Another NativeWay thread...please help me out!

[agor75]

I just returned from cruising on Carnival Glory March 4-11. We were in Grand Cayman on Friday, March 9. I was hesitant to post a lengthy review because I have been busy with school but after reading the few negative reviews I feel obligated to because we had an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING time on the Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion with NativeWay Tours. So here it goes.

We were in Grand Cayman in March 2010 on Carnival Destiny (some of us had been there prior to that as well), but that was the first time we booked any type of excursion. We booked through carnival for their Stingrays and Snorkeling excursion, which was about $59/per person if I recall correctly. We had a great time with that excursion, with the exception of our transportation bus running out of gas.

For the past 6 months leading up to our Carnival Glory cruise, I had been researching private tour operators at all of our ports. I have heard fabulous things about various companies in all of the ports. I was deciding between Captain Marvins and NativeWay in Grand Cayman and decided on NativeWay because they were the only company that included Rum Point!

Carnival had our scheduled time in Grand Cayman from 10am-6pm. We were to be the only ship in port that day. We were sailing with our family, a group of 8. I emailed NativeWay Tours on Feb. 19 to reserve 6 people on the Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour. Within an hour received a confirmation. A few days later, the other 2 in our group decided they would also like to do the tour and so I emailed Sharon and she reconfirmed my reservation, now for 8 people. The confirmation email was as follows:

"Pleasant Greetings from Grand Cayman!

I have reserved 8 spaces for you on our March 9, “Rays, Reef, and Rum Point” excursion. The reservation # is 8SA. The price is $62.50 USD per person. Children under the age of 10 will pay $50 USD each. We no longer require that you provide your credit card number to guarantee your arrival, so you're all set! You will pay on our tour boat. We accept cash, Traveler's Checks, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. If you pay via credit card, you will be charged a 4% processing fee.

The tour departs the pier at 11:15 AM Eastern Time and completes at around 4:30 PM Eastern Time. We ask that you check in no later than 11 AM Eastern Time (this is ship time). When you come ashore, look for the person carrying the sign that says Native Way Watersports. You may also ask for us at the information booth at the cruise ship terminal.

We provide free use of all snorkeling gear and vests, food for the Rays, and complimentary punch and bottled water. At Rum Point, you will be given a nice grilled lunch. After the tour, you will be driven back to the pier.

We ask that you provide at least one week advance notice to cancel. If your ship is unable to dock in Grand Cayman, we will automatically cancel your reservation, at no cost to you.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I look forward to seeing you in Grand Cayman on March 9!

Sharon Ebanks"

Now all we had to do was wait!

The first tender off the boat was at 10am on the dot. Once we all got our things together, we tendered off the boat around 11am. The tender ride was very short (about 5 minutes-because we were the only ship in port). When we got into the port shopping area, it was very crowded, I went to the little "hut" near the awnings (where all the tours congregate) and asked where I could find NativeWay Tours. The guys there, pointed me to Edmond, a tall man with curly hair, holding a "lollipop" sign (a round sign that says NativeWay Tours). We were the last ones they were waiting for and he walked us over to the bus/van. There was approximately 20 people on our tour (including our group of 8). We took a 15 minute ride to the marina where their boat was docked and there we met Andrew and J.C. (The photographer).

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Andrew explained our schedule for the day to everyone, which included going to the sand bar to do the stingray portion of the excursion, then going to another location to snorkel, taking our lunch order and then heading to rum point! He also told us that J.C. would take pictures and that we could view them once we get to Rum Point and purchase them if we would like. It took about 20 minutes to get to the sand bar where the stingrays are located. Andrew found a spot and parked. For being the only ship in port that day, I was surprised by the number of other boats there, but there were plenty of stingrays to go around! Andrew and J.C. hopped right in the water and everyone else followed. The water was below my belly button (best reference point and I'm 5'6"). We brought our own water proof camera (Olympus T610 - because when we did this excursion 2 years ago we wished we would have had one then!)

