Turtle Farm and Stingray City with family -- ship tour or private?

[bus man]

Hello! My family (myself, DW, DS-age 7.5, and DD-age 5.5) will be visiting Grand Cayman next April on Royal Caribbean. I've been there before (though not with the kids), so I know that I want to visit the Turtle Farm and Stingray City. Anything else is take-or-leave.

 

From my research, RCI offers an excursion to these two locations, as does Native Way. Native Way is cheaper, and they've gotten generally good reviews; but there have been several comments about cutting it close getting back to the port. Given that there will be 4 ships in port on the day we're there, I'm concerned about traffic congestion.

 

What's your advice? Pay more for the peace of mind of the ship's tour, or take my chances with the private tour? Are the experiences one would get on each one similar to each other, or are there noticeable differences (aside from the cost)?

 

Also, for either option, what can we do about lunch along the way? (Seems like both tours are from mid-morning to early afternoon, so I would think we would get hungry along the way.) And finally, do we need to bring booster seats for the kids? (I have no idea what Cayman's rules are about that.)

 

Thanks for any help you can give!

[erby2283]

I went on Nativeway last year and other than waiting a few minutes here and there while they shuffled people off to different places, it went off without a hitch. The Stingray portion of the tour only had 6 people - compared to the huge crowds that went with the cruise ships. I'm trying, for the life of me, to remember what we did for lunch. I know my bf purchased a Jamaican Pie at the rum place but that was towards the end of the day.

 

I might suggest you email Nativeway and talk to them of your concerns and where you would like to go. The tour also takes you to "hell" but if you're not interested, you might be able to stay at the turtle farm longer and they could come back and get you? They may be able to cater your tour to get you back at an earlier time as well. I have pictures in my Valor Review with the link in my signature if you'd like to see some pictures :)

[jkskrap]

Not sure if you found what you were looking for, but . . .

 

We did the Island Tour & Stingray City with Native Ways and it was great. No problems at all. No lunch, but the smart travellers we were with (not us :o) bought Jamaican pies at the Tortuga Rum gift shop and ate them on the boat coming back from Stingray City.

 

Good luck!