Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Another No Go from Nativeways.....

wild1apache

By wild1apache,
in Cayman Islands

Recommended Posts

wild1apache

wild1apache

Posted
Posted

I requested the tour Stingray City and Island tour that Nativeways has on their website marked "New" and they emailed me back saying that they are not doing that tour on September 22nd. I will be on the Valor arriving in Grand Cayman and that is what I really wanted to do there. Does anyone have any suggestions about what company I can use to get the same tour that they (Nativeways) were offereing? I see from reading this board that quite a few people had requested this tour and were turned away. It is nice to see that a company is doing so well that they can afford to turn away business.........

Link to comment
Share on other sites
noahsark99

noahsark99

Posted
Posted

Captain Marvin's does a stingray tour and you can add on a tour that goes to Hell, the turtle farm and a couple other stops. The website only shows that they do the Hell/Turtle Tour before the Stingray Tour but if you email or call them and tell them you are on the Valor they will schedule you to do it after the stingrays so it all works out timewise. That's what they did for me anyway and I'm booked for April! Hope that helps......

 

http://www.captainmarvins.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AZdana

AZdana

Posted
Posted

Same thing happened to me for the exact same date! It seems they really don't plan to ever offer that tour, or only offer it if you offer them a full tour bus on a platter. There is obviously some interest in the tour from the amount of comments on this board!

 

After reading this board I had a great impression of Nativeway and planned to do an excursion through them, now my impression is MUCH lower! Do they not understand how much they are hurting their image? All they have to do is take the tour off the website, how hard is that?!?!? And maybe some better customer service would be nice...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wild1apache

wild1apache

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, there will be the two of you and then there are 2 in my party as well. I emailed and asked but I have not heard back form them. I wonder why they are only doing some days and not others. It seems that the only other option, well, there are actually two other options...#1 would be to book with Captain Marvin and do the Staingray tour and then the Turtle Farm/Hell tour and that comes to about $53.50 per person and the other option #2 is to book through Carnival for I think about $60 or so. Truthfully, I personally would lean towards Captain Marvin if Nativeway can't accommodate us. I think with Captain Marvin there will be less people than with the ship directly. Anyone else out there have an option #3 or 4? hahaha! I really wanted to do that tour with Nativeways so I am a little bent out of shape about it right now.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CruiseMark

CruiseMark

Posted
Posted

I've had nothing but great experiences with Nativeway. We're booked with them again for our December trip.

 

Keep in mind too that one of the things that makes them good is that they don't use huge boats with hundreds of passengers, so capacity is very limited. We had 8 on our boat last year, and my guess is that it would probably hold 15 or 20 max. With them adding new types of tours this year, they're spreading their boats amongst them. Should they increase their capacity? Probably. But remember that they were hit pretty hard by Hurricane Ivan and are still recovering.

 

If you can't get Nativeway, I'd recommend Moby Dick tours (http://www.mobydicktours.com/) .

 

By the way (sorry for all the "keep in mind's") Internet access on Grand Cayman isn't what it's like in the U.S. They only have one or 2 ISP's on the island, and their system isn't as reliable as we're used to here. That could explain the delays in response time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mekgon2madre

mekgon2madre

Posted
Posted

I Was also interested in this tour for Jan 17 and they turned me down stating they weren't sure if they would offer this tour in January. They also suggested I contact Captain Marvin. Not sure what I will do, however it bothers me to read from another poster that they are doing a tour a week before I want to do mine. Is it because my reservation would be made for only 2 people?

 

Really ticks me off.:mad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gator83

Gator83

Posted
Posted

I wrote them about doing the tour on Dec. 17 and they said they weren't doing it and to try Capt. Marvin's. I wrote back and said I was disappointed but I didn't get much reaction to that.

 

Does anyone know if Capt Marvin's tour goes to the rum cake factory?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
newfietraveldiva

newfietraveldiva

Posted
Posted

We were in Grand Cayman a few weeks ago. Previous to leaving, I also tried to book the same tour with Nativeway and was told it was full. I later booked the stingray city/snorkelling tour with Moby Dick tours and they were excellent. I did have the option of adding on a city/Hell tour but declined and simply did some shopping instead.

