hiring a driver for the day

[crewsweeper]

Cantaro is the man. We didn't make up our minds until days before the trip. On the strength of his many years of glowing CruiseCritic reviews, we requested Gerry. Whatever Gerry does, he canNOT be better than Cantaro. By the time our ship docked our party of 4 had turned into a party of 14. I called Eduardo from my cell, on the ship, and he said that Cantaro could secure a second van for us. Cantaro was the first person in line, with a big welcome sign for me. He was not the least bit flustered by needing to find a second van for 10 more people! He took us to the ruins, and then, upon our request, to Coconuts. He had ideas in mind as to where to take us, but was totally flexible and willing to bend to the will of the group. At the end of the day we wanted one shot of tequila, so he took us to the place where he had his first job! Great fun. And when one in our party was a little tipsy, he was ever the gentleman, helping her across the street and into the van. Gerry may be good, but I guarantee you he is not better than Cantaro. Cantaro would not join us for a tequila 'cause he was headed to church later that night. He's a sweet man, and I appreciate the good care he took of us. The rest of the party of 14 think I'm a hero for having found Eduardo, Cantaro, and the east side of the island.

 

FYI, Cantaro and Gerry have worked together for many years. Cantaro filled in many times when Gerry was booked back when they used another person to handle reservations. As i heard it, Cantaro learned the business from Gerry. You really can't go wrong with either, they are the best in Coz, IMO.

[kickballpro]

We were a party of 11 and paid $150 bucks for a van for 6 hours. And the dude took us everywhere. He took us shopping, to a beach, to a stadium, a church, a hospital, ruins, a new housing development, the projects, snorkling, and to a remote part of the island that is protected because of turtle breeding. There was a soccer game at a park between the Carnival staff and the RCI staff that was kinda cool. In the remote part of the island we took pics that looked like they were from a Corona commercial. Everytime we asked the guy to stop he did. We even went to a school and jumped out the van to check it out.

 

It was our first cruise, we went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. The first 2 places we booked excursions with Carnival, the last one I decided I was going to do a DIY tour. The family followed along and we had the best time ever!

 

Never booking an excursion again. The excursions were overpriced dissapointments.

[ggtri21]

kellitt1964,

Would you give some details about Playa Corona?

Were you able to snorkel from the beach, and if so, was it nice?

We are planning our day in Cozumel & this place has caught our eye!

Thanks,

Jen

[Upshaw]

We were a party of 11 and paid $150 bucks for a van for 6 hours. And the dude took us everywhere. He took us shopping, to a beach, to a stadium, a church, a hospital, ruins, a new housing development, the projects, snorkling, and to a remote part of the island that is protected because of turtle breeding. There was a soccer game at a park between the Carnival staff and the RCI staff that was kinda cool. In the remote part of the island we took pics that looked like they were from a Corona commercial. Everytime we asked the guy to stop he did. We even went to a school and jumped out the van to check it out.

 

It was our first cruise, we went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. The first 2 places we booked excursions with Carnival, the last one I decided I was going to do a DIY tour. The family followed along and we had the best time ever!

 

Never booking an excursion again. The excursions were overpriced dissapointments.

 

Did you just get a taxi at the port when you arrived? Did you remember which company you toured with? This is what we want to do.

[kickballpro]

Did you just get a taxi at the port when you arrived? Did you remember which company you toured with? This is what we want to do.

 

A little background, we paid for the excursion in Grand Cayman on the ship and it was really pricey. Right when we got off the ship we could have got the same excursion from a local guy for $125 less per person (Booked a $150 excursion that my Brother in law negotiated for $25 on the pier for his family). So I was a little dsigruntled at my decision making. So, I vowed, no more Carnival Excursions.

 

We get off the ship and just walked with no plans at all. We run into a rental car place right next to the place with all the cabs. We decide to rent a van, but then just for the fun, we get the rental car guy and the Cab in a bidding war. The Cab driver ended coming all the way down to $125. Which I can't remember who was cheaper, the rental still might of been cheaper. But we didn't know where to go or how hard it was going to be to park, etc... So we went with the van and paid the guy $125 and tipped him $25. The van driver spoke English very well, was proud to show off the island, and like I said, took us everywhere.

