Carnival Glory Shore Excursions

[khowe]

Hello, newbie here, so be gentle:D

First time cruiser sailing on the Glory Feb 21 with stops in the Western Caribbean. Interested in recent shore excursions with an outfit called Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions.

Will I be better off using the excursions offered through Carnival?

Stingray Sandbar, Beach Club and/or shopping in Cozumel, snorkeling in Isla Roatan and relaxing in Belize City.

Looking for help and recommendations.

Thank you!

[bookbabe]

There are pros and cons to using the cruise line tours rather than booking privately.

 

As a first time cruiser, you might be more comfortable with the cruise line tours. They're easier to book, require less research and planning, and you pay as part of your onboard charges so they're easier to cancel if you change your mind or the ship can't make one of the ports. Also, if your tour is late returning, the ship will wait for you, which it won't if you go off on your own.

 

However, they're usually more expensive than booking on your own, and you're limited to the selection of tours and companies chosen by the cruise line.

 

Also, there are some islands (ie. Jamaica) where it's recommended you stick with an excursion through the cruise line. Some islands, like Cayman for example, are perfectly safe to wander around on your own. If you do plan on booking an excursion privately, make sure you check into the safety and such of the island, either here on CC or on other travel websites.

 

That being said, the Stingray City Sandbar is one of the must-sees of the Cayman Islands. Do a search for "stingray city" here in this forum and you'll find dozens of threads with pictures and reviews. It's a once in a lifetime experience... :D

 

Try posting in the other ports' forums, in the Carnival forum, or in the roll call for your cruise (if you haven't already) for more info about the other ports and what attractions are worth seeing in those locations.

[patrickmoran]

There is little if any advantage to booking a ship's excursion for GC. It is a well developed island and tour operators are pretty much on the up and up. There are plenty of recommended operators on this board and on tripadvisor.co. Just use the search function.

[barbaraanne]

I think for a first time cruiser, you might want to stick with ship excursions at least for Roatan and Belize. Cozumel and Grand Cayman are easy enough to negotiate, but even there, it is always easiest to do a ship excursion, especially because tendering to/from Cayman can be a long process. But if you are with a ship excursion, you get to get off earlier, and they will get you back in time for the tenders. You will probably want to book an excursion in Belize that gets you OUT of Belize City. Try a snorkel or jungle or mayan ruins tour there, with the cruise ship.

 

Roatan and Belize are third world countries, and if injured, I would not want to be stranded there, having been on a non-ship tour. I did get injured in Belize on a ship tour to shark/ray alley (which they no longer do) and our boat ran out of gas. We had to be towed back to the ship, and they were pulling up anchor when we literally leaped onboard.

[barbaraanne]

I forgot, Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions is part of Island Marketing, and we are doing a tour with them in Cozumel to Nachi Cocum in ten days. From what I've read and having recently dealt with them, I think they are a very reputable organization. They offer tours for local operators on many different islands. But you have to put a deposit down, which is non-refundable unless your ship doesn't make it there or they cancel the tour. However, the deposit can be used towards another tour on a different island, which we have also done.

[klmorg]

Hello, newbie here, so be gentle:D

 

First time cruiser sailing on the Glory Feb 21 with stops in the Western Caribbean. Interested in recent shore excursions with an outfit called Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions.

 

Will I be better off using the excursions offered through Carnival?

 

Stingray Sandbar, Beach Club and/or shopping in Cozumel, snorkeling in Isla Roatan and relaxing in Belize City.

 

Looking for help and recommendations.

 

Thank you!

 

We've used Island Marketing (aka grand cayman cruise excursions, cozumel cruise excursions, roatan cruise excursions, etc) a few times and never had any problems. We typically book our excursions independently, rather than thru Carnival, and have had WONDERFUL tours and also saved moola.

[rogich24]

I just was on the Glory last week and went to all those posts. I almost never book with the ship. You pay 25% to 50% more by book with the ship.

 

Cozumel Mexico - Took a taxi to the Myans ruins cost $32 per person (for cab and ruins). The ruins were not much to see. I'd skip this one if I had to do over.

 

Belize - Did Cave tubbing. Was very fun. A bus picked you up from the port and took you out to rain forrest. $45 per person. Payed and extra $5 for a great lunch. Canaval no long does this tour so you have to book outside the ship. The best is http://www.cave-tubing.com/

 

Roatan - we took a taxi and did some shopping and went to a privete beach. Cost $35 per person (for beach and cab). Note there is a good beach at the port just for cruise passingers but you don't get to see the real Roatan.

 

Grand Cayman - Did Sting Ray City and snorkeling for $40. A bus picked us up at the port. We used http://www.mobydicktours.com/. Voted best Stingray city tour 2007 & 2008. One of the few tours were you get to feed the Rays.

[khowe]

Thank you to all that replied! I am set on the Stingray tour in Cayman, maybe some beach time in Cozumel and snorkeling in Roatan....

 

Now I just have to figure out who to give my money to!

[k2sue]

Thanks for all the posts for excursions. We sail (first timers) 2/17 on the Glory and just booked the snorkel and Stingray City Excursion through Moby Dick Tours.

 

We are considering booking tonight, or tomorrow for the private van/car tour around Isle Roatan, Honduras with Bodden tours. This has been highly rated on TripAdvisor, any one taken this around Roatan, or have other input?

 

That leaves deciding whether or not to book anything on Cozumel and Costa Maya... resort day? Scuba? Maybe it would be better just to have 2 days unplanned? Help!! If I scuba, it would just be myself, hubby can't anymore, so we would have to work that out....

 

Any ideas on safety on Cozumel and Costa Maya we need to know?

 

Thanks, Sue and Brian

See you all at the meet and greet at Red Frog's!!:cool:

[SkiQueen2007]

I booked through Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions last year. They were great! We did the Stingray City plus 2 snorkel stops catamaran tour it was so much fun. I highly recommend Stingray City. They also dropped us off at the Royal Palms with enough time to enjoy 7 mile beach for the day. I booked the Jet Ski Tour through them for my cruise in 3 weeks!

 

I also booked our Jamaica excursion (tubing and Dunn's River) through their Ocho Rios counter parts. We had another fabulous day and I would highly recommend them!

 

You will pay less booking with a private company vs the cruiseship. Its not hard to book privately so I always do it and would recommend it. You get smaller tour sizes, more flexibility with timing and activities and a lot better value for your money. I start on TripAdvisor and find out what activities are highly rated for each port of call I'm going to and then i check out the TripAdvisor pages for the tour operators in the area. Good luck and have a good first cruise!