When I plan a cruise with my family, here are a few things I think about that help us decide. Sometimes it’s a new ship we want to check out, it may be particular ports we would like to visit, and sometimes it’s just “we need a cruise” and don’t want to fly across the U.S. to get to a port so we look for a port close to home to leave from. We usually try to cruise 3 times a year and like to choose different ports or ships as much as possible. Although, I will say we are starting to run out of options… We do end up repeating some ports but can’t complain about it. For example, Cozumel is one we have been to many times and never get tired of it. It seems to always fall into a port stop on all the western Caribbean itineraries. We can always find something to do there. We have been swimming with the dolphins at Dolphinaris, gone on jeep tours, ATV excursions, experienced different beach clubs, grabbed our own cab to the beach for the day, and even just got off the ship and hung around and shopped in the port. I can’t say we have ever had a bad day in Cozumel. Continue reading “Choosing the right cruise & excursions without breaking the bank!!!”