Western Caribbean Questions(a little long)

[samanthamccarren]

So our next cruise is far off, not until August of 2018 but we are going on a Fantasy Western Caribbean cruise which means going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and of course Castaway Cay.
1. Can I get opinions on these 3 excursions we are looking at booking, we like mostly to just do things that involve relaxing on a beach and eating. Any reviews on these 3 would really help!!
Cozumel: Beach Break-Playa Mia Grand Beach and Water Park
Grand Cayman: Beach Day at Tiki Beach
Falmouth: Deluxe Jewel Beach Break
IMPORTANT 2. this second question is actually really important to our planning, we have gone on 2 Bohemian cruises never a Caribbean one. So the question is how many lizards or "dragons" can be seen in these stops?? My mother is deathly afraid of all things reptiles so we need to know if we are going to have to be leaving her on the ship for any of these ports. Like are these big lizards seen throughout these ports or any at all, and if so how many and how close do they get to people, are they easily avoidable? I know it may seem weird but knowing this will really help with our planning.
THANKS!!!

 

[Prose]

We did the Playa Mia excursion in Cozumel. My daughter and I enjoyed it...there is the beach with the water obstacle course, a couple of pools, the shops, a playgroup, and the covered pavilion with the buffet. Food is nothing special but is fine. As a teen, my daughter's favorite part was the virgin daquiaris and the free wifi .

I'll warn you that when we went, there was a man walking around with a "dragon" of some sort that must have been three feet long....you could pay to hold it and get your picture taken (it was live). DD thought it was the coolest thing ever. This was about 3 years ago, though.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

I have not seen lizards in the port areas of any of those ports. Thank goodness for that.

 

[sandy77d]

We did the Western Caribbean in April. Here is what we did:

Cozumel - Jeep Exploration - We enjoyed this excursion. We drove around Cozumel first to a shopping area that had a small Mayan ruin, then to an area where we could see crocodiles, then to a beach where we had lunch, and then to a lighthouse. We did see some larger lizards, and a crocodile on this excursion, so probably not your best choice.

Grand Cayman - Rum Point - We took a 45 minute to an hour catamaran ride to Rum Point beach where we had lunch and beach time. We loved this excursion. The lunch was good, and beach was great. And we enjoyed the boat ride. I highly recommend this one and would do it again. We did not see any reptiles there.

Falmouth - We did the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Break. We booked through Resort for a Day for much less than the Disney rate. This was my favorite excursion. My daughters loved the water park and I loved the beach here. I thought the food was good, but not great. Nonetheless, this was a great excursion. And we did not see any reptiles.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I didn't see any big lizards.

 

[HookedOnDCL1]

Did the Western Caribbean in march.
In Cozumel we did the Playa Mia Beach Break. We enjoyed it and had a riot on the inflatable obstacle course. We also took out a little sail boat, which was fun. Facilities were clean and the buffet lunch was decent. I only wish we had more time there!
Grand Cayman was our favourite beach day! We reserved a cabana online at the Royal Palms (on our own). Caught a taxi there and back - easy peasy and taxi was $4 per person. Beautiful soft sandy beach, great food, drink and service.
In Jamaica we did zip lining at Mystic Mountain so can't help you with your beach day there.
I don't recall seeing any lizards in any of these places, but they don't bother me. Certainly did not see anything large like an iguana.

 

[stacaka4321]

I did see 3 lizards on Castaway last month...but they were each small, biggest maybe 7 inches.

 

[Sytrace]

So our next cruise is far off, not until August of 2018 but we are going on a Fantasy Western Caribbean cruise which means going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and of course Castaway Cay.
1. Can I get opinions on these 3 excursions we are looking at booking, we like mostly to just do things that involve relaxing on a beach and eating. Any reviews on these 3 would really help!!
Cozumel: Beach Break-Playa Mia Grand Beach and Water Park
Grand Cayman: Beach Day at Tiki Beach
Falmouth: Deluxe Jewel Beach Break
IMPORTANT 2. this second question is actually really important to our planning, we have gone on 2 Bohemian cruises never a Caribbean one. So the question is how many lizards or "dragons" can be seen in these stops?? My mother is deathly afraid of all things reptiles so we need to know if we are going to have to be leaving her on the ship for any of these ports. Like are these big lizards seen throughout these ports or any at all, and if so how many and how close do they get to people, are they easily avoidable? I know it may seem weird but knowing this will really help with our planning.
THANKS!!!

