Turtle Farm on our own or Carnival excursion

[LynnB]

Heading to Grand Cayman next month on the Breeze. My 8 year old son saw a YouTube video of The turtle farm and is super excited about going. Just not sure whether to do it in our own or book the ship excursion. There doesn't really appear to be any savings by doing it on our own, the excursion is 49.95 p/p including transportation while admission to park on our own would be 45.00 p/p plus we'd have to pay for transportation.

 

I'm leaning toward booking the ship excursion but worry it'll be overcrowded and not as enjoyable. Any input from someone who has done this tour? Thanks!

[cb at sea]

Well, the bus is $2.50 pp....so you can figure out the costs....

 

Nothing wrong with a ship's excursion...they are certainly "foolproof" and easy!

[hfj17002]

We were in GC on July 1st. We did the stingray/turtle excursion through carnival. There were quite a few ppl, but they split us up into about 4 buses. The buses aren't very big. It made the excursions feel smaller because we were split up. We never interacted with the other groups.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We're doing the stingray/turtle combo with Carnival, but considered doing just the Turtle farm.

 

We would do it with the Carnival excursion, for the convenience. They arrange everything for you, and, in this case, doesn't even cost you extra. No need to put in the effort of navigating through a city in a foreign country.

 

The only thing that would convince me to do it on my own would be timing. Look into what time the excursion departs/scheduled to arrive back at ship vs. how long you would stay at the Turtle farm on your own, given the port arrival/departure schedule and the Turtle Farm operating hours. Keep in mind, though, that this is a tender port, so if you have a Carnival excursion, you are guaranteed a tender time to make it to your excursion. If you go on your own, unless you have FTTF, you might have to wait for your tender number to be called.

 

I don't know if this applies to you, but if you took a cab to the Turtle Farm, and have young children, you would need a car seat. The Carnival excursion would be in a bus or shuttle, which does not need car seats.

[LynnB]

Thanks for the input! I think I am going to stick with the Carnival excursion. :)

[storm1507]

Planning to book this excursion. Let us know how you like it.

[Kechin Yer Eye]

We had been discussing the very same thing for our upcoming stop there. I decided against going with the Carnival excursion not for the price difference, which isn't much, but I have read a LOT of the reviews and several people said they were rushed and didn't have enough time to see & do all they wanted to do at the Turtle Farm. Also add in the fact that we want to venture over to H E L L which is right across from the Turtle Farm and we also want to go to the rum cake place which is within walking distance, or so I have been told. So after considering we want to make sure we get to do all 3 of those things, we are going it on our own. :eek: Guess it does help that we do indeed have FTTF, so early tendering won't be an issue. 3 ships in port the day we are there, with over 10,000 guests.....glad we are the first ship to arrive that day. Man, the things I have learned on CC :)

[Capt_BJ]

who told you HELL is 'right across from' turtle farm?

 

more like 1/2 mile as the crow flies, and by road a little more

 

use Google Earth and you can easily find both on the island to verify . . .

 

the Tortuga Rum Cake bakery is close to the T Farm, but they also sell these all over the island including right at the tender landings (and probably sell them on your ship! I can buy them locally) (Google it ... you can find a map to the 'official' locations.)

 

FODOR'S REVIEW

This company bakes, then vacuum-seals, more than 10,000 of its world-famous rum cakes daily, adhering to the original "secret" century-old recipe. There are eight flavors, from banana to Blue Mountain coffee. The 12-year-old rum, blended from private stock though actually distilled in Guyana, is a connoisseur's delight for after-dinner sipping. You can buy a fresh rum cake at the airport on the way home at the same prices as at the factory store.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Capt_BJ

[OCruisers]

Just a suggestion:

 

If you only want to go to the Turtle Farm, take a taxi.

 

If you would also like to go to the other places included in the ship's tour, book through the ship.

 

LuLu

[hfj17002]

We had FTTF & it didn't matter. We arrived in GC about 7ish. We received a letter the night before that FTTF tendering would be available until 845am. We went down to tender at 815am & it was already opened up to everyone. There was no wait & we boarded immediately. We did feel rushed at the turtle farm, only had 1.5 hrs at park. It seems like a decent amount of time, but by the time you wait in lines for pictures & other things, time flies. The guide asked our group if we wanted the tour or just to explore on our own, the vote was to explore on our own. Good luck.