Excursions question

[J458r]

Mahogany Bay definitely look up Little French Key! One of the most gorgeous places ever! Mitsugirly has a review with great pictures....go check it out.

 

I've heard some nice things about little french key. I'm going to look into that tonight. Thank you !

[J458r]

It was about 10 years ago. At the time, my daughter's were 15 and 16 and my husband and I were in our mid-40s. We had no problems hiking with our tubes. I'd say the hike was about a mile. Not strenuous.

 

 

 

We didn't encounter soreness. However, make sure you have good, sturdy water shoes.

 

We are all pretty close to the ages you all were so I think we'd be ok then too. I'm going to start looking into water shoe options tonight.

[J458r]

Oh please, Belize can be a wonderful destination!

 

Three times we've taken non-CCL excursions including taking a water taxi to Caye Caulker for fantastic snorkeling, great food and cheap beer. Also have taken a taxi to the Hour Bar for drinks and great seafood overlooking the ocean. Never once had a problem or ever felt in danger in any way.

 

Thank you for the info. I'm sure that with any location anywhere everyone's thoughts on safety can be different. I appreciate your take on the port and maybe once I've been there a time or two myself I will look at things differently.

[LadyBeBop]

We are all pretty close to the ages you all were so I think we'd be ok then too. I'm going to start looking into water shoe options tonight.

 

IIRC, you can rent them from the tour operator. But I'd buy them if I were you. You can wear them in the beach as well.

 

Just curious: What part of Ohio are you from? We live just outside Cincinnati.

[J458r]

IIRC, you can rent them from the tour operator. But I'd buy them if I were you. You can wear them in the beach as well.

 

Just curious: What part of Ohio are you from? We live just outside Cincinnati.

 

I didn't even know buying them was an option. Thank you for the info!

 

I live kind of right outside cincinnati too in cleves!

[LadyBeBop]

I didn't even know buying them was an option. Thank you for the info!

 

I live kind of right outside cincinnati too in cleves!

 

We're practically neighbors. I'm in Erlanger.

 

Check Walmart for water shoes. That's where we usually get them. However, I'm not sure they're in stock this time of year. Maybe wait until after the New Year, but that's cutting it close.

 

I know Amazon has them. But you can't try them on before buying.

 

If you have time before your cruise, any Orlando/Cocoa Walmart will have them. And I've never been there, but Ron Jon in Cocoa should have them.

Edited December 6, 2016 by LadyBeBop

[J458r]

We're practically neighbors. I'm in Erlanger.

 

Check Walmart for water shoes. That's where we usually get them. However, I'm not sure they're in stock this time of year. Maybe wait until after the New Year, but that's cutting it close.

 

I know Amazon has them. But you can't try them on before buying.

 

If you have time before your cruise, any Orlando/Cocoa Walmart will have them. And I've never been there, but Ron Jon in Cocoa should have them.

 

We are super close. I have family in erlanger !!

 

I started searching last night to see who has water shoes and who doesn't so maybe we will get lucky and everyone will have them

[CalaDragonflyLady]

Thank you for the info. I'm extremely nervous about doing a non carnival excursion since it's our first time. My biggest fear is that we won't make it back to the boat in time. I've read that it's their lively hood so they make sure they get you back in time. But what about the stuff they can't help? Like tire and car issues:(

 

We aren't bring passports(just bc's and id's). I know I'm going to probably catch a lot of criticism for that but please be nice because I'm nervous about that to.

 

I'm excited to hear from a fellow cruiser from our cruise also. Have you cruised on this ship before? If so what's your favorite part?

 

I completely understand your hesitation, I am a solo cruiser and feel pretty vulnerable! Yes, it is their livelihood and they cannot afford to have you miss your ship; if there's a tire or car issue there are a zillion other cabs/vans & they will get one for you; they are ready for cruisers in Cozumel!

 

I have had a passport most of my life (military brat here) but I know it can be expensive to get them for every family member, etc.

