Ratdoggie

PS...there was an outhouse and we had at least 3 opportunities to use it (before and after kayaking and before loading into the van to go back to the ship).

Just got back from our cruise. My cousin (145 lbs) and I (225 lbs)were both in the same kayak for this excursion and had no problem. In fact, it was one of the highlights of the trip so I'm glad I did it. I highly recommend this one!

Well shoot, the pictures came in small, hopefully you can enlarge them. Sorry, I guess I'm not as computer savvy as I thought!

Okay, I think I've got it now. Here are some pics of the beach. I don't know if the tide was in or out, but I suspect it was out.

Still can't get them to post, but I will work on it!

It does seem like a short time frame, but your starts earlier in the morning so hopefully you will have the same amount of time that we did.

And yes, the ripples were very noticeable. In fact, I was walking barefoot and it actually kind of hurt my feet a little bit because they were so rigid. I shouldn't say it hurt, but I could definitely tell they were there!

I'm having trouble attaching the pics, I'll open a new post and try it below.

My cousin and I were just on this excursion last week from the Carnival Victory. We had a great time and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

I think our tour was scheduled from 8:30 to 2:30, but we got back a little early. I’ll just step through the day as I remember it although I’m totally guessing on the times:

8:30-9:00: organize and load into the vans (we had 4 vans total). Our group was the smallest with 10 people. The van was old and tiny, we were pretty crammed, but it got us there.

9:00-9:45: travel to Lucayan National Park (remember these times are only estimates as I wasn’t really keeping track)

9:45-10:00: arrive at kayak “dock”, use outhouse, listen to kayak instructions, etc.

10:00-11:00: kayak through mangrove creek system (it might have been a little longer than an hour), we covered 2 ½ miles in the kayaks.

11:00-11:15: take out, wait for the guides to load the kayaks into the waiting van and drive back to the starting point.

11:15-11:30: take a “Tom Sawyer” raft across the river and commence on the Nature tour. This entails taking a boardwalk through the mangroves as the guide points out various plants, etc. The walk ends at the beach.

11:30-12:00ish: Lunch – I would rate it at just ok. Basically build your own sandwiches with a loaf of bread, deli meat, cheese, and lettuce from tuperware containers, cookies, apples, lemonade and water. But considering there is no running water or electricity and it had to be packed in by someone, it was sufficient. Also, there were a few bees hanging out.

12:00-1:10: walk/hang out on beach. We were given 1:30 as the meet back together time, but everyone was tired and back at the lunch shelter early so we went ahead and left.

1:10-2:00: Walk back to the van and then a 30-45 minute ride back to the ship. We were dropped off right at the ship so that was good.

Notes:

We didn’t go to the cave system. I had seen that on some other posts as well, but we didn’t even see them.

The beach was beautiful. I’m assuming we were there at low tide, even though it was from 12-1, because there was a lot of beach “space”. Also, it was only people from the kayak excursion (4 vans) so it felt like we had it all to ourselves.

Racoon – and yes, we got to see one of the local raccoons!

I hope that helps!

We signed up for the private island and stingray excursion in Nassau through Carnival. I believe this is on Balmoral Island. Does anyone know if there are lockers or a secure place that we can put our belongings while we are in the water with the stingrays?

Has anyone done the kayak and nature tour in Freeport (through Carnival)? I weigh about 225 and am wondering if that will be an issue. If I'm paired up with my cousin she weighs about 150.

Also is it true that there will be no bathrooms available? Thanks!

What if flying into Miami is not an option, does anyone have any safe economical Fort Lauderdale hotel suggestions? Or would it be best to shuttle/taxi from FLL to Miami and stay the night there?

My party is flying into FLL the day before because it's the only flight that worked with for our free miles.

PS...Hi Marisdote, we are on the same cruise (saw you on the roll call). :)

Thank you all for the replies, it sounds like I better get on the airfare!

Flying from Oregon or Washington to Miami in Feb. Any suggestions for when I should book airfare? I am hoping the rates will go down but don't want to wait too long.

Thanks!

My sister-in-law didn't like the one and only cruise she went on. She didn't like having to dress up for formal night and felt uncomfortable being waited on hand and foot. Personally, I don't understand it...I love being treated like that!