Sorting out an Excursion

[Haveuseen1]

The details:

Carnival Elation

Grand Turk - Only ship in Port that day-8am arrival 4pm departure

Snorkel Excursion

 

Trying to decide between the Carnival Excursion, the Papa J Tour excursion, or Exclusive Escape excursion.

The Papa J ( Triple Play 95.00 ) 

Departs @ 10am  lasts 4hrs.

 

Exclusive Escape (  Supreme Snorkel 115.00 ) 

Departs @ 9am lasts 3.5-4hrs

 

Carnival excursion ( Ray, Conch & Reef  80.00 ) 

Departs @ 9am lasts for 2.5hrs

 

My thoughts are that the Carnival excursion would be more crowded due to the price difference, and the concern about being left behind.  Having never done a snorkel excursion with Carnival, does anyone have any feedback on the crowd?  Anyone ever use Papa J or Exclusive Escape?  Seems that the two Non-Carnival excursions just leave from the beach to the left of the pier. I dont mind paying more for the excursion, but would like it to be a better experience.  

 

I have been watching the port page and there just is not a lot of posting going on.

 

Any help would be great and thank you.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Haveuseen1
Hit enter to soon

[bakersdozen12]

I can’t speak to these excursions because I’ve never done them, but I can speak to the topic of Carnival vs non-Carnival excursions. While I have never had a bad Carnival excursion, all of the non-Carnival excursions I’ve taken have been better. For exactly the reason you state: less people. Which equals a more personalized experience from the tour guides. As long as you have done your research on these tour companies, I see no reason not to book with one of them. We did a Carnival excursion on Grand Turk that took us around the island, and it doesn’t seem like a terribly large island. And I don’t recall a ton of traffic anywhere. So I would feel safe getting back on time with a reputable non-Carnival vendor. After all, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business if they got people back late. 

Edited August 20, 2019 by bakersdozen12

[coevan]

10 hours ago, Haveuseen1 said:

and the concern about being left behind

 

 

It's a myth. we call it the Carnival "fear factor" Any well reviewed private cruise knows the ship and island time better than you. They have cell phones and everything.😀

[PhillyFan33579]

11 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

It's a myth. we call it the Carnival "fear factor" Any well reviewed private cruise knows the ship and island time better than you. They have cell phones and everything.😀

 

It’s not a myth. I know two couples who did private excursions who didn’t make it back to the ship on time. Both times it was due to issues with a vehicle.  Last year at a Diamond special event a couple told us about a family of 8 who got left behind due to traffic when they were on a private excursion. While these definitely fall in the exception category, to say people get left behind is a myth is far from reality. 

[GradUT]

Last September our cruise to Bermuda was diverted at the last minute to the Bahamas and Grand Turk due to a hurricane, so we had no time to book any private excursions as we usually do.  So we ended up booking our snorkeling trip on GT with Carnival and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was!  The number of passengers on our excursion was not excessive—maybe 20 or so. 

 

The year before, we had booked a cruise that went to GT and were not able to snorkel because the operator we had chosen decided not to go out that day.  Our ship, the Carnival Pride, was the only ship in Port that day and it turned out that we were the only ones who had booked with him. (FWIW, the operator was one recommended by others here on CC.)   This is the only time that we have had a problem with a private tour operator, but it does happen. 

[purplephenom]

Crowding on Carnival snorkel excursions doesn't really bother me.  I like to hang back or off to the side to see what I like and take the pictures I want- plus snorkeling isn't a race.  If you want a good Carnival snorkel excursion, look at the Ultimate snorkel- it goes to the wall and another spot or 2, and they pretty much left anyone who knew what they were doing alone which was great.  

 

That said, the reef and rays, seems really short to make a couple stops doing different things.  You may feel more rushed than with one of the other excursions you have listed.  As long as a lot of that time isn't eaten up in transportation (on the snorkel boat), you should end up with significantly more water time there.  

[Haveuseen1]

I dont see the option for an "Ultimate Snorkel through Carnival.  

Amazing ATV & Snorkel

Catamaran & Snorkel

Rays, Conch, & Reef Snorkel

Reef, Rays, & Beach Snorkel

Power Snorkel, Rays, & Rum

Two Reef Snorkel and Beach

Snuba

 

And thanks everyone for the feedback.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Haveuseen1

[Bookworm1985]

I have never had a bad snorkeling experience with Carnival, but I am not picky and crowds don’t bother me. I have actually never had a bad excursion period. Just lucky I guess? 

 

I will say, I have had the ship held for us twice while on Carnival excursions. Once in St Thomas on a Snorkeling tour, one of the ships engines broke. We still had one, but it was slow going getting back. We were about two hours late after the scheduled departure time. I was sitting near the captain and heard him talking to the ship several times. The second time in Rome there was a huge accident and we were a little over an hour late. The tour guide was in constant contact with the ship. It seemed like as soon as our bus boarded they took off. So some might say it is a “myth”, but from personal experience, if on a Carnival excursion they do in fact hold the ship if you are late getting back. 

[GradUT]

5 hours ago, Haveuseen1 said:

I dont see the option for an "Ultimate Snorkel through Carnival.  

Amazing ATV & Snorkel

Catamaran & Snorkel

Rays, Conch, & Reef Snorkel

Reef, Rays, & Beach Snorkel

Power Snorkel, Rays, & Rum

Two Reef Snorkel and Beach

Snuba

 

And thanks everyone for the feedback.

We did the Reef, Rays and Beach Excursion.  We had plenty of time at the Reef for snorkeling and at the Rays area to interact with the rays.  I did not feel rushed at either site.  (FWIW, the boat trip to both locations was short.) 

 

The beach stop was very pleasant.  We had loungers facing the water with nobody in front of us.  It was much more pleasant than the area near the dock.  You could order food and drinks, but they didn’t pester you to do so.  (And while we could walk back to the ship from the beach area, Carnival also offered a free shuttle for those on this excursion.)