Capt Marvins short vs half day

[5kids2dogs]

We are looking into doing the Stingrays and Island tours(Turtle Farm) through Capt Marvins. It looks like to do both and get back in time we would need to do the short tour instead of the half day. How do they compare? How much time do you spend with the rays and how much snorkeling?

[twinkletoes4445]

We've done both and from what I remember, the longer one allows you to stop and snorkel in an additional place (I can't remember the names, but they are near one another). Our first visit was on a cruise ship and we did the shorter snorkel and an island tour (CM's didn't offer the tour at that time) because we wanted to do both and didn't have time to do the half-day with CM's. I think the shorter one and the island tour makes for a nice day on the island.

 

The island tour is fun especially if you've not been there before. We saw enough to know that Grand Cayman is a place that we wanted to do land vacations, and that's what we do now. I just booked the half-day tour with CM's for our upcoming vacation on the island.

[twinkletoes4445]

As for the time; with the longer one you do spend more time snorkeling. It seems like the shorter one we spent half the time snorkeling and the other half with the stingrays. You'll love Captain Marvin's.

[huskerlady]

Have another question re: Captain Marvin to piggyback on this.

 

If we are in port from 8-3, do we book the 8:30-10:45 or 11:15AM - 1:30PM?

Maybe I'm paranoid, but nervous about booking an excursion outside of CCL and want to make sure there's plenty of time to get back to the ship.

 

Thank you!

[twinkletoes4445]

Our cruise was on Carnival and ship time stayed the same ... we had to adjust our clocks to island time. I don't know what they're doing now, but that's what we did on our ship. Cayman doesn't observe daylight savings, so their time never changes. We were there in the winter so ship time and island time were the same (we sailed out of Miami).

 

I was also worried about this, so I called and talked to Ruth (I believe). I don't know if she's still there or not, but she knew all the details. Or, when you make your reservations, there's a place for you to ask questions. You could ask them about the time issue.

 

If the tour starts at 8:30 you might have a hard time getting off the ship and to their office on time. Another thing is tendering ... it's not a real long process, but everyone has to get on the tender boat and be taken ashore, and this takes time (they are supposed to build a dock, but I don't think they've done this yet). And from what I remember, they allow the ones that book the CCL cruises off the ship first.

 

However, depending on what time of year you're cruising, you could be in port from 7-2 their time. CM"S should know this. They're not going to put you on an excursion that you can't make or will make you late for your departure. I don't think I've ever read of that happening and I've been around here since early 2000.

[klo28910]

If you call or email, they will help you figure out the best time to book. On our first cruise, the ship changed their time to match Cayman time. On our second cruise (same ship), we chose our tour time assuming they would be on Cayman time. Someone from Captain Marvins called us a few weeks before the cruise to say that they had just been notified that the ship would stay on Central time. They moved our tour to a different time. They are so helpful and really watch out for you. We have used them 3 times now. On the half day, you will make 2 different stops for snorkeling. The short tour only makes 1 stop. The short tour was enough snorkeling for me....so I guess it depends on how much you enjoy snorkeling.

[huskerlady]

Thank you for your replies. I made a reservation for the short trip and Ruth emailed me today to inform me that we wouldn't be there in time for that. She changed us to the half day trip leaving at 10 to accommodate our ships schedule. Her emails were friendly, professional, and I feel confident about our choice. Will post a review once we get back.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[twinkletoes4445]

Thank you for your replies. I made a reservation for the short trip and Ruth emailed me today to inform me that we wouldn't be there in time for that. She changed us to the half day trip leaving at 10 to accommodate our ships schedule. Her emails were friendly, professional, and I feel confident about our choice. Will post a review once we get back.

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

Have fun! We're looking forward to our excursion with CM's. They really are the best. They also have a little gift shop, which was nice since the first time we were there we were on a cruise and pinched for time. It's also a very short walk from the port area to their office. :)