Amazing Cozumel Race

[Gator92]

We just signed up to do this race in April. Very excited!!

[PCWalton1]

We did this last March as a group of four all over 50 and had a great time. There were all ages as you can see from the first picture the winners. We ended up in the middle of the pack. :)

 

It is one of those excursions where it is better if more ships are in so you get more teams. We had only two teams from our ship but with about six ships in there were 20 teams.

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2014 by PCWalton1

[PCWalton1]

We have booked this and we are sooooo exited. Did you have time to visit a beach after the race was completed? I would love to take the kids over to Paradise Beach but worried about time.

 

 

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Well it takes a while (2 1/2 -3 hours) to complete plus you want to enjoy downtime at the restaurant after for the awards so it will be well past 1 before you finish or even later. Your ship probably leaves about 5 so you need to be back on board NLT 4:30. With the time it takes for the taxi ride down to the beach and back you won't get much of a stop at the beach. Up to you. :)

[Gunters Oma]

Great excursion! Our guides, Erika and Alonso, were excellent. They made the race even more enjoyable!

 

We are an older couple and before the race started we thought we would probably be last. Wrong, we were 5th! Okay, so there were only 6 teams! but as far as we were concerned we were the winners! Some teams were truly racing and others, while racing, were going at a slower pace.

 

All the folks involved directly or indirectly make you feel special. They are helpful. The clues are interesting, you will learn things about Cozumel. They are not super easy, but also not so difficult you want to give up.

 

You do a lot of walking, but it is broken up with things to see and do (not giving anything away here.) We are seniors and we were not exhausted! It took us 2 hours, 3 minutes...just the actual race part. The winner's time was 1 hour, 55 minutes. You can add another 1/2 to 1 hour for drinks and the awards ceremony. We met at 10:30 (Cozumel time) and returned to the ship at 2:45 (Cozumel time). That’s 11:30 and 3:45 ship’s time.

 

We were on Celebrity and they did not offer this. I went through “Race” website. The cost was $79. You have to take a taxi to the starting point (Margaritaville), but they reimburse you. They give you a voucher for taxi back.

 

I would love to tell you more - got a couple of good stories...but it is better not to know anything specific. You'll enjoy it more. I will tell you this....

 

It is great fun with wonderful folks helping along the way and guides that are truly priceless!

[Colorado Buffalo]

Great excursion! Our guides, Erika and Alonso, were excellent. They made the race even more enjoyable!

 

We are an older couple and before the race started we thought we would probably be last. Wrong, we were 5th! Okay, so there were only 6 teams! but as far as we were concerned we were the winners! Some teams were truly racing and others, while racing, were going at a slower pace.

 

All the folks involved directly or indirectly make you feel special. They are helpful. The clues are interesting, you will learn things about Cozumel. They are not super easy, but also not so difficult you want to give up.

 

You do a lot of walking, but it is broken up with things to see and do (not giving anything away here.) We are seniors and we were not exhausted! It took us 2 hours, 3 minutes...just the actual race part. The winner's time was 1 hour, 55 minutes. You can add another 1/2 to 1 hour for drinks and the awards ceremony. We met at 10:30 (Cozumel time) and returned to the ship at 2:45 (Cozumel time). That’s 11:30 and 3:45 ship’s time.

 

We were on Celebrity and they did not offer this. I went through “Race” website. The cost was $79. You have to take a taxi to the starting point (Margaritaville), but they reimburse you. They give you a voucher for taxi back.

 

I would love to tell you more - got a couple of good stories...but it is better not to know anything specific. You'll enjoy it more. I will tell you this....

 

It is great fun with wonderful folks helping along the way and guides that are truly priceless!

 

we will be on Celebrity - arrives 7 and leaves at 4 p.m.

we want to do this but are nervous about missing the ship since it leaves kind of early... You had no issues ??

[Gunters Oma]

we will be on Celebrity - arrives 7 and leaves at 4 p.m.

we want to do this but are nervous about missing the ship since it leaves kind of early... You had no issues ??

 

No problem...we were done by 2:30. The guides are aware you are on a cruise and time everything accordingly. It's only a five minute taxi ride to the ship. They give you a voucher for the taxi.

