Boatswains Beach in Grand Cayman Discounts

[kileybeth]

There is a website for this place which includes the turtle farm as well as lots of other great areas. It is a bit pricey but looks like a fun day.

Here's my question.

You get a discount (20%, pretty substantial) for ordering your tickets on line. Has anyone ordered tickets on line? The webpage does not credit the discount until after you give your credit card number. I am curious to know if there are any sales tax/fees on top of the discounted price? Is there any cancellation policy if your ship can not get into port.

Also if there would be any discounts on ticket prices that good (20%) in town if we waited to see how the day/cruise went and just bought them once we get into town?

We are a family of 4 adults and 2 kids for pricing and it just adds up quickly.

And heaven forbid our cruise got diverted from port and we already purchased tickets. . .

 

[Disney Fans]

I compared the discount to Disney and Disney is higher but it is nice not to worry about the GC bus system and take the bus that Disney has with it.
And Disneys rate includes all of the areas within the park where some of the discount does do not which will add up again when you get there and want to do it.
And if anything happens it is much easier to get credit back.

 

[BounceyOne]

Not an answer to your actual question but when we went to Grand cayman, we rented a van and hit the turtle farm (nice to see) and the beach on our own.
We had 5 adults and a few kids, the excursions add up quickly!

 

[kileybeth]

I compared the discount to Disney and Disney is higher but it is nice not to worry about the GC bus system and take the bus that Disney has with it.
And Disneys rate includes all of the areas within the park where some of the discount does do not which will add up again when you get there and want to do it.
And if anything happens it is much easier to get credit back.

I'm not sure you saw the website for Boatswains? It is $45 (less 20% discount) for adults and includes the entire park with kids being $25 (less 20%). Sorry no calculator handy!

The public transportation are mini buses not city buses and they cost $2.50 per person (way cheaper then hiring a taxi for a large family)

DCL charges $98 per adult and $72 per child for entrance into the whole park. I believe DCL used to included lunch with this excursion but it no longer says that, only transportation to and from on their schedule (less time in the park)?

That's double going it alone. . . my DH has been to GC several times before so getting around is a known factor for us.

Anyone order from the Boatswains website?

www.boatswainsbeach.ky I believe? Sorry, do not know how to post a link.

 

[Disney Fans]

I'm not sure you saw the website for Boatswains? It is $45 (less 20% discount) for adults and includes the entire park with kids being $25 (less 20%). Sorry no calculator handy!

The public transportation are mini buses not city buses and they cost $2.50 per person (way cheaper then hiring a taxi for a large family)

DCL charges $98 per adult and $72 per child for entrance into the whole park. I believe DCL used to included lunch with this excursion but it no longer says that, only transportation to and from on their schedule (less time in the park)?

That's double going it alone. . . my DH has been to GC several times before so getting around is a known factor for us.

Anyone order from the Boatswains website?

www.boatswainsbeach.ky I believe? Sorry, do not know how to post a link.

Yes it does include lunch and your drink for lunch, the use of water park and the other park that cost extra. The lunch alone we figured that day would have been about $50-$60.00 for the 4 of us, plus not using up extra time for renting a car or local bus service etc., need to that to take that added time into account. There was a lot to do so we used all of our time up. And if something happens like it did with us before it was very easy to get a total refund without any hassel.
And just that wanted to point the plus factors.

 

[liliagm]

Here's our experience from the 5/30 cruise.....
We decided to do it on our own so we purchased the tickets one day before so we where sure that we where going to make it to the port using the ships internet service, and printed the receipt there as well, ....got the 20% discount so for 2 adts it was $70 something...

Got to Grand cayman, took the tender and there is like a plaza where all the excursions depart from right where you get off the tender, and the website said transportation is included if you purchase with them.... so we could not find any signs for the botswain farm (it's very crazy in there with all the people walking around waiting fortheir excursion) so we asked a security guard for the farm bus and he pointed at it (way back in the parking lot) so we walk down there and the guy said he was leaving at 10am (it was like 9:30) and to either wait in the bus or look for the guy at the plaza to get our wristbands.... so went back there never found anyone got back to the bus at 9:55 and it turns out it was the bus taking the disney cruise group to the farm!!.. the tour guide had to radio in that he was taking extra passengers (besides the dcl group) so that they knew to expect us at the entrance to get our wristbands. from then on everything went smoothly, they did told us the bus would leave at 2 or 3pm (i think) to go back so we had to be there at that time.
at their restaurant they had a set up with a sign for Disney cruise for lunch and if you wanted to pay for it it was 10 pp including a drink and choice of cheeseburger and pasta salad or jerky chicken(island style ) and rice

so we ended up going with the Disney group but at a fraction of what they paid..... you just need to make sure to find their bus or find the tour guide for the dcl group...

