Carnival swapping Costa Rica for Roatan - good/bad/indifferent?

[sme]

We have an upcoming cruise that was scheduled for Costa Rica. Now that Carnival is no longer stopping there, is Roatan a better port? The reason we chose this itinerary was for the Panama Canal, so the other to stops were secondary. Considering the reputation of Costa Rica I am hoping that Roatan appears to be more pleasant.

[MiamiSky66]

I have been to Roatan. Not much there but at least it felt very safe. We took a cab ride to no where and he told us that there is a restaurant for the locals that cost about 15.00 per person all the lobsters you can eat.

I also remember telling him that in the USA we have heart hospitals in just about every state and he couldn't believe it. He said everyone there just eats fish and fruits. Maybe that's the answer.

[deborahjo]

We loved Roatan. Dh wants to go back. Problem is alot of cruisers did not like it. I believe they use to call it dangerous also.

 

We took a taxi ride around the island. The young man we had took us to the iguana farm and tarpon farm. My sons loved it. Have some beautiful pictures. Good to see Carnival going back to Roatan again.

[lyttleone1977]

I am curious about the same thing. I have been looking at excursions in Roatan, and there is nothing that really sounds interesting. My family was really excited about Costa Rica, but now we arent sure what to do. The only thing that sounds good is the Dolphin Emcounter, but I do not know if I can justify over 100 pp for a half hour.....

[paddy Anne]

Costa Rica is the one port I am looking forward to most. Have been looking at other cruises now incase they dump it.

PA

[Sue L]

Where are you seeing that it is a FACT that Carnival is changing ports? The article on the front page of cc says.

 

Carnival has not immediately responded to a request for confirmation.

 

there is no mention on the website of this change!!

[vacruizer]

Hi Paula! I was thinking just the opposite. :) I thought a day in Roatan sounded really nice. I wanted to see Costa Rica but just hadn't found an excursion that really said "do me!!" yet. Of course by the time our cruise rolls around it may still be Costa Rica, after all.

 

Now I'm also one of the people who loved Belize so I wouldn't be really upset if that got substituted for Costa Rica, either!

[kelz66]

We were in Roataan last may...very undeveloped and beautiful. We pre-arranger for a private driver to take us around the island. We got to see all of the island and stopped where we wanted to. We saw thw good and bad (just like back home in Philly...LOL) the beaches and the west end are beautiful. I would go back in a minute. (it was a little overcast in the morning but the sun came out later)

 

[kelz66]

The west end beach by the shopping area. (excellent little cafe's there too)

 

[kelz66]

[lyttleone1977]

Costa Rica is the one port I am looking forward to most. Have been looking at other cruises now incase they dump it.

PA

 

My family is considering it now also.

[cruzeluver]

Another big fan of Roatan here!

 

The west end beaches are wonderful, as are the little cafes that line the beaches. One is called Dennis'. He does a great lunch as well as snorkle trips on his own boat. Just great.

 

Although the locals would be considered poor by our standards, this does not mean they are unhappy, in fact, quite the opposite! Some of the friendliest folks I have had the pleasure of meeting. And probably the least aggressive vendors I have dealt with as well.

 

I just hope that in ten years the first thing one sees upon getting off the ship in Roatan is not a Starbucks!! :mad:

[sharecruises]

Just curious....why wouldn't you want Roatan to prosper and have things like Starbucks???

 

IMHO they may not call at Costa Rica til this whole sad incident settles down. We don't know how the dead mugger is being played up in Costa Rica?

 

He may be part of a gang or other muggers may want to "revenge" him or whatever...altho IMHO the killing was justified and I am glad the cruisers are safe, there are probably some hot heads in Costa Rica who are angry.

 

I think the cruiseline will do what it takes to keep people reasonably safe. They do drop ports that refuse to work with them. IF Costa Rica is "smart" they will work with the cruiselines to make sure their island is safer...more police, strict sentences for criminals who prey on tourists.

 

Years ago jerks preyed on tourists in Florida, using the loophole of the fact that they would not come back down here to testify, but now they are able to prosecute them and have done everything to assure tourists are safe.

 

Maybe Carnival wants to see what Costa Rica will do. Years ago Carnival and other cruiselines tried to make St Croix be more responsible, but the politicos there refused. Now hardly any ships call at the beautiful port they built. Empty..no tourists. It will be up to the govt of Costa Rica if they want the same fate

 

I do think Carnival and other cruiselines have to walk a fine line here tho...what if a cruiser is hurt in Roatan or in Belize or wherever....they can't just drop all ports. Unless they want to simply go to private islands and "Carnival" ports like Costa Maya or Grand Turk??

 

Hopefully they will work something out!

[Wennfred]

If you are taking a Taxi ride around to the beaches, just to let you know, Taxi are not allowed to stop at Tabayana Beach.

[cruzeluver]

I was just using Starbucks as an example.

