Caribbean cruise tips and info please!

We are on the Thomson dream cruise and sailing around the Caribbean for 14 night on 22nd December. We would like any tips as we have never been on a cruise before. Also, if you have been to any of these ports then please give me information on what to do there:

Montego Bay, Cozumel, George Town, playa Del Carmen, Costa maya.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!

We are on the Thomson dream cruise and sailing around the Caribbean for 14 night on 22nd December. We would like any tips as we have never been on a cruise before. Also, if you have been to any of these ports then please give me information on what to do there:

Montego Bay, Cozumel, George Town, playa Del Carmen, Costa maya.

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!

Here is the Thomson forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=497

Check out the ports of call forum for your ports. Lots of information there. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

Check out the ports of call forum for your ports. Lots of information there. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Cruising! :D

Please do check out the Ports of Call forum under each of your port stops. There is so much information and many suggestions you would enjoy reading there!

Have a GREAT first cruise! :)

LuLu

Get guidebooks on your ports. The more you know about where you're going, the better time you'll have! After you read up on your ports, and decide what interests you, these boards will give you good info on HOW to do those things!

you defintely want to find your roll call and chat there.

For each roll call, you will find 10 % are "leaders".

These are the ones that will plan private tours.

If you like what they have plans, join the group.

You will have a good time.

What a roll call? I'm cruising on the Thomson dream. I'm not sure if they have a roll call?

We are on the Thomson dream cruise and sailing around the Caribbean for 14 night on 22nd December. We would like any tips as we have never been on a cruise before. Also, if you have been to any of these ports then please give me information on what to do there:

 

Montego Bay, Cozumel, George Town, playa Del Carmen, Costa maya.

 

 

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!

Georgetown, Cayman - swim with the sting rays at Sting Ray City - use a ship's excursion or book a private one

Cozumel- good beach day; there are a number of all-inclusive resorts that can be reached by taxi, but they need to be booked in advance - Nachi Cocom is one, Mr. Sanchos is another. Check them out on line

What a roll call? I'm cruising on the Thomson dream. I'm not sure if they have a roll call?

On Cruise Critic's home page, scroll down to Roll Calls and click, then scroll down to Thompson and click. Then find your particular cruise. That will be a message board for people who will be on your cruise.

Okay cool! I don't go onto the ship until 22nd December. Will it still be on it yet?

Okay cool! I don't go onto the ship until 22nd December. Will it still be on it yet?

I'm sure there will be a roll call, I have already seen roll calls for 2017 cruises!

Guide book ,Roll call and keep coming back to Cruise Critic with any questions. lots of knowledgable cruisers here.

Hi, & welcome,

I see you've started a RollCall for your cruise.

Sadly we Brits aren't heavily into RollCalls so don't expect much response - but we did fix up a shared excursion at Cartagena on a similar itinerary on Thomson Dream last year. :)

Your ports:

Christianity in the Caribbean is much stronger than in the UK etc, so expect some gaps & limitations because of Christmas - particularly Christmas Day & Boxing Day.

Mo'Bay, Jamaica. Surprisingly short of taxis & vans (minibuses) at the port, due to tight security. Best to pre-book.

For our mid-cruise day there, via the internet we booked seat-in-bus for climbing Dunns River Falls & river-tubing on the White River. We also spent about 20 minutes in Ocho Rios market (20 mins is plenty, there's a lot of hustling for sales). It's quite a distance, about 90 minutes, but not desperately expensive. You will need a pair of water shoes to climb the Falls - they're incredibly grippy & without them you'll probably be refused permission to climb for your own safety. You can buy a cheap pair (about $10) at the Falls - we bought en-route for same money at an excellent coffee-stop at Discovery Bay.

For our final day we took ship's morning excursion (unusual for us, we tend to avoid ships' tours) rafting on the Martha Brae. Also excellent. Being our fly-home day it was safer to book through the ship than to fix up independently.

You've only quoted a few ports - is this a one-week cruise & a one-week stay in Mo' Bay?

Mo' Bay is very limited. If you want to get the best out of Jamaica - even with all-inclusive - consider renting a car. Those places I mentioned can be done more freely & economically with a car.

And take an evening boat ride on Glistening Waters near Falmouth, about half an hour from Mo' Bay. Luminescent organisms, an amazing experience. Take your swim gear, you can get out of the boat & wade amongst. And take an empty coke bottle, to amaze the folk back at the hotel - though by morning they'll be dead.****

Can't be done on a cruise visit cos it has to be dark (from about 6pm)

http://www.visitjamaica.com/glistening-waters

Georgetown, Grand Caymen.