[Host Faith]

Did you just get a taxi at the port when you arrived? Did you remember which company you toured with? This is what we want to do.

 

You can book your tour ahead of time here: http://toursplaza.com/categorias/info/hiring_a_driver

 

We're sailing in three weeks and booked about a month ago. We got a confirmation very quickly and were able to put down our deposit. Pricing information is on the website. When you see people mention Alberto, Cantaro, Jose Luis, or Gerry in this thread, they're talking about booking through this website :). I plan to write a detailed photo review of our full day when we get back.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Host Faith

[kickballpro]

The tour above this post sounds like a good deal to book in advance. One thing to consider is the more ships in port, the more difficult its going to be to get a bargain on the pier. You can haggle the price down alot, they will not pass up business over 20-30 bucks. But if there are large crowds, more than 1-2 ships, it may be more difficult.

[krhpee]

Just a short note and my opinion regarding ship excursions and at the pier excursions--We have cruised 17 times and have booked most of our excursions from the ship for this reason only-- if you are late coming back to the ship and are booked on a ship's excursion-- the ship will wait for you. If you are on your own booked excursion-- too bad so sad. You make your way to the next port and hope to catch the ship there. Note worth the cost saving for sure.

 

That being said, I have done excursions both ways, only after reading boards and following peoples experience before me. Don't cut your time short --- Leave plenty of time to get to pier. At some ports, it is not all that safe to go off on your own either. Listen to ships shore excursion talks and do your research before. There are horror stories out there.

 

Once a Carnival ship waited 5 hours for people delayed in a flood in Jamiaca. We all had to change plans for the next day but it was nice to know they would wait for us.

 

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but please remember--- you are in a foreign country. Be safe.

[Quixotic]

UPDATE / REVIEW

 

We booked through Eduardo and requested Gerry. Based on the reviews at the time, I really wanted Gerry. But Eduardo wrote me and said that Gerry wasn't available and assigned us Alberto. We opted for a station wagon rather than a van, and that was fine for us (2 adults, 2 kids). I had hubby sit in the front. :)

 

I hadn't returned to this thread since my earlier post in November, so I didn't see all the wonderful comments about him. Instead, I worried.

 

I worried for nothing.

 

Alberto was waiting for us with a sign right where Eduardo said he would be. He took time to re-confirm what we wanted to do (he had a printout of my email exchanges with Eduardo, so he had some idea) and answer various questions before we moved away from the curb.

 

We started with a quick stop at the MegaMart to get ice, bottled waters, and soft drinks. Alberto helped us navigate a conversation with a pharmacist there because we desperately needed sinus medicine for hubby and son.

 

From there, we headed off for a tour around the populated part of the island first. He would stop at different points of interest and talk about them. He was sweet in talking carefully with the kids so that they could be involved and learn a little bit.

 

Then he took us to the San Gervasio ruins. We enjoyed the guided tour ($20ish in addition to the actual entry fee). Took about an hour, give or take. We had this cheesy photo taken when we entered and somehow I ended up buying the print at the end because it was a cute family shot ($15).

 

From there, Alberto took us to a roadside craft market because my kids had spending money that was burning a hole in their pockets. :p Daughter picked out a ceramic lizard ($7), son picked out a ceramic cat ($5), and I chose a bowl ($8).

 

Then Alberto drove to the other side of the island. So gorgeous! We were not interested in swimming/snorkeling on this date, but we did stop off for some pictures at some good spots.

 

We had lunch at Playa Bonita. It's a lovely setting, right on the water. I was happy with it until a tour bus rolled up shortly after we arrived, and a lot of already-drunk or almost-drunk people tripped into the restaurant as part of a bar crawl excursion. They were rowdy and loud. It wasn't my highlight of the day, although the food was very good. It is a bit of a tourist trap, in my opinion, but overall it was a good experience. Paid $77ish for our lunch (family of 4, no alcohol or desserts).

 

Then Alberto drove us to Punta Sur ecopark ($24 entry for all of us). We started with a quick visit to the Crocodile (kids loved that) and then kept going up to the Lighthouse. We all climbed the steps to the top and that was my most memorable moment of the entire cruise vacation. You have a 360 degree view that literally takes your breath away. Hubby has an app that allows him to take panoramic 360 degree shots, and this one is stunning. We stayed up there for a good while, because I just enjoyed it so much!

