Western Caribbean Port Adventures Opinions

[gregf71]

We are booked on the Disney Treasure this October, cruising the western Caribbean, stopping in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. We are starting to look over the port adventures lists for those three locations. Anyone out there who has cruised this itinerary and have strong opinions, either good or bad, about any port adventures here? Anything highly recommended? Any to avoid at all costs?

Oh, I should note we are a family of 3 and our daughter will be 19 by the time of the cruise.

Thanks!

 

[Kit Jackson]

Something to be aware of related to Cozumel is that most of the excursions involve alcohol and I don't drink. I really enjoyed the Chocolate and Pinata Workshop, because I absolutely love chocolate, and it was the only one that involved chocolate without alcohol.

For Grand Cayman, we did the Seven Mile Beach Coastal Sightseeing Cruise & Swim and thoroughly enjoyed it. The water was a shade of blue I did not realize actually existed in nature. It was gorgeous along with the view of the coastline.

 

[shosh1530]

I haven't not done the Western Caribbean yet, but are also going on the Treasure in June. So looking forward to seeing the response here - particularly for snorkeling excursions.

 

[heggy]

DW and I enjoyed the Salsa & Salsa in Cozumel (CZ55 https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/cozumel-mexico-salsa-and-salsa-cozumel/).
We were taught how to make salsa and guacamole. Then we were taught how to dance the Salsa.

In Jamaica, we tour the Green Grotto Caves (FA73 https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/falmouth-jamaica-green-grotto-caves/)

Hope this helps.

 

[Doompatrol]

Also on the Treasure in October (4-11) so I'm very interested in the same question. Don't know if we will get off of the boat at all locations, but would for the right excursion.

 

[cvjw]

We normally just stay on the ship on the western cruises. We have done the El Cielo excursion in Cozumel and liked it. We draw the line at an hour long bus ride, so most of the excursions in Jamaica are a no for us.

 

[dreamer17555]

We love Fury Catamaran in Cozumel (about to do our 7th excursion with them)
Mystic Mountain in Jamaica - Sky Explorer, Bob Sledding, Zip Line was well worth the van ride and was super nice facility with wonderful staff.
We also did Sting Ray city in Grand Cayman which if you have not done a sting ray open water excursion like that before I highly recommend.

 

[PAGA2003]

We did a private tour with Leon Tours in Cozumel (Mayan Ruins and Beach) and it was fantastic! We saw the San Gervasio ruins on Cozumel, had lunch and snorkeled at Sky Reef and ended with a Tequila tasting at Tres Tonos with a couple other stops sprinkled in. It was a great day that our group loved!

In Grand Cayman we did a small group tour with Stingray Sailing that was a visit to the stingray sandbar and a second snorkeling stop. I believe they cap their tours at 16 or 18 which is so wonderful compared to the huge cruise ship tours. They also foster more humane interactions with the stingrays that we appreciated (they do not grab and restrain them). They provided transportation to/from the port and they accommodated us with dropping us at a restaurant near the ship for a late lunch. We highly recommend them if you are interested in the stingrays!

After two full days we did not want an excursion with a long bus ride in Jamaica so we did the Highlights of Falmouth and Greenwood Greathouse through DCL. They use smaller buses so our tour had less than 20 and we visited two historic sites, Greenwood (only 30 minutes away) and St. Peter's Church. It was a great half day (4 hour) excursion and we had time for a bit of shopping and lunch of Jamaican Patties at the port once we returned.

 

[gregf71]

Also on the Treasure in October (4-11) so I'm very interested in the same question. Don't know if we will get off of the boat at all locations, but would for the right excursion.

That's the cruise that we are booked on!!!

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

In Cozumel, our family really enjoyed the Mexican Cooking class. We have done it twice and both times it was great. Our kids were in their late teens/twenties at the time.
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...-mexico-mexican-cuisine-workshop-and-tasting/
We have visited the Turtle Centre and Rum Point in Grand Cayman, but neither excursion is showing on the Disney website.
In Falmouth, we did a half-day beach excursion on our first cruise. However, we found that since Falmouth was the 3rd port day in a row, we were pretty tired and were glad we hadn’t booked a full day excursion. On our subsequent cruises, we just got off the ship and wandered around in the port shopping area. Afterwards, we relaxed and enjoyed lunch/activities on the ship.

 

[unrequited23]

We did the San Gervasio ruins with the chocolate and the beach break and it was just ok. Mammoth Club and Tim Tracker have just posted some videos of excursions on this itinerary. I can't remember the channel, but Nachi Cocom beach club in Cozumel looked like a place I would be willing to plan my own excursion to check out.

 

[gregf71]

We did the San Gervasio ruins with the chocolate and the beach break and it was just ok. Mammoth Club and Tim Tracker have just posted some videos of excursions on this itinerary. I can't remember the channel, but Nachi Cocom beach club in Cozumel looked like a place I would be willing to plan my own excursion to check out.

