Has anyone done the sting ray encounter at Castaway Cay?

[SherKhan]

Hi, this is our first Disney Cruise, actual its mine and our two kids first cruise ever, and we were wondering if the sting ray encounter at Castaway Cay was worth it. What time does it start?

 

[PurplePencil]

There are various start times throughout the day. I've done it 2 times and enjoyed it, but it all depends on what you like. If your doing it so you can snorkel it's not worth it. If your doing it since one of your kids loves stingrays then it is worth it.

 

[SherKhan]

There are various start times throughout the day. I've done it 2 times and enjoyed it, but it all depends on what you like. If your doing it so you can snorkel it's not worth it. If your doing it since one of your kids loves stingrays then it is worth it.

Thanks PurplePencil. We're doing it for our kids. Is there are an age limit? Our youngest is two years old.

 

[PurplePencil]

Thanks PurplePencil. We're doing it for our kids. Is there are an age limit? Our youngest is two years old.

5 And up. However, It's a small world nursery is open, and wave phones (what will be used to contact you if needed) work Castaway Cay

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

Our day at Castaway last week experienced cancellation of stingrays and other water activities due to the seas. The two cruises before ours missed Castaway unable to dock.

 

[PurplePencil]

Our day at Castaway last week experienced cancellation of stingrays and other water activities due to the seas. The two cruises before ours missed Castaway unable to dock.

However, if this happens you would get a refund since it was booked through disney (you can't do anything non-disney at Castaway Cay)

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

I posted just as a heads up things happen and excursions can get cancelled. I did not expect stingrays to cancel since we docked.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

FYI, you hold the stingray food between your fingers and put your hand flat on the feeding platform, then the rays suck it up out of your fingers. It feels kind of creepy... so if your child isn't ready for that it might be best to wait a couple years. You also have to walk the "stingray shuffle" in the enclosure to keep from hurting them.

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

We did 10:00 a.m., which was nice as it was early in the day. The stingrays were just beautiful and very fun to see so close up. However, my two 15 year old twin sons and 11 year old animal loving daughter were all three intimidated by the stingrays and having to hold the food so close to your fingers. It felt like they were going to eat your finger too. I *loved* it, but I grew up with lots of farm animals and was very comfortable feeding them. But my kids were not very comfortable. They still enjoyed it, but I don't think I would pay to do it again. We all really enjoyed the snorkeling afterwards. It was great visibility that day, and the stingrays would go and park themselves for grooming by little fish around them on these concrete blocks on the bottom. They do not interact with you during the snorkel, but you do see them around.

 

[diznymom]

DH, DS12(at the time) and I did it on our first cruise - June 2011. We went to the earliest one available. I had read that the water gets rather murky later in the day. We enjoyed it.

 

[Tulip2796]

My husband and then 6 year old son did it and loved it. My son is very into animals so it was very enjoyable for him. We also used it to introduce him to snorkeling. It was a good intro to wearing the mask, etc. without the fear of being out in the ocean. My 2 year old was too young to participate. My husband thought it was worth the price. They did it around 10am. They liked this time because then we could spend the rest of the day together since their excursion was already out of the way. You can book it for various times although I think the latest is wround 2 or 3.

 

[Amanda129]

My sister and I did this last week at 11:00 and really enjoyed it. The rays they have in the enclosure are pretty good sized (2-4' wide), so I agree they can be intimidating to some. They do come up to you sometimes, but mostly keep to themselves after the feeding session. At our time, the water was still pretty clear, but you can tell it would have been even clearer earlier in the day because of all the sand that was kicked up by the rays and the snorkelers.