As panorama's post, swimming with stingrays - a unique experience & inexpensive. There will be touts at the pier. They bus you to their boat, then out about a mile into the bay where there's a sandbank (knee-high to waist-high depending on the tide. Called "Stingray City", which gives the false impression that it's a managed water-park - it isn't, these are free-roaming ocean stingrays. Dozens of them, up to about 6ft long, & you wade amongst them. Take snorkelling masks if you have, though not essential.

Plenty of shops & bars outside the port to while away some lazy time at the end of your day.

Cozumel.

Not been there, it's an island with ferries to Playa del Carmen. Since you're calling at PdelC anyway, stay on the island.

Playa del Carmen.

The best-known Mayan ruins are at Chichen Itza, but it's over 2 hours away.

Consider Tulum, under an hour away & similar ruins though less spectacular.

Or Xel-ha. A natural waterpark though greatly commercialised. It's a little closer to PdelC. Either can be done on-spec at the pier, but if you want to do both it's best to take the ship's offering.

If you post any other questions about the ship or the cruise, call the ship "Thomson Dream". There are a couple of US ships called Dream so you could get inaccurate responses.

JB :)

**** the organisms, not the hotel guests :D

I would definitely do a ships tour in Jamaica it's can be a bit daunting if your not used to it. In Playa Del Carmen you can go across to Cozumel or just enjoy the tourist area shopping and a few bars and restaurants, we did it on our own quite easily. We've not been to Grand Caymen so can't help with that one but there will be plenty of help on here. We did the Dream 2 years ago and have booked for next year I'm sure you will have a great time.

The internet is your friend! I usually don't buy guidebooks any more. Google the name of each port, and you will probably find official web pages for most, with lots of good info about highlights, things to do, history, and so on.

Trip Advisor is a gold mine. The main site provides good overviews of most places. But dig farther on Trip Advisor: look at the tabs on the right near the top, and find one called "More". On the drop-down menu, choose "Travel Forums." Pick the region of the world, then the country, then the specific place. This gets you into the discussion forums, where real people ask and answer questions about the place. There are also "Destination Experts" who know these places very well. Trip Advisor allows posters to recommend or comment on tour providers. Ask a specific question on TA and you'll probably have a very informed answer within a few hours. Also, delve into the Ports section here on CC. Again, for any question you have, someone will have an answer.

You have lots of time to research your ports. Start your engine!!!

'youtube' is also a good source of information and some quite spectacular videos

Cozumel is somewhere that you can just wander around

I like to start my research with a trip to the public library to borrow some guidebooks. If I like any, I'll try to buy one or two of the latest edition. You'll find many tourism sites for every port by googling (also if you go on google maps, you can usually figure out how close the pier is to some attractions).

On our last cruise we were in a port on Christmas Day. Fortunately one place I haven't been to there (on previous cruises and a land tour) was actually going to be open (I asked on their Facebook page). The beach right outside was, of course, open. So if you can't find places open, but there's a nice beach, consider that for your port time.

Hi-

One of the first decisions to make is whether you want to take an excursion (costs extra--they range from $40-$150 or so a person) or wander around the port. I can comment on three of your ports--Cozumel, George Town and Costa Maya:

* Cozumel--the ship docks a distance from town (you'd need to cab it; we've walked and it's quite far, especially in the heat), but the port area has quite a lot of shopping, as well as opportunities for a massage, restaurants and bars. You can easily spend hours here (we did!) buying knickknacks (inexpensive!), silver (more $), onyx and other Mexican souvenirs.

* George Town--it's a very walkable town; you can stroll along the waterfront, go into shops, visit the little fish market on the beach, or eat and drink in any number of places.

* Costa Maya--like Cozumel, the pier area has shops, restaurants, etc., as well as a very nice, large pool

You'll have a great time, no matter what you do. Hope this helped a bit. - Musing About Cruising

Cozumel-there are three piers, so who knows how far you will be from town-my DH (darling husband) and I do a day pass at El Cid. Take a cab to El Cid and the resort costs about 25.00 American dollars, 10 of which they put back on your meal tab. Great snorkeling.

Grand Cayman-while a beach may belong to a person or hotel, entry to the water does not. One pier, and you will tender in, (they do a boat taxi to the pier) the first time we went we did the submarine, this was fantastic. and we had free time to wander the town ( I am not a shopper) we did visit the museum, and went back to the ship after a little window shopping.

The second time we got ashore, turned right and walked a few blocks til we saw a dive shop/center, and paid absolutely nothing to snorkel our day away there. Don Fosters dive shop, and they were wonderful. The hubby and a roll call friend rented flippers, I just wore my beach shoes in. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.