[Biris]

A very detailed review. Await for more. Thanks! I already booked with them. Recent reviews made me a little bit nervous :)

[agor75]

We had a blast!! Everyone got a turn with the stingrays and even a secondturn if you wanted. We also got to feed them squid! And let me tell you, that was an experience! The stingrays were literally leaping out of the water for the squid!! Once we wrapped up with the stingrays, Andrew took us over to where we would be snorkeling (about 5 minutes away near the reef). J.C. seemed like he was newer and was still learning the ropes but he did a great job. He also took pictures of professional quality while we were on this excursion which was very nice! The only complaint I have is that we had a hard time taking our own pictures up close with the sting rays because he was taking so many pictures. On the way, J.C. took our lunch order. The snorkeling was pretty good, however I did not get too close to the reef (I am by no means a professional swimmer or snorkeler so I didn't want to get too close). But Andrew assured us that the current would bring us right back towards the boat if we wanted to get a little closer to the reef, and he was right! We had about a half an hour (approximately - I'm not sure how long exactly it was) to snorkel and then we headed to Rum Point! It was about a 15 minute ride to Rum Point and on the way Andrew stopped to point out a sea turtle, it was awesome!

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When we arrived to Rum Point and got off the boat, our food was ready within 5 minutes! I ordered a hamburger (which was the best hamburger I have had in a LONG time!) and others in my group got chicken tenders and catch of the day (Mahi Mahi). We had about an hour and a half to spend here once we arrived, and I wish we would have had longer! It was pretty busy (I was surprised since we were the only ship there, but there must have been a bunch of people staying on the island). We relaxed, walked the beach and took tons of pictures!! Once our time was up, we got back onto the boat and headed back to the marina. Andrew showed us some beautiful houses on the way back!! It took about a half an hour to get to the marina, we made sure to tip Andrew and J.C. and we then got on the van/bus to go back to the port. We got back to the port right about 4-4:15pm and had a little time to shop before we had to get back on the ship!

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I am having trouble uploading pictures into this review but I have A TON! I will do my best to get them on here one way or another!

[Coralsugar]

Oh that sounds great. How did you book them? I emailed them but no reply.:-(

[Coralsugar]

Just got reply. I cant wait!!!!

[Maggs07]

Alright, I need some opinions from experienced cruisers.

 

Our ship will be in GC from 8-4pm (that's ship time). I have booked the NativeWay Rays,Reef and Rum tour. Originally Sharon's email said to meet at 9:15 (ship time) and the tour will complete around 2:45pm (once again she has stressed those times are ship time, not Cayman time). I am assuming our last tender will be around 3-3:15pm and I think that's cutting it close. She assured me we will be back in plenty of time to catch the last tender, whatever that means.

 

I emailed back and said but isn't that cutting it a bit close? She wrote back and said, I understand so how about we meet at 9:00 and the tour ends at 2:15. So now my concerns are making the meeting time at 9:00. This is our first cruise and I don't know anything about tendering, except that they let the ship excursions people off first.

 

Since we are the only ship in port that day, will she wait for us? Since she was willing to adjust the times I think we may be the only people booked so far and what if they cancel the tour b/c of that? Or should I pick another tour altogether? I really wanted to do this one to go to Rum Pointe but now I am wondering if it's worth the stress I already have. Any opinions and insight appreciated!!

 

Maggie

[agor75]

Oh that sounds great. How did you book them? I emailed them but no reply.:-(

 

Try emailing them again, I used the website and had no problems at all! Sharon responded within an hour!

[CRUISE0825]

Thank you so much for posting your review! We're going on the same tour in 2 weeks. I was seriously reconsidering the tour after the problems a couple of people on CC have had recently. I felt so bad for them. I will still have a back up plan just in case.

[Sundiego]

Great review, great pics :)

 

I was one of the people who posted a not-so-great review but we still enjoyed ourselves in spite of the hiccups.

 

I wanted to comment on your hamburger choice at Rum Point. Of all the things that were coming out of the kitchen there, the hamburgers looked awesome!! So for future cruisers, if you like hamburgers you might want to try that.

 

~Denise

[Maggs07]

Sounds awesome and great pics!! We are booked with them for our cruise in May and I am so excited!