We have done Playa Mia a few times. I have a picture of me holding a large Iguana...he was very well behaved and yes, I paid extra for that photo and it came in a frame. I am a sucker. Was the lizard wandering around? No....just available for photo ops. At our recent visit to the ruins in Cozumel, there was a wild lizrard/iguana hanging out by the entrance, but he was working at blending into his environment and I managed to get a picture of him.
Grand Cayman, have not done that tour, but the beach is gorgeous and the water is incredible.
Jamaica: We have done other excursions but not the one you are doing.
Castaway Cay: Great beach area, the Stingray adventure is pretty fun too. We like to get a couple of floats and bikes and ride around the island. Sometimes we stay on the ship and enjoy Aquaduck with no lines. I have seen chameleons on CC but not lizards or large creatures.

 

[JoAnnPan]

We did the Western Caribbean in April. Here is what we did:

Cozumel - Jeep Exploration - We enjoyed this excursion. We drove around Cozumel first to a shopping area that had a small Mayan ruin, then to an area where we could see crocodiles, then to a beach where we had lunch, and then to a lighthouse. We did see some larger lizards, and a crocodile on this excursion, so probably not your best choice.

Grand Cayman - Rum Point - We took a 45 minute to an hour catamaran ride to Rum Point beach where we had lunch and beach time. We loved this excursion. The lunch was good, and beach was great. And we enjoyed the boat ride. I highly recommend this one and would do it again. We did not see any reptiles there.

Falmouth - We did the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Break. We booked through Resort for a Day for much less than the Disney rate. This was my favorite excursion. My daughters loved the water park and I loved the beach here. I thought the food was good, but not great. Nonetheless, this was a great excursion. And we did not see any reptiles.

Thinking about doing the Rum Point excursion on my next cruise. Do you remember what time you got off the ship and what time you returned? From what I have researched the last tender goes back at 4:30pm yet the excursion is 6.5 to 7 hours - that concerns me. They have the ship "docking" at 10:30am - just doesn't seem like enough time? Thanks!!

 

[Luvzmy3boys]

We did the latter two excursions 2 yrs ago. Tiki Beach was just so-so in my opinion. The beach itself was very clean and water warm and relatively clear despite thunderstorms and you can snorkel off the beach if you bring gear. Decent fish to see too. The bad was it took forever (about an hour) for tour operators to get going and they seemed rather disorganized. It was kind of miserable waiting in scorching heat with little ones until we could board the buses. It would have been fine if it had not started to pour down rain by the time we got to tiki beach because there is not enough cover from the rain and we were stuck there until the first buses back to the ship arrived. Nothing nearby. Food was a little pricey and not
Included. The drink that was included was a really small one. There is nothing else around there. This was the least favorite excursion for me and the kids. We are going on western again this summer and will do something else. We r big into comvenience of Disney excursions but may get a cab to one of the closer resorts in grand cayman. They seemed to be plentiful. The jewel beach break, on the other hand, was fantastic! It was about 30 min informative bus ride from port. The resort is clean and everyone was friendly. Kids loved the water park (not huge like Atlantis but does have two bigger water slides and lazy river). Beach was nice and good snorkeling off beach. They were doing photo shoot for miss Jamaica when we were there, by the way. Food was plentiful and ranged from kid friendly fare to local fare. We plan to go back on our next trip. Highly recommended.

 

[Dug720]

Thinking about doing the Rum Point excursion on my next cruise. Do you remember what time you got off the ship and what time you returned? From what I have researched the last tender goes back at 4:30pm yet the excursion is 6.5 to 7 hours - that concerns me. They have the ship "docking" at 10:30am - just doesn't seem like enough time? Thanks!!

