Castaway Cay

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This is our first time on a Disney cruise. I was looking at booking for a port excursion the extreme packages. It has biking, snorkeling, tubes and stingray lagoon. Is it better to book before sailing or to do it separately once we arrive in Castaway Cay?

Thank you.

 

[Quellman]

the only thing that has timed slots is the stingray lagoon if I remember correctly. The other items you can grab when you want. So if you get the opportunity to book a set time for the stingrays you may want to do that if you prefer one time over another so it won't get booked up. You can always cancel an excursion.

 

[pics]

Someone just told me that the stingrays are not that great here, they are better at Grand Cayman. Any thoughts?

 

[BrdWalker]

If you are going to Stingray City in Grand Caymans you are on a sand bar out in the ocean with the Stingrays swimming all around you. At CC they swim up on a platform where you stand next to and feed them.

 

[dcassetta]

Someone just told me that the stingrays are not that great here, they are better at Grand Cayman. Any thoughts?

It's not really the same kind of experience. At Castaway Cay, there will be a short instructional program, you'll have the opportunity to feed the Rays as they glide on a ramp, and you also have the opportunity snorkel with them if you wish. These rays live in a netted environment and have been trained to come up the ramps for food. The water will be shallow unless you wish to swim out further. In the Caymans, the Rays that gather at stingray city are wild, however, they also know where to come for food. The Rays will swim all around you, and depending on the tour you've chosen you may have the opportunity to feed them. The tour operator may also hold one of the smaller Rays for people to pet. The water will probably be waist high on adults, although maybe a little bit higher. Small children may need to be held. Some people are very intimidated by the wild Rays at stingray city. Some of them are very large and that can be disconcerting.

 

[Mushu's Twin]

If you're going to do the extreme package it's best to do it as soon as possible because the stingray portion has a specific time slot.

 

[truck1]

Someone just told me that the stingrays are not that great here, they are better at Grand Cayman. Any thoughts?

I wouldn't say not that great, but a different experiencest. When we did Capt Marvins Stingray City tour, we snorkeled 2 different stops before going to the sand bar in Sting Ray city. Your there with other boats. Basically what happens is that the boat anchors in about waist deep water, and the crew gets off with you. They will have bait for you to feed the rays, and will help you touch, feed and will also give you a little bit of background on he rays. I will say this. When we got there, we were the only boat at that time. When we pulled up and started to anchor, we could see a black mass of rays come at us. They knew we were there. If you could not get 1 on 1 time with a ray, you were blind or sitting on the boat. There was literally dozens of them around to feed and to touch.

Disneys on the other hand is more controlled and more educational.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

the only thing that has timed slots is the stingray lagoon if I remember correctly. The other items you can grab when you want. So if you get the opportunity to book a set time for the stingrays you may want to do that if you prefer one time over another so it won't get booked up. You can always cancel an excursion.

The jet ski excursion has timed slots.

 

[Quellman]

The jet ski excursion has timed slots.

Good point. So does parasailing and the fishing and the ..... I was particularly commenting to the OP's activities in their selected excursion which may have a time component.

 

[GPaLarry]

Just a couple of comments about the CC ray experience. One, the water came up to my waist at the feeding station. Little kids will need to the held in order to see. Two, the barbs on the rays backs have been removed, so no danger from them later as you snorkel or swim around with them after feeding. You will also be told to do the "stingray shuffle." Because the rays like to lay flat in the sand, you must shuffle your feet back and forth not up and down so that you don't step on them. Our three grandkids reacted on both ends of the scale. One loved it and couldn't get enough. One, the oldest, wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn't go in the water..."too creepy." The youngest had to be held and was so-so with it. The pre-feeding briefing on shore was great, typical Disney.
We have been to CC four times (post office closed three of those times) and rented bikes (great fun), swam out to Sunken Mickey, enjoyed the food and bought the t-shirt. Also a great place to do nothing. Would go back in a heartbeat.