Speaking of cruises.....
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive January 2007:
Speaking of cruises.....
We're leaving on March 11 for our first cruise. We're leaving from Miami, and will stop in Costa Maya Mexico, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. There will be 6 of us going, so we won't be able to afford expensive shore excursions. Well, Nicole has saved her babysitting money, and she wants to swim with the dolphins. That will cost a fortune, but that's the only expensive one that will happen. Has anyone done it? Any ideas for other good things to do? We don't dive, so that's out. Thanks for any suggestions.
Grand Cayman: Love Captain Marvin's
Much cheaper than ship excursions. We have done island tours with them for only $25 each.
http://www.captainmarvins.com/
Ocho Rios: We went with a private tour with Pete Taylor. It was great and very reasonable in price! He took us to Dunn's river falls.
http://www.peattaylor.com/
Yvonne, Pete's site looks great! Does he just do the tours himself? I'm just thinking about needing to book him right away, in case he books up quickly. I sent him an email.
Captain Marvin's looks good, too. I would love to tour to different places rather than just choose one excursion, and it sounds like both of these guys will do that.
Thanks!
Pete does the tours or in some cases his relatives do. we had Pete himself. I looked and my review was still on the site:
After reading so many positive things about Peat Taylor, I went ahead and booked him for my family. We were traveling with my parents and children. We met Peat at the bus stop area -exactly where he said he would be waiting for us. His van was air conditioned and extremely comfortable. He took us to Dunn's River Falls. We arrived before the crowds and pretty much had the place to ourselves. My mother has a bad hip and he was extremely helpful. My husband and daughter climbed the falls--note I do not think the falls were as bad (difficult to climb) as some people have claimed--my 8 year old climbed it just fine. It is gorgeous and we enjoyed photographing the falls and beach area. My son swam while others climbed, my mother and father sat on a bench and took in the view. Peat picked us up (just as the huge crowds of people started arriving) and proceeded to take us through fern gully and through the real (not tourist area) Jamaica. He pointed out native plants, fruits, animals and stopped several times letting us know of great "photo opportunities." We went high up in the mountains and took a perfect picture of our ship below. Peat sang as he drove and amused us with his wit and charm. His knowledge of Jamaica was impressive. My children learned a lot about the area without feeling like they were in a classroom. What I am trying to say (and am probably not doing a good job of) is he did not sound like a boring tour guide that is reading a script he made the experience fun. We declined the shopping but could have spent even more time on the tour if we had chosen to. Our tour lasted 3 1/2 hours and we left with an incredible experience. At dinner we spoke with others who spent twice as much money for a tour and they did not see any of the things that Peat took us to. I cannot recommend Pete highly enough! He was the best part of our trip!
We have gone through Captain Marvin's for the Stingray City Snorkle tour, a boat charter and an island tour. I cannot recommend them enough. They are great! It is about a 5 minute walk to their office from the port.
We just did the island tour with Captain Marvins in December. We went to the turtle farm and had an island tour. It was a great tour. I have pictures that I can email you if you want.
Yvonne, I'd love to see the pics.
What did Pete charge for his tour?
Ditto Captain Marvins!!!!!
Also, in Grand Cayman, you can walk a couple blocks to the right of the pier, and snorkel right off the beach for less money at Abanks. We own our snorkeling gear, so we just paid for a locker and a couple of beach chairs.
The Stingray City Snorkel with Captain Marvins was *really* fun though, and I highly recommend it.
Peat charges $35.00 per adult and $25.00 per child
Marcia I sent you a few pictures of the turtle farm in Grand Cayman.
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