Carnival Excursions vs outside vendors?

[Vitamin Sea Addict]

So we had a change of plans and had some time this summer open up--so we booked a cruise that goes to Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk.

 

These are all new ports for us which means we usually lean towards Carnival excursions but these all seem like fairly non-sketchy ports so I'm open to looking at outside excursion vendors.

 

I'd love to hear what you've enjoyed (or not) in each port. Feel free to suggest Carnival or non for excursions!

Thank you!!

[lcpagejr]

I've always found using outside/private vendors to be cheaper and a more custom type experience. I strongly suggest you  review the port of call boards which offer alot of information from fellow cruisers

[coevan]

We never use Carnival excursions. There are many shore excursion websites, less money, more personalized and you will get back to the ship in time. To us, GT is a waste other than snorkeling and diving. 

[kona_wahine]

San Juan just walk. I printed out a walking tour and we just went with it, up to one of the forts, old churches, place that created the Pina Colada, the Coach store, etc.  St Thomas take a taxi to Magen’s Bay. There are plenty when you are ready to come back to port. Grand Turk there isn’t anything away from port. We rented a golf cart and were back within a couple hours. Waste of time. One of my fav things there was an excursion thru carnival for sting rays and snorkeling. I’d recommend that one. Never been to amber cove.

Edited April 4, 2019 by kona_wahine

[Theosprey247]

For my family:

Amber Cove we used Marisol Tours to go to the falls

San Juan We just walked around

Grand Turk beach day (although the 1st time we rented a golf cart)

St. Thomas use to live there so no excursions needed

 

Whatever you do enjoy your cruise.

[becker80]

We used Marysol tours to do the waterfalls jump/slide in Amber Cove and it was awesome. I would definitely recommend it.

 

[hotsauce126]

Doing this same itinerary and using iguana mama to do the full 27 falls in AC (carnival excursion only does 7), going to st johns on our own in st thomas, doing carnivals atv excursion in san juan, and still deciding what to do in GT

 

I like outside excursions because they tend to have smaller groups, are less expensive, and obviously there are more options. I like carnivals ones for the ease and peace of mind. It really just comes down to who has what I want

Edited April 5, 2019 by hotsauce126

[TNcruising02]

In San Juan we just walked around and toured a fort.  It was fun.  The next time we went there, we walked off of the ship and there were tour buses lined up. The tours were only $10 per person.  We did that and toured the area.

[Micahs Grandad]

We almost always do private tours, better, cheaper and less crowded. Go to port of call pages for suggestions

[Saint Greg]

31 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

For my family:

Amber Cove we used Marisol Tours to go to the falls

San Juan We just walked around

Grand Turk beach day (although the 1st time we rented a golf cart)

St. Thomas use to live there so no excursions needed

 

Whatever you do enjoy your cruise.

 

You used to live on st Thomas and have no recommendations?

[jbethel11]

1 hour ago, Erikup said:

So we had a change of plans and had some time this summer open up--so we booked a cruise that goes to Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk.

 

These are all new ports for us which means we usually lean towards Carnival excursions but these all seem like fairly non-sketchy ports so I'm open to looking at outside excursion vendors.

 

I'd love to hear what you've enjoyed (or not) in each port. Feel free to suggest Carnival or non for excursions!

Thank you!!

2

You should also use the 110% Price Match for Shore Excursions! Though, it needs to be the same excursion just sold by another vendor. Like duration, drinks, lunch, guided all needs to be identical. I think I might use that for an excursion in Progreso that is 20 per person cheaper compared to Carnival's but it is literally identical excursions!

Edited April 5, 2019 by jbethel11
Nope lol

[Vitamin Sea Addict]

Thanks all! I will post on port of call boards later but they tend to be so slow compared to this board that I wanted to start here.

[teknoge3k]

You can find lots of great information on TripAdvisor as well. We never, ever use Carnival for excursions except for villas in HMC. 

[Theosprey247]

42 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

You used to live on st Thomas and have no recommendations?

I said we haven’t done any excursions on St. Thomas. Go to Coki or Brewer’s Bay.     Eat at Dighnys get a shake from Utter Delight. Need more?

[Saint Greg]

5 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

I said we haven’t done any excursions on St. Thomas. Go to Coki or Brewer’s Bay.     Eat at Dighnys get a shake from Utter Delight. Need more?

 

Yeah you should be a better source of info than TripAdvisor. I’ll take whatever you got.

[Theosprey247]

Red Hook (where you can take a ferry to St. John’s or BVI) is pretty happening and a fun place to hang out. BlueBeards Castle has a great view, avoid the cheesy tour (by 2006 standards) unless your really into pirates or bad rum. My wife lecturered at the uni for a semester back in 2006. 

[mmjtr]

This itinerary is probably my favorite one we have done yet! We , also, prefer to book independently as opposed to ship excursions. They are usually cheaper and are smaller groups.

Here's what we did:

Amber Cove- We did a city tour that I booked with Iguana Mama. It turned out to be a private tour since no one else had signed up for the day we did it. We had a driver and a guide. The guide was great! We learned a lot about DR. This tour included a ride in a cable car to the top of the highest peak. Fantastic views! There were gardens to browse as well. We had lunch , visited a cigar factory, tasted rums and did some dancing. I will say, Amber Cove was super nice (we walked through after our tour). You could really stay there and have plenty to do if you just want to relax by a pool, etc

 

St. Thomas-Since we had been to St Thomas before, we took a ferry to St John and snorkeled at Trunk Bay. Beautiful!

