Im sure this has been answered a million times already, but we are going on a western caribbean cruise in Early October, I would love if people could give me an idea of what excursions are available in each port or what Royal Caribbean excursions are available, is there somewhere I can check these? We are a young couple in our early 30's so if anyone could recommend any excursions I would really really be delighted. I went on Mediteranean cruise last year and I swore I would be more organised with regards to excursions for this one!
Our stops are cozumel, haiti, montego bay etc.
Id love to do some clothes shopping too so if there are any shopping centres please advise!!
they dont even have to be full excursions, but if there are any sights or sea worlds or leisurely things we could do would also be great as I like a sleep in every few days!!
Hi Corkgirl, I just did this cruise on May 31st. Labadee Haiti is RCI's private island and that will be a beach day. They have beach and water activities, waterpark, volleyball, hiking trails, a little shopping, and they will provide a BBQ. First timers to Jamaica usually do the Dunn Rivers Fall excursion. Cozumel has several nice beaches for snorkeling or diving. Grand Cayman has 7mile beach, and Swimming with Stingrays, also the tour to the turtle farm and "Hell" (which is just a bunch of lava rocks). Some people consider that tour too touristy. In Cozumel Mexican blankets, leather, and Aztec pottery are popular. You can get real vanilla for $5 and up. Kahlua is a good buy in Cozumel. Keep in mind the airline liquid rules though. Grand Cayman has black pearls.
I will be doing the western caribbean on the Freedom on Sunday. In Labadee you will have to do the excursions through the ship. This year we are doing the zip line last year was just a beach day with rafts. Last year was Montego Bay & we did some shopping & then went to a nice beach & did wave runners. This year we are in Ocho Rios so it's the Dunn's River Falls which is really great. I guess we will also book this through the ship just for safety reasons. Grand Cayman we booked the sting rays but not through the ship. There are plenty of vendors when you get off & they are half the price of the ship. We were very pleased with our choice last year. You can also to to Sea Grapes beach which has water activities, food, lockers & showers. There's a guy who does parasailing there too & I've used him before & he's a good guy. Not sure what we're doing this year in Grand Cayman. Cozumel will be lots of shopping & then off to snorkeling at Chankanaab Park. Not booking any excursion through ship here either since it's just shopping & then a cab ride for snorkeling.
Don't forget you can go to RC website & review all the excursions for each port. Even if you don't book through them it might give you some ideas on what you might want to do.
Corkgirl, take a browse through the Caribbean Port Chat section as well. You can use the "Find" feature in the upper left hand corner and type in your ports. It will pull up all the posts about them. Best wishes for a fantastic cruise!
really appreciate all the posts thanks, its just a minefield of things to do, and not knowing if we should get a taxi or bus to beaches etc, its the not knowing is annoying, I tried looking on the royal caribbean website for excursions but it says there are none updated for this cruise yet!
Are you registered on the RC website? If you are I would think your excursion would be there but maybe it is a bit early.
If you are booking excursions through the ship you'll have transportation. Otherwise I took a cab in both Cozumel & Grand Cayman to get to the beaches.
Hi Corkgirl, Your question is actually a lot tougher to answer correctly than it may seem. I personally am a bit of an adventurer so when I took that cruise last December with family I scheduled to become certified to scuba dive, ride a jet ski, parasail, and zip line ride for my wife and I. Other family members (my youngest daughter, parents and sister) enjoyed more subdued forms of entertainment. That's the wonderful thing about cruising, there's something for just about anyone. What I generally do is to look at the excursions available on the same ship & itenerary on a more current date to see what's presently available. I understand that what's available now may not be available when I go but I can plan my trip with some accuracy. I also prefer to pre-book my shore excursions on the RCI website so I don't have to spend hours in line when I'm on vacation (on the ship). Have fun, Wayne
