More Cruise Help...pretty specific...

[bethnjim]

My husband and I are leaving out of Tampa, FL on the Legend of the Seas. We are in the process of booking the cruise. Has anyone been on this ship? Also, we are stopping at several places. Has anyone been to any place and do they have any recommendations on activities at each stop??

Here are the stops:

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Belize City, Belize
Cozumel, Mexico

We are interested in doing the zip cord thing, snorkeling, possibly seeing some wildlife like turtles, stingrays, sharks, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[meatpie]

Been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman on a cruise a few years back.

Cozumel - Rented a scooter (although we were warned not to) and drove around. I think we partied a bit at Carlos and Charlies as well that day. If we could do over I would visit the ruins. That was not offered on our cruise (Carnival) back then.

Grand Cayman - snorkeling. It was OK. Bad weather for it and not as cool as snorkeling in Hawaii or Aruba, but fun. We did a trip to a reef (amazing) and a ship wreck which I thought was cool then, but no where near as cool as the ship wreck we saw in Aruba last year on a trip. The stingray thing is really popular, but we did not do that.

I think if I were you I would snorkel in Grand Cayman, or in Mexico (Riviera Maya), but that's because I would be really interested in viewing the ruins in the other places and viewing wildlife in Belize, which I hear is incredible. What a great itinerary by the way!!

Also a good source of info - have you been over to cruisecritic.com? That's how I got all my info on the cruises we have taken.

[bethnjim]

I've been to cruisecritic.com and find it to be helpful, but I wanted to get some other opinions.

Thanks for the ones you gave!!

[southhavenjen]

We were on this ship for our honeymoon - but it was an Alaskan cruise so I can't help you with the ports you're asking about! We liked the ship - especially the pool.

[cr8zyforaf]

Belize City, Belize - Is this a Royal C. cruise? We did Sting Ray/Shark Alley snorkeling and it was the highlight of our trip - we saw so many sting rays and sharks - it was just beautiful. They took us to the second largest barrier reef in the world. We wanted to do the cave tour but it was sold out.

Riviera Maya, Mexico - if this is anything like costa Maya it was the worst stop on the cruise. DH and I took a bus to go jet skiing in Costa Maya and ended up eating the money we put down to do it because it seemed very dirty and unsafe - we went back to the ship.

Grand Cayman - we went to 7 mile beach and rented jet skis...it was nice but very expensive. They also have a little store there that sells rum cakes - OMG - they are to die for...

Cozumel, Mexico - we wanted to swim with the dolphins but it was sold out - so we ended up taking a cab to a small beach and just hung out -then we went downtown and found a small boat that took us snorkeling - the snorkeling was very good. We had signed up for a Catamaran booze cruise but overslept and missed it.

Whatever you do - decide early and book it if you have your heart set on something - we waited until the last minute and ended up not doing some of our top picks. Also, don't feel like you have to go through the cruise line - they jack the prices up and you can probably find better deals on the internet ahead of time.

[bethnjim]

Belize City, Belize - Is this a Royal C. cruise? We did Sting Ray/Shark Alley snorkeling and it was the highlight of our trip - we saw so many sting rays and sharks - it was just beautiful. They took us to the second largest barrier reef in the world. We wanted to do the cave tour but it was sold out.

Yes, it is a Royal Carribean cruise. Did you book that excursion through the ship or on your own?? We didn't see it offered on the excurison list, but we DEFINITELY want to do it!

[bethnjim]

Southhavenjen~~I am so happy that you liked the ship. We are nervous because it is our first time.

[Aimee]

I've been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman twice and have never done a formal excursion. A lot of the ones offered by the ships are significantly more expensive than what you'd get by buying them on land. But, it's much easier to book it through the ship and just like up where they tell you to.

Grand Cayman
I'm woefully unathletic, so snorkeling and such was never an interest for me. One of the trips to Grand Cayman, we just took a city bus to a part of Seven Mile Beach near a hotel that had bathrooms for changing your clothes and charged a modest entrance fee ($6 pp, I think.) We spent the morning swimming and then took the bus back into town and shopped in the afternoon. I think the whole deal was less than $20 for the two of us - much cheaper than a similar "excursion" offered by the cruise line.

Grand Cayman is where they make the Tortuga Rum cakes. The cruise lines will push the hell out of these things. They're really good, but you can get them at CostPlus World Market for a comparable price.

Grand Cayman has a turtle farm that I hear is interesting. They also have Stingray City where you can swim with the stingrays and feed them. I hear that's a lot of fun, too.

Cozumel
Both times I've been to Cozumel, I've taken a taxi into town and shopped. There are some cool little restaurants in the town square area that are very reasonable and a lot more authentic than Senor Frogs. It's fun to wander in the little shops and bargain with the people for stuff. Silver and quartz are two things that are native to Mexico and you can get decent prices on them there. The first time I went I got DH a quartz chess set that's really cool.

[Daisy]

I've been to two of the places you're visiting:

Grand Cayman:
We went to StingRay city and swam with the stingrays - we thought it was really cool and we had a lot of fun.

We LOVE Tortuga Rum Cakes, we order some every year! :)

Cozumel:
It was so hot that day that we hung out at Carlos N Charles for half the day, then we went to some beach and went swimming. If I were to do it again, I would go see the ruins.

Have fun!

[bethnjim]

We really want to do this:

http://www.canopytours-vallarta.com/tour.htm

but we don't know where it is in location to where we will be in Mexico. I guess we should call or write and find out!!