 

But here's a question..we are at port from 8am-4pm ship time. Sharon said the tour would be from 9am-2:15pm ship time. Would we be able to tender off in time do you think? She originally said the tour was from 9:30-2:45pm ship time and I told her I was worried about making it back for the last tender so she offered to switch the times. Thanks!

[Biris]

Thank you for the wonderful review! Can someone please let me know about the tender process? Some other posts mentioned about getting a number. Will that be explained somewhere on the funtime? I'm sailing with Carnival Magic.

[Biris]

Hi,

 

After reading the recent threats, I'm concerned too as our scheduled time to meet is 8:15 central time, same as ship time (our ship will be there from 7AM-4PM) :eek: I'm not sure how to get there on time. I'm bumping this up and I've already posted a question about tendering process. Hopefully, someone can answer to our question. Honest, Rum Point is the only place that my group and I care about, unfortunately this tour seems to be our best choice of getting there.

 

Biris

[Sundiego]

We were on the Conquest. Ship was scheduled to be in port from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Last tender back to the ship was scheduled for 3:30.

 

If it is 7:00 "ship's time", it is 8:00 Grand Cayman time. Your watch should always be ship's time.

 

The tendering process...

 

If you are NOT on a Carnival sponsored shore excursion, you need a tender ticket. These are nothing more than stickers for your shirt. The earlier you get in line for your ticket, the earlier you get off the ship. All members of your party must be there (we met in the show lounge for this process). You don't all have to stand in the tender ticket line, but if you ask for 6 tickets for example, you should be able to point to the other 5 people in your party.

 

I believe our tender ticket process started shortly before 7:00. We were #4. We ran up to the Lido to grab a quick bite. By the time we made it back downstairs, the tendering process was well underway and they were at tender #11. No problem... we just sauntered on down to the tender boats and off we went. Our tender boat was large, it can take 15 minutes to load everyone.

 

We were at the dock at close to 8:00... too early! Met Eldon at 8:15 for our 8:30 departure.

 

We have been through the tender process on other ships and it was more of a mob scene. This Conquest process was super easy. I'm not sure why! Maybe because we were on a spring break cruise with lots of children and parents scheduled more Carnival excursions.

[Sundiego]

Maggie...

 

Our ship's time was 7-4 pm. Our Nativeway tour was scheduled 8:30-1:45.

 

Our tour left late so our Nativeway part ended up being closer to 9:30-2:45. We were back in plenty of time for the last tender. The Nativeway van will drop you off right at the port, it only takes maybe 5 minutes to saunter your way back to the tender line. The problem... the later you get back to port, the longer the tender line will be. It can be a long hot wait. I wouldn't worry so much about missing the ship (Nativeway does this all the time).

 

We rarely take Carnival excursions, always do independent tours and haven't had a problem yet. Just reiterate to the guys on the Nativeway BOAT what time you need to be back, SHIP'S TIME. It's possible some of the people sharing your Nativeway excursions will be from other ships with slightly different port times. The Nativeway boat guys will want to be clear on that and will ask everyone what their schedule is so there is no mix up.

 

Hope this helps!

 

~Denise

[Bug'sMom]

We have taken this excursion and all I can say is that it is in Native Ways best interest to not have unhappy cruise customers....it would kill their business. I think they are very familiar with when the cruise ships arrive and depart and make sure that they accomodate accordingly. We were brought back in plenty of time. I know that a lot of people will only book excursions through the ship because of the guarantee that the ship won't leave them but just to chime in with my own experience, we have cruised 10 times and have never taken a ship's excursion. We always use local tour operators and we have never had a bad experience or even a close call.

 

Kathy

[jimdanahar]

We are booked on this excursion next week 4/11 and based on some of the comments here I became concerned about ship time vs Cayman time. I emailed Sharon and here is her response.

 

 

"The meeting time is 9:15 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (the same as ship time).

 

No worries about any confusion. We have been closely monitoring ship time verses island time over the last few weeks (after Daylight Saving Time went into effect). We are totally clear about where each ship stands on this matter."

 

I'm going to try to put the worry out of my mind and look forward to a great experience. Of course, I'm going to get there early just in case.