 

We did a run through the museum onsite very quickly but realized that we needed to head back, so we cut that short. I can't really provide a good review for that. It's small but there are a lot of placards with good details and some artifacts.

 

Alberto was always smiling, so easy going and charming. My kids just loved him. They insisted on giving him big hugs when he dropped us off at the pier. Alberto has a daughter close in age to our son, and he just seems to have a knack for being good with kids as well as adults. I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home with me. He's really earnest and is eager to please.

 

We kept him out the entire day. The first three hours were $95 and then we paid an additional $95 (or so ... hubby actually paid) for the extra time. We tipped him $40. We generally tip 15-20% but we had such a wonderful day and we liked Alberto a lot.

 

If we ever go back to Cozumel, and I suspect we will (although possibly not via a cruise because we would want to do a different itinerary on a future sailing), we will absolutely book Alberto again!

[newbiecruiser09]

Quixotic: Thanks so much for your great post/review. I am wanting to hire a driver and I am going to print out your post to show DH how much we could do on our own (vs a ship excursion). Sounds like you have Alberto for about 5 hours? Did you feel that was enough time/too much for the kids etc? Our Ds will be 15 (no concern) and DD will be 9 (and she gets cranky sometimes on long excursions)

 

Thanks again! :)

[Quixotic]

We definitely were out for 6 hours, possibly 7. It goes by fast, because you go from experience to experience... you aren't just in the car that whole time.

 

It's $95 for the first three hours and then $25 for each additional hour. It was a slightly awkward moment at the return when it was time to pay because he was doing the math in his head and we had not been keeping track. The final number actually seemed low to us, because we were prepared with more cash. So we were able to tip him more generously than planned because of that.

[Quixotic]

Just a short note and my opinion regarding ship excursions and at the pier excursions--We have cruised 17 times and have booked most of our excursions from the ship for this reason only-- if you are late coming back to the ship and are booked on a ship's excursion-- the ship will wait for you. If you are on your own booked excursion-- too bad so sad. You make your way to the next port and hope to catch the ship there. Note worth the cost saving for sure.

 

That being said, I have done excursions both ways, only after reading boards and following peoples experience before me. Don't cut your time short --- Leave plenty of time to get to pier. At some ports, it is not all that safe to go off on your own either. Listen to ships shore excursion talks and do your research before. There are horror stories out there.

 

Once a Carnival ship waited 5 hours for people delayed in a flood in Jamiaca. We all had to change plans for the next day but it was nice to know they would wait for us.

 

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but please remember--- you are in a foreign country. Be safe.

 

Carnival has a better track record with this than Royal Caribbean. RC infamously left over 100 people at some point in their recent history, some of whom were ON a ship authorized excursion. It caused a big ruckus. There is no guarantee that the ship will wait for you even IF you go through the ship.

[2+3Cruisers]

So I received confirmation on our driver through Eduardo and our driver is George. I have gone back until last fall (I admit, not all 92 pages!) and see no mention of George. Has anyone had him as a driver? I also see that there are TEN ships in cozumel that day! EEK! Does anyone know if they just hire on extra drivers for busy days? Should I be concerned?

[LHP]

So I received confirmation on our driver through Eduardo and our driver is George. I have gone back until last fall (I admit, not all 92 pages!) and see no mention of George. Has anyone had him as a driver? I also see that there are TEN ships in cozumel that day! EEK! Does anyone know if they just hire on extra drivers for busy days? Should I be concerned?

 

We have been going to Cozumel for over 20 years and while 10 ships are a lot...back in the good ole days, that was an average number. So not to worry, you will be fine.

 

While I have never personally traveled with George, I have heard wonderful things about him. This does not surprise me, because I would have great faith in anyone that Eduardo uses.

 

Have a wonderful day in Cozumel. Don't forget to take lots of pictures of the EAST side....it is so cool over there!!!

 

Enjoy!