 

San Juan- We did a private historical walking tour of the city. We saw so much in a 3 hour tour. We've been  to San Juan again since that trip and just walked around on our own. We felt very safe and it's a very walkable city. Another poster suggested a do it yourself  tour and that's a great idea and cheaper!

 

Grand Turk- This island is my all time favorite port. Words cant describe it! We booked an excursion through Exclusive Escapes Tours. Wonderful! Two guides and our group had about 10 people. We snorkeled along the Amazing Wall. Our guide brought up a nurse shark for us to photograph and touch. We saw so many fish. Then our guides dove for conch. Next, we headed to Gibb's Cay where our guides made fresh conch salad for us and provided us with rum punch. We then got to interact with the stingrays. 

 

You are really going to enjoy all of these ports!

[shoptom]

We were on that itinerary last January:

Amber Cove walked around the port area and sat in loungers.

St. Thomas walked to the sky ride and the pirate museum next door.

San Juan walked to the forts as this was our main objective for the trip.

Grand Turk walked along the beach at the port.

None of the excursions looked worth it to us.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jsaqpcGC6FzDMn936

[Bookbug53]

14 hours ago, Erikup said:

So we had a change of plans and had some time this summer open up--so we booked a cruise that goes to Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk.

 

These are all new ports for us which means we usually lean towards Carnival excursions but these all seem like fairly non-sketchy ports so I'm open to looking at outside excursion vendors.

 

I'd love to hear what you've enjoyed (or not) in each port. Feel free to suggest Carnival or non for excursions!

Thank you!!

In San Juan we just walked off the ship and picked up a tour (there are many, many hawking them) for $10. We asked to see his van first and it was very nice. He fit about 8 of us and for $10 bucks he took us all over the new and the old city. A stop at the state house was fabulous for viewing the amazing mosaics inside. He stopped in many areas for photos along the way. We spent a very pleasant day for just $10 bucks and ended our day shopping when he dropped us off in an area filled with stores. They will take you back to the ship if you want.

 

St Thomas we always go with Godfrey. Check out his web site. Many options for touring, beaches, shopping, etc.

 

Grand Turk is a beach day for us but at Jack's Shack down away from the main mad house that is the cruise port. Check his site and print off your free rum shot coupon. 

 

Amber Cove...we stay on board.

[HangryGrl]

I would also recommend Mama Iguana for the waterfalls tour!  One of the best excursions we have done. 🙂  We generally always DIY ports or do non-ship excursions. We did this same itinerary this past January, below is what we did.

 

Amber Cover : Mama Iguana 27 waterfalls - Great!

St Thomas : Cab to Sapphire Beach for snorkeling. - Good beach, great snorkeling once you get out from the beach a bit.

San Juan: Just walked the city.  This was our second time here and we still found new things to see.  🙂

Grand Turk: Probably our most disappointing port this trip.  We walked down to Jack's Shack and rented a couple loungers and an umbrella.  The beach was nice and the dogs at Jack's Shack are fun to play with but the snorkeling from the beach is not good and the ship being parked right in front of the beach kind of ruins the view in my opinion.  Also it poured rain.  😉  I wouldn't call it a bad experience (we kind of enjoyed walking back to the ship in the pouring rain since it was still warm out) , just not a port I would probably pick again.

 

 

[coevan]

14 hours ago, Theosprey247 said:

Red Hook (where you can take a ferry to St. John’s or BVI) is pretty happening and a fun place to hang out. BlueBeards Castle has a great view, avoid the cheesy tour (by 2006 standards) unless your really into pirates or bad rum. My wife lecturered at the uni for a semester back in 2006. 

 

 

St.John might be our favorite Caribbean island. BTW, St.Johns is in Antigua. This is an easy trip on your own, the ferries run every hour. 

[dmdiver]

San Juan is easy to do a walking tour.  First one we did was a guided tour, but you can probably find a printed guide & do your own.  They also have a free bus.  We toured one of the forts and I thought it was interesting.  I enjoyed walking around town.

 

St. Thomas - we've always done excursions through Carnival - scuba, snorkeling, snuba.  I'm sure you could book something on your own, we just didn't.  

 

Amber Cove - we booked La Casa en la Playa through Carnival.  Had a good time.  There's a free pool there at the port, though, so if you didn't want to book an excursion, there's always that.

 

Grand Turk - I like a beach day here at Jack's Shack - drinks & jerk chicken.  The beach by the ship was really rocky when we tried to go out into the water - it's much smoother down at Jack's.  Hubby has done scuba diving here through Carnival, but you could book that independently.  I've done a horseback ride independently through Sunset.  They were less expensive than Carnival, who goes through Chukka.  And, it was just me & my friend & our guide.  We rode by the salt ponds and through a brushy area to the beach where we were able to go out into the water.  Unlike the one beach horseback ride I did in St. Marten, we were allowed out far enough that the horses were swimming.  

[Auralee]

Pigeon park was a highlight of our trip in San Juan. We happened upon it so was totally unexpected. Sooo many pigeons to feed.