Which one, Capt. Marvins or Capt. Bryan's?

[DawnL]

We have a group of 14 going to the Western so we are going to try to book a Stingray City tour on our own. We are trying to decide between Capt. Marvins and Capt. Bryan's. Can anyone provide information on either tour? Thanks.

[WIcruizer]

In my experience, the only real choice for a great vacation is Captain Morgan's.

[kpros]

Try Native Way Sports.

[dzneprincess]

I just booked through Captain Bryans for our Oct 25th cruise. I choose them, I have heard good reviews of them here on the DIS, and I liked that their office was only 2 blocks from the port. No need to spend extra money on a cab.

[Doctor P]

Captain Marvin's is also easy walking distance from the dock. Just a couple blocks.

[Wavegirl]

Definitely Captain Bryans Catamaran (http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/CaptainBryan.htm) stingray city trip. They are basically the same trip except with Captain Bryans you are on a beautiful 50ft catamaran with room to layout and relax instead of a cramped motor boat.

Captain Bryan and Javed(sp?) are wonderful. We've done this trip many times and have always had a great time. They have an office right in town, actually I believe its just pasted Captain Marvins.

[softfluff]

The highlight of our trip was Captian Marvin's. I can see how the boat might be smaller for 14. However, we also saw Bryan's on the way out and I still would prefer Marvins.

[DDluvstitch]

DawnL
We faced this same dilemma prior to our July cruise. We received so much positive feedback on both, that we came to the conclusion that regardless of which excursion we took, we would have an awesome trip. And we did! The way we finally decided was based on our preference to be on a catamaran. We had 4 kids in our group and they spent the trip both to and from Stingray City lounging on the "trampoline" portion of the catamaran. It was pretty spacious. But no matter which you choose, it sounds like you will have a wonderful experience!

[DaisyDebbie]

I went with Capt. Bryan last Feb. Our family was the only one on the boat. Other boats were jam packed! We had Capt. Aster and he was wonderful. It was the highlight of our trip :sunny:

[dzneprincess]

Any of you that used Capt Bryans, do you have any trip pictures? I would love to see some if you have them :-)

[jeanneg]

We used Capt Marvin's this past July and found them to be a A+ class operation all the way. Judging from the positive feedback you're receiving on both companies, I would say you can't go wrong either way!

[knilsen]

Hey dzneprincess,
I too will be on the October 25th cruise and am thinking of booking Captain Bryans. I like the idea of the catamaran. I am bringing my 2 year old dd and thought she might like the stingrays and if not, thank God Grandma will be there. So if you are with a group of people with one noisy 2 year old girl, that will be us.

[dzneprincess]

Cool! Is your program at 930 am also? Maybe we will be together than, we will be a group of 7. Me (28), DH (30), DM (48), DF(48), DS (8), DD (7) and DS (4) ! So another little one wont bother us at all! LOL

[tezb]

We had both booked w/ Capt Marvins and Bryans and finally chose Capt Bryans. We just used them this past July and the reason we chose them was because we wanted a Catamaran. it was very nice, stable and fun. Only about 20-25 of us on the trip. I do have pics but since we were in the water, I didn't bring the digital for it. We use water cameras for the excursion...sorry. The pics came out great though. As everyone said, both are good companies but if you want the Catamaran/Trimaran you should go w/ Capt Bryan's. Capt Marvins does not have Catamarans or at least they didn't when we asked. We were told we would have the videographer w/ us too but that didn't happen. That was the only disappointing part. Capt Bryan's is the same direction as Capt Marvins but about 1/2 block farther.

[ReadyForDisney2003]

I am very excited! I just got off booking Captain Bryan's 2 stop tour for October!

I asked about the capacity of the boat -- the Catamaran/Trimaran and he said it could hold about 50 people, but they are averaging around 25.

I'll be on it Tuesday, Oct 14th. Me, DH42, DS8, and DD4.

And our friends - DH42, DW42, DD10 and DS8.

Can't wait!

[knilsen]

dzneprincess, I just booked Captain Bryans 9:30 excursion. I'll see you there. My group will include me (30), my DH (30), my DD (2), my parents, and my sister and her husband. All in all, we have a much larger group that we are traveling with, but that is all that is going on this excursion.

[dzneprincess]

Great! Looks like there will be 14 of us then! I wonder if it will just be us? HOw many do they usually take out I wonder? Did you get your confirmation yet? Do you plan on taking drinks and snacks? I am getting so excited! I will be a little freaked though! LOL I am going to go ahead and warn you!

