How BAD is the ferry...

[chirurgeon]

from Cozumel, to the Mainland? Debating excursion that is on the mainland, but things is heard about the ferry are a bit daunting. I am not prone to motion sickness, but a 45 minute ride could make anyone seasick if the seas are rough.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

It is bad the boats are low in the water and enclosed even seasoned cruisers have issues I have never seen it calm always rough and I have seen people unwell every time.

To avoid movement and avid seasickness you need to be higher. You need to see the horizon. These boats break all the rules they are very low in the water and you can't see out.

But even saying that Tulum is worth it.

 

[chirurgeon]

Tulum is too hot for me even though I am interested. I was thinking of the Xel-Ha river excursion. Also, on the walk back to the ship, is there time to hit the shops? I need more vanilla.

 

[CT Mom of 3]

It's bad. Our ride to the mainland was fine, returning was AWFUL - like people throwing up for the entire ride. We did the secret river excursion which was amazing but I honestly don't think I could do the ferry every again.

 

[chirurgeon]

Yeah, I'm sticking to the island and the ship. I see lots of room in the Rainforest Room that day. A meandor to get some vanilla and then back to the ship.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I'm fascinated by this thread. DD and I took the ferry, but neither of us remembers it at all. There was definitely no one throwing up - I'm a sympathy poker, so that would have been an issue for me. We must have had calm seas that day.

 

[tinkerone]

my daughter in law laughed at the suggestions she may want to take a pill before the boat ride. she said she never gets sick on boats, maybe my son would get sick but not her. guess what……she was the one who got sick. everyone else got queasy but she lost it. poor thing, i do feel bad. glad i decided i didn't want to go.
long story short, even people who don't get sick can and do on this transfer.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I'm fascinated by this thread. DD and I took the ferry, but neither of us remembers it at all. There was definitely no one throwing up - I'm a sympathy poker, so that would have been an issue for me. We must have had calm seas that day.

You must be lucky I have done it a number of times and bad each time.

 

[timrousbeastie]

We tried it once and didn't notice anyone get sick, though it was bad enough that I am not even considering port adventures on the sea for our upcoming stop at Cozumel. I may be overly cautious(?), but, considering the waves that we saw, I was really glad that we didn't plan to be sailing more than the 2x45: it was a relief to get off the ferry both ways. Even so, the reviews that I've read at cruise critic and here were definitely worse than what we experienced. I am not too concerned about taking the ferry again, though other posters, like DF, have far more experience.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We tried it once and didn't notice anyone get sick, though it was bad enough that I am not even considering port adventures on the sea for our upcoming stop at Cozumel. I may be overly cautious(?), but, considering the waves that we saw, I was really glad that we didn't plan to be sailing more than the 2x45: it was a relief to get off the ferry both ways. Even so, the reviews that I've read at cruise critic and here were definitely worse than what we experienced. I am not too concerned about taking the ferry again, though other posters, like DF, have far more experience.

My DD can get seasick due to an issue with her ears, she actually had an infection on one DCL cruise. Now she was bad at Cozumel. She held it together but was giddy getting off and had to have water or she would have fainted. Now on ship she is OK on higher decks. I went,
-08/11/12-08/18/12 Disney Fantasy Caribbean, -08/15/09-08/22/09 Disney Magic Caribbean ,08/19/06-08/26/06 Disney Magic Caribbean.-08/20/05-09/03,
10/26/02 - 11/02/02 Disney Magic Caribbean, Now we did go on the Ferry 3 of 4 of these. Each one the sea was rough, high waves, the ship bobbing, but its low in the water so moves more than other boats and is enclosed. The Tenders for example at Grand Cayman are so stable and so much better. But i wouldnt say do not go, do not get put off, just if you get seasick plan for it.

 

[yogamom]

It is bad! I would never do that again for any excursion. People were getting sick all around us and even though my family was lucky enough not to get sick, it was very unpleasant. 45 minutes is a long time in those conditions...the ride out was bad enough and then knowing we had to come back really put a damper on the day! I'm surprised that Disney uses that ferry.

 

[Golden Rose]

The ferry really is often awful. Lots of people throwing up, boat tossing and turning. We've done it several times, and it was rough all but once. One of my family members has stated that she will never take the ferry again. I don't say never, but I definitely dread it, and have stayed on Cozumel the last 3 times we docked there.

How long you have on the pier completely depends on what time your excursion returns. We did an excursion on a different cruise line some years ago that went to Tulum and Xel-Ha, and our bus actually left our entire group stuck at a bathroom stop (in a center where they ply you with things to buy) for 45 minutes, and then one couple couldn't figure out where to meet the group at Xel-Ha and the guide didn't want to leave them. Our particular tour group got back to our ship an hour after all-aboard time, and staff was literally in a line from where the ferry dropped us off to the ship entry, yelling "do not stop to shop, get directly on board! Do NOT stop! Do NOT shop. Go, go, go!"

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I was terrified of doing the ferry to Playa but my FiL wanted to do the secret River so bad. We don't get seasick so I wasn't worried about that. I just couldn't fathom being surrounded by puking people for that long. I didn't want to hear that and I really really reeeeeaaaally didn't want to smell it. Gah! Talk about misery! So I was super duper nervous going in.....

I did my homework and had a solid plan. We made a beeline for the upper/outside deck. We sat under the covered area, took a row by a window that we promptly opened nice and wide. Very breezy and pleasant. As soon as we got started the crew came around with the bottled water (for $) and sea sickness bags. I was like " Oh no...it's going to start....." But the sound of the boat engines was very loud. It was super breezy. I was aware that a few people in other rows/areas were not well but I didn't actually see anyone blow chunks. I could just tell from the expressions. Once I saw a person was unwell I just didn't look at them anymore. Does that make sense? It was so windy I couldn't smell anything foul. It was a very active ride. Lots of pitching & rolling. My FiL is very prone to sea sickness. He had his patch on & did just fine. I found the motion to be fun. I enjoyed the ride, actually. The return trip was the same routine. When we were waiting to leave hubby was watching people getting off the ferry that had just arrived in Playa and it was quite the scene. Several people stepped off the boat, sat on their suitcases, and finished throwing up right there on the pier. Poor things. I was super nervous again but it was okay. Exact same thing. I never suffered for the sick people in other rows or areas.

So there ya go. I just did this ferry in May. I was pretty freaked out by what I read and had I not felt obligated to go with my FiL, I probably wouldn't have gone. I'm so glad I did! It wasn't near as awful as I expected. In fact, I found that I enjoyed the fun boat ride.

 

[mom4fun]

I've taken this boat twice. I am prone to motion sickness but I took meds and I was fine. The problem is, people think because they are fine on the big ship they will be fine but they aren't because this is a completely different experience. I especially warn everyone to give their children meds before they get on the ship. They are particularly susceptible to getting sick.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have taken this ferry a few times, and it was only bad one December. We went then because we wanted Tulum and the weather was better for the excursion. It was bad going over, but calm coming back.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I have a different story to tell about the ferry I guess....I've taken the ferry and it was fine, and very enjoyable. I didn't notice anyone getting sick, my hubby gets motion sick and he was fine. One way we went had a band playing on the ferry (they were very good), and the other way we went there was a massive storm coming in and the water was rough we barely made it to the dock before the downpour and storm started but I still didn't see any sick people on the ferry. Maybe there were and I just didn't notice. If you want to explore some Mayan ruins but don't want to risk the ferry there are some decent ones on Cozumel. They aren't major ones like Tulum (which are pretty cool), but they were fun to explore. There were a lot of mosquitos though, we brought our own spray but you could pay a couple pesos for them to spray you at the entrance too.