NCL Western Caribbean Question (Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Roatan)

[ajtraveler66]

Going to be on NCL Jewel in February (hopefully) out of New Orleans....Ports are Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Roatan.

 

I'm about to go crazy figuring out what to do. I want to see the Mayan ruins but don't really want to spend a whole day. Just want to get a taste of them.

 

Beyond that I want to hit some good beaches. I was going to do ship excursions only, but after reading the boards I'm thinking that we can venture out on our own a bit.

 

That being said, as you look at the whole picture....What beaches (beach clubs) are tops and need to be seen at the expense of the ruins. I would prefer the more quiet setting for the beaches, and alcoholic beverages are not a high priority.

 

Where would you fit in the Mayan ruins with the ports that are not yet scheduled with beach activities?

 

What other excursion might you throw in at the expense of ruins or beaches? Something we've maybe overlooked.

 

We're not into snorkeling, but might take a stab at it as a 'beginner'.

 

Shopping is a low priority.

 

Thanks.

[tdc2673]

We are leaving from NOLA Thanksgiving week on the Jewel. I have booked all of our excursions. I thought it might give you some idea of some things to do in the various ports. I did a lot of research before booking and each these received high marks.

 

Belize...Booked Cave Tubing with the .com company

 

Roatan...We are doing the zip line and beach through Victor Bodden.

 

Cozumel...We are doing Playa Mia, it is on the beach but also has a pool, water slides, and water toys. This one is mainly for my kiddos. I have done the ruins before and have also been to the national bark there, Paradise Beach, and Mr. Sanchos. This will be a new place to us but looks really nice.

 

Costa Mia...Mya Chan. This is an all inclusive resort with drinks and lunch included. They only allow a certain amount of reservations. Looks like a quite, relaxing place. This one is for me and DH. I believe they can also arrange a ruin tour. Seems like I read that somewhere. Maybe check their website?

 

Hope this helps. Whatever you decide to do I am sure you will have a blast!!!

[crewsweeper]

Like the other poster, in Belize, try cave-tubing.

 

There are tours/excursions-usually private ones--to just Altun Ha, north of Belize City that do not take all day, but will take you 4-5 hours total tour time. So you might want to look at those.

 

However, if all you want is a "taste" of the ruins, look at the San Gervasio ruins in Cozumel. These are abotu 1/2 hour-40 minutes from the cruise ship piers, smaller in nature, self guided so you can spend as little or as long there as you like. The ruins are sometimes poo-poo-ed on the Coz boards because of they are not as impressive as Maya ruins on the mainland. Nevertheless, they will serve your purpose well and still give you plenty of time to enjoy the beaches on Coz.

[ajtraveler66]

Thanks for the input. I was so disappointed that a continuing education cruise that's coming up was Western Caribbean instead of the St. Thomas area. But as I explore all of the possibilities of what we can do in the W. Caribbean I have become EXTREMELY excited about this cruise.

 

Looks like we're going to do the ruins in Cozumel (combined with some beach time)..... and we're going to venture out in Costa Maya to one of the beach clubs. Haven't decided which one, but Mya Chan is looking like a strong possibility.

 

Thanks again. No plans have been set in stone yet, so no telling what things will look like for us by the time we actually leave out of New Orleans in February.

 

Keep the comments coming. I'll be checking in from time to time.

[rmandmm]

We have two kids, so some of our decisions were based on that, but here's what we've chosen:

 

Belize: Our only NCL-affiliated excursion, Belize River and Belize Zoo (we'd do cave tubing if kids were older)

 

Roatan: Little French Key

 

Costa Maya: Almaplena

 

Cozumel: Jeep island and beach tour

 

Have a great time!

[thescot123]

Doing the same route and would recommend the following in each port.

 

Costa Maya - Tropicante in Mahahual

Roatan - Victor Bodden Tours either private mini bus or Fun n'Sun tour. Also Maya Key is nice place.

Belize - Caye Caulker, Mayan Ruins Lamanai

Cozumel - The Money Bar.

[Gymrat64]

We'll be on the same route with my 14yr old daughter:

 

Honduras: Little French Key

Belize: Cavetubing & Ziplining

Costa Maya: Maya Chan Beach

Cozumel: Shopping & exploring, nothing planned

 

I really am looking forward to this itinerary!! It's also our first Cruise!