[fred ferdlap]

Knilsen,
Any concern with a 2 yr old on the cat?

Or ds is 2 1/2 and we're concerned he might jump off the edge. We rented a pontoon boat last weekend and only settled on that because it had four sides . He still managed to crawl on one seat and try to hoist himself over the edge.

HAs anyone had experience with little ones on these trips?

[knilsen]

I am a little concerned about bringing my 2 year old, but she is fairly calm and I think she will be too afraid to go near the edge. In any case, I have enough people in my party to keep an eye on her.

I've heard nothing but good reports about Captain Bryans so I am excited. From what I've heard, his groups seem to be fairly small (under 20). I have not gotten a confirmation yet, as I just booked it earlier this evening.

I will be bringing water and lots of snacks for my DD. I just hope I don't get sick, I'm getting a little nervous about that. I've never been on a catamaran.

[DaisyDebbie]

You will get life vests for all of you on the boat. Make sure you tell them you have a 2 year old so they can get him the right size vest.

When I went with Capt. Bryan, he personally drove us to the boat and stopped at the supermarket on the way. He asked us what we wanted to drink and got it for us.

I get seasick and didn't feel the least bit sick. You will have so much fun :sunny:

[tezb]

Capt. Bryan's told me they can hold 50 on the Hannibal Trimaran but our group was about 20-25 the day we went out.

I too was worried about being seasick on the Catamaran so we took a bonine just in case. Felt fine, no problems. That is one reason we chose the Catamaran..they seem more stable w/ the waves than those Cabin Cruisers...they rock more. It's nice on the way back...they put up the sail and play island music. It was funny, I and others noticed that one of the tour guys on our boat had an uncanny resemblance to the guy in the first Jaws movie. The actor who was a mean fisherman and ended up getting eaten by the shark near the end....can't remember his name. I'll have to see if I can scan the pic of him...you have to see it!

[eye R.N.]

My reasons were:
1) We had one person in our party who never snorkled before and the first stop was a sort of "warm up" snorkle to prepare for the reef. In retrospect, she caught on quickly and probably didn't need it, but I would have been really disappointed if she had freaked and I missed the reef snorkle.

2) They had a videographer so we have this all on CD to make us smile on the cold winter nights ahead.

Any way you go it's a great trip.

[knilsen]

dzneprincess, I see we are neighbors on this cruise. I just saw the list of the Halloween T or T group and you are a few doors down from us. Didn't realize you were part of that group also. I guess we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other. I can't wait for this trip!:D

[3MinnieMom]

We will be on the 11/8/03 cruise (family of 5 - myself, DH, 3 DD's ages 5, 9, 10 - all love swimming). We, too, have been debating between Captain Marvin's and Captain Bryan's. On our honeymoon (13 yrs ago), my DH and I went snorkeling in Hawaii on a catamaran - we loved the experience! For that reason, we are leaning towards Captain Bryan's (to give our kids the catamaran experience, too). How do we book this, and how are some of you able to get a video of your experience? Thanks!
:bounce:

[ReadyForDisney2003]

Here is Captain Bryan's contact numbers:

For more information please contact our office at 345-949-0038, cell
345-916-2093 / 345-916-3048 or fax 345-949-2087. Transportation, snorkel
gear, ice and an ice-chest are provided with all snorkel trips.

Or, you can email them at cbsrest@candw.ky
The website is
http://www.cayman.org/captainbryan/

I booked for the Oct 11 trip.

[dzneprincess]

Originally posted by knilsen
dzneprincess, I see we are neighbors on this cruise. I just saw the list of the Halloween T or T group and you are a few doors down from us. Didn't realize you were part of that group also. I guess we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other. I can't wait for this trip!:D

Yes I saw on the 10/25 thread that mdvasquez said we were talking to each other and not even realizing it! LOL Looking forward to it!

[tezb]

3MinnieMom....Capt Bryan's cannot guarantee that they will have a videographer on your trip. We thought they would have one for us because we and at least 2 other families from this board requested it...we were all on the same excursion. The morning we arrived in their office I was disappointed to hear that he could not get one for us. He said they choose who they want to go with or who has the bigger group or more likely to buy the DVD's. They knew we were willing customers but still no luck. Didn't dwell on it too much ...still got pictures. Just want you to know they cannot guarantee it. Capt Marvins told me the same thing, they can request but not guarantee.