Grand Cayman Sting Ray ?

[buzz&woody'smom]

I am leaning toward Captain Marvins but I think my son would love to ride a Catamaran but is 5 too young for the stong ray excursion? I know I read a thread a few weeks ago that the staff was great about easing the little ones into it and bringing the rays over to the boat if they wanted out of the water. I am sure they provide life vest so my son could float and I will be with him at all times.

I have reviewed all 3 web sites and it appears they are very similar. Only myself and my 5 year old DS will be going why the rest of the family (DF, DM, MIL and my 2 year old DS)go on the DCL island tour.

Which company would you recommend and have any of you taken little ones that stayed on the boat or 5 year olds? Do all of the excursions require taking the tender or can any pick you up at the ship?

Captain Marvins-motor boat and they have a 1/2 excursion 3 stops ($39/$20 under 4 free (departs at 10:00 am to 1:00 pm)or short excursion 2 stops 8:30 am-10:30 am ($34/$20 under 4 free)

Captain Bryans- 2 1/2 hours excursion 2 stops 9:30 am $34/$10 Catamaran.

Native way Watersports- 2 stops unsure of morning excursion time not listed on their website??? $25 adult and child rate not listed???

Or should we just go to a beach?

Thanks-
Tiff

 

[GenieDana]

Nativway-

Note: We are having a family reunion on-ship, and my parents want to go out on the boat, but may not swim (they are "older" children ), so I emailed Nativway and asked them about pricing.

Here is what Nativway quoted me via e-mail:

"Our price is $25 US per person. Everyone pays the same price except for children under 6. There is no charge for children under 6. In addition, if your parents do not go in the water, they can pay $10 each. Our AM tour departs from the pier at 9 AM local time and completes at 11:45 AM.

After the tour, you can be dropped off back at the pier, or at 7-mile beach. You can make reservations ahead of time, no credit card deposit is required. You pay when you take the tour, not ahead of time.

Let me know if you would like to reserve space.

Sharon Ebanks"

 

[GenieDana]

Regarding Captain Bryan's and Captian Marvin's, are their prices in US dollars or Cayman dollars? The reason I ask is that my sister-in-law who will be cruising with us has visited Cayman many times (her Step Father is a Cayman native) and some prices quoted about town are Cayman dollars, not US dollars.

The exchange rate is $1 US to $0.80 Cayman, or conversely $1.25 US to $1 Cayman. If the prices quoted are Cayman, then the cost is $US will be even more.

When I asked for quotes from Nativway I specifically asked for them in US dollars. Have not compared Captain Marvin's or Captain Bryan's website to see - but I will!

 

[GenieDana]

We offer a 2 1/2 hour tour which runs from 9:30 AM -12:00 noon and on Sunday
it is from 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM. We do two snorkel stops and they are the
shallow Stingray City Sandbar and the Barrier Reef / Aquarium.
The rates are US$35.00 per person but we are offering a discounted price of
US$30.00 per person and US$25.00 per child 10yrs and under.

The whole day trip runs from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. It consists of three stops
and they are Stingray City Sandbar, the Barrier Reef and the Aquarium. Hot
lunch is included and served on a scenic beach. The lunch is white rice,
baked chicken, Cayman Style Mahi Mahi, freshly tossed salad with Italian
dressing and fruit punch. The rates are US$60.00 per person and US$35.00 per
child 10yrs and under.

We also offer a combination tour which consists of two snorkel stops and
they are the shallow Stingray City Sandbar and the Barrier Reef / Aquarium
which is from 9:30 AM - 12:00 noon and then from our boat to Turtle Farm
then to Hell and back to the Cruise Ship Dock via a bus which will be from
12:10 PM - 2:10 PM. The rates for this package are US$55.00 per person and
US$50.00 per child 10 years and under. However, we need a minimum of 6
people for the Turtle Farm / Hell tour.

We have two boats and they are ; (1) "Hannibal", which is a beautiful 50 ft
Sailing Trimaran, 27 ft wide with two trampolines, large sun deck, shaded
back deck and bathroom facility.
(2) "Sweet Alison" is a 40ft Snorkel boat with large shaded back deck, swim
platform, large fly bridge, ladder for snorkelers and bathroom facility.

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.

The transportation for the trips are provided from our office which is a
very scenic and relaxing four minute / 2 block walk North from the cruise
ship dock. Between 8:30 am and 8:45 am is the requested time to gather at
our office and on Sunday it will be at 10:00 am. For those of you who have
elderly or injured persons in your group that cannot walk to the office then
we will have someone meet you at the pier at 8:45 am or 9:45 am on Sunday.
The reason for you meeting at the office is due to the congestion of
traffic, people and not enough parking facilities at the pier. So if you can
walk to the office follow these directions. When you come off the pier, take
a left and walk along the water front and you will eventually come to a
traffic light by Fort St. which you will pass and continue along the water
front. You will then see Don Fosters Dive Shop and over the road from them
will be an English Bakery. We are after the bakery and there will be a large
yellow banner in our yard that reads Stingray City Tours.

To make a reservation we will need to know you full name, the date and time
of arrival to
the island, the name of the cruise ship, number of people in your party,
which trip you would like to go on and a credit card # (master card or visa)
to hold the reservation. We have a 24hr cancellation policy.

 

[mcnuss]

We took a catamaran cruise with Red Sail Sports (www.redsailcayman.com) and it was great. There were lots of kids on board and the crew was fantastic with them.

I believe that the cost for the 4 hour excursion was $79 for adults, half that for kids, and included lunch.

It was a beautiful boat and the service was first rate.

 

[Wavegirl]

Here is a new company that is offering catamaran stingray city trips : Sting Ray City Catamaran Excursions

They say they have a 10:-2: trip, so its a 4 hour trip with snorkeling stops as well as stingray city. Sounds like a pretty good deal, $34 for adults & $20 for kids. The pictures of the boat look great too.

Anyone heard of them before? I like the excursion timing as we were thinking of using Captain Bryans again but I like a later start time. what can I say, on vacation I don't like to wake up that early