On sunday the 10th my girlfriend and I are going on a cruise, the cruise is with Royal Caribbean and it is a 7 day cruise and it is going to: Rotan, Honduras, Costa Maya, Mexico and Cozamel. I was wondering if anyone had ever been on this particular cruise or even one similar to it and had any advice. Such as what Excursions and what location to do them at, also what are some fun activities to do on the boat and that type of thing. Thanks for yall replies!
ive been to roatan its beautiful crystal clear water and one of the best reefs in the world. honduras is beautiful also but its a little dangerous... DONT ride the taxi
I'd only recommend doing the excursions the cruise offers if you are really lazy. It's better to read through them to get an idea of what you can do in each port and go from there. Most of the time you can do the same thing for much cheaper, but you just have to put some time and effort in finding the activity and getting transportation which is always available at the dock.
I did an excursion that had you off roadin in jeeps to get to your locations. I'd never done anything like that before and since it wasn't my vehicle well lets just say I had a good ole time. The dirty was flying. This was in Cozumel. Drinks are extremely over priced so I'd recommend sneaking on some liquor. If you get caught the only thing they do is take it away. Every time my step dad goes he takes an entire case of beer in his suit case and he hasn't got caught after doing this 4 different times. I myself fill up a Listerine bottle with crown and I've never gotten caught. O ya and do not rent one of those scooters to get around any place in Mexico. We ran into a couple on their honeymoon that got into an accident on one. They had minor injuries, but that wasn't the thing that got them. The police wouldn't let them go until they paid them like 3 grand and they didn't have the money. They ended up having to have some family wire the money to them and they barely made it back onto the boat.
I've been on two 7 day cruises and they were all 3 port ones. I didn't know they had 5 ports? That's pretty cool.
It's a 3 port cruise he just wrote it kind of funny. Rotan, Costa Maya and Cozumel. The husband and I went on a similar cruise when we first met. But we went to the Cayman island instead of Honduras. Costa Maya is a huge turd..so I would recommend an excursion for that port. They have a few different rides to some Maya ruins you can take. Cozumel, well....it's Cozumel. Nothing good to say about that port either. Too bad you're not going to The Cayman. That is still one of our favorite ports. What kind of room will you be staying in? I would also have to say that you shouldn't waste your money on soda cards on board of the ship.
Weird, both times Cozumel was our favorite. But maybe because we didn't really spend time at the port but did excursions instead.
I went on Carnival Conquest in September to Jamaica/Caymen Islands/Cozumel, had a blast and going on a smaller cruise in August. A few tips I'd recommend, This is on a Carnival Cruise, so I'm not sure if the rules apply for Royal Caribbean. We were able to bring drinks to the ship, just "acceptable", meaning around a 12 pack of soda per person (people were holding them while in line to get on the ship), my sister snuck in about 3-5 bottles of liquor in the suitcases, so no issues with bringing that aboard. If your room is going to be with a balcony, bring some string/clothes pins so you can dry your clothes much faster than hanging it in the bathroom The Carnival Cruise had a safety deposit lock which you can lock/unlock with your room key, in truth, u can use any card with a silver strip like a credit card (preferably a used gift card with no balance), so the cleaning crew can't get into your safety box. Bring a empty bottle, either a large empty water bottle, or the ones you buy to use at the gym, very usable to fill-up and bring them to your room. If you are planning to do any excursions, make sure to do it WAY ahead of time, rather than planning it while on the boat, because more than likely everything would be booked. I'd check out Cruisecritic.com for more information, my sister researched through that website, got information on who to go through, prices others paid, and more tips on what to avoid and look out for. your going to have a blast if its your first one, but just be careful out there and do your research, it'll make it a better trip.
My wife & I have been on 5 cruises, 4 of them with Royal Caribbean. We love RC. Our other cruise was with Norweigen & we went to the Yucatan & Rotan. As mentioned before the reef at Rotan is beautiful. I would suggest a scuba or snorkling excursion to the reef. I've never seen so many different colors in fish or coral before. In the Yucatan, we stopped at a port(don't remember the name) & disembarked at 6am for an all day excursion to the Chichenitza Mayan ruins. There are shorter excursions to Mayan ruins & I would recommend taking one. Haven't been to Costa Maya. I'd recommend taking cruise line excursions simply because if their excursions run past the departure time, the ship will wait for you. Otherwise if you miss the departure time, you have to pay your own way to catch up with the ship. When you get your tickets, you also get an excursion pamphlet. Read through it, decide which ones you want & book them online NOW! As mentioned before, they fill up fast! If this is your 1st cruise & you're worried about getting sea sick, get a prescription for the sea sickness patches. We used them for 2 days on our 1st cruise, bought them for our 2nd(but didn't wear them) & haven't bought them since. I'd recommend getting dinner assignments at a table with at least 2 other couples. Sharing your day's adventures is half the fun of cruising. We've made so many new friends at our dinner tables! Enough of this. Relax & have fun on your cruise! We expect a report after you get back!!
