Best or worst excursions?

[Raceroc]

Which excursions would you do again? or NEVER do again?

 

My favorites so far are:

 

Cave Tubing (Belize)

12 metre challenge (St Maarten)

Sting ray city/snorkel (Grand Cayman)

Sea Trek (St Thomas)

 

My least favorites are:

 

Mayan Ruins (Costa Maya) OK But, too hot...

Skyride (St Thomas) Nice view, but again...TOO HOT!

Atlantis (Nassau) Booring!!

 

Please share...

Happy Cruising!!!

[wrp96]

Best excursions:

 

Silvermoon in Barbados

Cosol in St. Lucia

Kukoo Kunuku in Aruba

Panama Canal by Ferry

Tabacon Hot Springs and Mt. Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica

Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman

Parasailing at Labadee

 

Worst Excursions:

 

Yellowbird in Nassau

Grand Cayman tour with Turtle Farm

[Genessa]

Best:

 

sting ray city at Grand Cayman's on a catamaran

 

 

Never do again:

 

Dolphin swim at Isla Margarita

 

excursion was wonderful because of the dolphins, but horrible because of the way it was run

[cruisinbuddy]

For me any snorkeling that includes the drinks are my favs and I'd do it again. The one in Cozumel was great,

 

I've found that the "Island tours" aren't that good.

[Sheffie]

Best:

 

America's Cup Regatta - St. Maarten

Buccaneer to Stingray City - Grand Cayman

Silver Moon I - Barbados

Eli's Eco Tour - Antigua

 

There are others that were good or okay, but we haven't been on a bad one yet!

[SoccerMom#3]

Best:

 

Golden Eagle Catamaran in St. Maartin

Swimming with the Dolphins in Puerta Vallarta

Jungle Tour in Costa Rica

 

Worst:

 

Dunn River Falls in Jamaica

Islands tours are ok but too much getting on and off the bus or van

[bdcbbq]

I love the horseback ride/swim as the best and wort excursions. The primary reason for worst is when I'm not on the lead horse getting in the water. Those sea apples can be a little disgusting. :eek:

[newmexicoNita]

Golly, after so many cruises it is hard to decide, but I think my five favorites have been:

 

1-snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays in GC

2-Barbados tour (I can't remember the name of the company)

3-Cork County Ireland, tour of the castle and the distillery(Butler tour co)

4-Oscar Brown: Costa Rica

5-Dunns River Falls (the only thing worth doing in Jamaica

 

Worst:

1-Belize eco trip

2-San Juan rain forest tour

3-Amstel brewery in Curacao

4-Dominica day long tour (Ken's) loved the island, but the tour was too long.

5-Dominican Republic (any tours)

[dbdave]

Favorite: Seatrek/DePalm Island in Aruba

[sparkly]

Not a fan of being herded like cattle onto tour buses AT ALL!

Must agree on the Mayan Ruins in Tulum....long tour bus ride....and it was so hot my eyebrows sweated for the first and only time in my life. My comment: It is no wonder these people died off, it is too freakin' hot to live there. I think they all jumped off the cliff into the ocean to cool off!

[mamamo65]

Pearl Island Treasure Hunt was awful. Disorganized, rushed and a lack of first aid and there were very few treasures (only one oysterwas found). It was our first shore excursion and really makes me think and research before booking anymore on our 2nd cruise.

[Luvin' Cruisin']

This is tough, since almost all of my shore excursions have been wonderful! I do stay away from city tours, and work hard to avoid anything where we'll be herded around like cattle (over-crowded busses, over-crowded catamarans, over-crowded anything at all!). A few do stand out as being amazing:

 

Nassau - did a sail and snorkel trip on a 50' sailboat (not a catamaran). There were only 12 people on board - it was relaxed and wonderful - they even let me take the helm for a while! We were getting out of the water by the time the big catamarans arrived, and that looked like it couldn't possibly be much fun.

 

St Martin - hubby did the America's Cup trip, and thought it was the best time of his life. I did the excursion to Pinel Island - and I thought THAT was the best time of my life - very small group, had a personal snorkeling guide, and the island was practically deserted (we were there on a Sunday morning).

 

Belize - did a trip to Goff's Caye - - a tiny deserted island off the coast of Belize. The excursion operator picked us up right at the ship (this is a tender port). They took about 18 of us - in three separate motor boats - over to the island, where they had set up a barbeque lunch. They had lounge chairs (which they set up for us anywhere we wanted them), took us snorkeling when we wanted to go, and fed us lots of great food. They even brought in a little barge that had restrooms. FYI, there were a few other people there (who had come on independent boats), but there weren't many of them - and they didn't have access to the stuff Celebrity had brought just for us.

 

St Lucia - did a catamaran "booze cruise" up and down the coast that was great fun, beautiful scenery, and lots of great rum punch. Next time, I'd like to find one that includes snorkeling (before the rum punch starts flowing, of course!)

