Groovey Posted January 12, 2006 #1 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Cruising on the Mirace in a few weeks and am considering the Nativeway Ray, Reef, and Rum Point Tour in Grand Cayman. The G. Cayman threads are inconsistent as to whether there is sufficent time to do this tour without panicking to make the tender back for the 4 pm ship departure. While we would really like to do this tour, reports of tour return times makes this a little "iffy"! Any recent Miracle cruisers have thoughts on this tour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyb Posted January 13, 2006 #2 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Groovey, Have you contacted Nativeway? What week are you sailing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovey Posted January 13, 2006 Author #3 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Sallyb: Sailing on 2/5. Have made reservations with Nativeway already, but after reading about many close calls timewise, I'm having second thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abteer Posted January 13, 2006 #4 Share Posted January 13, 2006 the times are listed as this "5 Hours. Departs pier at 9:00 AM Eastern Time; returns at 2:00 PM Eastern Time" That sounds like we have enough time. But I'm curious as to others that may have taken this excursion. I have heard that Nativeway is very good about getting passengers back on time as this is their primary business. Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyb Posted January 13, 2006 #5 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Groovey, I'll wave to you as I disembark. Hope it works out for you, enjoy your cruise!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hebejeebe Posted January 13, 2006 #6 Share Posted January 13, 2006 We sailed on the Miracle last August and took the NativeWays Reef, Rays and Rumpoint tour. There is sufficient time for the tour. The snorkeling at the reef is excellent (by far the best of the cruise). We had close up views of nurse sharks and some moray eels. The Rays are a blast - - they'll bowl you over looking for food. Rum Point is a very quiet, picturesque beach with calm protected waters and shade from high palm trees. This tour was the highlight of the entire cruise. I highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bothell Posted January 13, 2006 #7 Share Posted January 13, 2006 the times are listed as this "5 Hours. Departs pier at 9:00 AM Eastern Time; returns at 2:00 PM Eastern Time" That sounds like we have enough time. But I'm curious as to others that may have taken this excursion. I have heard that Nativeway is very good about getting passengers back on time as this is their primary business. Teresa From what I have investigated and from what Nativeway says, they will have you back around 2:45, but dont be shocked if it is 3:00 or even 3:30. The reservation confirmation from Nativeway states they will have you back around 2:45. Most of the people I have seen post on this LEFT Rum Point at 2:45. Nativeway have never had someone miss their ship, but stories over on the Cayman Islands board shows some had to get out of the van and run to make it in time (apparently traffic is bad on the main road they bring you back on). I am booked with Nativeway and trying to decide if I want to chance it, knowing chances are that I probably wont miss the ship, but do I want to get there with no time to spare, or on borrowed time? hmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abteer Posted January 13, 2006 #8 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I am still trying to decide between two different ships as you see on my signature....One one ship it would be plenty of time, on triumph, no. I do want to do rum point beach, I was going to skip the reef and watch from the boat. Now if we go ahead and book with carnival, this is my first cruise and i do not want to be left at the dock. All the time they spend in cozumel, you'd think they can go longer in grand cayman as this is the reason we want the western tour, I adore stingrays!! This is what was in my confirmation email...so now i'm really confused..... "The tour departs the pier at 8:30 AM Central Time and completes around 1:45 PM Central Time. We ask that you check in no later than 8:15 AM Central Time. " Is they any other tour we can take that will skip the reef and do the stingrays and the rum point beach??? Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelmac Posted January 13, 2006 #9 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Not sure about Carnival, but Celebrity offers an excursion by the same name -- "Rays, Reef, and Rum Point". This excursion is operated by Native Way (they have two boats; one independant and one for a ship sponsored excursion). Independant cost = $60; Cruise ship excursion = $86; of course the cruise ship excursion is more, however, it would give you piece of mind about the ship leaving you. In addition, the cruise ship sponsored excursion spends an extra hour at the beach. The Native Way people indicated they have never caused a cruise ship passenger to miss their last tender. Good Luck! Kel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abteer Posted January 13, 2006 #10 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Okay I looked at my itinerary once more for triumph and it leaves grand cayman at 430pm. But carnival nor me knows what time the last tender would go out?! Can someone tell me if my ship goes out at 430pm what time will the last tender be????? I looked at miracle and it goes out at 4pm and I see the last tender is 330pm so would the last tender for triumph be 4pm???? Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bothell Posted January 13, 2006 #11 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Can someone tell me if my ship goes out at 430pm what time will the last tender be????? I looked at miracle and it goes out at 4pm and I see the last tender is 330pm so would the last tender for triumph be 4pm???? I would love to see that answer too! I will be on the Victory and the ship leaves at 4:30 also....if the last tender is 4:00 then I will have plenty of time for Nativeway (oh I hope I hope) to get me back to the dock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abteer Posted January 13, 2006 #12 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I would love to see that answer too! I will be on the Victory and the ship leaves at 4:30 also....if the last tender is 4:00 then I will have plenty of time for Nativeway (oh I hope I hope) to get me back to the dock! I called Carnival Bothell, they said the tenders leave 30 minutes prior!!! I think we shall be safe!! I'm doing a dance and it ain't a doc dance, I even have the rum point beach as a screen saver now!!! Teresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bothell Posted January 13, 2006 #13 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I called Carnival Bothell, they said the tenders leave 30 minutes prior!!! I think we shall be safe!! I'm doing a dance and it ain't a doc dance, I even have the rum point beach as a screen saver now!!! Teresa Teresa! OH wow! THANKS for calling! I am doing a little dance here too! I SO WANTED to do this tour! Yehaw! There will be plenty of time now! