Nativeway Excursion

[9th toy]

I am trying to contact Nativeway via email, but not having any response. Anyone experience this? Should I continue to try email or call them? I'm trying to book for March 2007.

[WiseGirl]

Hi - we're booked on the Mariner in Feb 2007. I sent an email to nativway@candw.ky requesting information about an excursion last Sunday, 11/12, and haven't received a response yet. I'm sort of surprised after reading all of the positives about them on CC. Can anyone tell us the correct contact information for Nativeway? I've had much faster responses from other vendors and wonder if I'm using the wrong email address.

[232271]

Hi - we're booked on the Mariner in Feb 2007. I sent an email to nativway@candw.ky requesting information about an excursion last Sunday, 11/12, and haven't received a response yet. I'm sort of surprised after reading all of the positives about them on CC. Can anyone tell us the correct contact information for Nativeway? I've had much faster responses from other vendors and wonder if I'm using the wrong email address.

 

 

that is the email I used and got responses, though this is a self run company so they might be really busy with tours and not able to get back to you right away? I have never had to wait too long though. We are using them next Thursday and will be sure to post a review of them!

Good luck!:)

[9th toy]

I emailed them twice last week at that address. Finally, today I received a reply.

 

232271: Which excursion are you taking? I am looking forward to your review of it when you return. Enjoy your cruise!

[232271]

I emailed them twice last week at that address. Finally, today I received a reply.

 

232271: Which excursion are you taking? I am looking forward to your review of it when you return. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Rays, Rum and Reef tour!:) Cant wait! will post review as quick as can upon return!

Have a Great Turkey Week!:p

[WiseGirl]

I still haven't received a reply so I emailed them again today. I'm asking about the Sting Ray and Island Tour (not RRR) so maybe they aren't interested. This is our first Western Caribbean cruise so I'm trying to so some tours to get a feel for the islands that we're visiting. Have a great cruise 232271! :D

[maps]

I just got back last week and we did the RRR tour. i can't say enough good things about this excursion--it was perfect.

 

There were a lot of ships in port so the traffic was awful. But once we got to the dock we spent the next 4 hours on our own private boat. There were only 2 other couples with us so we got personalized service.

 

The stop at Rum Point was amazing and so was the lunch that was included in the price.

 

If you have any more questions about this tour, please let me know

[renza]

I have tried many times to get in touch with this company. Every time I send a e-mail it tells me it cant go through at this time. I am sending it through the same e-mail as posted above. Why wont it take? Thank you all, Janna

[FoodieGirl_VeganBoy]

It may be that they are just behind on emails and their email space is getting full, and she is probably trying to juggle the requests with a list of how many people are inquiring so that there are enough for a certain tour. For instance, I had emailed Nativeway on 11/13 inquiring about the Stingray & Land tour and Sharon emailed me back within 24 hours telling me she happened to offer the tour the day when I was in port. So I know that is definitely the right email address and the Stingray & Land tour are still being offered.

 

Question maps, when you said traffic was awful because of the number of ships in port, how many ships were there?

[WiseGirl]

FoodieGirl - do you know about the http://www.cruisecal.com web site? You can enter your cruise dates and see the other ships that will be in port with you on each day. There will be 2 Carnival and 1 other RC ship at Grand Cayman during our Feb 07 cruise so a total of four ships. I still haven't heard back from Nativeway after my second email. Even if they don't offer the tour the day we're there I'd think they would reply.

[bz]

Was on the Rays, Reef & Rum Pt. tour 10 days ago - awesome. I got in touch w/them thru their website, nativewaywatersports.com, sometimes took 2 days for reply.

[FoodieGirl_VeganBoy]

Thanks Wisegirl, I have been to cruisecal so I know that there are 4 other ships in Grand Cayman when I'm there. However, I don't know whether 5 ships for Grand Cayman is normal or considered a lot and I should be expecting extra traffic. Throughout my 3 port stops there are 4, 2, and 8 other ships along with but it probably depends on the capacity of each port?

[maps]

I believe there were between 6-8 ships that day. Cruisecal stated 8 but I remember counting 6 so that' why I say between 6-8.

 

honestly, when we came back from the tour, I saw wall to wall people trying to walk or shop--NO thanks! there were cars everywhere as well. apparently this occurs whenever there are many ships in port.

[9th toy]

maps,

I have a few questions about the RRR excursion:

 

How did you get to Nativeway? Do they pick you up?

About how long did you get to spend at Rum Point?

What did the lunch consist of?

 

Thanks

[suzon]

maps,

I have a few questions about the RRR excursion:

 

How did you get to Nativeway? Do they pick you up?

About how long did you get to spend at Rum Point?

What did the lunch consist of?

 

Thanks

 

Hi 9th toy!

We just returned from the 11-12 Freedom of the Seas cruise and we did the RRR excursion with Nativeway. It was the BEST excursion we've ever had! There were only 8 of us on the boat along with Everton, Sheldon and Abbie the videographer.

 

When we arrived at the tender dock, Eldon was waiting with a sign identifying Nativeway Sports. We waited a few minutes for one other party to arrive, then he walked us to the little bus and we were off to the marina. Took about 15 mins.

 

Rum Point was beautiful! We spent about 1.5 hours there. When we arrived our lunch was waiting for us on a picnic table along with iced tea and water. It was hot and delicious. I had a wrap with mahi mahi. It includes your choice of salad or fries. They had many selections including blackened mahi mahi and fish and chips which my DS had....it was a huge portion. DH had jerk hamburger. Rum point was relaxing and the water is shallow for a long ways out.

 

My 8yo son was thrilled that they let him drive the boat back to to the marina!

