Carnival Cruise to Cozumel - advice anyone??

[tippy]

DH and I are taking a Carnival cruise to Cozumel in Aug (we are very excited). This is our first cruise together and my first cruise longer than a day (it is a 5 dayer). Does anyone have any tips/advice to give us first timers on what to expect/what to do?? TIA!! :)

[solongtogo]

LOL..come hungry. You will eat 24 hours a day!

Also go on a snorkeling excursion in cozumel...little pricey but so worth it. Might want to get a motion sickness patch just in case.

Enjoy your cruise!!

[RobynScott]

My DH (then DBF) and I went on a Carbival Cruise to Cozumel in 2002 - it was great! The best thing(s) we did - 1) not that I am advocating another message board - but check out www.cruisecritic.com (another CC) - we got loads of great information about our cruise from those message boards.

2) - From those boards I learned about a private snorkeling / diving company called Eagle Ray Divers - we had our own (very reasonably priced) snorkeling excursion and it was great! One of the owners is American (so no language problems) - and it was so great not to be snorkeling with a HUGE group.

definitely check out the boards and EagleRay Divers - www.eagleraydivers.com

HTH :)

[lawyergirl25]

I second www.cruisecritic.com. I got a ton of great advice there.

We went to Cozumel on a cruise last March and it was my favorite stop on the trip. We started the day on an ATV/kayak/snorkel trip that we booked through the cruise line. I believe the company name was ATV Wild Tours. Anyway, they picked us up at the ship, took us out to the beach and put us all on ATVs for the 2-hour ATV ride. We rode one hour to the beach, where we kayaked and then snorkeled off the kayaks - probably the best snorkeling I've ever had in the Caribbean.

When we got back to the ship, we still had 7 hours in port, so we took showers and went back out to go shopping at the outdoor mall right next to the dock. You'll be able to find any kind of souvenir you want there - fine jewelry to handmade crafts. There are also tons of restaurants and bars to hang out in. The real party was at Carlos & Charlies - they were already dancing on tables and acting crazy at 3 in the afternoon. DH and I went upstairs to Senor Frogs, where it was still a little crazy, but we could at least sit down and get some food. By 4 we were feeling pretty good...so good that I got DH to join the tequila conga line with me. That was fun. ;)

I stuck to the touristy stuff in Cozumel, since that's what I like to do on vacation. If you're looking to get more of a cultural experience, I'm sure the girls over at Cruise Critic can help.

As for the cruise itself, I personally think that a 5-day cruise is perfect for me (in fact, we just took a 5-day cruise last month!). If you have any days at sea, there's plenty to do on board...usually we can't do everything we want to, there's so many activities. We went to an art auction for the first time on our last cruise and it was a lot of fun - plus we got free art and free champagne. I also like going to bingo, playing in the casino, and hanging out on deck. Anything you want to do, they'll probably have it on board.

If you are not big drinkers, I would recommend getting a drink package. DH always gets one and he gets unlimited sodas and juices all week for about $6/day. I think it worked out to where he needed to drink 3 sodas/juices a day to make it worth it and he usually drinks juice all the time - so we got the better end of it.

Don't forget your camera, OTC medications, toiletries, and motion sickness bracelets or pills. They're hella expensive onboard (I paid $20 onboard for motion sickness bracelets since I forget my $8 ones at home).

Wow - that's a lot of information. I just love talking about cruising. If you have any questions, let me know. I'm by no means an experienced cruiser either, so definitely check out Cruise Critic.

Have a great time!!

[tippy]

Oooo, thanks for all the great advice!! I need to get to cruisecritics.com and check it out! Thanks ladies! :)

[bellaprincess]

Tippy : When I went to Cozumel 2 years ago on the Carnival Triumph, we took the ship's excursion to Xcaret and loved it! It is a natural water park with an underground river and a beach and lots of snorkeling opportunites. Here is a link to Xcaret's website: http://www.xcaret.com/indexxc.php

You are going to have a lot of fun!

[tippy]

Tippy : When I went to Cozumel 2 years ago on the Carnival Triumph, we took the ship's excursion to Xcaret and loved it! It is a natural water park with an underground river and a beach and lots of snorkeling opportunites. Here is a link to Xcaret's website: http://www.xcaret.com/indexxc.php

You are going to have a lot of fun!

Bella Thanks for the info. It sounds like so much fun! We just might have to check that out :)

[pompomgirl]

Make sure you visit Chakanaab State Park. You can swim with the dolphins there!

[JillianS]

Cozumel is super. There are so many different things to do there. I just got back from dancing with Carnival Cruise Lines for two years. I think I've averaged going to Cozumel about once a week for the past two years :) And, I never got sick of it. Other places you eventually got tired of, but I always loved Cozumel. Great food. You HAVE you go to Poncho's Backyard (it's a restaurant, there are two of them, depending on which pier you dock at, but they're both like a 2 minute walk from either pier) and you HAVE to eat the chicken fajitas...omigooodness, i had them every time I was there almost, and I've been craving them since I got home. Mmmm...send me some ;) The shops are fun. There are some makeshift stores that have been set up by Carnival at their one pier, and they're ok, kinda stupid though, the best is if you take the itty bitty short cab ride down to the main shopping area. So fun. But don't ever pay asking price. They have cute silver stores.
The beaches rock too if that's what you're in the mood for.
Playa Del Sol is a short cab ride away, and they have everything from jetskiiing, to tubing, to trampolines and trapezes, a floating iceburg, Food, booze and fun water.
Chak. is good too. A long the same direction as Playa Sol, and lots to do..a little more expensive i think though...
Or, you can rent a jeep and go to the other side of the island for secluded beach going. The other side has the more active ocean, the wave jumping is great! There's also a cute ocean/cliffside restaurant over there, but I can't think of the name of it right now.
You might be tempted to rent a scooter, but be really careful with these. If the scooter company hasn't been "officially recommended" by carnival (and make sure CARNIVAL tells you this, not the renters), don't go near them with a ten foot pole. I've seen so many guests coming back bloody and hurt becuase they rented scooters from shody companies whose scoooters are unsafe and rickety, hard to control and can even fall apart...
Cozumel has some of the best dolphin swimming around (and I've swam with many a dolphin on many an island!). That would be the one shore-excursion tour that would be worth your money. (gotta admit, for some, it's better to just cab your ownself to whatever beach and just pay the admission price) but the dolphin tours rock.

anyways, that's enough for now

what Carnival ship are you guys (any of you) heading to?

have a blast, enjoy the shows ;)

[tippy]

what Carnival ship are you guys (any of you) heading to?

have a blast, enjoy the shows ;)

Thanks for all the info! :)
We will be going on the Holiday leaving from Mobile.
Wow, swimming with the dolphins sounds like so much fun :D

[JillianS]

haha I was on the Holiday for four months last year. It's a fun little ship. Enjoy it :)

[HeatherFL]

I took a Carnival Cruise to Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen a few years ago.

Go to the dinners late or you'll wait in line to eat. We showed up 15 minutes late, got right to our table and then enjoyed our food.

Expect lines.

We did horseback riding and snorkeling in Cozumel. It was awesome.

I grew up on the water and I've been on boats all my life. But I got seasick. Take something with you otherwise you might have to get Dramamine (which I did) from the ship doctor and it'll make you tired. Which kinda ruins things for a period of time since you'll want to do stuff instead of be knocked out from drugs!

Have a great time. Be safe. :)

Heather--a fellow HURRICANE!!! GO 'CANES!! :D

[tippy]

JillianS - :) I am very excited!!

Heather - Hey fellow Cane!! :cool: Thanks for the info!!