Costa Maya-Splendour 01.15.05 Review

[lostinplace]

Costa Maya-We booked the Chacchoben trip for three of us through the ship. We got off, walked to the port area, and were guided to nice buses. The seats were comfortable, the AC worked, and I could snooze a little. The trip to the ruins reminded me of Alligator Alley in southern Florida: flat and straight. The ruins themselves were pretty impressive and worth the trip. You could climb up the first few steps, but not to the top. Our guide was great and answered all our questions. The shops there seemed very expensive and they aren’t in a haggling mood. We returned after two hours at the sight. We then took the ‘bus’ to Mahahual-a zebra striped truck thing. We decided to try Tapas as I’d heard good stuff about it. We sat upstairs as it was pretty windy and we didn’t want to eat sand. Service was pretty slow. It took us an hour to get our food. The waiter did apologize and brought us free guacamole. :) The food was very good (my wife had garlic conch, and I had fish tacos), and if it hadn’t been so windy, we probably wouldn’t have minded the wait so much. The waiter said the gas was out so that was the delay. Let me stress: good food, and I suspect our long wait was a fluke. We then went across the street to El Faro for a couple of Coco Locos (our tour guide recommended them). They take a coconut, make it into a cup, and mix the contents with rum, more rum, and something else. Pretty tasty. We then took a taxi ($2 ea) back to the port and poked around for a while before going back to the ship. My parents enjoyed the port area right off the pier and saw a show.

[rxphilip]

Thanks for review. I am trying to decide whether to go on ships excursion vs a smaller local tour guide. In regards to your ship excursion. How many people went on it and at the ruins did everyone have same guide or did you split up. I am trying to avoid a "tour with the masses" where you are horded from place to place and can not understand what the guide is saying. What is your perception?

[lostinplace]

There were probably 40 people on our bus, and we stuck with one guide. It was easy enough to stay close to her, as the group seemed to straggle along. After the official tour, we had about 30 minutes to poke around on our own (more than enough time to take pictures, look at things again, or sit and enjoy the surroundings). They did a good job of keeping the groups from ending up at the same place at the same time.

[LeLe127]

I was at Costa Maya/Majahual on 1/20/05, but never got around to posting a review. We took our own tour to the ruins at Chacchoben by going to the booth at the pier near where all the buses are. It was $45 per person and we rode in a nice, air-conditioned van with about 9 people total (including the driver). We hired a 'personal guide' for the 4 of us at $10 per person when we got there at the booth right at the entrance. It was well worth it as he spoke very good English and was very knowledgable of the Mayan history and these particular ruins, as well as had comparisons to other ruin sites. We did have to hurry somewhat, as our van driver said we had one hour. We took a little more than an hour and he was still there patiently waiting for us. It really was enough time though, unless you like lingering around for a while..we were anxious to get back so we could visit Majahaul. We quickly found Tapas, and Emil showed us to a table on the beach. The food was wonderful as we had heard, especially the guacamole...absolutely out of this world!! The service was very fast and friendly. We were close to the massage tables, and the nice ladies eventually convinced 2 of us that we needed a massage, hehe. Well, let me tell you it was well worth it. We did not want the 30 minute massage, so they did 20 minutes for $10 each. The beach is very nice at Majahual. I wandered out into the water but did not have my snorkel and mask with me. Two guys out there were seeing some pretty fish and some kind of ray right near the shore. One of them loaned me his mask to look in the water..(so nice!) and I saw the cutest little ray digging into the sand! Overall, the visit to Costa Maya was a very enjoyable experience, after being extremely disappointed that we did not go to Grand Cayman.

[LKitt82566]

In enjoyed your review but wondered why you did not get to go to the Grand Cayman? Was the wheather bad? Where you on the Splendour?

 

Linda

[lostinplace]

In enjoyed your review but wondered why you did not get to go to the Grand Cayman? Was the wheather bad? Where you on the Splendour?

 

Linda

 

Linda-

I can't speak for LeLe, but we were scheduled to stop at Grand Cayman on Monday, Jan. 17th (on the Splendour). The seas were very rough (8-13 foot waves). We did stop for one hour to pick-up luggage that didn't make it on at Tampa. That day and evening the seas were still rough. I've only done three Caribbean cruises, but this was by far the roughest seas I've been in (and the crew commented that it can get much worse).

 

Made for quiet lunch and dinner in the dining room. ;)

[Webbie]

There are several options for ruin tours in Costa Maya (Mahahual) other then that offered on the ship. Dock van as mentioned before, dock cars for a little more money for small groups. In the town of Mahahual there are local taxis that take groups of up to four for a better rate the dock, as well as car rentals both with or with out drives.

 

I hope this info helps out.

 

Webbie

Mahahual, Mexico

[LeLe127]

In enjoyed your review but wondered why you did not get to go to the Grand Cayman? Was the wheather bad? Where you on the Splendour?

 

Linda

 

I was on the Rhapsody, and this ship has not been back to Grand Cayman since the hurricane. Apparently they are still limiting the number of ships allowed to Grand Cayman. I had heard Rhapsody would be allowed back in January, but it didn't happen. The weather was beautiful after we got out of the Gulf of Mexico (a cold front had come through).

[CAC104]

I am an avid snorkeler and have all my own equipment. Are there any good beach places to snorkel that anyone can direct me to. Also, did anyone hear about the ship's snorkel dive excursions, or any private companies in that port?

[Bearded Oyster]

Try Blue Ha. They do snorkeling trips and are run by great people.

 

http://www.bluehadiving .com

[tshupp]

I am an avid snorkeler and have all my own equipment. Are there any good beach places to snorkel that anyone can direct me to. Also, did anyone hear about the ship's snorkel dive excursions, or any private companies in that port?

Hi, there I can answer part of your question I haven't been to costa maya

yet but are due there the first part of april on a cruise aboard carnivals Valor

any way I booked a boat snorkel with http://www.costamayacruiseexcursions.com/CostaMayaSnorkeling.htm

On their site they offer live chat which I did and they answered all my questions Its just a 20% deposit via cc and then you pay the rest when you get there if For some reason your ship doesn't make it into port They refund your deposit it was $25 per person and it looks like a nice little boat

they only take up to 16 persons I liked the smaller more personal service

as opposed to the cattle cars the ships tend to use I believe you can book

boat snorkels at the cruise ship pier or in the town of Mahaual for only

$20 pp but I liked the look of this newer looking boat (its the one on the web page as I asked during the live chat) it also cost 3pp to get into town where

the excursion starts but they will meet you at the fountain at the cruise ship pier and escourt you to a waiting taxi. which will take to you the dock where the snorkel boat is they send you a map of the pier and show you right where to meet them it looks very easy. We are doing the very first snorkel of the morining because we wanted plenty of time when we got back to Mauhaul

to lounge by the beach and drink pina coladas and get some wonderful mexican food and do some haggling with the shopkeepers before paying

our $2 pp to take a taxi back to the ship. I know I am paying $5 more pp

for the snorkel excursion but I am hoping if its truly terrific snorkeling they will give me a discount to maybe go out on the boat again as long as there is room. I think we would still have plenty of time in town as we are in port for 10 hours. hope this helps..Theresa

[CAC104]

I will be hoping you can post your adventure with this group before I leave for my cruise on the 23rd. There are two groups that do the snorkel tours, the one you booked with, and BlueHa. We are trying to decide which one to book!