Tours you can buy at the dock

[gambee]

Any Idea why moby Dick tours charges substantially more than some other operators?

 

Am safe just choosing any operator at port?

[ahecht]

Here are the signs from yesterday:

 

 

Didn't try any of them, as we had a tour booked with Nativeway (and had 6 people on our boat compared with dozens and dozens on some of the others).

 

[Greeneyelady]

information was great, but my question is

this will be my frist cruise and my daughter wants to book ship excursion. I am concern about her budget thinking she may be getting over her head, but that is just because I'm a mom. LOL..

So would it be best to book the ship excursion to make sure those things she wants to do be available or take the gamble and wait to see if it would be available later?

Prices here looks so much more reasonible than ship excursion..

Inputs would be a big help.

We are going on the Magic in April.

thanks in advance

[Kokomo_Man]

I usually recommend that folks do ship's tours during their first cruise. That way you can figure out stuff without taking chances. Once you have got a bit of experience then you'll know better what will be best for you.

 

That said, Grand Cayman is one of those places that you can do well on your own. I would suggest that you can use the internet to figure out a tour and "book" it in advance. That way you will know you are getting the tour you want and save some money at the same time.

 

Just be sure you use a reputable operator (most in Grand Cayman are). You can check out the operator by asking about them here on cruisecritic and checking them out on other places like Trip Advisor. Also be sure to know the refund policy of the tour operator if you pay something in advance. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes ships do have to change their itenerary for various reasons.

 

You can use the same approach for the other places the ship stops (MoBay and Cozumel) although I suggest that in Jamaica the ships tours are the safe bet.

 

I hope that helps some.

 

Bob

Searching for Kokomo

[ahecht]

information was great, but my question is

this will be my frist cruise and my daughter wants to book ship excursion. I am concern about her budget thinking she may be getting over her head, but that is just because I'm a mom. LOL..

So would it be best to book the ship excursion to make sure those things she wants to do be available or take the gamble and wait to see if it would be available later?

Prices here looks so much more reasonible than ship excursion..

Inputs would be a big help.

We are going on the Magic in April.

thanks in advance

 

There is a third option: book in advance with a reputable independent tour company. I personally had a great experience with the Nativeway Watersports' "Stingray Sandbar, Coral Gardens and Star Fish Snorkel" tour. There was a family with young kids on the tour with us who had come in from the Disney Magic, and they had no trouble getting to the tour and they had plenty of time to enjoy the beach afterwards. We only had 6 people on our boat, compared with what looked like 100 on some of the ship's tours, and we paid less than half of what we would've otherwise. There are plenty of other recommended companies that other people here have used, but Cruise Critic frowns upon recommending tours you haven't personally taken.

[Greeneyelady]

thank you.

I will wait to see which direction my daugher will go now.

she is the one paying and I'm the one going for the adventure of it. :D

[blivey]

Does anyone know how long the $20 island tour last? Thinking about doing that one. Leaving this Saturday....yipppeee

[FlaMommy75]

Thanks so much to whoever posted a picture of the tours at the pier. It is so helpful! We will be in GC next week and I am thinking we will book something at the pier (either the snorkling or Sting Ray City). My question is....can I pay by credit card?

[~JD~]

I didn't book any excursions with the cruise, waited till we were in port to see what I felt like at the time.

 

In Grand Caymen we went on the stingray tour-snorkeling with stingrays! Then snorkeling in the coral reefs, I absolutely loved it all.... It was so fun & a bit cheaper than booking with the ship.

This excursion was about 4 hours long. I was too tired to shop at that port after being in the water & sun for over 4 hours, so waited for Mexico to shop.

 

When docked in Cozumel Mexico, I went to the Mayan Ruins & city tour & onto the tehqulia (sp) tasting tour which was just over 4 hours, this gave me plenty of time to shop afterwards.

 

I didn't think I was going to make it back to the ship with all my goodies that I shopped for in Mexico, my bag was so heavy, but I made it.

 

Don't forget to buy 100% pure vanilla while in Mexico, it's sooooo cheap!

 

 

 

Disclaimer-I do not work for or sell any brand of vanilla.. :)

[~JD~]

Thanks so much to whoever posted a picture of the tours at the pier. It is so helpful! We will be in GC next week and I am thinking we will book something at the pier (either the snorkling or Sting Ray City). My question is....can I pay by credit card?

 

 

Yes, for stingray city you can pay by CC. This I know first hand.

[ahecht]

^Although most places will give you a discount if you pay in cash.

[~JD~]

^Although most places will give you a discount if you pay in cash.

 

 

 

This may be true in some cases, but my firend & I each paid the same price, she paid via CC & I paid cash. :)

[~JD~]

A couple from our crew did the Stringray City/reef snorkel with Moby Dick, it was sooo fun! We booked it right at the pier in Grand Caymen & were gone for roughly 3.5 hours!

The stingrays are so neat to play with, can't wait to do it again.

 

We first took a van ride for about 10 minutes, then boarded a boat that had 50 people on it. We were riding on this boat for about 25 minutes way out in the ocean & came to a sand bar which was around 4 feet deep, where we swam/snorkeled & played with the stingrays. They say if you kiss them it's 7 yrs. good luck. I kissed them twice. :)

 

After doing this for about an hour we got back on the boat & went for another 10 minute ride to snorkel in the coral reefs......It was the best time ever.

