Going on a cruise......?

Question

Im going on a cruise that stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Has anyone taken this trip? Any guesses on how much money we should take? Any ideas on what kind of shore excursions we should do? Any tips you could give us? We are taking royal carribean.

Answer 1

I took a similar cruise on Carnival, that substitued New Orleans for Jamaica. We researched all the western Caribbean ports when we booked it, so here's my advice.

1) Jamaica: Do not do any on your own activities here. The cruise terminal is not in the best of places and there is a fair amount of crime. This is a great place for a shore excursion, be it a guided horseback ride on a beach, or a trip to Rio ******, with wonderful waterfalls and scenery.

2) Grand Cayman: This is my favorite island, but be sure to check how long you are in port here. We were only in for half a day, and only had time for one shore excursion. It was a combo trip that went to Hell (the town named for its rock formations, good postcard spot!), the Turtle Farm (sea turtle rehab area), and Stingray City (a sandbar in the bay where you can snorkel and feed stingrays. They are harmless but do NOT wipe te oild form the squid you feed them on your swimsuit. They will come up to you and suck on your swimsuit. It's hamrless, but startling and funny. Might be a good joke to play on someone in your group). There is good shopping there, but we did not have time to do that too much.

3) Cozumel: If you are looking for a port to do your own thing, this might be it. The reef here is supposed to be one of the best in the world to snorkel, and there is a lot of shopping. We did a shore excursion in the morning that included a jeep trek through the mangrove jungle for four wheeling, followed by a canoe trip to a private islan for a day at the beach, and Mexican cook out. We loved it, but it ate up so much time, that we didn't get to snorkel the reef.

MONEY: On board, most curise lines let you charge things, including excursions to your ship card, which can in turn be linked to a credit or check card. We took less than a thousand dollars, and were fine with that. be sure to allow extra for all the tips you need ot leave on baord, and you will want to because of how wonderful the service should be.

Answer 2

I've done this one. There is a river tubing trip in Jamaica that's absolutely fabulous!!!! It's the perfect combination of relaxation and excitement and you'll miss all the street begging and poverty that people usually associate with Jamaica. There's a large group of us that cruise every year and we've all agreed that's the best shore excursion we've ever done! Warning: the van ride to the river can be scary if you're afraid of heights. In the end it'll be worth it. There's not a ton to do in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. In Cozumel, we generally shop and then go to Carlos and Charlies for drinks- careful! The drinks are very large and stronger than they appear! In Grand Cayman you can do beaches or shopping. As for how much money to take, that depends on your interests. If you plan to shop or buy jewelry take a lot. If you just plan to wander around or buy trinkets, you don't need much.

Answer 3

If you have not already done so, go to the Royal Caribbean web site and click on "find a cruise",
then "ports",
then "Caribbean",
then select the ports that you will stop in,
then click on the right side of the page of each port under "Learn More" and all of the shore excursions and their prices will be listed. If you have your reservation number you can register as a user, complete your precruise registration information and print your "SEA PASS" which you will present at the port when you check in; you can also reserve and pay for tours on the site.

We did a cruise last year which went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and I would recommend doing the Dunn's River Falls tour, its great. We did the least expensive one.

We went to Cozumel a couple years ago and took a tour of the island. There is not much there to see. That island is mainly for beach stuff like scuba and snorkle or just swimming and sunning. There is just one town and there is shopping, mostly silver, leather and typical Mexico stuff. If you want to see something or do something different, do one of the tours to Cancun. In Cancun you can go to Xcarat, which I have heard is great (have not done that one yet) and Chichinitza, the Mayan ruins.

Grand Cayman is a great stop and good for beach stuff . It will be hot and humid so beach stuff is best.

All on ship charges will be added to your bill/tab which you set up when you register. You either put your charges on a credit card or arrange to pay cash. They will also request that you add the gratuities to your tab. If your reseve tours, they go on your tab also. So the only thing you need cash for will be what you buy in port stops; and if you want to pay your tab with cash.

We are not big souviner buyers so about $50 a day is enough for us. You will also need cash for the casino if you gamble; but you can also charge an advance to your tab. For a 7 day cruise, with all the stuff on your tab going to a credit card, I would take about $350.

