Opinions about excursions from Carnival

My hubby and my parents and I are cruising with Carnival in June. I have never been to the Bahamas before but I know that I want to snorkel/stingray on a real, not caged in reef and swim with dolphins. I would prefer to just book through the ship. However, it is so hard to decide where I should snorkel from and what beaches are good to just hang out on. Also, my dad and hubby want to fish, but we are not sure what the best trip would be. I wanted to do excursions from Grand Turk, but I heard that is the nicest beach and I might as well snorkel off the beach. Does anyone have any opinions on the following excursions, or which beach is the nicest?

Grand Turk

-Gibbs Cay and Stingray

-Reef and Rays

Half Moon Cay

-Deep Sea Fishing

-Snorkel By Boat

-Stingrays

Freeport

-Open Ocean Dolphin Swim (or any opinions on which dolphin encounter is best!)

-Bottom Fishing

Thanks!

We had a great time on a snorkeling tour with Capt Tony and the Sand Dollar. We were there in Aug and I have to say our day would be hard to top. Sailing, snorkeling, swimming, wading, beach-combing, sunning, shopping and believe it or not relaxing!!!!! No hanging in the air by a strap between your legs or swimming with sharks but it was just what we needed on our last port day. He has a beautiful boat and his service in top notch. we had a big group (about 20) age 6-68 and we all felt we got way more than we paid for. Shuttles were waiting at the dock and at the marketplace to get there and back. Some of us went back to the ship after the tour and some stayed and prowled the Marketplace.Good Luck!!!

Here is Capt Tony's web address www.sanddollarcruise.com

We had a great time on a snorkeling tour with Capt Tony and the Sand Dollar. We were there in Aug and I have to say our day would be hard to top. Sailing, snorkeling, swimming, wading, beach-combing, sunning, shopping and believe it or not relaxing!!!!! No hanging in the air by a strap between your legs or swimming with sharks but it was just what we needed on our last port day. He has a beautiful boat and his service in top notch. we had a big group (about 20) age 6-68 and we all felt we got way more than we paid for. Shuttles were waiting at the dock and at the marketplace to get there and back. Some of us went back to the ship after the tour and some stayed and prowled the Marketplace.Good Luck!!!

 

Here is Capt Tony's web address www.sanddollarcruise.com

You seem to be quite a fan of this vendor and I'm glad to see you had a nice trip. We took a snorkel tour on the Sanddollar in Dec 08 and had a very different experience. It was very impersonal, they missed our morning pickup because they supposedly went out early, then they only gave us a 2.5 hour afternoon trip. We were transported from the dock to the catamaran via a very small motor boat. Another family scheduled to go on the tour with us was never picked up. There were only 3 life preservers for the 5 passengers on the motor boat, but fortunately the water was calm. The reef itself was beautiful and the market place was interesting, but that was it. I would NOT recommend Sanddollar Cruises to others.

Gosh Kathy,

Sounds like you had a rough day. I guess I am a fan of Capt Tony just because we had such a great time. It sounds like we were on 2 completely different boats.

1. The "very small motor boat" ordeal we didn't experience. We hopped on a shuttle at the cruise pier and were dropped off at the lobby of the Port Lucaya Resort and walked about 75 yards to where the catamaran was docked and just stepped onboard.

2. When you say "it was very impersonal". We had a lady who became very seasick so Capt Tony called a friend of his on his cellphone and had him meet us on the beach and take her back to the cruise ship. I thought that was very personal.

3. When you say another family was "scheduled" to go? When we called we were told Capt Tony didn't take reservations and it was show-up and pay when you left. We arrived 30 minutes prior to the scheduled tour and had no problems.

4. I guess the one thing you had better than us was the water condition. You said the water was calm. We were there between hurricaine Faye and Gustav, ours was bad choppy and the current was swift. Capt Tony's crewman twice had to swim out and haul my little boy back to the boat. He had flotation but just couldnt beat the current. I was very glad they kept an eye on us all. We even had a woman from another tour boat get swept over to us and she rested on our boat until they came and picked her up.

I am not doubting your bad experience, my family had a similar one on a previous cruise while on a snorkeling tour in Key West. I guess its like getting a bad meal at your friends favorite resturaunt. You tell them and they look at you like you are nuts. I wish you could have been with us on our day (other than the choppy water). I hope the rest of your cruise went well!:)

That particular cruise (Freeport, Belize, Rhotan, Cozumel) was the best we ever had, everything went flawlessly. And we were so worried because of the hurricaines. Faye, Gustav and Hannah all hit while we were cruising. We flew into Port Canaveral in the eye of Faye, it was intense and when we landed people were crying and cheering. Other than that we missed the bad weather completly.

In my opinion the beaches at Half Moon Cay are much finer than those in Grand Turk. An off-shore snorkeling excursion in Grand Turk would be my pick.

Did the rays at Half Moon Cay. They have a large pen which is closed during the day, apparently to keep ray predators out, and opened up at night. The rays return each day, probably because they get fed. There is an observation platform and wide steps into the water. It was a good experience and the staff were good with their safety briefing and explanations of rays and their behavior.

Gosh Kathy,

Sounds like you had a rough day. I guess I am a fan of Capt Tony just because we had such a great time. It sounds like we were on 2 completely different boats.

1. The "very small motor boat" ordeal we didn't experience. We hopped on a shuttle at the cruise pier and were dropped off at the lobby of the Port Lucaya Resort and walked about 75 yards to where the catamaran was docked and just stepped onboard.

2. When you say "it was very impersonal". We had a lady who became very seasick so Capt Tony called a friend of his on his cellphone and had him meet us on the beach and take her back to the cruise ship. I thought that was very personal.

3. When you say another family was "scheduled" to go? When we called we were told Capt Tony didn't take reservations and it was show-up and pay when you left. We arrived 30 minutes prior to the scheduled tour and had no problems.

4. I guess the one thing you had better than us was the water condition. You said the water was calm. We were there between hurricaine Faye and Gustav, ours was bad choppy and the current was swift. Capt Tony's crewman twice had to swim out and haul my little boy back to the boat. He had flotation but just couldnt beat the current. I was very glad they kept an eye on us all. We even had a woman from another tour boat get swept over to us and she rested on our boat until they came and picked her up.

 

I am not doubting your bad experience, my family had a similar one on a previous cruise while on a snorkeling tour in Key West. I guess its like getting a bad meal at your friends favorite resturaunt. You tell them and they look at you like you are nuts. I wish you could have been with us on our day (other than the choppy water). I hope the rest of your cruise went well!:)

That particular cruise (Freeport, Belize, Rhotan, Cozumel) was the best we ever had, everything went flawlessly. And we were so worried because of the hurricaines. Faye, Gustav and Hannah all hit while we were cruising. We flew into Port Canaveral in the eye of Faye, it was intense and when we landed people were crying and cheering. Other than that we missed the bad weather completly.

Hello 3Poes. The restaurant analogy seems to fit. I'm glad to hear that you had a positive experience.