Book Tour Thru Carnival Or On Our Own??

[KMK41]

We Will Taking Our First Cruise In March And Am Wondering If We Should Book Thru The Cruise Line Or On Our Own. We Want To Go Stingray City - Any Recommedations On Good Tour Guides Would Be Appreciated!!

[djacobson]

We Will Taking Our First Cruise In March And Am Wondering If We Should Book Thru The Cruise Line Or On Our Own. We Want To Go Stingray City - Any Recommedations On Good Tour Guides Would Be Appreciated!!

 

I would recommend that your book on your own - among several reasons:

 

1. You are more likely to be on a smaller boat going out to Stingray City with a dozen passengers instead of being on one with 50 people. It is just a more enjoyable experience on a smaller craft.

 

2. The smaller boats used by the local tour operators are very near the port and are generally cheaper. Captain Marvin's is 2 blocks from the port.

 

3. You generally get more time to snorkel when you go with the local tour operators.

 

4. Carnival tends to cancel the excursions when seas are choppy and the local tour operators will still operate.

 

There are several excellent tour operators for Stingray City. Captain Marvin's and Nativeway Sports are two of the best and you will find other reccomendations on this board. I really like Captain Marvin's and had the honor of being taken there by Captain Marvin himself - who is 88 years young!

[LongIslandCruiseGirl]

I have to agree with djacobson, definitely book online from home before you leave, for all the reasons he/she spoke of. Also, you won't risk the chance of being shut out of something you really want to do because the ship tours sometimes close out if a lot of people book them. We were in Nassau Bahamas 2 years ago on the Carnival Fantasy. My (at the time) 13 yr old daughter couldn't wait to swim with the dolphins.

Guess what, I waited till we were on the ship to go to the shore excursion desk, (this being our first cruise) and was told they were sold out. She was so disappointed. (At that point, we had no way of finding out who the private tour operators were, so we just had to suck it up) and now we know better!

Hope this helps!

[Sheffie]

We used Captain Bryan's Buccaneer and had a fabulous tour. The price and the timing were fantastic! I highly recommend them. Here is their website: http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/Stingray_City_Buccaneer_Excursion.htm

 

and here are some pictures from our excursion: http://community.webshots.com/album/530801710NJTzFf

[flarad]

We used shoretrips.com last time we were in Grand Cayman and they were terrific. Would highly recommend them and we are using them again in March.:)