Yes! I watched the videos posted by both Mammoth Club and Tim Tracker. Very useful!

 

[princesscinderella]

We are going on the treasure in March on the western itinerary. We have been to Cozumel before and did the sea trek helmet which was really cool. I did end up with my ear out of whack from the pressure change being under the water and couldn’t get it to pop back for a couple of weeks which was very annoying.

This cruise I have booked the coral reef restoration excursion on Cozumel, the caves, sights and beach on Cayman and we decided not to get off the ship in Jamaica. We live in SoFla so a lot the excursions and ocean activities are something we can do at any time at home so we don’t cruise the carribean to go to beaches etc but to enjoy the ship. We did book the nature walk kayak adventure on castaway since we have been there so many times as a platinum cruiser it sounds fun to do something different.

 

[Starryjean]

DW and I enjoyed the Salsa & Salsa in Cozumel (CZ55 https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/cozumel-mexico-salsa-and-salsa-cozumel/).
We were taught how to make salsa and guacamole. Then we were taught how to dance the Salsa.

In Jamaica, we tour the Green Grotto Caves (FA73 https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/falmouth-jamaica-green-grotto-caves/)

Hope this helps.

what did you think of the Green Grotto Caves?

 

[heggy]

what did you think of the Green Grotto Caves?

Wife and I enjoyed the excursion. We enjoy learning new things.
A couple photos from the excursion.



Hope this helps

 

[Sakura1017]

Has anyone done the dolphin excursion in Grand Cayman? Is the dolphin interaction and the dolphin encounter plus sting ray the same amount of time with dolphins? Debating if I should do one or the other. In addition, I know DCL does not go to turtle center anymore. But if I did dolphin interaction would there be time to just quickly go over to take a look at turtle center? Or can I tell the guide I would take my own transportation back to port area to get tendered back on ship?

Also in Falmouth. I have seen the videos of the bob sled going full speed. Has anyone decided to do it leisurely? I'm worried if it will cause a lot of neck pain at a slower speed. Or should I just stick to the rafting at Martha Brae.

Or would you do dolphins in Falmouth with Dunn's falls instead of grand cayman.

 

[enzy65]

Has anyone done the dolphin excursion in Grand Cayman? Is the dolphin interaction and the dolphin encounter plus sting ray the same amount of time with dolphins? Debating if I should do one or the other. In addition, I know DCL does not go to turtle center anymore. But if I did dolphin interaction would there be time to just quickly go over to take a look at turtle center? Or can I tell the guide I would take my own transportation back to port area to get tendered back on ship?

Also in Falmouth. I have seen the videos of the bob sled going full speed. Has anyone decided to do it leisurely? I'm worried if it will cause a lot of neck pain at a slower speed. Or should I just stick to the rafting at Martha Brae.

Or would you do dolphins in Falmouth with Dunn's falls instead of grand cayman.

My DD and her husband did the dolphin swim with Stingray city in April when on the treasure. They complained a lot about the whole thing, I think it didn’t match with what they were thinking it was going to be. I think their perception was it was going to be a lot less people.
The boat to stingray city held 200 people plus there were 10 or more other boats there. She said they were with the stingrays about 45 minutes. DD did say they broke into smaller groups for the dolphin swim, that part they seemed to enjoy.
No time for lunch between activities, no water or snacks were provided.
This doesn’t really answer your question, just wanted you to know what my DD experienced.

 

[Sakura1017]

My DD and her husband did the dolphin swim with Stingray city in April when on the treasure. They complained a lot about the whole thing, I think it didn’t match with what they were thinking it was going to be. I think their perception was it was going to be a lot less people.
The boat to stingray city held 200 people plus there were 10 or more other boats there. She said they were with the stingrays about 45 minutes. DD did say they broke into smaller groups for the dolphin swim, that part they seemed to enjoy.
No time for lunch between activities, no water or snacks were provided.
This doesn’t really answer your question, just wanted you to know what my DD experienced.

Thank you for your review on sting ray city. I might just do Castaway feeding. Those I don't snorkel so I don't know if I would get more time doing something else.

 

[croschek05]

I could use some help at each western Caribbean port. No clue what to pick and I have to decide by Sunday. Have 12 year old twins. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[BrokeMack]

Cozumel we did a snorkel/dune buggy combo. Pretty good other than the German cyclist who cut me off going cruising speed in a parking lot, then got mad a me over it. But we usually stay on the ship in the Nassau of the Western Caribbean. Falmouth my wife did a beach horseback ride which she very much enjoyed, while my son and I went ziplining. It was fun, but bring lots of small bills because they won't make change and you don't want to pay $20 for a $5 locker rental (ask me how I know). Grand Cayman has some great snorkeling so I'd highly recommend any of the offered snorkel excursions. @croschek05 my son was 11 on all of the excursions I listed, if that helps.