Cozumel - excursion advice with young kids

[shillee]

We will have a stop in Cozumel and are wondering what excursion to do. Our kids will be 3 & 5 (girls).

Disney offers the following:
* Cozumel ruins & beach tour ($52/adult & $35/child)
* Cozumel beach break ($66/adult & $49/child)
* Mayan Ruins & Discover Mexico Cultural Park ($59/adult & $49/child)
* Xcaret Park ($119/adult & $89/child)
* Xel-Ha Park ($119/adult & $99/child)

Has anyone done any of these? Did you enjoy them? Is there something outside of Disney offerings you would recommend?

Some seem pricey for what you get but I know all the excursions seem that way.

Is there something to do that it interesting right off the ship?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

With kids that young I would do the beach break. You can do it on your own. Taxis are right outside the port. The ruins were okay but I can see little ones being very bored. They aren't allowed to climb them and even the 7 years olds in our group were getting pissy about being told to stay off them. And the bus ride was long. The beach is really only 10 minutes from the dock. Grab a cab and go yourself.

 

[CT Mom of 3]

I would suggest doing something that doesn't require the ferry ride to the mainland - it can be very rough and 45 minutes each way is a super long time with seasick people everywhere.

 

[boogabuzz]

We have a 3(almost 4)year old. We are going to do Chankanaab. I've seen some good reports about it on these boards. Looks like a nice beach with lots of things to do.

 

[boogabuzz]

I would suggest doing something that doesn't require the ferry ride to the mainland - it can be very rough and 45 minutes each way is a super long time with seasick people everywhere.

There's a ferry ride to the mainland in Cozumel????? Ive been to Cozumel on a Carnival cruise and I don't recall it having tenders. Did something change?

 

[kcashner]

If you want a beach day, take a taxi ($30 round trip PER CAB, not per person) to Paradise Beach. Admission is free, you can rent what you want on an a la carte basis. DO NOT let the taxi driver sell you on an expensive package deal; you'll never use all the stuff in it and you can rent whatever you really want. For older kids, $10 gets you a wristband that allows all day use of all "non-motorized water toys."

They have food, water, umbrellas, chairs, etc. if you desire these. All are reasonable on a "rent what you want" basis.

Chankanaub is also nice--it is a park with an admission fee to enter and additional fees for whatever you choose to do. There are dolphin things, etc. as well as just using the beach. Taxi is about $20 round trip (per cab).

All cab fares are government regulated and posted on a sign right at the pier.

I'm with the others--I would not leave the main island with little kids. I'd be tempted to go on my own because then if the kids get fussy, I could return to the ship rather than waiting for the designated time with DCL. DO remember that if you go on your own, you want timo allow plenty of time before all aboard to get back to the ship. I'm totally compulsive; I plan on getting back an hour early just in case of a time mix up and then throw in some additional allowance for traffic, etc. Yes, I know that means I'm not maxing out my island time, but we have plenty of time on the beach anyhow. You can max it out on Castaway if you wish!

 

[princessmommyx3]

We have a 3(almost 4)year old. We are going to do Chankanaab. I've seen some good reports about it on these boards. Looks like a nice beach with lots of things to do.

We too will have a 3 year old and I would really like to do Chankanaab. I am wondering what to do about transportation - is it a big deal to put a 3 year old in a taxi without a car seat?

 

[204charity]

We have done the ruin/cultural park tour and it is VERY long. It would also be extremely boring for kids. The ruin is smaller than the bus, and while the beach is beautiful in the "park" it is just a beach from a Corona commercial basically - untouched - beautiful, but again, very boring for kids. I would not take my kids on that tour, they are 10 & 5.

Xcaret & Xel-Ha would both be tours that require a 45 minute ferry ride to Playa Del Carmen on the mainland, then the addition of a bus/cab ride to the parks themselves. Not worth it with kids, IMHO. The cruise ships dock right on the main shopping strip in Cozumel - there is so much to see and do in this little island, I would just bum around the island, visit the beach, and look through the shops.

 

[CT Mom of 3]

There's a ferry ride to the mainland in Cozumel????? Ive been to Cozumel on a Carnival cruise and I don't recall it having tenders. Did something change?

There's a ferry from Cozumel to mainland Mexico which is where a lot of the excursions are. No tender from the cruise ship.

 

[boogabuzz]

We too will have a 3 year old and I would really like to do Chankanaab. I am wondering what to do about transportation - is it a big deal to put a 3 year old in a taxi without a car seat?