 

What I meant was I would hate to see Roatan become like so many other Caribbean islands-tourist traps for Americans. I don't want my first sight of Roatan to ever be a huge mall with a Mickey D's, forty places to buy cheap t-shirts and an Applebee's.

 

Of course I want the people there to prosper, I would just prefer they not have to succumb to Americanization to do so. That is all I meant.

[sjohnson529]

Roatan fan here also. There is a beautiful beach, I'll probably slaughter the spelling, but it was Tabayana Beach or something on that order. We took a ship excursion there, they took us to the beach in buses and we were there for about 5 hours. It was THE best snorkling we had ever seen. We are divers (used to live in the Florida Keys) but this place blew us away. It is one of our very favorite ports. Nothing in the way of shopping (that we found) but the area is beautiful and that beach was great. The beach was very natural with trees and it was one of our best memories.

[lyttleone1977]

Hi Paula! I was thinking just the opposite. :) I thought a day in Roatan sounded really nice. I wanted to see Costa Rica but just hadn't found an excursion that really said "do me!!" yet. Of course by the time our cruise rolls around it may still be Costa Rica, after all.

 

Now I'm also one of the people who loved Belize so I wouldn't be really upset if that got substituted for Costa Rica, either!

 

Hey Va,

The only reason I mentioned it is because of my mom - I do love her, but last year when she went on the Valor and was in Roatan, the furthest she went on land was to do some shopping. After looking at Carnival's list of excursions, the only thing that would interest us would maybe be the dolphion encounter - would make my daughters trip, and it would allow us to not have to debate about ruins or dolphins in Costa Maya. I know that I was lookign forward to seeing some culture, and I am not sure if I will see that on Roatan. I would say we could just do a beach day, but then it seems redundent to travel all of that way to go to the beach when Lake Michigan is 2 hours from my home..... I know I am going to hear it, brown mud of Lake Michigan compared to the caribbean!

[TennisLover]

I've been to both Roatan and Costa Rica via a Carnival cruise. My vote is for Roatan -- hands down!

 

I understand that the west coast of Costa Rica is awesome, but that is not where the cruise ships go. If you want to go to Costa Rica, perhaps plan a hotel-based vacation on the west coast.

 

If you were going on the cruise for the Panama Canal, don't switch. That was an amazing excursion! You will enjoy a relaxing day in Roatan too.

[POOHISME2]

I just did a 11 day Western Caribbean in December. Roatan was my absolute favorite of all the ports. We went to Tabyana beach. If you look at my webshots link in my signature you will see the most beautiful beach with fantastic snorkeling. I would do Roatan over Costa Rica in a heartbeat.

[samtig]

We've been to Roatan twice & it's one of our favorite ports. It's a beautiful island that is not as developed for tourists as most islands (no Diamond International yet) with very friendly people. We felt very safe. We had a car & driver for the day through Victor Bodden (Bodden Tours). He has a web site. It was great. You can create your own itinerary or ask for suggestions from your driver. Our driver was great & spoke perfect English. We took a tour of the island and it was a great day. Will definitely go again.

[caribbean dreams]

Roatan is in my top 3 of favorite ports:)

The people are the friendliest of all the Islands i have been to, very unspoiled land.

There is actually quite a few things to do in Roatan, Zipline, glass bottom boat, butterfly farm, sailing, horseback riding, dolphin adventure, kayak, snorkel, shopping and i don't think there is such thing as a bad beach in Roatan. There is even a Cameo factory you can visit.

The Taxi drivers are very nice, just tell them what you woud like to do for the day and they will make sure you will have a good time.

[flyingb]

Where are you seeing that it is a FACT that Carnival is changing ports? The article on the front page of cc says.

 

Carnival has not immediately responded to a request for confirmation.

 

there is no mention on the website of this change!!

 

Check this out....Cruise NewsCarnival Dumps Costa Rica After Attack

Luv's Crusin'

[maofthree]

:eek: we went to roatan a few yrs back, very 3ed world dirt roads, we went to a small beach to the right was a small family home. about a10 ft. away the women was hanging her laundrey, she asked if i wanted lotion on my back , the kids were there with rags to wipe sand of the chairs , 3 kds to wipe sand off 2 chairs we paid them each. had a lunch included in the taxi ride...don't remember the price. the cab driver was younger and had never been off the island.amazing... i do remember the sand fleas were real bad... wouldn't be my first choice but you just make the best of things.

[CaptainEdwardJohnSmith]

The Captain would like to point out that Roatan has the 2nd largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We have also been to Costa Rica quite a few times and never had any problems there, nor did we ever feel intimidated or scared in any way, sort or fashion. And neither of us speak Spanish, we have always relied on

the friendliness of the people while visiting there. By the way, Costa Rica is NOT an island, Roatan is. So both are excellent destinations.

Happy cruising.

[chaminod]

and she says that they are switching to Roatan & they said she could expect a fax on the matter tomorrow. We had plans to zipline over the Costa Rican rainforest, but I understand we can zip in Honduras also.