To Carnival Excursion... or DIY - Blue Lagoon

[GrUvGrL]

I booked a Blue Lagoon excurion through Carnival, because this is what we did last time and we really loved it there!

 

Now that I look at the Blue aloggon website I see that we could have booked at nearly half the cost (including meal) and stayed longer.

 

Of course like with most good deals there is a catch!

 

To book yourself, you do not leave steps away from the port... you must leave at Paradise Island Terminal (apparently a 10 minute cab ride $8). Once you are at the Blue Lagoon, you can depart on the 1pm, 2pm or 4pm ferry back to the terminal and again take the cab ride back to the port.

 

I am considering cancelling the carnival excursion seeing as I will save well over $150 for my family and include lunch... but, this is making us nervous because we are at (not a controlled carnival excursion) mercy.

 

Has anyone done this trip on their own before? What are your experiences and advice?

 

Thanks!

[SarahQ]

We went to Blue Lagoon on our own on our recent Miracle cruise and it was easy peasy!

 

We got off the ship and simply got a "group" taxi over to Paradise Island (most of our group was going to Atlantis, but the Paradise Island Terminal was nearby, and it was not a problem dropping us off there).

 

We took the ferry back at 2pm, and it actually went directly back to the pier (not to the ferry terminal, although it did stop there first). They did make an announcement that cruise ship passengers should depart on the 2pm ferry, but I believe that was only because it was going directly to the dock. If your port time allows it, I'm sure you could take the 4pm.

 

To be honest, I was shocked at the price of the Carnival excursion, and there is no reason to pay that. I would absolutely book it on your own!

[Redsfan]

we did it on our own as well it was easy...lousy day maybe made the Island horrible, but I hated it and won't go back. We just wanted a nice beach and this wasn't it. Still didn't worry about missing the Ferry though.

[Irishlinny]

We did it on our own as well last year and had no issues whatsoever...grabbed a cab to Paradise Island...easy. And when we took the ferry back, they brought us to the pier so we didn't even need to get a taxi back! It wasn't my favorite beach experience (it is only a lagoon), but we were with a group of friends and had a good time!