Expert: Linda - 2/20/2009

Question
Hello, I have several questions. We are cruising March 8-15, 2009 on Carnival Triumph. Our stops are Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  What can you tell us about the 'Caverns by Jeep & Beach Combo in Cozumel?  Is it worth the $89?  Is there shopping by the ports in Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios?  What beaches would you suggest we visit on G Cayman and Ocho Rios? Did you eat at Paradise Cafe on G Cayman?  Are we allowed to take a case of water on the ship?

Answer
Beverly, good choice with the Triumph, she's a beautiful ship.  We haven't done the jeep and beach thing in Cozumel, our last was to the part tht starts with an X and is a long name. Great trip, beach, swim underground river, some ruins, great restaurant their.  boat ride from to get there to Play Del Carmen.

yes, you can take water on the ship.  Not really any "bargain" shopping in the ports.  You can get knick knacks etc, but nothing like the Eastern ports.  Candy, rum cakes, china, crystal but not inexpensive.

Ocho Rios if you haven't been before, then do the Dunns river Falls trip if you're active.  You climb a falls (cold) wear old tennis shoes you can throw away after.  Also there are many trips on the "rich and famous" tour...small yacht, swimming off ship, free drinks, sun on the beach.  You really can't go wrong on any of those.

In Grand Caymen, the most popular is the swimming with the stingrays, which is awesome!  Even for me who doesn't swim.  go with Captain  Marvin it's his private boats, only 12 or so people.  Great tour. (You can book on line, but don't pay till you get there)  About a 7 min walk from the ship.

The ship uses catamaran and other ships and packs them in their.   Not to our liking.

We didn't eat when we were in Grand Cayman, we had a bit of shop time for us to get the rum cakes, hit the tour and we stopped somewhere to have a margarita.  It was upstairs across from the pier.

Go to cruisecritic.com, join (free), then go to message boards, click on Carnival, then you can go in and look at the side trips and what others thought of them, or you can pose a question as well.  You'll get lots of great answers.

You're going to have a wonderful time...wish we were coming. Ask away if you have more questions.

Linda