Western Port Adventures - Opinions Requested Please

[kathi]

In a few weeks I will be able to book activities for my 9/25 Western on the Fantasy. We NEVER do DCL excursions but I want to book them for this cruise as a backup. In looking them over, there really isn't anything that is super appealing. We always take a taxi to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel (private, all-inclusive beach) and were planning on a Resort for a Day in Jamaica and taking a taxi to 7-mile beach in Grand Cayman. I get very motion sick in smaller vehicles, so anything with a long bus, van or boat ride is not good. We don't want to spend most of our day in transit. I don't like to be herded or jammed up next to other people all day long.

Has anyone done the Cabana Beach in Cozumel? It looks peaceful but there is actually no beach by the cabanas - just stairs down a rocky edge into the water. Has anyone done this? Is the swimming any good?

I don't have a clue for Jamaica and Grand Cayman is closed to ships until 2022, even though it still shows up on my itinerary.

What port excursions have you done that you enjoyed? We will be 4 adults, no kids. My preference is to sit on a beach, but our traveling companions may want to do something different (this is their first DCL cruise).

Thanks!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We've had wonderful success in Grand Cayman with snorkeling port adventures. A bit more active than lounging on the beach, but they've been amazing. One was a 2 minute drive from the pier and we snorkeled a shipwreck right there near where Fantasy was anchored plus the reef and the other was the Stingray City snorkel. Both were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Not sure if that's your thing, but Stingray City was our first snorkeling event and it hooked the whole family.

 

[diablodancer]

We had a great time on the Greenwood Great House port excursion in Falmouth, Jamaica. You stop off at a few places beforehand and the history behind the house was really interesting (and you finish up in a bar within the house if you want a drink). The guide at the house was one of the best I’ve had anywhere.

My excursion at Grand Cayman got cancelled due to bad weather (we were going to do the river cruise) but I will say that I found some of the locals/drivers there to be exceptionally rude (a man collapsed at a crossing and numerous drivers were beeping at him during a medical emergency because they were inconvenienced, another got aggressive with us yelling out of his car because we didn’t see him stop to let us cross elsewhere) so would definitely book something as opposed to wandering about the port on your own.

 

[Quellman]

Falmouth port isn't particularly close to much. So expect a bit more driving there.

Caymans is a great place if you want to do some snorkeling, especially with the stingrays. With 4 people you might consider a private charter vs a group catamaran.

 

[mcd2745]

In a few weeks I will be able to book activities for my 9/25 Western on the Fantasy. We NEVER do DCL excursions but I want to book them for this cruise as a backup. In looking them over, there really isn't anything that is super appealing. We always take a taxi to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel (private, all-inclusive beach) and were planning on a Resort for a Day in Jamaica and taking a taxi to 7-mile beach in Grand Cayman. I get very motion sick in smaller vehicles, so anything with a long bus, van or boat ride is not good. We don't want to spend most of our day in transit. I don't like to be herded or jammed up next to other people all day long.

Has anyone done the Cabana Beach in Cozumel? It looks peaceful but there is actually no beach by the cabanas - just stairs down a rocky edge into the water. Has anyone done this? Is the swimming any good?

Did the Cabana Beach last Feb (a couple of weeks prior to the shutdown). we enjoyed it. Service and food/drinks were good. Swimming isn't the best, but okay. You choose your cabana after you get there, and we ended up with the last one at the end of the "beach". Definitely offered more privacy as you had no one walking past to go to/from bathroom or wherever. I would do it again. First pic was basically the view we had from our cabana (except the cabana was further back). Unfortunately, I don't have pics of the actual cabana. 3rd pic is looking back from our cabana down the beach towards the rest of the cabanas and towards the rest of the facilities - which we never even bothered to venture to.









IIRC, we had some type of snorkeling excursions booked for Grand Cayman, but due to a medical emergency we had to return to Cozumel later that night after we had left. As a result, we never made it to GC.

We didn't do an excursion in Falmouth. Just walked around the Port area a bit did a bit of shopping and then hung out at Margaritaville.