Any advice on the Power Snorkel tour?

[bankonus]

Was wondering if anyone had any experience booking this independently or if I should book directly through Carnival for this one? Thanks for your help!

[reno3]

I booked this with Carnival for next week for myself and son.

I will let you know when I get back how it was.

[bankonus]

I booked this with Carnival for next week for myself and son.

I will let you know when I get back how it was.

 

Thank you so much!

[reno3]

We are back from our cruise :(

We had a great time :D

Ok about the power snorkel.....

We booked this through Carnival for myself and son (17). Some on CC said their snorkel excursions were being canceled. I called Carnival the night before we left and they said it was not canceled. Once on the ship I went to the shore excursion desk and asked again. I was told again it was not canceled. Received our excursion tickets in the cabin. Day of excursion on GT we were to meet at 8:30 once in port. Everyone was on time and we left on time. Short bus ride to the location. Once at the beach we were told how to use the "thing". We put on life jackets, snorkel gear and took our flippers in hand. We all (I think 13 of us) got in the boat with four guides. Three were going in the water with us and one on the boat if someone needed to get out of the water. They asked if there was anyone that had never snorkeled before. One couple said they have never. He kept them on the boat and the guy of the couple got in the water but could not relax, he never let go of the boat. He got back in the boat and his wife stayed in the water and snorkeled. It was a follow the leader thing. We followed the guide and he took us to the edge and around. We powered back to shore (never got back in the boat). We had a baracuda that followed us the whole time. The "leader" dove down a few times and brought up a sand dollar for everyone to see. A couple of people went down to the bottom with the "thing", my son did it, I could not do it. It was not easy to dive with the power thing. It was cool and I would do it again. The leader even took my camera down and took a picture of a lion fish for me. Once back at the beach we had rum punch and waited for our driver to pick us up. I think we were in the water about 45 minutes.

[reno3]

[reno3]

 

Sorry the photos are so large :eek:

[jmwg49]

Did you go out to "The Wall"...was the snorkelling good? ?Lots of fish, coral etc?, or is the same as close to shore?

[reno3]

Did you go out to "The Wall"...was the snorkelling good? ?Lots of fish, coral etc?, or is the same as close to shore?

We did go to the wall. Not much to see there except the drop off.

That was interesting. I have snorkeled in other areas that I have seen more colorful fish. Our son wanted to go to the wall and power snorkel (which we had never done before). We though it was worth the money.

It was better if you could dive down with the power thing. I could not, I tried a few times. My son did it with no problem. We did book through Carnival but we did not have any Carnival staff with us. If you are looking for lots of colorful fish this is not the excursion for you unless you can dive down 30 feet. There were more colorful fish once we headed back to the beach and the water was shallower. I was trying to take pictures and hold on to the power thing so that was a little awkward. I should have left the camera behind and just enjoyed the "ride". The diver was feeding the fish at times, so that brought some to us.

[Mistyhon]

Where did you put your items while in the water (bag, towel, etc.) Were you able to leave them on the boat?

[reno3]

Where did you put your items while in the water (bag, towel, etc.) Were you able to leave them on the boat?

We went out on the boat and snorkeled back to shore so once you were in the water you never got back on the boat again. There was a room that the big batteries were in for the "power thingy" and we left towels, sunglasses, footwear, bags, etc in there until we got back. It is a very short ride to the snorkeling area (straight off the beach)so they told us to leave everything in the room.

[J2012Y]

Thanks for sharing your Pics, gives a different insight!

[lvz2cruz]

We did this through HAL in December and liked it.

I think I recognize the barracuda from our trip. It is about twice as long as an adult male's waistline. It followed us from getting off the boat to the wall and then around.

I agree with above poster that there were not a lot of beautiful, colorful fish. It was more the experience of seeing the wall and using the power thing.

The room where you put your stuff is padlocked so very secure.

We had not booked on the ship but in the cruise ship village area we booked at a kiosk. We had to book through the cruise line with our sea pass.

I think since Carnival owns the port at Grand Turk, they control the vendors and keep the bookings through the ship. The further out operations can be booked directly.