How are these ports? Cozumel, Grand Cayman & Falmouth

[budafam]

When you walk off the ship, is there lots to do? Shops and such or would it be best to schedule an excursion? If so, which ports would be best and any personal experience? TIA!

 

[Funky Chicken]

Here are basics.
Cozumel has a lot of activity. Easy to get around by cab if you like. Plenty of tourist stuff within walking distance of the ship. The largest group of easy to reach beaches of the three-many paid admission beach clubs to choose from. We like Paradise Beach and usually go ourselves in a cab.

Grand Cayman has a nice relaxed downtown and slightly more upscale shopping than Cozumel. It's pricier than many other ports. Since you have to tender in, you end up with less time ashore than other locations. There are some nice excursions available but simply not as much as Cozumel.

Falmouth is a newer port, built to give big ships a place to park in Jamaica. It is still somewhat under construction. Apparently outside the confines of the port there is some sketchiness going on. The port area itself is pretty nice with many of the usual shops and a big Margaritaville with its own pool. I would not venture far outside the port area unless I was with an organized excursion-ymmv.

We like the first two. By the time we get to Falmouth we are usually ready to stay close to the ship. That's just us, though-plenty of differing opinions.

 

[disnyprincess]

Grand Cayman and Cozumel are good shopping ports but Falmouth is only great in the terminal area. Outside is awful. I just did this itinerary last week. Next time I will do the beach or an excursion of some sort if we do Falmouth

 

[Bear3412]

Fwiw a month ago outside the gates in Falmouth at 8:30am & 4:20pm we saw no "sketchiness."
There was one little hut set off the road with merchandise with one local proprietor.

They said they're successfully cracking down on aggressive hustlers outside the port.

Plus I think the word got out, and no one walks outside the gates now anyway. So perhaps that's why we saw no locals.

Very well organized transportation too, IMO.

We were in a vehicle though and took a left down the highway to Ochos Rios, so .....

This was my favorite port BTW. Don't miss this beautiful country, IMO.

YMMV

 

[Funky Chicken]

Fwiw a month ago outside the gates in Falmouth at 8:30am & 4:20pm we saw no "sketchiness." There was one little hut set off the road with merchandise with one local proprietor. They said they're successfully cracking down on aggressive hustlers outside the port. Plus I think the word got out, and no one walks outside the gates now anyway. So perhaps that's why we saw no locals. Very well organized transportation too, IMO. We were in a vehicle though and took a left down the highway to Ochos Rios, so ..... This was my favorite port BTW. Don't miss this beautiful country, IMO. YMMV

We were in Falmouth a couple of years back so it may have changed/improved. The fact that "they said they're successfully cracking down on aggressive hustlers outside the port" basically says that there was a problem with aggressive hustlers outside the port at one time.
And yes-Jamaica is beautiful. It's just not a place where I would just jump in a cab and go exploring, something I would have no qualms about doing in Cozumel or GC.

 

[wcw57]

i am in a decided minority on these boards when I tell you that:

Grand Cayman is a poop hole.

If/when i ever cruise there again, I shall remain on board.....

 

[caribbeandreaming]

We did this itinerary just last week on the Magic. Here are my observations:

Cozumel - we did the Cozumel Beach Break excursion. It was nice and the people are friendly. The worst part was being forced to walk through this shopping mall area to get back on the ship. We weren't hustled too much there as we just walked quickly through, but it was annoying to have to walk through there to get back on the ship.

Grand Cayman - our excursion got cancelled do to strong winds and rough sea conditions. We ended up taking a taxi tour of the island and went to the Cayman Turtle Farm as well. The turtle farm was super neat and I'm glad we did that. However, next time I'd do 7 Mile Beach. I had high expectations for Grand Cayman because I thought it was a "richer" island with all of the banking there. However, it was pretty much like any other island I've been to.

