Timmay77

We have sailed the Freedom and know that the Victory is a sister ship. No surprise there. My question is since we have sailed on one of the newer ships, will we be disappointed if we go on the Ecstasy?

I am taking my daughter who turns 18 and graduates high school, all within the same week, on her first cruise for her graduation/birthday gift. Cost is a major factor. Ecstasy works perfect for our budget and time frame. Victory works as well, but costs about 20% more when you figure in the cost of the cruise and flight costs. (Saturday flights are more expensive than Friday flights for some reason)

Ecstasy - 4 nights - Key West & Cozumel

Victory - 5 nights - Grand Turk, Nassau, Half Moon Cay

We would be happy with 4 nights, so having 5 nights isn't a big deal. The ports do no matter to us either. We would love to visit them all......

Any advice would be great. Just worried about the Ecstasy living up to what we did on the Freedom.

Thanks all for the great responses!

I look forward to hearing what other also have to say!

MrsFuzzmo - Do you know if we should book the stingray stuff through the cruise line? Or from your experience are there lots of people at the port offering trips to stingray city? Or are there like tour booths we can go to book a tour?

- At Cozumel would you suggest going to the other side of the island like you are saying opposed to going to like Paradise Beach?

-From peoples experience in Belize are there places to book excursions in the port right off the boat? Or not so much?

I clicked on this thread because my daughter, who just turned 18, and I will be in Cozumel in a few weeks on a Carnival ship. Looking for some info on what to do. Can she drink at age 18? We will be there form 1:30pm - 10:30. Sucky times.....

Anyway, let me help you out with your Grand Cayman Stingray issue.

http://www.stingraysailing.com/index.html

We used them 2 years ago and it was by far the highlight of our trip. Chip and his crew do an amazing job. If I remember correctly the cost was $120 for my wife, my 10 year old, and myself. They did such a great job I tipped them $75. I wrote a review on here somewhere, just search my posts. I'm pretty sure I included pictures. His boat holds 30 people but we had a whopping 7 people on that ship. My family of 3 and some college kids. It was awesome. At least give them a look and see what they have to offer.

First off, please note that I am not one of these "first time posters". Google Timmay77, you will find that I am active on MANY different online forums.

I decided to go with Courtney based off of reviews here, price, and wanting to have a private tour.

We sailed on the Carnival Freedom, arriving in Ocho Rios on May 3rd at 6am local Jamaica time. We had to wait at the dock until about 6:25am before Courtney arrived. No big deal, we were one of the first groups off of the ship. Once he arrived, he showed us to his van, then we waited a little longer while he contacted another driver for another tour he had arranged. Again, not a big deal, his van was nice and cool.

After a small 10-15 min wait, he hopped in the van and we were off to Dunn's River Falls. Courtney has a great personality, he is very funny, and is well educated. He instantly made us at ease. My wife was worried about using a local tour guide instead of booking with the cruise line. 2 minutes in the van with Courtney and she knew we made the right decision. Once we arrived at DRF, Courtney suggested we leave our belongings in the van because lockers were rather expensive. All of our stuff was safe and sound. He walked us right up to the gate were he took the money for the tickets, bought them for us, and got us right in. We didn't have to stand in line AT ALL. We completely bypassed the crowds. DRF was awesome. My wife and daughter had a blast.

After the falls, we went to Calypso Rafting. Personally, I will not do that again, it was a little scary. Off the beaten path if you know what I am saying. (That's a story for another thread) If Courtney had not been with us, we would have quickly left. He was with us the entire time, so I felt safe enough to do the tubing. Afterwards, Courtney was there, waiting for us as pomised. We decided to cut the day short and go back to the ship because it was raining like crazy. We had originally planned on getting lunch and spending some time at the beach, but the weather wasn't cooperating.

Overall, Courtney did an AMAZING job. I will absolutely contact him again when we go back to Jamaica.

Is that black thing on the catamaran a trampoline, or just a place to sunbathe?

It is trampoline material, but you can't jump on it like a trampoline. It is great to lay on it while traveling.

Tim thanks for the review it looks great! I’m looking into this for a family group of 8 for next January. I notice on their website they say they can take up to 29 people, in your opinion can 29 people fit comfortably on that catamaran? I am really looking for a smaller group like you had but I’m guessing they could have others up to a max of 29.

