Shore Excurtions

[Engineroom0306]

Doing our first ever cruise to western carribean in Feb 2013 on Silloette, trying to find if you can walk to the towns from the ship at any of the port of calls or what tours to do to get the feeling of the place your in. Anyone have any advice. Thanks

[cruisestitch]

Welcome to Cruise Critic --

 

What are the ports of call?

[cb at sea]

Most ports, you can do that. A guidebook will tell you everything you need to know about your ports, then you can decide which things, if any, you want to do. Rarely is an excursion needed, if you have the info on the places you'll visit!

[Lsimon]

Most Caribbean ports we've been to have access to most area of interest via walking or taxi cab. If all we want to do is head to town for lunch and shopping or go to a beach, we just head out on our own and grab a cab. At some ports the main town area is right at the pier but in many it is a short cab ride away.

 

The only time we take excursions in the Caribbean is when we're looking for a day sail excursion, general "tour" or some other activity that is a bit more involved. Most of the time when we do these types of activity we book privately, although we also consider ship's excursions and have found some great ones. We've also taken excursions, both ship and private, when our point of interest is a good distance from the port. Examples of this are a rain forest tour in Costa Rica and a distant beach in St. Lucia. Also worth mentioning if your cruise includes Panama is that the immediate port area in Panama is not very nice so you'll do well to take a planned excursion there rather than setting out on your own to walk about.

 

You can get some specific info on your port stops if you list the ports here, or by looking through the port of call forums on Cruise Critic where they will probably be a separate forum for each of your port stops: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

[Engineroom0306]

Our ports of call are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica, Ladadee Haiti,

[fleckle]

Our ports of call are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica, Ladadee Haiti,

Here are links to the forums for your ports

 

Cozumel

 

Cayman Islands

 

Jamaica

 

Private Islands (for Labadee)

[Rosieo]

All are doable on your own or by booking an independent tour. I would never book a shore excursion through the cruise ship. I don't like being with a ton of people or paying the higher price.

 

We have been to Cozumel many times by cruise and just last April as a land trip and I highly recommend renting a jeep or car and driving around on your own. We love Cozumel!

[Lsimon]

Our ports of call are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica, Ladadee Haiti,

 

Cozumel: We usually take a cab to a beach there but have also booked snorkeling excursions through the ship for Palancar reef and it was a very nice trip. The main downtown area is a couple miles away from the pier Celebrity usually uses so you'll need to take a cab there.

 

Grand Cayman: You tender right into the downtown Georgetown area. There is shopping, restaurants, and some of the best snorkeling (Eden Rock) within walking distance. Seven mile beach is a cab ride away. More involved tours can be arraigned if you'd like through the cruise line, privately in advance (see suggestions and reviews on the port of call forum) or from a vender or cab driver at the tender dock. Be prepared for a bit of a crowd at the tender dock if there are more than one other ship in port.

 

Falmouth - never been

 

Labadee - this is a private beach area owned by Celebrity's affiliates. No excursion needed as the beaches are a short walk.