and the ride to the farm was a good 15-20 minutes (maybe a little more) so its not close to the port... so you may want to do a taxi instead of the bus and pay to get there but i don't know how much it would be...

 

[lucky1]

liliagm - How long did you stay at Boatswians? Would you recommend it?
Trying to decide what to do for our GC stay.

 

[kcashner]

The turtle farm at Boatswain's was a lot of fun, but not worth $30. Adding the water park, etc. would make it well worth the $35 ($45 less online booking discount).

 

[kileybeth]

Thanks for all the info Disney fans and liliagm, I thought I read somewhere that the DCL excursion should include lunch but it currently does not say it does on the DCL webpage?? strange!

And no way I would pay for just the turtle farm at $30 a pop. I am only going as my DS17 is very into turtles but I am more interested in the rest of the park. I just read they now have a lazy river.

My DH has been to see the turtles (prehurricane) but never seen the newer part of the park since they rebuilt and expanded. He is very familiar with the Island so I do have a bit of peace of mind trusting him about the transportation.

The savings for our large family just seems extremely large so my thought is we will do just as the pp said. Wait until we are onboard and book the night before (weather permitting any cancellation of tendering in).

And I am suprised lunch is such a reasonable price! We had heard it would be much more! Of course it helps that we have picky small eaters!

I am getting more excited the more I plan.

 

[kileybeth]

liliagm,

Can I ask you to be more specific about the price you paid?

I know I am over thinking this but we are on a tight budget and I am trying to stretch each and every dollar it seems to get the most out of our trip. Not an unfamiliar activity to me by any means with a large family just a fact I have to always keep in mind.

Anywho, with discount, the adult ticket should have come to $36 even. There were two adults in your party ($36x2=$72) Is this what you paid total? You said $70 something. . .

Sometimes taxes and fees can be quite a bit tacked on the back side but it is sounding like maybe not this time? Even a 10% sales tax on $36 would be $3.60 a ticket x 6 . . .you get the idea. Just trying to plan.

Thank you or anyone else reading for any information you may have.

 

[BeckyThane]

I am so sad they jacked up the price of admission to the turtle farm so high. I was there twice: once shortly after the hurricane, and another time shortly after the water park portion opened. LOVED it both times, but I won't pay $30pp to see it again. Guess I'll be staying on the ship next time around.

 

[kileybeth]

That's funny that you say that! My DH was there when it was just the "old" Turtle Farm and he remembers paying something like $7 for admission to see these really not very nicely maintained turtle tanks in a not so nice setting!

And although he has returned to GC several times since then, he has never revisted the turtles or Hell or other touisty places as he says "been there, done that". He usually just snorkels a while between what he is really there for (Work!).

When I told him what the " Boatswains Adventure Park" cost, he was shocked at the new price until he saw everything it included.

Truthfully, in our area (North East) you couldn't even get into an aquarium for these prices or let alone a large park like this so I guess it doesn't seem to bad to me.

ETA: just saw you were from NJ! So you know what we pay around here! hehe!

 

[BeckyThane]

If I were going to do the water park that would be worth it... but not $30 for the turtle farm.

FYI, the Baltimore Aquarium costs $29.95, and has waaaaaay more to see than the turtle farm.

 

[kileybeth]

Agreed! No way I would pay $30 to see turtles Although my teenage son sure would.

Yes, the Balt. Aquarium is pricey but huge. Never had the pleasure of making it over the bridge to see Camden Aquarium although my kids have been? Do you have a general comparison to the Baltimore one?

We love Port Discovery in Baltimore for the little ones as it was designed by Disney Imagineers! The teen crowd is beyond it these days though, boo-hoo.

