Conditions in Costa Maya cruise port today

[T-2]

We are in port today, 3 RCCL ships nestled together but this is for any cruiser going ashore. The sargassam, {sea weed} has reared up again and is very thick, hopefully some of the beaches that you get to by taxi are keeping up with the onslaught. Only 3 ships today but the port was packed, we made the mistake of going in one of the souvenir shops, one of the big ones right in port, just a heads up- DON'T use a credit card. My $69 purchase is then charged as $94.94 to my credit card because of the stores conversion rate, it has nothing to do with whether or not your credit card will charge you a conversion fee, mine won't, but the store charges you their own personal conversion rate on their U.S. prices. Take cash if at all possible and avoid the high fees. $25 is an insane upcharge to use a credit card but it is their privilege. But we didn't purchase another thing in port because of the policy. I hope it helps others with the choice ahead of time. There are some awesome photo spots here and the new expanded area is super nice.

[edgars]

Side note, if you purchase items in a foreign country with a credit card, you should always purchase them in the local (foreign) currency and not in US dollars, and then your credit card handles the conversion.  This goes for any country.

[T-2]

That was what we hoped would happen but although everything in the store is only listed in US dollars, they ring your sale up in their converted rate of Mexican dollars, there is a sign on the counter letting you know that they will be charging you that way, but we were totally unprepared for the markup they had arranged. When he handed me the receipt to sign I was shocked at the $25 upcharge but he assured me it was entirely legal and I believe him- it is their right, I just wanted to let others know in case they would prefer to pay cash, I would have had I known. Just sharing to be helpful, as I hadn't known. It definitely persuaded us not to enjoy any other shopping. We had a really, really nice day so hoping this helps everyone else love it too.