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Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 17th, 2006, 04:56 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
[email protected]
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Posts: 2
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY

My husband and I have had a bad experience booking a tour thought our
cruise line. We went on a shopping trip, were driven over bad roads for
1 1/2 hours, dropped off at a big tourist store and left in that area
for 3 hours. There were very few places open beside the big store and
an open market where everyone drove you nuts to buy stuff. The trip was
expensive and a total rip off.

We will be cruising Thanksgiving week 2006 . This time we have
researched our destination to Calica (Playa Del Carmen) and Cancun. We
know we want to go the Tulum, Xel-ha or Isla Mujeres. We have seen
people with signs offering to take you to various points of interest as
we left the dock area. We would like to save some money as we have 5
people going. Can anyone advise us about using these local vans, cabs
to go to these places? Is it less expensive this way? What about
entrance to the parks? Some of the trips are $110 per person if you
book through the cruise line. The trip to Tulum through the cruise line
is $65 each.

We will greatly appreciate your knowledge in this matter.

Walter & Faye Nettles

  #2  
Old July 17th, 2006, 12:52 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
LeeNY
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Posts: 621
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY


wrote:

We will be cruising Thanksgiving week 2006 . This time we have
researched our destination to Calica (Playa Del Carmen) and Cancun. We
know we want to go the Tulum, Xel-ha or Isla Mujeres.


We toured Tulum independently, and we came over from Cozumel. So, to do
it from Playa del Carmen should be a piece of cake. We didn't use a
tour van...we rented a car and drove there on our own. I don't know
where the cruise ship pier is, but coming over on the ferry, the rental
car office was right there...probably 50 steps from where we got on
land. We prebooked the car through National Rental Car...it was a late
model VW in excellent condition, so we had little worries about
mechanical difficulties. Car ran about $35 for the day..

The drive to Tulum couldn't be easier. From where we picked up the car,
we basically drove west (away from the water) until we came to the one
major north-south road. It's pretty obvious. We headed south and then
drove until we hit the entrance to Tulum. On the way, we passed the
entrance to Xel-ha, so that would be an easy trip as well.

Once at Tulum, we paid $2.50 to park and $3.00 each for admission to
the ruins (this was back in 2001). Then, we hired one of the guides
standing around for $20. He was a retired engineer, fluent in English
and very knowledgeable about the ruins. Spent a few hours there and
then drove back to Playa to grab a ferry back to Coz.

All in all, logistically, the day went very smoothly. We allowed a lot
of cushion in our schedule, in the event of some kind of glitch (flat
tire, breakdown, etc.). But everything went as planned. It was a long
day, to do it from Cozumel, but from Playa del Carmen, you're saving a
few hours, right off the bat, not having to deal with the ferry
schedule.

Can't help with Isla de Mujeres. You will have to deal with a ferry to
get there and back, so just allow yourselves plenty of cushion in your
schedule, in case the ferries aren't running on time, etc. You might
consider doing Xel-ha one day, Tulum the next.

Have a great time!

Lee

  #3  
Old July 17th, 2006, 06:10 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
fayzer
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Posts: 1
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY

Thank you for all of the information. It will be a lot of help.
LeeNY wrote:
wrote:

We will be cruising Thanksgiving week 2006 . This time we have
researched our destination to Calica (Playa Del Carmen) and Cancun. We
know we want to go the Tulum, Xel-ha or Isla Mujeres.


We toured Tulum independently, and we came over from Cozumel. So, to do
it from Playa del Carmen should be a piece of cake. We didn't use a
tour van...we rented a car and drove there on our own. I don't know
where the cruise ship pier is, but coming over on the ferry, the rental
car office was right there...probably 50 steps from where we got on
land. We prebooked the car through National Rental Car...it was a late
model VW in excellent condition, so we had little worries about
mechanical difficulties. Car ran about $35 for the day..

The drive to Tulum couldn't be easier. From where we picked up the car,
we basically drove west (away from the water) until we came to the one
major north-south road. It's pretty obvious. We headed south and then
drove until we hit the entrance to Tulum. On the way, we passed the
entrance to Xel-ha, so that would be an easy trip as well.

