Independent excusions

[Fluffy Terry]

We have been to Grand Cayman with RCCL but when we were there, due to the weather, our excusion (thru the ship) was cancelled. All we did was wander around. We are going again with Princess in Feb and wanted to know if there is any reliable independent companies that offered excusions. My DH really wants to go to Hell (no pun intended). but dont want to once again try going thru the cruise line.

[travelbig]

There are lots of independent tours offered right at the pier you tender to. Can't beat the price, either. Look for the people holding up signs stating what type of tours they offer. Hell is part of the scenic island tour and those tours are quite reasonable.

[Capt_BJ]

concur

 

just there on FOS and there was a slew of tour companies waving signs at the landing.

 

altho note - FOS was the only ship in that day

 

while the day b4 there were 4 . . .

[Hiipy]

I had similar questions about using company outside cruise line. Do you wait to see the people with signs and book then? Or do you book ahead of time? Do you know of which companies to avoid? Was thinking of cave tubing in Belize and zip and dip in Grand Cayman. Thanks!:)

[MissRabbit]

i do my research ahead of time to find out what companies have good reputations. Cruise critic, tripadvisor..all good places to find that out. I also book ahead of time as waiting until we arrive could find those popular (and reputable) tour companies are plum full up.

 

i will say, that if the weather is bad enough for the ship to cancel the excursion, odds are, the independent tour guides won't be able to go as well.

[bobmal99]

This past February I used a company called

Island Marketing Excursions, in Grand Cayman.

They provided an excellent tour.

 

Have taken boats to Sting Ray City a couple of

times, wanted to try something a bit different.

 

Love riding jet-ski's/wave runners. Most

places charge $110 + and you drive around

in a circle for 45 min to an hour.

 

With this tour you ride a few miles to

Sting Ray City, then ride someplace else

for snorkling, and a private beach.

Plus it is a 2-2 + 1/2 hour tour..

 

No more then six-seven, jet ski's..

 

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/StingrayCityWaveRunner.htm

 

Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

If there are people in your group that

don't want to jet ski this is a picture

of the facilities where they can hang

out while you are doing this tour.

 

 

[taszmom]

There are lots of other tour operators out there ( I don't think we are allowed to mention by name here) that offer the same tours for less and even some different ones that the cruise lines. Just search on the internet. I would book them in advance so you don't have to be wasting time finding a guide and haggling a price at the pier because its usually pretty crazy and congested. The other reason why I like to use other tour companies is they limit the size of the group. With the cruise lines I feel like herded cattle.

We did the cave tubing in Belize and we had about 12 in our group. Got further down the river and saw a HUGE line of people getting into the river. They were on a RC cruise. The caves can become very congested. Our guide got away from them so we didn't have to get stuck in the middle of them.

Plus if you want to stop and see something, stay longer at one place, you can do that, they are flexible whenever possible.