in the beginning of april my husband and I are going on the ship "Grandeur Of The Sea". we are stopping at costa maya and spending the day and also 1 day in Belize. I have never been to mexico or on a cruise.Can someone give me some tips/advice for this trip? thank you!
Belize is one of my favorite ports!! I love it. Like the others said, I did cave tubing. It’s link is
http://www.cave-tubing.com
Amazing company and there is a reason it is mentioned over and over again on Cruise Critic. Simply amazing. Same one as the ship’s excursion except you do 2 caves and half the price of the cruise ship’s.
The other excursion I’ve done in Belize (which they offer if you are going to be there a long time) is Xunantunich. It is simply the best Mayan ruin. You can actually hike up it. Most of them are like Stonehenge, you must look at from behind the velvet ropes, but this one you can wander the grounds and climb to the top. You can see 3 countries from the top. It was definitely my favorite shore excursion I’ve ever done. Simply awe-inspiring.
Costa Maya…like they said, nothing there. It’s a built port so it kinda looks like Epcot’s Mexico. A bit too "Disney". It was also the hottest I’ve ever been in my life. I recommend staying on the ship or at least going back early. On the ship you can lay on the lido deck and it’s like you have your own private waiter as there are only like 5 people on board and at least 7 waiters on deck. The spa is also cheaper on port days so you can get a really good deal on a massage. In my opinion, a must on a cruise.
Definitely plan a shore excursion for Belize though. Where the ship drops you off is not very good. It’s a small mall and all the beggars sit outside the gate to bum money off tourists. If you stayed there or tried to plan your own, you’d be miserable. Belize is a very poor country. However like I said, the shore excursions there are amazing. The best part of any cruise.
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Don’t stay in the port – nothing to see. For us we were there on Jan 5th 2010 and took the Native Choice tour to the mayan ruins and village with Ivan and David as our guides. It was one of these best shore excursion I had experience … very personal and very professional. We were in Belize before Costa Maya and these folks pretty well share their passion, joy and intimate knowledge in the mayan cultures, history and community. They charge 25% less than the shore excursions but provide 2X the service you would get in a group tour. Highly recommend them as have many done the same in comments in tripadviser or cruisecritics or various internet forum.
Belize is one of my favorite ports!! I love it. Like the others said, I did cave tubing. It’s link is
http://www.cave-tubing.com
Amazing company and there is a reason it is mentioned over and over again on Cruise Critic. Simply amazing. Same one as the ship’s excursion except you do 2 caves and half the price of the cruise ship’s.
The other excursion I’ve done in Belize (which they offer if you are going to be there a long time) is Xunantunich. It is simply the best Mayan ruin. You can actually hike up it. Most of them are like Stonehenge, you must look at from behind the velvet ropes, but this one you can wander the grounds and climb to the top. You can see 3 countries from the top. It was definitely my favorite shore excursion I’ve ever done. Simply awe-inspiring.
Costa Maya…like they said, nothing there. It’s a built port so it kinda looks like Epcot’s Mexico. A bit too "Disney". It was also the hottest I’ve ever been in my life. I recommend staying on the ship or at least going back early. On the ship you can lay on the lido deck and it’s like you have your own private waiter as there are only like 5 people on board and at least 7 waiters on deck. The spa is also cheaper on port days so you can get a really good deal on a massage. In my opinion, a must on a cruise.
Definitely plan a shore excursion for Belize though. Where the ship drops you off is not very good. It’s a small mall and all the beggars sit outside the gate to bum money off tourists. If you stayed there or tried to plan your own, you’d be miserable. Belize is a very poor country. However like I said, the shore excursions there are amazing. The best part of any cruise.
References :
You didn’t like the port of Costa Maya…because you stayed in the port! The port sucks…it IS like Disney. Sorry you didn’t read all the posts on Cruise Critic about taking a taxi into the town of Mahahaul…a 5 minute ride. There, you would’ve found the most beautiful blue, warm waters and your choice of chairs/umbrellas along this gorgeous strip of beach. Lots of inexpensive drinks and delicious local (cheap!!!) food. You missed the BEST part of the Costa Maya…too bad for you.
If you want a fantastic time, contact David and Ivan in Costa Maya. Find them on the internet under Native Choice tours. They will take you to the newest ruins which are not very far. What makes them the best, is that their family actually owned the land the ruins are on and the government took it away from them. They are great guides. You will have plenty of time to browse, etc after the tour. Costa Maya just reopened a couple of months ago after extensive hurricane damage, so you will probably see signs of the storm.
References :
Personal experience.
I agree with the person answering above me, the cave tubing in Belize was the single best excursion that I have ever been on.
Also, there is nothing much to do in Costa Maya except shop, it seems that all they did was carve a tourist spot out of the jungle. There is a little village nearby called Mahajual (I’ve probably misspelled it ) but all they do there now is try to sell you things, although it was cool a few years ago. What I’m trying to say is that you will have to purchase a shore excursion if you want to do anything interesting, this will be a good place for your Mayan ruins tour.
References :
http://www.squidoo.com/cruiseguy