Planning my first cruise...help!!

[strangertocruising]

My mother and I are planning to take a cruise for my college graduation in January 2015. Neither of us have been on a cruise before, and we have a lot of questions! Right now, I am looking at taking a Carnival cruise (Liberty of the Seas via Ft. Lauderdale) to Isla Roatan, Belize, and I believe Cozumel (maybe one other place). We are both very laid back, and have a semi-tight budget. Here are my questions:

 

1) Cruise line excursions vs. third-party excursions? What are the pros and cons of each? Is one better than another?

 

2) What happens if we choose not to do any excursions? Can we relax on a beach until departure (if so, are there chairs, etc provided)?

 

3) Since we are traveling in the middle of winter (from Virginia), what can we do if our flights to Ft. Lauderdale get cancelled? I heard something about booking flights through the cruise line and/or purchasing insurance. Are either of these options good and/or reasonable?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! Any other advice, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated!!

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook..you might not need an "excursion" at all to do what you want. Most things are easy to do on your own. The guidebook will tell you which beaches have which amenities.. Beaches require NO excursion in almost every case.

 

In the middle of winter, flights from Va. are rarely cancelled. Insurance is what you'll want, if you can't afford to lose your investment. It's cheaper and more convenient to buy your own air tickets....try to go the day before, and spring for a hotel in your port city.

[strangertocruising]

4) Are meals provided on excursions? A relative said that they go back on the ship for lunch/dinner when they port. Is this normal? haha..

 

Thanks again!

[Marie51]

Many of us fly to our departure city at least one day ahead in case of cancelled/delayed flight or lost luggage. Buying travel insurance is advisable and I use http://www.insuremytrip.com.

 

Some ports are easy to explore on your own. For example in Cozumel it is very easy to get off the ship and take a cab to a nice beach. You would in this case need cash for the cab, food & drinks at the beach, renting lounge chairs. Most of the time the cost will be less than taking a ship excursion. Some excursions include lunch and some do not. When you get your cruise booked then you will be able to look at avaliable excursions for your cruise.

 

I would not book flights with the cruiseline because you have no control and often they give you the worst flights. Book on your own. In Ft Lauderdale it is very easy to take a cab from the airport to the ship, or from a hotel to the ship.

 

By the way all the places you are going take US dollars.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Marie51

[CruiseFanatic123]

1) Third party excursions are usually cheaper. However, cruise line excursions are usually guarded against bad weather and if your excursion runs late (the cruise ship won't leave you).

 

2) If you don't choose any excursions, you can usually roam around the port or stay on the ships.

 

3) You usually want to arrive a day or two beforehand just in case something does happen to your flight.

 

4) Meals are still provided on port days on the cruise ship.

[cruisead]

Most ship excursions are 3 to 4 hours long, and you're back during lunch hours. If you have a full day trip, lunch is usually included. BTW, you cannot take food off the ship unless it's factory sealed.

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Liberty of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean ship.

 

1. Private excursions tend to have fewer people, and are cheaper. Cruise line ones offer a guarentee that the ship will wait if their tour is late. There is also some minimal assurance as to the quality of the tour.

2. At the beach, you would be on your own. There would be no free chairs. Likely a resort or hotel would allow you to use one for a fee.

3. We always fly in at least a day in advance and get trip insurance.

4. Most full day ship tours will include lunch. You will usually sail before dinner. If lunch is not included, you can eat in port or go back to the ship. There will be at least the buffet open for lumch.

[Marie51]

Liberty of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean ship that sails from Ft Lauderdale in Jan 2015

 

Liberty is a Carnival ship that sails from Port Canaveral in Jan 2015

Edited August 1, 2014 by Marie51

[strangertocruising]

My mother and I are planning to take a cruise for my college graduation in January 2015. Neither of us have been on a cruise before, and we have a lot of questions! Right now, I am looking at taking a Carnival cruise (Liberty of the Seas via Ft. Lauderdale) to Isla Roatan, Belize, and I believe Cozumel (maybe one other place). We are both very laid back, and have a semi-tight budget. Here are my questions:

 

1) Cruise line excursions vs. third-party excursions? What are the pros and cons of each? Is one better than another?

 

2) What happens if we choose not to do any excursions? Can we relax on a beach until departure (if so, are there chairs, etc provided)?

 

3) Since we are traveling in the middle of winter (from Virginia), what can we do if our flights to Ft. Lauderdale get cancelled? I heard something about booking flights through the cruise line and/or purchasing insurance. Are either of these options good and/or reasonable?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! Any other advice, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated!!

 

I was wrong on the ship name and departure location. We are looking to depart from Miami on Carnival cruise. Sorry for the confusion!

[paul929207]

I was wrong on the ship name and departure location. We are looking to depart from Miami on Carnival cruise. Sorry for the confusion!

