CaribQween

My husband and I absolutely love the "true aft" cabins. It's actually the only thing we've ever booked. But if we were not getting a "true aft", I would absolutely consider whether I would want to be in the rear of the ship due to the long walk you have back and forth to the elevators to get anywhere else on the ship. It's just not a quick walk back to your cabin from anywhere. On one cruise, they would disembark at each port through a forward gangway and the ship was turned so we had to walk all the way back past the aft to get into the terminal. It was a very long walk each way and we were just pooped after touring all day. It's just something to consider if booking for someone else or if you've never sailed before.

This really is just a very touching thread. It's really nice that people are interested in walking back to the graves to pay their respects (and of course there is the curiousity aspect, too). I used to be scared of cemeteries and now they just give me a peaceful feeling. I love to read the headstones and think about how old the people were when they passed and then say a little prayer for them. It would be nice to think that someday some strangers might stand over your grave and pay their respects when they don't even know you. I'm definitely going to try to check these out when we're there in April. My husband and I were just there at Thanksgiving and Princess Cays was just wonderful. We never thought we'd enjoy the private island so we didn't leave a lot of time for spending over there, but we both loved it and can't wait to go back. We'll definitely save a little extra time for a stroll. Safe sailing everyone!!

We rented a Jeep last week in Cozumel at the Puerta Maya pier. At Avis I was quoted $93 USD with full insurance and right as I was about to walk out the door they dropped it to $80 USD. I decided to bite on that although now I wonder what Alamo would have charged (which is literally right next door).

 

Either way, a rental is an excellent way to experience the island. We stopped at San Gervasio, Punta Sur, the downtown, and a few other scenic places along the east coast of the island during the time we had.

Could you tell us if the jeep you had was manual transmission or automatic? Unfortunately, we need an automatic, which is a little harder to find so quite a bit more expensive. The one we have reserved with Avis is an auto and is $110 ($89 plus taxes) but that is without insurance. I think the full insurance would be another $25 or so. Even though our own personal car insurance would fully cover anything that might happen, I would much rather have the insurance there that would ensure us to get back to the ship on time just in case something did happen. It would be worth the extra just to have peace of mind for the day.

We've never been to Cozumel so we were initally a little leary of touring the island on our own. But, there were so many recommendations on here for doing it, that we decided to give it a try. From all of the posts, it seems like there is just one road that pretty much circles the entire island so it doesn't seem very difficult to follow.

Some of the places we've been planning on stopping are downtown (San Miguel), Punta Sur (El Celerain Lighthouse), Coconuts on the Hill (for the view), El Mirador bluffs, San Gervasio and El Cedral. We've been trying to find any good recommendations for lunch also. But, if you have any must-see spots or must-miss ones either, please let us know.

The maps we have don't really show much of what is in the northern portion of the island except for lagoons and such. Would you happen to know if there is much up there to see? It's hard to see how far north the main road you follow around the island really goes. Any help here would be appreciated also.

Thank you. We will be coming in on the international Pier, does that sound right? I've done some looking on the internet for reserving a jeep, but not doing real well :(

The International Pier is one of the 3 piers there in Cozumel. It just depends on what cruiseline or ship you'll be on. Punta Langosta is the main pier and it is closest to downtown. Then there is the TMM International Pier a few miles south of that. Then about 1/4 mile south of the International Pier is the Puerta Maya Pier. Both the International Pier and Puerta Maya are two-berth piers. Many times, the International Pier is used for overflow if the Punta Langosta pier has too many ships scheduled. I believe that the TMM International Pier is owned by RCCL. Puerta Maya is used mainly by Carnival and Princess.

The car rental companies at the Punta Langosta Pier are Alamo, Budget and Executive. At the International Pier are Alamo, Avis, Executive, EZ, Dollar, Fiesta, and Hertz. Just outside of that pier are Budget and Caribena car and scooter rental. At the Puerta Maya Pier are Alamo, Avis, Executive and Specialty (buggies).

We were looking to rent a jeep also. Many of the rental companies had jeeps with manual transmission and no AC which were not too expensive. However, we needed an automatic transmission. Some of them have the new Jeep Wrangler 3-door which has a removable top (which has auto transmission and AC). Those are about $110 (including taxes but without insurance). But, you really should call directly to that location to find out if they actually do have the vehicle you're looking for even if the website says they do. We found that Avis had them (at the Puerta Maya location), but Alamo did not even though their website showed it as available. If you're looking for a manual transmission, you should have an easier time finding one. Good Luck :).

Question. Were you able to reserve online prior to getting off the ship? AND....how far away from where the piers are do you have to walk to get there?

There are several car rental places by each pier. If you know what pier you'll be docking at, then you can see what car rental places are near by. We'll be on Carnival which uses the Puerta Maya pier. There is an Avis and Alamo right at that pier and you can make reservations online for both. However, you might want to call ahead and talk to the location directly (not the 1-800 reservation line) to see exactly what vehicles they actually have to offer. We first checked Alamo and even though the website showed they had what we were looking for, when I called they said they didn't have that vehicle. But he said they were getting some new vehicles and to call back a couple of weeks before our cruise. When I called the Avis location at the pier, he said they did have what we wanted and to just reserve online, which is what we did.

Also, on a different thread, someone recommended a site for ordering maps for Cozumel for only $10. We ordered them and they are really very nice. You get two of them and they give you all sorts of info on car rentals, restaurants, shopping, siteseeing, etc. I was really pleasantly surprised at how much info they provided. It was a great deal. The website was www.cancunmap.com.