Poll, returners from Costa Maya, help please!

[NCRedding]

MY DD age 12 really enjoyed the ruins, with our guide Diana.

 

[DARWIN91]

ok that just freaked me out! Shark???? I went in the water there and I thought it was awesome. Now when I go back I am going to be thinking about that shark!

 

[invaderzim]

scottygirl -- There were children of all ages on our excursion to the ruins. Except for one extremely unbehaved little boy, the rest of the children seemed to have a good time looking at the ruins and the jungle. The bus ride can be entertaining if you bring some snacks -- and you pass a lot of houses, buildings and land along the way. So there is definitely stuff to see.

 

[abitjaded]

Bumping.

Carla

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

We are also considering the Ruins if we get to Costa Maya. We have kids 9 and 11. My fear is they will be bored, but not nearly as bored as going shopping!! Anyone else have any comments on the ruins tour? Is it independent or can you book through DCL?

Thanks.

 

[trinibjill]

My daughter & I took quite a few pictures of the ruins. The quides were very informative & there is a place you can buy souveniers.

If you would like to see my pictures go to http://community.webshots.com/user/trinibjill

& just go to the set for ruins only put it on slideshow & enjoy.

Jill

 

[abitjaded]

Jill, is there any food for sale at the ruins? Loved the pictures.

Carla

 

[trinibjill]

You know I don't recall there being any food. They only had water for us on the bus. My suggestion would be when you have breakfasst go to the buffet & pack fruit & snacks in a small cooler.

We had a good breakfast, brought snacks & then either eat in Costa Maya or go back to the ship eat & go back on shore.

Jill

 

[invaderzim]

abitjaded

We were back to the dock by 1:00 and were able to go on the ship and have lunch.

We packed granola bars and plain bagels we had gotten at the buffet that morning. They provided us with free beer and soda on the way back with refills. We thought that was nice.

A TIP: Be sure to get your picture taken by the photographer that travels with your bus. He takes them as soon as you get to the first temple. Then they have them ready for you when you get back on the bus. We were so surprised when he presented them to us -- they were in a nice folder with our picture on top and a picture of the temple at the bottom with the name. And it was only $10. Definitely worth it.

 

[trinibjill]

I'm glad you replied. I forgot about the beer, soda & picture

Doogierunner

You asked about the booking. The ruins was offered by DCL. They also had beach snorkel, boat snorkel, bike & kayak, all terrain expedition & jungle beach break. Or from 8:30 - 5 swimming, shopping, drinking play games.

Jill

 

[abitjaded]

Bumping. One member of our group has been kind enough to book a private guide at the ruins, he will meet us there. Fifteen of us are planning on getting off the ship early and getting four cabs to take us over. I'll report back on how it works.

Any comments on the snorkeling trips? I had read one thread where there are beach snorkels, but everyone seems to think the snorkeling from shore is lousy. DCL's boat snorkel is restricted to over 10 yo. Anyone get a snorkel boat for kids younger by booking at the pier? I also read another report, cruisecritic, maybe? that described a fiasco of taking a boat to the end of another pier that dropped them in water too shallow to even clear the coral. Anyone?

Carla

 

[trinibjill]

Hi
In Grand Cayman we did the Stingray City Reef Sail & Snorkel. We were taken there by catamaran, there were refreshments aboard. Quite a few people went. The color & clarity of the water was amazing. They provided squid at the site from the boat. There were quite a few sting rays. We sailed partway back. Good excursion.
Jill

 

[two-foxes]

We did the DCL boat snorkle ($59).....I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it or do it again. It wasn't horrible by any means, but of all 4 excursions we did in the 12 days, this was my least favorite port of call and excursion. It was hardly worth the $$ IMHO.

The bus was HOT and dark....I am not closterphobic (sp) but I didn't think I would survive the 10 minute drive there. The areas that we saw were depressing to say the least, and although the boat ride was enjoyable, the water was pretty rough for an experienced swimmer....

It is good to hear that others had enjoyable times there....it gives us hope for our cruise in 06!

 

[invaderzim]

In Grand Cayman we did the Island Tour and Stingray City. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the tour. You're taken by air conditioned bus/van around the island and we visited the Turtle Farm and Hell. Then they take you to the dock and you get on a boat and go to a sand bar out in the water. There were literally dozens of stingray. It was my favorite excursion! My family didn't want to do it at first, but admitted later that it was amazing.

 

[abitjaded]

Bumping again to hear from those of you who disembarked today! Sorry your cruise is over. How was Costa Maya?

Is CC recovering? Enough shade? Anyone see any of the lovely hummingbirds? There used to be so many buzzing the flowers on the air strip and bike path on the way to the adult beach. Heard the snorkeling trails had been pretty badly beaten up. See any fish?