I'm sure 29 COULD fit, but it would e cramped. I was surprised he scooped us up an headed out early. I'm sure he could have snagged a few more random customers ha he waited around until the scheduled 8:30am appointment time. I'm not complaining though. I guess it depends on the time of year you go and how many ships are in port at the time. No matter what, I think it would be a better experience than booking with the cruise line. That looked like a heard of cattle......

This is what you will see on the other tours. 40-50 people huddled around a few rays.......

First off, let me start by verifying I am not some random person posting on behalf of Stingray Sailing. Google "timmay77", you will find I am an active user on many different online forums.......

My family consists of myself, my wife, and my daughter. (35, 35, and 8 years old.)

I can tell you that every time we sail to Grand Cayman, we will be getting in contact with Chip and booking an excursion with Stingray Sailing. This was by far our favorite part of your 6 day cruise on the Carnival Freedom.

Chip was at the dock waiting for us, easy to find, and very polite. He informed us that it was our family and another group of 4, that was it. We would leave as soon as the other group showed up. Our tour was scheduled for 8:30am. The other group of people showed up about 7:45am, so we were loaded up and on the road by 8am.

We got to the boat dock within 15 minutes, and on the water shortly after. Everything about the tour was amazing. The crew was VERY friendly and helpful. It was about a 35-40 minute ride out to Stingray City. It was great knowing we only had 7 people on our boat once we saw the other groups of 40-50 people, circled around stingrays. It couldn't have been as much fun as we had.

Everyone hopped in the water with the stingrays, which swam up to us right away. My daughter was frightened, which wasn't a big deal. Her and my wife sat on the boat while the crew brought several rays over for them to touch and pet. Even though they weren't in the water, they were still part of the action. The crew did a fantastic job! We had plenty of time in the water with the rays.

After the rays, we sailed a few hundred yards over to the coral reef and did some snorkeling. My daughter LOVED that. Once we got her goggles adjusted correctly, she swam around, and checked out the fish and the coral. I will never forget her reactions to what she saw. Just make sure you get your goggles and vest situated on the boat. It is tough to do in the water. They gave us plenty of time to swim around and have some fun.

After snorkeling, they opened up a sail and headed back to the dock, which was really cool. Another relaxing 35-40 minute ride and we were back at the dock, loaded up in bus, and headed to a restaurant that Chip suggested for some authentic local food. We had a fantastic lunch, then walked down the beach to the Royal Palms, set up the towels, and did some swimming. After we had our fill of the beach, we hopped in a cab and headed back to the ship. ($4 per person).

Overall I give Stingray Sailing a 10/10 experience. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I have marked this thread so I will be alerted and will respond as soon as possible.

We will absolutely head back to Grand Cayman and will for sure use Chip and his crew again.

Here are some pictures....

We are booked with Stingray Sailing for April 30th. They said they will drop us off at 7 mile beach around 11:30-11:45am so we can eat and have some beach time. Our ship (Canrival Freedom) leaves at 3:30pm. That leaves us plenty of time to have some more fun. So far they have been EXCELLENT to work with. Very happy with their service.

Tim

I set up a private tour with Courtney 12 months ago. I have been trying to get a hold of him for the past week just to verify that we are still booked for May 3rd. I have not been able to reach him......

 

IF the tour happens, I will reply here with my review. I am not one of these first time posters coming on here advertising. I am a real person, taking my real family on our first cruise. I am a little concerned at this point, I like to have things scheduled and squared away in advance. I DO NOT LIKE last minute changes.

Well that was quick....

Dropped an email at his web site and instantly got a reply. I check my junk mail regularly, nothing there. Anyway, he said we are still scheduled for our private tour, 3 weeks and counting. Will report my experience once we return.

I set up a private tour with Courtney 12 months ago. I have been trying to get a hold of him for the past week just to verify that we are still booked for May 3rd. I have not been able to reach him......

IF the tour happens, I will reply here with my review. I am not one of these first time posters coming on here advertising. I am a real person, taking my real family on our first cruise. I am a little concerned at this point, I like to have things scheduled and squared away in advance. I DO NOT LIKE last minute changes.