 

I love the Magic, in part because it's a sister ship to the Breeze, which is my favorite. I love the Cloud 9 Spa and get a pass so I can use the Thalassotherapy Pool and heated loungers. The Alchemy Bar has THE best drinks IMO, but don't ask for soda or beer there, they only serve their menu items and custom concoctions :D Their menu is probably here on CC if you search for it. I love the Blue Iguana and Red Frog Pub food. The later charges extra for their bar food but it's minimal ($3.33 per order but it may have changed) LOVE the pulled pork sliders. Cucina del Capitano is $15 for dinner but they have a free pasta bar at lunch time. You can order steakhouse entrees in the main dining room (MDR) for $20 (worth it!), but for $35 you can visit the steakhouse for a 4-5 course meal, also worth it! Guy's Burgers is great if you're into hamburgers, but IMO the fries are the best. Now they have replaced the previous BBQ place with a Guy's Pig & Anchor, but I believe it is only open on sea days.

[sanger727]

Thank you for the info. I'm extremely nervous about doing a non carnival excursion since it's our first time. My biggest fear is that we won't make it back to the boat in time. I've read that it's their lively hood so they make sure they get you back in time. But what about the stuff they can't help? Like tire and car issues:(

 

We aren't bring passports(just bc's and id's). I know I'm going to probably catch a lot of criticism for that but please be nice because I'm nervous about that to.

 

You can certainly choose any excursion you feel comfortable with, but as you look at some of the ports I think you will realize the "risk" is not all equal. We did cave tubing in Belize with an independent company and had no issues. But that was a substantial amount of traveling - probably an hour each way to the caves, so there was more room for error if there was a bus break down or road closure.

 

Whereas Cozumel is a small island full of taxis. As long as you don't lose track of time and scheduled some buffer time, I can't foresee a situation where you could not make it back in time (outside of a massive disaster which would hold up the carnival excursions too).

 

My feeling on doing some cruise ship excursions and some independent excursions is that the independent ones are almost always a better excursion for less money. For me it's only worthwhile to do the cruise ship version if there is an extensive amount of travel/logistics. So, like if you want to drive 1-2 hours inland to see ruins or schedule a 6 hour excursion during a 7 hour stop. But if you plan on heading to a beach or attraction that's within a short taxi ride of the pier, absolutely no need to waste the money. Don't forget that on a lot of the excursions there will usually be some "explore on your own time" where you are responsible for making it back to the meeting point in time for the trip back. Miss the bus and you are in the same boat, so even that doesn't relieve you of the need to have a watch and watch the time.

 

But anyways, highly recommend the cavetubing in Belize. We did a catamaran/snorkel in Cozumel which was fine but nothing special. Haven't been to the other two destinations.

[originalgeek]

I think we are going to try a cave tubbing excursion. It seems interesting. Was the hike and or carrying your tube thru the walk a lot for you or for the kids if any you had in your group? I think we'd all be fine (everyone's pretty active) but I've read that the walking can cause some soreness with your feet from the water shoes

Let me tell ya about water shoes. Never had them before our western Caribbean Cruise in July and I just assumed they were meant to be worn without socks. So I put them on and we went to our tour of ancient Tulum and beach excursion. The tour was awesome, fascinating history and beautiful scenery BUT when you walk around ancient ruins you get dirt and sand in your shoes. Which basically turns into sandpaper coating your feet. It was a bit of pure torture for a while there.

 

So the next day we did cave tubing with Butts Up in Belize. You have to wear close-toed shows for tubing so I wore my nifty new Spanish inquisition torture shoes except this time I put on a pair of no-show socks. Pure heaven compared to the previous day. Butts up was fantastic too by the way. They carry your tubes, you get longer river time and much lower price than the Carnival excursion to the same river. I know you wanted to stick with Carnival and that's fine but butts up is well-run outfit with a fleet of vans and busses and they say they've never missed a ship. Backup is always nearby.

 

But the main point is wear socks! Or maybe my feet are too dainty.

 

sent from my galaxy tab a

[mistycruiser]

Most of us here are experienced cruisers so going off on our own probably isn't a problem but keep in mind the OP is a first time cruiser so going with cruiseline excursions seems like a safer bet to me even if it may cost more. Sometimes peace of mind is worth it when you're not as familiar with the whole process. JMHO

[CalaDragonflyLady]

Most of us here are experienced cruisers so going off on our own probably isn't a problem but keep in mind the OP is a first time cruiser so going with cruiseline excursions seems like a safer bet to me even if it may cost more. Sometimes peace of mind is worth it when you're not as familiar with the whole process. JMHO

 

Completely understand, when I was a newbie I only booked excursions with the cruise line :)

[IPlayWithString]

IMO, the peace of mind that comes with booking a cruiseline excursion is worth it even IF you're an experienced cruiser. :)