 

Anyone else going with us on April 11th?

[BURNSMN]

We are booked on this excursion next week 4/11 and based on some of the comments here I became concerned about ship time vs Cayman time. I emailed Sharon and here is her response.

 

 

"The meeting time is 9:15 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time (the same as ship time).

 

No worries about any confusion. We have been closely monitoring ship time verses island time over the last few weeks (after Daylight Saving Time went into effect). We are totally clear about where each ship stands on this matter."

 

I'm going to try to put the worry out of my mind and look forward to a great experience. Of course, I'm going to get there early just in case.

 

Anyone else going with us on April 11th?

We just took this excursion on March 29th. Our instructions said to check in by 9:15 AM and that the tour would leave at 9:30 AM. We were there by 9 AM and were actually on the bus around 9:15 AM. There were more buses that picked up those who came later. Our excursion went well and we were back to the ship before the 2:45 PM end time stated in the instructions. We were on the NCL Pearl which was in port from 8 until 4. The last tender time was 3:15 and we were never worried about being back in time.

[Coralsugar]

Im going in this tour in 2weeks.

 

Also having time concerns, my ship is in port 10am-6pm, tour is supposed to be 11- 4:30pm.

 

Does anybody know what type of lunch is included? I read people had burgers and fries, definitelly dont want that. Are there any local, more carribean food choices?

[cruisingwiththe family]

I am going on this tour on 4/11 (Legend). Now I am worried about tendering. Yikes. Need to check my time of departure...

[Biris]

Thank you, Denise. Your comment on the tendering process will help me better prepared for my excursion.

 

Coralsugar: Read the post about the menu for Nativeway for more info regarding the food choice.

[Maggs07]

Thanks everyone, I feel better about this now!

[BURNSMN]

Im going in this tour in 2weeks.

 

Also having time concerns, my ship is in port 10am-6pm, tour is supposed to be 11- 4:30pm.

 

Does anybody know what type of lunch is included? I read people had burgers and fries, definitelly dont want that. Are there any local, more carribean food choices?

We were given a menu earlier in the day so they could call ahead with the order. There were probably twenty items to choose from you could have an appetizer plate, a salad, a sandwich, or a plate lunch. Choice of just one item. All sandwiches came with fries if you wanted them. My wife and I had jerk pork sandwiches. There was also a jerk pork plate. I remember chicken items, burgers, and pork on the menu. Everything was served with iced tea. Food was very good, freshly made and waiting for us when we arrived.

[BURNSMN]

We were given a menu earlier in the day so they could call ahead with the order. There were probably twenty items to choose from you could have an appetizer plate, a salad, a sandwich, or a plate lunch. Choice of just one item. All sandwiches came with fries if you wanted them. My wife and I had jerk pork sandwiches. There was also a jerk pork plate. I remember chicken items, burgers, and pork on the menu. Everything was served with iced tea. Food was very good, freshly made and waiting for us when we arrived.

Oops, forgot to add that there were fish items also.

[agor75]

Sounds awesome and great pics!! We are booked with them for our cruise in May and I am so excited!

 

But here's a question..we are at port from 8am-4pm ship time. Sharon said the tour would be from 9am-2:15pm ship time. Would we be able to tender off in time do you think? She originally said the tour was from 9:30-2:45pm ship time and I told her I was worried about making it back for the last tender so she offered to switch the times. Thanks!

 

You should definately have enough time to tender in by 9am. I would suggest to make sure you are ready and waiting a little before 9am if you're worried. People start lining up an hour to half hour before the gangway opens...don't stress over it just plan ahead :) if you're able to, take the stairs to deck 0 for tendering rather than the elevators (they get clogged up)!

[agor75]

Thank you for the wonderful review! Can someone please let me know about the tender process? Some other posts mentioned about getting a number. Will that be explained somewhere on the funtime? I'm sailing with Carnival Magic.

 

What cruise line are you sailing? I have been to grand cayman on carnival twice and never heard of a number system. Its first come first serve :) plan ahead and make sure you're ready before the cruise director makes the announcement that the tendering process is set to go!