Shore Excursion Reviews

[CMooreRNSea]

Hi everyone,

Is there a place to go to read shore excursion reviews? We are taking the 9/11 Western cruise and we will be making shore excursion reservations soon.

Thank you!

Cheryl

 

[inluvwithpluto]

Hi Cheryl!
My son and I will be on the 9/11 cruise too. After reading post after post I finally decided on these two excursions:
Stingray city tour -booked with nativeway watersports
swim with the sea lions at chankanabb-booked through dolphin discovery
I went back and forth with the cozumel excursion, couldn't decide if we should just go it on our own or do an excursion. then i found the sea lion swim and its much cheaper than the dolphin swim.
Email me if you want any other info!

 

[Meshee]

Hi inluvwithpluto
Would love to have more information on the Sea Lion Swim.

 

[disneycruiser2820]

Just got back,,,,
Stingray on Grand Caymen was GREAT, haighly recommend!!!!
Turtle Farm was good too
Cozumel snorkeling at Chankanaab park was not good,,, Park and sea was beautiful,,,,, but we entered snorkeling on beach that was a dump for sewer,,,, disgusting,,, smelled sooo bad,,, thought we were in a toilet,,,, guides,,,, for park, snorkeling, "Pedro and Manuel", constantly asked for tips,,,,, Pedro held up part of our party from leaving via taxi because we did not give him the tip he demanded,,,,,, NOT at good experience,,,,, DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!!

 

[scrapperjill]

CMooreRNSea ...We will also be on the 9/11 Western, and have been putting some thought into excursions. So far we have a half day snorkel excursion booked with captin marvin at the Stingray city in Grand Caymans...We will be doing the stingray stop, and two snorkel stops (one at great barrier reef and the other at coral gardens). In Cozumel we were thinking of doing some snorkeling on our own. We were considering going to Chankanaab Park..but after hearing "disneycruiser2820" I'm not so sure about that one anymore. In Key West we are thinking of renting electirc cars and buzzing around on our own.

 

[disneycruiser2820]

Sting Ray in the Caymens,,,,, you will have a GREAT Time,,,,
Chankanaab Park itself is beautiful,,,, land
Most on the entrance to the sea is jaged rocks, steps,,,
The part they took our snorkeling tour was a beach, slow slope into the ocean, good for kids and old people,,,,,,BUT,,, also a dump for human waiste into the ocean,,,,, DISCUSTING!!!! GROSS!!!! Felt like I was in a TOILET!!!!! ADD on the tour people,,,,, Manuel and PEDRO,,, kept reminding the whole group that we owed them a tip,,,,,,,,, The whole experience was not good,,,,,,,, I'm writing this to help people made a decision,,,, where to spend therir money,,,,,,, The snorkeling experience was below average,,,,,, not many fish,,,, coral,,,,,
Pedro asking for a tip after this experience was unbelievable,,,,
Chankanaab Beach, Snorkeling was NOT Good!!!!!!!!!

 

[thevolcanogod]

Hard to believe there would be good snorkling anywhere near a place that is an outlet into the ocean for sewage or even rainwater runoff. Reefs thrive in areas that are poor in phosphorus and nitrogenous compounds - they die in areas that have an abundance of these two types of compounds. If there was once good snorkling in an area where they have added one of these outlets, chances are it soon won't be.

Just as a general rule, I would suggest reefs nowhere near the land, or if you have to do beach snorkling, find the most desolate, secluded area you can - it will probably have the least damaged corals.

 

[TootyJane]

Well, we've done the Western cruise -- once on the Voyager of the Seas (August 2003) and on the Disney Magic -- June 19.

Although there are mixed reviews on Key West, I think I'm one of the only ones that liked Key West (except for the humidity). I'd recommend doing the Old Town Trolley http://www.historictours.com/keywest/. It allows you on and off privileges plus guides give you a lot of the Key West history. We're a family of 5 so I wasn't prepared to pay $10 per person to see Hemingway's House so we skipped it. Also, if you want to buy some liquor, beer, wine, etc. this is the place to buy it. The farther away from the pier you go, the less expensive it gets. Next time we go, we're going to rent some jet skis. They're right on the pier as you get off the Magic. It's $60 for 1/2 hour and $100 for an hour. My brother and niece did this and had a blast.

I would recommend doing Stingray City in Grand Cayman whether it's with Disney, Captain Marvin http://www.captainmarvins.com/ or Captain Bryan http://www.caymanislandsdiscounts.com/CaptainBryan.htm. It can be a bit intimidating but it's one of those "once in a lifetime experiences" that you have to do.

In Cozumel, I recommend the Jungle Jeep Tour http://www.travelnotes.cc/cozumel/tours/jeep.html. This is an independent company which I highly recommend. You won't get the crowds that you get with Disney or other cruise line excursions of this type. We had an awesome lunch on a beach. Did I mention we were the only ones on the beach? Great excursion. We did this last August.

This June we wanted to do a snorkeling excursion and I'd recommend Eagle Ray Divers http://www.eagleraydivers.com. We did the 3 reed snorkeling. I have never seen so many fish in my life. Great lunch too!!

HTH and enjoy your cruise.

 

[ldb1030]

Hi CMooreRNSea

Have you been over to our cruise meet thread for 9/11 cruisers?

We booked direct with Capt. Marvins for the 1/2 excursion then we'll be booking a parasailing at CC for our DD13 tomorrow.
Think we'll do a beach on our own for Cozumel!

 

[disneycruiser2820]

Lisa,

have a good trip,,,, I'm sure it will be better for you,,,, sounds like you know what to do and where to go

 

[CMooreRNSea]

Thanks everyone for all the information! Now that our cruise is only two months away, we are getting very excited. I haven't checked out the 9/11 meet, but will certainly do so. I appreciate the input.

Cheryl

 

[TraSee]

My husband and I will be on the 9/11 cruise, also. Thank you all for the great info!
See you soon!

 

[amgpmg]

Hi, we will be on the 9/11 cruise also! I too am looking for other excursions other than the Stingray excursion. I have the two hour tour booked for that.

TootyJane, Is the Jungle Jeep Tour good for kids? If so, what ages would you not recommend going with. We were thinking of doing Chankanaab Beach too, but am leary now after reading posts.

CMooreRNSea, definitely jump on over to the Meets board. We have a great group so far!

Kathy

 

[Houzer]

We are toying with the idea of the Sting Ray excursion but are there any others that you would recommend? Pauline