Western Caribbean excursions

[Minnie368]

Were going on a 7-day western Caribbean next spring. It'll be our first cruise. There are four ports on our itinerary. We're thinking we'd like to get off the ship and do some type of excursion at 3 of them and stay on the ship for one, hoping that the ship will be a little less crowded for us for one day. Which port should we skip? Excursions we're interested in are dolphin swim, zip line, and snorkeling. The ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Castaway Cay.

 

[Whimsical1995]

If I had a port to skip would be Jamaica. We loved the Dolphin swim/Stingray city in Grand Cayman and the Fury Catamaran in Cozumel.

 

[justafigment27]

We (me, DH, DD 14 & DD12) did the Catamaran, Reef & Kittiwake Snorkel Sail in Grand Cayman last April and really enjoyed it ... beautiful calm, blue water for snorkeling and my kids loved the catamaran.

 

[Marc D]

I will skip Jamaica next week on my WC cruise. It's one of the most dangerous country in the world. If you walk out of the gated port area on your own, you'll probably get harassed by locals. There are armed cops at the gate. I'll enjoy the Aquaduck instead.

 

[85glht]

We did a beach break in Jamaica. If they offer this still, I would book that. The beach wasn't far from the port and it was beautiful.

 

[JW9DVC]

Stingray city is a must! We also did turtle farm and a trip to Hell.

Falmouth we just stayed I port. Wasn't pleased with the areas outside it.

JW

 

[Laurie907]

Our favorite excursion from past 5+ Disney Caribbean cruises was the Jamaica Zipline & Bobsleding through the rainforest! We loved it so much that after 2 other itineraries and other zip lining adventures, we are going back to do the Jamaica one again! There's a great pool at the top too so when you're all done zip lining and bobsledding you or your kids can hang out in the pool!

 

[Disney mac]

Stingray city in cayman is best deal Disney offers. It's my favorite excursion and it was cheaper than I thought possible. $59 for adult and $39 for kids.
Book it before it sells out.

We also did the dolphins in Cozumel. Phenomenal.

 

[Minnie368]

Thanks to all for the great info. It's our first cruise, so is there a chance some of these will be filled before our booking window opens?

 

[Doofenshmirtz513]

We did the bobsled and Dunn's River Falls in Falmouth last summer and had a great time. It was different from anything else we did, and the travel there and back gave us a chance to see some of the country beyond the tourist areas. Locals and tourists go there, and we never felt unsafe at any point.

We didn't do an excursion in Cayman thinking we would want a break in the middle of the three-day, three-port stretch, but we then wished we had done something there, too.

 

[Minnie368]

Stingray city is a must! We also did turtle farm and a trip to Hell.

Falmouth we just stayed I port. Wasn't pleased with the areas outside it.

JW

Stingray city in cayman is best deal Disney offers. It's my favorite excursion and it was cheaper than I thought possible. $59 for adult and $39 for kids.
Book it before it sells out.

We also did the dolphins in Cozumel. Phenomenal.

Are you talking about the snorkeling one or the sand bar?

 

[Disney mac]

Are you talking about the snorkeling one or the sand bar?

Yes the one at the sandbar. It's a great time and a great deal. There's a little bus ride to a boat ride. 100% a must do. Enjoy!!!

Thanks to all for the great info. It's our first cruise, so is there a chance some of these will be filled before our booking window opens?

There's "a chance", but highly unlikely for the big ones like those. Just be ready to login and book at your window time and you should be fine. My advice is try to login and get your boat boarding time first and get as early as possible, as my kids loved no line for the aquaduck and water slides.

 

[tlprice]

We did the Dunn's River Falls and Bobsledding in Jamaica and absolutely loved it. We never felt unsafe and we got to see a good stretch of Jamaica on the drive. It was the only country of the Western Caribbean itinerary I'd really like to return to and explore a lot more. It is beautiful. We went to the Turtle Farm on our own in Grand Cayman. I wasn't that impressed with Grand Cayman. It just looks like Florida to me. But, when I travel, I like to see new and interesting things and experience the different cultures. I am a history teacher, so I might look at things differently than some travelers.

 

[JW9DVC]

Are you talking about the snorkeling one or the sand bar?

Sand bar.

 

[dcassetta]

In Cozumel, our favorite excursion is the Fury catamaran. Opportunity for snorkeling and fun beach break. In Grand Cayman I love visiting stingray city. If you decide not to do an excursion in Jamaica, there is a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville restaurant area inside the secure port zone. They have a nice pool and patio, live music, and the food and drinks are reasonably priced for a tourist area.

 

[Ravenne]

Jamaica was probably our favorite port. We did the swim with sharks excursion with Dunn River Falls and loved it. Cozumel would've been our favorite if it wasn't for the commuter boat to mainland and lack of time. We loved Xcaret but just simply did NOT have nearly enough time to fully do 2 of the things offered there. Grand Cayman was a meh for us. We did the turtle farm and it was meh. We didn't do stingray city because we'd done stingrays before on CC. It's not fully the same, but we wanted something entirely different. There didn't seem to be a whole lot to do in Cayman that struck our fancy, so looking back, if I had to pick a port to skip, it would probably be that.

 

[DlandAP]

We did this cruise back in 2015. Jamaica was the best. We did the Dunn River Falls with lunch at an estate. Cozumel was also a favorite. Grand Cayman was a little of a let down. Reminded me of Acapulco or Santa Monica. .

 

[algae]

Just got back from that area.
In Cozumel, definitely do the Secret River. The ATV excursion is pretty fun also.
In Grand Cayman, we just walked around since we've done enough scuba and sub stuff. Would've been cheaper to do an excursion, though, if you know what I mean
In Jamaica, do the bobsleds and zip lines for sure.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

In Cozumel, we did the Mexican Cuisine workshop (CZ33) through Disney which is definitely worth the extra $20 on top of the regular beach break at Playa Mia. It was a hit with our 3 kids (15, 18 and 21) when we did it last summer, and if we ever end up back in Cozumel we will do it again. If you are looking for something shorter and less expensive to do, check out kaokaochocolatefactorytour.com. For $20, ($10 when we did it a few years ago) you get a short explanation of chocolate making and then get to make your own chocolate as well as sample some of their chocolates. We learned about it through tripadvisor and it is still highly rated there.

 

[crystalgenette]

We did a ship wreck snorkel in Grand Cayman that was very unmemorable. As was walking around the port. If it were me, I'd skip this one. We did the Green Grotto caves in Jamaica which was ok, but the beach/lunch after was great. Also loved doing sting rays in Cozumel.