Carnival has 2 diff tours to Stingray City, Hell & Turtle Farm??

[2preschoolers]

We'll be on the Liberty the end of January and there will be 5 adults and a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. It looks like Carnival has TWO tours that go to Stingray City, Hell & the Turtle Farm. And the prices are slightly different but I can't tell by the description what (if any) difference there is in the 2 tours. Does anyone have a clue???

 

Also, it says age 4 and under do not need a ticket. Does that mean they are completely free if sitting on our laps or does that mean they don't need a ticket for Stingray City or Turtle Farm, perhaps? I know many tours say under 3 go for free if sitting on an adults lap but the wording that they don't need a ticket is confusing to me.

 

Thanks again!!!!!

[NutsAboutGolf]

We'll be on the Liberty the end of January and there will be 5 adults and a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. It looks like Carnival has TWO tours that go to Stingray City, Hell & the Turtle Farm. And the prices are slightly different but I can't tell by the description what (if any) difference there is in the 2 tours. Does anyone have a clue???

 

Also, it says age 4 and under do not need a ticket. Does that mean they are completely free if sitting on our laps or does that mean they don't need a ticket for Stingray City or Turtle Farm, perhaps? I know many tours say under 3 go for free if sitting on an adults lap but the wording that they don't need a ticket is confusing to me.

 

Thanks again!!!!!

 

They probably have two different tour operations. I was on the liberty a few weeks ago and the cruise director had mentioned that. Unsure about the kids. Most people say Hell is a complete tourist trap. You see rocks, but it's not much better to going to youtube and seeing it on video. You could send a post card with a post office stamping "hell", but there are also at least five towns in the US named "hell" in which you could post mark your stamps from. Go to one of the beautiful beaches instead :)

[firefly333]

Captain Marvin does a similar tour, stingray or turtle farm with hell and some picture stops on the way. The turtle farm is about $20 to get in on your own for adult fares, so its pretty much worth it to have the transportation. I see nothing wrong with seeing Hell and a couple of stops since it means you get to ride around and sight see. You can hold the baby turtles in the turtle farm. Your 4 year old might like that.

[KJPG]

Take a look at the Cayman Islands board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=147

 

We did a trip on our own with Nativeway Watersports and it was excellent. There was snorkel time, time with the Stingrays and lunch & a beach break. Guides were fantastic and much cheaper than through the ship.

[minnesotalady]

We'll be on the Liberty the end of January and there will be 5 adults and a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. It looks like Carnival has TWO tours that go to Stingray City, Hell & the Turtle Farm. And the prices are slightly different but I can't tell by the description what (if any) difference there is in the 2 tours. Does anyone have a clue???

 

Also, it says age 4 and under do not need a ticket. Does that mean they are completely free if sitting on our laps or does that mean they don't need a ticket for Stingray City or Turtle Farm, perhaps? I know many tours say under 3 go for free if sitting on an adults lap but the wording that they don't need a ticket is confusing to me.

 

Thanks again!!!!!

 

We always booked this tour through Captain Marvin. There is a website. Have a great time on your trip.

[luvtrips]

We rented a car and toured Grand Caymen on our own, with 2 kids. Not only did we see Hell (we enjoyed it, tourist trap or not) and the turtle farm, but we drove along the coast and stopped at several beaches. We rented a jeep and had the top off. It was, to this day, my favorite island.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Take a look at the Cayman Islands board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=147

 

We did a trip on our own with Nativeway Watersports and it was excellent. There was snorkel time, time with the Stingrays and lunch & a beach break. Guides were fantastic and much cheaper than through the ship.

 

I did and recommend the RRR tour as well! They also do hell and/or the turtle farm. I think kids would like the turtle farm more than snorkeling.

[2preschoolers]

We rented a car and toured Grand Caymen on our own, with 2 kids. Not only did we see Hell (we enjoyed it, tourist trap or not) and the turtle farm, but we drove along the coast and stopped at several beaches. We rented a jeep and had the top off. It was, to this day, my favorite island.

 

This sounds awsome however we have 5 adults and 2 kids. So we'd either need to rent 2 cars or a van. When I looked (online) at rentals a few months ago it seemed OUTRAGEOUS the cost to rent a van for a day.

 

Anyone know how much Stingray City is on it's own? I've been to Hell before (this is my 2nd cruise there) and I agree it's not all that exciting but nonetheless, nice to see the extra sites around town. (The rest in our party have never been there....) Ideally we'd like to go to Stingray City and the Turtle Farm. Maybe even the Butterfly farm. But nobody seems to do that combination. haha

[bookbabe]

Stingray City is free...anyone can go visit it without paying an admission fee...as long as you've got a boat. :D

 

It's actually a sandbar out in the middle of the water, so you really need to sign up for an excursion of some kind to get there. Rates for excursions vary, depending on what type of boat, length of excursion, other stops, etc. I've seen them at the pier for as low as $20-30 per person, but would probably recommend sticking with one of the companies that's reviewed here on CC, even if they're not the cheapest available. From the sounds of it, some of the cheaper excursions either have a ton of people so there's not much personal interaction or they're not the greatest boats/services, etc. Check for reviews of Nativeway, Captain Marvin, Moby Dick...those are some company names that get mentioned here a lot. I'm sure others will suggest more names of companies they've had good experiences with...