Dream Tender to Garrafon Park

[jetcruisers]

I've been searching for a definite answer to this question and still haven't found out for sure. We are thinking of going to Garrafon Park and would like to know if we can use the tender from the Dream directly to the park if we don't buy the ship's excursion, or do we have to tender into town and back out to Garrafon. Does NCL sell separate tender tickets? I went to the Garrafon website and it only costs $36.00 for the exact same inclusions as the ship's excursion PLUS you get a buffet included. NCL charges $59.00 and does not include food.

You can buy the buffet at the park for $18.00 per person. So after doing the math for three people including food, if we get to the park on our own it would save us $123.00 (Of course we would have to add in the cost of the ferry. )

Anyway, if anyone knows if the ship's ferry is solely for the NCL excursion people it would be helpful in making our decision as whether to save money or alot of time. Thanks for your help, Eileen

[cliffd64]

Any transportation arranged for an excursion requires that you actually have a ticket for that particular excursion. So , if you wanted to play "beat the price", you most likely will have to take a normal tender to shore and then hop a ferry to the park. Be advised that this is all at your own risk of being left behind if you lose track of time.

 

Certainly you can save money, but at the cost of sacrificing the peace of mind tht comes with knowing you cannot be left behind if something unexpected happens. :)

 

Good luck to you :)

[kidfanz]

check out islamujeresonlin.com. There is info on transportation though it is confusing to me. Express shuttle from Puerto Juarez ( where I believe the ships tender docks) to Isla Mujeres is a 15 min boat ride for $4.00. It says it leaves every 30 min, but the advertisement above says every hour on the dot. Then I am not sure just how close where you are dropped off is to Garrafon park. Timing plays a big part as you are not in port very long and factor subtracting the tender times and possibly waiting even longer without a ships excursion booked. I find this to be a form of piracy by the ships. They are obviously making a ton of money on shore excursions. Just about anything you would want to do, can be done for a lot less on your own. We are a family of 6 and all of this is very cost prohibitive. I am researching every port we are in and trying to see if we can do it on our own. It's not easy. Good Luck to you

[jetcruisers]

To Cliff64, You say"Most likely you will have to take a tender to shore and then a tender to the park". My question was to anyone out there that knows for sure . This is going to be my 19th cruise and I'm well aware of all that goes along with going it on your own when in port. So if there's anyone out there that knows the answer to my question, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks, Eileen

[jetcruisers]

Didn't mean to ignore you "Kidfanz", We've been researching every port, too.

You know when travelling with kids,every little bit helps. Thanks for your input, and good luck to you,too. Only 5 more days and counting!

Eileen