yeah this is our first one, and were really excited! sea sickness shouldn't be a problem luckily. What were the Mayan ruin like, we were wondering what they were like and if they were really worth the money that it cost to go view them, also one question, are the prices that you see on the RC web site for the excursions, priced per couple or per person? Thanks for your reply
My parent's are cruise freakes and I have been on 8 of them so far. My biggest tips for everyone that cruises: -BRING YOUR OWN ALCOHOL - We do this every cruise and it saves you a ton of money. We usually bring one suitcase that is full of nothing but bottles of liquor. Just wrap them up in towels to avoid breakage. We usually buy a plastic cup in the gift shop on board, and mix drinks in our room and walk around with those all day. This will save you several hundred dollars. - You are allowed to bring sodas. Each person you are with should walk on board with at least a 12 pack of sodas. - Right before you board, they will ask if you've been on any previous cruises with them. Say yes. This will get you invited to a private party on board which includes free drinks and appetizers. - Go to Carlos and Charlies in Cozumel. Trust me on this. Have fun!
probably progresso, outside merida? ive never been on a cruise, but my friends parents live in a little town outside progresso called chelem - for the locals, the big thing to do when the cruise ships come in is go into town and check out all the scantilly clad american chicks walking about. the people there are very conservative and women will swim in the ocean w/ all their clothes on - so its a real treat for the men to see all the bikini-clad, busty blondes wandering around town. the beaches there dont compare to the mayan riviera - but merida is a really nice town to check out for a few hours - more european and caribbean influence than the rest of mexico. its less than an hour from progresso. cancun is awful, but the rest of the yucatan is beautiful - do as much as you can over there - chichen itza is the best, but there are closer ruins to merida - uxmal and dzibilchaltun. definitely go check out some cenotes - giant sinkholes that you can swim in. go snorkling too!
YMMV on this one. We priced the shore excursions for our cruise, and would have saved about $20 total per excursion. However, we would have had to arrange our own transportation to and from the excursion (not such a problem getting to the excursion, but getting back posed a problem for those that didn't book through the cruise line, in that they had to find a cab and barely made it back in time). For us, since the idea of the trip was to relax and not worry about anything, we just spent the extra $20 and had a great time. Being a tourist can have it's benefits. I also agree with whoever suggested dining with other couples, or even families. We were skeptical, but ended up enjoying the company MUCH more than expected. Not to mention, if you ever want a intimate dinner for two, there are options available. You get a LOT more flexibility with cruise dining nowadays.
ok alot of yall are saying that yall brought your own alcohol, how exactly do you get that past security? also yall are saying to carry the soda on board, can I just put it in my bag or do i have to carry it? Thanks guys
as far as i know, you are not allowed to bring booze on board and i think they do scan luggage. they definitely do scan bags when you come back from ports of call so that you don't buy cheap booze in duty free stores instead of at the bars on board. in regards to bringing soda on board, i don't know why someone suggested that because there is free soda on the ship in the cafeteria unless things have changed in the past 3 years. try to get a balcony room if you can. on a 7+ day cruise, a balcony is totally worth the extra money because of the fresh air and ability to dry your wet clothes quicker. i like to order breakfast to my room (it should be free but be nice and tip the delivery guy $2-$3) and sit out on the balcony eating my food while watching the sun rise. ordering breakfast to your room also saves you a good 20 minutes because you don't have to change and walk to the cafeteria and wait in lines and walk back to your room. those 20 minutes can be precious because in the morning, everyone is normally scrambling to eat and get ready to get off the boat asap once it docks in port. and bring some dramamine/bonine in case someone gets seasick. bring this with you if you do an excursion that involves a length boat ride too. and in the dining room (sit down table service eating area), you can order as many servings of each course that you want but make sure you do it in the beginning. for example, you can order 3 appetizers and 2 entrees if you are really hungry. this comes in handy if they are serving escargot or lobster. be sure to tip your waiter (should be same guy the whole trip), especially if you pig out and order multiple appetizers and entrees.
no free coke anywhere. you have to either pay ala carte (~2 bucks) or soda card (~49 bucks). totally not worth it unless you drink tons of soda. you cant bring booze on board. you could try to do it by using a rum runner flask, but I would suggest not packing a bottle (they will find it). Another option is carrying on a water bottle and replacing it with clear liquor, but there is a chance they will smell and confiscate it. Have Fun!