 

 

 

25 Feb 2013-2 March 2013

Jewel of the Seas

Stateroom #8614 w/balcony

[happymom88]

Just did Stingray City and Snorkeling last week. Just booked when we got off the ship. Lots of people holding signs. They said the tour was $40 but we paid $30 without any negotiation. Others on the boat with us paid only $25. We paid cash and she told us to come back in about 40 min, then we did basically what JD said they did. We were gone for about 2.5 hours. They would drop you at 7 mile beach afterward or take you to the ships, whichever you wanted. It was very fun!

[jcaz14]

We want to do Stingray City/snorkeling, but also want to make a quick stop in "Hell."

Is that possible?

[funfamilyof6]

Has anybody recently seen or done the " East Side Tour " advertised for $35??? Would like to do it on our next trip and are curious if it is available and how much time was spent at the Rum Point portion.

[funfamilyof6]

bump

[Cocochanel26]

Thanks for this post!!! I was a little wary about booking before hand, I've went on a cruise and had a port stop cancelled and I didn't want to have to deal with that happening and I've already booked excursions.

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[laudie3a]

Does anybody know if I can do Stingray Sandbar and also do the Rum Factory tour?

I saw another post about this and never saw an answer, but is Rum Factory same as the Tortuga Rum Cakes? If they are different, where are the Rum Cakes located?

[Kokomo_Man]

Yes... you can go to Stingray City and to the Tortuga Rum factory. There are some tours that offer exactly that. You'll have to do a little internet searching.

 

It does in fact depend how long the ship is in port. Some times there would only be time for one or the other.

 

The Tortuga Rum Factory is the place that has the Rum Cakes. When you arrive there the air is filled with the smell of the cakes. Mmmmmm - mmmmm - good. There is not really much of a "tour" of the place, but you can go in the store and taste a little bit of everything. You only need about 30-45 there. It is located about the center of the "West End" near Georgetown where the ship docks. It is about a 10 miinute taxi ride from the port.

 

If you are going to try to combine Stingray City, you should try to either organize it ahead of time or take a ships tour. It would be too "hit or miss" if you wait till you are ashore in Grand Cayman. Of course if you don't get to do both, then there's always Margaritaville for a frozen concoction to help you hang on.

 

Bob

Searching for Kokomo

[vkg090902]

How long does the tour that goes to the rum factory, turtles other places last? Will there be time to enjoy the turtles?

[Kokomo_Man]

There are a variety of tours that go to both the Turtle Farm and the Rum Factory. All visit additional places depending on the specific tour. Most last between three and four hours. The ones I've been on give you plenty of time at both the Turtle Farm and the Rum Factory.

 

Beware!!! There is one that advertises a "undersea observatory" or something like that. It is really just an old garbage skow converted to be a glass bottom boat. This part of the whole tour was awful. Note that this is only my opiinion. There are probably people that loved the glass bottom boat.

 

Also, note I'm not talking about the "nautiluls sem-submarine". I suspect the Nautilus would be fun.

 

Several of the tours that go to the Turtle Farm and the Rum Factory also go to Hell... the village of Hell that is. It's kinda corny but if you have not been there, you should go once. Buy a post-card and mail to yourself so it will be postmarked, "Hell". The Woman to Blame always reminded folks to take cash with you for the stuff (post cards, etc) you want to buy... they don't take credit cards in hell.

 

Bob

Searching For Kokomo

[BayouGirlUSA]

Kokomo Man,

 

I have had this thread bookmarked for quite some time and am finally ready to start making some decisions about our time in GC. I will be on a cruise ship at the beginning of November.

 

I am looking for a nice, reliable waverunner/jetski tour. I think I would like to do Starfish Beach, Stingray City and Rum Reef. I have found this tour at www.discountexcursions.com do you know anything about this company or do you have any recommendations. All your comments and references have been very helpful, thank you in advance for any information you can give me.

 

The ship is not offering any type of waverunner/jetski tour, so it looks like I will be looking for a very good private tour.

[Kokomo_Man]

BayouGirlUSA... I appreciate your vote of confidence. I hope I don't steer you wrong.

 

I have used Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions three times and they have been great. (They are part of Island Marketing Ltd.) The first time we actually had to bypass Grand Cayman because of weather and I promptly received a refund of my deposit... which is a good sign about the company. The other times were once for the wave runners and once for a catamaran trip for my whole family (22 of us).

 

The wave-runner trip we took was only to Stingray City and to Rum Point, but I suspect they will modify the tour for what you want to do if you contact them. They were always prompt in any correspondence with me. Here's a link for their standard waverunner tour:

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/StingrayCityWaveRunner.htm

 

Have a blast!

 

Bob

Searching for Kokomo

[BayouGirlUSA]

Bob,

 

Thanks so much for the quick response. I looked at this company too! Glad to hear you had a positive relationship with them. I think I will contact them and ask a few questions.

 

Now that I've starting doing research, I'm getting excited. I know we'll have a blast.

 

Thanks!