Cruise ports- thoughts?

[Bernadine]

We’re looking to go next spring, so dd will be 7. Possibly going with MIL.

Our options for ports seem to be either Cozumel and CocoCay, Bahamas, or Falmouth, Jamaica and George Town, Grand Cayman. I think I’m leaning toward the second option.

[mrsd2006]

Cozumel and George Town are nice ports with lots to do. CoCo Cay sounds nice. We've been to Labadee, which is RC's other "private" island (it's really part of Haiti) and it was nice.

[abs]

Do you still have to tender in Grand Cayman? If so I would choose Cozumel/A Perfect Day. Tendering is a giant pain and takes forever.

[icedcoffee]

I'd do Cozumel and Cococay. The private islands are AMAZING. It's basically a beach day with food, beach chairs, bathrooms, and no transport necessary. It's so amazing.

And Cozumel is great too!

Jamaica and Grand Cayman will both require you to find your own plans.

[Patsy Baloney]

Tendering would make the difference for me. We’ve never had issues, but it can throw a wrench in the works if winds are too high or lines are moving slow.

[mplsmom23]

We loved CocoCay!

[noodleoo]

Jan 26, 2023 13:19:26 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

Tendering would make the difference for me. We’ve never had issues, but it can throw a wrench in the works if winds are too high or lines are moving slow.

THIS.  Our private island day was canceled because it was a tender and the conditions weren't right.  I was so disappointed.  It was the last stop on our cruise, so it kind of ruined the last 3 days of our trip.

[texasharleygirl]

Labadee vs CoCoCay? I have been to both and would go back to both, but we liked Labadee over Coco Cay. But we loved the zip lining and the gravity roller coaster that they have there. (We are not really beachy people).

[VillainV]

We did Coco Cay and Cozumel in December and our 8-year-old loved both. Coco Cay was pretty windy and all the water sports excursions were cancelled, so we didn’t get to do the kayaking that we planned to. But it was still fun. Apparently this is common in winter. Cozumel had lots of neat excursions — we did San Gervasio and chocolate tasting, but there are tons of dolphin encounters, sting ray encounters, etc.

[rikki]

Jan 26, 2023 13:04:43 GMT -5 abs said:

Do you still have to tender in Grand Cayman? If so I would choose Cozumel/A Perfect Day. Tendering is a giant pain and takes forever.

We did earlier this month.

[daisyduck]

Jan 26, 2023 13:07:17 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

I'd do Cozumel and Cococay. The private islands are AMAZING. It's basically a beach day with food, beach chairs, bathrooms, and no transport necessary. It's so amazing.

And Cozumel is great too!

Jamaica and Grand Cayman will both require you to find your own plans.

Completely agree with this.

Also, I've had 5 cruises booked to Grand Cayman, but we were only able to go there twice. Two times we had to skip because the winds were too high so they couldn't operate the tenders. They don't go somewhere else, so you just spend another day at sea. A cruise with the only stop in Jamaica would just be sad.

Cozumel is my favorite cruise port and private islands are great for an easy beach day.

[dcrunnergirl52]

We had to tender in Grand Cayman in December, and it was a PITA and took forever. On the other hand, we loved Cozumel. So, I'd definitely go with that.