[agor75]

Has anyone ever had experience with Ismael as a driver? We just booked and I'm sure he will be great! Is there anywhere specifically we should make sure to stop that is a can't miss place? And lastly, does anyone know about how long it takes to get from the pier to the east side of the island or to circle the entire island? This is what we're thinking for our tour...we will be docked from 7am-5pm...we have a driver picking us up at the pier at 10:30 and then are going to chakanaab park to pick up 2 more people with our group at 11am...we would like to keep the tour around 3 hours maybe 4 at the most, and having them drop us off at paradise beach at the end, around 2pm, spending some time there and then taking a taxi back to the pier...does this sound do-able? Any tips? This is our first time hiring a driver and are unsure what we want to see.

[needsomesun]

I wanted to give an update on our Cozumel visit last week. Cozumel was the last port-of-call on our NCL Star cruise. We have been to the island several times, and have always just spent the day at one of the beach clubs. I’ve wanted to see the other side of the island, but am not interested in renting a car. I ran across this post, and decided to try it out.

 

We contacted Eduardo, and he responded quickly, telling us that we had been assigned Alberto as our driver/guide. We were not disappointed! Alberto was a wonderful host for us. He was knowledgeable and very informative, and he was very easy to talk with. He apologized for his English skills (he says he has only been speaking English for two years), but we had absolutely no problems. His English was very good! It was a different matter altogether when he had me try out my Spanish with him – that did not go so well! As previous posters mentioned, the first thing on Alberto’s agenda was to make sure he understood what we wanted to do for the day, and to give us some options when we were not sure. He seemed to quickly grasp the type of day we were looking for, and we had a great time with him.

 

I would not hesitate to recommend Eduardo’s services if you are looking for a driver, and I would highly recommend Alberto as your guide/driver/new friend. We can’t wait to go back (especially since we’re getting 6-10” of snow in Michigan today)!

 

I have a picture of Alberto with the two girls, but can't figure out how to put it in here. Any help?

[6pack]

We booked with Eduardo for a 4 hour tour with 6 other cruise critic members on Feb 16th. He certainly exceeded our expectations! Very knowledgeable, good English and extremely polite. As we were travelling in a large 9 passenger van one of the ladies at the rear was having difficulty hearing him due to the Air Conditioning noise. Eduardo quickly made a detour and arranged to pick up a mic which attached to his stereo! What service and it really allowed all of us to enjoy his interpretation along the route. At the end of our tour Eduardo dropped us off at a traditional Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed a terrific lunch! I would HIGHLY recommend Eduardo for an Island grand tour :)

 

If you see this note Eduardo, a BIG THANK YOU for your great service!

 

Atlantic Side of Cozumel was a highlight of our tour!

 

 

 

 

 

Dave & Brenda

Calgary, Alberta

[ULCajunCruiser]

I have a picture of Alberto with the two girls, but can't figure out how to put it in here. Any help?

 

 

Try this. When you reply to a post, if you scroll down to the bottom, past the area where you type, there should be a {Manage Attachments} button. You should be able to browse to the location of the picture and select it. At least thats what I think should happen ;) Good Luck!!!

 

I have Gerry reserved for our trip in June. Looking through this thread to get ideas on how to spend our day???

Edited February 25, 2012 by ULCajunCruiser
spelling

[Laughing Angel]

Or you can use the little paper clip icon located at the top of the message box. Click on the icon. A box should appear, prompting you to choose a file (photo) from your computer. Once you find the image you are looking for, select it, click the upload button, and that will attach the photo to your post.

 

Once you are done writing, click the "submit reply" button, and you should be successful (or click "preview post" to see what it will look like before you commit to it).

[Upshaw]

We booked with Eduardo for a 4 hour tour with 6 other cruise critic members on Feb 16th. He certainly exceeded our expectations! Very knowledgeable, good English and extremely polite. As we were travelling in a large 9 passenger van one of the ladies at the rear was having difficulty hearing him due to the Air Conditioning noise. Eduardo quickly made a detour and arranged to pick up a mic which attached to his stereo! What service and it really allowed all of us to enjoy his interpretation along the route. At the end of our tour Eduardo dropped us off at a traditional Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed a terrific lunch! I would HIGHLY recommend Eduardo for an Island grand tour :)

 

If you see this note Eduardo, a BIG THANK YOU for your great service!

