carribean excursion recommendation request

We're going to Key West, Georgetown and Cozumel. Any recommenations on
what to see and miss would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

"Matterns" wrote in message
. com...
We're going to Key West, Georgetown and Cozumel. Any recommenations on
what to see and miss would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

Rick- when in the Cayman Islands, make sure you go to Sting Ray City. You
can do some snorkeling and feed sting rays. You can book with the cruise
ship, or book with Captain Marvins for the specific date you will be in the
Caymans. Also, just off the pier there is a place where you can buy Tortuga
Rum cakes and rum. As far as Cozumel goes, I would recommend restaurants
such as Senor Frogs or Carlos and Charlies and I would recommend a taxi into
town and visit Los Cinqos Soles store for some shopping.

David Jacobson
Baton Rouge

"Matterns" wrote in message
. com...
We're going to Key West,

Wander around town. Get some key lime pie. Visit the various small museums
(Mel Fischer's, etc.). Have a drink at Sloppy Joe's.

Georgetown

The BIGGIE. Snorkeling with Stingrays. The MUST DO in the Caribbean. Take
the excursion to Stingray City.

and Cozumel.

Take a taxi to Chankanaab Nature Park for the snorkeling. Nice reefs and
TONS of fish. Cozumel has among the best snorkeling in the world after
Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Jacques Cousteau made Cozumel famous.

--Tom

Any recommenations on
what to see and miss would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

"Matterns" wrote:

We're going to Key West, Georgetown and Cozumel. Any recommenations on
what to see and miss would be greatly appreciated.

I guess you mean Georgetown in CI? I only know Georgetown Bahamas,
Georgetown SC, Georgetown in the DC area, Georgetown Maryland and
Georgetown, Delaware

00000
Cozumel - my own preference would be to snorkel or dive, but you can
also take a dune buggy trip or do a spinnaker sail or various other
trips http://www.travelnotes.cc/travelers/cruise.html

I found shopping at the crafts market behind the plaza in town much
more interesting and you can bargain there, whereas on the waterfront
streets they will not talk to you if you try to bargain.

For restaurants, Pancho's Backyard and La Mission are supposed to be
good. Also Tony Rome, Prima, El Moro, and one of the lobster places,
but I have a hard time keeping them straight.

00000

Key West - Do not get sucked in to the T-shirt vendors on Duval
Street. They have been found guilty of scamming customers, failing to
give written estimates of costs, and telling them how much T-shirts
would cost after the work was done. Sometimes they would quote one
price for the work and then charge another price at the register. In
the winter of 2003-2004, 37 out of 40 shops were in violation of the
codes which are meant to stop these practices.

Other things that you might want to avoid - some people think that
Sloppy Joe's and the bars along Duval Street are also a tourist trap.
Also the Historieum, Ripleys, and the Secret Garden are disappointing
to some people. I personally thought that $10 was too much to pay
for going through the Truman White House, so I didn't do it.

Possible things to see.
Conch Train tour ($15). Tours start every half hour and give you a
good overview of the island. You can take the Bone Island Shuttle
instead, which allows you to get off and on, but that's really IMHO
more for hotel guests on the island and I don't think the narration is
as good..
The Oldest House/ Wreckers Museum ($5) This is a very interesting
and not too expensive museum which was a house built in 1827 and lived
in by a private family until 1974.
Hemingway House ($10) which in addition to the first pool built in
Key West and a lot of Hemingway memorabilia has the descendents of his
6 toed cats. "To Have and To Have Not" was written about Key West
(although it is not supposed to be one of his better works and the
book doesn't bear much relation to the movie), Across the street is
Key West Lighthouse ($6). You can climb 88 steps and get a view out
over the city and see the lighhousekeeper museum
There is also a nice aquarium.

I liked the Audubon House, but it isn't on the first list for me.

There are other possibilities which are free -
Sunset celebration at Mallory Square (free, but I don't know if your
ship will be in port at that time)
You can take a walking tour of the cemetery (pick up a self guided
tour at the library). There's also an African cemetery by the West
Martello Tower. You can tour the West Martello Tower itself for a
donation - it's run by the Garden Club. There is a free turtle museum
by the Turtle Kraal restaurant.
And of course there is walking along Duval Street and looking at
the shops which is free unless you buy something.

You can rent a moped, a bike or a little electric car, but really
walking is pretty much the best way to get around and also the
cheapest.

