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Excursion/Tour Suggestions Eastern Caribbean

Ilike2cruuuz

By Ilike2cruuuz,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Ilike2cruuuz

Ilike2cruuuz

Posted
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Hello, All. I will be sailing on Conquest in October 2017 (Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk and Amber Cove). I am looking for suggestions for excursions, tours or just really cool things to do once we get off at the different ports. I have already booked 1 excursion through CCL, but I have found some of the best excursions just taking a chance after getting flagged down at the port.

 

Thanks in advance.:cool:

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rosalindpheasant

rosalindpheasant

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Following... I will also be sailing in Oct to the same ports.... I had already found the Nassau tour and decided to do it... As well as I have a Golf cart rented in Grand Turks.... We are thinking about the Ocean World Dolphin swim while in Amber Cove.... Anyone know anything about it???

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estillcrew

estillcrew

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Go to the free beach/pool area in Grand Turk. It was fantastic! I would not spend money on an excursion there because there is so much offered at the port. Grand Turk is one of our top three best port days on any cruise, so I would highly recommend staying at the port.

Here is a bit from a review I posted on those two ports:

Amber Cove:

We had never been to the Dominican Republic, so we were anxious for this port. Apparently, Carnival just finishing building this port in 2015, so it is relatively new.We booked the Deluxe Sail and Snorkel excursion with Tip Top Catamaran and had a blast! We got off the ship and found our excursion guy holding our sign. We boarded a bus and drove about 45 minutes to our catamaran. The bus ride was not bad, as we learned lots about the Dominican Republic while we rode. We arrived on the beach and had to be shuttled via a dingy to our catamaran. It took about four trips to get everyone on the catamaran, and then we were off. We literally sailed about 10 minutes and stopped for our first snorkel. There wasn’t much to see and the wind and crazy waves made the water pretty murky. The waves kicked up, so we couldn’t stop at the second snorkel site. There was an open bar with free rum punch and local beer, soft drinks, fruit juice and water, lots of dancing, and a good lunch. The lunch was hard boiled eggs, coleslaw, pasta salad, tuna salad, chicken nuggets, chicken sliders, cucumber salads, bread, ham and pastrami cold cuts, etc. We ate, drank, and danced while we sailed all the way back to port. There was no bus ride on the way back. YAY! It was a fantastic day, and we even had about 45 minutes to shop in port before we had to be back on board.

Grand Turk:

I am so glad that I listened to the advice on Cruise Critic and did not book at excursion. The cruise port there is so very nice. I was worried because our boat was the second one to arrive (we docked at 12:00), so I was afraid that there would not be any loungers available. Boy, was I wrong. We were one of the first families off of the Magic and there were tons of free chairs and umbrellas available. We walked off the dock and turned left to Margaritaville and there were tons of chairs available around the pool and beach. Because the ocean is so pretty, we decided to find chairs on the beach instead. We found a nice spot with four loungers under palm trees in front of the Flo Rider spot. We were very close to the DJ playing the music in Margaritaville, so we could hear great music while we looked at the ocean. There was a local selling cold beer under a red tent for $5 a bottle and 2 cups of rum punch for $5, so that is where we bought our drinks. The same beer in Margaritaville was $8.50 a bottle! We were chilling under the palm trees, and looking at the beautiful ocean when someone came by asking if we wanted to go on a banana boat ride. The girls did, so we paid them $20 a person and walked to their tent. We filled out a permission form, they climbed on the banana boat, and I hopped in the boat with the driver and took some awesome pics of them as they were being pulled around in that crystal clear water. They had a blast and said they wished it had lasted longer, but I was ready to get back to my lounger. After a while, the girls met up with their friends at the pool at Margaritaville and we visited the beer tent again. Heeding the advice of my cruise critic pals, we walked about 5 minutes down the beach to Jack’s Shack for lunch for some of the best jerk chicken I have ever put in my mouth. For $14 a plate, we had jerk chicken and fries (my daughter had rice and beans instead of fries), and we had plenty of it. We had signed up for a free shot of rum on Jack’s Shack website prior to our cruise, and got our free shots after our lunch. After lunch, we played ball with Jack’s dog, Topher, and headed back to our loungers. We passed a place that sold $4 beers, so we grabbed two. They weren’t as cold as the $5 beers, so I wished we had waited until we got back to the guy in the red tent to buy our beers. We had such a fabulous time and stayed on this beach until we had to be back on the boat. We did save about 30 minutes to shop in the stores. We found the best t-shirts here. This was an amazing port with plenty to do just a few yards from the boat. Highly recommend staying here for the day instead of booking an excursion.

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evandbob

evandbob

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If you enjoy snorkeling, Grand Turk is the place to try it, not Amber Cove, which is situated on the gray Atlantic Ocean. Get on an excursion and they will take you to several different spots like the Wall or Coral Gardens. You may even get to attract sting rays to come up in shallow water on a beach like we did, much better interaction in a natural setting.

If you decide to just beach it at GT, then go as far down the beach as you can since it gets sandier the further you go. Too many rocks just off the pier area and Margaritaville. Jacks Shack is the furthest you can go and they do have a great local lunch of jerk chicken and rice and peas.

 

I don't like Carnival's port at Amber Cove (or Roatan, or Costa Maya or even Cozumel) and I do my best to pass through those cookie cutter shopping corrals as quickly as possible. If you want an authentic Dominican experience, head to Sosua or Caberete (not 2 star Puerto Plata, ugh!).

 

In Nassau, Cable Beach is the best strip of sand, many cruisers aren't even aware of it. It fronts 3 hotels, has a casino and restaurants, and you can get there by taxi or bus.

 

In HMC, just enjoy the beautiful beach, and the lunch they serve. Not jerk chicken, but it's tasty.

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A&Jfamily

A&Jfamily

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The DR is a lovely country. We enjoyed our trip to 27 waterfalls but it is not for people who are overweight elderly or out of shape. It would not be allowed in the US but it was fun! People who don't like DR have not likely gotten out and seen the countryside. One of the prettier Islands.

 

Nassau has a zillion options but for something different look at the people to people program.

 

In grand Turk I would book a private snorkel - the cruise boats hold way too many people and the snorkeling is crammed. If you want to see the island look up the tram. You pick it up down the beach a ways to the left. Really nice few hours.

 

 

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