 

I would suggest trying Moby Dick. The website is http://www.mobydicktours.com.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wild1apache

wild1apache

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I think what it is ,perhaps, is that maybe during certain times there is only one ship in port and there aren't enough people for a tour but maybe during other times there are a lot of ships so they know they will get their tours filled. It doesn't make sense to run the tour if you aren't going to make money or maybe even lose money. I am trying my best to get people together for the 22nd of September....anyone? (smile)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
eelyak

eelyak

Posted
Posted
I wrote them about doing the tour on Dec. 17 and they said they weren't doing it and to try Capt. Marvin's. I wrote back and said I was disappointed but I didn't get much reaction to that.

 

Does anyone know if Capt Marvin's tour goes to the rum cake factory?

 

This is the email I received from Capt. Marvins:

 

Hi, thank you for contacting us! The only Island Tour that we offer is going to Hell, Turtle Farm, Tortuga Rum Cake factory, Governor's House, Old Homestead and some points of interest along seven mile beach and this tour can be added either before or after the snorkeling/stingray city trip you have chosen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Trainacomin

Trainacomin

Posted
Posted

I wrote Nativeway earlier this week to inquire about the Stingray/Island tour after reading this thread. I'm going to be there next week and she said the tour was full. She did ask if I wanted to do the Rays and Coral Gardens snorkeling. I decided to do that and then just catch a cab up to the Turtle Farm and Hell afterwards. On Thursday morning Sharon emailed saying that they had enough folks asking about the island tour that they were going to be doing it(I thought it was full???) Anyway, I booked the island tour but had already looked into the Coral Garden and really wanted to go there. Oddly enough Sharon emailed late yesterday asking if I would be interested in the Stingray/Island tour WITH the Coral Gardens for an extra $5.

So for $45 we're doing the Rays/Coral Gardens and Island tour with Nativeway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sarapdot

Sarapdot

Posted
Posted

Ok, first off -polkadotlady - you do realize that the tour you said you were booked on is not the same tour we are speaking of?? The RR&R is Rays, Reef and Rum point.

 

Anyway, I also wanted to book this Stingray/Island tour with Nativeway for our Nov. 3rd trip to GC. They told me that they were not offering this tour anymore. I also emailed them with my concerns that we really wanted this tour and if they aren't going to offer it then they should remove it from the website. Sharon emailed me back saying that she was sorry we were disappointed and that she would look into fixing the website and "goodluck finding something else" I thought that was like a slap in the face. Needless to say, we booked the Stingray tour with Cpt. Marvin and the Turtle/Hell tour immediately afterwards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bunkie103

Bunkie103

Posted
Posted

I got the same "not doing THAT tour on Nov3rd story"! What's their deal? I went and booked with Captain Marvins and they were very accommodating and suggested the island tour following the stingray swim to me also, so we're good to go! So Sarapdot...maybe we'll be on the same tour!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CardsRamsRock

CardsRamsRock

Posted
Posted

My Question is followed by their response.

 

Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 11:12 PM

To: nativway@candw.ky

Subject: Re: Reservation Confirmation

 

Sharon - several recent posts on Cruisecritic.com indicate you have discontinued several tours, is this tour still scheduled? Thanks!

 

 

(Board, as a point of clarification I was inquiring about the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point" excursion, I have booked for October.)

 

 

 

RE: Reservation ConfirmationDate:9/12/2005 2:28:01 P.M. Central Standard TimeFrom:nativway@candw.ky

Hi Folks,

 

No, we have not discontinued the tour that your have booked. In fact, the only tour that we have actually discontinued is the “Cemetery Beach”. This shuttle only received two requests in one year. We are also evaluating the Stingray & Island Tour. This tour has not been eliminated.

 

 

Sharon

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CardsRamsRock

CardsRamsRock

Posted
Posted

My Question is followed by their response.

 

Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 11:12 PM

To: nativway@candw.ky

Subject: Re: Reservation Confirmation

 

Sharon - several recent posts on Cruisecritic.com indicate you have discontinued several tours, is this tour still scheduled? Thanks!

 

 

(Board, as a point of clarification I was inquiring about the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point" excursion, I have booked for October.)

 

 

 

RE: Reservation ConfirmationDate:9/12/2005 2:28:01 P.M. Central Standard TimeFrom:nativway@candw.ky

Hi Folks,

 

No, we have not discontinued the tour that your have booked. In fact, the only tour that we have actually discontinued is the “Cemetery Beach”. This shuttle only received two requests in one year. We are also evaluating the Stingray & Island Tour. This tour has not been eliminated.

 

 

Sharon

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...