Restaurants -I have heard recommendations in no particular order for
Blue Heaven, Mararitaville, (and some people like Sloppy Joes) Hog's
Breath, Louie's Backyard, Jack Flats, Camilles, Cayo Hueso, Cafe Sole,
Schooner Wharf, Alonzo's Oysters, El Meson de Pepe and Michael's,
Pices, La Trattoria, A&B Lobster, Alice's, Antonia's and Key West
Seafood.









grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/

On 07/04/2004 6:47 PM Matterns after palpating a Gingko, electronically
interjected:

We're going to Key West, Georgetown and Cozumel. Any recommenations on
what to see and miss would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rick





Key West
For something off-beat see Nancy's Secret Garden. Local artist Nancy
Forrester has turned her former residence into a rain forest with
endangered rain forest plants from around the world. She also has a
collection of parrots, some which she rescued from less than good living
situations. The whole garden is like a living sculpture garden. For
those planning a land vacation it is even possible to rent a cottage in
the heart of the garden. Nancy also maintains a gallery of her artwork
in the garden. You can learn more at: http://www.nfsgarden.org/

If you would like to buy a souvenir t-shirt buy one from someplace where
you will be supporting the arts with your purchase. The T-Shirt
Factory, 316 Simonton Street in Key West is where screen printed
t-shirts are made by local artists. You won't find these designs in any
other shop, every so many months they destroy the screen for a shirt
and an artist creates a new one. They don't shrink, run or fade. I've
had some t-shirts since 1986.

Pelican Poop is next door to the T-Shirt Factory and a good place for
"Island" and Hatian style crafts. On the second floor is Casa Antiqua
the first apartment Hemingway lived in before building Hemingway House.
Tours are available by appointment at Pelican Poop. Unless you are hard
core Hemingway fan you can skip that one.

The Audubon House and Hemingway House on Whitehead Street are well worth
the donation fee. Cats descended from Hemingway's 6 toed cats roam
freely about the island as do wild chickens that descended from those of
pirates and early settlers. If you have allergies to either, be sure to
bring an extra dose of your allergy meds as you may or may not need it.

For some who want to engage in free spirited behavior that has made Key
West famous at Atlantic Shores Motel is the island's largest clothing
optional pool and sun deck over the Atlantic. It is open to anyone as
long as you bring your own towel. Pool lounge chases are for hotel
guests only.

For Seafood you can't go wrong with just about any restaurant along the
Key West Bight board walk. Green Parrot bar is sort of an island
"secret". It's off Duval and popular with many locals.

The beaches in Key West are not spectacular as there are no waves and
the sand is rather hard and firm. Smathers is the biggest of them and
has showers, rest rooms, volley ball nets and jet ski rentals. Higgs
beach is not far from Atlantic Shores. It is more secluded and it is
possible to rent sail fish there.

Georgetown Grand Cayman

If the bottom is too stirred up at Stingray City and excursions are
off...you can catch a small bus for about $2.00 to a somewhat isolated
part of 7-mile Beach. While there is no coral to see, you can snorkel
fairly close to the beach and see lots of tropical fish. The bus makes
a return trip to downtown Georgetown only "when there are enough people
on the bus". So plan on leaving well ahead of your ship's sail time as
you may have to sit there and wait for the bus to fill-up.

Cozumel

You have choices, Chankanaab Park has a little something aquatic for
everyone. You can get on a boat and snorkel or scuba. If you reserve
well in advance, you can swim or have a dolphin experience, or you can
sit on the beach and work on your tan cooling off in the water.

Your ship may offer some mainland excursions. Xcaret is an eco park
with a huge sink hole where you can snorkel and float out to the ocean.
It's like a giant tropical fish bowl. This is often coupled with a trip
to Tulum Archaeological site I've done all of the above and they are
all worth doing.

If San Miguel, Cozumel seems too frenetic for shopping - take the ferry
to Playa del Carmen. While you still will bargain for what you buy, it's
a little laid back. With only a few exceptions, I think that the best
eating experiences are not at Cozumel but in Playa del Carmen. Aside
from 5th Avenue and side streets, you can walk along the beach and there
are many beach restaurants with tables in the sand with great food and
very reasonable prices. Yax-che on one of the side streets is pricey
but servers excellent Mayan - Yucatan food. It is very aromatic, the
spices are subtitle and very different from the Tex-Mex food that has
come to be associated with Mexican cooking.

--
________
To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951