 

Celebrity doesn't offer it, so you will have to go to their website (Amazing Race Cozumel.com). For extra reassurance...before you book email them and ask them if there will be a problem getting back to ship on time. I had a couple of questions before I booked. They respond quickly.

 

Hope this helps!

[dnj1]

We are not cruising until August, but I think we are going to go for it. Sounds like a lot of fun. Family of 4...would we be grouped with others to make a team?

[jjjamais555]

Pros:

+ If you enjoy running under extreme sun/heat, this is for you!

+ This experience is a great physical workout.

Cons:

- The race was absolutely meaningless: we ran to approximately 13 places but did not have the opportunity to learn anything nor did we have a meaningful experience within those places.

- There were 2 organizers: the main lady who was sincere and kind and the guy who was argumentative and extremely rude who kept trying to influence the main organizer with his on-the-spot ridiculous ideas.

- The first meaningless/stupid challenge was to find items that didn’t match on the two seemingly identical pictures. This did not teach us anything about Cozumel!

- Another challenge was to find various pieces of information in the museum which was very tiny by the way and since you’re busy trying to answer various questions, you do not have a chance to spend time in the museum in order to learn about the culture, instead you’re rushing through the tiny space while speed-read various plaques.

- One of the challenges requires you to have a tattoo on your hand – what they don’t tell you is that the tattoo will last approximately two weeks after your cruise, which is horrible because when we got back to our jobs, we got reprimanded for having it on our hands.

- One of the challenges requires you to snorkel, which seems like a good idea – what they don’t tell you is that you have only 7 minutes to do so and you have to get there by a little boat. Many people can handle a big boat like the cruise ship, but get very dizzy on small boats. We thought we would walk over or take a car/mini-bus to where the snorkeling was, but nope….you have to be able to tolerate being on a very tiny shaky boat.

- All of the other excursions that we did comprised of only guests from our ship – this is the only activity out of all the ones we did that included members from various ships.

- One of the challenges requires you to count words and letters from a plaque and then write them in a particular order – again, very meaningless activity because it did not teach us anything about the culture or the people of Cozumel. We would have learned much more if we read, discussed and analyzed the plaque.

- The map that was given for our use during the activity was very poorly drawn. Instead of street names being written on actual streets, the names were written at the top edge of the map, which means that you have to follow the trajectory of the grid all the way to the top of the edge of the map every single time you’re trying to figure a street out. The map also did not pin-point places, instead every landmark was located in a block – block is a large place and there are very few street names in Cozumel.

- It would be better to have a map that clearly identifies what streets are safe (highlighted in one color) and what streets with clear landmark that are not safe (highlighted in diff color). Because this was not identified, we ended up in various back alleys with homeless people who were waving knives at us.

- One of the items was mis-labeled on the map. You were supposed to search for X, but X has not existed in the area for multiple years and when we eventually somehow found an approximate area for X, the guy (one of the organizers) did not apologize for his mistake and not properly labeling/updating the map, instead he had a horrible attitude, was rude and yelled at us.

- Instead of wasting an hour on counting and announcing all of the teams in the end or being forced to buy food from the restaurant where they take you – time could have been better spent on going to the Mayan ruins and appreciating the history and culture of Cozumel. That would have been meaningful!

- This experience is not designed for visitors who are there to experience and to learn about Cozumel and experience its culture, history and people. Way too many meaningless activities that they expect you to perform without having any time for the sake of continuing to run under the hot sun.

[Alwaysoncountdown]

I appreciate your feedback on the excursion. Just curious, do you enjoy the TV show? Some of the events that you describe appear similar to ones we have watched. For us, the excitement is in completing the task and being competitive (even within our group). Since we have been to Cozumel a few times we aren't really looking to learn a lot about the area. I hope we made the right choice.

 

 

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[CajunCruizer2]

We have 4 of us who signed up for the Amazing Race, April 1st. I think we will have fun. Either way I am on Vacation so nothing matters except fun and relaxation, I am not trying to learn anything.

[LaraTiara]

What an interesting thread.

 

We will return to Cozumel later this year, and I saw this excursion on Trip Advisor just earlier today. Our college age kids love this show. One of them has a summer internship in Eastern Europe and the team-builder is a 48-hour version of the race. She can't wait!!