 

Atlantic Side of Cozumel was a highlight of our tour!

 

 

 

 

 

Dave & Brenda

Calgary, Alberta

 

 

 

 

Has anyone been to the Tequila Factory ? I haven't seen anyone mention it in their island tours?

Wondering where it is, the cost and if its worth having the driver take us there?

Any info is appreciated.... thanks

[6pack]

We drove by it but decided not to go in. If I recall it's on the E-W road of the Island on the way to the Atlantic side of Cozumel.

[LHP]

Has anyone ever had experience with Ismael as a driver? We just booked and I'm sure he will be great! Is there anywhere specifically we should make sure to stop that is a can't miss place? And lastly, does anyone know about how long it takes to get from the pier to the east side of the island or to circle the entire island? This is what we're thinking for our tour...we will be docked from 7am-5pm...we have a driver picking us up at the pier at 10:30 and then are going to chakanaab park to pick up 2 more people with our group at 11am...we would like to keep the tour around 3 hours maybe 4 at the most, and having them drop us off at paradise beach at the end, around 2pm, spending some time there and then taking a taxi back to the pier...does this sound do-able? Any tips? This is our first time hiring a driver and are unsure what we want to see.

 

We have actually done almost the same thing.

 

10:30am is a good pick up time because most of the bars over on the East side don't open until around 11am.

 

We did a 3 hour tour that ended at Paradise Beach....spent some time there and then headed back to the ship on our own.

 

Of course everyone is different, but things we enjoyed was seeing Coconuts, Bob Marley etc over on the East side. That part of the island amazes me because the surf is so wild.

 

There are a couple of things on the Crossover road...a Tequila Museum and a small (and I mean small) set of ruins. Both are more educational than wowing... (and while not our thing) .... lots of folks had said they enjoyed it.

Both of these have entrance fees.

 

Enjoy!!

[newbiecruiser09]

I think we have decided to hire one of Eduardo's drivers for our day in Cozumel. Wanted to ask a few questions of those of you who have done so. Any guidance is greatly appreciated! :)

 

1) Ship is scheduled 8am-6pm. Still not sure if ship(Jewel in Dec 2012)time is local time or eastern time. Would booking a 9am pickup be too early? Thinking of doing a 9am-2 or 3pm tour time frame so we can be back on board and enjoy.

2) Here is what we think we want to do(in no particular order): San Gervaiso ruins, Punta Sur, Tequila Factory tour, Chocolate Factory tour, the "far side" of the island, and possibly some Rx and vanilla and souvenier shopping. Don't care about lounging on a beach and lunch couldbe anywhere they recommend. Question: Is this doable? too much? anything else we should see?

 

Never done a tour on our own and never an unstructured one so need lots of help. TIA :)

[6pack]

I think we have decided to hire one of Eduardo's drivers for our day in Cozumel. Wanted to ask a few questions of those of you who have done so. Any guidance is greatly appreciated! :)

 

1) Ship is scheduled 8am-6pm. Still not sure if ship(Jewel in Dec 2012)time is local time or eastern time. Would booking a 9am pickup be too early? Thinking of doing a 9am-2 or 3pm tour time frame so we can be back on board and enjoy.

2) Here is what we think we want to do(in no particular order): San Gervaiso ruins, Punta Sur, Tequila Factory tour, Chocolate Factory tour, the "far side" of the island, and possibly some Rx and vanilla and souvenier shopping. Don't care about lounging on a beach and lunch couldbe anywhere they recommend. Question: Is this doable? too much? anything else we should see?

 

Never done a tour on our own and never an unstructured one so need lots of help. TIA :)

 

You won't go wrong with Eduardo! We were VERY impressed and had a great tour with him. We prearranged to meet him at the pier at 830 and he was there

waiting for us! From my experience and based on your time you should be able to see all of this. He speaks very good english and is very knowledgable of the Island. He recommended a local restaurant where he dropped us off at the end of the tour. It cost us $7 to get back to the ship from where he dropped us off which was very reasonable.

 

Dave & Brenda

Calgary Alberta

[newbiecruiser09]

Thanks Dave & Brenda. How far in advance do you think we should book? Want to make sure we can secure this.