Carnival excursions... Has anyone done...?

[CruiseMom87]

Family Beach Break or the All-Inclusive Beach Break in Freeport. It doesn't say which beach they take you to.

 

Private Island Dolphin Encounter and Beach Day or private island Dolphin SWIM and Beach Day. What's the difference? Besides $30 a person...

 

Any suggestions on other excursions that may be up our alley? We are nervous about booking a private excursion. We like the cruise line garantee

[CruiseMom87]

Sorry, the dolphin encounter is in Nassua.

[Waterloomarc]

I'm wondering the same thing, which beach they take you to. I'm looking for something pretty painless and with good facilities and access to shade as we're traveling with our 2 year old. (We always bring her little pop-up cabana anyway though)

 

Regarding your preference for cruise line guarantees; don't let the cruise lines scare you. There's nothing wrong with 99.9% of the independents. They have a vested interest in getting you back in time. If anything, they have to offer better service because they're not being fed business by the cruise lines. Anyway, it's none of my business but just wanted to share that. Don't want you to limit yourself if you find something else that's available. We used to always just grab an (independent) excursion when we got to ports. Now, however, that we travel with a kid we enjoy the convenience of the ship's excursions. Sorry to veer off topic.

 

Still wondering about carnivals beach excursions if anybody has any experience!

[Marie51]

We did an all inclusive in Freeport about 4 years ago with Carnival. It was the Viva Wyndham Fortuna resort. It included lunch and drinks and I recall the beach being very nice. They took us on a bus and it was kind of a long drive......as I recall about 30-40 minutes from the ship.

[JinxyB]

I just did the all-inclusive bar/beach break in Freeport last week. I booked it because it was only $10 more than the regular excursion price. I was not planning on getting wasted or anything because I had my child with me-I just wanted a few drinks. The beach was really nice but I did not think to ask what the name of the beach was. It was definitely not a free-standing resort, but the bar and shops seemed built specifically for the cruise line/Carnival. The had a small playground for the kids and water balloons and face painting. I don't feel like I got my money's worth regarding alcohol consumption, but overall the excursion should not be more than 25.99 IMO.

 

Cocktails were weak, and the beer was served in 6 ounce cups. I saw some people get top-shelf drinks as I think they paid for a VIP experience. I did not buy food but saw plenty of people eating. You could rent umbrellas, jet skis, and banana boat rides. Overall I enjoyed the beautiful beach and the trampoline in the water (free). Would probably cab it to a similar beach on my own if going back to Freeport.

[cathysue62]

I too just got back on May 16th.

 

My daughter and I did the Private Island Dolphin Swim. The swim excursion allows you to spend time in an area with multiple dolphin as they swim around you. We spent about 45 minutes in the water with them (you can use snorkels and masks if you choose -- we did) and reach out to touch them and listen to them talk to each other underwater. A very cool experience.

 

Just a note -- we purchased our own (new) snorkels onboard our ship at the excursion desk before going ($5 each). All the masks and snorkels at the excursion site are in a bin filled with some solution -- and we didn't want to put something in our mouths that we were unsure had been really cleaned.

 

After that, we moved to another area to do the encounter portion (which is included in the swim excursion). There the trainers teach you a bit about the animals and you pose with them for multiple photographs while standing in about 3 feet of water. If you chose the Dolphin Encounter excursion -- this is pretty much all you do.

 

The CD of all the photographs of us -- plus some general ones of the dolphin and island cost $75. Since you are not allowed to take cameras, this is the only way to get the pictures. The photographer did an amazing job of capturing our expressions as the dolphin kissed and splashed us.

 

We were able to enjoy the gorgeous beach there for an hour before our encounter started -- wear water shoes because the beaches are rocky and sharp. Had about 45 minutes to after. The water is clean and gorgeous.

 

We did the Beach Getaway in Freeport -- and were told that we were going to Taino Beach (I think I also saw a sign). Like the prior poster said, it is set up for cruise ship passengers. This excursion was 9:30-3 minus 30 minutes each way to get there. Since it was short, we ate a good breakfast and did not buy food. They did have someone making fresh coconut Gullywash drinks ($12 with alcohol - $10 without) so we bought those. The water at this beach in Freeport was not as clean (seaweed and some random trash) or clear, but there was no need for watershoes since it was all sand.