Hello out there fellow cruisers! Im about to board my cruise (Dec 16th) on RC's V.O.S. w/ my girlfriend and I was wondering what do YOU guys consider the most exciting excursion the western caribbean has to offer!? Were both in our 20's and very anxious to do intresting and exciting things. Any input or deals you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated!
Ive done some reasearch and so far have come up with the following:
Haiti, Labadee - Day on the beach
Jamaica, Ocho Rios - Dun River Falls
George Town, Grand Cayman - Sting Ray City & Turtle Farm
Mexico, Cozumel - ?? I was thinking horseback riding...?
Is it better to book these excursions on the cruise, or have a taxi take you where ever you decide to go/do?
Welcome to Cruise-Chat Mundazo! I'll give my 2 cents on this:
Labadee-day on the beach.
Jamaica-Dunns River Falls.
George Town-Sting Ray City and I like 7 mile beach. There have been lots of posts stating 7 mile is too crowded and Rum Point is much better. I personally wasn't impressed with the Turtle Farm, but that is my opinion only.
Cozumel-the best excursion was the swim with the dolphins in Chankanaab Park (pre-hurricane). I don't think the dolphins are back there since the hurricane, however. My second favorite was Xel-ha and my third was Telum.
We usually book through the ship, the main reason for me is, I know where I'm going and when. I also know they'll wait for me if something goes wrong. After our excursions, however, my favorite thing is to negotiate with a local driver to take us around on a local tour. We've done some great trips that way for a reasonable price.
Mundazo~ We went to Cozumel in the begining of summer and took an AMAZING dune buggy trip with this company http://www.travelnotes.cc/cozumel/tours/dunebuggy.php
We felt it was a really young and small group. Also we didnt have to wear the goofy helmets or drive on the safe paths like the cruise group did. (When in Mexico live dangerously right?)
There is endless beer and water in the coolers and the most amazing lunch to be had at a postcard worthy beach hut. But here's my disclaimer! If you partake in the beer to be had and perchance become hammered do NOT, repeat, DO NOT lean against the dune buggy's muffler to reach into the cooler for more beer! I ended up with a pretty serious burn on my calf. Oops!
Even after my burn ward experience we are still going on the same trip on our Jan 13 cruise.
On our first visit to Cozumel, we booked the jeep tour thru the ship and had a blast. You will be in a group of 5-6 jeeps, driving yourself, and really get off the main roads onto beaten paths thru the jungle, to the beach for a picnic lunch-provided. After the jeep tour, there is ample time to visit the town for shopping,etc. On subsequent visits to Cozumel, we just rented a jeep on our own without the tour and had fun as well. They have scooters for rent also.
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Thanks for the great info guys! I have my Trip planed and i feel its going to be great! I booked all my trips on my own ( not on the cruise ) and saved myself SOOO much money!!! Heres what im doing !
Labadee - SeaTrek Water Park (Beach Day)
Ocho Rios - Personal Tour Guide, Dunns River Falls, White River Tubing, Sight Seeing
George Town - Sting Ray City Tour and other Snorkle Sites, Sight Seeing
Cozumel - Jeep City and Beach Tour!
I cant wait!!!! This is my girlfriends first time out of the country and shes a adventure freak just as i am! Shes going to love it!
Sounds like a blast! Seems like you're settled but the tour we did was the Dune Buggy trip listed on the side options of the site above. Cozumel was our favorite part of our last trip so I'm sure you'll have fun! It's always kinda nerve racking to choose something outside of the ship tours but they really do save you tons. You'll almost always have a smaller more personal group and you get to feel smug back on the ship that you got a better deal!
The Dune Buggy trip was changed due to the hurricane, it is no longer off-road, this is why we decided to go on the jeep trip instead. However, now im concerned about the weather, im looking at the weather forecast for the carribean, and its not looking pretty at all.
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