helpful shore info

[juju]

I just noticed something very interesting that I thought I would share and possibly save you money. I just booked cavetubing through xtreme cave tubing as well as a snorkeling tour. I noticed through the confirmation email these excursions are handled by "island marketing (cayman)". ok so what-you say. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I sent a message to carnival's shore excursion desk inquiring about an excursion I didn't see listed on their website for a particular port, the reply was from "IMC", which is island marketing. Hmmm - BOTTOM LINE: book your exursions through island marketing. It's a lot cheaper and apparently the same company that handles the excursions through the ship. So you shouldn't worry about returning on time or getting ripped off.

[penny3333]

Good info, thanks for sharing!

[Jim C.]

CCL never tries to hide the fact that the excursions are contracted out and not their doing. They only "guarantee" the excursions that they contract out. It looks like you figured out how to cut out the middle man and not get charged CCL's "cut" Which is cool. And I thank you for the information. But I'm not sure that means you don't have to worry about getting back to the ship on time unless they get you on the same tours. My guess is the company runs tours on a per ship basis and when you book through them, they will put you on whatever tour they have openings in. You may be with a group from another ship, so it wouldn't hurt to ask. I do agree on the not getting ripped off part.

Again, thanks for the info. Could come in handy

Jim

[jmsettles]

Island Marketing is a very reputable outfit. We have booked all of our excursions through them during our last 2 cruises and have had Wonderful experiences in each port.
The Cave tubing in Belize was amazing....very good guide & the tour was longer than if we had booked thru Carnival.
I will definately book through them again, not only are they cheaper, but your excursion itself will be less crowded and much more enjoybable.
We booked all of our excursions thru the ship our very first cruise, and hated the large groups that we had to endure during the excursion itself. I would recommend Island Marketing for a better shore excursion all around.

[Angela goes cruising]

I'm just back from a cruise with Carnival's Triumph (Easter Caribbean) and booked one excursion with them in St Thomas. It was a snorkling tour, but also included snuba and first time divers. The tour was $ 39.50 which I thought was okay for a 3 hours excursion, but it was actually not. At first we left 40 minutes late; the first time divers got an instruction on the jeep which could be hardly heard, the group of first time divers was 7 people with only 1 instructor. I do dive myself and had a first time dive ages ago and I really think that 1 instructor with 7 people is certainly not save. The greatest shock of this excursion was that we only ended up spending 1 hour and 45 minutes on the beach. If you intend to go snorkling it would be a lot cheaper to take a taxi on the pier and ask the driver to take you to a snorkling spot where you can either use your own snorkling gear or rent it...

[fivepoints]

Anyone know of any shore excursion companies for the Mexican Rivera?