Cruise questions from a virgin....

[Rico'sAlice]

DH and I will be taking our first cruise ever and I have a few questions for vets. I've searched through and read the old threads, so I'm all clear on formal wear and dining, and have been over to cruisecritic...:D
We are going to be on the Princess Grand. Seven days in Western Carribean w/ stops in Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Grand Cayman, Islands; and Cozumel, Mexico.

What I'm wondering about are:

1) Should we sign up for the excursions? Although some of them seem interesting, they are pretty expensive. I'm wondering if I'd do better just to try and sign up for those sorts of things separately, just bring snorkels, get cabs places, etc.
Any strong opinions one way or the other. FWIW I do speak enough Spanish to get around w/o a guide. (And I have been to Cozumel before, but not with DH, and I mostly just drank and slept when I went- It was in college.)

2) They have a $10/day automated tip on board. Should I opt out? DH and I are generally generous tippers, but I like the feeling of controlling who it goes to. Are there people that I won't have face to face contact with that are relying on that tip? On the other hand, I'd find it pretty obnoxious if the company is getting a cut of that. Does anyone know any specifics?

Thanks.
Alice

[southhavenjen]

I am a member of the discussion board cruisecritic.com - I recommend you get on there and start taking advantage of the wealth of information that exists there. I will try to address your questions briefly but I haven't been to all of the ports you mention so cruisecritic.com is probably your best bet for specific info on those ports.

1. We never sign up for the cruise-ship sponsored shore excursions. They are WAAAAY overpriced and often you can get an independent tour on your own that is better quality, fewer people, and less money! I know for a fact Grand Cayman is an excellent place to do this - especially for the stingray tours. We are going with a company called Nativeway for a stingray tour in February. Nativeway comes highly recommended on the cruisecritic boards and is only $30pp. Our ship has the same tour for $60 pp. We have heard the Nativeway tour is only 15 people, so you will have lots of one-on-one time with the guides and the stingrays, while the ship tour uses a boat that holds upwards of 100 people. Check out cruisecritic, they have a forum for each port where people trade ideas and recommend guides they have used. You will need to contact these guides/tour companies and book in advance.

2. I would just let the tip ride. It is a hassel free way to tip. And yes, there are people that you may not see face to face that rely on the tip. One is the supervisor of housekeeping, and the other is the maitre'd. They get a very small cut of the tip for their part in supervising your cabin steward and waiter/busperson. The cruise line doesn't get any portion of the tips. You can always tip in cash to people that you want to tip over and above the standard, automatic amount.

HAVE FUN ON YOUR CRUISE!!!!

[lawyergirl25]

ITA with southhavenjen, although DH and I tend to just purchase our shore excursions through the ship. For us, it's worth the extra money to have zero hassle - everything is coordinated for us - and the security of knowing the ship will not leave until we return from our tour (it's a long shot, but hey, I don't want to have to find transportation home from Belize, ya know?).

Have a great time on your trip - it sounds very similar to the cruise DH and I took last year (although we went to Honduras instead of Costa Maya). Belize has the best snorkeling I've experienced!

[Phen]

We went on the Grand Princess for our honeymoon, except a few of our stops were different from yours.

We paid for maybe one or two excursions (a tour on Grand Cayman, and a beach afternoon--drinks inclusive--at Costa Maya). That was plenty for us! We enjoyed just walking around, eating, or shopping on our own at the other ports. Although sometimes we think maybe the swimming with the dolphins excursion would've been nice to do; everyone we talked to who did that loved it.

Not sure if Princess still does this, but at one time anyway they had this deal where you can spend $20 one time for a card to show everytime you want a soda. Worth it! Because otherwise, they'll charge you for every single time you have a sip of anything non-alcoholic aside from water. And that's pricey!

~ Phen

[southhavenjen]

Not sure if Princess still does this, but at one time anyway they had this deal where you can spend $20 one time for a card to show everytime you want a soda. Worth it! Because otherwise, they'll charge you for every single time you have a sip of anything non-alcoholic aside from water. And that's pricey!

~ Phen

I've not been on Princess...but on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity iced tea, fruit punch, lemonade, hot tea and coffee are free. I love iced tea so we don't buy the soda card. :D

[Avalon]

I agree with southhavenjen about not taking the cruise excursions ~ they tend to be pricier and more crowded. I have also found cruisecritic.com to be a great resource for what to do when in port. The only port DH and I ever went on a cruise sponsored excursion was St Lucia. Cruisecritic members recommended doing so since it would have been more expensive to do an independent tour. I definitely encourage you to check out Nativeway (http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/). We used them when we went on a cruise two years ago and one of ports was Grand Cayman and we loved them! Stingray City gets very crowded, and I felt badly for the people smushed together like sardines that were on what was an obvious cruise ship excursion. We only had about 15-20 people plus our guides and the people running the tour were very knowledgable. A lot of people from other excursions came over our way to hear what our guides were saying.

Enjoy your cruise!

[Rico'sAlice]

Thank you. I'll have to delve a little more deeply over at cruise critic to try and get specifics lined up. I just wanted a general opinion from a group I was already familiar with, kwim.

And thanks for the tip info southhavenjen I guess I'll just let it go then. Thanks.