 

Barbados - friends claimed the Jolly Roger was fabulous!

 

All of these were ship's shore excursions. The other, best day I've had was in Cozumel, where we rented a car and drove around the island. We stopped at the ruins, then tried a couple of the little beach bars on "the other side" of the island, spending most of our day at Chen Rio. That truly was heaven on earth - but I don't know if it's ever been rebuilt after last year's hurricanes.

 

I have one more suggestion for mamamo65 - you can find lots of great info on excursions on CC's Ports of Call boards. You can read up on what other people have done in the various ports, and ask questions about excursions your cruise line is offering. You can also find lots of info on independent tours and other offerings (at one point, I had posted a long review of my trip to Chen Rio, for example, with directions, etc). So - please enjoy your research, and then prepare to have a great time on cruise #2!!

[camNaud]

It's tends to be the type of excursion rather than the actual port that makes us tick.

 

I like trips involving catamarans, snorkelling and 4wd safaris. I also enjoy exploring some where independantly.

 

I hate coach tours and all the herding around following a guide with handercheif on a stick sort of tours. Half the fun is finding your own way around.

 

Favourite Excursions:

 

Stingray City Grand Cayman

Monster Safari Dominican Republic

Havana Cuba by Taxi From Varadero

Lindos Rhodes by Boat from Rhodes Town

Mostar Bosnia

Vesuvius Climb Italy

 

Least favourite:

 

Cairo Museum (Claustaphobic)

Tiede National Park Tenerife (1 hour in park - 3 hours shopping)

[cruiseapril]

Interesting question. We've enjoyed most of our excursions & feel fortunate. Here's our top 3 so far:

 

1. Isla Margarita- "La Restinga Lagoon & Botanical Gardens & Zoo." This was my favorite excursion to date. We had the best guide- personable & funny-and we had adventures-through the Lagoon with a Spanish speaking guide. We saw lots of birds and wildlife both at the Lagoon and at the Zoo-a very basic zoo. Unusual zoo.

 

2. Curacao- We were revisiting Curacao and liked the "Curacao Highlights" tour- again very personable guide, and a variety of stops with photo ops. Willemstad is a great port for photos- a World Heritage Site.

 

3. Nassau- Our Atlantis excursion was for 6 hours, so we took a harbor cruise, went to the beach, had lunch, went to the casino, toured the grounds, went to "The Digs" aquarium- had great weather and a fun day. The shorter excursions to Atlantis don't offer enough time.

 

We might repeat these someday, but there is so much to experience in the Caribbean and Bahamas- we'll probably just try new excursions.

[PastCrewMember]

My favourite excursion is the Turtle cove in St-thomas... the staff is awesone and so organized... and coming back, the drinks are just,..... dangerous :D no wonder they call them painkillers:eek:

[MamaParrotHead]

Godfrey's tour- St. Thomas, AWESOME. :D

 

Never again:

See & Sea Tour of St. Maarten (stuck on a charter bus with 50-60 other pax, whizzing through the countryside, only stopping ONCE for pictures?). Though the Atlantis glass-bottom boat was cool, I'd still not recommend this to anyone.

 

Yellowbird excursion to Blackbeard's Cay...I don't know what i was expecting, maybe something closer to the picture on the Carnival website, but the Yellowbird looks like something out of a Caribbean version of a Chevy Chase "Vacation" movie. :eek: The free "rum punch" tasted like cough syrup, as did the regular fruit punch. The "entertainment" was 2 guys and a synthesizer. And we spent just as much time getting to and from the beach as we did ON the beach.

[Cuizer2]

Well, I know which one I would do again, 'cause I already booked it - again. Stingray City, Grand Cayman ...

 

 

 

 

Though not exactly a shore excursion, I highly recommed the Kennedy Space Center from those cruising out of Port Canaveral. I enjoyed that so much, I'll book another cruise out of Port Canaveral just so I can visit the Kennedy Space Center again.

 

 

The two I wish I never did was Pearl Island in Nassau and the horse carriage in Cabo.

 

Pearl Island is a small island with no way off except via the boat that brought you to the island. Facilities are very limited (no fresh water - you have to buy bottled water if you want a drink).

 

The horse carriage was nothing more than a quick ride around. The driver never said a thing. A smart horse that knew when to stop (at red lights) could have offered the same experience.

[Seago2]

Wow! Great pictures!

 

Best: just plain old beach days in Roatan and Cozumel. Like cave tubing, too, but it didn't exactly make the earth move for me.

 

Worst: Bus ride to Merida from Progreso!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't do it unless you like heat and stench. And boredom. And nothing to do once you get there. Otherwise, you'll love it.

[mr green]

My two best.

1 Chichen Itza. True, its a three hour drive there and three hours back back, [there was free beer on the 'bus!], BUT it is the one visit that I will never forget.