No problem. I think answers above are good for either ship

[Cruisin' Chick]

My mother and I are planning to take a cruise for my college graduation in January 2015. Neither of us have been on a cruise before, and we have a lot of questions! Right now, I am looking at taking a Carnival cruise (Liberty of the Seas via Ft. Lauderdale) to Isla Roatan, Belize, and I believe Cozumel (maybe one other place). We are both very laid back, and have a semi-tight budget. Here are my questions:

 

1) Cruise line excursions vs. third-party excursions? What are the pros and cons of each? Is one better than another?

 

Personally we usually just go with excursions booked through the ship IF we do excursions. Since you're both new to cruising, that may be the way to go for you as you won't necessarily know the right questions to ask of an indy operator. You will be taken care of -- if it's a tender port, you'll go as part of a group onto the tender boats together; if it's a docked port, the meeting place for your tour will usually be right in the ship terminal as you get off the ship (you'll just look for the signs being held up by the guides). An independent company might have to be stay out of the terminal, so you'll have to be figuring out where they would be.

 

Generally you won't have any problems with a reputable company, but if there's a mechanical problem and your group gets back late, the ship doesn't have to wait for you, while with a ship's excursion, unless there's problems with tides,etc., the guide will be in touch with your ship, and they'll try to wait for you.

 

Plus, if you feel the excursion wasn't worth it, you can complain to the shore excursions desk onboard if you had booked through the ship. They may or may not refund some of the cost, depending on validity of your complaint. But if several passengers have complained about the same tour, Carnival will be reconsidering their contract with the operator of that excursion. If you booked an indy excursion, you'll have to deal directly with them.

2) What happens if we choose not to do any excursions? Can we relax on a beach until departure (if so, are there chairs, etc provided)?

 

You can always just go into most ports (very few exceptions in the cruising world) on your own. Get a good guide book and map. Google each port and you'll find many websites that will help you plan. Beaches can definitely be done on your own. Carnival will have beach towels in your cabin that you can take (but you need to return them). Many beaches have public access so you don't have to pay, but you usually won't find chairs unless you rent (usually there's kiosks for renting beach items at some beaches). Some people will head for a hotel with a beach and pay for a day pass. This is where your research will come in handy for finding a beach in either category (public or hotel-controlled). Some places such as in Hawaii, by law all beaches are public.

 

 

Very important: no matter what you do, take the day's newsletter with you and a very reliable watch. If you go by taxi, get the business card of the driver -- sometimes you don't even need to ask for it. I will do an Internet search of the ports before a cruise and get some phone numbers of taxi companies and plug into my cell phone. You can also research to see if the public transit is a good way to go (sometimes yes and sometimes no).

 

Back to that watch: double check the time listed on the ship's clocks as some captains will go by local time and some don't. This is very important. There will be a sign at the gangway as you're leaving the ship that will have the time to be back on board (this is not the same as sailaway time, which is the time the captain intends to leave port and you better be back on board at least a half hour before then). The ship's newsletter will also have that time. Again, be back on the ship by the time that's listed. If you have a watch that has an alarm (my hubby does) that's something to use. Cell phones are good for time as long as your ship is on the same time as local time as cell phones always adjust for the local cell towers. If your captain is using a different time than local, you need to go by a watch you set the time yourself.

 

3) Since we are traveling in the middle of winter (from Virginia), what can we do if our flights to Ft. Lauderdale get cancelled? I heard something about booking flights through the cruise line and/or purchasing insurance. Are either of these options good and/or reasonable?

 

We booked air through the cruiseline for my first cruise out of Miami and regretted it as they tried to stick us with a red-eyed flight. After that, we booked our own travel arrangements with the idea of getting into the embarkation city at least a day ahead. That way, we're there, we're relaxed. We can go shopping for anything we left behind (wine, soda, etc.). We do this no matter the time of year or where we're going to.

 

The exception is when we're leaving from the Port of LA as we're an hour's drive from San Pedro. And even then, we try to leave around 9:30 am or 10. A couple of cruises ago, a group of about 200 passengers didn't make it onboard our Hawaiian cruise as they were coming from England right when there was a bad snowstorm raging. Their flight was arranged through Princess (those Brits who did make it had made their own arrangements and came days early). There was also a major rainstorm happening in Los Angeles (about the seventh straight day of rain here). And this wasn't the type of itinerary (due to a law known as the Passenger Service Vehicles Act) that would allow flying to the next port (plus they would have missed the first five days of a 14-day cruise).

 

So never try to fly in the day of a cruise.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out! Any other advice, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Enjoy your cruise and don't try to do everything. Take time to relax.

[Bilge Rats]

Here are my questions:

 

1) Cruise line excursions vs. third-party excursions? What are the pros and cons of each? Is one better than another?

 

2) What happens if we choose not to do any excursions? Can we relax on a beach until departure (if so, are there chairs, etc provided)?