[SusieQ]

Went on a carnival cruise, one of the stops was Cozumel. During the day we did an excursion that we signed up for on the ship. A Catamaran trip where they took us snorkling, then served margaritas on the boat, then dropped us of on a beach where we ate a nice lunch, and they had a bunch of non-motorized water sports, volley ball etc. The excursion was probably 3 hrs max. When we arrived back at our cruise ship we showered and went to Carlos & Charlies for some drinks and appetizers (or dinner, I forget). The atmosphere there was fun.

Also, the ship told us about this hotel up the street from the crusise ship dock where you pay a small fee and you can use their swimming pool which we did early that morning for a couple of hours before it was time to go out on our excursion . All in all it was a nice time. Although, I wish I had done a little more research about renting mopeds to explore on our own b/c I've heard from many people that doing that is the way to go on Cozumel.

[bethnjim]

SusieQ~~You can get on and off the ship?? For instance, the one excursion gets back at 1:30pm but the ship doesn't leave until 7pm. We can get back on, shower and then go to dinner on the island??

[Aimee]

SusieQ~~You can get on and off the ship?? For instance, the one excursion gets back at 1:30pm but the ship doesn't leave until 7pm. We can get back on, shower and then go to dinner on the island??

It all depends on how far your excursion is from the ship, and what time you need to be on the ship, etc. For leaving at 7pm, you want to get there a bit earlier since there are always huge lines to get on (and off, for that matter). Last cruise, DH and sat by the window in the Windjammer and watched the people frantically run to the ship before it pulled away!

It's definitely possible, although I've never done it.

[SusieQ]

SusieQ~~You can get on and off the ship?? For instance, the one excursion gets back at 1:30pm but the ship doesn't leave until 7pm. We can get back on, shower and then go to dinner on the island??

We went in 2002 so all the details are fuzzy but you can definitely get on and off the ship, at least with Carnival. One of our destinations was Key West and at this stop we didn't get off and on b/c the ship was docked far from the actual town and you had to take a shuttle bus. Plus we were only there for about 5 hrs so we walked all around Key West, ate and then when that was done it was already time to head back to our ship

I think we were docked in Cozumel from 7am-10pm or something like that so we had a lot more time. Plus the catamaran stop was right by where the cruise ship docked. After our excursion we got back on the ship, showered (we might have even taken a 1hr nap) and then got ready and went to Carlos & Charlies. We just made sure we had plenty of time to get back to the cruise ship before departure. We were back at the dock about 45 minutes to an hour before departure. We didn't have a problem getting back on the ship. I don't remember the exact process for geting on and off the ship but I think they give you some sort of id card when you intitially board and when you get back on the ship you swipe it and then your pic comes up on a screen. Something to that effect. I don't remember if you also have to carry your passport, I don't remember. I forgot since it was almost 4 years ago that we went. Hope this helps. ~Sue
P.S. I just thought of this but I remember reading somewhere that the Cruise ship dock in Cozumel was damaged by Hurricane Wilma this fall. I'm assuming that is has since been rebuilt but the set up may possibly look different now, not sure though.

[meatpie]

It's pretty easy to get on and off. Did it in Mexico and in Europe. You just need to swipe your ID card, but pay close attention to the time the ship leaves. The ship waited in Europe for a couple to get back on and everyone gathered around to jeer them (all in good fun) because they were 45 minutes late and the captain announced we were waiting for a couple.

But I know people have been left in port before.

[Annette]

If you have the opportunity to do a canopy tour, go for it! It is a blast! We did a few zip lines in Costa Rica and wow it was amazing. Definitely feels like you are flying.

We also did stingray city in Grand Cayman when we cruised. We went with an outside company called Native Way and it was much cheaper than the ship, plus there were a lot less people aboard. It was a neat experience swimming the the rays.

[cr8zyforaf]

Yes, we booked the shark/sting ray through the cruise ship. I think you can do it on your own also - again - this was one of the best things we did on our cruise...is was amazing!

In Belize and the Grand Cayman - you won't actually dock - you have to take a small boat from the ship to the island because the water is too shallow. You can come back and then get back on - however, I don't remember the details but I think the last small boat picked people up an hour or so before the ship left - so you don't want to cut it too close. We just had to have our sign and sail cards to get on and off the ship.

[Annette]

but pay close attention to the time the ship leaves.

This is important especially if the ship will be crossing time zones. Some cruiselines will change times with the local destinations and other's won't. So keep your watch set to ship time.

[jesseybell]

I am so jealous you are going! We were going to go in mid-February but by the time we got our act together all the rooms with balconies were gone and we were spoiled with a balcony before we couldn't imagine one without.

We went on a RC cruise last year and I seem to recall that the boat did NOT change the clocks while in port (but it was all confusing because we went during October the week the clocks changed!)

In Cozumel we actually went to the mainland and went to the Tulum Ruins, which was a lot of fun. I had been to vacation in Cozumel before, so I didn't need to see much, but the excursion let us off in town, not by the boat, so we walked around for a while and then took a cab back to the boat (they took american currency)

We didn't stop at Grand Cayman because it was shortly after a hurricane that leveled the port. We were really looking forward to swimming with the turtles.

We never had a problem getting back on the boat, but we didn't try to get back on at the end. It was kind of nice to get back on early and have the pool virtually to yourself because the pool was crowded often.

Have fun!!!!