 

It looks interesting to race in Cozumel, but then I thought, why would we stay on land when we did that last time?

 

Did anyone regret not sailing a catamaran or snorkeling, but rather running around?

[happymoes]

We are running the race June 6!!!

 

 

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[Alwaysoncountdown]

We have visited Cozumel a few times before. Most recently we took our boys to swim w the dolphins. We snorkeled and swam w sting rays the day before in Grand Caymans. So for us, it was worth giving up the water activities. It was a hard balance of enjoying the run through the town with competition. My older son was in it to win it and we just wanted to enjoy the ride. So I caution you to make sure you have common goals. Lol.

 

 

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[tdnosnhoj11]

Pros:

+ If you enjoy running under extreme sun/heat, this is for you! Depending on the time of year... but yes... running does make you hot. :rolleyes:

+ This experience is a great physical workout. So you won't feel so guilty about eating all that food for dinner ;)

Cons:

- The race was absolutely meaningless: we ran to approximately 13 places but did not have the opportunity to learn anything nor did we have a meaningful experience within those places. I do have to agree, aside from the museum, there isn't a great deal to learn about the culture of the island on this excursion.

- There were 2 organizers: the main lady who was sincere and kind and the guy who was argumentative and extremely rude who kept trying to influence the main organizer with his on-the-spot ridiculous ideas. I will only halfway agree here also. I do remember my first impression of the male tour guide being a little negative, but it didn't last long before I liked him. I felt like they were a GREAT duo.

- The first meaningless/stupid challenge was to find items that didn’t match on the two seemingly identical pictures. This did not teach us anything about Cozumel! Already addressed this. And no, most of the clues aren't like this. This was just a kick-off to see which team was the biggest threat (or who got out of the restaurant the fastest to start the race the soonest!).

- Another challenge was to find various pieces of information in the museum which was very tiny by the way and since you’re busy trying to answer various questions, you do not have a chance to spend time in the museum in order to learn about the culture, instead you’re rushing through the tiny space while speed-read various plaques. It's also VERY hot in there and a lot of back and forth movement.

- One of the challenges requires you to have a tattoo on your hand – what they don’t tell you is that the tattoo will last approximately two weeks after your cruise, which is horrible because when we got back to our jobs, we got reprimanded for having it on our hands. YOU choose where to have the tattoo, it does not have to be on your hand. It's henna. Most people realize it takes a while to come out. There are also various ways to get it out of your skin faster, Google it.

- One of the challenges requires you to snorkel, which seems like a good idea – what they don’t tell you is that you have only 7 minutes to do so and you have to get there by a little boat. Many people can handle a big boat like the cruise ship, but get very dizzy on small boats. We thought we would walk over or take a car/mini-bus to where the snorkeling was, but nope….you have to be able to tolerate being on a very tiny shaky boat. I do feel like the Carnival website is misleading here, because it says you snorkel off a beach. If you have a problem with small boats, sit this one out and let only one team member go. Only one member snorkels anyway, so not everyone has to go. It's a glass bottom boat, and there is an iguana on board as well, so there is some entertainment. And I remember my DH and a few others enjoying a free beer onboard as well. :)

- All of the other excursions that we did comprised of only guests from our ship – this is the only activity out of all the ones we did that included members from various ships. How is this a negative thing?

- One of the challenges requires you to count words and letters from a plaque and then write them in a particular order – again, very meaningless activity because it did not teach us anything about the culture or the people of Cozumel. We would have learned much more if we read, discussed and analyzed the plaque. My team took a photo of this plaque at some point during the excursion. Maybe you could have taken photos of all the plaques (in the museum also) and read them later, therefore learning?

- The map that was given for our use during the activity was very poorly drawn. Instead of street names being written on actual streets, the names were written at the top edge of the map, which means that you have to follow the trajectory of the grid all the way to the top of the edge of the map every single time you’re trying to figure a street out. The map also did not pin-point places, instead every landmark was located in a block – block is a large place and there are very few street names in Cozumel. Our map was not as described. The street names are on the streets. It might be slightly confusing because the East to West streets are marked to the left side of the streets, and the North to South streets to the top of the streets. But it's certainly not as difficult as jjjamais555 makes it sound. And the landmarks are listed in the bottom right portion of the map... but they tell you that they may not be as they appear and one landmark isn't even real, that's part of the puzzle.