Falmouth - Falmouth is a relatively new cruise ship terminal - built in 2011 I think. The port and shopping area is new and very nice. However, there is nothing really to do in Falmouth itself. Falmouth is in the central part of the island so you either have to head west to Montego Bay or east to Ocho Rios. We did an excursion to Ocho Rios and it was close to an hour bus ride each way. The people there are so, so friendly. Definitely one of the nicest and friendliest islands in my opinion. We climbed Dunns River Falls, and we got hustled like crazy by the craftspeople on our way back to the bus there. Luckily our tour guide had warned us and gave us some good tips about what to do/not to do. It wasn't nearly as bad at the port shopping area. The port shopping area has regular stores like other ports and then there's a craft market with local vendors. There was a little hustling at the craft market but it wasn't bad at all. The tour operators were very organized and were good at handling a large number of people. There were several bus loads of people just from our ship heading to Ocho Rios, and all of the buses had signs with which excursion it was. We did Dunns River Falls and Sky Explorer, and we had a tour guide ride with us each way (in addition to the driver) and they pointed out things along the way and taught us how to speak "Jamaican." Bottom line is if you go to Falmouth, definitely do an excursion - otherwise there's not much to do or see around the port.

 

[Ofinn]

i am in a decided minority on these boards when I tell you that:

Grand Cayman is a poop hole.

If/when i ever cruise there again, I shall remain on board.....

Yep, I think you're in the minority. I wonder why so many wealthy people have houses there??????

 

[Bear3412]

.... I wonder why so many wealthy people have houses there??????

No taxes.

http://www.cayman.com.ky/caymans-tax-free-status

 

[Bear3412]

..... Grand Cayman is a poop hole......

You must be making a wrong turn. Follow me next time.

 

[5Dreamers]

We just cruised Nov.16-23/14.

1. We did not get off the ship in Cozumel and did not dock at Castaway Cay due to rough seas, so I can't comment on those ports.

2. In Grand Cayman we did the Disney excursion that included an island tour (quick stop in "Hell" and a wonderful experience at the turtle farm) and also snorkel at Stingray city. What an amazing experience!
Stingray City: It was $30 cash to buy the photos (e-mailed to you). I don't have a waterproof camera, so the photos I took from the boat did not compare to the ones they took.
Turtle farm: The kids all got into a pool with some of the smaller turtles, got to hold them, and bigger ones in other tanks. The guide got us into the park, gave us an introductory talk, and then let us have 30 minutes to explore as we wished. It was the perfect amount of time.

In response to a previous post: I have to say that driving around the island disappointed me, but I can't figure out why. Not sure what I was expecting. I had been to Jamaica before and thought it was so much greener and lush than Grand Cayman, so maybe I was comparing it to that. I didn't go to the beach at GC either. So many banks there, I wasn't interested in that at all. Our guide kept repeating about the strict laws there, to read and follow all signs, etc.

We had to tender in Spotts bay due to rough seas and Disney provided free bus passes from Georgetown, but we didn't need to use them since we were dropped off back at the tender dock.

3. In Jamaica, we did the "Green Grotto Caves" tour.
There are mosquito's and bug repellant is recommended, but we didn't know ahead of time. Also recommended are closed toe shoes, although I did it in sandals, but there is a risk of stepping on something "alive".
Our tour guide at the caves was so amazing with the kids, got them to go off all together with a flashlight and really tried to both calm them yet keep them having a fun time.
Afterwards, we went to Chukka's private beach for an hour which included Jerk Chicken lunch. Such a beautiful beach with warm clear water. Wished we had more time there, but 1 hour was ok. Lots of dogs hanging around, but none bothered us.

Had an amazing time!

 

[caribbeandreaming]

We just cruised Nov.16-23/14.


In response to a previous post: I have to say that driving around the island disappointed me, but I can't figure out why. Not sure what I was expecting. I had been to Jamaica before and thought it was so much greener and lush than Grand Cayman, so maybe I was comparing it to that. I didn't go to the beach at GC either.

This is a great way to describe it... I think I would have seen a prettier side of Grand Cayman had we gone to the beach.