Royal Caribbean Cruise - Western Itinerary

urbancookie1

Doing this cruise this year and just thinking about what trips we should do
Has anyone done this cruise?
What excursions did you do? or do you recommend?

Have you any hints & tips about RC,

Theres an american website with lots of reviews,photo's,forums etc which is great, but i would also like to hear it from a uk traveller.

ellie14

We went on RCI at xmas to Carribean it was fantastic,my daughter wrote a wonderful blog on the Dibb around 3/1/08 complete with photos .You can find it on their website sorry cant link,

tazz233

Not sure which is the Western Itinerary?

We went on the Navigator of the Seas in December, stoping at Ocho Rios in Jamaica and Grand Cayman. It was wonderful! I researched on www.cruisecritic.co.uk I booked all my excursions independently from the cruise ship and saved over £100! On cruise critic, they have sub forums for each of RCI port of calls. In the forums, people recommend tours, restaurants and things to do. If you're stopping at Jamaica or Grand Cayman, I will happily recommend our tour guides and things we did!

Which ship are you going on?

urbancookie1

Thanks ellie14 i'll try and find your review,

Tazz233, Western Itinerary looks like the same as you did, Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen, Cozumel. Sailing out of Miami on the Freedom of the Seas. So far i think we want to do Dunns river falls in Jamaica and then the rest of the day at a private beach, any ideas on this would be great, how did you like Jamacia? think its a place you either love or hate hear the vendors can be quite pushy and aggresive though.

What did you do in Mexico and Grand Caymen, Sting-ray city seams quite popular but cant say i fancy that, have'nt they heard of Steve Irwin :eek:

Yes, i agree that cruisecritic is a great website if your cruising, im addicted to it.:D

Thanks again:beer:

sazziecee

We went on the enchantment of the seas in November on the same itinerary.

We weren't able to dock at Labadee though due to bad weather so were cruising for over 2 days before we stopped somewhere.

I did Dunns river falls and enjoyed it but the coach trip was looong and uncomfortable.

Cozumel- we went shopping, wish we had gone to the beach cos all we got was hassle from every shop keeper, I lost count of how many times I got "hey pretty lady come here, do you want some xy and z" lol

Grand Cayman was my favourite, we went to the turtle farm which was pretty boring but the rest of the island we saw on the tour was interesting and out of the places we stopped it is the only place I would want to go back to on it's own.

Sarah

urbancookie1

2 days at sea OMG:eek: Im hoping the weather will be ok when were out there.

Did you sail into Montego Bay and do the falls? im under the impression that the falls are only a short ride from Ocho Rios, What did you wear while climbing? were the rocks slippy and did you wear water shoes?

Hear thing's are $$$$ in Grand Caymen what did you think?

Thanks for your replys:beer:

lesley1960

We did the Western cruise for new year ( mariner of the seas ), we couldnt call into Grand Caymen due to bad Weather because its a tendered port , the same thing can happen to Labadee.

Labadee , lovely island , sadly as with most trips ashore you have to be back on the ship by about 4.30 pm , we did the snorkling trip , wasnt impressed only saw 4 fish lol ...........but saw millions of those spiney urchins which i swear were hunting me down !
Labadee is a private port just used by RCI , they provide lunch ashore

Jamaica , we did a safari ( land rover thing ) trip , pretty good , however my husband collapsed and we were taking back to the ship prior to the last stop at Dunns river falls ( he had flu )

Grand Caymen , missed due to bad weather

Cozumel , Mexico , this was the trip i was least looking forward to but in the end turned out to be the best . We joined a beach buggy tour of the island , with a short snorkelling adventure ( saw some freat fish ) and lunch on the beach .Because we had to sail past Grand Caymen we arrived in port early and we didnt have to leave til 6.30 pm . This trip was a great laugh even if the buggies were on their last legs and a few had to be abandoned on the side of the road lol .

Now the boat is pretty amazing , but ...cruising wasnt for us , I know we werent well but it droves us stir crazy and couldnt wait to get off .

btw the speciality restaurants , Portofino and chops are well worth the extra money and personally i wish i had eaten at them every night

GIRLPOWER_2

We did this route on RCCL in August. I have posted a trip report www.thedibb.co.uk my username is the same as on MSE.

If you go into Forums, then trip reports, then the sub index called indexes, you will see about half way down "The Whites 1st Florida experience."

It has details of the private tour guides we used as well as photo's.
HTH

Nikki

urbancookie1

HI, Thanks girlpower, ive read you review in the dibb, my you were busy. Sounds like you had a great cruise and holiday, given me some ideas for our trip's too. :j Ill have a look around the the dibb board's for more reviews.

Thanks again:beer:

LittleTinker

Royal Caribbean dock at Ocho Rios and Yes, Dunns River Falls is near by........When we went we did all our excursions privately, which saved LOADS!!!!.......Jamacia....we did, Dunns River, River Rafting and spent time on a beach......a pair of Aqua shoes is what you need there. Jamacia is quite pushy and can be intimidating so make sure you all stay together...... Labadee is a private island and is used by different cruise companies on different days. We didnt do any trips there as they are not worth the money..........Grand Cayman was GREAT!! We did the Stingrays and Snorkelling and it was FANTASTIC!!!.......The other place, cant remember the name....we did swimming with Dolphins.....All the islands take US Dollars......RC as a cruise company?? I wont travel with them again.

GIRLPOWER_2

urbancookie1 wrote: »

HI, Thanks girlpower, ive read you review in the dibb, my you were busy. Sounds like you had a great cruise and holiday, given me some ideas for our trip's too. :j Ill have a look around the the dibb board's for more reviews.

Thanks again:beer:

Your welcome :beer: Glad it was of some help.

We are going the same itinerary this year as well.

We have decided not to go with Mark Moris tours in Jamacia this time and are giving this company ago as good reviews from cruisecritic.com.

We are doing the falls and tubing

http://www.phil-lafayette-tours.com/

In Grand Cayman we are going to stick with these as they were fantastic.

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/tours.htm

And in Mexico we are thinking of swimming with Dolphins.

http://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/

HTH

Nikki. x