Shore Excursions not w/DCL

[Minnee]

Where does everyone get all the info needed to book shore excursions, without booking with DCL? We're going on the 7-day Western in May, but I don't know what excursions are even out there!
Thanks for the help!

 

[peagreenid]

The best way to find out about the ports, I found is to do a search. I've attached a couple of links below for you to check out.

smiles Patty

http://www.shoretrips.com/
http://www.cozumel-diving.net/cozumelsports/Default.htm#instruct
http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com
http://www.gotothekeys.com/adventures.htm

smiles Patty

 

[Wavegirl]

I agree, these sites offer great excursions! Enjoy!

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi Minnee. Just returned from the 8/17 magic 7-day cruise. The DCL shore excursions were either "ok" or less according to our party of three and other cruisers we spoke with. We fared much better when booking independent shore excursions.

On Grand Cayman, we tried the Land And Sea Tour. It was horrible. The guide's English was severely limited. For the most part he kept apologizing that "the rum factory" was closed so we couldn't stop there. He must have reiterated this statement 17 times.

"Hell" was a joke which wasn't funny for the price paid. It is ok to visit, but I wouldn't list it as an attraction either.

Compounding my irritation with the guide was the fact that he had nothing to say about the history of Grand Cayman or the educational system or the financial interests involving the island with international banking or anything other than that the friggin rum factory was closed so we couldn't stop there.

The Sea portion of the tour was equally depressing in that the "tape" was broken so once again, we couldn't receive any information on what exactly we were seeing. The boat guide said that since the narrative was broken he would try to answer any questions we had. Yes, he certainly did try. And at least he spoke English.

The people at the Shore Excursion desk took our complaint. One CM even told us that she, too, had taken the Land only tour and had similar complaints about the lack of information from the tour guide as well as no command of the English language. A Disney representative kept leaving information on our message machine that "they were looking into it," but needed to hear what the tour company had to say. I hope they could "say it" in English. DCL tried to make it up to us by offering credit on a bike rental and a float rental at Castaway Cay. Sorry, but I wanted a refund.

Anyway. After that disappointment, I had scheduled a horseback ride on the beach through Nicki - a most welcome change from the Land & Sea Tour ofered by DCL. We had a private ride along the beach with Grand Cayman history and insights from our host and guide: Nicki. Her tours are not to be missed! She is not offered by DCL because of insurance requirements which tend to discriminate against small business operations. Nicki would rather stay small anyway and receives most of her clientel from local resorts. I am glad we found her and strongly urge anyone going to Grand Cayman to contact Nicki's Horseback Rides. She picked us up at The Hard Rock Cafe and returned us there when the ride was over. When we told Nicki about our disaster with the Land & Sea Tour, Nicki took us - for no extra charge - to see areas where the houses were beautiful rather than the poverty sights offered by the other tour guide with no explanation. Nicki saved our shore excursion from being a total waste and turned it into one of the most satisfying experiences I ever had the opportunity to relate to others. By all means, if you are going to grand cayman, reserve a ride with her.

Also, a strong recommendation for Cozumel: Wild Tours. We took their ATV tour which also included a kayak ride and snorkeling. It was fantastic and better than anything offered by DCL.

PS - just as a note, I have nothing against DCL. This was my first cruise ever and it was MAGICAL!!! to say the least. But they need to restructure their shore excursions and examine the tour operators they offer DCL cruisers.

 

[mcnuss]

Try also http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/index.cfm.

Buckaroos Dad - thanks for the FABULOUS tip about Nicki. How do I get in touch with her?

 

[rae519]

http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/NickisCaymanHorseBack.htm


For those who are interested - This is Nicki's site.

To Buckaroo's Dad -
thank you so much for telling us about your Grand Cayman excursion. We already booked with Nicki and are so glad that she is as wonderful and friendly as she sounds in her e-mails!
My son (7) is going with me and we are both very excited!

Any suggestions about what to wear, anything?

Thanks again!

Rae

 

[Stepherella]

For those of you who made reservations ahead of time for niki's horseback riding, how did you do this? I have filled out her online form and recieved a reply stating that I would need to give a credit card number to hold my reservation. I want to do this, but that site is Not secure and I don't want to put my credit card number on it. I see there is a phone number, but not having ever called out of the US I am unsure how to call this number. Can someone help me?
Thanks,
Stephanie

 

[kbowler]

Hello! I also just returned from the 8-17 cruise, which was absolutely fantastic. We decided against booking any excursions with DCL and just went to the islands and found our own things to do. Since we were traveling with a 2 year old we were pretty limited anyway. Needless to say the only excursion we did was the Atlantis Sea Explorer on Grand Cayman. It was about one hour and it took you down to see coral reefs, shipwrecks and fish. The guide even jumped off the boat and feed the fish in front of our windows. It was a nice excursion and it was $15 dollars cheaper than DCL per person! So my input would be to research excursions independently and then compare prices with DCL. Have a great trip, we are already planning for next year!

Kelly

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Mcnuss - Nicki's e-mail address is nikiride@candw.ky

Rae - Wear comfortable clothing. I was dressed in shorts, a t-shirt and sneakers. Don't forget to bring your camera. Nicki will take pictures of you all saddled up on the beach. You and your son will have a most wonderful time. Please give Nicki my best when you see her. She will remember our group as being the one she took to see other sights prior to our ride. Enjoy!

 

[npall]

Kelly: We are scheduled to leave for the 7day Western on Sat. and we are bringing our 2 year old. Can you give me any advice as to what you did in Key West and the other stops with your little one ?

Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Naomi

 

[rae519]

Stepherella - I went ahead and used my credit card number in an e-mail to Nicki.

I am soooo very excited about this especially after the great report from Buckaroo's Dad! How wonderful to have such a great bunch of people writing in on this forum so we can all get clued in to the "good, bad and ugly" of reality!

We were talking about the land/sea excursion Buckaroo's Dad mentioned but Nicki's won over! It's that Black Beauty/Flicka/The Black Stallion little girl in me who said "Horses first!"

Adventure ahead!

Rae

 

[Wavegirl]

I think you need to book through Nicki Rides at Cayman Islands Discounts and print out the coupon to get the $58.50 rate for the rides as she's normally more than that.

Maybe if you print out the coupon and email her and let her know you have the coupon, she'll give you the same rate.

 

[SueEllen]

I just wanted to bump this up because we used Nicki on our cruise over Halloween. Nicki was awesome and I highly recommend her.

Sue Ellen