Grandeur Western Caribbean excursions

[jchco]

I understand everyone has different interests, but wondered if anyone has experienced hits or duds on this itinerary. Sometimes descriptions sound better on paper than they turn out to be.   Our stops are…

Cozumel

Belize City, Belize

Santo Tomas De Castillo, Guatemala

Roatan,Honduras

 Kingston, Jamaica 

George Town,Grand Cayman

 

We are fairly active 70 plus year olds.  Scuba diving is out, as are long (2 hour)  bus rides.  We are looking mainly at the ship excursions, but are open to private tours or exploring on our own. Any help would be appreciated. 

[kjbacon]

We did a similar itinerary on the Grandeur just a few months ago.

 

In Cozumel, we did the Chefs Led Tequila Tasting and absolutely loved it. It’s a shorex with an up charge but we would highly recommend it. It was fun, delicious, and educational… what’s not to like!

 

In Santo Tomas de Castillo, we did the Las Escabos tour. We enjoyed it and the scenery at the actual park is spectacular but note that there is more walking than you might expect with lots of steps. We were also unprepared for the level of sustained poverty as we traveled to and from the park.

 

In Roatan, we went to gumbalinda (sp?) nature preserve and disliked it very much. Note that we were in odd step on that. We did not like the touristy feel, especially with the sense of being taken advantage of. For example, you are absolutely not permitted to carry anything into the park and are required to rent a locker for $5 or $10. So, you guessed it that they nabbed nearly everyone with that little surprise! We also were looking for a more natural setting with the animals but found it too staged for our taste. 
 

In Grand Cayman, we did the Reef and Wreck Snorkel and thought everything about it was great. You said no scuba but don’t know if you snorkel. If you do, this was one of the better snorkel tours and we would recommend it.

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did!

[jchco]

Thank you so much…exactly the kind of help I was looking for.  We do snorkel and plan to choose one port to do that .

[Wendy The Wanderer]

How about boat trips? We did Lamanai twice from Belize City. Yes there is a bus ride, but not too long as I remember. Then a fairly leisurely boat ride up a narrow river full of wildlife to the magnificent Mayan ruins. Boat trip and bus ride back. We loved it enough to take a friend back there. 

 

Again at Santo Tomas we took the paid trip up by speedboat and then by a slower boat up to see the Maya refugees who live in the Qe'qchi village. It also, back then, included lunch in the town of Livingston, a Garafuna town which was also very interesting. The speed boat ride was a bit harrowing, take a hat with a strap or otherwise cover your hair!

Edited May 12 by Wendy The Wanderer

[jchco]

Thank you for responding.  Boat trips have appeal.  I'll take a look at your suggestions.