Carnival Magic and Cayman Turtle Farm questions

[TXGators]

We are sailing on the Carnival Magic in just a couple of weeks – looking for a little additional information.

Our previous cruises have been on Fantasy Class ships – the Ecstasy (2x) and the Fantasy (1x) – On our Ecstasy cruise last year, DW politely requested that our next cruise be on a larger ship.

All of our previous rooms have been starboard side, amidships. This time, we are port side, near the forward elevators.

Wondering if the ride is any different in the front of the ship? I read one review from a couple of weeks ago that a rough night at sea kept everybody up. I’m not prone to seasickness, but DW doesn’t do too well when the ship starts tossing…

Also, we have booked the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm excursion through Carnival – does anybody have experience here? Reviews were mostly positive for a family with children, so I think we’ll be okay there. We opted not to do the “Deluxe” excursion, as it looked like it only included lunch as the “deluxe” part. Any feedback?

Thanks!

[PearlOnyx]

The turtle farm is kind of neat. Basically, it is a bunch of different ponds and pools with different type turtles in them. You can "pet" them, and pick up some of the smaller ones. Don't bother with the Deluxe version, you're not missing anything there. To be honest with you, we went there on our own. We took a taxi which was only a few dollars, and I think it was about $20 per person to get in. Not sure what Carnival was charging you, but I'm sure it's much more expensive. There is a great restaurant accross the street.

[Reverendjeff]

The deluxe package also offers the aviary and butterfly farm. It is really a nice park with clean facilities and a nice pool. You can eat at thier restaurant which we thought was good. You can even eat turtle soup which seems strange.

[nybumpkin]

We did the "Turtles, Turtles and More Turtles" tour - we had access to the entire turtle farm. When I looked at it, it appeared that the only difference with the "Deluxe" package was lunch, and since we planned to have lunch on the ship we decided against the "Deluxe" tour. When we priced it out for the four us, doing the tour on our own - and arranging our own transportation - worked out to just about the same amount as the ship's tour, with no worries about transportation. We really enjoyed it - if you haven't seen my review with pictures, it's at

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1151709&highlight=conquest&page=2. Have a great cruise!

[nickiford]

I don't know how old your kids are, but you might want to make it clear that this is a farm, not a sanctuary. I was a little taken aback by this when I went...taking the tour they started talking about how old all of the turtles were and then how old they are when they kill them. I don't think I would go there again.

[golfpccc]

We are sailing on the Carnival Magic in just a couple of weeks – looking for a little additional information.

 

Our previous cruises have been on Fantasy Class ships – the Ecstasy (2x) and the Fantasy (1x) – On our Ecstasy cruise last year, DW politely requested that our next cruise be on a larger ship.

 

All of our previous rooms have been starboard side, amidships. This time, we are port side, near the forward elevators.

 

Wondering if the ride is any different in the front of the ship? I read one review from a couple of weeks ago that a rough night at sea kept everybody up. I’m not prone to seasickness, but DW doesn’t do too well when the ship starts tossing…

 

Also, we have booked the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm excursion through Carnival – does anybody have experience here? Reviews were mostly positive for a family with children, so I think we’ll be okay there. We opted not to do the “Deluxe” excursion, as it looked like it only included lunch as the “deluxe” part. Any feedback?

 

Thanks!

What deck are you on? The higher the deck the more you will feel movement. The best location for less movement is mid ship lower decks.

[firefly333]

Captain Marvin has kids prices and tours the turtle farm too, if you want to compare prices.

 

In the U.S. it is against the law to catch a turtle and eat it .. so this is different. I lived in Hawaii, so Im probably more aware of the laws about turtles than most on here.

 

In the Caymans they will sell the turtle meat to eat in their little restaurant. Its actually good. I had it once. Shhh.

[JRock59]

What deck are you on? The higher the deck the more you will feel movement. The best location for less movement is mid ship lower decks.

 

 

 

I so agree with this esp. on the Magic. We pretty much always book deck 7 aft on te Conquest and about the same area on the Ecstasy. Never really felt much movement what we did feel rocked us to sleep. Not so on the Magic, again we booked deck 7 aft and really felt a lot more movement. We sailed at the same time last year on the Conquest and the weather was about the same. We were told because of her height the Magic is effected by the wind a bit more than other classes of ships. The folks in Cove balconies never felt anything and the ones on deck 1 had smooth sailing from bow to aft.