food at port

[sm76]

we wll be going to the Caribbean and I was wondering when you plan excursions, will it be with food also? If we go to a beach can we come back for food on the ship or is it better to just eat there? Our ports are Key west, Cozumel, Grand Caymen and Montego Bay. It is our first time and our kids will be with so I was just wanting to be sure of what to plan :) . Thanks

[cricketgal]

I'm sure you would be fine to eat in Key West, possibly need to be careful to only eat in large chain restaurants in the other ports. Some excursion include meals, but they are usually the pricier ones. You can of course come back to the ship for lunch, we often do in the ports where you dock but in Cayman, you tender and it takes awhile so you have to decide how practical that is.

[cb at sea]

Can't speak about Jaimaca, but in all the other ports, the food is fine--(Pricey in CG, tho!) Definitely eat ashore in Key West--it is America, after all!!!! Try Sloppy Joes!!!! Very Good!

If you go to the beach in CG--there are restaurant/bars on the beach--good food and drink, so you needn't make the trip back to the ship.

[barbarah33]

I have eaten in all those ports and you will be find everywhere food-wise except Jamaica. Unless you are willing to go to a chain; like Burger King which is there, then I wouldn't trust it. You just can't be too sure what you are eating or how clean the facilities are. I always go back to the ship or bring something with me from the ship if I'm in Jamaica. Of course a can of soda or beer is fine no matter where you are.

[katiel53]

RCI does NOT allow you to take food off the ship. It is illegal in most ports to bring food ashore. The only food that can be brought off the ship is food in sealed packages, such as cereals, granola bars, things like that.

 

The reason for not allowing food is to protect their ecology. Fruit as an example could have larvae of insects that would hurt the eco-system. Look at what happened to the citrus in California.

 

So, please do not listen to people telling you to take food from the ship just in case you don't get food on your excursion. Some countries will fine you for bringing food. It's not worth the chance.

 

 

Katie

[Blue Waters]

When in Cozumel, I wouldn't miss a visit to Pancho's Backyard. Best salsa and fajitas around! ;) If I recall, sometimes restaurants are listed in the shopping flyer for each port that you get with your daily compass. How some restaurants prepare their food and drinks have been researched by RCCL and they recommended them as safe.

[Peter Cabot]

If you book an excursion (through the ship or private-run) they should state pretty clearly if a meal or snack is included. Since you have kids along, I would still bring along some sort of snacks (and bottled water!) should the planned food on the excursion not work out. You know what your kids will eat readily.

 

Ship-prepared food cannot be taken off the ship. (Imagine the buffet-raiding that would go on!) There should be no issues with pre-packaged foods such as cereals, granola bars, fruit snacks (NOT fruit!), etc. Of course, most ports have stores right by the pier/tender dock which will sell portable food items if you need them. But still better to leave the ship fully victualled than hope for a chance to hit a store.

 

My opinion only, of course. Your mileage may vary.

[Sue L]

We bring snack packages of chips and cookies, they are allowed off the ship because they are sealed.

 

We usually eat a big breakfast if we know we are going to be gone much of the day, when we reboard we go to the windjammer and have something to hold us over to late dinner.

[lsnyder]

Well, depending on what you plan to do in the ports...we went off on our own and snorkeled - I'm not into the whole shopping thing! In Grand Cayman, we ate at Hammerheads right on the water just a 2 minute walk from our tender drop off. Hubby really enjoyed their own brew and their cayman pina coladas were great - food was good (and a nice change from the ship food!) We enjoyed their conch fritters and coconut shrimp! Then we snorkeled right from the deck out to "shipwreck" area that many of the snorkel tours take you to via boat (it's right there!!! you don't need to do an excursion!) If you need to rent snorkel gear you can do it a few blocks to the right of the pier at Eden Rock and you can snorkel right there too - very good snorkeling BTW.

 

In Cozumel we took a cab to Chankannab Park and snorkeled there - we enjoyed drinks and chips/homemade guacamole/salsa on the beach under a palapa for our lunch! They also had other food you could order. It was very peaceful/quiet there even though there were 5? ships in port - the snorkeling was just ok for us but we've done a lot of snorkeling.