First time on a cruise excursion question

[CanadianEh!]

There will be a group of 4 of us going to the Grand caymans on the Carnival Legend depearting Tampa jan 20th/08

 

first stop Grand cayman now beside depositing my millions of dollars into numbered bank accounts ( I wish) we are looking at doing the String ray and island tour from Native way, I have been talking to sharon and just wondering if anyone has done this she said it starts at 9:30 and ends at 1:30 that is island time which i believe i central time right? now what time will ship time be? if we are in port from 7-4 would that actually not be 6-3? if that is the case that makes the tender out easy no rush there but coming back that is only an hr and half leaves me a little concerned any thoughts? my other concern is it requires a min of 8 and we are only 4 :( so it might get canceled on us leaving us high and dry with not excursion. So anyone else have any other operations that do this our main things are stingray sandbar (I guess stingray city is actually different place) Turtle farm and at least hell ( my wife wants to see the turtles and at least send a post card from hell for the novelty aspect of it) and i want a smaller group in the Dominican this year our groups were like 60-100 and i found you got lost in the crowd really easily.

 

thanks in advance

 

anyone else on that ship or taking that excursion from a different ship?

[twinkletoes4445]

Our first cruise we were on the Triumph and we left from Miami. We were on Grand Cayman on New Year's Day and island time and ship time were the same.

 

If you're going to be on GC on 1/20, ship time and island time should be the same. So if your ship will be there from 7-4, that's also 7-4 island time. I've not done Nativeway (we use CM's), but I've read many positive things about NW.

 

Stingray Sandbar is where you'll go. It's pretty shallow, but it depends on where you are on the sandbar. The first time we were there, we were out on the edge (the place was packed), and the water was almost 5 feet deep. The other times it's been anywhere from at our knees to just below our waist.

 

Stingray City is a different place (it's deeper), but you'll hear people here call it both. I've even read where some of the tour operators call it Stingray City, but they are really going to the sandbar. If you have any questions about this, Sharon would be able to clarify this for you. But from everything I've read here...you'll be at the sandbar.

 

And I don't know how many people will be on your tour, but I'd guess 20 or so. We've seen some of the big double-decker boats (they look like they hold 100 or so). I am not sure who they are, but I have noticed "Kirk" on the side. This may be some of the ship excursions.

 

You'll probably do the standard tour (the one we did the first time we were there). You'll visit Hell-there are actually a couple of different places-one with the guy who dresses up like the devil, and another one, which has a smaller gift shop. I don't know how they decide who goes where, but with our tour, we ended up at the smaller one.

 

We also went to the turtle farm (the old one) and to the rum cake place. We also stopped and looked at the Gov's mansion, and we also stopped in front of an old cayman house (that has a sand yard). We drove by the beach area and then back to the port.

 

You might find someone who has been on the ship that you're going to be on to be absolutely sure about the time. Also, Sharon would know this. They do this daily, so they have to know what ships will be in port at what time.

 

If you have any questions concerning time, or the number of people you need for your excursion, I am sure Sharon will help you out. Although I've had no conversations or dealings with her, I've read a lot of nice things that have been posted about her. :)

[carmenb]

Hi Cool Cruiser,

 

I'm a fellow cruiser from Alberta also. Live in Edmonton. Where do you live?

Anyhow, we cruised to the Caymans a couple of years ago and took a tour to Stingray City with Capt'n Marvins. It was great.

 

My advise is if you're planning to go to Stingray City, book it independantly. The cruise's tours are so jammed pack full of people. Our tour had maybe 15 people so alot more personable. They served rum punch but grab some snacks from the cruise ship before you leave. Plus at the end of the tour, they gave each person a free rum cake. When you return, you don't have alot of time because you have to be tendered back to the ship, just about enough time to grab a quick bite to eat.

 

I don't think you'll have enough time to the do a land tour of "hell and the turtles" along with the Stingrays. Again, in my opinion, do the Stingray. A memorabale experience. When will you get a chance to swim with this animals so far West?

 

We'll be cruising to the Cayman's again this Decemer. We're planning on doing the Turtle farm tour and what not so I can let you know how that goes on our return.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Carmen

[gammasip]

We used Nativeway a few years back and are using them again next week. They were great. We got wonderful, personal attention, since there were about 15 of us total.