Buzzard05 Posted October 18, 2016 Report Share Posted October 18, 2016 I saw on another board that there are going to be at least five other ships in Cozumel on our port day. They estimated over 21k people from all of the ships in port. Given that there will be so many people in Cozumel that day, is it a bad idea to plan an excursion that uses the ferry over to Playa del Carmen (such as one of the ruins tours)? I don't know how many passengers those ferries can take (or how many ferries they actually have)...but with those numbers, it sounds like getting aboard a ferry to cross, might be a nightmare. Anybody have any experience with these ferries and if this will be an issue with this many people? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted October 18, 2016 Report Share Posted October 18, 2016 We have only done the mainland twice, both times the ship excursion had the ferry pull up to our dock and load there, similarly on the way back it was a dedicated ferry that came back to our dock rather than the regular ferry terminal. In both cases we got back to the ship late (due to the tour operator insisting on a shopping trip that nobody else wanted to stop for). I go back and forth between using ship excursions and self-booking, heading over to the mainland is one where I definitely believe in paying extra for the ship tour to get the "guarantee" of not being left behind ... (not technically a guarantee but at least they are less likely to pull away leaving a couple of hundred passengers on an RCI organized tour). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 18, 2016 Report Share Posted October 18, 2016 FWIW, 5 ships in Cozumel is fairly normal. WHStoneman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 I agree with Matt. Five is a pretty normal load for the port. Even so, I'd only take a ferry excursion over to the mainland of it were a Royal excursion. The last two times we were in Cozumel, we were delayed waiting for the ship's your groups that were late because of the ferry being delayed from Plays del Carmen. I also just priced excursions through the ship in January, and they seemed pretty reasonable given the transportation involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzard05 Posted October 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 Thank you for the replies...good information. We are still up in the air about doing a tour that requires the ferry. I have heard horror stories regarding the comfort of that ride, and my wife tends to get motion sickness...so not sure we will be venturing over or not (my kids want to go see the ruins, and I kinda do too...but not at the expense of my wife or all of us feeling awful for the day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 The ride was a little rough both times but nobody in our party (including one who is very motion sickness sensitive) got sick ... she was unhappy for the ride but was ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 Full disclosure: I've never taken the ferry to the mainland, but most stories I have heard are about there being a lot of motion. Perfectly safe, but guests do tend to get sea sick on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocLC Posted October 20, 2016 Report Share Posted October 20, 2016 There are some nice round accessible from Costa Maya if your cruise is stopping there which only requires a bus ride. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted October 21, 2016 Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 We are still up in the air about doing a tour that requires the ferry. I have heard horror stories regarding the comfort of that ride, and my wife tends to get motion sickness...so not sure we will be venturing over or not (my kids want to go see the ruins, and I kinda do too...but not at the expense of my wife or all of us feeling awful for the day). If you want to see them, offer to take the kids with you and leave your wife onboard for a spa day. She may enjoy that. My wife often keeps the kids onboard while I go wander around the ports by myself, or my son and I take off and leave her and my daughter on board for 'girl time'. Everyone seems to enjoy it. It just depends on your family situation. WHStoneman and donolog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donolog Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 If this (or a future) cruise includes a stop in Belize then you can also tour ruins there without a ferry or super-long bus ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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