HI Everyone,

We are going on our first cruise in a few months to Cozumel and love snorkeling and nature type of stuff, any thoughts on some good excursions?

Also where is a good place to eat?

 

Thanks in advance  

 

Hi!  We have always done the beach buggy/snorkle tour in Cozumel. It is soooo much fun! The beach buggies are little chopped off VW bugs, standard shift of course, and four people ride in each. You go to a beach to snorkle first, then drive all around the coast and stop at a lighthouse and beach, then on to another beach where you snorkle and swim and they have a Mexican buffet set up on the beach. It is well worth the money and so much fun!!  On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a souvenir place and they had great cheap silver jewelry and all sorts of stuff.  Also, Las Palmeras is a great open-air restaurant right by the main plaza in Cozumel. It's across from the beach and you can see your ship from the road (way off in the distance, of course).  they are a 'safe' place to eat, if you know what I mean. We really love the place and plan on eating there again! (Yes, even after the buffet on the beach haha). Their prices are very reasonable also.

I know there are other things to do in Cozumel, but that beach buggy tour cannot be beat! And at the main plaza, by Las Palmeras, are all the great little shops. Don't forget to haggle the prices down!!! Everyone expects you to do it.  Have a fantastic cruise!!!  I can't wait for ours again!  Jill

Thank you so much will definitely check it out 

We were in Cozumel late July and my husband and two children (ages 16 and 12) did the Segway and Snorkle excursion -- loved it!  The Segways were something different and our son was old enough to operate one.  Sunshine Tours provided great training before they ventured out.  The small group then had the option to snorkle at a beautiful beach area.  Although they were supposed to return to port by 2:00, I was almost besides myself when they didn't get back until almost 4:00 but all was well and they had a wonderful time.

 

Do you remember the price for the Beach Buggy and Snorkle Tour?  Is it booked through Carnival?  I and about 15 others are traveling in March, and that sounds like something my whole family will enjoy.

Take in the Passion Island tour. The island is for Carnival cruisers only. The first time we were there, there were 10 ships in harbor and over 25,000 cruisers on the island. We took the Passion Island tour and there were only about 200 to 250 cruisers there. Transportation, all the food and drink, alchol included, you can handle are included in the price. And they also have a souvienour shop on the island. If memory serves, it is about a 4 hour tour, so there is time to do other things if you take the early tour. Enjoy your cruise.

We were in Cozumel in May.  Took the Mayan Ruins tour to Tulum.  It's an all day adventure.  You disembark the cruise ship and board a ferry boat for a 45 minute ride to the main land.  There you meet your guide and board a bus for a ride south.  This was not your typical Mexico bus, the a/c worked and the driver was safe.  After about 30 minutes you'll stop at a roadside attraction with CLEAN restrooms.  There are some touristy craft work to purchase.  You'll spend 1/2 hr to 45 min there and then continue south to Tulum.  At Tulum you'll meet up with a 1st aid guy who accompanies you for the rest of the tour.  There is about a 1/4 mile walk to the entrance to the ruins.  Shuttle optional for an extra fee.   The ruins are in a walled complex, the guide takes you through the wall and around some ruins and explains the importance of layout of the buildings (east-west orientation) the history of the area and how Maya is different than the rest of Mexico.  After the tour (too short) you are free to walk around the ruins for 2 hrs and meander back to the bus on your own.  I was disappointed that we could not climb the steps of the large pyramid building.  Facing the water to the right of the main pyramid is a path with stair steps down the cliff to a beach.  It's nice and refreshing to jump in.  The 1st aid guy is there because it is EXTREMELY HOT and dry.  Stay hydrated!  You still have to walk (or shuttle) that 1/4 mile back to the bus. The bus parking is surrounded by a little shopping village.  In the plaza are these pole dancers, can't recall what it's called but it was impressive as they are about 60' up and swinging from ropes atached to their ankles.  My bride and I stopped at a storefront for Margaritas, the owner spoke good english and had gone to HS in San Jose, CA so he knew our apprehension and showed me he only used bottled water for the drinks, including the ice.  Back at the bus we were provided with frozen wash clothes to clean and refreshen and a meal, beans, rice, tortillas and a taco.  During the 1 hour bus ride back I slept as probably did most of the passengers.  On the return ferry there were a few street vendors hawking jewelry, but I slept through that also.  The ferry drops you right at the cruise ship, the bride and I walked into town and I took pictures of a Mexican Navy Patrol Boat that was a sister ship to the CG boat I used to be on.  There was not enough time to do anything else as the ruins were a full day.

 Hope this book report helps!

You mentioned the "early tour".  Is it possible to take more than one excursion at each port?

Yes you can take as many as time permits, but beware when booking that not all excursions fit into the time frames that they state.  It is not uncommon for some tours to go longer than stated.  If you are planning a longer one or one that is close to the time the ship leaves port I would book through Carnival, but if they are a shorter one or one relatively close to the port then you can get good prices from third party operators.

Jeannie:

Is it possible to take more than one excursion at each port?

"Possible" -- sometimes.  If you're at a port for 10-12 hours.

 

Recommended: no no no.

 

You'll be running around madly scrambling to make your next excursion, you won't have time for lunch, shopping, relaxing...  We did this once [in Cozumel, coincidentally] and will never do it again.  It's bad enough rushing around madly scrambling to make one excursion while doing a leisurely lunch, shopping, et cetera already.  We lived and learned: don't do it.

  Thank You!!!!!! We won't be trying that..... You have saved me and my travel partners a lot of disappointment, they are all depending on me to plan everything!  

If your group is adventurous and might like to try local food, Cozumel is probably the safest place in Mexico to do that.  The "recommended" tourist shopping district is all along the waterfront street called Melgar.  There are several "recommended" restaurants here which are crowded and have good food and are priced for tourists.  But if you go a few blocks in from Melgar you'll run across any number of little tiny cantinas where you can get a bottle of Mexican beer for a buck [10 pesos], and a few tacos/burritos/etc for 20 pesos.  I'd tell you the names of the places I've eaten, but I'm not real sure they had any.

 

They're about as big as a typical office cubicle, and you might want to brush up on your Españolish because the English in these places off the main drag is iffy.  As in sometimes none.

 

Beer = cervesa.

Bathroom = baño.  [-o is the masculine ending, which makes me think that baña ought to be the ladies' room, but it isn't]

Ask for enough cervesa and you'll need to ask for the baño.  This is often enough Spanish to break the ice.