[mitsugirly]

I have done this route several times. You can find my complete reviews with TONS of pictures in each port. If you have a lot of time on your hands and want a full detailed review about the places (just my opinion), then click on the corresponding links in my signature below. Let me know if you have any questions on any of the places. :)

[hitchcruisin]

We are leaving from NOLA Thanksgiving week on the Jewel. I have booked all of our excursions. I thought it might give you some idea of some things to do in the various ports. I did a lot of research before booking and each these received high marks.

 

Belize...Booked Cave Tubing with the .com company

 

Roatan...We are doing the zip line and beach through Victor Bodden.

 

Cozumel...We are doing Playa Mia, it is on the beach but also has a pool, water slides, and water toys. This one is mainly for my kiddos. I have done the ruins before and have also been to the national bark there, Paradise Beach, and Mr. Sanchos. This will be a new place to us but looks really nice.

 

Costa Mia...Mya Chan. This is an all inclusive resort with drinks and lunch included. They only allow a certain amount of reservations. Looks like a quite, relaxing place. This one is for me and DH. I believe they can also arrange a ruin tour. Seems like I read that somewhere. Maybe check their website?

 

Hope this helps. Whatever you decide to do I am sure you will have a blast!!!

 

 

hello are you on our roll call for this sailing? we are also going thanksgiving, just booked . go to roll calls , ncl, jewel, and look for the sail date and be aprt of our group

[mpcaruth]

We have this same itinerary booked for this upcoming January. Below is a list of what we plan to do at each port. We typically do not book excursions through the ship; however, we have $550 OBC, and since NCL will not allow us to use this for gratuities/service fees, we will book two excursions. Please note, we will have our 11 and 13 year olds with us.

Cozumel – Palancar snorkel and Playa Mia (NCL)

Roatan – Maya Key Private Island Retreat (NCL)

Costa Maya – private snorkeling and fishing excursion for just the four of us

Belize – Cave tubing and ATV combo

We have been to Cozumel in the past and visited Chankanaab Park and Paradise Beach. You can see my review of Paradise Beach beginning at post #11: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1347741

We have previously visited the Mayan Princess Resort on West Bay Beach in Roatan. The resort, snorkeling, and beach are amazing!!! I think Roatan is the best for a beach day!

We have been to Belize once and took the Altun Ha and Belize River tour. I really enjoyed this. The ruins are fairly large and you get to see wildlife and local homes along the river. There is also a stop at a small authentic restaurant along the river.

[realtorlady42]

We are sailing this itinerary with NCL in January

 

After a LOT of research we are doing the following:

 

Belize: Our only ship sponsered excurson. We are doing Lamana Ruins and River Safari. It is a full day but is like 3 excursions in one...city bus tour, river boat safari through the jungle and the ruins. Point if interest ..you can climb ruins in belize, you can not climb ruins in Mexico, so that may be a factor for you. This excursion consistently gets very high ratings.

 

Cozumel: Morning ATV Jungle tour with Island Marketing 2 hour tour no snorkeling ..also option for 4 hr tour with snorkeling.

Afternoon Chankanaab Eco Park excellent snorkeling which is why we chose not to do snorkeling with the ATV tour, as well as many other activities. Short taxi ride from the pier. Or if you do the ATV they will drop you off there on the way back...saves a taxi fair and time.

 

Roatan: Husband's birthday: Private Victor Bodden island tour...you tell them what kinds of things you are interested in and they will arrange it. We are visitng a couple of farms and a fishing village doing some snorkeling, and visiting a school and an orphanage and will be bringing school supplies for the school. Victor Bodden tours is a partner with an aid organization for cruisers and other tourists who want help. He is also arranging some birthday surprises for my husband so we will be celebrating island style

 

Costa Maya : Beach day at Almaplena Hubby is not a snorkeler I am so he will relax on the beach while I spend a few hours with the fish. max 20 people per day, all inclusive. Another birthday surprise planned for husband here.

 

We are spending 5 days in New Orleans prior to the cruise (departure port) so this is going to be an excellent 2 week holiday!

[Eliot Ness]

Those are my favorite ports and this is a sampling of what you might want to consider:

 

Belize: Cave Tubing is very popular and we had a great time; book with one of the independents that have good reviews on the Belize forum. We've done some good snorkeling here on a Goff's Caye tour that went straight from the cruise ship to the tiny island. This might be a place for you to consider a ruins tour. If your ship offers the Lamanai ruins tours like realtorlady42 mentioned that would great, but it is a long day. A shorter tour would be to the Altan Ha ruins which could be booked through an independent tour operator.

Costa Maya: This is another opportunity to do a ruins tour to Chacchoben. While we haven't been, folks rave about the tour given by David and Ivan. Depending on how long you are in port you might be able to squeeze in some beach time too. We just hang at the beach when in Costa Maya.

