Which excursion for 1st time cruiser?

[BeachTeach]

This is the first cruise my husband and I are ever going on. I really don’t know what to expect but for lots of fun! My question is about excursions. I do want to book it through Carnival. Maybe on the next cruise I seek out other companies. We are going to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In Grand Cayman we want to do a FUN excursion. In Cozumel we would like to spend the day at Paradise Beach. Ok here are my choices for Grand Cayman excursions. Let know what you think or your experiences. I would love to hear your thoughts because I don’t have much to go on and you all are so helpful!!!

 

1. Allura Catamaran Sail To Stingray City Sandbar

• Take a short transfer to the Cayman Island Yacht Club.
  
• Board the amazing spacious and comfortable Allura catamaran.
  
• Sail the beautiful waters of the North Sound to the stingray sandbar.
  
• Snorkel, feed and interact with dozens of Southern stingrays. The stingrays literally eat out of your hand!
  
• Have plenty of photo opportunities before hoisting the sails and returning to the yacht club.

2. Coral Reef & Stingray Safari

• Take an approximate 15-minute scenic ride to the docks.
  
• Board a 45-foot double-decker boat for your ride through the beautiful North Sound.
  
• Stop over the Coral Gardens Reef formation, where the water is about 8 – 10 feet deep.
  
• Feel like you are snorkeling inside an aquarium.
  
• Travel 10 minutes to Stingray City.
  
• Arrive at the Sandbar and get up close and personal as the stingrays swim around.

3. Stingray City & Island Tour

• Travel the length of 7-Mile Beach and view the miles of white sandy beach and crystal clear blue waters.
  
• Experience a guided tour of the Turtle Farm; one of only a few turtle conservation centers in the world, home for the smallest hatchling to some of the largest sea turtles in the world.
  
• Be taken to what is known as Hell; an area of exposed rocks, locally termed the Town of Hell because of the lack of life truly portrays what most of us would perceive Hell to look like.
  
• Relax on the boat ride out to Stingray City Sandbar where you can stand in the shallow waters, as you swim or snorkel, feed, pet and hold the friendly stingrays.
  
• Be provided snorkel equipment and food for the stingrays at no extra cost.
  
• Enjoy our complimentary drinks including rum punch and listen to great Caribbean music on your return.

4. Stingray Sandbar & Rum Point Beach Extravaganza

On this excursion you will:

• Take a short transfer to the Sundancer dock. Board a snorkel vessel and head out to the world famous Stingray Sandbar.
  
• Receive your snorkel gear and safety briefing from your guides.
  
• Enter the waist deep water to interact with the stingrays. Enjoy approximately one hour in the water with the friendly stingrays.
  
• Board your vessel and head to Rum Point Beach.
  
• Enjoy the beach, play some volleyball or take a dip in the crystal clear water.
  
• Enjoy Rum Point’s complimentary iced tea and water, or the local bars and restaurants at your own expense.
  
• Spend approximately one hour at the beach before the journey back to your ship.

5. Stingray Sandbar, Hell & Turtle Farm Experience

 

Visit world famous 7-mile beach and the old Homestead for a photo stop.

• Tour the Turtle Farm, a one of a kind facility that is home to thousands of turtles.
  
• Arrive at the town called Hell, featuring a pre-historical rock formation that some think hell must surely look like.
  
• Stop at Stingray City for a boat ride out to the Sand Bar.
  
• Hold, pet and feed the stingrays in shallow waters (3 – 4 feet).

Thank you Thank you Thank you

[emmysmommy]

Jennifer,

You will love Grand Cayman! If you do the Carnival Coaral Reef and Safari tour you will be on a boat with a LOT of people. I would choose the Catamaran or Rum Point excursion but that is my personal preference. (I've done both Carnival and non-Carnival excursions.) With the Rum Point excursion you should get the best of the land and the sea experience.

 

When I was in Grand Cayman I did the Sting Ray City excursion through a private tour operator, Captain Marvin. It had about 20 people on the boat with a videographer. It was a fantastic experience. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[twinkletoes4445]

I'd also skip the Coral Reef and Stingray Safari. Avoid anything that says "double decker." We saw those boats, and there are tons of people on them.

 

If you want to see some of the island, then I'd do one of the tours that offers the turtle farm and Hell...and then to stingray sandbar.

 

If you don't care about seeing Hell and the turtle farm, I'd do the one that goes to Rum Point, in addition to stingray sandbar. Rum Point is really tropical and pretty.

 

My only hesitation with booking a snorkel tour from Carnival would be ending up on one of those boats with lots of people. We did book the "island tour" through Carnival (so we could be one of the first ones off the ship). We boarded a small tour bus (I think it maybe held 20 people or so), and then did a short drive around the area. It was fun. We saw enough of Grand Cayman to know we wanted to come back for a land vacation, which we've done.

 

We've also used Captain Marvin's and had a wonderful experience. But I do understand why you'd want to book ship excursions your first time out...we also felt that way, but I ended up booking everything (except the island tour) through outside tour people.

 

Whatever you end up doing...have a great time. Grand Cayman is an amazing place.

[arlodog]

We were in Cayman last year and did the stingray city and island tour. We thought it was wonderful and got to see alot--we are not big on snorkeling and with the limited time wanted to see as much as we could. This will definately accomplish that if you are not dedicated to alot of time in the water and want to see what the islands have to offer. We are going back this year and will spend our time on the beach and maybe a trolley tour.

[serene56]

We took the stingray tour with carnival our first cruise. We arrived enmasse to the stingrays. (59.00pp) MANY people. Next cruise we booked our own tour with Nativeways- (25.pp) and only 20 people on their boat. We all go to the same place. Nativeways stayed away from the huge cruiselines group.

 

Hell- is a toursit attraction-- a bunkc of black rocks-- a place to take a photo and you are done within a few minutes. You do send yourself a postcard postmarked from Hell-- (please allow at least 2 months to be delivered)

 

No matter which you chose to do-- it will be beautiful.