Costa Maya is spanish for...

[wdwstateofmind]

WHY WOULD DISNEY EVER STOP HERE?! I mean, personally, Mexico has to be paying some serious cash to have the Fantasy stop there to somewhat stimulate a non-existent economy....I have family in Mexico on the US border in bad areas, like Nogales and Tijuana, that Costa Maya made look like the Ritz...if it wasn't for the $50 box of Cuban cigars I got I would have been even more annoyed at the entire situation...the Mexican food wasn't even good...

Not to mention a local ran into my wife with there bike from behind and just acted like nothing happened...

Highly disappointed with this stop, would have rather gone to another port or just been at sea the entire time...

 

[Sumrdog]

Well that's good to know. I was looking at Western Caribbean itineraries and your not the only person who thought the location was a little unsavory.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I think I'm looking forward to Costa Maya more than the other stops (besides CC). We have already set up standup paddle board rentals w/an Anerican expat and reserved some loungers/hammocks on the beach nearby for free w/a couple Canadian transplanted business owners who run a beach club in Mahahual. Mahahual is a little village just a short cab ride from the port area. "Costa Maya" is pretty much the port area built for the cruise ships. I'm willing to step away from the port to avoid the herds and search for a good Mexico experience. I learned all the stuff I did and made our plans after spending time reading, researching, and double-checking reviews on travel sites. I'm hoping my homework on our ports of call pays off.

I liken my travels to new ports as I would a first timer's trip to WDW. If you go blind without researching you are likely to miss stuff.

 

[wdwstateofmind]

I think I'm looking forward to Costa Maya more than the other stops (besides CC). We have already set up standup paddle board rentals w/an Anerican expat and reserved some loungers/hammocks on the beach nearby for free w/a couple Canadian transplanted business owners who run a beach club in Mahahual. Mahahual is a little village just a short cab ride from the port area. "Costa Maya" is pretty much the port area built for the cruise ships. I'm willing to step away from the port to avoid the herds and search for a good Mexico experience. I learned all the stuff I did and made our plans after spending time reading, researching, and double-checking reviews on travel sites. I'm hoping my homework on our ports of call pays off.

I liken my travels to new ports as I would a first timer's trip to WDW. If you go blind without researching you are likely to miss stuff.

We went to Mahahual...this is the place I speak of...I mean at no time did I feel in danger...but really one block from the beach is an utter hell with people living in fallen down cement buildings and shacks...most "rentals" were empty and already falling apart from what looked like years of disrepair. To be honest, even the beach area was gross...we immediately left port and went into town as well saying it couldn't be as bad as some said...boy were we wrong; got harassed a million times to buy the same crap over and over too (worse than by the border seemed to be the theme for me with everything even their hangling for items. something that surprisingly didn't bother us in Cozumel)...ate and got out of there to actually enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day of the ship.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh. Well, I've read many a review, none like yours not that your experience isn't valid. I don't expect Mahahual to be anything other than a rustic village, not nice and resort posh-ish. It probably looks rough and isn't built up all luxury-fied because of the hurricanes. We're accustomed to that. I hope to not find a big resort town full of time shares and condos. We have a specific destination and pretty explicit instructions to get there. Hopefully it'll be more like the other experiences I've read about. I'll try to document our journey in close detail. I'll return with my full account and we can compare notes. Sorry you hated it.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We actually had the opposite experience between Costa Maya and Cozumel in regards to people trying to sell you stuff. We were barely spoken to by vendors in Costa Maya and in Cozumel we were approached by every single vendor at every stop on our excursion. They didn't bother me since I just ignored it but we kept saying how we enjoyed our Costa Maya excursion slightly more since we weren't approached by as many vendors. We did the Salsa and Salsa excursion in Costa Maya and had a great time! It was at a resort with a beautiful beach. We noticed other areas along the way that weren't so nice looking, but you will find that in any country, including the US. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the stop.

 

[wdwstateofmind]

We actually had the opposite experience between Costa Maya and Cozumel in regards to people trying to sell you stuff. We were barely spoken to by vendors in Costa Maya and in Cozumel we were approached by every single vendor at every stop on our excursion. They didn't bother me since I just ignored it but we kept saying how we enjoyed our Costa Maya excursion slightly more since we weren't approached by as many vendors. We did the Salsa and Salsa excursion in Costa Maya and had a great time! It was at a resort with a beautiful beach. We noticed other areas along the way that weren't so nice looking, but you will find that in any country, including the US. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the stop.

Cozumel was great, no complaints there...Costa Maya was just a hustle for the same stuff every two feet. I didn't expect a resort beach as I did do my research and I was still baffled as to why Disney would stop there. I'm glad to see at least someone enjoyed it...

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We went to Chackobeen ruins which was very good, but the only reason Fantasy has gone to Costa Maya as it couldn't get into Key West like Magic/Wonder. Now with Jamaica taking over as a port of call CM should be dropped, Wonder will also undertake some Western 7 nights late 2014 instead of fantasy.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We went to Chackobeen ruins which was very good, but the only reason Fantasy has gone to Costa Maya as it couldn't get into Key West like Magic/Wonder. Now with Jamaica taking over as a port of call CM should be dropped, Wonder will also undertake some Western 7 nights late 2014 instead of fantasy.

My inlaws have been to Jamaica, my bro-in-law more than once. They say to stay inside the gated port area unless on an excursion. On excursions they say to stay with the group. That jives with other things I've read about the "hustling" there being really bad.

 

[Parkerbexar]

quote="wdwstateofmind, post: 5503856, member: 86218"]WHY WOULD DISNEY EVER STOP HERE?! I mean, personally, Mexico has to be paying some serious cash to have the Fantasy stop there to somewhat stimulate a non-existent economy....I have family in Mexico on the US border in bad areas, like Nogales and Tijuana, that Costa Maya made look like the Ritz...if it wasn't for the $50 box of Cuban cigars I got I would have been even more annoyed at the entire situation...the Mexican food wasn't even good...

Not to mention a local ran into my wife with there bike from behind and just acted like nothing happened...

Highly disappointed with this stop, would have rather gone to another port or just been at sea the entire time...[/quote]
Pretty sure if the Cubans were only 50 bucks they were not real Cubans!!

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Jamaica? No offense to Jamaicans - but you can keep it. Ocho Rios spoiled it for me.

And all those Bahamian port-of-calls, where pretty much every cruise line owns their own tiny island? Filler. Sure, it's debateably better than an "at-sea" day, but... I'd rather stay at a "real" destination.

Yes, I've cruised multiple times - and I'm this jaded.

 

[wdwstateofmind]

Pretty sure you can get Cohibas for around that price and my cigar buddy seems pretty happy about it and all he smokes is mostly Cohibas...but hey, what does someone who smokes cigar everyday know...

 

[DonChi]

Pretty sure you can get Cohibas for around that price and my cigar buddy seems pretty happy about it and all he smokes is mostly Cohibas...but hey, what does someone who smokes cigar everyday know...

Sorry to tell you my friend, but those where not Cohibas. 100% cubans in Mexico aren't bought in the streets, they can only be found in Casa del Habano and some other well legal established stores. Good cigars aren't made with shredder tabacco leaves and believe me, the ones sold ad CM are made with shredder tabacco. I bought a box just to verify these.

The CM is not owned by the Mexican government, it is own by a private company.

 

[danpam1024]

I LOVED Costa Maya- the people were amazing. We took a bus out to the Chochoben (sp?) Mayan Ruins- amazing.

 

[Parkerbexar]

Glad somebody else knows a thing or two about cigars on this board.