 

Cozumel: Our all time favorite excursion was the Tucan Sailing Adventure (Google it for details) and in November we are finally in port long enough to do it again and have it booked. Last year we did the Cozumel Bar Hop which was a lot of fun. It isn't a drunk fest like the name might imply, but it takes you to the uninhabited and very beautiful east side of the island that most people never see. You'll stop at 4 or 5 bars with beautiful beaches and each has a food and drink specialty they offer. Tulum are the only ruins we've been to here, and while they were impressive, it is quite a journey to get there and I'd only recommend doing it through the cruise line.

 

Roatan: We did horseback riding one year with El Rancho Barrio Dorcas and had a great time. We ended the ride at West Bay where you can dine, drink, and/or swim. The Victor Bodden tours also get very high reviews.

 

From my list and that of others you see there is a lot to choose from in the Western Caribbean.

[Poppet1964]

Roatan - Victor Bodden Fun-n-Sun

 

Belize - Want to take a tour of the Zoo, still deciding who to go with. Leaning toward a private tour.

 

Costa Maya - Alamaplena Beach Resort

 

Cozumel - Private tour with Tours Plaza (want to include the Chocolate Factory, Tequila Factory, shopping, etc)

 

Learned from my first cruise in Europe, greatly prefer making my own excursion arrangements and skipping the cruise ship excursions.

[foil7102]

Roatan - Victor Bodden private tour... only a few more bucks than hiring a cab to west bay beach.

 

Belize - Geoff Caye excursion

 

Costa Maya - Tropicante... Heard too many good things about this place, seems like a very nice guy from the e-mails when booking

 

Cozumel - Bar hop tour, very highly rated

[B&J_Pgh]

Since I really want to go tubing in Belize and it sounds like that's also one of the best zip lines, would zip lines in Cozumel be even a close second or third place? In other words, should I even bother?

 

One of the tour companies isn't doing the ziplining in in Costa Maya. That was on my bucket list! Does anyone know if Royal Carribbean is still doing it? On our next trip it will have been almost 3 years since last in Cozumel.

[B&J_Pgh]

thank you so much for posting your photos and advice. Much appreciated. Trying to figure out what to do with the whole family for my (husbands and my) fourth time in Cozumel. (I already know what I want to do the fifth time with husband).

[B&J_Pgh]

really appreciate your past posts! I know you have a life but would really help if you could post on your January cruise to Cozumel's Palancar and Playa Mia Beaches.

 

My husband and I are taking our kids there and it's our fourth time. Money is a HUGE issue as 3 of us are unemployed. We've been to Punta Sur and the east side of the Island but just don't know what the kids (ages 23, 19, 15) will enjoy.

 

Our other port is Grand Cayman which none of us have been to. Love any suggestions. Thank you.

 

Jenni

[mpcaruth]

Since I really want to go tubing in Belize and it sounds like that's also one of the best zip lines, would zip lines in Cozumel be even a close second or third place? In other words, should I even bother?

 

One of the tour companies isn't doing the ziplining in in Costa Maya. That was on my bucket list! Does anyone know if Royal Carribbean is still doing it? On our next trip it will have been almost 3 years since last in Cozumel.

 

The tour group we used in Belize for cavetubing.bz also has an add-on to include zip-lining. The combo cave-tubing/zipline excursion is $75 pp. You may want to look into that. (Go to their website, click on "Other tours", then "Cruise Tours" in the upper left menu.) Do to time constraints, I would guess that you would only do the big cave, and not do the extra cave. Most tours only do the one cave anyway.

[mpcaruth]

really appreciate your past posts! I know you have a life but would really help if you could post on your January cruise to Cozumel's Palancar and Playa Mia Beaches.

 

My husband and I are taking our kids there and it's our fourth time. Money is a HUGE issue as 3 of us are unemployed. We've been to Punta Sur and the east side of the Island but just don't know what the kids (ages 23, 19, 15) will enjoy.

 

Our other port is Grand Cayman which none of us have been to. Love any suggestions. Thank you.

 

Jenni

 

Jenni,

 

Thanks. Sorry, we ended up not doing the Palancar snorkel and Playa Mia excursion. Our shore excursion costs were getting pretty high, so I cut cost in Cozumel, and we went to Mr. Sanchos for the day. I believe you have seen my review of Paradise Beach in Cozumel (in my carnival Freedom to Panama review). That is a nice place, and relatively inexpensive: they just expect you to buy food and drinks. The pool there is wonderful. Honestly, I prefer Paradise Beach to Mr. Sanchos. My kids loved Paradise Beach!

