Claudia Joy Posted August 6, 2009 #1 Share Posted August 6, 2009 :DThis is my families first time on a cruise. We are very excited :p. I have so many questions and I hope I can find someone who can tell me about the excursions in detail... any information will be helpful. Our cruise ports at Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. We are certain that we want to do a dolphin encounter and snorkel. Does anyone know of the best place to do those? My youngest will be two months shy of eight years old when we go on the cruise and alot of excursions say must be eight years old. Does anyone know how strict the excursions are on this? I would also like some time to spend at the beach and to go shopping. Is it best to do an excursion for that or can we go on our own. I don't want to spend money on an excursion, just to spend time at the beach. Does anyone know if the ship ports near the beach at any of those locations? When the ship ports are you allowed on and off at your leisure? Any and all information is greatly appreciated. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted August 6, 2009 #2 Share Posted August 6, 2009 GC is a great place to do the beach on your own. All of the beaches are public and have food/drink places, chair and umbrella rentals, watersport equip. rentals, bathrooms....just an easy bus/cab ride from the port. You should get a guidebook to read on the ports you'll be visiting....tons of info about what there is in each place, how to get there, what it will cost.....everything that will put you a step ahead of the game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudia Joy Posted August 6, 2009 Author #3 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Thank you. Can you tell me if you snorkel off the shore or do you have to get on a boat and go to another location? My daughter will only commit to snorkeling if we are not in the middle of the ocean. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted August 6, 2009 #4 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Here is a link to CruiseCritic "Ports" boards. Hopefully this will direct you to the Caribbean where there are lots of people posting information that will be helpful to you. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucy2mb Posted August 7, 2009 #5 Share Posted August 7, 2009 First of all those are my favorite ports. We were on the Valor last summer and went to all those ports. For our youngest daughter's graduation present, she wanted to swim with the dolphins. You can book through the ship for Chankanaab Park but it will cost you ALOT more. Go to www.dolphindiscovery.com which is the site for Chankanaab Park and you can save alot of money booking it on your own. You will just take a taxi from the port. There is a toll free number for you to call. Make sure you choose a time that will guarantee you enough time to get there. You can tell the people when you call what time your ship arrives and they can help you choose a time. We chose early morning so we would have the rest of the day free to do other things. Unfortunately, we got to the Park an hour earlier because Cozumel time isn't the same as ship time. We saved about $70 booking it ourself. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck eh? Posted August 7, 2009 #6 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I second the dolphins in Cozumel. Did it a couple of years ago and booked directly also. There was also snorkeling there. Great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucy2mb Posted August 7, 2009 #7 Share Posted August 7, 2009 We have been to Tabyana Beach in Roatan two times. It is a beautiful beach. We booked through the ship. We were told the price would be the same as getting transportation there on our own-I never did check it out to make sure. Seems like it takes about 20 minutes from the port-not sure of that. You may want to ask that question on the boards for Roatan. The last time we went to Belize, we used www.coralbreezetours.com and did the Bannister Beach Break. You can add the snorkeling to that excursion. Good prices and nice people. The first time we went to Belize, we went to the Belize zoo. We did the zoo on our own and saved $100 for our family of 5. I would suggest going to the beach instead of the zoo though-I love seeing the beautiful water. You can take a bus to 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman. We have been to Grand Cayman about 5 times. We usually just walk around downtown and don't spend much money at this port. It is beautiful but not our favorite port. In Cozumel, our children love to go to Playa Mia Beach. You can save alot of money by just getting a taxi when you get off the ship and doing this excursion on your own. There are alot of "water toys" there. I hope this will help. I know you will have a wonderful time!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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