Trying to find things on this cruise to satisfy both sets (DS17 & DD14 as well as DS6 and DD4) has been both hard and pricey all the way around! Let alone my DH and I. I am hoping Boatswains will be a good fit for all of us. We let the teens run lose in WDW and other places we have been multiple times but in ports we know very little about and so far from home. . .it's a whole new ball game.

 

[BeckyThane]

Yes, the Balt. Aquarium is pricey but huge. Never had the pleasure of making it over the bridge to see Camden Aquarium although my kids have been? Do you have a general comparison to the Baltimore one?

Never been to Camden Aquarium because, IMHO, Baltimore is hard to beat!

 

[liliagm]

liliagm - How long did you stay at Boatswians? Would you recommend it?
Trying to decide what to do for our GC stay.

liliagm,

Can I ask you to be more specific about the price you paid?

Anywho, with discount, the adult ticket should have come to $36 even. There were two adults in your party ($36x2=$72) Is this what you paid total? You said $70 something. . ..

We had a good time there, I have to add that we went with our DD2 (she was free) and we did pay $72.00 for the 2 adts. I guess we spent like 30 mins at the turtle part, they have the lagoon with the huge turtles and then the small pools/ponds with the smaller ones that you can pet, the sun was really strong so we did not linger too much there.... but we did the pics and saw all of the turtes... then we went to the snorkeling lagoon, and they give you the snorkeling stuff and life vest (included with admission-like the ones at castaway cay), the water was kind of murky but it was cool to see the turtles swimming and some other fishes, and it is quite large and very deep at times, so one of us went in there while the other stayed with dd2 at the "beach" (it is a "zero entry" lagoon with sand in the entrance) after an hour or so there we went to the "pool" which was better for dd2 since she could "swim" there with us and they have a "cascade" at one end.. at both locations they have restrooms and lounge chairs with shadowed areas. so after another hour or so we went for some lunch, they have showers also so took a quick shower to get dd2 cleaned up.

for lunch, as i said they had the regular restaurant/bar and next to it they had a table set up with the sign for disney passengers and I remember seeing people on the line exchanging vouchers for their food, we where not in the excursion so we paid for the food (I'm pretty sure it was $10) we got the chicken and it was decent -nothing great- and we only got one for DD2 to eat and we decided to wait until we got back to the ship for our food..

after that we went back to see the turtles and on to the souvenir store to wait for the time to leave....so we got there like at 10:30 am and left at 3pm (it might have been 2 pm but I can't remember and neither can DH)

We had a good time and it was perfect for us with DD2, she loved the turtles and had fun at the beach (we had taken some sand toys with us) and enjoyed the pool, the snorkeling was icky at times but it was nice to see the turtles swimming by, and the time they give you is more than enough to enjoy the whole thing. once we got back we got some rum cakes at the tortuga rum store right there at the "plaza" where you get the tender back to the ship...

 

[lucky1]

We had a good time and it was perfect for us with DD2, she loved the turtles and had fun at the beach (we had taken some sand toys with us) and enjoyed the pool, the snorkeling was icky at times but it was nice to see the turtles swimming by, and the time they give you is more than enough to enjoy the whole thing. once we got back we got some rum cakes at the tortuga rum store right there at the "plaza" where you get the tender back to the ship...

Thanks for your review. Glad to know there is still some time to get Rum Cake at the port. Can't pass up the rum cake. But wondering if you can leave earlier than the schedule Excursion time?

 

[kileybeth]

liliagm,

Thank you so much! That was an excellent review! I'm glad to hear the pool area worked out for you DD2, gives me comfort about my DD4 who can run the gamit from daredevil all the way to scared of her shadow at times.


Thanks so much for taking time to respnd to this.

One more question (sorry!) I thought I had read on the Boatswains webpage at some point that they included transportation for cruise guest from the port as well but now when I look, I can not find it? Glad to hear this is still included altho the public buses are still an option I guess since they run every 15 minutes or so.

 

[kileybeth]

Thanks for your review. Glad to know there is still some time to get Rum Cake at the port. Can't pass up the rum cake. But wondering if you can leave earlier than the schedule Excursion time?

My thoughts exactly! Will want to make sure we have time to pick up a souvie or two at the point.

Also I too thought tendering at Cayman started very early (like 7:30am or something) so was also wondering if we might get an earlier start.