- It would be better to have a map that clearly identifies what streets are safe (highlighted in one color) and what streets with clear landmark that are not safe (highlighted in diff color). Because this was not identified, we ended up in various back alleys with homeless people who were waving knives at us. I find it very hard to believe they found themselves having knives waved at them. We did find ourselves off-course a bit towards the end, but never felt unsafe. You're in open streets, not alleyways. I'm not saying there AREN'T alleyways somewhere along the way, but come on, use your better judgment.

- One of the items was mis-labeled on the map. You were supposed to search for X, but X has not existed in the area for multiple years and when we eventually somehow found an approximate area for X, the guy (one of the organizers) did not apologize for his mistake and not properly labeling/updating the map, instead he had a horrible attitude, was rude and yelled at us. I don't remember this "X", so I can't comment here.

- Instead of wasting an hour on counting and announcing all of the teams in the end or being forced to buy food from the restaurant where they take you – time could have been better spent on going to the Mayan ruins and appreciating the history and culture of Cozumel. That would have been meaningful! You are not forced to buy food here. There MAY have been menus in the center of each table (I'm looking back at photos for reference, by the way... although what I originally thought were menus might be napkins), and someone asked us if we wanted to order something in addition to our free drinks and chips and salsa, but after one "no, thank you," that was it. And I don't recall this being an hour. The longest part of it was spent waiting on the last team to return.

- This experience is not designed for visitors who are there to experience and to learn about Cozumel and experience its culture, history and people. Way too many meaningless activities that they expect you to perform without having any time for the sake of continuing to run under the hot sun. The description of the excursion doesn't say you will learn about Cozumel's culture. It says "you’ll have spent an amazing day discovering Cozumel’s shops, scenery, market and town square." It doesn't say "This is the excursion you should book if you want to learn everything there is to learn about Cozumel." Purchase a ticket to the museum itself or go to some Mayan Ruins if you are really interested in leisurely learning.

 

Although I'm sure this is just a troll, I wanted to reply to this so others do not feel uncomfortable about this excursion.

 

When we went, we were a team of four pretty active (not athletic lol), late 20's, guys and girls. One guy ran in flip flops, one guy with NO shoes, one girl in sandals, and I was smart and wore tennis shoes :p We won the gold medals pretty far ahead of the rest, and really enjoyed ourselves. Not to keep bragging, but they said we were the second fastest team ever :eek: The team who came in last place was a family (two adults, two kids around 8-10) and they took their time and seemed to really enjoy themselves as well. You do not have to run, as long as you don't drag your feet and make the other teams wait a lifetime at the finishline, you're fine.

 

As for the taxi issue, I don't remember having to get a cab to Margaritaville? We met at Three Amigos... and then I think everyone, as a whole, got into a van they provided and they took us down there? Or maybe we walked? But we didn't pay for transportation there or from the ending restaurant where they do, in fact, give you a voucher. As well as some drink coupons for Three Amigos, which we had plenty of time to use afterwards.

 

All in all... I would definitely rank this as the best excursion we've done.

Edited May 19, 2014 by tdnosnhoj11

[kenrod]

We did this excursion back in November 2012.

 

It was a fantastic way to see San Miguel! Our 8 year old (at the time) had a blast running the race with us. Actually, we didn't run, we were more sightseeing than racing. Our team came in last, but not far behind a couple of other teams.

 

Never did we feel unsafe, and we were always in sight of an organizer. They also gave us cell phone in case we got lost. It was fun to see the towns people tell us to "Run... you are in the Amazing Race!", because they saw our badges, but I was busy taking pictures and walking. There were some people who tried to steer us in the wrong direction, but looking at the map, we were on the right course. BTW, the map was not difficult at all... I don't know what one of the previous posters were talking about.

 

All in all, I highly recommend this excursion. It is a unique way of sightseeing.

[JZenkow]

Anyone do this lately?

[happymoes]

Yes!!! Went in June and loved it!!! Lots of running and it was really hot!!

 

 

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