Hmm. Well, I am kinda a freak about carseats. Like, left my son rear facing til he was 2.5. My carseat is so tight in my car that it's probably ruining the seat(I won't use the seat protector since the carseats can't promise the seat will work the same if that is underneath it) My almost 4 year old will remain in his Britax carseat with 5 point harness for probably another year. anyway...just trying to give you an idea about I feel about carseat safety. That being said, We were in NYC not long ago and I did put him in a cab without a seat. We didn't travel with a carseat. Lukily, nothing happened. On this cruise, I probably wont stress about the carseat situation either because I certainly dont want to bring one on the ship. He is tall and would probably be ok on a regular seatbelt if he's got no other option. I would like to hear some suggestions from others who have dealt with this issue.

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

Hmm. Well, I am kinda a freak about carseats. Like, left my son rear facing til he was 2.5. My carseat is so tight in my car that it's probably ruining the seat(I won't use the seat protector since the carseats can't promise the seat will work the same if that is underneath it) My almost 4 year old will remain in his Britax carseat with 5 point harness for probably another year. anyway...just trying to give you an idea about I feel about carseat safety. That being said, We were in NYC not long ago and I did put him in a cab without a seat. We didn't travel with a carseat. Lukily, nothing happened. On this cruise, I probably wont stress about the carseat situation either because I certainly dont want to bring one on the ship. He is tall and would probably be ok on a regular seatbelt if he's got no other option. I would like to hear some suggestions from others who have dealt with this issue.

FYI, you may be hard up to find a seatbelt!

 

[Brittmarie04]

I second paradise beach. Was there in march. Super nice and very reasonable price. About 10 min taxi ride from port.

 

[princessmommyx3]

FYI, you may be hard up to find a seatbelt!

I have heard that many taxis in Mexico do not have seat belts. Does anyone know if DCL provides some type of shuttle or bus to Chankanaab if you book the excursion through them? Or, do they just give you a taxi voucher? If they provide a shuttle bus, then it might be worth the extra $$$ to book through them and be in a safer vehicle.

 

[WicketsMom]

I am also very strict about carseats and took ours with us in 2009 for a week-long trip to Cozumel when my son was 2 1/2. Unfortunately, our rental car did not have working seat belts so there was no way to use it!

Chankanaab would be my vote, and you can look online and book dolphindiscovery at the park directly. Awesome experience! The beach area is nice there too, and good snorkeling is available in the lagoon.

Most of the good ruins are on the mainland and would be pretty boring to small children. The ferry ride over and back isn't that bad, but not something I would do if I were on a cruise stop. Cozumel is prettier than the mainland is anyway.

 

[kcashner]

I have heard that many taxis in Mexico do not have seat belts. Does anyone know if DCL provides some type of shuttle or bus to Chankanaab if you book the excursion through them? Or, do they just give you a taxi voucher? If they provide a shuttle bus, then it might be worth the extra $$$ to book through them and be in a safer vehicle.

DCL books the excursions thru a tour vendor. They use a vehicle (they do not give you a cab voucher). I'm not a bit sure that the vendor vehicle is any safer than the taxi though. Some of them look a bit sketchy.

 

[r2d2jsh]

We also have a 5 year old (DD) and a 3 year old (DS) and are thinking of doing Chankanaab on our own; we may end up just staying and playing on the boat, though, depending on how tired the kids are, since Cozumel will be our third straight day in port.

The other think we've thought about doing is the semi-sub; my MIL and Aunt-in-Law did that excursion when in Cozumel on another cruiseline and said it was great, and I figured that might be a nice way for the kids to actually see some fish...

 

[Funky Chicken]

Another vote for Paradise Beach. Take a taxi yourself. We were there last January while sailing on RCCL.
It has a beautiful pool and beach. Admission is reasonable and you can order food and drink from a menu a la carte. Very clean and safe. Would go back there in a heartbeat.

 

[Golden Rose]

Another vote for Chankanaab. We did it in February with our two kids, then 1 and 6.

Don't try to take young kids to the mainland. We loved Xel-Ha, and I know older kids would enjoy it, but it isn't worth the long ferry ride with young children.

We did the Push, Pull, and Swim Dolphin program, booked through the cruise line, with Royal Caribbean on our February trip. We enjoyed the dolphin interaction (which we paid for), and assorted things that are just part of Chankanaab, such as the sea lion show, the shallow tidal pools, the loungers, and the snorkeling off the beach. We are going back in November, on our own. We were just sent in a cab, even though we booked through the cruise line, and given a voucher for the return. It was a pretty short drive, there were seatbelts in our cab, and it went very smoothly.

 

[ginkybiloba]

We booked Chankanaab through DCL on our January 2009 cruise. Transportation was arranged by DCL but we were all put in minivan type taxis. I think ours had one seatbelt for 8 people. I am nuts about car seats too, and insisted that my 5 year old son got the seatbelt. Coming back from the park, I waited for a taxi that had at least a few seatbelts.

I actually emailed DCL to express my concerns about the transportation and got a polite response but that was it.