 

Click on my link in my signature to see my review of our January NCL Jewel cruise. This will include what we actually ended up doing with our family of four:

• Cozumel – Mr. Sanchos (Pay as you go) (Total spent including taxi, food drinks & water toys: $115)
  
• Roatan – Maya Key Private Island Retreat (NCL) (Free - we had free OBC, but the excursion cost was $220)
  
• Costa Maya – private snorkeling and fishing excursion for just the four of us ($200 excursion & less than $20 for taxi)
  
• Belize – Cave tubing only (Cost $180, and included lunch and rum punch)
  

 

Also, Mitsugirly's signature contains links to her shore excursions. I believe she recently went to Playa Mia. I think Play Mia will be significantly more expensive than Mr. Sanchos or Paradise Beach.

 

Grand Cayman can easily be one of your cheaper days. Take a Taxi to 7 mile Beach. If you want more adventure and to spend more money, you could book a private excursion to Sting Ray City. We did this a few years ago and the excursion also included snorkeling.

 

Beach days are good to keep costs down. I always splurge on 1-2 excursions, and then go with a beach day for the other ports.

 

Have fun planning.

[B&J_Pgh]

thanks so much!!!

[B&J_Pgh]

have you ever been to Chankanabb? I know it'll run us more money but maybe more palitable for our son, 19 years, since we would be walking Grand Cayman 7-mile stretch the day before. Comments?

[B&J_Pgh]

in 2011 we went on a Royal Carribean excursion via the back of a Harley Davidson which one of the stops were to the Cedral. I don't know if anyone goes just there?? Since we weren't that interested in Mayan ruins we thought the stop was just PERFECT. So glad we did. Really felt like a real-life town that people lived in today. It appears to be central of the Island and took about 20 minutes to get to. Just and idea for you.

 

I could post some pictures if you'd like. I never tire of Cozumel. We'll be there in December for our fourth time and there's no end in site. (Have an additional two more trips planned).

[mpcaruth]

have you ever been to Chankanabb? I know it'll run us more money but maybe more palitable for our son, 19 years, since we would be walking Grand Cayman 7-mile stretch the day before. Comments?

 

Yes, we have been to Chankanaab. It was nice. If you really want to snorkel, then this is the place for your family. But if you want a nice beach day with drinks and food being served to you on a nice sandy beach, then skip this one. I would not pay the entrance fee at Chankanaab if I was looking for a beach day.

 

Not knowing what your 19 year old like to do... Might I suggest you go to Mr. Sanchos or Paradise Beach and use the savings from the Chankanaab entrance fee and let your 19 year rent a jet ski. If I were still 19, that would be AWESOME! Heck, I still love to jet ski.

[anonmom]

Glad I found this thread using the search! My January 2016 cruise on the Jade only stops at Cozumel, Belize City and Roatan, so I never would have looked on this board, but there are tons of good suggestions here!

[blue_water]

Going to be on NCL Jewel in February (hopefully) out of New Orleans....Ports are Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Roatan.

 

I'm about to go crazy figuring out what to do. I want to see the Mayan ruins but don't really want to spend a whole day. Just want to get a taste of them.

 

Beyond that I want to hit some good beaches. I was going to do ship excursions only, but after reading the boards I'm thinking that we can venture out on our own a bit.

 

That being said, as you look at the whole picture....What beaches (beach clubs) are tops and need to be seen at the expense of the ruins. I would prefer the more quiet setting for the beaches, and alcoholic beverages are not a high priority.

 

Where would you fit in the Mayan ruins with the ports that are not yet scheduled with beach activities?

 

What other excursion might you throw in at the expense of ruins or beaches? Something we've maybe overlooked.

 

We're not into snorkeling, but might take a stab at it as a 'beginner'.

 

Shopping is a low priority.

 

Thanks.

Mayan ruins either Coz or Belize, for the best consider a full day on the mainland (Yucatan). Coz also has the most amazing beaches and snorkeling a short taxi from port, we'd choose a quieter spot over a beach club but that's us. The drivers can help there. If you get a lot of recommendations on these octal forums it's probably too busy. Avoid San Miguel on Coz if not interested in shopping, just head for a beach or rent a car from ISIS and hit several beaches.

 

For a gorgeous beach i(and easy beginner snorkeling) on Belize, Goff's Caye is a great choice. We enjoyed a self-excursion to Caye Caulker via water taxi. Great day relaxing at the Lazy Lizard with the amazing views.