Once at Tulum, we paid $2.50 to park and $3.00 each for admission to
the ruins (this was back in 2001). Then, we hired one of the guides
standing around for $20. He was a retired engineer, fluent in English
and very knowledgeable about the ruins. Spent a few hours there and
then drove back to Playa to grab a ferry back to Coz.

All in all, logistically, the day went very smoothly. We allowed a lot
of cushion in our schedule, in the event of some kind of glitch (flat
tire, breakdown, etc.). But everything went as planned. It was a long
day, to do it from Cozumel, but from Playa del Carmen, you're saving a
few hours, right off the bat, not having to deal with the ferry
schedule.

Can't help with Isla de Mujeres. You will have to deal with a ferry to
get there and back, so just allow yourselves plenty of cushion in your
schedule, in case the ferries aren't running on time, etc. You might
consider doing Xel-ha one day, Tulum the next.

Have a great time!

Lee


  #4  
Old July 17th, 2006, 10:53 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Dillon Pyron
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Posts: 1,051
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY

Thus spake "LeeNY" :


wrote:

We will be cruising Thanksgiving week 2006 . This time we have
researched our destination to Calica (Playa Del Carmen) and Cancun. We
know we want to go the Tulum, Xel-ha or Isla Mujeres.


We toured Tulum independently, and we came over from Cozumel. So, to do
it from Playa del Carmen should be a piece of cake. We didn't use a
tour van...we rented a car and drove there on our own. I don't know
where the cruise ship pier is, but coming over on the ferry, the rental
car office was right there...probably 50 steps from where we got on
land. We prebooked the car through National Rental Car...it was a late
model VW in excellent condition, so we had little worries about
mechanical difficulties. Car ran about $35 for the day..


There is absolutely nothing (NOTHING) at Calica except for some vendor
tents and busses that take you to the various destinations. After
about 9, taxis show up, but you have to hike in the sun and dust to
get to where they stop.

Note that it's about a 15-20 minute taxi ride to Playa del Carmen.
Make sure you allow time for this if you go to Playa. We saw four
people miss the boat because of this error.

--
dillon

JAFO
  #5  
Old July 17th, 2006, 11:13 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Charles[_1_]
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Posts: 3,112
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY

In article , Dillon Pyron
wrote:

There is absolutely nothing (NOTHING) at Calica except for some vendor
tents and busses that take you to the various destinations. After
about 9, taxis show up, but you have to hike in the sun and dust to
get to where they stop.


Not quite true. If there is nothing there how come when I looked out my
porthole I saw the Xcaret theme park? You do need to take a shuttle or
taxi to the park entrance. Below is a picture of the area.

http://www.locogringo.com/maps/xcaret.html

--
Charles
  #6  
Old July 18th, 2006, 04:34 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Dillon Pyron
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Posts: 1,051
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY

Thus spake Charles :

In article , Dillon Pyron
wrote:

There is absolutely nothing (NOTHING) at Calica except for some vendor
tents and busses that take you to the various destinations. After
about 9, taxis show up, but you have to hike in the sun and dust to
get to where they stop.


Not quite true. If there is nothing there how come when I looked out my
porthole I saw the Xcaret theme park? You do need to take a shuttle or
taxi to the park entrance. Below is a picture of the area.


Like I said, there's nothing at the port. The only way to get to
Xcaret is to take one of the State sponsored (oops, ship sponsored)
busses or a taxi. And getting a taxi back to the ship is problematic
unless you make arrangements beforehand.

The port effectively bans "walk off" excursion sales and I don't think
people like Shoretrips even have anything there, although I'm just too
lazy to look right now.



http://www.locogringo.com/maps/xcaret.html

--
dillon

JAFO
  #7  
Old July 19th, 2006, 01:01 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
RichC
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Posts: 177
Default Booking tours thought cruise line vs. DIY


"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , Dillon Pyron
wrote:

And getting a taxi back to the ship is problematic
unless you make arrangements beforehand.


I had no problem getting to Xcaret and back from the port. There were
plenty of cabs at Xcaret. Xcaret is a huge park with people coming from
everywhere. Also, I don't know if they still do it but when I was there
Xcaret was running a continuous shuttle back and forth between the port
and park.

--
Charles


It's been a few years since we were there but I remember the brightly
colored buses that took us there. We booked the tour thru the cruise ship at
the time & the bus transportation was part of the package. It really wasn't
that far a ride to the park.


 




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