Western excursions on your own

[my3kids]

We're trying out another cruiseline this time, but the ports are the same. I figured my first stop for excursion shopping ought to be here.

I'm sure the ones offered by DCL and HAL are pretty much the same, except HAL escursions seem to be priced a bit less, overall. So one question is which of the offered excursions were great and well worth the price for buying the preplanned excursion. An also a question for trips on our own. What is good, what was bad, and how do you get there!

Thanks.

 

[webray]

Well, in Grand Cayman..we did the two our taxi tour on our own. It was excellent. They allowed you plenty of time to get out at hell, the turtle farm, do some shopping in the gift shops at both places, mail your letters from hell, and showed you around the island. When you come up the dock, there is a taxi station right there..you can't miss it. The guys are all holding signs. We were with people from all cruise lines..very nice. We all enjoyed it. I think it was about $15 per person if I remember correctly.

In Cozumel..we took the advice from people who had already been and grabbed a cab and headed for Mr. Sancho's beach area. We had lunch, a couple drinks, enjoyed the water. The place is beautiful and we can highly recommend it. Very relaxing..great for families or adults. you can check it out at mrsanchos.com. And..the food is delicious..we had planned on having lunch there..and we did..because of all the good comments about the food from previous posters before our cruise.

 

[natdencro]

Much better to do the Conch Bus trip independently. They run all day, and you are not waiting around for the rest of the guests to board. Its only a few steps from the ship, so you dont need to be "herded" like sheep.Nat

 

[TheWog]

We are going to try the Dune Buggies in Cozumel. Cozumelhomes.com. They look like a lot of fun.

 

[prymsu]

You can do the Atlantis Submarine on your own in Grand Cayman if you are interested in this.

 

[RKB]

We did the Conch Train on our own in Key West - easy to walk up and by tickets. We did the Captain Marvins stringray tour in Grand Cayman (excellent) then took a taxi to Hell and the Turtle Farm. My kids enjoyed these as well. In Cozumel we took a taxi to Chankanaab park and swam with the Dolphins - booked through shoretrips.com - this was also excellent. We did all of our own excursions and everything went great and we saved money, time and crowded conditions.

 

[Cheshire27]

We went to Seven Mile Beach on our own in Grand Cayman last week. We took a taxi ($4 per person) that was waiting very close to the dock. It took about 10 minutes to get there. The taxi driver dropped us off at a location that had a restaurant and bar. Very convenient. When you're ready to leave, there are taxis lined up to take you back to the dock. Always ask the crew members for advice as well. When they have days off, they do the same things we want to and they often have good suggestions.