious of it.

[jennifernsb]

We just did the snorkel and snuba with Mayan Paradise Tours last week. It was great. A couple of young boys were along and they did fine. The crew is safe and attentive. No problem getting back to the ship in time. It's very easy to catch a taxi back to the pier. Make a mental note of which pier your at.

[NYHartChapp]

We just did the snorkel and snuba with Mayan Paradise Tours last week. It was great. A couple of young boys were along and they did fine. The crew is safe and attentive. No problem getting back to the ship in time. It's very easy to catch a taxi back to the pier. Make a mental note of which pier your at.

 

That's great. In my case, it's getting there, not getting back (Enchantment has a pretty extended stay) that's the problem.