Answer 4

We just got back from this trip. It was great. We were not big shoppers but we did drink a few every night. We took a $1000.00 and spent $550. Grand Caymans is more expensive than Jamaica but they also have a lot of American restaurants, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut etc. In Grand Caymans we rented 12' aqua boots and snorkeling and it was awesome. My girlfriend and I loved it!! The guides were very nice too. In Jamaica I would recommend Dunn's River Falls although some of our friends did the breezes resort and said it was awesome free alcohol all day, free water sports (wind sailing, snorkeling, etc) all free. American money is $1 = $50 Jamaican. E-mail me for more details. Pay for as much as you can in advance such as tips and shore excursions. Then you won't have to worry about having the money on hand. Our tips came to about $100.

Answer 5

We went on a cruise with Carnival that made those same stops. We ended up spending about 700 shipboard (including excursions) and 400 or so on shore for jewelry and souveniers. We did the snorkeling and picnic excursion but other than that we just explored the towns by ourselves. Cozumel was my favorite and Jamaica my least favorite. I hope you have a great time =)

Answer 6

I took this trip about 10 years ago, it was so much fun. I spent about $1000.00 and after the fact found out that I really didn't need to spend that much. Be careful taking the ship excursions, they are very expensive and a lot of times you can do the same things (renting supplies from the locals) on your own for less than half the price. On the other hand, they warn you to be careful about the locals, to them we are rich. I never had any problems at all. So if you feel that something is wrong then be cautious. You'll have a great time :-)

Answer 7

I took a CCL cruise last year with the same ports. Needless to say, what you should do depends on what your all are into. cozumel has alot of different type of things to do. There are plenty of beach clubs, also it is a watersports paradise. I am a scuba diver so needless to say, I dive when I am in Coz. Also they have a dunebuggy tour which is quite fun if you are not into the beach / water scene. Shopping of course is popular there. GC is another water / beach port. I dive when in GC. My wife likes to go to seagrape beach which is a $4 bus ride from the pier. Beautiful beach with water sports rental eq right next door. Alot of people with kids do a stingray city tour to hand feed the wild string rays. In Jamaica, most people go to Dunns river falls. We went on the 'origional canopy tour', it is a total blast. Also people raft down the martha brae or do a coffee house / plantation tour or do the bob marley thing. You do need to be carefull in Jamaica. It is a beautiful country but there is alot of crime there. Make sure you go on a tour with a tour guide, don't just jump into a cab and take off on your own. All these ports will take american dollars in all shops. For a week cruise, we usually spend about $1000 + the price of the cruise. Remember 'hidden expenses' like the expected $140 tipping for your steward / waitstaff etc. Also remember parking fees if you are driving to your port. Also, tipping for your tour guides, porter at the port, room service etc.

Answer 8

DO NOT do the Dunns Rivers Falls trip in Jamaica - its a scam and a tourist trap, in fact, stay on the boat in Jamaica. Take travels checks into port. RC is the best cruise line by far. Tip you dinner staff well, the are usually great. Not much money spent on the ship, you can charge just about everything to your room except Casino.

Answer 9

I am going on that same route! There is a really cool place called Red Baron Excursions in Grand Cayman. You can rent a private sailboat and go swimming with the stingrays, and snorkleling. It is very private, and not outrageously expensive. Captain Neil is awesome. You will love it!

Answer 10

Yes, I have been on these Island several times. I would get off the boat and see each port.

It depends on how much you want to spend. Are you a frugal shopper or do you go crazy.

If you take a excursion they run around 80.00 and up..you can go to the cruise web site and find out how much they cost.

If you are doing your own thing..remember you will need Taxi money 15.00 one way, you will need about 15.00 per person to eat on...then you will most likely spend about 20 on a t-shirt and 20 on whatever else per person..so add that in......add in money for drinks out of a bottle of course,,, we always bring about 250.00 for each Island, but never spend it all.

Our on board purchases run around 500 for the 4 of us,,that include our cokes, and a couple of drinks. Snorkel rental, photographs, t-shirts, sounviers shops, cigars, on board liquor to bring home,,,because it is duty free.. so that all depends on how much you spend...
our first couple of cruises we spent a whole lot..then it tapered off w/ each one.