2 The Eco Jungle Boat tour, from Puntarenas in Costa Rica. This will be the first tour that I will do a second time. No free booze, just more nature than I have ever seen before in the wild!

THE WORST.

Boat tour of the River Fal, Falmouth in England. No commentary worth speaking of [recorded], and the smell from the engine? was worse than a British World War 2 'bus, [it might have been the same engine].

I must add however that the other tour guides in England, Scotland, and Ireland [both North and South] were probably the best, [and the ones that I was more than happy to tip], that I have encountered in my travels!

john

[Micki Dee]

The Best:

 

Stingray City-Grand Cayman A must for anyone!! It is an unbelievable experience!

 

Kukuu Kanuku-Aruba Best pub crawl excursion out there. Who doesn't like to sing drinking songs and shake maracas while driving in a an open air bus through the streets of Aruba!

 

Jungle Breezes Canopy Tour-Costa Rica Zip-lining at it's best. What an adrenaline rush!!

 

Now for the Worst:

 

I've only had 1-Embera Indian Tour-Panama Billed as an authentic indian village, it's nothing more than a makeshift one put together to show tourists how they live. We paid $84pp to see the "village", watch a few dances, and take a few pictures, only to get back to the port to find the same indians performing for the crowds for free. What a rip-off!

[Micki Dee]

The Best:

 

Stingray City-Grand Cayman A must for anyone!! It is an unbelievable experience!

 

Kukuu Kanuku-Aruba Best pub crawl excursion out there. Who doesn't like to sing drinking songs and shake maraca while driving in a an open air bus through the streets of Aruba!

 

Jungle Breezes Canopy Tour-Costa Rica Zip-lining at it's best. What an adrenaline rush!!

 

Now for the Worst:

 

I've only had 1-Embera Indian Tour-Panama Billed as an authentic indian village, it's nothing more than a makeshift one put together to show tourists how they live. We paid $84pp to see the "village", watch a few dances, and take a few pictures, only to get back to the port to find the same indians performing for the crowds for free. What a rip-off!

[DonLou]

The best (perhaps by sheer luck) - Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica.

We weren't even suppose to be in Jamaica. We were scheduled to go to Grand Cayman but the sea was too rough to allow tendering. The Captain decided to sail for Montego Bay and everyone was scrambling that evening to schedule excursions. When we got to Dunn's River Falls there wasn't a single vendor anywhere. We weren't on the schedule. Bad for them, good for us because no other ship was in Jamaica either - there were just a few buses from our ship and we had the falls all to ourselves. It was great!

 

The worst - Tortuguero Canals, Costa Rica

We were suppose to take these boats and go around the canals looking at all the wildlife. We saw silhouettes of some sloths in the trees above us, some iguanas along the shore, a tortoise on a log, some flying cranes, heard howling monkeys along the shore, got a glimpse of a small, multi-colored bird in the marsh that could probably fit comfortably into your clenched fist. All this in about 2 hours. Oh well. At least the mosquitoes hadn't come out yet.

[critterchick]

Best:

 

St. Thomas/St. John's: Rumbaba Charter with Captain Bobby - a 6-passenger sailboat (we only had 4) from Red Hook with snorkelling, breakfast breads & lunch to die for and the most amiable hosts around! (independent)

 

St. Maarten: 12-Metre challenge (America's Cup) through the ship - fun, fun, fun!

 

Island Wings (independent) floatplane tour in Ketchikan.

 

Cozumel: cooking class with Luis & Co (through ship)

 

Wine tastings in Tuscany, Malta & Mallorca (all through the ship)

 

Worst:

 

No really bad ones, but the Guide's Choice Adventure Hike in Juneau (pouring down freezing rain for 3 hours) would have been misery had we not brought all the proper gear (others were definitely miserable).

 

Pompeii in the pouring rain was still fascinating, but I hated the wasted hour stuck in a cameo factory to make us spend Euros galore (yup, ship's tour).

[mamamo65]

I have one more suggestion for mamamo65 - you can find lots of great info on excursions on CC's Ports of Call boards. You can read up on what other people have done in the various ports, and ask questions about excursions your cruise line is offering. You can also find lots of info on independent tours and other offerings (at one point, I had posted a long review of my trip to Chen Rio, for example, with directions, etc). So - please enjoy your research, and then prepare to have a great time on cruise #2!!

 

After all of the good things being said about Stingray City, it looks like we will be going there. Checking out Soto's and Captain Marvin's. I really wanted a litte island tour after, just so I could mail post cards from Hell!:D My sons (11, 14) are really pushing for the fishing excursion from Playa del Carmen through Carnival. I haven't found any info on that yet, anybody know anything?

[camNaud]

cruizer2,

 

10 out of 10 - superb photos from stingray city, love the underwater one.