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoes4445 Posted January 13, 2006 #14 Share Posted January 13, 2006 The one thing you might consider before scheduling this trip, is how many ships are in port that day. We've just returned from a week in GC, and there were days, that we couldn't get back to our condo (and own beach area) quick enough. We drove to Rum Point one day (there were four ships in port), and the place was a zoo. It's beautiful, but it was packed. There wasn't a beach chair to be found. We ate there, and then left. What we liked about the area was how "tropical" it was. Lots of palm trees and white sand. We just weren't able to get a chair. You could always use your towel and make a spot for yourself. There's a long pier that you can walk out onto (it's where the boats dock that bring you there). If you like rum drinks, try the Cayman Colada. It's a Pina Colada, with red on the bottom (not sure what it was). It was very tasty! I think the biggest mistake GC is making is allowing as many cruise ships in port as they do. The traffic was always tied up. There were so many tour buses that traffic was at a stand-still many times. But I will say that we ate at Breezes several times, and we were able to watch people as they were being tendered to their ships, and we didn't see anyone running for a tender, so the tour operators must have a handle on what they are doing. Whatever you do, have a wonderful time! GC is such a great place. We rented a car and drove all over the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew sailbum Posted January 14, 2006 #15 Share Posted January 14, 2006 We drove to Rum Point one day (there were four ships in port), and the place was a zoo. It's beautiful, but it was packed. There wasn't a beach chair to be found. Sounds like you might have been here on a public holiday. Rum Point is very popular spot with local residents. The beach does fill up on Sunday afternoons year-round (though rarely a conflict with cruise ship schedules). Also, on public holidays Rum Point can be very busy! Since Christmas and New Years Day were on a weekend, the coorsponding public holidays were on the following Mondays (Dec 26 and Jan 2). And since Boxing Day is usually a public holiday here (Dec 26), it was celebrated a day late on Tuesday (Dec 27). That would have made for some uncharacteristically busy days at Rum Point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoes4445 Posted January 14, 2006 #16 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Sounds like you might have been here on a public holiday. Rum Point is very popular spot with local residents. The beach does fill up on Sunday afternoons year-round (though rarely a conflict with cruise ship schedules). Also, on public holidays Rum Point can be very busy! Since Christmas and New Years Day were on a weekend, the coorsponding public holidays were on the following Mondays (Dec 26 and Jan 2). And since Boxing Day is usually a public holiday here (Dec 26), it was celebrated a day late on Tuesday (Dec 27). That would have made for some uncharacteristically busy days at Rum Point. We were there last Monday the 9th. As fas as I knew, it wasn't a holiday. It was just packed. It was very beautiful, but packed. It may have been a fluke, but there were just lots of people there. I didn't realize that tour boats dropped off passengers as part of the stingray tour. I had envisioned this area with a place to sit and watch the water. It wasn't to be. The minute we got up from our picnic table (where we ate), someone snagged it it put their belongings on. Same thing happened when someone gave up a chair...someone else grabbed it. It was a nice drive, and we loved the area, but it was just too crowded for us. We want to be able to sit on a chair...others may not be bothered by this, but I just wanted people to know that it could be very crowded, and if they are on a cruise ship, they could get there and find the same conditions we did. I'd go to Sea Grape beach in a nanosecond over Rum Point. We were disappointed that it was so crowded. But that's just us...crowds may not be a concern to others. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellybutton Posted January 14, 2006 #17 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Cruising on the Mirace in a few weeks and am considering the Nativeway Ray, Reef, and Rum Point Tour in Grand Cayman. The G. Cayman threads are inconsistent as to whether there is sufficent time to do this tour without panicking to make the tender back for the 4 pm ship departure. While we would really like to do this tour, reports of tour return times makes this a little "iffy"! Any recent Miracle cruisers have thoughts on this tour? Nativeways also has a Ray, Reef only for 2- 1/2 hours. I think we are going to do that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovey Posted January 15, 2006 Author #18 Share Posted January 15, 2006 Agree with Bellybutton's decision to take the 2 1/2 hour Ray/Reef tour. Will sacrifice seeing Rum Point, but the piece of mind will make up for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sausimayok Posted January 21, 2006 #19 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Hi, We were on the Miracle the first week in January. We took the RRR tour with Nativeway, It was awesome. You will have enough time to get back, we got back, got in line and were back on the ship an hour before we were to set sail. We took an early tender, the first or second. Just go get stickers for the first tender. We walked around town for about 40 minutes bfore the tour started. There were only about twenty people with us, it was great. We've already gotten the video from our day in Grand Cayman, we watch it and feel like we are there again. It only took 12 days from the time we left Grand Cayman to the day it arrived. Don't worry, they will get you back on time. Keep your watch on ship time at all times. Happy cruising, Brenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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