Hey!! I'm a 24 yr old high school teacher and will be cruising with one of my co-workers for the first time in October. We are going to Costa Maya and Cozumel...Any must see places at either stop??? and, are drinks included on the ship??

Congrats on booking your first cruise. Beverages, such as coffee, tea, juice, milk, etc. are included. However, any mixed drinks, beer, wine or sodas will cost you extra.

My favorite thing to do in Costa Maya is to rent a golf cart and head into the little village of Majuhual. Hanging out at Paradise Beach, or one of its neighbors is my choice in Cozumel. If you are into visiting ruins, Cozumel and Costa Maya both offer excellent excursions.

Nancy

I can highly reccomend Chankanaab Park on Cozumel, and shopping downtown. Congrats on your first cruise

IslandCruz

Nancy is correct on which drinks are included. And yes, you can see Myan ruins from each port, but if you plan on seeing them, do so from Costa Maya as the ruin excursions are very long and will consume most if not all of your port visit time. Cozumel offer more choices on activities and using up all of your time there with a ruin tour is not recommended.

If you are not do wish to spend a lot of money on excursions, consider taking a taxi to Paradise beach in Cozumel. Nice place to do the beach thing on a budget. Have fun!

We visited Cozumel and Costa Maya on our cruise last December aboard Grandeur of the Seas. We did not want to spend hours getting to and from the Mayan Ruins. We decided to book an excursion to the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins while we were at Costa Maya. It turned out to be a great choice. The whole excursion lasted about 3.5 hours, if I remember right. The guide said that Chacchoben was actually larger than Tulum. It was an interesting excursion and we were glad we chose it.

Enjoy your first cruise! You'll love it!

quote:

Originally posted by IslandCruz:
I can highly reccomend Chankanaab Park on Cozumel, and shopping downtown. Congrats on your first cruise

I second that...

Sonny

On Cozumel Port, I'd like to highly reccommend Xel-Ha, (pronounced Shell-Ha). It's a nature park with an awesome inlet for snorkling,never seen so many fish in one spot, beautiful fish everywhere!. They have a river for tubing and a bunch of other stuff. Absolutely beautiful. We did a combo tour with Tulum Ruins and Xel-Ha. Tulum was spectacular, surreal ocean front there and an absolutely gorgeous beach. It was raining when we were there and it was still amazing. If I did it again, I'd choose to do one or the other. We definately did not have near enough time at Xel-Ha, would have been great to spend a whole day there. Glad I saw Tulum, but next time I'm doing a whole day in Xel-Ha. Also: Last Jan. we went to Cozumel and did an excurion to Passion Island where they film those Corona Beer commercials. Thought that was a dissapointment, but it was right after that bad hurricane passed through.

I'll second Scott's recommendations. Xel-ha is great. Tulhum is extremely interesting, and the setting is spectacular. Fat Tuesdays in Cozumel has some great margaritas. Have a wonderful cruise!

cozomul is so beautiful, chanacanob is the place to go. We rented a car at the port in playa de carma for 40 dollars drove to the tallum myan ruins and enjoyed it very much. what ever you do enjoy it. it is so much fun.

quote:

Originally posted by Teacher_ASH:
Hey!! I'm a 24 yr old high school teacher and will be cruising with one of my co-workers for the first time in October. We are going to Costa Maya and Cozumel...Any must see places at either stop??? and, are drinks included on the ship??

Hi, what day are you leaving on cruise? and from where?

We are leaving for Alabama tomorrow (the 13th) and are cruising from the 14th to the 19th!! We are from KY