Anyone do the Everglads in MIA after cruise excursion

[vesw01]

I am not a huge fan of paying Carnival for excursions but I thought this might be a fun thing to do on the way home and then they drop you off at the airport. The other excursion prices are listed, but not this one. Has anyone done this and if so do you remember the approx cost?

[sallyb]

We took this tour after our Victory cruise in Feb last year (2005). It was $35 pp for flights after 3 pm. We thought it was well worth the cost, considering a cab would have cost about $20 and it was one of the best days of our cruise! We had an airboat ride and saw lots of alligators. The bus ride to the airport was like a tour, they narrated everything as we passed.

[vesw01]

Excellent - just what I wanted to hear. I have always wanted to do one of those air boats. I think I am booking a 340pm flight, so that should be perfect. We don't have to hurry and can do something fun the last day.

[sallyb]

There are some pics here if you want to see.

http://www.wessb.com/Cruises/Cruise2/page5.html

[cardinalfan]

Thanks from me also. I had been thinking about doing this as well and wondered if it was worth it.

[crazidude1400]

I did it several years ago. Bring ear plugs. They give you tissue paper, but that did nothing. Great tour though. I forget the price...

[rpplano]

We did it as a good way to disembark early and get to the airport. It turned out to be a really great trip. Only time I've ever hand fed marshmallows to an alligator from a boat! Very Top Excursion idea, and cheap, too.

[vesw01]

What time do they get you to the airport at? Our flight is for 3:40pm - I know that this is for flights after 3pm but I want to be there in plenty of time to check-in.

[vesw01]

Great pics - I think it would be fun to do. I emailed our PVP today to check on the cost. If I find anything out I will send it along.

[HstTeacher]

We just did this tour last Sunday. The cost was $35pp. We got to the airport between 12:30 and 1:00. Plenty of time to check in for a 3:40 flight.

[Scoutcat]

We did this tour after our cruise on the Valor last December. It was actually a rather last-minute decision. My husband asked me if there was anything else I had wanted to do before we left Florida to return home to Ohio the day after the cruise. Seeing the Everglades was really the only thing I could think of.....but I figured that we wouldn't be able to do it since we weren't flying home that day. Silly me---all we had to do was let the tour guide and bus driver know that we were going to be returning to town. They kept our luggage together and separate from the other bags...and when we got to the airport they hailed a redcap for us who whisked us and all our bags to a nearby elevator. He took us down to the arrival levels, hailed us a van cab and we were on our way back to our hotel.

 

The tour was great, by the way. After the airboat ride we walked through a part of this particular "park" on a series of boardwalks which took you to an enclosed area where a staff member and several reptillian helpers gave an educational presentation. There was also a gift shop and a small restaurant (where you could, indeed, get gator).

 

I have to admit that spending Christmas Day with alligators was certainly a unique experience for this landlocked kid!

 

"Scout" aka Carol

Dayton, OH

[Luckysll]

I did it several years ago. Bring ear plugs. They give you tissue paper, but that did nothing. Great tour though. I forget the price...

 

I did this tour in February after my cruise. Just a note about ear plugs. The tour guide said they used to give out ear plugs, but now use (in our case) toilet paper because if you lose the ear plugs, and the animals (especially turtles) eat them, they will die. My brother and sister-in-law were on one tour where they wore headphones. I found that the actual airboat part of the tour wasn't long enough that the noise bothered me, but everyone's different.

[GayleR]

We took this tour after our Victory cruise a couple of years ago. It's a win/win situation. You don't have to worry about your luggage, getting off the ship is easy, the tour is fun, and they get you to the airport in plenty of time. The airboat ride is loud, but we were ok with using the toilet paper for ear plugs. We got pictures of our kids holding a baby alligator. We had a great time.

[westernmom]

We are planning on spending the night in Miami after the cruise and our hotel is out near the airport. Does anyone know if this tour would be able to drop us at our hotel rather than the airport? Or should we look at something else.

[2timecruiser28]

My family did this trip on Feb. 12, 2006. Cold and rainy in Miami that day! Didn't see any alligators, air boat ride didn't last very long, lots of goosebumps, got to the airport around 12:30...flight at 5:30pm. Next time, will book the flight earlier. It was a lot of money and didn't keep us occupied the way it implied. The tour recommended it for flights after 3, I believe. Way too much down time. But, it was good to have transportation and luggage storage.

[Whimpy]

Did this excursion March 9th, this year. Booked it right off the Legend's TV. Cost $45.00 per person. Was a nice way to kill time before flight home. As others have said earplugs help with the noise. The nice thing is you don't have to worry about your luggage. The tour guide we had was very knowledgeable about the area. We got to the airport by 2pm for a 4:20 flight. Take a camera and enjoy the trip.

[sharonella]

Ditto!

 

I was on the same tour & cruise with Whimpy - wonderful! Don't know why ours cost $45pp - everyone else seems to say $35? We did wait til we were on board the ship to book, - maybe that's why?

 

Sha

[Scoutcat]

We are planning on spending the night in Miami after the cruise and our hotel is out near the airport. Does anyone know if this tour would be able to drop us at our hotel rather than the airport? Or should we look at something else.

 

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were also staying the night in Miami rather than flying home the same day we got back from cruising. We asked our tour guide and driver if it would be possible for them to return us to the city, but unless it was right on the way to where they had to go, they really were not allowed to do so. Eventually they were returning to the pier, but the guide suggested that we would find it much easier to get a taxi in from the airport. She was definitely right on that! It was Christmas Day---the airport was darned near deserted compared to most days-----and the pier was crazy with several full cruise ships departing.

 

All that said, if your hotel is right near the airport you might be able to get the bus to drop you there after they have dropped off the others at the airport. However, even if they don't it will be a cheap taxi ride.

 

"Scout" aka Carol

Dayton, OH

 

Carnival Valor~December 2005