I highly recommend this tour! Let me know if you have any more questions:)

[9th toy]

suzon

Thanks for the infor on the RRR excursion. Sounds like a great time. My concern is that our ship is scheduled to leave port @ 4:00. There are 8 ships in port that day, I think. I'v heard that tendering is a nightmare. I'm worried that if something would put us behind schedule we might not make it back to the ship in time. What time did you return to the pier?

[maps]

9th toy

 

Our RRR tour echoed the above post exactly. The Mariner's last tender was 3:30pm and left at 4pm

 

Nativeways dropped us off at around 3pm but we got off at the wrong pier so we had to navigate through hundreds of people. It was a little scary that we wouldn't make it but we had plenty of time.

 

Just make sure to get off the bus at the right pier and you should be fine. The guides are very good about keeping track of the time.

 

We only spent an hour at Rum Point because nobody wanted to leave the rays.

[Russ_MT]

suzon

Thanks for the infor on the RRR excursion. Sounds like a great time. My concern is that our ship is scheduled to leave port @ 4:00. There are 8 ships in port that day, I think. I'v heard that tendering is a nightmare. I'm worried that if something would put us behind schedule we might not make it back to the ship in time. What time did you return to the pier?

 

Hi 9th toy. My wife Suzon replied to you above and I'll answer your question for her.

 

We were also concerned about timing. The first tender wasn't until 9:30 and we needed to meet Native Way at the pier by 10. Freedom being such a large ship, we were concerned about ship tours getting priority tenders and we having to wait and miss our tour. We went down to deck 1 (tenders) at 9:15 and were on the first tender at 9:30 and on land 8 minutes later. It seems they had plenty of capacity and we weren't delayed. Eldon was waiting and aware of the tenders and ships arriving. You can set your watch to the ship's arrival time.

 

As Suzon wrote, we stayed at Rum point for quite a while. They were quite mindful of our schedule. If you are concerned, just let them know when you need to get back and they will adjust the schedule. Believe me, they don't want you missing your ship any more than you do. This is not a high volumn outfit, they cater to personal touch and making you happy. If you say you need to get back by 2:30, they will get you back. If you are worried, they don't want you worried and will get you back. We gave them a good tip and they deserved even more.

 

I think we got back to the pier around 2:45 with plenty of time to do a little shopping. In fact, one of the guys on our tour asked the driver if he could stop at Big Daddy's liquor store so he could pick up some fancy liquor that isn't sold in the US, so we made a pit stop as well.

Freedom has it's own tender dock and other ships use another one. There was no problem getting back onboard. Tendering was very smooth. There were a few ships in port, a Carnival ship and another RCCL ship. It was a wonderful day with no problems. If you are on the dock waiting for a tender, they aren't going to leave you behind.

 

I can't sing Native Way praises high enough. The only complaint is that that they don't seem to check their email very often, but their real world service is wonderful. We check our email every 5 minutes and this concerned us. Don't let it discourage you. Native Way is the best in my book. It was the highlight of our cruise and I can't wait to get the DVD.

[phabric]

WiseGirl

 

We are doing the stingray and island tour Dec 26. I first email Nativeway through their website and it did not go through. I emailed them through the normal email way and she received my email and replied back.

When she replied she used this email nativway@candw.ky, this might help.

 

Sharon stated the tour departs the pier at 10:30 and completes at 2:30.

[9th toy]

Thanks for the information and encouragement. I have read nothing but high praises for Nativeway and the RRR excursion. This is our first cruise and I've just been a little nervous about the possibility of missing our ship. We are scheduled to arrive in port @ 7:00 a.m., so we will won't have a problem arriving in time. From what you all have written it sounds like we should be able to make it back in time for the tender to return to the ship. I have communicated with others sailing with us (from the Roll Call) that are also taking this same excursion.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for the information the RRR sounds perfect - how soon does one have to sign up for one of their excursions? Would hate to wait and find it is booked. Thanks, Jan

[vavasmom]

We used Nativeway for our Island Tour stingray city last April. They were very conciencious about getting people back to the dock area in time for the tenders. We had the best service - our Island Tour guide was a lot of fun and we enjoyed the much smaller group than the ship's tour. The crew on the boat was wonderful. I agree about their e-mail response sometimes is very slow.

[Russ_MT]

Thanks for the information the RRR sounds perfect - how soon does one have to sign up for one of their excursions? Would hate to wait and find it is booked. Thanks, Jan

 

Thanks to Steve Irwin playing with dangerous Manta rays (not tame food searching sting rays) the industry has taken a nose dive. Our boat had 8 tourists. Typical would be more like 25.

 

I'd book it. I don't think they'll charge your card as they asked us on the boat "how do we want to pay" and took our card number then.

 

We got the DVD today. Oh man!!! This was so much fun. Get the DVD also. I wish I knew how to post the video so you could see how tame these creatures are. Amazing and so so so much fun. Others who book massive ship excursions will envy your tour and video.

 

I hope your weather allows you to tender. Last week many couldn't. They won't (and can't) charge you if they don't give you a tour.

 

Now go have fun and tell us how you like it.

[Russ_MT]

double post

[232271]

Thanks to Steve Irwin playing with dangerous Manta rays (not tame food searching sting rays) the industry has taken a nose dive. Our boat had 8 tourists. Typical would be more like 25.

 

I'd book it. I don't think they'll charge your card as they asked us on the boat "how do we want to pay" and took our card number then.

 

We got the DVD today. Oh man!!! This was so much fun. Get the DVD also. I wish I knew how to post the video so you could see how tame these creatures are. Amazing and so so so much fun. Others who book massive ship excursions will envy your tour and video.

 

I hope your weather allows you to tender. Last week many couldn't. They won't (and can't) charge you if they don't give you a tour.

 

Now go have fun and tell us how you like it.

 

what day was this on?