Moby Dick-Sting Ray Tour

[CruiseGoer2107]

Please scroll down for Grand Cayman.

I went to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel in June on The Carnival Conquest. I had a super time!! I had just had knee surgery about 2 1/2 weeks before the cruise and was in a wheel chair, but I still had a blast. (I'm 21 and didn't know I would have to have the surgery...=( I couldn't walk!! Anyway, we hadn't booked a tour or anything in Mo Bay. When we got off the boat we went into the little pier/shopping area and asked what we could do given my situation. Incredibly they had a wheel chair van!! The man that we went with was amazing and very knowledgable. He took us all around Mo Bay for 1 hour ($30.00) He then dropped us off at the beach. He left us there for two hours. They had lifeguards there too!! They were so nice!! They picked me up and carried me to the water and gave me a floatie to float in. They have cokes and snacks there if you are interested. The only thing I did not like, was that there were two ladies selling jewelery and clothing. They wouldn't leave my mom alone!! Other than that it was great. We even met a guy who wanted to sell us some weed. We said no thank you and he never asked us again. He was a very interesting person to talk to. He did want to smoke in front of us though, but we asked him politely not to and he went on his way. After we were done at the beach, our driver picked us up again. We asked him to take us to get some Jamiacan food. He took us to this great little place by a gas station. It was an open-air restaurant and the serve jerk. Their jerk chicken was to die for!!! It's not like jerky (that's what i thought it would be), it was their version of barbeque. He then took us shopping. He was so nice!! He stayed with us the whole day and was very smart. He told us about the economics, schools, people, everything. All in all it was absolutely fantastic and only $80.00!!! (That includes the $20.00 we paid to get onto the beach and the original $30.00 (this was for four people))

In Grand Cayman we booked the Stingray tour with Moby Dick tours. That was so much fun!! They took us snorkeling for about 30 minutes (I was in an inner tube with my face in the water) and then we went to the stingrays!! What beautiful animals!! They were so gentle!! Their vaccuum mouths were scary at first but not in the end. Don't foget to kiss the sting ray for 7 years of good luck!! (According to the guides) Our boat was good size. There were probably about 40 people on it. They serve lemonade and punch for the boat ride. We saw the cruise line's tour boat and they were on a two story one...standing only. We had benches!! It is a good 30-40 min boat ride. Long time to stand if you ask me. The cost for booking on-line was I believe $30 or $35 dollars. If you booked when you got there it was $5 extra. Still a lot cheaper than the cruise!! When we were finished they took us back to where the cruise boats were. We had plenty of time to walk around shop a little before heading back!!

In Cozumel, we went to Chankunub Park (spelling?) They have bontanical gardens, Mayan ruins, snorkeling, beaches, restaurants, sea otter and dolphin shows and the dolphin encounters. We booked a dolphin encounter thing for my sister. She played with the dolphins and got to do lots of stand up tricks with them for I think $110 online. It was a lot more with the boat or when you got there. The cruise boat takes you to a different dolphin place and from what I heard, it was mediocre. My sister was in the water for a little over an hour and loved it. However, we ate at there restaurant and did not like it at all!!! We shopped a little before heading back to the boat too. Oh, if you dont like frogs, dont go into the Mayan Ruin area. There are probably millions of little frogs bouncing around!!

 

All in all we had a great trip. I thought Chankunub Park was the most breath taking though. It was absolutely gorgeous. If you have any questions you can e-mail me at ManyWheat at AOL dot com.