There's a note in the additional information section of the Rum Point description that the Fantasy has less time at the beach than what is described.

 

[dcassetta]

I prefer Nachi Cocum to Playa Mia, but we don't travel with kids. I haven't done a beach break in the Caymans or Jamaica.

To answer your second question, anoles and geckos are found on all of the islands you're visiting. You would be unlikely to see them directly on the beaches though. It is possible that you might see some lizards you're traveling about town or on Castaway. Iguanas do you live all over Cozumel, but again you're unlikely to see one unless you're actually looking, or someone is holding one to use for pictures. Iguanas are native to Jamaica, but the species that lives there is endangered, and I don't think you'll ever see one outside of a zoo. There are green iguanas in the Caymans, but the country is actively trying to eradicate them. The native blue iguanas are extremely rare, and I'd be surprised if you saw one of those. So, to answer your question is it possible that you might see a small lizard, yes. Is it possible you might see a larger iguana, I think that's much, much less likely.

 

[Tulip2796]

We saw several lizards when we were in Grand Cayman. My son thought it was super cool, we have lots of pictures of them. We primarily saw them when we went to "Hell."

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We did the Western Caribbean in April.

Grand Cayman - Rum Point - We took a 45 minute to an hour catamaran ride to Rum Point beach where we had lunch and beach time. We loved this excursion. The lunch was good, and beach was great. And we enjoyed the boat ride. I highly recommend this one and would do it again. We did not see any reptiles there.

Is the catamaran ferry in addition to the tender boat? Rum point looks awesome but that's a lot of travel time.

 

[oakleycat]

We did the Western Carribean last year and did the Xel-Ha excursion in Cozumel and beach on our own by taxi in Grand Cayman (no Falmouth because it was SWDAS). I've been to Cozumel several times and always see iguanas, but I don't think I've ever actually seen them on the beach. At Xel-Ha (or any of the natural waterparks) there are big ones everywhere, so definitely don't take her there!

 

[Trera]

I prefer Nachi Cocum to Playa Mia, but we don't travel with kids. I haven't done a beach break in the Caymans or Jamaica.

To answer your second question, anoles and geckos are found on all of the islands you're visiting. You would be unlikely to see them directly on the beaches though. It is possible that you might see some lizards you're traveling about town or on Castaway. Iguanas do you live all over Cozumel, but again you're unlikely to see one unless you're actually looking, or someone is holding one to use for pictures. Iguanas are native to Jamaica, but the species that lives there is endangered, and I don't think you'll ever see one outside of a zoo. There are green iguanas in the Caymans, but the country is actively trying to eradicate them. The native blue iguanas are extremely rare, and I'd be surprised if you saw one of those. So, to answer your question is it possible that you might see a small lizard, yes. Is it possible you might see a larger iguana, I think that's much, much less likely.

We like nachi cocum also.

 

[OSUZorba]

Cozumel has lots of great beaches that you can do on your own (including Playa Mia) for less than through the ship, fyi.
I personally really like Paradise Beach, which is just North of Playa Mia. Last time I was at Playa Mia was in 2006, about 9 months after a huricane had done a ton of damage to Cozumel, so I can't really compare Playa Mia to Paradise.

As for Iguanas, I have definitely had them around in Cozumel, Cayman and St. Thomas. I think it was St. Thomas they would come right up to you begging for food. Cozumel they were just hanging out in the shade near the beach. Iguanas are cool, and have no teeth, so there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Dug720]

Question... I am seeing people say there was no Falmouth because of Star Wars, but on my itinerary it is

Day 1 board
Day 2 sea day
Day 3 Cozumel
Day 4 Grand Cayman
Day 5 Falmouth
Day 6 Sea day
Day 7 Castaway
Day 8 debark

So has that changed? Or will we actually get 2 legit peaceful sea days and miss a reportedly so-so port for "my isolation day"?