 

3) Since we are traveling in the middle of winter (from Virginia), what can we do if our flights to Ft. Lauderdale get cancelled? I heard something about booking flights through the cruise line and/or purchasing insurance. Are either of these options good and/or reasonable?

 

4) Are meals provided on excursions?

 

I hope you enjoy your first cruise! We have visited these ports and have done both ship and independent shore excursions, so here are some of my experiences:

 

1) For long/distant excursions (for example, Lamanai ruins in Belize), we book through the ship. If the tour is delayed getting back, they will hold the ship for you. If you do this on your own and are late, you have to find your own way to the next port. For short/local excursions, we more often book on our own. Generally, the cost is less. Be sure to read the boards here for each port, as folks will share their experiences with independent tour providers so you will know who is good and who is questionable. Most reputable operators will not charge you or will refund your money if your ship does not port due to weather or mechanical issues, but be sure to check on this and understand their cancellation and refund policies in advance. On our trip to Roatan last fall, we (5 adults) book an all-day, custom independent tour of the entire island and only paid $125 - much cheaper than the excursions offered via the cruise line.

 

2) You can always get off the ship and go on your own. Each port is a little different in what activities are available within walking distance. Again, I advise you to read the boards here to get an idea of what is at each port. Also, you will find a number of tour operators/taxi drivers just waiting for your business when you arrive in most places. I am not sure where Carnival ports in Roatan. Belize is tendered - there are docks but no beach where the tenders arrive. There are a number of shops, bars, and restaurants where Carnival usually docks near the south end of Cozumel. There is a small beach area with some sand and a few palm trees, but you can't really get in the water there. There are much nicer sand beaches (swimming and snorkeling) south of the port - you can book independently or through the ship.

 

3) As others have said - get trip insurance and arrive a day early to leave yourself some wiggle room.

 

4) Depends on the excursion. Read the description to be sure. Food is usually provided for long (all-day) trips.

[whataboutport]

One thing I always do is check which other ships will be in port that day. If you are on Cozumel with the Allure or Oasis, that is another 6000 pax on the island that day! Coz is very popular and sometimes can have up to 6 ships in port a day. You can google "cruise time tables" to find out this info.

 

Then after finding out this info, I decide what I want to do. If it's a busy day, most likely all the beaches will be packed. For example, a lot of people say don't waste your day going to the Tulum ruins while at port on Coz. You are herded like cattle. That's true--IF there are a lot of ships in that day. When I went, there was only one other ship and it was such a great day. However, it is a long excursion 8+ hours, so you must book thru the ship. (Same with Lamanai in Belize, as someone mentioned above. Long excrusion so book thru ship.)

 

Go to the ports of call forums on this site and decide what you want to do. Popular things to do in Coz; snorkeling, Chankannab park, Nachi Cocum. Also check your cruise line's website under excursions and it will give you an idea of what's popular to do there. I then go over to Trip advisor and read reviews and compare prices from ship sponsored excursions vs private. Private is almost always more bang for your buck and smaller groups, except for long excursions I mentioned above.

 

Food on long excursions is not always included. Tulum was a long day and no meal was provided with the excursion fee, however there is a lunch break that you mus buy your own or wait to get back on the ship. (If you go to Tulum, avoid Senor Frosty's, the tacos were terrible. But the fresh coconuts I would go back for.)

 

I never buy travel insurance, but only you can make that decision for yourself. We fly out of LAX to FLL so I have not had a problem yet, even flying on the red eye and arriving the morning of sailing. However I don't really recommend it as we were so tired that first day. Now we always fly in the night before. We also don't have passports. Just haven't gotten around to getting them. It's another risk we take. If you miss the ship, the only way you can meet up with the ship or fly home in an emergency would be to have a passport. Just get back on the ship in plenty of time and you should be fine.

 

Lots of things to do in Belize! My favorite port so far. We did Goff's Caye. If you're interested read my review in my signature. Tiny little island, big coral reefs, grilled lobster, cold local beers, and fresh coconuts. Only $40pp! (food and beers not included, but rum punch was included, as was snorkeling and the gear.) Or there's cave tubing, Lamanai (that's what we're doing this time) which is also very popular.

 

Roatan we did Maya Key (again review in my siggy). But there is a mahogany Bay (you are with Carnival I think you will dock there) Free beach area with chairs, and snorkeling at the end of the pier. Lots of restaurants and bars. This area is kinda spring break-y as far as looks. Pretty decent shopping right off the ship area.

 

If you can swing it, get a hotel for the day you get off the ship too before you fly home. That way you don't have to stress about getting off the ship and catching your flight. We couldn't do it this time, but usually we do a post cruise trip too. One thing though, don't get a crappy motel, bc coming off a nice ship and then staying in a motel is no fun. Haha I've done it. The difference is shocking!

 

Hope you have fun! Planning is all part of the fun!

Edited August 3, 2014 by whataboutport