Snorkeling, Shopping, Dolphins and Xcaret

[ElvisC]

HELP!!!!

 

Taking my first cruise with stops at both Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. While I know independent tours are probably better and cheaper, but as a rookie, we are going to go with excursions booked through Carnival. Please give me some suggestions.

 

I would like to do some snorkeling (I dive, but won't get to on this trip). My wife loves shopping. Will we have time to take a snorkeling trip in the morning, make it back to the ship to change and then go back ashore to do some shopping? Can you even go back and forth from shore to the ship?

 

Are the swims with the dolphins really worth it? Is there a difference between the dolphin swims at Xcaret and on Cozumel?

 

We don't have any kids. Is Xcaret worth the cost? It is described as Disneyland. We're going in early September, I'm thinking Tulum would be too hot, so Xcaret seems like a good option.

 

Thanks.

[Sports Mama]

ElvisC--

 

In Cozumel, you should have time to do your snorkeling trip, go back to the ship eat and change clothes and still have time to shop. Where Carnival ships dock you will walk out and at the end of the pier there will be a lot of shops. You can also take short taxi ride (around $6 - one way) to town and shop. When we went two years ago we used Eagle Ray Divers for a Discovery Scuba Dive - two tanks. (Great snorkeling trips too!!!) Our dive was in the morning, we were through around 1 or 1:30, went back to the ship, ate, changed clothes, and then went shopping downtown. We still made it back to the ship with tons of time. I believe we were in port from 9 a.m. - 11 p.m.

 

We also went to Playa del Carmen and went to Xcaret. We did the dolphin swim here, because I believe it was about $20 cheaper per person than Chankabaab (sp?) Park. The dolphin swim was AWESOME!!! However, I felt like we didn't get enough time to enjoy Xcaret along with the dolphin swim. Xcaret is an ecological water park. It is nothing like Schillitterbahn or Disneyland. You can relax, snorkel, snuba, dolphin swim, snorkel in a cave, and a lot more. Trust me it is a very large place and you have to walk a pretty good ways to get from the front to a lot of the activities. I just felt like we did not have enough time or was it worth the $$$$ to do the dolphin swim and enjoy the park at the same time. I do not regret what we did at all, it was well worth it.

 

Might I make a suggestion? This may or may not work for you.

Cozumel--Go go Chankabaab park, pay the extra $$ to swim with the dolphins here. I believe park admission is $12 pp. plus the dolphin swim. You can snorkel, relax and check out the replicas of the Mayan Ruins. The snorkeling is not as good here as a tour, but at least you can snorkel here. You can also pick something up to eat here if you like. Once you are through here you could go back to the ship and change and then go shopping--you could also bring a set of dry clothes and change at Chankabaab and then take a taxi to town and shop. Chankabaab Park is a short taxi ride from the pier you will be docked at. I believe if you try to do a snorkeling tour with Carnival, dolphin swim at Chankabaab Park, and shop, you may be trying to do to much, but it could be possible, it all depends on how long you are in port and how much time you want to spend doing certain things. Sometimes a private tour operator can customize it's times for your snorkeling tour to help you manage your day better. In Playa del Carmen--pay the admission for Xcaret and just enjoy the park, it is really neat!!! Hope that I have helped.

 

Happy Sailing,

Sports Mama