Carla

 

[jenschaef1]

Just off the 10/9 - 10/16 Western:

We went on the DCL Boat Snorkel at Costa Maya. The Seas were calm, weather great and the snorkeling terrific. I would highly recommend this excursion, pristine reef and many fish. My 15 and 13 yr olds went and enjoyed it also. IMHO it was a much better snorkel than the DCL excursion (seahorse snorkel) at CC. Be prepared though, you must travel thru the town of Majahaul to get to the boat...it is very very poor (very sad), and because the town is carved out of the jungle the mosquitos are bad!

One of the highlights of my cruise.

Jennifer

PS: There is a bathroom on the boat

 

[scubarn]

Also just off the 10/9 Western

Our group of 10 took taxi's to the fishing village of Mejahaul and spent the day at the beach.
When you dock, there is a shopping village and in my opinion the stores are very overpriced as compared to the prices we found in Cozumel.
The taxi's are all the same price $5/pp to the fishing village.
The beach is set up in sections with chairs/huts/umbrellas that are serviced by each sections own bar.
The use of the chairs and umbrellas was free but we did purchase food and drinks.
There are some stores and street vendors in the village. But as I said I thought the prices very overpriced.
Example: large bottle of vanilla Costa Maya price $10.00 Cozumel Price $3.00

 

[two-foxes]

Originally posted by jenschaef1
Just off the 10/9 - 10/16 Western:

We went on the DCL Boat Snorkel at Costa Maya. The Seas were calm, weather great and the snorkeling terrific. I would highly recommend this excursion, pristine reef and many fish. My 15 and 13 yr olds went and enjoyed it also. IMHO it was a much better snorkel than the DCL excursion (seahorse snorkel) at CC. Be prepared though, you must travel thru the town of Majahaul to get to the boat...it is very very poor (very sad), and because the town is carved out of the jungle the mosquitos are bad!

One of the highlights of my cruise.

Jennifer

PS: There is a bathroom on the boat

See, this is where personal preferences, weather, etc come in.....we did the same excursion on the 9/25 (9/27) and it was the "low"light of our trip......

 

[thegales]

Also just off the October 9 western.

We decided to go to the area right at the end of the pier. We would have preferred to go to a sandy beach, but were told by a CM there were no bathroom facilities at Mahahual. Traveling with three females, I did not think this was a good idea.

In the area at the end of the pier, there are a few different sections. We decided to walk down to the beach section, which required us walking by some shops. The employees there were very pushy about you going into their shop. Just keep walking and saying no thank you. At the beach, there was a guy who watched where we were going, and brushed off the chairs and brought us a table for us to put our stuff. Later, he kept circling with a trash bag so folks wouldn't litter. I wound up tipping him a couple of dollars.

The sand does not go all the way to the water. The actual shore line is all rocks. Unless your feet are appropriately attired, you should not go on the rocks.

Another man kept circling with a menu from one of the restaurants. We could have ordered food or drink. We just ordered the drink! Price for a 16 oz. Margarita was USD 7.00 plus tax. I gave him a ten.

There were two pools: a swimming pool and a volleyball pool. The volleyball pool did not look that inviting. Our family went into the swimming pool and had fun. One important thing to remember, Mexico does not need to follow US government rules about pools. There were no markings as to how deep the water was. Also, the ladder to get out of the pool did not appear to be adequately secured. Nothing was unsafe, but you need to be cautious, and not assume anything.

There was also a trampoline / bungee jump which cost USD 10.00 for a long time. DD8 went on and had a blast. DD6 also tried, but after two or three jumps up real high, the operator saw she was not happy. I asked DD6 to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down. She gave a thumbs down. The operator then took her down. I was happy to see that he truly watched the child and didn't force her to continue on when he could tell she wasn't happy.

After some time at the beach, we went back on the ship to get cleaned up and have lunch. We went back to the shops to find some gifts for teachers.

In no way is Costa Maya a Castaway Cay. But in one sense, they felt the same way. We were the only ship in port, and we could come and go as we liked. All the guests were from the Magic and we had the run of the place.

I would not mind returning to Costa Maya on a future cruise. However, there was nothing specific to Costa Maya here; the beach area could have been anywhere. But I will blame that on ourselves as well. If we had been more adventurous, we could have seen something that said 'Costa Maya' other than a t-shirt.

 

[JenKatt]

We also just got off the Oct 9 cruise. We did do the horseback riding and it was wonderful. Your guides don't speak much english, but again there's not much explaining to do. It's a leisurly ride through the town and along the beach. You are in the middle of no where. It's beautiful and serene. Almost pristine in that it hasn't been screwed with alot yet.
The beach in the town is much better than the port beach. Tequila beach is the name. The prices were rock bottom, the best margaritas I've ever had. The town doesn't have electricity or phone service, but the beach area has electricity and running water and bathrooms. They were charging $40 on the beach for hair braiding for the whole head and people (kids) were very happy. They also offered massages on the beach which from what people in our party said, were as good as what they offer in the Spa onboard and considerably cheaper.
Skip the area at the port and take the taxi down to the beach at the town...

The food is also very good and cheap!