kitten_ohio Posted February 13, 2006 #1 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Cruising on 5/13/06 - Carnival Triumph. Look at these 2 excursions - you tell me - everything is the same but price. Please share your thoughts! STINGRAY CITY & ISLAND TOUR $59.00 (4.5 HOURS) Combine the natural beauty and cultural heritage of Grand Cayman with incredible Stingray City Sandbar in this all-in-one combination excursion. On this excursion you will: Travel the length of 7-Mile Beach and view the miles of white sandy beach and crystal clear blue waters. Experience a guided tour of the Turtle Farm; one of only a few turtle conservation centers in the world, home for the smallest hatchling to some of the largest sea turtles in the world. Be taken to what is known as Hell; an area of exposed rocks, locally termed the Town of Hell because of the lack of life truly portrays what most of us would perceive Hell to look like. Relax on the boat ride out to Stingray City Sandbar where you can stand in the shallow waters, as you swim or snorkel, feed, pet and hold the friendly stingrays. Be provided snorkel equipment and food for the stingrays at no extra cost. Enjoy our complimentary drinks including rum punch and listen to great Caribbean music on your return. STINGRAY SANDBAR, HELL & TURTLE FARM EXPERIENCE $74.00 (4.5 HOURS) Experience all the major highlights of Grand Cayman in one excursion. On this comprehensive excursion you will: Visit world famous 7-mile beach and the old Homestead for a photo stop. Tour the Turtle Farm, a one of a kind facility that is home to thousands of turtles. Arrive at the town called Hell, featuring a pre-historical rock formation that some think hell must surely look like. Stop at Stingray City for a boat ride out to the Sand Bar. Hold, pet and feed the stingrays in shallow waters (3 – 4 feet). Note: Snorkel equipment, food to feed the stingrays and fruit punch are all provided for you at no extra cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadaboutgal Posted February 13, 2006 #2 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I see only that one is going to stop somewhere along 7 mile beach and again at the Homestead allowing time to take pictures, while the other will "travel the length" of 7 mile beach. Actually, both tours to Stingray City have to "travel the length" as the main road passes right down 7 mile beach to get to Hell and Stingray City and both will pass the Homestead (which is really just a quaint island house.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andnickali Posted February 14, 2006 #3 Share Posted February 14, 2006 I was on the Triumph in January and thought about using the ship excursions to see the stingrays, but instead used Nativeway- not only did I save $$$$ but the tour group was much smaller (I saw a few double decker boats at stingray city with cruise ship passengers). Anyway, I know they have the stingrays and island tour (which has turtle farm and Hell), and then you can be dropped off at 7 mile beach. You would have to get a taxi back to the pier (about $4 pp), but would be on your own to stay at the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten_ohio Posted February 14, 2006 Author #4 Share Posted February 14, 2006 I was on the Triumph in January and thought about using the ship excursions to see the stingrays, but instead used Nativeway- not only did I save $$$$ but the tour group was much smaller (I saw a few double decker boats at stingray city with cruise ship passengers). Anyway, I know they have the stingrays and island tour (which has turtle farm and Hell), and then you can be dropped off at 7 mile beach. You would have to get a taxi back to the pier (about $4 pp), but would be on your own to stay at the beach. I've heard that when you book tours on/with the cruise lines you are the first ones tendered off at the ports of call. So I am wondering if you book your own tours - do you still get preference when getting tendered in? I'M AFRAID! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andnickali Posted February 14, 2006 #5 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Since Grand Cayman tenders everybody the system is a pretty good one. I noticed that Carnival was using a few double decker tenders that held a lot of people (maybe 200). We basically walked down to deck "0" and got onto the next tender- we were on the island within 10 minutes. Now, I did notice that other cruise lines were using their life boats to tender people- I can imagine that their boats did not hold as many people as the ones Carnival were using. Getting back to the boat there was a long line but we really did not "wait", just walked along and got on the tender. Don't worry about the tendering process- we were worried for nothing. Even in Cozumel where they are tendering since the pier was destroyed, Carnival was using huge enclosed tenders (they must have held 400 people) and we just walked down on got on the next tender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten_ohio Posted February 14, 2006 Author #6 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Since Grand Cayman tenders everybody the system is a pretty good one. I noticed that Carnival was using a few double decker tenders that held a lot of people (maybe 200). We basically walked down to deck "0" and got onto the next tender- we were on the island within 10 minutes. Now, I did notice that other cruise lines were using their life boats to tender people- I can imagine that their boats did not hold as many people as the ones Carnival were using. Getting back to the boat there was a long line but we really did not "wait", just walked along and got on the tender. Don't worry about the tendering process- we were worried for nothing. Even in Cozumel where they are tendering since the pier was destroyed, Carnival was using huge enclosed tenders (they must have held 400 people) and we just walked down on got on the next tender. Did you find Nativeway online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs66 Posted February 14, 2006 #7 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Beware of when they indicate Stingray City or Stingray Sandbar. The Stingray City tour will take you to Stingray City but the portion where it is too deep to stand. The Stingray sandbar tour will take you to where you can actually stand. Just learned this on another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andnickali Posted February 14, 2006 #8 Share Posted February 14, 2006 I have heard there are two different places city/sandbar and then I have heard there are not. So, to be sure I would ask the tour operator. It appeared that most of the places I saw showed pictures of people standing in the water. Anyway, here is the link for nativeway- their tour does go to the sandbar. www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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